Are the Cavs relying too much on the long ball? Wine and Gold Talk podcast

Takeaways:

1. Donovan Mitchell’s “Superhero” Return Carried an Injured Roster

The primary reason for the Cavaliers’ victory was the return of Donovan Mitchell, who delivered a “superhero showcase” after missing one game with hamstring tightness. Mitchell scored nearly 40 points efficiently, shooting 8-for-15 from three-point range, and provided essential leadership and stability. Whenever the offense became “wonky” or “clunky,” Mitchell settled the team down with crucial buckets. The hosts noted that his impact was felt immediately through the team’s confidence and structure. While acknowledged that this heavy workload is more than what the team would ideally want from him, it was deemed absolutely necessary for the current injury-depleted Cavs to remain competitive and scrape out wins.

2. Defensive Success Came with a Major Caveat

The Cavaliers’ defense was disruptive, forcing 22 turnovers which led to 33 points and generating 20 more field goal attempts than their opponent. The team effectively executed Kenny Atkinson’s game plan to pressure the ball handlers, setting the tone with nine steals in the first quarter alone. However, this impressive performance was heavily contextualized by the opposition’s weakness. The Atlanta Hawks entered the game as a bottom-10 NBA offense and were playing without their primary engine, point guard Trae Young. The hosts cautioned against overstating the defensive turnaround, suggesting the real test will come against higher-quality opponents like the upcoming matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.

3. The Offense Remains Deeply Troubled and Inefficient

Despite the win, the Cavaliers’ offense continues to struggle significantly, described as one of the worst in the NBA. The team works incredibly hard to generate quality possessions, often resulting in stagnant, iso-heavy plays. The absence of key creators and floor-spacers like Darius Garland and Sam Merrill has crippled their offensive flow, leaving them without a consistent go-to action when the offense bogs down. Fedor concluded that, in its current state, the Cavaliers are likely to remain a bottom-10 offense. They will have to rely on a “scrappy, rugged, tenacious defense” to win games until their key offensive players return to the lineup.

4. An Excessive Number of 3-Point Shots Signals Offensive Settling

A major red flag was the Cavaliers attempting 57 3-pointers. Even though they made 20 of them, their overall offensive rating for the game was “horrendous,” equivalent to the 28th-ranked offense in the NBA. This highlights a significant issue: the team is settling for perimeter shots instead of executing their core offensive philosophy of driving to the basket to collapse the defense. The team ranks 27th in the NBA in drives, a clear indication they are not playing “Cavs basketball.” Even Donovan Mitchell, despite his efficiency, took 15 threes compared to only six shots inside the arc, showcasing a team-wide trend of taking the path of least resistance rather than creating better looks.

5. Injuries are Forcing Rotational Experiments and Highlighting Positional Needs

With four of their top eight players unavailable, Atkinson is being forced to experiment with unconventional lineups, from “super big” groupings to “super small” ones featuring Dean Wade at the center position. These rotations are born of necessity and are highly situational. The discussion also highlighted the reasoning behind lineup decisions, particularly why the struggling Larry Nance Jr. continues to receive significant minutes over the energetic Thomas Bryant. It was explained that Nance’s value comes from his ability to play the power forward spot — a position of need — making him a more versatile fit in lineups than Bryant, who is considered a one-position center with skills that are “duplicative” next to Evan Mobley.

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Transcript

NOTE: This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and could contain misspellings and errors.

Ethan Sands: What up, Cavs Nation? I’m your host, Ethan Sands, and I’m back with another episode of the One and Gold Talk podcast. Joining me today, Chris Fedor, cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter and we’re coming to you guys. After the Cavs 117, 109 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, they got back into the win column tonight. Chris, this was, in all terms, not a pretty win. It was a win where it felt like the Cavs might not have deserved to win this one. They ended up shooting 41.2% from the field, 35.1% from three point range, 57 attempts from deep. It was another superhero showcase from Donovan Mitchell. What did you take away from this one and why do you think they were able to pull it out?

Chris Fedor: Because they had Donovan Mitchell and the Hawks didn’t. I mean, you just felt the impact of Donovan returning to the lineup immediately, the feel around the team, the confidence around the team, the way that lineup’s set up, the fact that there was leadership, there was maturity out there on the floor. So I know he only missed one game because of the hamstring tightness, and it was the other night against the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Cup. But even without Jared Allen, even without Sam Merrill, even without Darius Garland and Max Strus, Donovan’s obviously the one that that makes everything go. And for him to have the game that he did, scoring close to 40 points, efficient from the field, 12 of 21, efficient from 3, 8 of 15 when the Cavs needed a big bucket, when it seemed like they were starting to go the wrong direction, when their lineups were getting a little bit mucky and their offense was kind of getting wonky, clunky. When Evan Mobley was struggling against Kristaps Porzingis again, you know, it was Donovan that was there to just kind of settle everything down. And sure, the Cavs had other guys step up as well. Jaylon Tyson with big minutes for the team, DeAndre Hunter in the second half, Dean Wade getting into double figures. But tonight, to me was about the return of Donovan Mitchell and him having to do probably a little bit more than what you would want at the beginning of the season. But in the current state that the Cavs are in, it’s just the kind of workload, it’s the kind of responsibility that Donovan’s going to have to take on to make them competitive. Because the team that they were last year, as Kenny Atkinson has said over and over and over again, Ethan, that’s not the team right now. So they just have to find a way to piece it together the best they can and see if they can scrape out some wins. And it took Donovan Mitchell turning into a superhero tonight.

Ethan Sands: Everybody always loves to see the let them know Twitter post that Donovan makes pregame where he kind of makes his return, but obviously before each game, he does that when he’s going to play. So that was kind of like the bat signal today or the Spider signal for Spider man fans. Of course, Spider Mitchell, obviously the heroics from Donovan Mitchell. But the defense was good tonight as well. There were plus 20 in field goal attempts because of that. And I do think that this Cavs team, especially with the offensive flow being so clunky and especially when Donovan Mitchell or Evan Mobley or both were on the bench tonight, you got to see that. And especially when Lonzo Ball wasn’t on the floor, there was a stagnation of how the ball was moving in the creation on that end of the floor. So I do think that this was another one of those games where you saw the impact of the defense and what it can be and what it needs to be, especially without guys like Darius Garland, Max Drew, Sam Merrow, who have been out for the last couple of games now. And I do think that this is another indication of where the Cavs want to be defensively, even when they return.

Chris Fedor: Yeah, I think so. But they need to show this kind of level against better quality opponents. You know, the Hawks came into tonight’s game, Ethan. It’s a bottom 10 deep offense in the NBA and they didn’t have Trey Young, and Trey Young historically has given the Cavs problems. So I think what the Cavs did is they recognized flaws and weaknesses with the Atlanta Hawks and they expose those. And that’s good. That’s what you want. The other night against Boston, you know, Kenny Atkinson said that the primary thing that they talked about in their scout was rebounding and not giving up offensive rebounds and not losing the possession bet. And then what happens? They lose the possession battle against Boston and they give up too many offensive rebounds and they get out rebounded for the entire game. So that was an example of not like following through on the things that that Kenny was demanding out of them. I think tonight against the Hawks, there is no Trae Young. They don’t have an actual point guard on the roster. It was a little bit of Dyson Daniels. It was a little bit of Nikhil Alexander Walker, who’s a combo guard. It was a little bit of Jalen Johnson, who’s a big point forward, I guess But Trey Young is the engine to the Hawks offense. He’s the guy that organizes them. He’s the guy that handles the ball on a majority of the possessions. So the Cavs recognized, hey, they don’t have Trey. Let’s pressure ball handlers. Let’s see if we can make them uncomfortable. Let’s force them to start their offense a little bit further out. And for the Cavs to have nine steals in the first quarter and kind of set the tone defensively, it was good to see that. There’s no doubt about that. That’s the kind of thing that Kenny Atkinson wants. He wants more of a disruptive type of defense, and they followed through on that. But again, I think we have to put it in perspective. That was a team without a point guard and that was a bottom 10 offense in the NBA. So if we want to talk about the Cavs and if we want them, or if they themselves want to elevate into this top 10, top five, top three, maybe even one, they’ve got to show that they can be this, this kind of disruptive defense that we saw against the Hawks against better quality opponents. How about Wednesday against Philly? How do they handle Tyrese Maxi? How do they handle VJ Edgar? How do they handle a team that is off to a surprising and. And better than expected start? That. That to me is what I’m looking for from the Cavs. But. But it was good signs, I think, for them defensively, just with the overall intensity, the overall disruption and I think the following through on some of the points of emphasis that that Kenny Atkinson had coming into the game.

Ethan Sands: And Chris, you mentioned where the Cavs have been lacking and where they need to improve. I do think that again, on the offensive end, the ball creation is something that we’re still looking for, especially in minutes where Lonzo Ball isn’t on the floor. And as we’ve talked about with him, they’re still managing his minutes. But it feels like minute restriction is kind of in flux. Right where at the beginning of the season we saw closer to 23 minutes a night, now we’re seeing 26, 27 minutes, which is a little bit more than I might have been expecting earlier on into the season, but it’s been impactful minutes. In seven or more fourth quarter minutes on the floor, the Cavs posted a 145 offensive rating and were a plus 11 when he was on the floor. So I do think it’s interesting to see his impact, especially when it comes to pushing the pace, getting the ball where it needs to be. And of course, creating turnovers, which again, The Cavs created 22 turnovers and made those into 33 points on the other end. That’s exactly the kind of style that Kenny Atkinson has been preaching since the off season, since training camp and how that’s going to affect their flow of the offense, especially without so many key players.

Chris Fedor: Yeah, I just think we kind of have to reset expectations on what’s a great offensive night or even a good offensive night for this version of the Cavs. Ethan they have to work so hard on the offensive end of the floor right now to generate quality possessions. And there were so many times that they were running their offense and I was thinking to myself, well, that’s way too many dribbles for Evan Mobley or that’s way too many dribbles for DeAndre Hunter. Can they run something? Can they get organized? Can they get into some kind. Can they find some pathway to consistent success? Is it the pick and roll? Is it the inverted pick and roll? Is it DHO stuff? Is it double drag stuff? What is it that they can go to when things start really bogging down that can just take them out of that. And I don’t know that they have that right now. And I think it makes sense because, you know, one of your organizers, one of your primary creators, Darius Garland, hasn’t made his season debut. Sam Merrill, a guy who is creating chaos for you on the offensive end of the floor, you know, spacing, gravity, cutting, constant movement, you just lose some of those elements when you have this kind of situation that you’re trying to navigate with, with all these different absences. So the Cavs have one of the worst offenses in the NBA and I just don’t know how that’s going to get better until they get more of these guys back in the lineup. Because some of the guys that are high minute guys right now for the team just based on the situation that they’re in, and I don’t think it was the plan, but it’s just sometimes you have to work with what you got. Some of those high minute guys, Dean Wade, specifically, how much of an offensive threat is he going to be on a nightly basis? Larry Nance Jr. He has not been good to start the year, especially on the offensive end of the floor. He’s looking for his outside shot. So I just think in, in this current state, I think the reality is the Cavs are probably going to be a bottom 10 offense and I don’t see the ceiling for this team until, you know, they Start to get more of these bodies back in. Even Lonzo Ball, you know, it was a better night for, for him from a shooting perspective, but still not the kind of offensive impact that certainly Ty Jerome had last year for the Cavs coming off the bench, you know, so there are just so many other elements of this team that are currently missing right. Right now that, that are different from last year. And I think they’re going to have to be what you were talking about, that scrappy, rugged, tenacious defense, because they just don’t have the offense that, that can erase mistakes or can make up for. How many droughts have they had, scoring droughts have they had this year? I mean, it’s six games into the season. I think they’ve already had more scoring droughts than they did in 82 games last year. So it’s just something that they’re going to have to continue to work through at the beginning of the season. But, but I do think the reality is this is a much more limited offense that just doesn’t have the firepower that, that we grew accustomed to last year.

Ethan Sands: Chris, I want to say one more thing positive before I start getting into the more serious conversations. You mentioned the intensity that was required as we’ve talked about throughout the beginning of the season, getting back to the off season. Jaylon Tyson, great on that end of four again tonight to go along with his offense. Yeah, bad fouls. That’s where I was getting next. Five fouls. A guy that had three fouls within the first like minute and a half of the third quarter. Not good. Especially when we talk about fouling on the perimeter being something that Kenny Atkinson wants him to avoid. But Craig Porter Jr. Was great defensively again as well. I know some fans are going to look at the box score and be like, well, he was a minus six. Yeah, well, he make an impact in ways that you don’t see a six foot one guard doing. He had seven rebounds. Chris, we talk about this issue on the boards and they lost the rebound battle again, but it was much closer than has been to start this season one and two. I mean this is a guy who was six foot one and had the second most rebounds on a team with a seven footer in Evan Mobley who had eight. And sure, we can talk about the group rebounding and how boxing out can lead the guards doing that, but him and Lonzo ball, Craig Porter Jr. And Lonzo Ball were terrific on the glass tonight. I think it’s very important what the Cavs want to do. I think it’s important that they are kind of getting into this mentality of just go get it. It doesn’t matter who it is. I will say this to start off, my negative takes Evan Mobley. There was a ball that literally just rolled by Evan Mobley and was going to the out of bounds on the other side. And Donovan Mitchell says, evan, you’re not going to go get it. Okay. I guess with me and my hamstring tightness, I’ll run down the floor and see if I can get to it. I would rather have seen Evan Mobley try and go get that ball. But that’s a small potato in the grand scheme of things.

Chris Fedor: I mean, going back to Craig Porter Jr. So I think the thing that stands out to me is with all of these role players, we always ask, okay, what’s your thing? What is the thing that’s going to get you minutes? What’s the thing that’s going to keep you on the floor? And I think to some degree, Ethan, I think Craig Porter Jr. Still kind of looking for it, but. But I don’t think he’s going to get the opportunities, enough of the opportunities to organize the offense, get them into their actions, have the ball in his hands as a true quote, unquote, backup point guard, because the backup point guard responsibility is Lonzo. So it seems like to me it’s only six games into the season, but it seems seven games now into the season. It seems like to me, Lonzo ball has. Has more trust from Kenny Atkinson in terms of that aspect of the game. Organize, get us into our stuff. And Lonzo’s got to cut down on the turnovers, no doubt about it. But just the. The. The responsibility of being the. The backup point guard and. And the secondary creator for this team behind Donovan Mitchell, that. That’s Lonzo’s thing. That’s going to be Lonzo’s thing. So what else can you do? If you’re somebody like Craig Porter Jr. You have to hustle, you have to get deflections, you have to pick up 94ft. You have to see if you can be disruptive on the defensive end of the floor. And like you said, Ethan, can you get some offensive rebounds? Can you finish defensive possessions with the rebound, hustle, 50, 50 balls, all that kind of stuff. There was a play in the second half late in the game where Craig Porter Jr. Tapped a rebound, kept it alive, batted it out to the perimeter, and it finished with the Cavs scoring. And Atlanta called timeout. And then Donovan Mitchell’s going nuts on the sidelines he was out of the game at that point. He was going nuts on the sidelines. He comes off the bench and the first person that he greets is Craig Porter Jr. Because he recognized that hustle play that gave the Cavs a second chance opportunity. It was a big moment in the game and that somebody like Craig, who’s really struggling to find his thing on this team, like doing the little things to try and make a difference, doing the little things to impact the game, even on a night where he only took two shots, even on a night where you know he only had a couple of assists, even on a night where he only had one steal, how do you impact the game? How do you make a difference when your number is called? And If Craig Porter Jr. Can continue to do those things, then there’s going to continue to be a place for him in this rotation. Even when Darius Garland makes his debut, even when Sam Merrill comes back from his hip issue that he’s dealing with.

Ethan Sands: Chris, I think that’s a great point. And I think when we keep talking about these energy guys, right? And I don’t know if Kenny Atkinson has legitimately talked about being an energy guy more than Thomas Bryant, right? He talked about it after tonight’s game, like maybe he has too much energy. He’s just a ball of fire running around. And you could see it, whether it’s frustration or joy or whatever. Like anytime Thomas Bryant is on the bench, he’s standing the first one, standing up, like he might have more energy than Tristan Thompson did last year. And obviously when he’s on the floor, like clapping at if he makes a mistake, if he does something. Well, like we saw all these things. And my point when it comes to Thomas Bryant is we talked a little bit about Larry Nance junior’s struggles, and I understand maybe you put him in the starting lineup to get him some reps. With the better first unit, the starting unit, you get them in rhythm. But if A guy is 1 of 9 and 0 of 4 and it’s 6 foot 10 and has got 4 rebounds and has continuously struggled to grab boards, why not give the shot to Thomas Bryant? Why not give him more than five minutes? Donovan Mitchell after the game was like, Thomas Bryant gave us some great minutes. He did, but he only got five of them. Kenny, you rave about the opportunity of giving these guys more playing time, especially at this part of the season, but it doesn’t feel like a guy that was a difference maker for the Indiana Pacers last year is getting the same run. And sure, you’re new. Sure, you don’t have the same skill set potentially as Larry Nash Jr. But I still think Thomas Bryant is enough of a threat from the three point range to make people come out and allow him to get those kickouts as well. But we haven’t seen it. We haven’t seen the opportunity yet.

Chris Fedor: Well, I just don’t think the same opportunity exists for Thomas Bryant because of the position that he plays. I know that the NBA Ethan is positionless. I do. But you still have to put five guys out there that you think are going to fit together. Can Thomas Bryant play next to Evan Mobley? I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s a 4. I don’t think he’s 4. I think the skill sets are too duplicative. Is that a word?

Ethan Sands: Duplicative is definitely a word. I think so, at least. But my, my point, Chris, is Evan Mobley’s a four and a five.

Chris Fedor: The thing with Larry is he gets the backup power forward minutes, or in this case, the starting power forward minutes. So his ability to play the four. The Cavs need a four. They need somebody who can consistently play the four. And I know what you’re saying about Evan playing the four and Thomas Bryant playing the five, but it’s those two guys and their skill sets and the type of player that they are playing next to each other. I just don’t think it works. I, I think like I said, they’re too duplicative. Larry Nance Jr. Fills in the gaps a little and he’s not. And he’s not shooting the ball well and he’s not playing well. So this isn’t defending Larry in the way that he’s playing. It’s just the minutes that Kenny is looking for out of Larry are at the four spot. As long as Larry can play the four spot and he has a pulse, then he’s going to get those minutes more so than somebody like Thomas Bryant. If, if Kenny was looking for somebody to fill the minutes at the five, then it would be a little bit different because he really hasn’t given Larry that opportunity as much because he needs a more at the 4. But in terms of the Cavs and just the way that this roster is currently constructed. Right. The fours are who Larry Nance Jr. Without Jared Allen now available, the fours are Larry Nance Jr. And Dean Wake. Right. That’s it.

Ethan Sands: DeAndre.

Chris Fedor: DeAndre can slide over, play some four. That’s true. Although I, I know that the Cavs like don’t love doing that. Based on everything that happened last year, I think the benefit that Larry is getting is is the position that he plays and the role and the multi positional skill set that he brings to the table which is just different than Thomas Bryant’s a 1 position player. Larry Nance Jr. Is a multi positional player. So that’s that’s going to be a benefit for him when it comes to Kenny making any kind of lineups or any kind of combinations or making any kind of starter reserve type decisions.

Ethan Sands: Yeah, I get it. It’s a brain scratcher for me for sure. Just just because of you mentioned the position is fast approach and also like the four and five minutes and how they’re interchangeable and split between Evan Mobley and Jared Allen. Obviously Jared’s not playing five minutes so he’s getting giving those to other five men. But usually those other five minutes are going to Evan Mobley. It’s a little dance that the Cavs and K axon have to do. So I understand it just a little bit difficult to understand at times.

Chris Fedor: But yes, duplicative is a word.

Ethan Sands: It’s an adjective of duplicate. I I looked it up just to make sure you wasn’t talking crazy on the podcastaurus. You mentioned the five minutes. Chris and I thought it was extremely interesting that in a night without Jared Allen and we have not seen it yet this season, I don’t think but Dean Wade slid over to five minutes tonight and was in a lineup that was small. It was an interesting grouping because Kenny Atkinson went super big and then he went super small. He went with the lineup that had DeAndre Hunter at 2 next to Donovan Mitchell and Dean Wade and Larry Nance and Evan Mobley. And then he went with a lineup that had Dean Wade and and a lot of other guards. But ironically enough, I think the Dean Wade group performed better than the big group one because you would think that the defensive intensity of the big big group would be better, but their foot speed was not able to keep up with the length and the speed of the Atlanta Hawks throughout that period. But that’s just my eye test not having stats in front of me. But when Dean Wade was on the court as a five man, you saw the spread offense that Kenny Atkinson loves to run plus Dean Wade was able to switch 1 through 5. I do think that’s an interesting setup and obviously if Jared Allen’s available, who knows if you actually ever go to that. But with Jared Allen out, what did you think of the small and the big lineups?

Chris Fedor: So during games. I sit next to the same people for home games. We have assigned seats and in the first row next to me is. Is Danny Cunningham from Lockdown. And, and he turned to me and he said, it’s game seven. Did you anticipate this lineup this early into the season? And I had to take a double take and I was like, oh my God, look at this thing. I. I think it’s going to be obviously situational. I think it’s going to be matchup related and I think it’s going to be based on who’s available to Kenny Hackinson, who’s not. I mean, he is just putting things together. The other night against Toronto, Luke Travers got minutes and that was, that was unexpected, expected, but it’s the situation that the Cavs are in right now. Four of their top eight expected nightly guys aren’t available. That’s tough. You just kind of have to experiment with things and you just kind of have to throw things out there and, and see what works and, and what doesn’t work. If, if it’s me and I’m putting together lineups just based on how the Cavs are playing, how they need to play, who needs to be with who and stuff like that. I’d probably lean more towards the length, the size, the athleticism, the tenacity that can come from that, the deflections that can come from that, the steals that can come from that. But. But I think there are going to be moments throughout the course of the game and throughout the course of this early stretch of the season where you do have to downsize a little bit and then you can see, okay, do we get a little bit more speed? Do we get a little bit more ball handling? Do we get a little bit more shot creation? You don’t want to be in a situation, I don’t think as a head coach where you have to make these either or decisions, these give and takes. In a perfect world, you feel like everybody that you can put out there is a two way player and you’re not giving up one end of the floor to benefit the other or something like that. But when you’re this deep into your rotation, you probably do have to make these either or decisions. And I don’t know that I would say that I love the lineup that Kenny used. I don’t know how much he’s gonna go to it moving forward, but in certain situations, I think it’s workable enough based on the opponent.

Ethan Sands: To end today’s podcast, I want to address the elephant in the room. And no, it’s not the CAVs assisting on 75% of their mix, which is a good thing. It’s the fact that they took 57 threes. I mentioned it on a recent podcast with you. This is a Cavs team that was like, dang, how many threes is Boston going to put up last year? And now we’re getting to the point where Mike Lucas from Ultimate Cleveland Sports show is asking Kenny Atkinson if there is a limit, if there is a line where the Cavs should not shoot over when it comes to a three point line. And Kenny said, yes, we probably surpassed that tonight. What do you think about the 573 point attempts and the Cavs having two players and Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Tyson, who shot more threes themselves than the entirety of the Atlanta Hawks offense?

Chris Fedor: Here’s the crazy thing. The Cavs made 20 threes. Now Donovan Donovan made eight of those. But the Cavs made 20 threes tonight, Ethan, and they had an offensive rating of 106.4, which in today’s NBA is just horrendous to try and put that in perspective because you just kind of throw out these numbers and not everybody knows exactly what all of those numbers signify and what that equates to. Just to put it in perspective, 106.3 would be the equivalent of the Washington Wizards, the 28th ranked offense in the NBA. And that’s with making 23. So that’s not really good. That’s too many. 57 attempts is, is too many for this version of the Cavs. Sam Merrill’s not playing. Sam Merrill’s going to get up, you know, 8 to 10, and that’s fine. If he gets up 8 to 10 because he shoots it at 40 to 43% max.

Ethan Sands: Dr.

Chris Fedor: Isn’t playing. He’s a high volume three point shooter. Darius Garland’s not playing and he’s probably going to be in the range of six to nine. Um, so I think this version of this Cavs team that, that we’re seeing right now, I mean, why, why are you taking 57 with the guys that are available on this team, Evan Mobley’s got to play more toward the basket, right? Larry Nance Jr. I know that he’s multi positional and I know that he can stretch it out to the three point line and that’s something that the Cavs like about him. But so much of this offense, Ethan has been predicated on and is going to continue to be predicated on drives to the basket, getting into the paint, seeing if you can collapse the defense and force them into a decision. And I think if you get these driving kicks that lead to open catch and shoots, that’s a little bit different. But, but some of the threes that, that they took that led to the 57. I, I just thought there was more time within the possession to see if they could get a better look. I thought there was more opportunity to say, can we drive a closeout instead of taking this three? Can we collapse the defense instead of taking this three? Can we get closer to the rim instead of taking this three? So I mean, I think, I think it has become easier in the path of least resistance for the Cavs to just lean on the three point shot and just keep the ball out on the perimeter. But, but I don’t think based on the personnel that’s available to them, I don’t think that’s a number that, that Kenny Atkinson and the Cavs should be comfortable with. Not 57, that’s, that’s too many.

Ethan Sands: I agree. And especially with the point of Darius Garland, isn’t there Max Truth? Isn’t there Sam Merrow? Isn’t there three of your best or most reliable three point shooters from last season and this Cavs team is still. Chuck it.

Chris Fedor: I mean, the other thing, Ethan, I, I know when Donovan Mitchell is 8 of 15 from three point range, it’s hard to quibble because that’s 53% from three. That’s, that’s a high number. That is great efficiency for Donovan, but six shots inside the three point line for Donovan Mitchell. Donovan Mitchell, one of the league leaders in drives consistently, it just feels like that’s not who the Cavs are. If you watch the Cavs, like maybe the volume of threes, like that’s part of who they are, maybe the, the tempo that they play at, that’s part of who they are. But when you watch them play, it’s not Cavs basketball because they’re not generating threes the way that they usually do. They’re settling for too many because again, I think it’s easy. Donovan Mitchell is finding a little bit of resistance and the spacing is different. And the threats that share the floor with him, that’s different. The attention that he’s getting from opposing defenses because of the guys that he’s sharing the floor with, that’s different too. But Donovan has always been a high driver throughout the course of his career and he needs to break down in Evan Mobley. Drive to the basket. Donovan Mitchell, drive to the basket. Alonzo. Probably not as much DeAndre Hunter drive to the basket. So I just think so much of what the Cavs do on the offensive end Ethan is supposed to be about break the paint first, dry first and then kick. And you’re just not seeing as many signs of that, especially from Donovan even, even in the game before he got shut down with the hamstring tightness, the one against the Boston Celtics. I mean that kind of shot profile for Donovan Mitchell.

Ethan Sands: Yeah, I, I don’t.

Chris Fedor: He had. He had 12 shots total and nine were from three point range. There’s just not enough balance there in in Donovan’s G. Again, tough to criticize because he’s averaging about 30 points per game and he’s shooting the ball so well from three point range. But there just isn’t that kind of that kind of attack mentality that that breaks down and puts the defense in a different kind of bind.

Ethan Sands: Kristen, we’re getting a little nerdy real quick. I’m just going to rattle off the the Cavs stats from the Advanced stat page on NBA.com real quick so we can get out of here. The Cavs ended the night with an offensive rating of 1093 and defensive rating of 1019 for a net rating of 7.5 which isn’t bad, but against an Atlanta Hawks team that didn’t have Trae Young little queasy. But I do also think it cannot go unnoticed or untalked about that Donovan Mitchell made a point even when talking about something else in tonight’s postgame press conference about I’m not dunking as much this year trying to save myself. I got one hamstring tightness. I’m a little sick thought I’m trying to save myself because you know we got places to be and things to do come April, May and June. But I do think that that’s all very important. Even though having to score 30 points 30 plus points in four of his six contests this year cannot go overstated and I don’t think the Cavs want to have to rely on him that kind of way. But it’s good to see that he can continuously do that and is finding ways to limit himself to be available when it comes down to the time that matters.

Chris Fedor: You know where the Cavs rank amongst drives in the NBA?

Ethan Sands: Horrible. Because the last time we talked about it with Kenny he was not happy.

Chris Fedor: 27Th in the NBA.

Ethan Sands: It got better since the last time it was 29th. 29th the last time we talked to Kenny.

Chris Fedor: Hey, must have been those drives by Luke Travers the other night against the Toronto Raptors.

Ethan Sands: Then he was getting swatted to the first row.

Chris Fedor: He was driving. He was getting swatted, but he was driving. So maybe he boosted those numbers a little bit. But yeah, I mean, for a Cavs team to be 27th in the NBA and drives, it’s just not who they are. It’s just not how they. How they want to function offensively.

Ethan Sands: All right, Chris, let’s get out of here. With all 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. This is where you can send in your weekly hey, Chris questions, but you can only do so if you sign up for a 14 day free trial. Or visit cleveland.comcavs 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. We can tell you that the people who sign up stick around because this is the best way to get inside the 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. John, be safe. We out.