Reacting to the Cavs’ historic season opener: Wine and Gold Talk podcast

Takeaways:

• The Cavs are excited about the new season and coaching changes.
• Evan Mobley is primed for a breakout season and showcased the potential in Game 1 of 82.
• The Cavs’ offense showed promising dynamics in their opener.
• Defensive performance was strong, with significant contributions from the starting lineup.
• Kenny Atkinson is still experimenting with player rotations and pairings.
• Donovan Mitchell’s presence helps free up Evan Mobley offensively.
• Dean Wade’s low-touch role is vital for the team’s success, especially with Max Strus sidelined.
• The Cavs showed a new intensity coming out of halftime, one that they lacked regularly last season.

Listen using the player below:

You can also listen using your preferred podcast app. Subscription information is below.

Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The video version of the podcast is on YouTube as well.

Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.

Ethan Sands

What up Cavs Nation? I’m your host, Ethan Sands, and I’m back with another episode of the Wine and Gold Talk Podcast. Joining me from Toronto after the game one of the season, Cleveland Cavaliers beat reporter, Chris Fedor. Chris, atmosphere. feel? How did it feel just to be back in an arena and getting your feet wet with game one?

Chris (00:40.398)

Felt great. Even you could sense the excitement from all the players. They have big aspirations coming into this season, obviously. They’re coming off back-to-back playoff appearances. Got to the Eastern Conference semifinals last year. They feel really good about the team that they have in place. They feel really good about Kenny Atkinson as the head coach. The offensive changes that they want to make. The defense that they still believe in. So there’s a lot of excitement, obviously, surrounding the game.

And I think there’s a sense from the Cavs internally of not, hey, what about us? But, know, so many people are focused on New York because they made all these big changes in Philadelphia because of the splash that they made in the off season and all these different teams around the Eastern Conference that are new and different. And with that comes excitement, with that comes intrigue. And the Cavs are just kind of sitting there saying,

Hey, we were really good last year. We got to the Eastern Conference semi-finals last year. We understand that we lost that series against Boston. We understand that maybe the seven game series against Orlando was surprising to some people and it was more competitive than maybe some people thought it was going to be. But like, don’t forget about us here because we’re still here. We’re still really good. We’re really, really talented.

And one of the things that we believe was holding us back, that coaching has been changed.

Ethan Sands (02:15.744)

And this is a new season, and obviously you mentioned it, like the fans across the NBA have been looking in different directions. Chris, you probably know this better than anyone. It’s like when you give a brand new toy to a kid and it’s like, this is brand new. It’s sparkly, it’s shiny, it’s new. This is great. I want to play with this. And then they’re like kind of going away from the old toy, the old reliable toy that they had for the last two, three years, whatever. And…

Now they’re focused on the new one, but the old toy will always be there when the new toy doesn’t do what you think it is. And in some teams cases, that new toy might have some wrinkles or even a hole in it that the kid has to find. Talking more so about the Philadelphia 76ers playing without their two biggest stars in opening night. But I wanted to talk about how this was the perfect start for the Cavs, right? There were…

maybe one or two things that you could take away negatively from this game outside of those two things. This was a great start, not only to the Kenny Atkinson era, but also getting a look at this new offense, getting a look at Evan Mobley taking the next step, seeing how Donovan Mitchell was going to be able to fare in that kind of offense. And then because they took such a big lead, they were able to

play more rotation players, get a look at those players. And Jaylen Tyson as well was able to get his first bucket in the NBA. So a lot of different things we need to go through first and foremost. Chris, obviously, let’s recap. 136-106 victory over the Toronto Raptors. this was tonight’s 136 points are also the most the Cavs have ever scored in any regulation road.

Game so that means regular season only no overtime. This was the best that they have done back Since the last time that they were close to this was when they had 135 and it was march 3rd 2017 right Not to mention that this was the most the team has ever scored in a season opener So when I talk about getting off on the right foot, that’s

Ethan Sands (04:38.156)

Pretty much the best that this team has ever done in franchise history. Chris, what did you take away that was most notable, especially from the offense?

Chris (04:48.728)

Yeah, to me the thing is, Ethan, is we were having all these conversations about, okay, the Cavs want to make all these changes offensively, but what is that going to mean for their defense? And the fact that they were able to play the way that they wanted to play offensively, with the spacing, with the pace, with the ball movement, with a different hierarchy, Evan Mobley more involved, the fact that they were able to play that kind of style.

the style that they believe is going to help them take the next step. While at the same time being a suffocating defense. Look, we have to put this in perspective. It was Toronto. They didn’t have RJ Barrett. Emmanuel quickly got hurt. It’s the first game of the season. They didn’t play against Boston. They didn’t play against Philly. They didn’t play against New York. But like everything that they talked about wanting to do and everything that they talked about wanting to be, they were tonight.

against Toronto. They had an offensive rating of 131.5 and a defensive rating of 102.2 despite the fact that there were more possessions throughout the course of the game, despite the fact that they were playing with a faster pace, despite the fact that their floor balance was a little bit different because the spacing was a little bit different and where the guys were lining up, that was a little bit different too. So for them to be that dynamic offensively,

while being that suffocating defensively, that to me is the thing that stood out the most. Beyond that, I think it’s obvious. Tonight did not feel like an anomaly when it comes to the usage of Evan Mobley. Tonight feels like Evan Mobley’s awakening. And Kenny Atkinson has talked for weeks, maybe even months, about making sure that Evan Mobley is more involved throughout the course of the game.

making sure that he’s more of a focal point. If we go back to last year, Ethan, tonight, Evan Mobley led the team in scoring. If we go back to last year, he did that five total times, five throughout the entire regular season. He’s already done it here opening night. For a majority of the game, it didn’t finish this way, but for a majority of the game,

Chris (07:13.078)

Evan was leading them in touches and in field goal attempts. You know how many times Evan Mobley led the team in field goal attempts last regular season? Three total times. So it isn’t just coach speak, right? It isn’t just organizational lip service. There is a clear commitment and this goes to the players too. Darius, Donovan, Jarrett Allen, Caris LaVert.

Ethan Sands (07:24.736)

Two.

Chris (07:43.116)

There is a clear commitment in this organization to help Evan Mobley become a star. And that means he’s got to be better, more consistent, more dominant on the offensive end. And tonight he was. The way that he was used tonight was very, very different than the way that he had been used in the past. Inverted pick and rolls, rebound and push, get him the ball on the move, in space.

feels like something that is going to be not just an afterthought offensively, not just a, you know, one quarter type thing. It feels like it’s going to be a staple of this new look offense.

Ethan Sands (08:34.634)

And you mentioned the defense and I wanted to touch on just some stats while going through and figuring out how this starting lineup is so dangerous on the defensive end, especially with Dean Wade in there alongside Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, right? Obviously the twin towers of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley combined for seven blocks, seven blocks in the season opener. And then they also, the entire starting lineup,

Chris (08:52.462)

Mm-hmm.

Ethan Sands (09:04.684)

had 8 steals on their own. Donovan Mitchell had 3. Dean Wade had 2. Evan Mobley had 2. Jarrett Allen had 1. Right? Like this is a team that is not only switching, helping each other on the back end of the defensive end, but it also allows them to use their intelligence getting the passing lanes, especially Donovan Mitchell. Obviously Darius Garland didn’t have the game that he wanted to to start the season.

got into some foul trouble early, it was difficult for him to get into a rhythm, but you could see that he was making progress once he got into the game, but getting him into a flow is something that we’ve learned with Darius Garland is when he’s at his best. And the other thing that I wanted to touch on was how good the bench was. How good Kenny Atkinson was plugging and playing different players in, right? You don’t expect your starting point guard to have three fouls in the first couple of quarters, right?

Chris (09:47.736)

Mm-hmm.

Ethan Sands (10:02.092)

You don’t expect him to be sidelined for multiple minutes, a long stretch, just because he’s fouled or whatever. So now you have to go to Sam Merrill, Caris Laverte, Isaac Okoro. And I think Ty Jerome had a great game as well. Caris Laverte obviously led the bench offense. He had 19 points. The entire bench scored 64 of the 136 points for the Cavs.

Laverte also had eight field goal attempts made in a row, right? It got to the point where I was like, Chris, the game is winding down. It felt like what happened last year with George Nieng when he had that one game, he went off and was almost perfect and then shot a bad shot. I’m like, just please, just be perfect. Let the stat line speak for itself. But he wanted to go out and get one more bucket. I respect it, understand it, all the good things. But.

how Kenny Atkinson was able to put these rotations together and it looked like it was seamless. Sam Mero came in, Carol Zavert came in alongside Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. That’s the other thing that I wanted to ask you about, Chris, is last year Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen were the pairing majority of the time and Evan Mobley and Darius Garland. This year it seemed like they flipped a little bit and had Donovan and Evan on the court a lot. especially to point out that

Donovan’s been trying to push Evan to be more aggressive with the ball. What did you think about these pairings and how they differentiated from last year?

Chris (11:33.74)

Well, even I think Kenny’s still working through all of this and I think he wants to see what works, what doesn’t work in a meaningful game situation. And obviously he came into this season with a plan. came into the season opener against Toronto with a specific plan. But that doesn’t mean that that’s going to remain the plan in January. I think it’s the most logical thing though, if you think about it. Darius Garland is still more ball dominant. He’s more dribble happy.

And somebody like Donovan Mitchell, right? So if you’re going to put Darius out there primarily with Evan, is there still going to be the same rhythm to the offense? Is there still going to be the same flow to the offense? Is there still the same trust that Darius will empower Evan the same kind of way and make sure he gets his touches the same kind of way? Will he draw the same amount of attention?

from the opposing defenses Donovan Mitchell. The answers to those questions are no. Donovan’s a better player in basically every single respect than Darius. That’s why Donovan is an MVP candidate. That’s why Donovan has been to the All-Star game all but two times in his career. So I think there’s an understanding that when Donovan’s on the floor with Evan specifically, that Donovan’s gonna make sure that Evan is involved.

that Donovan’s going to be aware of when Evan needs his touches. Donovan’s going to draw more attention so it frees up Evan and his other teammates. So I think it’s a logical thing. Also, it’s very clear that the Cavs are comfortable and confident in Donovan operating as the de facto point guard. He was out there with Ty Jerome a bunch too, because as we talked about.

Kenny Atkinson likes the size of Ty Jerome. He likes the versatility of Ty Jerome and he believes that he can play on or off the ball, the one or the two. It made sense that they gave some freedom to Donovan to be the lone point guard in that spread lineup. And then they mixed in Ty Jerome toward the tail end of that lineup being out there. It was also very, very notable to me, Ethan, I don’t know

Chris (13:53.998)

If this is going to remain as we go forward but but the minutes that Evan played without Jarrett were longer stretches than the minutes Jarrett played without Evan

Ethan Sands (14:12.67)

Yeah, and I think that’s really interesting, right? Because obviously we’ve talked about the splitting up of the two and how they’re going to disperse the minutes between those two. And it’s definitely gotten to the feeling that on the offensive end, Jarrett Allen is kind of in the way of Evan Mobley and allows him to get more action and go toward the basket more when it comes to when Jarrett Allen’s

court for Evan Mobley, but it’s not the same for Jarrett when it comes to Evan being in his way because there’s still more spacing, right? So I don’t feel like, think you’re right on that. It might be the same going forward, but obviously it’s the first game, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Chris (14:47.533)

Hmm.

Chris (14:56.782)

Right. I also think the way that I understand that Kenny’s going to try and do it when it comes to Jarrett and Evan. Look, he understands the value of Evan as the lone big in a spread lineup. And you can see that at various points throughout the game, especially in the second quarter where the Cavs just dominated the Raptors. 36 to 17, they took control of the game and they never looked back. know, Evan’s able to play on the move.

Evan is able to have more spacing, more freedom, more room to operate, and less defenders in his way, and all those different things. So the way that I understand it is the plan is going to be about half the game with Jarrett Allen and about half the game without Jarrett Allen. And that’s about what it was tonight. Evan played 27-28 minutes, and of those minutes, about 14.

were alongside Jarrett. So it seemed like the rotations were basically what Kenny was hoping for coming into this this night from the standpoint of Jarrett and Evan together, from the standpoint of, you know, staggering Donovan and Darius. And I also thought it was notable that that Donovan came out at the six minute mark of the first quarter so that he would be the one to run that

that bench group, that second unit. Obviously Kenny could have done it the different way and he could have taken Darius out at the six minute mark and had him run the second unit. But I just think there’s a level of trust and belief in Donovan that is higher and it should be than there is in Darius at this point.

Ethan Sands (16:46.816)

And I hit our subtextures up during halftime talking about how the Cavs kinda have struggled when it comes to the third quarter and coming out a little bit slower, especially when they have a lead when it came to last season. I…

Chris (17:00.12)

Harris talked about that after the game.

Ethan Sands (17:02.826)

What do say?

Chris (17:04.504)

He just said, look, in the past, we’ve lost focus at times coming into the third quarter and that’s been our Achilles heel. Like he didn’t want to throw anybody under the bus. But again, like if you listen to players, if you listen to coaches, especially early on in the season, they’ll tell you the things that they didn’t like about the previous guy. And on opening night already, you know, the Cavs are pointing out the fact that

Hey, we had this big lead at halftime and we built on it. We came out with a level of focus and we won the third quarter.

Ethan Sands (17:41.78)

Yeah, I mean they scored 30 points minimum in each quarter of the game like that That’s something that felt like it never happened last year. It was always like, okay We did really well in the first half. We’re gonna do something completely different coming into the third quarter But this this time it didn’t happen that way they came out and they scored 36 points in the third quarter they were able to do go into in a flow almost immediately they were confident and

what we said all of last year, Chris, keep your foot on their necks if the team is down. And that was something like, even with the Raptors not having RJ Barrett, Emmanuel quickly not coming back in the second half, Bruce Brown, all the injuries that they were dealing with, the Cavs said, we don’t care. We’re gonna put all of our effort in and show you how much better we are than you. And for me, again,

Chris (18:18.241)

right

Ethan Sands (18:40.138)

The conversation that we had coming into today was the battle between Evan Mobley and Scotty Barnes, right? And to me, it wasn’t close tonight. Evan Mobley had Scotty Barnes in jail, prison, whatever you want to call it. Evan Mobley was locking him up. He had a team high, negative 33 plus minus talking about Scotty Barnes, and he had just nine points.

three of fourteen shooting like every time he went into the paint it looked like he was second-guessing himself or It looked like he was like, okay somebody come help me cuz I literally can’t go up against somebody that’s bigger and Faster than me when it comes to the first jump Chris, what did you see about Evan Mobley? We talked about it a little bit before the game talking about how he was gonna be aggressive in this matchup He came out and did that

What did you see from him on the defensive end when came to guarding up against Scottie?

Chris (19:40.718)

It was great, Ethan. It’s something that, you know, Serena Winters asked Kenny Atkinson after the game in his post-game press conference about Evan Mobley and what stood out about his performance. And on a night that, you know, he scores 25 points and he’s the leading scorer for the Cavs, he’s a leading scorer in the entire game. Kenny Atkinson says his defense.

The way that he defended tonight, especially against Scotty Barnes, who is obviously the number one name on the Cavs scouting report. That’s the thing that stood out to Kenny. The way that Evan was able to anchor the paint, the way that he was able to switch seamlessly, the way that he was able to guard on the perimeter, do all of the things that make him a perennial defensive player of the year candidate. You saw those things. And as I said, you know, coming into this game,

The fear that the Cavs had in terms of the playing against the Raptors and constructing a scouting report with Scotty Barnes in pick and roll situations and Scotty Barnes being able to attack downhill against the Cavs and Scotty Barnes taking advantage of mismatches after switches and stuff like that. And the Cavs negated all those things. I mean, it was a terrible game for Scotty Barnes. He was dealing with foul trouble.

He was not efficient. He was forcing shots. And it also goes to show you that, you know, he’s in a situation that is a little bit more difficult on him than the situation is on Evan Mobley. Evan Mobley has Donovan Mitchell to take pressure off of him. Evan Mobley has Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen and, you know, Karris LaVert, who would be one of the better players for the Toronto Raptors. Scotty Barnes has to do like everything.

for the Raptors. He’s playing alongside Grady Dick and Ochai Abaji and Jamal Shedd, who I did not expect to play 19 minutes tonight. And, you you start going through that roster and the differences in the situation between Evan Mobley and Scotty Barnes, and it becomes very, very apparent. And oftentimes, you know, production is a result of opportunity and success is

Chris (22:01.59)

a result of the situation that you’re in. And Evan Mobley, I feel like is better set up for success. If the Cavs stick with this and if Evan continues to play at the level that he did tonight against Toronto, he’s set up in a situation for him to blossom.

Ethan Sands (22:25.376)

The last topic I want to talk about before we get out of here, Chris, is how Dean Wade fit into the starting lineup, right? Obviously we understand the value, the invaluable minutes that Max Struce brings to this team, but it’s really hard to replace somebody that does so much. And yet Dean Wade, who is not asking for the ball a whole lot, who is

Gotta move off the ball, gotta play spectacular defense, especially against a bigger team like the Raptors and even the Detroit Pistons that we’re gonna talk about a little bit. Right? So, and they’re gonna play on Friday. Dean Wade felt like he was just out there playing with his friends, like out there playing with the guys, fitting in, switching. You talked about with Scotty Barnes and how he was gonna attack switches and felt like every time he went to one of those.

Dean Wade or Ever Mobley would even push up on those switches and help out a little bit just to give him a little bit of a scare or even just a look. What did you think about Dean Wade’s performance tonight? Even though he didn’t fill up the box score outside of the eight rebounds that he corralled, felt like more with all the tip outs that he had on the offensive glass. But what did you think about his performance in his first time starting as a small forward?

Chris (23:48.142)

just think he makes sense in this starting lineup. If you’re not going to have Max Struce and all the different things that he brings to the table that are so valuable and impactful for this team, then Dean Wade makes more sense than Caris Laverne, he makes more sense than Isaac Okoro, and it doesn’t mean he’s a better player, but you’re trying to find combinations and lineups that fit well, that complement each other. And Dean is a low touch, low volume,

fill a specific role kind of guy. And that’s what they need. If, if Evan Mobley is going to get all these shots and these touches and Darius Garland is going to get all these opportunities to run the offense and initiate and Donovan Mitchell is going to be Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen’s going to have some level of involvement on the offensive end. can’t have Caris out there too. Right. so I think the understanding of

Dean that he has every time he takes the floor of how he can be successful and how what he does can impact his team is really, really important. And I think the thing that stood out to me, Ethan, and this is not a surprise, but he didn’t try to do too much. He didn’t try to be Max Drews out there. He knows his strengths. He knows his weaknesses. He knows how he can impact this team in a positive way.

Defense and rebounding. Defense, rebounding, space the floor, knock down timely shots every now and then, make quick decisions and move the ball. Like that’s what they need from Dean. And he did all those things tonight. And I don’t think he’s ever going to be a guy who puts up these gaudy stats or you look at after 25 minutes and you’re wowed by the things that he does, but he is a glue guy. He is a connector and

He fits in a bunch of different lineup variations because of the little things that he does that don’t always show up in the boxcord.

Ethan Sands (25:56.064)

Yeah, you mentioned those lineup rotations and those differentiations that he’s been in, right? He played 20 minutes tonight, but it felt like he was in so many different lineups that you could, like he was at the three, then he was at the four. I don’t think he played small ball five minutes tonight, but he was just in there and mixing it up and doing what he’s been asked to. Not too much, but when the ball is in your hands and you’re open.

Chris (26:20.651)

Mm-hmm.

Ethan Sands (26:22.924)

shoot the ball. And if you got to match up with the best offensive player on their team or whatever, capable of doing that. Those are the things that we’re looking for from Dean Wade, especially at the three, especially in a role when they don’t want him to be like doing a whole lot and we’re asking for a whole lot. And especially when they want the usage rate for Donovan and Evan Mobley to still be pretty high. But the next time that

The Cavs are going to play is on Friday against J.B. Bickerstaff led Detroit Pistons. Obviously they’ve already played one time, but that was in the preseason. It’s washed. The Cavs lost, but this is a different atmosphere. It’s at home. It’s a different situation. Obviously it’s the first time in the regular season they’re going to play against J.B. Bickerstaff. I bet some of these Cavs players are thinking about how good their offense looked tonight and want to put that on full display.

on Friday. But with that being said, that’ll wrap up today’s episode of the Wine and Gold Talk Podcast. But remember to become a Cavs Insider and interact with Chris, me, and Jimmy by subscribing to Subtext. Sign up for a 14-day free trial or visit Cleveland.com backslash Cavs and click on the blue bar at the top of the page. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. All you have to do is text the word stop. It’s easy, but we can tell you that the people who signed up

Stick around because this is the best way to get insider coverage on the Cavs from me, Chris, and Jimmy. This isn’t just our podcast. It’s your podcast. And the only way to have your voice heard is through subtext. Y’all be safe. We out.