With a wistful nod to the recently departed Tom Petty, we embark with the newly constructed Cavaliers on the (seemingly never-ending, but at least a bit shorter) pre-season campaign. In their first of five warm up games that don’t count, the guys in wine & gold red and yellow trimmed tighty-whites (which actually didn’t look half bad), took on the erstwhile Atlanta Hawks and their lone remaining peroxide patched, hookah bar brawler of a point guard, Denis SchrÖeder.The initial results were promising, as the new starting five (minus a certain kid from Akron) featuring big men who can shoot and guards who can’t, almost blew the hapless birds out of the building, constructing a 21-7 lead halfway through the first quarter. Then, Ty Lue (in an obvious nod to the start of the NHL season) proceeded to hockey line switch to his second line. Newcomers DWade, DRose and Jae Crowder flashed some of the skills that make you glad they’re a part of the team. Other fresh faces like Jeff Green, Cedi Osman and the cajoled senõr himself, Jose Calderon, weren’t quite as impressive.Still, it was just one game… and a pre-season game with no LBJ at that… but, the second half was a nearly endless quagmire of hoisted shots, an absence of recognizable sets, and more hijacking of the offense than you might find in your average G-League game (coming soon to a few select candidates). Most of this was perpetrated by the Cavs’ third team unit, while the Hawks starters (looking at you Kent Bazemore) took out some of their anger at being left behind on a lottery team. The results weren’t pretty… but will be long forgotten soon… unlike the incomparable Tom Petty.We went four deep on our first podcap of the new season, adding our newest member, Matthew Murnan, to the mix along with Nate, Sam and EG (#shademaster). We get into the details of this game and some predictions for the playoff teams in each conference, and also highlight our expected surprises and disappointments of the coming season. Not to mention plenty of discussion surrounding Iman Shumpert’s possible injured foot and TT’s adjustment to being a sixth man (and expecting dad).Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy