- 2 days ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Donovan Mitchell was asked after the Cavs win last night,
00:02because there's a lot of things going on with the Cavs.
00:04Cavs were terrible in the first half, first quarter, got things going.
00:08Indiana's a terrible basketball team.
00:10They were able to win in the end.
00:11However, Donovan Mitchell was asked a lot about this rotation,
00:14about making adjustments to what that they have with their rotations.
00:20Here's what he said about chemistry with this team,
00:22is they have four games left to go until the postseason.
00:25You're seeing it throughout the stretch, you know, trying different things,
00:27and I think it obviously may not all look the prettiest,
00:30but that's because we haven't had all season with this group, right?
00:33So we're trying different things offensively, defensively,
00:35trying different lineups, trying to work on things,
00:37as well as also get better individually and collectively.
00:42Taking it a step further, and this is something that has kind of been under the radar.
00:46We brought it up a couple of times.
00:48Here's him talking about, this is Donovan,
00:50about adjusting to some of the things that they've had to adjust to
00:53after the big trade over the middle of the season
00:56with James Harden.
00:58Biggest thing is just, you kind of have to exercise those things
01:01when you make a trade, three new guys, right?
01:03Three core guys to our group, and, you know, for me and for us,
01:06it's just continuing to better ourselves in every way we can.
01:11Listen, I know I just got done talking about accepting something
01:13for another position on another team in this town,
01:16and we'll get to that at 643.
01:17I think that you might need to, I've seen some of your social media posts
01:21here over the weekend and things like that.
01:23I think you're just going to have to accept,
01:24because I'm going to have to accept that there's not a lot of faith in this team
01:29from the fan base.
01:30I think I just need to accept it.
01:32I think the sooner we accept it, the easier it is to say that
01:36there's challenges to this team laid by its own fan base.
01:41You have tried for two months.
01:44You, who is a cynical person, has tried for two months
01:47to get people going on this team, and it hasn't worked.
01:50So I think you're just going to have to accept,
01:53I'm going to have to accept that, yeah, there's a lot of questions
01:56to this team where Donovan has to explain
02:00why they've had some struggles here and there.
02:03Yeah, well, Dave, there's no doubt,
02:05like, they have been bit by the injury bug in a big way.
02:08They're already a team that's not deep when it comes to
02:12a very important position in the NBA, which is the wing,
02:15and they haven't been deep with the wings.
02:17I think that's a big reason why they've struggled in the playoffs.
02:21They just haven't been healthy, and having their two defensive wing guys
02:25and one of them, Jalen Tyson, who was one of the best three-point shooters
02:28in the league for a long portion of the season, not having him or Wade,
02:31and you saw how important, last time we played the Knicks,
02:35you saw how important Dean Wade was shutting down Jalen Brunson.
02:37They haven't had those guys available.
02:39So, you know, things fall apart when their perimeter defense
02:44has been as rough as it's been.
02:46And then they added Max Struess.
02:48He's been horrific defensively.
02:50Harden's never been a good, a really good perimeter defender.
02:54And Donovan Mitchell seems to have gotten worse.
02:56And some of that might be just managing his minutes,
02:59because he looked awesome yesterday, shifty again,
03:02more explosive yesterday offensively.
03:04And then defensively, he lets guys drive right around him.
03:07I have to think part of that is it's the regular season.
03:10It's late March, it's April.
03:13So, listen, I understand there's a difference between,
03:15you told me, well, fans just don't have faith in the Cavs.
03:19I'm like, well, I talked to Knicks fans.
03:20They don't have much faith, and they've had a really good team this year.
03:23Like, you could go up and down.
03:25Detroit fans do not have faith either.
03:27That I understand.
03:28Nobody has faith in their teams except maybe Boston.
03:32And look, Atlanta's been red hot,
03:34but are any Atlanta fans, do they have faith in their team?
03:37No, in the Eastern Conference, faith is not something that a lot of these
03:41fan bases might suck in.
03:42I don't think anybody has any faith in any of their teams in the Eastern Conference.
03:44Well, the Celtics do, because they've seen their team win the finals,
03:48go to the finals.
03:49That's one.
03:50But, well, that's all you need.
03:52One team in an Eastern Conference where nobody else has faith.
03:55However, there's a difference between faith and, like,
03:59I'm just going to go into the playoffs assuming the worst
04:01and having no excitement levels.
04:04Like, that to me makes no sense at all.
04:06Like, we're not in a city, we're not Boston, we're not, you know,
04:10in some of these cities where you just assume playoffs every year
04:14and significant runs.
04:16Like, we're not that city.
04:17We're never going to be that city.
04:19So, if you're, you know, you almost have to just pick up and move
04:22if you're not going to have excitement levels on a team going to the playoffs.
04:26I said the same thing about the Guardians last year.
04:28People were poo-pooing the Guardians in their miraculous erasing
04:32of 15 and a half games in the division.
04:34Like, who cares once they get to the postseason?
04:37You know, who cares?
04:37I'm like, I'm sorry.
04:38I can't ever operate that way in this city.
04:40Like, we're in Cleveland.
04:42I don't know what to tell people.
04:44We don't have this historical dominance in the playoffs.
04:48Outside of the LeBron years, we do not have this incredible, you know,
04:53year after year, you can just assume this team is going to go,
04:56these teams are going to go deep.
04:58I don't know where people think they are.
05:00Did you wake up and you were in Los Angeles?
05:02A couple of things.
05:03I do think that some are protecting their feelings,
05:05which is an old lineman trick.
05:06I think that they're trying to keep their expectations low,
05:09and so I think they're hoping for – they're not hoping for the worst.
05:12They're hoping for the best, but they're expecting the worst.
05:15I think there's a lot of people expecting them to actually get bounced
05:18in the first round, which is nuts to me, which is nuts,
05:22but I think they're protecting their feelings.
05:23And a series are going to be pretty big favorites in?
05:25I understand that.
05:26Like, that's weird to me.
05:27But I think that they are protecting their feelings,
05:29considering what's happened over the last three years.
05:32So I actually – to that level, I can actually understand.
05:35You'd have, like, four of the five best players in a series against Atlanta
05:37I'm supposed to be worried?
05:38Listen, I know this.
05:40Like, okay, you're going to have to explain that one to me.
05:42I'm just giving you the reactions that I've had here over the last week or so
05:45that have had a lot of people –
05:46Did they tell you why?
05:47Could they mention any of the Hawks?
05:49No.
05:50So it's just us?
05:50No, it's – it's not – it's fans.
05:53I'm sorry.
05:53It's fans.
05:54I'm not going to put a lot of credibility in that
05:56when the fans can't tell me the people on the other team.
05:58They will tell you –
05:59Like, I'm sorry.
06:00That's not going to pass.
06:01They'll tell you Jalen Johnson and they will tell you –
06:02Will they tell me Jalen Johnson?
06:03No, they won't.
06:04I think there are hosts on the station who didn't know who Jalen Johnson was
06:07two weeks ago, and now they're telling me we should be afraid of this.
06:09Actually, I don't think that they will tell you Jalen Johnson.
06:11I don't know why I said that.
06:12They're not going to tell you anybody.
06:13No.
06:14I think you've got a better chance of getting Daryl Dawkins than you do him.
06:17What?
06:18Okay, I thought you had something to say because – am I wrong?
06:21I'm not wrong on that.
06:22Like, I – you know what?
06:24I do take it back.
06:25They're not going to know who he is.
06:26But I think that they are protecting their feelings, one, because of that.
06:32Two, there has not been much defense played.
06:35Now, I've just assumed that once the playoffs start here, after Sunday,
06:40they're going to play defense.
06:42That's my assumption.
06:44I'm going on the veterans.
06:45I'm going on one guy's 36, one guy's 30.
06:48Like, they're going to play defense.
06:49They're going to show up and play defense there when the postseason starts.
06:52Now, that might be me trusting them too much.
06:54I think a lot of fans do.
06:55But I think that this is just something that I have to get used to.
06:58I have to adjust myself to, and that's what it is.
07:01Because I've got to tell you, there hasn't been a whole lot that I think that
07:05normally they can hold on to.
07:07One, if we're talking about playoff matchups, a lot of people think that that's
07:13soft behavior or scared behavior, trying to figure out which matchups you want,
07:18even though, like, we saw Indiana do it last year.
07:21They also won yesterday.
07:22They didn't sit their starters in the fourth quarter.
07:24So, there's still only, there's four games left, and they are,
07:29one game separates them and the Knicks.
07:31They didn't tank yesterday's game.
07:33They had a lot of guys out because they have a back-to-back.
07:35They have Memphis, what, tonight?
07:36Yeah.
07:37But they didn't do that.
07:38More on Memphis coming up in a bit.
07:40I could have made a pretty big argument that they probably should have lost last night.
07:44But one is defense.
07:45Two is what I just said to you, matchups.
07:47Three, I think, is rotations where we don't really know.
07:50How many different starting lineups have we had?
07:5233 this year?
07:54I think it's like...
07:55Is it 33?
07:56I think it's more than that.
07:56Is it second most in the NBA?
07:58I lost count after 30, I've got to be honest with you.
08:00Like, I know we got to 30.
08:01Are we at 33 or 34?
08:02Like, how many different rotations have we had?
08:04So, like, if you don't know necessarily the starting lineup and guys keep getting banged...
08:08I mean, Max Strews ended up hurting his wrist last night.
08:11And I know that the x-rays came back negative, and that's great.
08:13But you have a guy who just got over a foot injury, missed the first 67 games of the season,
08:18now has a wrist injury.
08:19And I know he's not a great defensive player, but can still add on with offense and a guy
08:23that fans know.
08:24I think it's pretty obvious why they've been bad defensively.
08:28They've been without either Allen or Mobley, and then Jalen Tyson, Dean Wade.
08:32Those are their best defensive players.
08:34So, most teams, if you eliminate their three best defensive players during huge stretches
08:40of the season, they're probably going to take a step back defensively.
08:43What I do know is if they have Allen and Mobley, and they get Tyson Wade back for the playoffs,
08:48like, they're going to be a better defensive team.
08:50Yes.
08:51Like, I would be shocked to see a team like that, with that profile, be bad defensively.
08:56So, with four games left, what am I doing with my starting five right now?
08:59Like, what is my rotation for my starting five?
09:01Against Atlanta, what am I thinking of right now?
09:03Well, I do think that this kind of declaration, or it seems like the anointing of Max Struess
09:12in the starting lineup.
09:13And I got to know, people say, it doesn't matter who you start, who you finish.
09:15Whatever.
09:16They can do that situationally.
09:17Like him more than Keon Ellis.
09:18I am.
09:19You like him.
09:20They like him more than Keon Ellis.
09:21Right.
09:21I, I, I, none of these are perfect players, so it's not an easy, and it could be matchup
09:27based, depending on which team, like Atlanta has got athletes.
09:30That is one thing they do have.
09:31And if you trot out Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, and Max Struess defensively for big
09:38portions of that, I mean, you are going to get out, out athletic.
09:41You're going to have issues with your perimeter defense.
09:43Cause Struess is like a step slow than he, than he typically is.
09:47And he was already kind of an average defender.
09:48And now he's just, he's been another one.
09:51They, they, they all seem to be like traffic cones on the perimeter defensively.
09:55I know that this is bizarre for you and frustrating for you.
09:58And I know you're getting sick of telling him.
09:59I think we're just going to have to accept it, that there's not a whole lot of trust
10:03with this team, with any of these things that they're doing here going into a postseason.
10:07It's explainable.
10:08It's frustrating to you, but it sounds like a giant excuse to them.
10:11No, I am not fighting back at that.
10:13I just, I, maybe the issue is I watch the rest of the Eastern conference and maybe these
10:17fans don't.
10:19So I, I can't find a lot of fans that have faith in their teams too.
10:23So to me, that kind of, doesn't that kind of cancel each other out?
10:25It should.
10:26And then you go with the teams that have the talent advantage.
10:28It should.
10:29And I feel like the, you know, the Cavs will have a, a, a talent advantage against Atlanta
10:33in the first round, if that's who they meet.
10:35And then if they get Detroit in the second round, I love that matchup.
10:40I absolutely love that.
10:40What's frustrating for me is I've agreed with you basically every step of the way.
10:43So I'd love to pick a fight with you if I can, but I feel this, I feel basically the
10:48exact same way you do.
10:49I don't understand why the negativity towards this team, other there's history there that
10:54I guess I can't understand to some level.
10:56And I think people are protecting their feelings, but with everything else, it's like, man,
10:59I mean, we treat this team like they're Indiana, like they're an 18 win team.
11:03I asked last week, how many teams, it was tough to get real answers.
11:07Cause people know, people know that they're going to lose an argument here with me.
11:11If they're going to engage on this, but I asked all the haters, I'm like, tell me the
11:15amount of teams in the NBA that you would rather be in these playoffs and the Cavs.
11:20And one of those teams just got bounced.
11:21The Lakers, a lot of you said the Lakers, they look like they've been bounced.
11:25You wouldn't rather be the Lakers right now than the Cavs.
11:27So what are we down to?
11:28We down to three teams that you'd rather be San Antonio.
11:31You put San Antonio in there.
11:32I put Oklahoma city.
11:33Maybe you'd say Denver, by the way, we beat Denver, uh, you know, month ago, but they would
11:38say Denver cause they had Jokic, but then they're in the Western conference.
11:41So would you really rather be Denver?
Comments