Oct 15, 2026 · 33 min · 10 segments
The Cavs enter the 2026-27 season with championship expectations and little room for error. The pressure is mounting on president of basketball operations Koby Altman’s roster construction and head…
Chris FedorGuest
Ethan SandsHost
Ethan, I think it might sound simplistic, but, but I think it's, I think it's one of the stories of the year for the Cavs and it's has their defense really gotten better? That's been so much of the conversation throughout the course of this off-season with this team and throughout the course of training camp is we wanna get back to being the defensive team that we've been in the past.
He has a different way of doing things, and he has a different point of emphasis.
Every coach around the NBA has the thing that allows them to stand out from the rest.
Every coach around the NBA has the thing that they do better than somebody else, and it's okay to be an offensive-minded coach.
And there's been so much conversation about we gotta get back to being a top five defense.
We made this addition in Payton Watson that gives us more length, more athleticism, more versatility.
We can change coverages on the fly, and we don't have the same kind of defensive limitations.
And I can understand why they're saying those things, but there just hasn't been a...
You don't wanna overreact to pre-season, but there hasn't been a lot of evidence that tells you, "Yeah, this is going to be a significantly different defensive team.
This is going to be an improved defensive unit." I still have questions about the defense, and it's one thing for them to say that they want to be this kind of defense, this caliber defense, but I think the question is can they be? They talk like they will be.
Ethan, I think it might sound simplistic, but, but I think it's, I think it's one of the stories of the year for the Cavs and it's has their defense really gotten better? That's been so much of the conversation throughout the course of this off-season with this team and throughout the course of training camp is we wanna get back to being the defensive team that we've been in the past.
He has a different way of doing things, and he has a different point of emphasis.
Every coach around the NBA has the thing that allows them to stand out from the rest.
Every coach around the NBA has the thing that they do better than somebody else, and it's okay to be an offensive-minded coach.
And there's been so much conversation about we gotta get back to being a top five defense.
We made this addition in Payton Watson that gives us more length, more athleticism, more versatility.
We can change coverages on the fly, and we don't have the same kind of defensive limitations.
And I can understand why they're saying those things, but there just hasn't been a...
You don't wanna overreact to pre-season, but there hasn't been a lot of evidence that tells you, "Yeah, this is going to be a significantly different defensive team.
This is going to be an improved defensive unit." I still have questions about the defense, and it's one thing for them to say that they want to be this kind of defense, this caliber defense, but I think the question is can they be? They talk like they will be.
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