Cavs The Blog Podcast

We're at Defcon 3, folks. And I'd wager another loss puts us at Defcon 2. At Defcon 1, Dan Gilbert goes nuclear on Tyronn Lue. Seven games into this season, and it's looking Ty's elevated coaching seat might just be the hotseat as the Cavs have lost three straight and four of the last five. Those losses have come against some of the worst teams in the league. Justin May and Nate Smith hopped in the podcast booth to recap and then Tom Pestak parachuted into the war room with klaxons blaring to help us figure out what is wrong with the Cavaliers. We recapped Sunday's game, and went over everything that's going wrong (a lot), and the little that's going right (Kyle Korver). We looked at lineups (why isn't Crowder playing more?), slumping players (I'm looking at you, Mr. 4-28 from three, J.R. Smith), the age question (are the Cavs just too old), and whether this represents a failure of the front office to bring in players who make sense next to LeBron (or anyone for that matter

It’s that time of year again… time to dream about the road ahead for another NBA season. Before tonight’s tip off, every team has a chance to capture a championship (oh, who are we kidding… it’s the Dubs and maybe the Cavs as those two squads are probably destined to meet up for Episode IV). Well, anyway, it’s nice to dream…Speaking of dreamers, the very much woke Kyrie Irving won’t be wasting any time fantasizing about his return to the place he called home for the first six years of his career. He’ll have a wonderfully lucid visual reminder of his top highlights with a video tribute before the game… though the auditory experience might not be quite as welcoming from his former fanbase. Only time will tell if Uncle Drew’s dreams will come true, or if his first game back in Cleveland will devolve into a nightmare.Nate and EG fought off sleep and weariness to try and interpret the dreams the Cavs have for the season ahead, and to weigh in on which team lines in Vegas have people dreaming way too hard. They als

With a wistful nod to the recently departed Tom Petty, we embark with the newly constructed Cavaliers on the (seemingly never-ending, but at least a bit shorter) pre-season campaign. In their first of five warm up games that don’t count, the guys in wine & gold red and yellow trimmed tighty-whites (which actually didn’t look half bad), took on the erstwhile Atlanta Hawks and their lone remaining peroxide patched, hookah bar brawler of a point guard, Denis SchrÖeder.The initial results were promising, as the new starting five (minus a certain kid from Akron) featuring big men who can shoot and guards who can’t, almost blew the hapless birds out of the building, constructing a 21-7 lead halfway through the first quarter. Then, Ty Lue (in an obvious nod to the start of the NHL season) proceeded to hockey line switch to his second line. Newcomers DWade, DRose and Jae Crowder flashed some of the skills that make you glad they’re a part of the team. Other fresh faces like Jeff Green, Cedi Osman and the cajoled

Since it was Cavs Media Day, the C:tB ownership triumvirate felt compelled to shuffle their tired old bones into the podcast booth to hit the highlights of the events. Of course we did kick things off with a decent dose of Tribe: the Podcast as the Indians roll into post-season play, before diving into everything LeBron and the gang said to the local and national media. We rapped about LBJ's mindset, his response to Kyrie's departure and general state of staying very much woke, the rebuilding of DRose, the status of IT's rehab, what the new starting lineups might resemble... and whether or not DWade will soon be rocking a newly designed Cavs jersey. Other topics strayed to the recent Melo trade to OKC, what the Cavs might (or might not) do with the Nets pick, and who will be left without a chair when the music stops at the end of training camp (the answer might sadly break up the Road Trippin' Pod).Brace yourselves... this is longer in the tooth than most, and full of plenty of senior moments

Nate Smith, Tom Pestak, and Sam Meyer spent the first 2000 seconds of this pod gushing over the Tribe, their 19th straight victory, and their pursuit of 20. Inspired, we broke down the Cavs' probable starting and crunch time lineups to start the season and how it was put together. Tom and Sam argued over Dan Gilbert's right and perogative to do and say whatever he wants. Sam gave us his gut feeling on the Isaiah Thomas hip injury and Jason Lloyd's article on it in the Athletic. We talked about Cedi Osman, Eric Moreland and Jae Crowder, Tom's Jay Bruce moment, his new electric lawnmower and everything wrong (and right) with Millenials.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Happy Trails, Kyrie. With the news of Mr. Irving's trade to the Celtics we sounded the conch and Tom Pestak, Ben Werth, Nate Smith, and EvilGenius assembled in the podcast booth to break it all down. We all gave our knee jerk reactions to the trade and gave our yays or nays to Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, (up the) Ante Zizic, and the Nets' 2018 draft pick. We also discussed the enigma that is Kyrie Irving and whether this trade makes the Cavs better in the long term and short term. Playing the imp's advocate was Tom Pestak who held out hope that Isaiah Thomas and Jay Crowder could improve the Cavs. The rest of us were more... skeptical.Other topics included: are the Cavs' still a finals team? What are LeBron's plans for the Summer of 2018? (Including some inside dirt on the Lakers situation). Can Boston beat the Cavs in the playoffs, (or are they even the East's second best team anymore)? Are the Cavs' still a finals team? We take on all this and more.Advertising Inquiries: https://

Well, it's been a while since we had Ben and EG in the booth, and they were both pretty riled up given recent Cavalier events... so the hot take sparks were flying almost from the jump. Fortunately, Nate was there to keep the friction from becoming a Kyrie vs. LeBron-esque conflagration, so Ben and EG can probably still work together going forward. We got all hot under the collar about the Kyrie situation, who's to blame, what LeBron might do about it, and who's really pulling the strings behind the scenes. The highlight is probably the spirited and scorching hot debate over whether or not a Rose by any other name would be just a Razor (i.e. is Derrick Rose any better than peak Ramon Sessions — Nate did the math and it's closer than you might think).Put on your flame-retardant headphones, grab your fire extinguisher and listen to the guys spit some fire about the Cavalier summer thus far...Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Cleveland Cavaliers haven't done much this offseason and Nate Smith and David Wood aren't impressed in this episode of Cavs:the Podcast. . Lots of malaise over Green and Calderon who by ma ly statistical measures are in the 10th percentile of NBA players. The also argu vehemently on whether or not Cleveland should consider trading LeBron James. Before you get up in arms, one of them thinks this is a ridiculous idea. Unimpressed with the job the front office has done, they discuss ade targets from nearly every team in the league, and delve into whether a Carmelo Anthony deal could actually work. To cope with the stress, they wrap things the show playing a riveting game of who is better than Jeff Green and Jose Calderon. Guys like Brandon Knight, Austin Rivers, and Ersan Ilyasova get some mentions. Check it out to find out who is better than the worst and who is worst than the the tenth percentile.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

EvilGenius and Nate Smith, still reeling from as blustery an offseason week as ever we've experienced, teamed up in the podcast booth to dissect the proceedings since the Finals. At the top of the topic list? David Griffin's firing. Did Dan Gilbert have a plan in place, and if so why is it taking so long to execute? Or did things fall apart at the drop of a hat, with Gilbert scrambling to fill the vacuum? We tackled the Kevin Love rumors too, draft night, the madness of Phil Jackson, free agency ideas, and so much more.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nate, Tom and EG spent an extra-long session in the booth following this final game of the season. We touched on this game, the series in general, and reflect on the entire season, as well as discussed the immediate future of both teams, what the Cavs need to do to improve, and where we go from here. Fair warning, this pod does get awfully long in the tooth. But, hopefully, it helps in coping with the end of another Cavalier campaign. We've greatly enjoyed bringing you all of our news, views and hot takes throughout the season... and we wish you all an awesome summer from Cavs: the Blog.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the infamous words of Roy Scheider… “we’re gonna need a bigger boat.” The Cavs played much better overall in returning home for Game 3 of the Finals… had their biggest lead of the series (seven) in the fourth quarter, and still led by six with just over two minutes remaining. Unfortunately, they allowed the Warriors to score the final 11 points of the game, while missing the final seven shots of their own. Maybe they ran out of gas after digging out of another first quarter hole and playing their most intense two and a half quarters of basketball in the series. Or, maybe they just missed too many three point shots (27%) while giving up too many to the Dubs (49%). Or, maybe it’s too much to overcome the combination of mistakes and questionable officiating to edge out an all-time talented team. In the end, it doesn’t really matter, because the result is an 0-3 deficit. If any team can rebound from this predicament… it would naturally be the team that overcame improbable odds to come back from being down 1-3.

Episode 137: Enough Talk! by CavsTheBlogAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nate, Mallory and EG jumped into the booth to recap the Cavs' 12th straight playoff victory (dating back to last year's Finals), break down the awesomeness of LeBron and Love, examine just how underwhelming the Celtics were, and take a brief peek ahead to a potentially looming rematch. We also journeyed down an entire mess of rabbit holes covering everything from MVP candidates, top coaches and GMs, Mallory's busy concert schedule, and whether teams need great point guards to win championships.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nate, Tom and EG gathered around the podcast booth and raised a few toasts to the Cavs for their performance in this initial second round game (they're now 16-1 at home in the playoffs the last three seasons). We speculated on what changes or adjustments the Raptors might make in Game 2, and whether or not they'd be able to make it a more challenging series. We took a look at some of the other series, including the now almost karmic cause in Boston and tonight's carnage in San Antonio. We also debated if Mike Brown subbing for Steve Kerr would slow down the Warriors at all... which quickly devolved into Tom and EG arguing the legacy of the twice former coach of the Cavs.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nate, Sam, and EG spent some time in the booth breaking down the particulars of Game 4, the entirety of the first round against the Pacers, and discussed some trends we saw with the team and Ty Lue's approach to how they handled Indiana. We touch on LeBron's greatness, the madness of Kyrie, whether or not it was the last showing of PG-13 in Indy, and if we feel sorry for Jeff Teague and his 0-12 record against the Cavs. We also checked in on the other series, many of which are far from over, including the currently deadlocked matchup of potential second round opponents for the Cavs. Do we prefer to face the length and inexperience of the Bucks... or the veteran savvy and shooting of the Raps? Take a listen to hear that and much more on this sweep, sweep podcast.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

One game into the 2017 NBA Playoffs, things are playing out pretty much as expected... unless of course you're a Celtics, Raptors or Clippers fan and you find your home court advantage got cracked like an Easter egg. From a Cavalier perspective, Game 1 against the Pacers might have been a wee bit more fragile than we hoped for, but still a close win is better than a close loss. Nate and EvilGenius hopped into the podcast booth tonight to revisit some of the finer points of Saturday's Cavs matinee playoff debut. We also discussed the curious absence of Iman Shumpert from the rotation, whether or not this season's malaise has seeped into the fanbase, and cracked open the other first round series... some of which have provided early surprises. We even speculated about why missing out on the number one seed might have been a good thing for the Cavs, and why the Raptors should really be fearing the deer right about now. Catch all of this, and some bonus discussion of David Griffin's future in this

Nate Smith, Tom Pestak, and Samuel Meyer trudged to the podcast booth to cathartically rant about two consecutive epic fails against the Hawks, the Cavs' bizarre decision to cut DeAndre Liggins and sign Dahntay Jones, Ty Lue and his inability to manage minutes, why the Cavs aren't just resting guys, the ridiculously bad officiating, the Cavs' amazing ability to screw things up, the playoff race, the Cavs' chances, and so much more.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nate, EvilGenius, and newcomer, Sam Meyer, jumped into the booth to discuss the big double OT win, whether or not it means the Cavs are back on the right track, what the rest of the schedule holds, and how large Wednesday’s showdown with the Celtics looms. We also touch on LBJ’s dustup with Tristan Thompson late in this game, and speculate on some potential first round opponents.The Cavs won Sunday,, but they didn’t make it easy on themselves against the visiting Indiana Pacers. In fact, it took an extra 10 minutes of time to finally decide the matter… not to mention another triple double from LeBron James (his 11th on the season), and some significant contributions from Kevin Love, J.R. Smith and Kyrie Irving in the overtime periods. Still, the wine & gold were able to build on the positives they’d established two nights ago against the Sixers, and avoided falling another game behind the Boston Celtics for the top spot in the East. There was a noticeable defensive improvement, except where Paul George wa

Nate Smith and EvilGenius got in the podcast booth to cover the Cavalier Malaise, the best player on the floor tonight (Kawhi Leonard), why the Cavs don't seem to run plays, if it's too late for the Cavs to improve their interior defense, and speculate on whether or not the Cavs can still capture the top seed in the East (they lost that distinction tonight for the first time since November... of 2015!). In all, it was a pretty cathartic ventilation of the current state of basketball in the Land. Only time will tell if this trend is an indication of the limitations of this once Championship level team... or just a low flying panic attack...Forgive the dark allegory, but I just happened to be listening to the first track (Burn the Witch) off the most recent Radiohead album while typing up this brief description of the devastation that occurred in San Antonio tonight. If you had any doubts that the Cavs’ defense could fall further than it had already since the All Star Break (or even the previous hemorr

Tom Pestak, EvilGenius, and Nate Smith tried to ignore all the tinsel in the broadcast booth as fired up a pre-Christmas pod. The Warriors matchups, both in the Finals and at Christmas, were heavily in our discussion as we looked back and looked ahead to the December 25th showdown. Much of our bull session revolved around whether the Cavs need another big man, or even if all the big men they have are all that important. We also talked about Nerlens Noel, David Blatt, rings for Timo, Delly, and Much Danger Ninja. We tackled the important questions. Why have Cavs fans turned on Andy? Bigger flopper: Andy or K-Love? What Cavs' swag is on your wish list? Then Tom expounded on his Friday piece about NBA players going broke and about how certain completely unbelievable and debunked pieces of information can get recycled in the medium for the better part of a decade. Finally, if you're still listening, we've got some bonus coverage on holiday movies, Star Wars, and the best war movies. Happy Holidays, Ca