{"id":353437,"date":"2025-12-17T05:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/353437\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T05:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T05:00:08","slug":"there-is-some-good-news-for-the-browns-in-2026-can-the-cavs-reach-the-nba-finals-terrys-talkin-podcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/353437\/","title":{"rendered":"There is some good news for the Browns in 2026; Can the Cavs reach the NBA Finals? Terry\u2019s Talkin\u2019 podcast"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 Welcome to this week\u2019s edition of the Terry\u2019s Talkin\u2019 podcast<\/a>, with cleveland.com<\/a> columnist Terry Pluto and host David Campbell. In today\u2019s episode, they talk about the bad and the good happening with the Browns<\/a>, as well as Shedeur Sanders\u2019 performance vs. the Bears.<\/p>\n

Also, they discuss the Cavs<\/a> and whether Terry thinks they can reach the NBA Finals after their uneven start.<\/p>\n

They also break down the Guardians<\/a> and a listener email about what they should do this season.<\/p>\n

Highlights:<\/p>\n

The Browns fan base is divided, with some calling for Kevin Stefanski\u2019s firing while others blame owner Jimmy Haslam and the \u201csabotage\u201d of the Deshaun Watson trade.GM Andrew Berry\u2019s draft history is under scrutiny, with notable misses like Jedrick Wills but also successful trades, showcasing a mixed but promising record.Stefanski faces criticism for poor in-game management, clock-management issues and consistently failing special teams.Terry says there\u2019s a critical need for the Browns to acquire veteran players in the offseason to bring stability to the roster, especially on special teams and the offensive line.WR Jerry Jeudy has been a major disappointment, criticized for inconsistent play and a casual attitude toward crucial mistakes, labeling him a \u201cliability.\u201dRookie QB Shedeur Sanders shows potential and maturity under difficult circumstances but needs to improve on holding the ball too long, which has led to excessive sacks.Rookie kicker Andre Szmyt has emerged as a bright spot and a reliable long-term solution, hitting 18 of his last 20 field goals, including a clutch 50-yarder in harsh conditions.The Cavaliers are \u201cstuck on the spin cycle\u201d due to a plague of injuries to key players like Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland, preventing team consistency.Donovan Mitchell\u2019s \u201cSuperman\u201d role is considered unsustainable, with concerns that his heavy offensive workload will lead to burnout before the playoffs.A listener says that expectations for Evan Mobley may be too high; developing into a consistent 19-point, 10-rebound, NBA All-Defensive Team player should be viewed as a major success.The Cavaliers\u2019 offense is inefficiently reliant on three-pointers, ranking near the top in attempts but in the bottom third for percentage, failing to leverage their frontcourt strength.Terry says a deep playoff run for the Cavaliers is now considered a \u201clong shot\u201d due to significant injuries, an overworked Donovan Mitchell, and a flawed offensive strategy.The Guardians are remaining quiet this offseason, with significant roster additions expected to come via trade rather than through free agent signings.Former Guardians pitcher Triston McKenzie is experiencing a concerning career decline due to a severe case of \u201cthe yips,\u201d which has derailed his control and command.Terry recommends the book \u201c1861\u201d by Jay Winick for its compelling, character-driven narrative of the weeks leading up to the U.S. Civil War.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the podcast for this week:<\/p>\n

If you have a question or a topic you\u2019d like to see included on the podcast, email it to sports@cleveland.com<\/a>, and put \u201cTerry\u2019s Talkin\u2019\u201d in the subject line.<\/p>\n

You can find previous podcasts below.<\/p>\n

Also, a transcript of the podcast is below. As it is computer-generated, it may contain many spelling and grammar errors.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Welcome. It\u2019s time for this week\u2019s edition of Terry\u2019s Talking Podcast. Terry Pluto is here. I\u2019m David Campbell, your host. We\u2019re taping this on Tuesday afternoon a little after three. How\u2019s it going Terry?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I\u2019m doing well. Better than the Browns.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah, that\u2019s for sure. Lots to go through this week. I, I\u2019ve been, we\u2019ve been getting a lot of great emails and I just wanted to say to our listeners, like I, we really appreciate you sending them in. I\u2019m trying to work through them.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Why don\u2019t we just fire out so many good ones?<\/p>\n

David Campbell: And that\u2019s where I\u2019m getting to like I have three or four Browns related ones that I think come at the Browns from a few different points of view. So you want to start with those?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Absolutely.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: And then we\u2019ll go from there. But I basically what I wanted to say was we\u2019re going to try and get to as many of these as we can and get them in here the next few weeks. So please bear with this. I am doing my best here to process these and get them read. So. Alright. This first one is from Dave and he says hey guys. Well, I am figuratively hoarse from ranting about Kevin Stefanski and the disgusting performance of Jerry Judy for weeks and weeks now. I have agitated for his sacking for quite a while and I\u2019m so tired of the same old things recurring week after week and year after year despite all of Stefanski stale promises of quote fixing things. Meanwhile. Meanwhile the squad is 6 and 25 since the 2024 season. My prediction of 6 and 11 for this season now looks quite generous. Judy is a complete liability and does more harm than good when he is on the field. I don\u2019t care how much he\u2019s getting paid. I would rather see a young inexperienced player finish out the season in Judy\u2019s stead to gain some experience. He does not deserve to be a starter. In fact, he does not belong on the pitch. Andrew Barry, despite his successes in the 2025 draft should probably update his resume as well. He is part of the problem and is not worthy of another year as the Browns gm. Regards from Europe Dave. So there\u2019s one and here\u2019s one coming from another point of view. Gentlemen, stick with Stefanski. Thanks to the Watson deal, he has had to coach with his hands tied behind his back. The quote unquote trade amputated the team\u2019s finances and crushed future draft opportunities. Yes, the special teams are abysmal. Regardless in my opinion, the overall losing these past couple of years and likely the next is on Haslam. He, I believe was the obvious driving force behind getting Watson. Despite the cost and the fact that Watson refused to come here initially. Barry and Stefanski are the solution. They were sabotaged. I fully expect that they will take the fall and I\u2019m not shocked. I followed Cleveland sports since 1960. I thought the Tribe was bad. Then came Ted Stepien, then the moving trucks to Baltimore and now Watson and Haslam. Honestly, the year we win the World Series or Super Bowl, I\u2019m thinking that the end is near. That\u2019s from Dave Belchick in Erie. Thanks for that Dave. And so there\u2019s a pro Stefanski email saying to give them more time. Here\u2019s one from Brian Kuykendall, longtime listener. He says enough. I wrote you a few months ago and said all I wanted from the Browns this year is competence. Wow, that was a lot to ask. I respect the rookies. They are making an impact everywhere. I think Sanders has shown competence as a rookie QB and I am interested. I\u2019ve had enough of Stefanski though. Bubba too. I don\u2019t want to lose Schwartz next year. So let him be the interim head coach and see what it is like. Let him see if he wants to go back to being a head coach head coach. And as the owners and the owners and GM can see if they like what they see at this point, what is there to lose? The Browns have already shown a tremendous, tremendous lack for losing. And here\u2019s the last one from Dan Burkholder and Dan says first time emailer, long time reader. Just reviewed your morning article updating folks regarding deshaun Watson\u2019s first week of practice. So this was a while ago as a loyal and dedicated Browns fan since Sipe was under center, I for one would be sick to my stomach if the above mentioned ever takes another snap in an actual game for the Brown Orange. If so, this longtime supporter will no longer be one. I can probably think of 230 million reasons and three first round draft picks. Why so again, that\u2019s from Dan Berkhold.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I wonder if he\u2019s sworn them off 230 million times.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Probably so. Pretty, pretty, yeah. Pretty wide range of sentiment there, Terry. We have somebody coming out for Stefanski. We\u2019ve got some people who were disgusted. I thought Dave Belczyk\u2019s email was interesting because that\u2019s kind of what we\u2019ve been talking about is kind of the two scenarios are the Haslam\u2019s going to be like listen, we know we put you behind the eight ball we\u2019re going to give it one more year or we don\u2019t like what we\u2019re seeing. We need a fresh start. So anyway, that\u2019s a lot to digest. What do you want to talk about?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: You pick one.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Well, do you want to start with the Stefanski thing and the point of. I think sabotage was the word that was used. How do you feel about that concept?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Well, there\u2019s two things going on there, actually. That sabotage thing is probably more of an indictment or more of a problem for Barry because the lack of sour Cap Roman draft picks did tie his hands and this is the first full draft he had in four years and it\u2019s been a pretty good one. So that is to make the case that maybe if this guy had some more full drafts, he would do a good job. Now, you can go back and look at his first round picks, his first two years when he had them. I think Greg Newsom was one and Jed Wills was the other. And that was. The Wills thing was a disaster. They decided to go for a right tackle and move them the left and they passed on. Was it Trevor works, the kid from Iowa?<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Tristan works.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, Tristan works, yeah. Who actually I did like, just because a guy that I know a lot more about football told me the guy\u2019s really good. Good. They could have gone either way. They picked the wrong one, I mean, I guess.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Did we say Wirts? It\u2019s Worfs, by the way.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, well, you\u2019re in charge of this. You\u2019re the master.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Well, anyway, he can block and play either tackle. And so those were misses. And you know, his best pick there was, you know, j. Okay. And so I think that you could say that, but then you turn around and look at this year and say, okay, this is a good draft. And you would, as of now, you certainly would make that trade. You know, I loved Hunter and I didn\u2019t particularly like the trade, but you would do that a million times over. Hunter had, I think he had an acl. I know he\u2019s out with knee surgery for the year. And from that trade, they\u2019ve got Mason Graham, they got Judkins, they got Samuel Dylan Sampson, and they also have a first round pick, even if it\u2019s low, from Jacksonville next year. And of course, Jacksonville just shows how in New England, you know, you could turn it quick in the NFL at times. Team, I mean, the Browns actually did it. They went from, I think was 6 and 10 or 7 and 10 with Freddy to 11 and yeah, with 6 and 10 because it was 16 games, 210 and 6 with Kevin his first year. And so they\u2019re, they\u2019ll, you know, their hopes there. But, so, but in terms of the sabotage, the big picture, I really think it hurt the GM more than the coach. Now when you look at the coach. Yeah, his. The talent is a problem. But how were you. We were not watching the Chicago game together. We were in different remote locations. What were you thinking in that first quarter?<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I. So I, I got into a little mini argument around Thanksgiving with my nephew who plays college football, Division 3 college football, and he hates it when coaches use their first half timeouts because something\u2019s going, aw, I\u2019m all for it.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yes.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I think if you realize that there\u2019s 12 guys in the huddle and you\u2019re on your one yard line, then you should call a timeout and get things straightened out. And I think that if it\u2019s the first half and your quarterback loses the play sheet and his wristband, like call a timeout, it\u2019s no big deal. It\u2019s the first half. Usually teams don\u2019t even use their first half one. So there was that. I started to think, like, things don\u2019t look good here. But then I started to put myself in Kevin Stefanski shoes and I\u2019m like, if you\u2019re him and you\u2019ve talked about this, Terry, about how beaten down he is these days, but like, I\u2019m in year six and this is where we\u2019re at. Like, look at this offensive line we.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Have to put out there.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Like, it was basically just grabbing guys and throwing them in there and got it. You\u2019ve got a quarterback who, you know, has played four. It\u2019s like, this is not what year six is supposed to look like. And so I was trying to think like, if I was coaching this team or if anybody was coaching this team, would it necessarily look that much better on Sunday against the.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I guess I would ask you, in their circumstances, what do you have control over?<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I mean, you have control over getting the team ready to play and making sure that things are running smoothly. But when you\u2019ve got guys that have barely played and a rookie quarterback like, I, there\u2019s been weeks where I\u2019m like, wow, this is not, this is not a well coached team. But Sunday it hit me a little bit different. I was more like, I don\u2019t know that any coach would have been able to succeed on Sunday with what was going on.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: You are allowed from the sidelines to call timeout when you see things are messed up, definitely when they didn\u2019t. And you also are allowed to whether it\u2019s change special teams, coaches or whatever because of course kickoff goes and immediately run it back 53 yards or whatever it was. And there was another one. It\u2019s like even that, you know, zombie to the point would just kick it in the end zone. Will they get it on the 35 yard line? Is that what they get it when they. Fine, let\u2019s just do that. At least you know exactly what you\u2019re up against as opposed to these guys, you know, just like breaking free like they\u2019re trying out for the Olympics, you know, in the 100 yard dash against the Browns and that. I mean, it\u2019s just an indictment there. Kevin\u2019s had a lot of problems, but I do, I actually think the whole organization is Watson fatigue and that can, you know, it\u2019s carried a real load on all of them. So I guess I\u2019m saying this so in three of the last four years you have lost 10 games. Then you went to the playoffs 14 games and this year you\u2019re at 11. That\u2019s a lot of losing.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: It is. And I, I thought that you had a really good column today. You\u2019re like, how about a new approach in 2026? And everybody talks about the top end talent on this team or lack of it. And that\u2019s certainly true. I mean, you know, we\u2019re just talking about Judge Wills a minute ago. I mean, one of your. He\u2019s 26 right now and he\u2019s not on the roster. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s on any roster. So you hit that pick and you\u2019ve got a starting offensive lineman for another five years. But your point I think is really good, Terry, because you, you were talking about there\u2019s, there needs to be some veteran help brought in to round this roster out, like in the bottom half because that\u2019s where some of the special teams issues come in. We talked about this. There\u2019s no, none of the players are taking ownership of the special teams mistakes. The coaching is one thing, but like there\u2019s no veterans. And I thought that was a really good point you made that they need to bring in, yes, veteran help at offensive line and receiver, but also like special teams, it\u2019s all the bottom half of the roster needs a lot of work.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah. And they can. And they can do that. That doesn\u2019t cost a ton of money if you\u2019re good at player evaluation. And basically almost like the guardians bargain shopping or whatever because you\u2019re always in that category because the Sean Watts, it only counts 83 million or whatever it is next year in the Cap and I don\u2019t, you know, if they rework it again, it\u2019s still going to be, I don\u2019t know, 50 million or some crazy number. I don\u2019t. I mean, of course for me in that sense, it\u2019s like I would just leave it and get it at 83 and get it out of my life. Him and the cap number, get it out. But I don\u2019t know how much now there. I think they\u2019ve got cap room right now of 8 or 10 million. You could always roll that over into next year and try and do some things of that sort. But you need to put a watchable product on the field and they have not done that the last couple years. And if that means changing the. Whether it\u2019s front office or coach, say you decide you want Barry to come back because you thought he showed some promise this year with the draft, well, then they better change the way the coaching staff is put together and just firing more assistance. I\u2019m not sure is it. I just think a whole new approach. You know, there\u2019ll be year seven of Stefanski here. That\u2019s like an eternity in the NFL. Unless you\u2019re like Andy Reid or a couple of these other guys. Tom Wonder, Harbaugh, of course, they\u2019re all kind of in the Browns division. But it\u2019s. You look at this and it just say that to me. I just have found that I\u2019m sick of watching it. I\u2019m watching it right now because I get paid.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: We\u2019re hearing for. You\u2019re in. From a lot of the fans who feel the same way. They can\u2019t even watch the games anymore because it just ruins their day.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: And I mean, it\u2019s like, why do you want to do that? And so we\u2019ll see. But in terms of who you know, and I\u2019m so discouraged right now when I write about it because it\u2019s the Browns blues all over again. Okay, so it\u2019s a thing that I coined for a book title a long time ago. But. But it is. All right, here we are. Do you fire the gm? Do you fire the coach? Do you fire the both? Do you fire one, not the other? Or do you just do nothing? Oh, we got to draft the quarterback. Got to draft the quarterback. I mean, how many times? How many times for this? And you charge these fans all this money and they can\u2019t get lined up. Right. I mean, that\u2019s part of my problem.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Well, so at the very least, what we\u2019re going to see after the Bengals game on the fourth is the. Haslams and Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski come out and say, listen, this isn\u2019t good enough. We\u2019re going to be making changes. Here\u2019s what. Here are the changes we\u2019re going to make. I mean, it won\u2019t happen on the fifth, but I\u2019m just saying there\u2019s. There\u2019s going to be a public unveiling of accountability where it\u2019s like, listen, this isn\u2019t good enough. We\u2019re gonna make these changes, these big changes to give the fans some hope. That\u2019s one approach. And the other approach is, like you just mentioned, everybody\u2019s gone and they start over or something in between. Like you said, where one is gone. So, I mean, that\u2019s. But there needs to be. My point is there needs to be some reaching out from the organization to the fans to say, like, listen, this is going to happen. Here\u2019s our plan. I think Andrew Berry needs to have a plan that he needs to pitch to the Haslam.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, absolutely.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: And the Haslams need to present a plan to the fans of, like, listen, this is what we\u2019re doing, and here\u2019s where we\u2019re headed. Here\u2019s why you should have some hope. I remember we\u2019re selling hope. I mean, that\u2019s what they\u2019re going to be selling.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I\u2019m having a senior moment. You\u2019re going to have to help me. When John Dorsey came in, you know, he went out right away, said, we have to get some real players. And he brought in Tyrutt Taylor, and then he brought in the receiver from lsu. They brought in, I think, Carlos Hyde. Yeah, I think it was Carlos from Ohio State. They brought a veteran running back. They brought in several veterans just to try to stabilize the situation. And, you know, that team ended up 7, 8 and 1 talking about Jarvis Landry.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Right.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: So he brought in Landry, and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s others, but remember John telling me, he said, you just can\u2019t do this anymore because they had Baker. And he wanted Baker to be behind a veteran, at least to start in Taylor. He knew Taylor was a good guy, and he knew that Landry would bring in a kind of spirit. They needed a good possession receiver. And, you know, they had. He had drafted Chubb that year, and so they, you know, and they. And they had the head hide. In other words, he attacked it as, we just can\u2019t be awful. And that\u2019s what I think that this organization has to say. They\u2019ve been awful for two years. And whether you want, say you like Chador. Okay, fine. You better bring In a veteran anyway to play quarterback. You can\u2019t come back with Chador and Dylan Gabriel, you know, if Gabriel on the practice squad or whatever. Fine. But no, you can\u2019t do that. And you have to say all right, we\u2019ve got to at least get some middle of the road offensive lineman from somewhere. Maybe you use one of your first round picks to pick one and you know the other one. You know, the receivers are an issue or maybe just go get some. Receivers have been around. By the way, Jerry Judy, I guess we\u2019re seeing why Denver soured on him.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah. So what are you seeing there, Terry? I was, I was thinking Browns fans had to be kind of disappointed with his reaction after that touchdown that he gave way the other day, the turning interception. I was you know, listening to his responses and it was just kind of very casual, matter of fact, like nonchalant. So here\u2019s what he said. I think Shedeur threw a good pass. It was just a good football play overall by him, meaning Johnson. But that\u2019s something I expect to come down with after Monday or Tuesday. After we watch the film, see what we need to do, see what we need to do better. But we just need to put it behind us there. We got a 24 hour rule. Once we watch the film, it\u2019s over with. We can\u2019t do nothing in the past, we\u2019ve just got to execute and do better in the future. That was his response to the touchdown pass. That didn\u2019t happen. Kind of weird, right?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I think he has a 24 second.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Rule where he gets over in 24 seconds.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, right. I mean just he probably thinks if he had thrown it higher the other guy wouldn\u2019t have got it out of my hands or whatever, who knows. And all year has been with him a different situation. So I don\u2019t really disappointed in him. And you look at the, the other Cedric Tillman seems like been waiting for him forever. Can\u2019t stay healthy, hasn\u2019t particularly played well when he\u2019s been healthy. And you just go so who, you know, who are your receivers? The tight ends, you know, Harold, I mean think Harold fan has got a chance to be really good. And Joker\u2019s probably coming towards the end of his time with Cleveland. You know, that could be an interesting one. So my point is you got to get some real players. I don\u2019t care who\u2019s running the show.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah. And you\u2019re making me think of baseball here, Terry. I mean we hear this term professional at bats. We need somebody to give us some professional. You\u2019re looking for Football players who can give you professional snaps. Like, I mean, you know, look at a guy like Terry McLaurin who\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Not six five. He\u2019s not. He doesn\u2019t run a 4, 240, but that guy has been one of the best, most dependable guys in the league ever since he came into the NFL.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Well, you remember how we talk about.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Somebody you can rely on every single week to make the right play at the right time? Maybe they\u2019re not spectacular, but they\u2019re good, steady, and they\u2019re there every week.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Remember how good Landry was here for a few years? And frankly, he was until actually. Till his buddy OBJ showed up. And then I. You know, that was one of those things where you. You bring a celebrity receiver into a whole situation and turned it volatile. But Landry, you know, you look at the stuff, the stats, and I average nine or ten yards of catch and this. But he caught like 12,000 passes a year, and he played all the time, and he played till about his knee fell off. And so that\u2019s. And he was a guy that was inspirational and did help set the tone. And you need. I like that idea, David, that you have of a veteran receiver, too. See, I was thinking of some veterans for the line, but, yeah, you need a Landry receiver. And like you said, McLaurin. I\u2019m sure there\u2019s some others that are free agents. We\u2019ll take a good look at that list. Yeah.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I mean, Terry McLaurin won\u2019t be. But that\u2019s the kind of guy you want, though, right? It\u2019s just somebody. You can rely somebody out there for.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Sure, or there\u2019ll be somebody that, like, Landry had a year or two in the contract left, and the team decides, yeah, he\u2019s a little too expensive for us right now, or. We went as far as we can with this guy, so let\u2019s move him.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah. And receivers, there\u2019s guys who are kind of filled with drama and explosiveness.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: And. And then there\u2019s guys who aren\u2019t. I mean, the diva receiver is like, they\u2019re a little bit off sometimes. Like, they\u2019re like hockey goalies. Right? Like, they\u2019re just wired a little bit differently. So, like, if you find a dynamic guy who can make big plays and then sprinkle in, like we said, some. Some reliable.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah. There aren\u2019t too many Amari Coopers around. Like when he was in his prime, you hear, the first couple years, he just quiet, does his job and puts up big numbers. Those are rare. Yeah, but see, that was a Guy, of course, that Andrew found just sitting there. They wanted to move him and he jumped right in, got him for, I think it was a third round pick. And interesting. He did trade into Buffalo for a third round pick and boy, did the wheels came off him and just stayed off. But they needed.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Go ahead. I was just going to say we haven\u2019t talked about shadow. You want to get to that or did you have something else you wanted to add on the receivers?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: No, I\u2019m done with the receivers. Okay.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: What did you see from Shidra Sanders in Chicago?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I was thinking this guy, other than the Las Vegas game, has really played in bad circumstances. Whether it was coming into the Baltimore game in the second half and with no, basically no game plan for him. Then that game against Phoenix, you know, they were playing San Francisco, that weather was bad. Remember how windy that was and everything? That was really. And I wasn\u2019t joking when I was on the radio and I. Because I parked right up against the wall where the parking lot by the lake. And I opened the door and I mean, the wind hit me. I took a step back, like two more steps, I\u2019d have been in over the, over the barrier into the lake. I mean, it was blowing. Yeah.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I don\u2019t know if people know this, but there\u2019s actually a row of parking right along the break wall there. And I think there\u2019s a sign that says, do not park here. Ye getting blown into the lake.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Right. I did. And because I. I do that sometimes because then I could make sure I find my car. I remember I\u2019m right up against the lake. So, you know, go to the lake and find your car. And it was, I mean, it was really bad. That was a tough game. You didn\u2019t play particularly well. And then the following week against Tennessee, the wind wasn\u2019t as bad, but it was cold. And then you go to Chicago and it was like playing Antarctica, you know. So he, he has not had, other than the Vegas game, really good circumstances. So he\u2019s with a bad team and an inexperienced line in horrible weather. And I like how he\u2019s rolled with it. You know, he haven\u2019t said a word about the weather or anything or the protection or any of that stuff. You could tell he\u2019s been around the block on that. And that to me, for a guy who\u2019s been a celebrity quarterback in college, show some real maturity. So I\u2019m encouraged by that. Now, he\u2019s been hit 28 times in the last two games. 28. That\u2019s Tim Couch territory. That also is like, you better have your Blue Cross paid up. You know, the Browns. Because this guy, I mean, you can\u2019t keep taking those shots. And now some of the. Is his fault. Now here\u2019s what you do. You watch a replay of when he is sacked. And you\u2019ve heard me do this sometimes, David, because you sit next to me. The games he drops back, I\u2019m like 1,000, 2,000, 3,000. If I\u2019m at 3, he\u2019s got the ball too long because the average is about 2.5 to 2.75 of getting rid of the ball. And that extra half second or more often is all you need to get splattered. And he is among the highest. Last time I saw, I think it\u2019s 3.4 seconds is his average. He had many at four, by the way. Watson was the same way. So you\u2019re hurting, you\u2019re. You\u2019re causing problems. I know you want to make a play in that, but sometimes he\u2019s getting better at throwing some of the balls away as opposed to just taking sacks. But. But he\u2019s a kid. He\u2019s playing in rough circumstances. I want to see a lot more.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I. I do too. I think Browns fans want to see some more.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, it was.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: There\u2019s always like one game where it\u2019s like you just have to throw out the stats.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I mean, every year there\u2019s a Browns game where there\u2019s like 40 mile an hour winds.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Right.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Melting rain, and it\u2019s like, well, the Browns threw for 104 yards and so like you just have to wipe that away. But I mean, Sunday is what it is like that\u2019s what playing in the AFC north or the NFC north is like. You\u2019re going to run into the weather sometimes. So I was more looking to see was he recognizing what he was seeing on the field. And I thought there was some good moments of that. There\u2019s the. One of the deep shots to Bond was. I think Bond was going in motion and as he ran by, Shador stood up and said like, hey, run the post.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: So I think he saw something that there was man coverage singled up on that side and he went for it. But you\u2019re right, Terry, some of the sacks are like holding the ball too long. And there was at least one, maybe two the other day where if there\u2019s a blitz, that\u2019s the quarterback\u2019s job is to recognize that and get the ball out and find where the quick hot route is. And I think he didn\u2019t pick up the first blitz at all. And I\u2019m trying to remember the second one, I don\u2019t want to. So I saw some really good recognition stuff and somewhere he didn\u2019t really pick up. And the interception, he didn\u2019t see the drop from the zone into the, you know, and he tried to get that ball into Fannin so that. That\u2019ll come with time. I gotta say, he throws a beautiful ball. Like I always. People always talk about Joe Montana and what a catchable ball he threw. And Chadour Sanders throws just especially deep and into the end zone. The touch and the catchability, just that you can\u2019t really teach that. I don\u2019t think it just kind of comes with natural ability. So there was that. But again, and I think Kevin Stefanski was saying, this is some really good stuff and there\u2019s some stuff that he needs to work on. So there\u2019s something. There\u2019s something to work with there.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: If you think about rookies too, we talked about the draft picks, but Isaiah Bond was, whatever it is, Free agent.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Free agent.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, yeah. And the kicker, Andre Smith. And by the way, Phil Dawson will tell you, making a 50 yarder on that day, which Smith did, that\u2019s like kicking from 62 yards because he said that even if they keep changing the balls, he said when it\u2019s that cold, you got the wind, it\u2019s like kicking a cement block when it hits your foot. And so that kid is, you know, he\u2019s good enough to bring back for next year. So that\u2019s good. Again, I don\u2019t want to just say, oh, turn all those frowns upside down, but there is a reason I wrote about this for my scribbles over the weekend. They have some young talent. And this is.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I have Schmidt\u2019s numbers here. Do you want to run real quick? All right, so 18 of 21 on the season, that\u2019s 85.7%. 20 of 21 on extra points, and he\u2019s 4 of 5 from 50 plus, including, as you mentioned, that one the other day. So that is pretty good, especially for a young kicker. Right.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I don\u2019t mean to throw out the first game, but the first game he was a nervous wreck and he missed an extra point. That\u2019s an extra point. Time. And that\u2019s when he kicked blue, the 36 yard field goal that could have won the game. So really since then he\u2019s actually 18 to 20 on field goals and he hasn\u2019t missed an extra point. And he looks like a veteran. Right. I\u2019m just saying because sometimes it\u2019s kind of like I threw Shador\u2019s first game out against Baltimore because Smith had been with a couple teams, he had been cut a couple times before he ever got on the field for a regular season game. And when they finally get in a game, that\u2019s what Phil Dawson told me, the pressure you feel is just so enormous because you do start to think you\u2019re one kick away. And actually remember some people did want to cut him. I did not want to see more unless there was some great kicker sitting out there. And just think if they had, I mean, maybe what are the odds of finding a guy who\u2019s going to make 90% of the field goals for the rest of the season? So that\u2019s, to me that\u2019s encouraging because if you don\u2019t have that, the problem is this team doesn\u2019t play enough close games for it to matter. But when you start playing games that are close, you know, most of the games are six points or under. Your kickers of, you know, he\u2019s a, he\u2019s a, I would say a really good kicker is among your top 10 players. Now maybe that\u2019s because I\u2019m partial to kickers, but I\u2019m also partial to a guy kicks the ball and you get points.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Well, I mean every team\u2019s leading scorer every year is a kicker practically. So it\u2019s important stuff.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I mean it\u2019s incredible where they\u2019re making. Oh, I forgot what game I was watching the other day and I think it was a game in, in the Dallas game. Yeah, there\u2019s a 62 yarder and a 56 yarder made back to back. I\u2019m like, holy cow how these guys are kicking now. But if you flip it over to where the Browns play and the Bears and all that, you ain\u2019t kicking no 62 yard field goal there. You\u2019ll break your foot, as Dawson would say.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I\u2019m sure the analytics figure all that into, in terms of the conditions and the probability of making a certain kick in certain conditions and all that. So.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: And the kickers themselves go out, Dawson told me that. And they try from different distances with the wind. And we, we\u2019ve noticed that too, you and I. Watch her and I\u2019ll say, look at the two tick kickers talking to each other from the other team. They\u2019re both trying to read the wind. And that because they live in a very small club, nobody else basically knows what it\u2019s like to be a kicker besides a kicker or a former kicker. And they don\u2019t particularly believe somebody who\u2019s a non kicker can help them a whole lot.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah, they stick together and they\u2019re not bashful at helping each other because like you said before games, they know they\u2019ll.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: All end up on the street at one time or another.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: If we can help each other not have to move. Let\u2019s do that. All right. So there\u2019s a lot of doom and gloom around the Browns. We heard some of it in some of the emails. I was trying to think of like what are some positive things that. And you\u2019ve touched on a couple of them. I had a few also that I wanted to run past you and see if there\u2019s anything else that can give Browns fans some hope here. So interior offensive line is easier and cheaper to fix. It\u2019s probably one of the cheapest positions to get on free agency and there\u2019s a lot of guards and centers out there that I think the Browns could get at a pretty reasonable price. I think that\u2019s good news for them. We talked about the wide receivers. I think wide receivers are kind of good, professional wide receivers. You can get them for not a crazy amount of money. So that\u2019s good. You mentioned the draft capital. That\u2019s, that\u2019s a positive with the, with all the draft picks. I think the Browns might have the second most draft capital in the 2026 draft, maybe behind the Jets. I\u2019d have to check that, but I think that\u2019s what I saw.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Probably have three of the first 35 picks or something. I forgot where they\u2019re second round picks gonna fall, but it\u2019s gonna be somewhere around there.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah, for sure. And then as you mentioned, Terry, the Watson situation is almost behind them. The Watson tax as you\u2019ve called it over the years.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, and I called it that before the current president. I started throwing that out in 22 because right away I knew that that\u2019s, that\u2019s what it was. It was. You\u2019re paying a price for something you did and this is what you did. When you think about also next year, some of these guys are coming off the cap because I think Wyatt Tellers is in his contract up. I believe Posick is up. So is Najoku Petonia. We\u2019ll see if he wants to play or not. But he\u2019s a big dollar guy so they will. A lot of money comes off the cap with those guys if they want to replace them. And you know, you may want to replace those guys too because you know Posix had a Achilles injury. Now that\u2019s nine months usually to come back from, you know. And how will he tell her is Teller is just a big number player and the tackles, none of the Tackles are making a whole lot of money. You can just switch them out. I mean. Oh, other than Conquen, even his contract\u2019s not that bad, but his contract\u2019s up, so. Yeah, they don\u2019t have enough.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: We could see three, four, five new guys on this line next year.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: You have the money to go shopping.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: All right, so I guess to wrap up the Browns here, Terry, if lack can change the three games left, they\u2019ve got the Bills coming up, then the Steelers, and then the game at Cincinnati on the 4th. If you. If the season was over Sunday, do you think. What do you think would happen? You think they would keep everybody in place? Do you think they. That Andrew Berry would be gone? Kevin Stefan one of them?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I. I would be surprised if they just run back with everybody. I. I just sense they\u2019ll do. I don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s everybody or somebody, but it\u2019s something. But I\u2019ve been wrong. I remember, for example, the last time the Browns were in Chicago at the start of that week, Sashi Brown was a gm. By the time they went to Chicago, John Dorsey was in the press box, and he was the gm. Nobody knew that John Dorsey was in play at all. I recall in 2000, let me see, 13, 14, 15. The season ends, we get a call Petton is the coach and the GM was Ray Farmer. We get a call, there\u2019s a press conference with Sashi Brown. We\u2019re going, why is the salary cap guy having a press conference? Because he\u2019s the new gm, that\u2019s why. I mean, nobody saw that coming. And so we can go down. You know, the things that were telegraphed were then, and I don\u2019t think. Maybe I\u2019m in the minority on this, but we. I think we all thought Fred Freddy Kitchens was getting fired. I didn\u2019t think Dorsey was getting fired.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Well, it\u2019s like you\u2019ve said, Terry, there\u2019s a. You\u2019re the starting quarterback of the team until you\u2019re not. And you\u2019re the coach of the team until you\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: And you\u2019re the gym until you\u2019re. What you\u2019re hearing or not hearing. I want to find anybody that reported John Dorsey would be the Browns GM before it came out, or that Sashi Brown would be the new GM or even that Dorsey was going to be fired. Really, the assumption was Freddie was out and Dorsey had a couple pretty good drafts. So let\u2019s let him hire another coach or hire another coach for him or something.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: And it\u2019ll happen fast. Right. I think we\u2019re talking about the 5th and 6th of January. Again, it\u2019s about, it\u2019s about selling hope to the fans and making them believe.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: That things are going to change. I think it\u2019s there whether, you know, you want to decide who gets more blame then what they do. If they do blow out everybody, you don\u2019t even have deep pedestal to lead your search again. So you\u2019d have to really have that. But as I mentioned before, they, they might have somebody in their back pocket right now, I don\u2019t know, somebody who got fired somewhere that they like.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: You never know. Or they might change very little and just hold a big press conference and say we know we\u2019ve met expectations and.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Have a good time. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Here\u2019s why we\u2019re going to do better. So yeah, all right. We shall see. And again, the Browns are home the next two they\u2019ve got the Bills on Sunday and then the Steelers the week after that before they end on January 4th in Cincinnati. So.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: So.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: All right, we\u2019re going to take a break here and we\u2019ll talk some Cavaliers when we get back. Terry, I want to ask you, with everything going on with this team, do you feel like they can still fulfill the preseason expectations in hopes that they would make the Eastern Conference final, the NBA Finals? So we\u2019ll get into that and more, including some guardians and some more of your emails when we return on Terry\u2019s Talk. All right, we\u2019re back on Terry\u2019s Talking. I did want to mention, well, everybody knows that Christmas is coming up next week. If you\u2019re looking for a great Christmas gift or a holiday gift for someone, a New Year\u2019s gift, something to get them back, a lot of people have a New Year\u2019s resolution. They want to read more. Right, Terry? I think a great book would be Terry Pluto\u2019s why Can\u2019t this Team Just Find a Quarterback? And other thoughts on life in Brownstown. You\u2019re done with all your signings. How did the one in Westlake go last week?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: One in Westlake was my worst because it was a snowstorm.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Oh, that\u2019s right. It was that night.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: So one guy bought eight books, so he made up for some people there. But it was, I mean, it was, it was okay, but the others have just been sensational. But I don\u2019t blame him. I mean, I remember I\u2019m driving over from West Akron and I\u2019m thinking, I wonder if anybody\u2019s going to be there. And when I pulled into the parking garage there at Crocker Park, I had a prime spot and that was not why. So I\u2019m thinking this is great for me, but not so great for probably who was at the bookstore. But what I did is I signed a ton of them and left them there, and that\u2019s what I did at all. You know, you could always get, get a signed copy sent to you. Terrypluto book.com terryplutobook.com and there you go, though, because I signed, I think I signed like 600 when they first came out for David Gray, the publisher, and I know he\u2019s got at least a couple hundred left.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: All right, and you, Terry gave you the address there, the web address. Go check that out. Makes a great present. So. All right, Cavaliers, terry. They are 15 and 12. I feel like the calves are just like in a washing machine and they\u2019re just kind of stuck on the spin cycle or something. Everything keeps changing all the time and they can\u2019t really get into rhythm. They can\u2019t find a rotation that they can stick with for, you know, eight, 10 games and see how it works. It\u2019s, there\u2019s a lot happening here. I don\u2019t know what are you seeing? And it seems like we\u2019ve been talking about this every week. They just cannot get their feet on the ground.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Right now. Right now Mobili\u2019s out. The dreaded calf muscle. I would always put dreaded next to two injuries, calf muscle and oblique, because they\u2019re those hamstrings just too. But it seems like calf muscles could be really cranky. I remember the first guy that, in fact that ended up cutting his career short was Lonnie Chisenhall with the. Really? Yeah, with the Tribe. If you look it up, he had one and he had the other. He had these awful calf muscles. Lonnie did. And it, it kind of wiped him out because he came up as an infielder and actually he finally found a way to make a nice career for himself as a sort of platoon outfielder. He had a good arm and hit against right handed pitching. And then he just kept pulling this one calf muscle. They started to pull the other one. So hopefully none of that. But you have Jared Allen. You know, he\u2019s playing with a broken finger. I watched him Sunday. He had trouble. He usually has great hands. He had trouble catching the ball and hanging on to it. You could see that. But I\u2019m sure he went out there because Mobley\u2019s out and just somebody to get some size. And Garland finally showed a little bit of quickness in that. But he\u2019s, you know, he\u2019s not himself. And what I don\u2019t like, you know, the. The Donovan has to be superman mentality. All right, couple of things. Donovan right now is averaging nearly 22 shot attempts a game. That\u2019s the most of his career. That is a lot of shots. He\u2019s also. This is incredible. He\u2019s shooting 49%. That\u2019s his highest percentage of his career. Usually you have that high a volume, you don\u2019t shoot that high of a percentage. And he\u2019s 38% on threes. He\u2019s taken almost 11 threes per game. So nearly half of his shots or more are from three point range. This is a tough way to play. And of course, when he goes in, they\u2019re walling that off. They\u2019re knocking him down every time. I don\u2019t like this, David. I know it\u2019s survival time and Donovan wants to win, but. But Kenny\u2019s got to figure this one out because you\u2019re going to empty this tank way too early.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: So Chris Fedor and Ethan Sands from our Cavs coverage team, they\u2019ve been saying, and especially Ethan has been saying that Kenny needs to go to the bench more and not be riding guys so many minutes to try and get a win here and there. What do you think of that? Would you like to see more of some of these bench guys? Because some of them have certainly shown they can play some meaningful minutes here.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, I mean, if you look at Donovan\u2019s minutes, it\u2019s 34 and a half, little high, but not extreme. It\u2019s the third most of his career. It\u2019s very similar to what he played in here in Cleveland until this PAT last year. But what are you doing in those minutes? And baseball, they call it high leverage, you know, high leverage innings or that. And the whole game, second half of like every game is like high leverage for him. He\u2019s just trying to get them back into it because they can\u2019t figure out a starting lineup that works. So they get behind. I mean, I like to, you know, Porter comes in, he plays pretty good defense. Tyson has been a revelation. I mean, I actually think a really good backcourt combination. You don\u2019t have Struve still and you don\u2019t have Merrill. It would be Tyson and Donovan because Tyson could handle the ball some. He put some size in the backcourt right now. I mean, Garland\u2019s never been a good defensive player, but now he\u2019s terrible and they\u2019re boiling right past him. And I think sometimes Donovan just is tired and it shows up on the defensive end. He\u2019s still getting his deflections and things, but he\u2019s another guy that\u2019s really not doing a good job keeping the guards away from the rim, and they\u2019re going at it. And this is where fans always like to jump in about Jared Allen, and that Allen is really missed on this because they could oftentimes have at least one guy, if not two, out there with Allen and Mobley who could help clean up that mess of the lack of guard defense. And those guys aren\u2019t there. And so we\u2019re going to see how they are around. You know, Bryant has got some. He\u2019s got some toughness, but he\u2019s not a shot blocker or anything. It\u2019s a. It\u2019s a real challenge. I mean, really. I mean, we\u2019re talking about the team, like instead of 15 and 12, like it\u2019s like, you know, 10 and 17, something like that.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Right.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: But they have not played well of late. And what they\u2019ve had to do in terms of this effort to win these games, especially effort on your main player, Donovan Mitchell, is something that. I\u2019m sure they\u2019re talking about that internally. That there\u2019s just. That just can\u2019t go on.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah. There\u2019s only so much in the tank, I think, is what we\u2019ve been hearing this week. So I got a couple of email. Here\u2019s emails here, Terry. This first one is from Joel and he says, hey, guys, for now. For years now, I\u2019ve read that Mobley needs to be the best guy on the Cavs for them to contend that he needs to hit threes, et cetera, et cetera. He\u2019s 24. He\u2019s one defensive player of the year. He\u2019s averaging about 19 and 9, and that\u2019s not enough, really, at 24. What if he ends up being only Patrick Ewing instead of Jokic? I think a lot of people have assumed too much too soon. All that pressure may actually hurt his progress and most certainly his confidence there. I\u2019ve done my old man huffing and puffing.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Ha. I agree. I agree with every word.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah. Last week is just.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I agree with every word. Yeah. I didn\u2019t like it when the Cavs were saying early on, you know, he can make the hall of Fame. I didn\u2019t like these comparisons to Chris Bosh, Kevin Garnett. I remember that one. Giannis let his game develop, and if he ends up being a 19 and 10 guy and he\u2019s on the all defensive team every year, great.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: That\u2019s a success.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah. The only thing I\u2019ll say is Brad Dougherty\u2019s right when he goes on shoot the jump Hook. Shoot the jump hook. Shoot the jump hook. Here\u2019s why. It\u2019s like everybody loves a three point shot, the analytics and the coaching staff. But you put a guy in the low block and he shoots and misses, he often or his teammates have a pretty good chance of getting that rebound. And because they\u2019re around the rim along with the defenders, they\u2019re in that same position. Furthermore, they draw fouls. Fouls are an important thing. And it. And finally it can just. If your big man seen the ball, he just tends to play better on the defensive end. That\u2019s. That\u2019s how it works. And so I\u2019m, I\u2019m. Not that he has to just stay in the low block and never venture out, but this obsession that he\u2019s got to take four to six threes a game. Why. And if you watch what happens, David, as the game goes on, he gets tired and that shot turns into more of a long drive, which leads to.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Long rebounds and transition the other way.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, the opposite. Yeah, it\u2019s like, it\u2019s like you\u2019re throwing it at the rim and somebody slammed. Like Jose Ramirez is hitting it with a baseball bat down the other end is. It\u2019s not a good thing. And I just hope that. And even he. Jared Allen drives me nuts when he\u2019s like four feet from the basket. He shoots 70%. He throws it to a guy in the corner. But Evan started to do that too. Don\u2019t do that. Score.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Okay, so here\u2019s an email from Max. It\u2019s kind of. That ties into some of this. He says, hey, Dave and Terry, hope you two had a nice Thanksgiving. Thanks, Max. I was recently listening to an episode of the Zach Lowe\u2019s show, an excellent NBA focused podcast, and it reminded me of how Terry always says that Jared Allen needs to just shoot the ball more. Yeah, Zach and his guests were breaking down the Cavs offense and they mentioned Cleveland is taking 44.73 pointers per game, number one, the highest rate in the NBA. We also averaged 15.8 made threes per game, which is second in the NBA. Golden State is number one. This sounds great until you look at efficiency. The Cavs are shooting just 35.4% from three, which puts us in the bottom third of the league. Currently, Cleveland has only the 14th most efficient offense in the league. On the flip side, Denver and Houston are the top two rated offenses in the NBA and they don\u2019t rely on the three ball nearly as much. Denver takes the eighth lowest amount of threes per game, and Houston takes the fewest attempts in the entire league. Do you think it\u2019s time for the Cavs to rely more on their bigs and less on the three pointer? I\u2019m sure there are some stats or metrics out there that prove me wrong, but it feels like we\u2019ve got to make a change if we want to be sustainable. Having such a strong frontcourt makes no sense if we don\u2019t take advantage of it. And I\u2019d rather see Allen and Mobley taking more shots in the paint than 30 missed threes each game. All the best, Max. Thanks for it, Max. A lot of what he had in here is what you\u2019ve been talking about.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Max is crucial forever. Yeah, Max is correct. The other thing is, if you\u2019re leading the league in three pointers attempted, you better be in a top 10 percentage of makes. The last time I saw they were 24th. I think they\u2019ve been at one point, 28th. That\u2019s out of 30 teams. That\u2019s ridiculous. Secondly, it\u2019s not just the bigs there. Donovan does a good job getting to the rim. Porter can get to the rim. Garland, when he\u2019s healthy, has some nice floaters and some in between stuff. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that either because you know what, you might draw a foul. And I know sometimes he\u2019s. And I would say just. I, I still love what Charles Barkley, when he watches some of these games, he goes, this seems on the NBA now. Any fool could take any foolhardy shot from any fool where. And it\u2019s just foolish is what it is. And he\u2019s right. I mean, guys like, okay, Steph Curry could shoot from the logo of whatever he wants to or a couple of these other guys, but you see some second year player, he comes in there and he fires one up from 32ft. I mean, give me a break.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: All right, so the question I wanted to ask you. So using the big men more, less threes, maybe using the bench more, are some things you\u2019d like to see happen. Anything else that you would like to see Kenny Atkinson do in terms of working with what he\u2019s got right now with the injuries and everything, Figure out.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: How to mesh your younger guys in there that you do need more energy. I don\u2019t know what is going on with DeAndre Hunter, but I had in my scribbles over the weekend the plus minuses and the Cavs are being outscored by 27 points this year when he\u2019s been on the floor. I mean, that\u2019s really bad. That was like the worst. Other than like Somebody like Luke Travers or some, you know, some guy on the end of the bench.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: For a guy who was known for his defense, too.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah. And. And he seems to, you know, just kind of float. I don\u2019t know what. Whether he feels like he doesn\u2019t fit or what. Early in the game, they\u2019ll run these plays where he comes from the weak side around. He catches a passer on the foul line and he goes to the rim, or he shoots a nice little medium range jumper, makes it. They run him two times and that\u2019s it. Don\u2019t see it anymore. Or he stops moving without the ball. Something is going on there. And maybe you put him with. Because you\u2019re gonna have to start Allen now with Mobile. You know, maybe you put him on the bench and you need some scoring off the bench to help. And, I mean, a Porter is a real impact player. Tomlin, in some games, makes the other night, I know he fouled out in 10 minutes, but he\u2019s. He\u2019s in the middle of all kinds of stuff, and that\u2019s what they need.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: He\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: He\u2019s walking shots, he\u2019s committing fouls, he\u2019s on the floor, he\u2019s dunking. He livens things up.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: All right, so I\u2019m going to ask you the question I teased before the break here. So going into the season, experts, Cavs fans are like, this team needs to make the Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals to prove that they are what they\u2019re supposed to be here. Do you think that this team can do that, given what you\u2019ve seen so far? Or has what you\u2019ve seen so far convinced you that this team is not capable of that?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: The problem is we have so many of the key guys hurt, right? I mean, the theory is, okay, they\u2019re hurt early, so they\u2019ll be fine later. But a lot of times you get hurt early and you stay early, you know, you come back, you\u2019re not the same. So I think it\u2019s. It\u2019s a long shot. You. You really would need Garland to keep getting better and better, and Garland may not be himself until the following year, David, because sometimes when these guys have these serious surgeries, whether it\u2019s foot or. Or Knee, they\u2019re like 70% of themselves that first year back, and then the next year is when you really see how good they are. I don\u2019t know much about basketball players and turf toe injuries, but you\u2019re finding out, you know, how they are. We hear more in football and things about how that, you know, has a dramatic impact on people so you\u2019re basically 27 games, is that right? So you are 81 games into. That\u2019s a third. And so that\u2019s where you\u2019re at. And at this point, you won 45 games. And generally a team that wants 45 games does not go to the NBA Final Four even.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: All right, so a long shot.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, that\u2019s how I feel. But it could change. But no, right now, this is, if you look at it, Mobley\u2019s got calf muscles, Garland has turf toe coming back. Jarrett, apparently it\u2019s not just his finger on one hand. He\u2019s got something else on his other hand too that they don\u2019t want to talk about. And that\u2019s a lot. And Donovan\u2019s. You can\u2019t keep putting Superman\u2019s cape on every night.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Well, especially when you get to the playoffs and it\u2019s just grind after grind after grind every night.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: That\u2019s where you need it sometimes. And by then all that could be used up. And so this is a real challenge for Kenny to figure out how to do this, how to incorporate his younger guys, how to win games without wearing out Donovan Mitchell.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: All right, well, the Cavs are playing Wednesday night in Chicago. Then they\u2019re back home Friday against the Bulls for 7:30 tip. And then there\u2019s two more home games next week, Monday and Tuesday against Charlotte and New Orleans, and then the Christmas Day game in New York against the Knicks.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: You got a bunch of winnable games if you play, right?<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Definitely. Definitely. So, all right, let\u2019s talk some baseball. Terry. We are past the winter meetings and I know a lot of times we see some, you know, there\u2019s a lot of discussions at the winter meetings and then right after we see some trades happen across Major League Baseball. Nothing for the Guardians yet, which is not surprising.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: They\u2019re the worst off season team. They\u2019re awful. They do nothing. They sign Austin Hedges, they sign these guys that have five eras and aaa. And of course half the time those guys end up being Ben Lively or somebody. But it\u2019s like there\u2019s just nothing to talk about with them any off season. I mean, they sign their manager to an extension after his first year and they don\u2019t tell anybody.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: They didn\u2019t tell anybody.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: It\u2019s just again that that\u2019s how they do business. Now. Last year they did end up making a couple trades though, because that\u2019s when they traded the him and his deal and boy, you lose him and then his Ortiz and Lord knows what\u2019s going to happen there. And then they made the Naylor deal. And so that those are two key guys they made. They went after starting pitching and they, and they traded some assets to get it, you know, Slate Ciccones, who they got for Neymar, who is a promising starter. So we\u2019ll see if they make some moves for hitters because I think they have some young starters. If you want to trade them, you could trade them, you know, Nick Hazy or some of these other guys that people might want. Starting pitching still is considered the most expensive thing to acquire when the pitchers are later, you know, in their career. And so you want to get them when they\u2019re younger.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah, and we\u2019ve seen the Guardians, they kind of wait for the market to shake out a little bit and then they kind of make their move. So yeah, could be sometime this week.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Generally it\u2019s not in the free Asian area. It\u2019s more of a trade thing because then they get a contract that they can control. They can control or else they\u2019ll. They try these one year contracts for 8 or 10 million for some guy and it just doesn\u2019t work out.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: All right. I think you wanted to talk about Tristan Mackenzie today.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, I just was looking it up. I saw his name and I thought, thought, well, let\u2019s just take a look at what\u2019s going on. He\u2019s not with any team because I mean he went to Goodyear and then he kind of pitched in the Miners. I lost track of it. And I\u2019ll tell you, David, this is really sad in the main with Cleveland. Early in the year he pitched 11\u2154 innings and walk 12, struck out 15. Then he sent him all the way down to Goodyear to try to rework, to the pitching factory to try to fix it him. And I guess they went under the hood and all kinds of other things. So he\u2019s pitched 21 and a third innings in the minors last year and walked 31, struck out 31 and he threw seven wild pitches. It\u2019s like he, you know, old, old time baseball venture, Steve Blass, who was good for many, many years for the Pirates, so suddenly just could not throw a strike. Rick Ankiel was another one that went through that. So he\u2019s a free agent now and he went to winter ball and I\u2019m looking, it was like seven walks and five and two thirds innings or something. It\u2019s just been bad for him.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: And I mean if it\u2019s an elbow or something going on with your body, like that\u2019s fixable. But when something like this happens, Steve Trot was another one guy that I\u2019ve crossed Paths with. He\u2019s a Chicago guy, but something just happens in your head where the strike zone looks like it\u2019s the size of a thimble. And you cannot, your brain will not let you throw the ball over the plate. But he said strikeouts, but the wild pitches are an indication that he\u2019s still.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Struggling with that and hitting batters. Yeah, yeah. I read an article, an interview as I was looking at this because I wrote about this a little more in my newsletter for tomorrow. And Steve Blass, who later became a longtime broadcaster for the pirates for like 20 some years, I mean he had a really good career. He won like 106 games and the ERA like 3.5. I mean the year before the bonnefellity won 19 games. I mean he was, he averaged like three walks per nine innings. He just lost it. Doesn\u2019t know why, but he said the crazy thing in the bullpen, his control was good. So it was purely psychosomatic. You get out there and of course he went to see, he got hypnotized and he went to psychologist and everything you could try back then to get it back together. And I think Tristan now is in that wilderness of this is a couple years of this now and he\u2019s only 28, really a young engaging guy. And you go back and look at at him in 20, 22, he was 11, 11 with 2.96 ERA, 191 innings, 190 strikeouts, 44 walks. You know that guy, they thought they had something special there and there was. Then he had an elbow problem. Remember they thought he should get Tommy John. He didn\u2019t get it and maybe that\u2019s part of the problem.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah, I mean Steve Trout tried to make a comeback with the Pirates in his late mid to late 30s. I think he was 37 and he got hurt. I mean one good thing is Tristan McKenzie. Like you said, he\u2019s still young enough where if he can get, he\u2019s still got some good years ahead of him.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: His velocity is as high as it was before, but you know, velocity with no control. So what?<\/p>\n

David Campbell: All right. Oh, we do have a guardian\u2019s email here that I wanted to get to from Michael Hoffman. I think we mentioned a couple weeks ago how Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga did a package and it was basically are the Guardians doing enough?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Right.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: They say they want to win a World Series. And we talked about the two camps of like some fans are like hey listen, they\u2019re a well run team. They make the playoffs every year. Things are great. Like they\u2019re doing fine. But there\u2019s some fans who think like this isn\u2019t enough. They\u2019re happy just making the playoffs. They need to invest more money to get to a World Series. So anyway, here\u2019s what Michael Hoffman has to say. I\u2019m firmly between the two camps you described, which is spend the money when the moment arises. Which they have done under the Dolan\u2019s with Chuck Finley in 2000 I believe and the signing of Encarnacion 10 years ago. Time to do it again. Don\u2019t get me started on how cheap the Dolan\u2019s are. This has been the best managed sports franchise consistently in Cleveland since the Paul Brown Browns. Please give the Dolan\u2019s a break and thank them for their commitment to the city and for the quality product they provided. End of sermon. So it\u2019s too early in the hot stove season to do more than suggest and hope. And here\u2019s mine. Take the plunge and making concerted effort to sign somebody big and let them age together and carry this offense for the next few years. Pairing someone with who they have would take some of the pressure off Manzardo and the young outfielders they\u2019re trying to develop so well. Thanks for that, Michael.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: That\u2019s true. They need just a right hand at bat. I was a little surprised they didn\u2019t go back on a like $2 million contract. I think that\u2019s what Wayne Thomas got from the Royals, I believe. But they also are more aware of his medical than anybody else and you know, he started with plantar fascia, ended up having some kind of foot surgery and so that probably scared them but Thomas had been kind of the guy that would have fit because he pounds left handed pitching, he can play all three outfield positions, he can run good guy and but it just. Then he got that foot thing and you know, he has some big hits in the playoffs for them back in 24 and he just could never get past the foot thing. And maybe I really was surprised they didn\u2019t bring him back, but they probably know something because that\u2019s their perfect kind of guy. Coming off an injury, you know, lots of upside, very little risk. And of course the Royals jumped in. Maybe they saw it the same way and maybe they were stalling a bit with him and you know, if I were laying anybody wants to give me $2 million after that dismal year I just had went on a major league contract, I\u2019m gone. I\u2019m in.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah, sign me up. So, okay, I guess we\u2019ll move on here. Terry, you have a book you want to talk about this week, and I know you\u2019re a huge Civil War buff, so. Yeah, right.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: This guy\u2019s name is Jay Winick. W I N I K Winnick. He wrote the first one of his books I read. It was called 1865, kind of about the last year of the Civil War. But really look back, and I just thought it was terrific. It reads almost like a novel. It\u2019s just excellent history. He\u2019s written for the Wall Street Journal, some others. He now has a new book called 1861, and it shows you. I think we had. If you\u2019ve got a sort of a fair amount of history knowledge, you know, Lincoln was unprepared, but the poor guy, he really had no clue. Walking into this situation with how the. All the different factions in government and how James Buchanan kind of was hiding in his room and didn\u2019t want to deal. He\u2019s the previous president with the problems of the Union falling apart. And there were different. They were very close, David, to actually making a law that would have, you know, you know, hear about the. Like the. Basically the Mason Dixon line and kind of permanently put it into the. Into the Constitution that something similar, the Mason Dixon line would have created slave states and free states permanently. And Lincoln just. I mean, he was thinking about it because, I mean, who wants to be the president when the country divides, goes to war? I mean. Yeah, and he did, you know, he did not like slavery. He was not there. I mean, it\u2019s interesting, too, people in the south or whatever will say sometimes that, well, it really wasn\u2019t about slavery. It was about states rights or whatever. No, the heart of the issue was slavery and what to do about it. And do certain states have the right to have slavery and others don\u2019t? And then it\u2019s like, you\u2019ve heard of Fort Sumter, maybe that was a port in the middle of Charleston harbor. Charleston, South Carolina. And this poor guy\u2019s out there, name is Anderson, with 70 troops. And all of a sudden, Charleston is like the first state. They\u2019re jumping out. They want to, you know, be their own empire and that. And they\u2019re, like, aiming guns at this guy. They got thousands of people. He\u2019s waiting to be resupplied. So they send a couple supply boats, and they send, like, one gunboat to protect the supply boats, but the gunboat got the wrong orders. And he goes down to a thing called Fort Pickens in Florida. So they\u2019re waiting, they\u2019re being starved out of there, and then all of a sudden, it\u2019s just It\u2019s a total mess. And like you, you read this in the beginning and you actually wonder how the republic survived all that. But Jay Winick, 1861. 1865. The 1865 is a little better, but I found them both fascinating and very readable.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: So that\u2019s what I recommend the description here and yeah, they call it a fly on the wall account of the weeks leading up to. So does he have like a lot of raw letters?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, because that\u2019s the thing though that people wrote letters back then and kept journals.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Right.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: See that\u2019s the thing now when you do history, what I guess you would shall change, I don\u2019t know, get somebody\u2019s.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Get their tweets or.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, well, I mean what do you know what have. Yeah, yeah. Nothing. I mean you. If they didn\u2019t take pictures but you find. Could find these things from 100 some years ago and, and the different people that try to. Well, they\u2019re a couple of them, they thought. And the things they called Lincoln, by the way, it was the worst. I mean as bad as our political dialogue is here, you know, the big ape, all these things, it was just appalling. And they knew how to tell you one thing. They knew how to rip each other back then with the speeches and that kind of stuff. They went after each other. Okay. But anyway I recommend both highly and it\u2019s. Remember my degree, social studies minor in English and I taught history for six months at Lincoln west to get certified by the state of Ohio. And I knew if you could make history character driven, make you make people care about the characters, then you will care about the history. It\u2019s not just memorizing a bunch of dates.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah, I wish like I\u2019ve been to Fort Sumter and like I\u2019ve always. And I\u2019ve been a lot of different places with historical but significance. But I\u2019ve always thought like if kids could go to some of the places more. I know a lot of them take trips to Washington, but it\u2019s just seeing things and being there. It\u2019s just like, wow, this happened.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: So you see there and then you would have a guy dressed up like Colonel Captain Anderson who actually has very southern roots. And I\u2019m stuck out here and I look over there and I see six cannons pointing me over here. And we got over there and we are now down to like eating leather because we\u2019re out of food and where are my gunboats? Where are my. Where is my food? And we can\u2019t even go off of the island to try and hunt or get some other food because it blow us out of the water and we\u2019re just stuck and we don\u2019t know and we\u2019re told to not fire first. The strategy was if this war was going to start here, South Carolina was going to have to fire first. The Union wasn\u2019t. It was a horrible position for this guy. But I also understood Lincoln\u2019s thing because he felt if he went in there and had Anderson guns blazing away then it looked like, you know, here\u2019s the, the north coming down to start all this.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah, all right, great, great recommendation terry. Again it\u2019s 1861 the lost piece by J. Winick W I N I K so all right we have a wrap up email here and it\u2019s from Steve Van Aaker from Hilton Head, South Carolina and it kind of pertains to the last book you recommended, Terry. He says hey Dave and Terry, thanks for the book recommendation on Ernie Pyle. I\u2019m going to the library to read it. My dad was a great sergeant in the Marines in the Pacific and was there when Ernie was shot.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Oh my goodness.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: According to my dad, Ernie was shot in the head by a Japanese sniper on an island called IYA Jima. It\u2019s I E J I M A.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yes. Not Iwo Jima. It\u2019s a different one. Yeah, yeah.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Just days before the invasion of Okinawa, everyone was ordered not to circulate the news of Ernie\u2019s death because the military leaders didn\u2019t want to sadden the American people with bad news about their beloved hero. The war in the Pacific was still not over and many possible casualties in the future were expected. It was many weeks later before news of his death was released to the public. And Steve says by the way, as a kid in Akron I delivered both the Plain Dealer in the morning and the Beacon Journal in the afternoon. The plane dealer was 45 cents a week and many customers just gave me a 50 cent piece when I collected my runs each week. So thanks for that Steve. Both the kind of the family connection to Ernie Pyle and. Yeah I used to sell the newspapers outside church when I was a kid. So it\u2019s funny everybody kind of seems like they did something with newspapers when they were younger so. But that\u2019s pretty remarkable that his, that his, he had a family connection.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Yeah, right. And it\u2019s like things too, you know he, it was one shot took him out too. It wasn\u2019t like it was get blasted with a machine gun. Some sniper from somewhere just nailed him. He did not want to go to the Pacific. He had been the, the European Theater for so long, and it was almost like he felt it was his duty to go. And I think anybody. I talked to a couple of guys that were doing one tour duty after another, first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq, and he said about the third time, you start thinking, what bullet has my name on it? Because, you know, your friends have been wounded or a lot of what happened over there is a. Their trucks at mines, you know, where those. I forgot what they call them, those devices that just blow up under you. And.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Oh, the IEDs.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: IED.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Explosive device.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Right. And that was. Ernie was starting to feel, too, that there\u2019s a bullet with my name on it somewhere on some island, somewhere in the Philippines or anywhere. And. And he was right. I\u2019ll tell you, read his columns, though. It\u2019s spectacularly clear, vivid writing. And I mean, you were making me.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Think there you were kind enough to send me a copy of the book, and I\u2019m reading it. But he. He said, I don\u2019t care about the big picture.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Right.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: I only see the little picture. And what you were just saying about history told through the eyes of individual people and characters was that was what Ernie Pyle was all about, was he wanted to be near the soldiers who were going through this and experiencing it early. Ernie Pyle would sleep on the ground.<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: Like that was. Yeah, he did like doing that. Right. And, you know, he was no kid, E. I think he was in his 40s. And of course, back then, everybody served one way or another. If you weren\u2019t over there, you\u2019re working in a factory or doing something. And great book, though, Ernie. The Arnie Pyle Book. All right.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Okay, I think we\u2019re done here. Terry, anything else you want to mention real quick?<\/p>\n

Terry Pluto: I am out of words.<\/p>\n

David Campbell: Yeah, me too. I did want to mention Terry mentioned his newsletter a couple minutes ago. Go sign up for that and subscribe. You can go to cleveland.com Pluto there\u2019s a blue bar at the top. Click there. I think you get two weeks free and you will be thrilled with what you get every week. Terry\u2019s always got interesting stuff. He mentioned what he was working on for tomorrow\u2019s already, and I am going to keep working through our tremendous emails. We have great listeners. If you want to share a thought, a comment, a story, email us@sportscleveland.com and I will do my best to get everything rolled into the podcast at one point or another. We\u2019ve got some really good baseball ones I want to get to coming up. So thanks everybody for listening. We will talk to you next time. On Terry\u2019s talkin\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 Welcome to this week\u2019s edition of the Terry\u2019s Talkin\u2019 podcast, with cleveland.com columnist Terry Pluto…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-353437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}