Episode 11

The one where Byron gets fired, and Mike Brown buys Bill Cowher's mansion in Strongsville.

Topics: Byron Scott's firing, potential replacements, Cavs' season in review, goals for next season.


Download (Right click to save)

Subscribe on iTunes

Don't Believe Me, Just Watch: New York Knicks

A true Casanova.

Are the New York Knicks a legitimate contender?
Scott's Answer: You tryin' to get the pipe? 

Someone has to give Miami a run for their money, right?

It would be easy to point to the Knicks’ win last night over Miami as proof that they’re ready to come at the king--and not miss.





To be honest, it’s very hard for me to put much stock in an April regular season matchup like last night’s. Since the Heat’s winning streak ended last week, they've clearly eased up mentally and physically as they get their affairs in order for another deep playoff run.

Point is, the Knicks are legitimate contenders but it would be foolish to use such a small sample size as proof. Over seven games against the same team, you've got to have a go-to strength that’s sustainable and difficult to neutralize, even with extensive gameplanning.

Your meat and potatoes sets have to be lethal in their most basic forms--this requires elite players capable of winning one-on-one matchups. But, to hold up in the playoffs, these sets must have attractive options far out on the decision tree. All of those “If...then...” scenarios must end with at least a good option, if not a great one. If the center doubles Carmelo in the post, then...

Now, what I like about the Knicks roster is that they can score in any number of ways, all of which are good. Coach Woodson can run iso sets with Carmelo, pick and rolls with Felton and Chandler, run JR Smith off screens and let him work, etc.

Then, through each of these sets the Knicks have some deadly three point shooters to kick it out to if the defense collapses. Novak, Kidd, Shumpert, and Prigioni all present the Knicks’ playmakers with appetizing options.

Now, when the Knicks have struggled this year it’s been because the three point shooters have gone cold. They need their shooters--especially a one dimensional guy like Novak--to be locked in if they want to truly challenge the Heat.

Drakenomics 101

By: Scott Barkett

It’s late March, which means only one thing for the post-LeBron Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite a season of impressive efforts against top-tier NBA teams, the real test is just beginning for Coach Scott’s young squad.

The time has come again to focus up and study extra game film. Months of hard work come down to these last few weeks and there’s no way owner Dan Gilbert will accept anything less than the Cavs' best effort.

If a starter has a hangnail? Two weeks rest, minimum. Can't be too careful! And the Cavs must figure out more ways to get Boobie Gibson and Omri Casspi some well earned playing time. That's right...it’s tanking season!

Wait, what?

Okay, so that was a contrived introduction. You knew damn well as soon as you clicked this link that you were going to read about some good old fashioned tanking.

But I didn’t lie—recent history shows that both Boobie Gibson and Omri Casspi are elite level players for any taking team. They’re so woefully overmatched on an NBA court that other tanking teams struggle to pull players off the bench of similar...ability.

For rebuilding teams in the NBA, there are two main schools of thought currently en vogue. One school is packed—think Introduction to Complete Sentences at University of Michigan in the Fall—and the other is a one-room school house with only a couple of pupils.

The former of course is Tankington University, home of Drakenomics 101—In order to reach the top, you must start from the bottom. Like it or not, Dan Gilbert’s Cleveland Cavaliers are unabashedly in this category.

The latter group we’ll call the Prideland School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Prominent enrollees include the Indiana Pacers and the Houston Rockets. After years of scorn, they just installed a couple of brand new Smart Boards and gave everyone an iPad. Now they've made the rank and file at Tankington University quite jealous.

Suddenly, it’s a little less straightforward of a proposition to unconditionally support the Cavs’ rebuilding strategy.

Setting the Break: Luke and the Walton Legacy

“Things turn out the best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.” 

–John Wooden

It’s late November 2007, and Bill Walton’s trademark upbeat mood has turned decidedly melancholy.

“That’s the one I can’t read. It’s too close,” he sighs. “It’s too close.”

As those sentences linger in the air, Walton is finishing up an hour-long interview on Bill Simmons’ “B.S. Report” podcast.

Simmons had brought up David Halberstam’s The Breaks of the Game, a legendary book that chronicled the late ‘70’s Portland Trail Blazers as their dominance was curtailed only by a string of terrible luck. Really, though, the book is about Bill Walton. Halberstam describes an athlete in tune with the essence of the game. A player who learned how to pass, cut, and play team basketball from John Wooden. An NBA champion and league MVP who carried coach Jack Ramsey’s Portland teams on his back until his body completely betrayed him at 25.

When Walton injured his foot during the ’77-’78 season , Portland was 50 and 10. The foot injury was serious, and Walton was done for the regular season. In hindsight, Portland also should have shut him down for the playoffs. Perhaps in 2013, with star players making tens of millions, they would have. But, this was 1978 and the Blazers were trying to repeat as champions. By Halberstam’s account, Walton agreed to take some painkilling shots, and give it a go as the playoffs began. He made it two games before his foot shattered. Walton would never put on a Trail Blazers uniform again.