The Cleveland Cavaliers are learning how to win ugly in the early stages of the season

The Cleveland Cavaliers are learning how to win ugly in the early stages of the season

Jason. I do have Jason working on an off day, so that’s dedication. Uh, let’s talk a little Cavs though, guys. They ended up beating the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday by 12. Giannis went out in the second quarter. Tvis, after having a dominant first quarter. He’s gonna, he’s gonna be OK. After the game, Kenny Atkinson came into the locker room or came into the press conference room and was like. It’s tough, man. These are tough. He said the team is in a slog right now. It’s still trying to work through some early season things, get their rhythm right. They’re 10 and 5 on the year despite not playing, — and
— another 0 game for Mobley there, Mike. Mobley though Mobley wasn’t good. Alan wasn’t good. He’s tough to watch. Sam Merrill, it’s so frustrating. I went to the game last night, by the way, Mikey, so I was there. Oh, you were there? Yeah, — I
— was there last night. Text me next time. I’ll come say what’s up. — All
— right, I will. Well, it’s just, um, I, I, dude, between him and Alan. I wanna pull my hair out and it’s already starting to fall out so it, it’s Mobley is, he’s a very talented guy, obviously, but he’s so frustrating. He’s so frustrating when he, he’s like a walking turnover. He, he just doesn’t, he just seems like he’s always not, I don’t know, not smooth for some reason. — He’s definitely not
— smooth. He still looks Bambi-esque. I used this last year. Thank you. That’s a good way to put it. It just like sometimes a, a young deer runs gracefully and sometimes a young deer trips up on his own feet, and there was one possession last night and Dustin, I won’t. — if you remember this where he
— heaved, he shot it with 10 seconds on the clock. — We’ll talk
— about that in a sec. He got the ball 4 ft from the basket with AJ Green, the Bucks’ 6-4 shooting guard on his back, former Bengals wide receiver, of course, — or
— for having a second career. He looked very different. You could take that you want. One’s a shooter. One’s a receiver. He had him pinned with his back to the basket, and he was not able to move AJ Green. AJ poked the ball out. It ended as a turnover. Those are the positions when Evan Mobley catches on a switch, he has to punish teams for switching. And if AJ Green, and he, he had a nice move on another switch later in the game, so he was 1 for 2 on those opportunities. Yesterday, that has to be like a 90% success rate. Like 50% is nowhere near good enough. And yeah, it’s another game where it’s mentality. That’s why I checked out on him. It’s the mentality. If he had, if, if Evan had Donovan’s mentality, he’d be the best player in the league and it wouldn’t even be close. Hands down, but he would be. He’s that man would be unstoppable. Yeah. In basketball in basketball y’all got to get this, — you know
— why? — Because he plays defense and Jokic is just not a
— sometimes, sometimes you got it and sometimes you don’t like there’s these, these evolutionary states where people be like, yo, he about to be crazy and no, sometimes you don’t never evolve. His game is his game. His name is his name like. He came, he didn’t come, first of all, if you don’t come into the league with a certain type offensive game, it’s hard as heck. It’s almost being like, all right, you ain’t a defender. If you’re a minus defender in college, what means you’re gonna be a plus defender in the league? Either you got it or you don’t. I mean, there’s a very 2 or 3 window, 2 or 3 years where it’ll, it could click for you and turn on. Like, put it to you like this, Donovan Mitchell was not at Louisville. Donovan Mitchell wouldn’t know like, oh, I’m, I’m him. But when he got to Utah in them in the first two years, the Hemothy gene just turned on. And when he got the Hemoy gene, it was over. Mobley don’t have the Hemothy gene. We were hoping he’d be Kevin Durant. He’s not even Chris Bosh, bro. No, he was never beat Kevin Durant. No one, no one said that. All right, so we were hoping that you gonna be Chris Bosh. Did you see Kevin Garnett was the, the comp? Yeah, he ain’t gonna be Kevin Garnett. He don’t got, he don’t got a better offense. He got the mentality. He don’t even got a better offensive game than Michael Beasley. He’s not a skilled. Stop that. Who? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, McNuggets. Yeah, I’m no, no, my Evan Mobley stock’s in jeopardy, but let’s not, whoa, let, let’s be clear. You go back, listen, let me go ask LeBron. LeBron been on record. D Wade been on record saying that, that the one of the most offensively gifted players they’ve ever seen in their life — is Michael Beasley in street ball
— settings. Carmelo, he’s never a good pro, man. He was never a good pro. Well. Listen, here’s the thing, man. You always gotta understand it’s about where you go in being a pro and what opportunities you got. Not saying Evan Mobley is exponentially better than, than, than Michael Beasley. What I’m saying to you is the mentality that Michael Beasley has an ability to score from every single position on the floor, Evan Mobley don’t have that. He just don’t have it. Like, and you can work on it if you give him, think about it like this. If you give him the ball in a post on a switch, we’re still talking about is you’re gonna punish him. Now that’s supposed to be barbecue chicken at all times. You got a little on you. I’m, I’m, which way you want it. — It
— took me, it took me all the way to this year, but I’m with Bull. It’s just, it just, he’ll never be better than Donovan Mitchell. He’s, he’s a nice player. He’s a nice piece, but that whole being the best catch, now, you wondered me with that. I, I, this is way too early to have this conversation. It’s unfair, but it’s a little more interesting than a regular season game against the Bucks. You wonder at the end of the year if If Mobley just is what he is, which was last year, really good NBA player, All-Star, second best defensive player in the league, still playing like an All-Star this year. Just, it’s like he’s still playing an All-Star. No, a nice piece. I, I, — I’m not
— saying bad player. No, no, no, no, I’m just saying like. Like, even though we’re down on him this year, — he’s still playing at maybe
— after all this talk of blowing it up, maybe he’s the guy they end up trading at the end of the year. They’ll, he’ll never be the best player on this with this team with Donovan. He’ll never be the best player. And, and frankly, I, I don’t, I don’t know like if he’ll ever be the best player on a team that can compete for a title, right? I just think you can get more for him than anybody else you could trade, probably so, uh, but he’s also the youngest of the group, so like. Maybe that’s the move. I don’t know, because if they, if they flame out early in the playoffs again, you have to change something. So their whole roster, and I don’t want to dive super deep into the second apron stuff, they have this year, next year, and then the roster is getting blown up regardless. Like you have, you have this year, next year, then regardless of what happens just based on how much money these guys are making — and the way
— that will be gone at that point, right? Not necessarily. I mean, he’s through, he’s under contract through then, but no, but I mean that they’ll let him go at that point. They have decisions to make, but they have this year and next year with this current group, and then regardless of what you think of the core for the ancillary pieces, they cannot keep it together past. Not this season, but next season. You’re insulting your own basketball knowledge, which is very high by call it referring to them as the core force. Yeah, yeah, that’s a nice to work. Whatever you think of the combination of Jared Allen, Evan, Darius Garland, and Donovan Mitchell, I’m trying to save seconds here so we could have a discussion. They cannot financially keep that group plus others together past the next season after this when Donovan’s extension, by the way, and this is another thing that’s coming up, Donovan’s gonna be in line for another supermax extension when that comes. He’s going to be 30 years old and that salary for the supermax depending on the new CBA agreement could be like 75 million. It’s a tricky spot and Donovan’s never won a big playoff series, has he? No, no, you gotta, — you gotta think about Donovan’s
— awesome, as great as he is, and we, we, we had comparisons of players, right? We carry comparisons of players and we, we had Donovan Mitchell like, yo, what tier? He’s a tier 2. He’s 22 superstar whatever the case she must, right, right, right, but even if you look at Evan Mobley and why everybody is out on him is because you guys have the, the vantage point of seeing other people that wasn’t even primetime ballplayers like they was good for their area, but he don’t have the offensive game they got. I’ll give you three names and you can’t even refute that his game better than theirs. Let’s start with one, LaMarcus Aldridge, LA. He don’t got that game. — He don’t have Marcus Rodgers game because
— LA punished people and he got that.

Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied for a 118-106 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, who saw All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo leave Monday night’s game due to injury.

Antetokounmpo immediately went to the locker room with 3:03 remaining in the second quarter and did not return due to a left groin strain. The 14-year veteran came into the game tied for second in the league and leading the Eastern Conference in scoring at 32.6 points per game.

Coach Doc Rivers said there would further testing for Antetokounmpo on Tuesday.

Antetokounmpo was listed as probable on the injury report due to left knee patellar tendinopathy, but finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists in 13 minutes.

Mitchell, second in the Eastern Conference in scoring at 30.4 points per game, had 25 points in the first half. It is the fifth time this season he has had at least 35 points in a game.

Sam Merrill added 20 points, including six 3-pointers, for the Cavaliers, who have won three of their last four. Merrill had 11 points in the final 12 minutes as Cleveland took control.

The Bucks, who have dropped three of four, had seven players in double figures. Ryan Rollins led the way with 22 points and Myles Turner added 15. | https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401810096

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
BILT
Turn your rent into rewards and start earning points around your neighborhood by going to https://joinbilt.com/lockedonnfl.
Supply House
Join the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHNFL5 for 5% off your first order.
Peloton
Let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.
PrizePicks
Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.
FanDuel
Right now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Subscribe and ring the bell for the latest talk about the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Guardians, Cleveland Cavaliers and Ohio State Buckeyes: https://bit.ly/ucss_subscribe

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ultclesports

Watch live on YouTube 11 a.m.-1 p.m. weekdays on YouTube and WKYC+ on your Roku and Fire TV apps!

The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show is your daily source of the best conversation about the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Guardians, Cleveland Cavaliers and Ohio State Buckeyes, as well as sports throughout Northeast Ohio. Produced by Mike Lucas, Anthony Antonelli, and Earl Mauldin. Hosted by Jay Crawford, Adam the Bull, G Bush, Jason Lloyd, and Tyvis Powell.