Beyond the Game
Beyond the Game is the student-run sports podcast from Detroit Catholic Central, where Shamrocks take you inside the world of athletics—from the fields and courts of high school competition to the bright lights of college and the pros. Each week, our hosts break down the latest stories, share hot takes, and debate the biggest moments in sports, all with the unique perspective of CC students.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just love a good sports conversation, Beyond the Game goes deeper than the scores and stats to explore the stories, rivalries, and culture that make sports unforgettable.
Beyond the Game
Beyond the Game | Episode 9
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Welcome back to a new episode of Beyond the Game!
In this episode, hosts Owen Reynolds, Noah Petrous, and Ty Ryan break down the Detroit Pistons' first-round series victory over the Orlando Magic and previewed the upcoming matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the Beyond the Game Podcast. I'm your host for today, Owen Reynolds, joined alongside my partners, Noah Petros and Ty Ryan. Today we're going to be talking all Detroit sports. First up with the Pistons in their series victory against the Magic. And then we're going to switch gears over to the Tigers in the recent news on Tarek Scuble. Let's first begin with the Pistons. As they came back from down 3-1 and won the first ever Game 7 hosted in Detroit. It definitely looked sloppy at times, but they did get it done. Next up, they're going to be playing the Cavaliers in round two. Guys, what were your takeaways in this skit first series for the Pistons against the Magic?
SPEAKER_02What's up, Olin? The Pistons had like more of a reps series than any of us expected, but uh they got the series win in Game 7 versus Orlando. But at times in that series, it did. It looked like Orlando had that series lots up when they took a commanding free one lead, but then tragedy struck for them as friends when they got injured and was ruled out for the remainder of that series, which turned out to be the rest of the year here for Orlando. Another thing is that it looks like at times in the series it was Cade, Hollow, Tobias, and just a bunch of randoms on the court. So I feel like the Pistons needed to rely on more men like Durin and Duncan in order to beat Cleveland. I think what happened is that the Pistons sort of had like too much rest going from Sunday to Sunday, where Orlando were in the play, and so they went Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. So they were more like ready to play. And then once the Pistons like sort of got their playing time back in the final three games or 12 quarters, I feel like they were better in 11 of those quarters, with the lone exception being that second quarter in game six, where they proved even when down by 24 at halftime in an elimination game, they can come back and win.
SPEAKER_01Ty.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, like you said, it was definitely sloppy, and they're definitely gonna need to clean it up to beat the Cavs. And a lot of times, like Noah said, it was the Cade Cunningham show. Like Cade played outstanding uh this series and didn't really have too much help on every with everybody else, and they're definitely gonna need that against James Harden and Donovan Mitchell.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. I love Noah how you talked about Front Wagner because that injury most definitely changed the momentum of the series. Without that injury, who knows what could have happened. And also Ty, like you said, with Cade Cunningham, he really, besides Tobias Harris in that game seven, didn't really have a second guy to help him out much. And we could see that in the beginning of the series when he was averaging like seven turnovers in the first three games. It's like the Pistons, they didn't address it at the trade deadline and getting a second score. And now they rolled the dice so far, it got him out of the first round. But it's gonna be very interesting to see if they're gonna have enough score and to keep up with James Harden and Donovan Mitchell in this series against the Cavaliers. All right, guys. What do you think Jalen Duran is gonna have to do for you if you were going to give him the super max contract that he wants?
SPEAKER_02I feel like he has to um um like be better on the rebounding. Um Orlando was able to get a lot of offensive rebounds against us, which caused them to score a lot of like of second chance points. So Duren doesn't really have to be as much of a score, as much as like a defender and a rebounder, and then he can let Cade do the scoring.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Ty, anything to add on to that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think Duren just has to show that he can be the physical player that everybody knows he can be. He just really needs to show out with his rebounding, and I think that will prove that he gets the supermax.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, most definitely. He's gonna have a tough task ahead of him with Evan Mobley and Jared Allen. I feel like at some times during that series, especially in the earlier games, he was even getting out dueled by Wendell Carter, which is not a great showing for him. But near the end, towards game seven, he started getting his groove. He had a double-double in that game seven. So I'm very intrigued to see if he will win this matchup against Jared Allen. So I know we just talked about it a little bit, but who do you think can be that second score for Cade in this series against the Cavaliers?
SPEAKER_02I feel like the Pistons are gonna rely on Tobias Harris again. And last year when um they played New York, he was extremely good. He played really good in the first round against Orlando, so I feel like we just need to keep up with him right now. Ty.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it's gonna be Tobias Harris. Uh he's shown that he can be good, and they just need to him and rely on rely on him and Cade.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. I think the main guy is going to be Tobias Harris, like you guys talked about. I also would like to see JB Bickerstaff rotate in a couple more guys like Paul Reed, maybe give Ron Holland some looks. He's good on defense too. Maybe he can cause some trouble for Mitchell and Harden because let's be honest, Asar Thompson is really the only great defender that can guard guards that the Pistons have on their team. So it's gonna be interesting. I'd like to see JB reach in and play a couple more guys throughout this series. So talking JB, how do you think this storyline is gonna play out? And how much do you think this really means to him playing against the team that fired him last season?
SPEAKER_02I mean, I think this is his chance to prove like he shouldn't have been fired. Fire Cleveland was um a team that was going towards the right direction, but they felt like they could they could win more um without him, so he gets fired. And even though he did rebound on Detroit in his first year, Cleveland did get the one seed. So people felt like at the time it was the right move for Cleveland to fire him. But now how he's rebuilded Detroit into a one-seed, Cleveland's fall taken like a step back a little bit as a four-seed, so this is gonna be his chance right now to prove if he should have been fired or not. Ty.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I completely agree with Noah. He this is just gonna be his opportunity to show that he didn't deserve to be fired and that he can be an elite coach.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I feel like he has the chance to prove it because with the Pistons, they're a little bit more of an inexperienced team than the Cavaliers with guys like Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. So it truly is up to JB Bickerstaff and the coaches to show that they have prepared their guys for this playoff run. And if he could get a win against Cleveland, I'm sure that would fire him up even more for the rest of the playoffs. So, what do you guys think is going to be the outcome of this series against the Cavaliers?
SPEAKER_02My prediction for this series is that that the Pistons are gonna win in seven. I was at game seven on Sunday, and it was almost impossible for Orlando to even move the ball at times. So all the Pistons have to do is defend home court now, and it does seem like other than game one of the Orlando series, they handled it well. So I have the Pistons in seven, winning all four home games. Ty.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I have the Pistons in six. Uh they just really need to win at home, and if they can get and if they can win away, then that would be just perfect, and they'd be in the gr a great spot.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was also at game seven, Noah, and it was very loud in there. You could tell that the fans were active. I just don't really believe that with Tobias Harris as your second scoring option, that you're gonna be able to beat a team with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden and a team that is as good as Cleveland. I think it's gonna go deep. I think it's gonna be Cleveland in seven, probably. I feel like Cade might just run out of gas. I feel like they should have done maybe more at the trade deadline, but it's gonna be interesting to see this how this one plays out. Obviously, my heart wants the Pistons to win in six or in four games. I want to sweep, but I just can't believe with what they got that they can get it done. All right, let's shift it now to the Tigers. And this Scooba's news what this will mean for them. The day before we are filming this video, the news came out that Scuba will be undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies in his throwing elbow. The normal recovery time for this injury is about three to four months, with the best case scenario being two months. The Tigers are currently 18-18, tied at a top tied at the top of the AL Central with the Guardians. So, Ty, what do you think the most major impact of this injury for the Tigers will be?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, obviously the pitching is gonna be the biggest hit as you're getting rid of the best pitcher in the league. He's gonna be out for three months. And I really think this just means that the hitting is gonna really need to step up, and they're definitely gonna have to win high-scoring games because they won't be able to hold their the teams down with their pitching without Scoobul.
SPEAKER_02Noah. I mean the Tigers um they're they're not in like a good spot right now, but they do play in probably an easier division, and um their schedule is gonna be easier now. Scuble's gonna be out until at least the all-star heartbreak um, but they still have a good pitcher in Valdez. They have have Kyle Finnegan, who's a good relief pitcher, and they still have guys that hit the ball, I think like Green, Carpenter, Deindler, and McDonald's. So they have scored a lot of runs in game games, so I expect them to still compete well in the central.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I love what Ty talked about with the Arbs, especially with how thin the group has really gotten with other injuries to talk about Justin Verlander. I mean, he's older, you can expect it, but they're really having to turn to guys with less experience, and they're gonna need guys to step up and fill in the shoes of Scoobyl, which is a very hard task to do. But like you said, Noah, they've been hot with the bats. Torque is on a home run tear right now, and it's gonna be very interesting to see if they can outscore teams. They haven't had to do that in a while with how great the pitching has been. So, last for the day, do you guys still think the Tigers can compete in AL Central and still be close, if not in the running, to win the AL Central by the time Scoobyl returns?
SPEAKER_02I do think that they could still come compete in it just because they their team is more than Scoob Scoobyl. They won playoff games last year against Seattle. Um, and even in games that Scoobyl's pitched, um, their offense hasn't produced as much, and they have won games a lot without Scoobal. So I feel like they will be in contention still when he returns. Ty.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like Noah said, their whole team isn't Scooba. They can be a perfectly good uh baseball team without Scoobal. He just really propelled them to that next level, and I do think that they will still be able to compete in the AL Central.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, with how bad the AL Central is right now and the fact that they're tied for first at a 500 record gives me some confidence that they will still be able to compete in the AL. The AL in general is just down this year, so I think by the time Scoobyl comes back, the best case scenario is you're within five games of first place and you can still make a push after the all star break for that first spot in the AL Central. So, any last comments? All good. Thank you guys for listening to another episode of the Beyond the Game podcast brought to you by Shamrock Media Network. We will catch you all in the next one.