Missing: Cade Cunningham (Cavs Beat Pistons)

Welcome to the Fear the Frog podcast. I'm your host Bob Schmidt. Thank you for joining me as the Cavaliers are victorious

We can put a bookend on this four game series in the regular season against the Detroit Pistons

But based off how the last half week is gone

There is a distinct chance that the Cavaliers could be staring at a second round matchup against this same Pistons team

They still sit four and a half games up at the time of this recording on the two-seat Boston Celtics

We are three games back of that two-seat now anything could happen. We have a pretty soft schedule

We could finish in that two-three slot and avoid the Pistons in the second round

But I think you could make the argument after watching the four games play out this season despite the two two split

This seems like a pretty favorable matchup for the Cavaliers as they did what they did tonight in the absence of

Donovan Mitchell in the absence of Dean Wade in a game where James Harden was not good at all in terms of his

Efficiency from the floor now. He made plays when you needed him to make plays and the box score would convince you that he had a solid impact

18 points

Seven assists five boards, but just five of 17 from the floor tonight

So without Donovan Mitchell and without the offensive impact that I think many of us expected to see from Harden tonight

Losing Jared Allen probably factored into that

But you got enough from unlikely places including three specific guys. I want to shout out here Dennis Schroeder

Getting to that right hand getting to the rim finishing some scoop layups that could have turned into and ones

Just big plays by him tonight Craig Porter junior a monster on the offensive glass

Five offensive rebounds tonight and the Cavaliers multiple times in this game. You had two three

Shot possessions because of second chance opportunities and finally

Bishop Kernie alum Rochester native Thomas Bryant out dueling the other Rochester

native beef stew on the other side Thomas Bryant just huge minutes tonight including and I don't know how many of you

I mean Jeff and Alabama is a gambling degenerate, but a four point play from Thomas Bryant just as Kenny pointed out in the post game

A fantastic luxury signing. I don't know what to expect of Jared Allen in the moment when he checked out of the game

And they said, I he's not going to return. There was a lot of speculation if it was need any contact

It didn't look super prominent on the video. So then there was fear that oh, could it be a non-contact issue

But Kenny in the post game. He got a knee to knee only update. I got it. It's you know, so yeah, just a knee to knee

He said twice. I'll play you both of those. No definitely it was I think it was a collision thing like I said knee to knee

I don't think it was a twist. I don't want to get too specific here

Now we've seen Kenny get stuff wrong in the post game in the past

But the fact he said it twice makes me feel like okay, we shouldn't panic about non-contact stuff

I'm hopeful they were just playing it safe because he also alluded to in the post game that they were considering holding Jared Allen out

He is an iron man always wants to play wants to keep the momentum going and I get it if you're Allen

You have finally forced their hand to feed the ball to you even in the return of Evan Mowgli

He's still continuing to get touches. I would not want to risk

Upsetting that similar to how Dean can cost himself opportunities due to his

nagging injuries and perpetual inability to stay on the floor

Jalen Tyson tonight made a statement

22 points from Tyson and huge defense against Kate Cunningham

You saw moments of him picking him up full court. You saw some big blocks by Jalen Tyson huge triples throughout this game

And he put him up on volume 12 three point attempts from Jalen Tyson and still above 40% at the end of the day

So a great game from Jalen Tyson

But the frustrating part with Allen is if he misses extended time

There's this little lingering fear in the back of my head that is Evan Mowgli ramps up

And he's starting to look a little bit more aggressive and doing a little bit better out there that I don't want Allen to skip a beat here

So I'm not that

Upset about what happened with Harden tonight because quite simply Jared Allen playing without him Thomas Brian is not a lob threat

Evan Mowgli is less so of the lob threat than a Jared Allen a lot of that element was gone

And yet still behind shrooter behind Craig Port of junior behind Thomas Brian and just some

Heady place by Keon Ellis

I know he followed out of the game tonight, but my god to be able to throw that kind of energy and intensity

At Cade Cunningham for 48 minutes

I think you see the impact of what the Cavaliers can do to a Cade Cunningham in a playoff series because don't fool yourself

The Cavaliers split this series

22

But this felt like a four oh sweep

Dennis Jenkins really was the one who carried him to victory at the end of 2025 there and you could attribute him

You could give the victory to him. I mean really it's the dumb foul by Jalen Tyson and some horrible

officiating at the end and missing free throws a whole confluence of factors as to why the Cavaliers dropped the last game

But what you see from Cade Cunningham we now have the numbers are final the regular season series is over and over these four games

Cade Cunningham is 34% from the floor

17% from deep three of 18 from outside the arc

He's fouling nearly five times a game could have filed out and back to back games tonight

And he's only scoring 19 points per game

That's two games where the Cavaliers have held him to 12 points or less in this four game series

And he's a plus minus of minus 29

He has not been good and despite what you're about to hear from JB Bicker staff

I'll give him a pass on a couple of those bobbled attempts to you know feed the ball to the bigs

In the late game, but his failings fall squarely on his shoulders

Especially on the defensive side of the ball Cade Cunningham tonight was brutal

As an off ball defender

The defense was nearly 10 points per 100 possessions better when he was off the floor

The offense was nearly 50 points per 100 possessions better when he was off the floor

I think you see the impact even in the absence of Dean Wade of a dial in Jalen Tyson

Rising to the moment and Keon Alice and being able to throw just salvo after salvo of high energy

Physical grabby clutchy active defenders to great results tonight

The JB clip I wanted you all to hear from his post game presser because it's gonna fire you up

I mean at 14 assists

So he did the right thing if they're gonna continue to send that amount of bodies at him

You know, he finds its teammates like that's his responsibility

He puts they put two on him, you know, he shares the game again

I'm you know baffled by the fact you know that he drives as much as he does in tonight. He shoots two free throws

He's not a flopper. He's not a flailer. He's a downhill attack guy

You know I'll go back take a look at it

But it just surprises me as much as he drives that he only shoots two free throws tonight

Boo hoo JB win-win-win

The Cavaliers are a terrible matchup for him

Because like JB said in that clip he is a downhill star

He tries to get to the rim. He tries to get to the line

He tries to get inside

But not only do the Cavaliers have two of the most disciplined defenders at the rim in the league

But now as this season trends along they're playing them more together and on top of that

This year's version of the Cavaliers at least defensively speaking

Yeah, I mean losing tie sucks offensively, but defensively speaking

There are three contributors out there now in Jalen Tyson and Keon Alice and Dennis Schroeder

Who are not part of this roster last year so to be able to throw

Deanway Jalen Tyson Keon Alice there is going to be a minutes problem

There is going to be a rotational issue if everybody is healthy come the playoffs

But the nice thing about this extreme

Death is that you can play more physically and I think you see that from a Jalen Tyson tonight

Kenny spoke to it in the post game about how sometimes he feels

What is needed to unlock Jalen Tyson is a challenge and putting him out there against Cade Cunningham tonight

You saw Tyson rise to that challenge you saw him pick him up full court

You saw him playing with physicality you saw him send him away at the rim if Jalen can get to that point for us

Or be that second guy which he's proven he can do that

But I do think Jalen loves when he's the guy doing it right like

You know he's the main guy doing it. We got to keep reminding himself to challenge

He needs a challenge sometimes defensively like that

You know lock into one thing lock into one player

He's really good at that, but man you get a secondary elite wing defender

That's super valuable in this league

Now coming into the night in the previous three matchups

With Jalen Tyson as Cade's primary defender. He was shooting 4 of 12 tonight. He was 0 of 5

So now there was one I guess that you could say it was either on him or Thomas Bryant

But let's be generous 5 of 18 from the field against Jalen Tyson and perhaps my favorite play of the evening was watching him

Send him away at the rim. He did try to sell

You know an offensive push off one time

Fortunately Cade shanked that jumper

But there was a lot of Cade trying to take him on the block and failing whether it be because Jalen got support at the rim behind him

Or because he just walled up and forced him into fade away baseline jumpers

Tyson was incredible tonight

And here's the other thing that's that's pretty exciting honestly Wade has not been healthy

He's only played in one of the four games against the pistons this season

So now you have the luxury of Tyson Alice Schroeder

Wade you can keep that pressure up 48 minutes

You can play without fear of fouls really because key on Alice filing out

Just means you check Tyson back in and Cade finishes missing his final eight shots of the evening

I think the skepticism built around this conversation about the pistons

And if their record is you know fraudulent and can this sustain in the playoffs

We saw a lot of the reason why people are skeptical tonight

Because they don't have somebody to take a lot of the pressure off

I know carus is there I know Jenkins is there

But they got a heroic fourth quarter from Thompson

And Thompson is the guy that most people point to as somebody who could potentially be

Alive ability in the playoffs

And you saw tonight in Moby's return

The ability to be able to let Moby roam is something that Detroit creates

By logging big minutes with Thompson

So that is more of an advantage for the Cavaliers than it is for most of the teams that are going to match up

Against this pistons because Evan Mobley as a guy free to roam

Is maybe more impactful than any defensive big in the league outside of perhaps web and yama

Now rather than me ramble

Let's get to the mailbag because I'm sure there's some people who have some things to say

After what felt like a long layoff for me. I know it wasn't really. It was just Friday

But still

Hey, Bob

Drew from us Virginia here Drew

What a great game it feels like we've been a while since we've had one of these crazy Jalen Tyson

Outbursts like this that's nice to see and hopefully Jared Allen is

Not gone for too long. We really need him

Also, you know, I'm just gonna say it fade cade. All right when it comes to the cast fade cade

Whether it's Tyson whether it's Mobley whether it's Merrill whether it's Dean Wade

I am not afraid of putting any of our decent defenders on him

You know, he's just inefficient fade cade man. I'm not afraid of Detroit at all

I hope we see them in like the second round because I have

100% confidence that we're gonna beat them in playoffs

Which actually kind of bringing me to the question. I want to ask

Who's the teams that you want to face in the playoffs and who do you not right between like

Nick's Celtics

Histons, you know Toronto. I mean, I'm not afraid of Toronto, but you can put them in there too

What's your ranking of those teams?

Thanks for everything you do on the pod man love the pod and

Appreciate all you do catch it next time. Fuck this team Drew. I'm with you fade cade

I just find them annoying the pregame comments from JB now crispy door after the loss

Where the Cavaliers choked that game away by shanking free throws by the failure to execute an intentional foul when you're up

Three that resulted in sending the game to overtime the multiple botch calls according to the league in the last two minute report

All those contributed to the loss

But the the purpose of feed or his article was to say that that game playing short-handed playing without Donovan playing without harden

Dennis Schroeder turned the ball over eight times in the Cavaliers still basically had to wrestle a loss out of the jaws of defeat

Left the calves feeling like we can hang with this team and when asked about that in the pregame

JB said if you mean it

You don't say it anonymously

Essentially painting the Cavaliers as cowards for feeling good about their team in the locker room postgame after a loss

That's some bullshit. This wasn't somebody seeking out a mic to denigrate the pistons

So there's no cowardice here the reason why I would choose the pistons over the nicks and over the Celtics is one very simple reason

It's a solo star construction

The bigs can be great, but I think we have the bigs to neutralize them and you can focus all your energy on trying to take Kate out of the game

The thing with the nicks is while I'm still confident that the Cavaliers could beat them

It's a two-headed monster offensively you have to worry about Carl Anthony towns getting off and Jalen Brunson is a playoff riser

In a way that I know that that's the case whereas Kate has yet to show that Kate did not shoot very well last season

Just like he's three for 18 in this season series with the calves in the class

He was five of 28 from outside the arc including all eight in the closeout game

So he's got stuff to prove to and I would rather take the team who has yet to prove it

Then take on a guy in Jalen Brunson who I think is shown that consistently for the most part he can show off now

Dean has been great against in this season

But give me the pistons first for narrative and personnel reasons

Give me the next second for narrative reasons and because I want to exercise some demons and give me the Boston Celtics third

Because the Tatum is a complete unknown and that variable along with being playoff tested and just the trouble that they've given us

Even with a lesser roster this year. Here's what I will say. I actually think you know

It's a sneaky push to swap out Simon's for Vouch

I get positionally

They needed front court help much more but in the games against the calves this year Simon's was actually solid

16 17 points of game knocking down some triples

I think the Cavaliers there's something to be said for bringing in a

A gentleman of advanced age. I think the Cavaliers defensively will be able to close to him

And it won't be as scrambly and frenetic and five out as you know what you've expected from

This team in the past and the same thing with Tatum coming back in some limited form

I don't think they're going to be quite as good at keeping the calves defense on tilt in these games if we face them in the playoffs

But again to me, I would take much more satisfaction out of Epistons or

Or a Raptors or a Nick's victory in the first and second round

So so if you're asking me who I want in the first round, give me the Raptors

I'm kind of at the point where like if we lose in the first round

We don't deserve to have nice things

So give me all of the people that can squash all of these narratives of past iterations of the calves in one majestic playoff run

The thing I love about this match up versus Cade is the Cade's not going to get rewarded because our biggs are too disciplined

You saw today in a play where he should have been teed up for just exploding on the rest after he failed to convert a basket

At the rim which by the way did not convert any baskets at the rim tonight

05 or 06 I believe he went at Jared Allen who just kept his hand straight up

They could get the biggs and foul trouble in other ways

But Cade is not going to be able to bait those guys into playing recklessly

And then we have the perimeter options to allow to play recklessly and take some chances

I don't think he's going to be able to sustain

Making the type of impact he'll need to make to get past the Cavaliers

Now let's go back further in the mailbag because we face this team twice

And I want to get to Dom in Sydney, Australia who had some comments that I do have thoughts on hey Bob

It's Dom from Sydney, Australia

Long time listen to a big fan of yours. Thank you. Just want to say I know we won today

But I swear to God there has to be some sort of conspiracy because the last few games

Verifying has been terrible

And here we want but that edge eight second call was absolutely

Diabolical in my opinion

Also, I want to say very very happy to see that

Jera Allen and evermobile coexisting well since merby came back

Frankly, I was a little bit worried and I think Kenny mentioned as well that he was a little bit worried

About Allen's production with merby coming back, but it's great to see that he's kept it up

So yeah, I want to know what do you think about that and how do you think things will pan out in the playoffs

Do you still think that Alan will be looked at as scoring option or will things change

Again, I love the podcast all the best

Dom thank you and you left that after the pistons game on friday that ended with the debacle where

Last two minute report by the league revealed three mistakes that went against the Cavaliers versus one

That went against the pistons perhaps the biggest of them being the call against Jera Allen that fouled him out of the game

Certainly the Cavaliers probably win that game with him in the game

He probably wins player of the month

I have pretty strong feelings about what we've seen from these challenges

Cavaliers it just feels like for the last week week and a half or so

Some of the calls that the Cavaliers are being forced to challenge are

Egregiously bad

They should have never been made in the first place and my problem with this rule is this you're allowed two challenges

In a game I feel like the rules should be you're allowed two challenges which you lose after which point

You don't have anymore because if the refs are so incompetent that they continue to screw up the most basic of calls

There was even a moment tonight where the ball went out of bounds on jalen duren on the baseline

It despite the fact the official was standing right there and he looked at the ball hit him on the way up

And then duren reached for it and hit it again on the way out

He called it off the Cavaliers initially and multiple people protested and an official coming from half court had to come back and overrule him

The Cavaliers should not be forced to expend all their challenges because the rest are incompetent

The counter to that and this was somebody said this to me on twitter today that would make the games much longer

Well, perhaps

But if the goal is to get the call right the only way that it would make the game longer

Is if we it keeps being revealed that the calves are getting hosed by the refs if they challenge plays

Like JB did tonight on that obvious foul by Kate Cunningham shoving Jared Allen in the back

Then they're going to lose their challenges and they're going to run out of them

But if the Cavaliers keep winning challenges, why should they be punished for the refs mistakes

There may be a point where you cap it

But the fact that you can use two challenges on just dumb calls

And then you don't get anymore for the rest of the game. It's horseshit secondarily to that you talked about the

Half court the eight second call that was insane. That was absolutely insane

Scrooing something up out of a dead ball when you had a chance to look at a clock before it happened

That should get you you should have to go back and take some sort of math class because that you just can't add and I understand

I'm a homer. I get all those things

But I think this is a rule that every fan base could get behind to your question about do I think Jared Allen and Evan Moby

Consisting I do I have some built in trauma that if this is a long absence

For Jared Allen that it may be detrimental to his involvement

But I wasn't under the illusion that black history month Jared Allen is going to turn into women's history month

Jared Allen and just keep it going all the way through the summer as we ride him to a title that being said

I do think it's heartening that for as much scorn as

Kenny has gotten for starting Dean at the small Ford position when Jalen Tyson has had the year

He's had what it does signify is that defense matters to Kenny now for whatever you may feel about Dean as the starting small Ford versus Tyson

Just put those feelings aside for a second and focus more on the message it sends

Which is that Kenny I think he recognizes that the swing skill for this team to get a better outcome in the playoffs

Is locking in on defense because whether you feel Dean is a small Ford or not or should just be utilized as a backup big

Dean as a small Ford produces are very best defensive lineups 99th percentile

Sub 100 points per 100 possessions and even overall those lineups are in the 97th percentile

Now I think Tyson can be equally impactful

But I think the fact that you can take that as a sign that he understands what may swing the playoff fortunes of this team

Is by being able to just stifle people defensively it speaks well for my confidence that we're not going to go back to the old way

Of ignoring Allen secondarily to that I think James Harden won't let it happen

James has a ton of experience

Utilizing the skills that Allen is better than Mobliad trading for James Harden means this focus on development is over

The focus is on winning period and I don't care that Evan Mobli makes nearly twice as much as Jared Allen

None of that should matter what should matter is that if we're winning and we're playing our best basketball

By unlocking Allen then keep going to it until somebody can stop us

That's been the most consistent take I've had for four or five seasons now is the results have been there

He's better the offense is better with him out there on the floor

Why do we keep resisting this and I think it stopped and I'm happy about that because my whole thing with Kenny is

I'm not going to sit here and tell you definitively that there's a right and wrong answer long term

Yes, Tyson is your starting small for it

That's what we all need to happen and that's what should happen

But if he wants to choose to deploy weight against Brunson because he's been

Tremendously successful if he wants to deploy Tyson if we get a matchup versus the pistons so be it

I don't need it to be static. I don't need all the answers now

I just want to coach who's responsive to what's working and who continues to go to things that are working

Even if they're counterintuitive to his preferred play style now

I would agree with the people who feel like Kenny is holding Tyson to a higher standard than he holds Dean

You know Dean can have a goose egg game or have a bad game

And he's still going to find his way right back into the rotation

But what I would say to that is this

I think he did the same thing with Ty for as much as you can look at as a negative

You can also look at it as what it is

Which is that he expects more out of those guys because they're capable of doing more

I think what he's trying to drive in to Tyson's head before the playoffs in this period where he can send messages

By having him come off the bench is that in this new ecosystem with James Harden

You need to really dial in on the little things

In Jared Allen's case when he's involved in the offense

It impacts the rest of his game with Jalen Tyson when he gets dialed in on the defensive end

I think that confidence feeds into his offensive confidence even when it's in a secondary role

Look at the block he had tonight

On Cade Cunningham that he comes down on the other end and he hits that floater

And tonight I think you saw his defensive engagement lead the way

Which led its way to big offensive shots later in the game

The reason he's harsher on Tyson is because he's and he knows long-term

There's so much more there to unlock

Then with Dean Wade

But he's got to be comfortable playing as a higher priority and a much lower priority

Which sadly

It with the new acclimation of Jared Allen as a big offensive component

With James Harden being dropped in here with Dennis Schroeder being dropped in here

That's just a reality

What Kenny's probably trying to do here is sharpen those edges of the intangibles

As we head into a playoff run where we're going to need him

Now last podcast one of uh

One of the fear the fro faithful

Paul from Rhode Island called in and admitted that prior to the hardened trade

He was waning his interest was in and out

He perhaps missed some podcasts and as penance

I suggested that Paul who is relocating to New York from Rhode Island

Traverse Rhode Island 37 miles across from east to west

Said said get to the streets fatty and take some steps

Paul has responded on the fear the fro mail back

What a uh actually no back you uh to Paul for Rhode Island

Just listening to the pub

You want me to walk 37 fucking miles

I got 37 fucking inches of snow at my door

Or you know that half a dean weighed or 74 S.G.A.'s

It's a reason NBA metrics

Fucking Mike from Ohio gets a cutesy fucking jingle

And I get a goddamn death march disguised as an

Promotional for your stupid fucking fitsbo discord

Fuck you

Eat a bag of dicks

Challenge accepted as always love the pot

Now don't lose track of the thread there

There's a lot of complaining

Telling me to eat various bags full of penises

But ultimately this was the important part

Challenge accepted Paul from Rhode Island soon to be New York

Has strung together multiple days of 10,000 plus steps

And I believe he only has 15 miles left of his 37 miles before he is officially

Walked 37 miles now Bretton Houston thinks he's soft and that

It's a cop out that he's not doing it in one foul swoop

But every journey

Begins with a single step and if I can compel

One semi-disloyal

Possible fatty. I don't know. I've only seen his wrist and his watch

At this point. I don't know what Paul looks like

But I guess my point is this I still think it's noble

And I applaud you Paul from Rhode Island for making good on what was

Just kind of an absurd challenge that I pushed out

Meanwhile Bretton Houston this fat pig is out here taking

Shaming to a new level

He's out here taking 20,000 steps

But saying don't get fixated on the 20,000 steps

It's about the fact that I covered 12 miles with that step

He's the type of guy during a marathon

That just his bib disappears

And he shows up like 20 miles later

And he's got barbecue sauce all over his face

The purpose is to shame people into action

It's not to then also shame them when they actually take action

Because it's not sufficient enough to your adonis like standards

Okay, the one thing I've learned from the fitness channel on the fear

The fro discord is that what I thought it was going to be was me

Dunking on a bunch of lazy pigs

And instead I'm realizing that I'm well-passed my athletic prime

And I've set myself up for failure by trying to compare myself

To you deviants who have nothing to do

But lift weights and probably beat your significant others

I don't know

Chris and I'm said falls aka Pepe Silvia here

Great win last night

But what I'm really calling for is I'm listening to the pot on the way to work right now

And that fucking intro song was glorious

You are a goddamn wizard dude

I love you forever

I love you Chris and thank you

I'll close the episode with that song again

Celebrating the greatness of Black History Month, Jared Allen

A grave injustice took place

Now the greatness I don't care if Kate Cunningham won the award

For doing 25 and 10 which is basically what he's done every month this season

In fact February was his third most efficient month

By true shooting percentage by the way

But the greatness of Black History Month, Jared Allen

It won't live on in accolades he didn't win the award

But it will live on in the silent dignity

With which he persevered and dominated

Despite the grave injustice we've all just witnessed

And you can slight him

By not giving him this award

But when the Cavaliers eventually do run this team out of the playoffs

The last laugh will belong to the fro

So until the next time I'm Bob Schmidt

This is Defear the fro podcast

Please leave a five star rating in review

And thank you very much

Bring on the Celtics

Little bit of a layoff

I'll see you on Sunday

Not that long ago

No heart

I can still remember who the people were

Who were spouting lies

I just don't think they need the two big

And I knew if he had the chance

Trade this bomb

He'd expose their fraudulent head

For congestion that still exists

Maybe they would shut up for a while

Shut the fuck up

February gave me boners

Assisted hammers or the loan

Clearly dominated the man

Bad news for the haters

40 points

Masterpiece

See you later

I still remember those who've lied when I

Read about his fire inside

The fro has sent them off to high

Got something to prove

The money

Agendas

Die

Please just a different basketball team

We're Jared Allen

And we were singing by

By to the narrative lies

They're all changing up

Their tunes except for this fucking car

Don't you finally wrong

Because they can't give a pride

But they're welcome to the logical side

Fear the fro

His story remembers you lie

The soundboard doesn't forget

When I write the book of fro

Chronicle in all the various takes that blow

Just trade him for any half decent wing

I want him off this team

Because when you feed the bang

It's 14 and oh

But he can't give the ball to himself

You know he doesn't even close games

That's always been the problem, bro

Guy, dammit, kiddie

Look, I know we all like to be right

But I pray that you give up the fight

Because you'd have to be a moron

To cling to the haters

And then pause it on

Well, just the solo host

Who's spent a month breaking up

But here's an obvious take

I don't think all stars suck

The only people still hating are irredeemable cards

How much longer is Jared Allen Values?

This guy's Syrian a trade

With me, get in there and fuck that guy's world

Bye, bye to the narrative lies

They're all purging out their timelines

On their blasts on this slide

Coward

What's up this spot?

Can't certainly not you guys

Singing welcome to the logical side

Five murders

Come on to the logical side

Crack those bottles

It's the promuary

To remember