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00:00are you okay today are you like yeah I feel fine are you starting the show I just want to
00:04make sure
00:04you're not like incredibly angry no why would I be well I mean the Cavs won last night and I
00:09know
00:09now they're a half game back off the Knicks yeah your nightmare scenario I just want to make sure
00:14that today you're just not going to do a full meltdown no no we're still everything is still
00:18in play everything we've asked them to do which they have not listened to by the way but everything
00:21we've asked them to do good going boys is still in please those basketball gods well think about
00:26it uh so tomorrow night depending what happens between the tonight excuse me what happens between
00:30the Knicks and the Celtics uh we could have ourself a nice little situation on our hands on Friday night
00:35the actual losing has to take place on Friday night they've pushed this to the absolute furthest they
00:40can't I think they they expect the Knicks to bail them out because the because there's no there's
00:45no Brown tonight playing for Boston and I think they think that the Knicks are going to really try
00:49to get this game and if the Knicks win then great you don't have to worry about any of it
00:52uh but
00:53Friday night is now what becomes the most important night of the Cavs season as far as
00:57seating is concerned and in terms of losing is what you're saying well I mean it's going to be
01:00obvious they have to lose on Friday night if if the Knicks do their part tonight uh and do what
01:06they've been trying to do I believe in losing then yes Friday night it becomes imperative but like
01:10they're they actually the Cavs have not been pushed yet to go down that road we've been asking them I've
01:16been asking them for weeks and they've ignored all of it they've won 10 out of their last 12 they
01:20seem
01:20like they're playing incredible basketball Atkinson gave you know did you hear the comments Atkinson
01:24gave before the pregame yesterday I thought it was very telling so Atkinson went down this whole
01:29entire uh roundabout way of saying we're not pissing off the basketball gods tonight but if we need to
01:35on Friday well we haven't crossed that bridge yet it's a delicate balance of making sure that
01:39Donovan understands we're not going to do this until we absolutely have to but it was telling me that
01:44if they absolutely have to Atkinson's ready to pull that trigger uh so does that mean you're just not
01:49playing Donovan on Friday I would imagine I'll tell you right now you're not telling Donovan
01:54go 70 percent he's not he's not going to treat that game there's that that dude is not wired
02:00to do 70 percent or to treat it like a preseason I think what they're hoping for is that the
02:04Knicks
02:04win tonight and if the Knicks win tonight then it doesn't matter then Friday you can do whatever
02:08you can play as hard as you want you can never give off the impression that you try to do
02:11anything
02:11for seating in the slightest bit because as of right now they really haven't and so full Memphis
02:16do you only put like the final eight guys in the rotation like you even call up your
02:20guys it matters to what happens tonight if Boston wins tonight and then they're the Cavs are in a
02:25spot where they actually have to lose that game then yeah you got to go as far as you need
02:28to go
02:29I don't believe in losing on purpose uh I hate it uh sports are meant to be won and I'd
02:34like you to
02:34try and win if you're going to do this on Friday again I don't sanction it that's tomfoolery you're
02:41you're you're you're sticking the double birds up I actually did it hopefully I didn't catch on
02:45camera uh but you're sticking the double birds up to the basketball gods don't care for it if
02:50you're doing it you can't put Donovan out there you can't put Jared out there with the the gimpy knee
02:56you can't put James out there I don't even want to see you put Mobley out there I want it
03:00to be
03:01Thomas Bryant is a starting center if he's good to go I know Luke Trapp who's the who's the new
03:06guy
03:06we got the new two-way player I almost said Trey McKitty but that's an NFL tight end it's some
03:10guy
03:11I literally never heard of until I looked at the box score like four weeks ago oh is that our
03:16guy
03:16number 12 is it a Luke Riley Minnix Riley Minnix number 12 yeah yeah Jeff Mannix is uh it's a
03:23different last name yeah they had a really good Dallas game that's when they won by 30 that was
03:27a that was a Riley Minnix performance yep uh who could forget it obviously not but no it better be
03:31Riley Minnix it better be every other slub you have here because I do not want
03:35I don't want any of the I don't want them to be tainted by the uh you know suck for
03:41for the
03:42playoff seeding stuff I don't want that in their heads but I mean they got a real chance to pull
03:46off everything that everyone has been asking for where you you keep the four seed and then in the
03:50process of it you don't piss off the basketball gods like this this delicate balance this uh
03:54while Linda sighs you know tight roping act that they're trying to do they're actually doing it and
04:00pulling it off you just need the Knicks now to then live up to their end of the bargain and
04:04I think the
04:04Knicks tonight I think they're gonna really try to win I know I've been accusing them of losing
04:07uh but like they they got a lot of beef with the Celtics it's like a very it's a weird
04:12game for
04:12Brunson in particular and uh yeah I just I feel like I mean tonight's gonna be a big it's a
04:17big
04:17night all things considered so if the Celtics win tonight and the Cavs don't go all out to lose and
04:21actually win on Sunday are you going to be criticizing them well I mean I yeah I would be of
04:28course I would
04:28be they would have then opted to not to take the the harder route and I just don't know why
04:33criticism would that be I don't know uh I have to feel my how I how we get there in
04:36the moment I
04:37feel like we've spent so much time talking about this leading up to it that I've kind of exhausted
04:41my criticism and exhausted how hard in the paint I want to go for this the refueling point
04:45well I just I I just I yell I yell and I scream for weeks on end they don't listen
04:50they're not
04:51paying attention to what I'm saying at all clearly as evidenced by winning 10 out of the last 12
04:55and doing nothing to secure themselves in a spot as the four seed is concerned and so uh yeah if
05:01they blow it then I I guess it really come to head in what happens in the second round and
05:06getting
05:06ready for the second round it would be a lot of you asked for this go out and do something
05:10about it
05:10now I'm ready for it come on boys oh I'm ready for the postseason out what's the most they can
05:16win
05:1652 games now right I think that's right I think they're at 50 wins yeah let's get to 52 wins
05:21yeah I mean 51 right now 51 so we get to 53 oh 53 is better than 52 you just
05:26were happy with 52 just a
05:28second ago well but now not well because that's I thought that's the best you could do 52 still on
05:31the table now you can get to 53 52 and a loss on Friday it's still on the table it's
05:35right there
05:35that's gonna be 12th best in Cavs history we're not we're not gonna remember 12th best let's be
05:4012th best yeah by the second round of the postseason we won't even remember how many wins they had in
05:44this regular season yeah but we will remember if they challenged Boston beat Boston to go to the
05:48Eastern Conference Finals now won't we well we'll remember that in round three in a very special way
05:52yes we will it's weird you know between Mobley's comments last night and then Donovan's comments last
05:57night it really kind of felt like last night was their dress rehearsal for the postseason
06:01they just wanted to do it once and they did they pulled it off that was great but it also
06:05then was
06:06one of those moments where it's like I think you guys really are just just thinking you can do this
06:10all the time now and I don't know that they can I'm not saying they can't I just I thought
06:14they
06:14they really they read a lot into what last night was oh see it's interesting like I see I like
06:20where
06:21they are right now I do I like the fact that like Donovan's message the fact that that some people
06:26have bought and sold on them a couple times which is fair I like that you know he talked about
06:31uh the the wind strengthening you know this team and their own resolve and their belief in this
06:37like I like that's why I want them to win out if they can like I just I want a
06:42team that is I don't
06:44want them to be cocky I don't want them to be falsely confident which they've been in previous years
06:48but if they're feeling it and they really do believe in what they're doing let's go do it like this
06:55is this
06:55is I want this to be rubber meets the road for this team because this has been four years in
07:01the making even though this you know you've got three guys here who've only been here for 28 games
07:05and that's it's so funny like I think some people who are the most excited about the Cavs after the
07:11trades are now most anxious when it comes to thinking about the playoffs I'm the opposite I didn't want
07:17at least the heart and trade and now the closer we get I'm like LFG like this is this is
07:23awesome like
07:23this is where you find out who's really who who's really tough and who really can back it up and
07:30who
07:30isn't worth it and I think the Cavs have a chance to show who they really are on the good
07:36sense of that
07:37and so that that's maybe where my positivity is coming from as well no I get it's not even a
07:41bad thing
07:42I'm just I'm just pointing out the idea that uh I think they put a lot into beating a Hawks
07:46team last night
07:46it's a good Hawks team but it did feel like after the game they spoke in a way that we
07:50hadn't seen them speak
07:51in a couple weeks now I do wonder if the psychological part of this is what was at play
07:56we've seen Atkinson try to pull the the psychological levers a couple times in the past couple weeks it
08:01seems like every time he does it he pulled it at the wrong time that was the right time last
08:05night
08:06to talk about how great you were and to talk about all these different things but it would seem pretty
08:09obvious watching that game that there was multiple moments where it's like can we turn it on and if we
08:15can let's see how it goes and every time they turn it on it worked so as we're having the
08:18conversation
08:19about Friday and in you know whether if the Cavs win out whether that's going to get criticism if that
08:24ends up
08:24taken to the three seed uh Ryan Rusillo on the Rusillo show had Adam Lefkoe on and they were talking
08:30about
08:31the uh the belief or lack thereof in the Cavs in the postseason I think I might trust New York
08:36more than
08:37Cleveland though because Cleveland seems like kind of a trendy trendy pick although you know whatever it's one game
08:43I'm not trusting James Harden ever I'm done like I'm not getting sold this anymore this could be the
08:49worst clip ever I don't care like hey Jay I'm picking the James Harden team to go to the finals
08:53I'm not like I'm out there's always that that time the three quarters of the year where James Harden's
08:58got like 15 assists and he's dropping 15 points and you're like man we might need to give this guy
09:03a long-term contract and then vanish so like I'm just I can't ride that ride anymore I'm done
09:09so the actual biggest bone I have to pick with this entire piece of audio is Rusillo calling them
09:16a trendy pick yeah I don't think they're a trendy pick at all one they're the four seed and two
09:20I
09:20haven't heard anyone jump on the bandwagon at any point the only thing I've actually heard over the
09:25last 28 games is when they were injured and when guys weren't playing when you heard more people jump
09:30off the band I've heard more people sound like Lefkoe than not and it's it's kind of frustrating in a
09:35way
09:35uh because it's like the idea that and listen it it's almost like when we talk Browns quarterbacks
09:39or Browns head coaches it's like all right just keep saying you think it's not going to work out
09:43and for 25 years you've been right if you keep saying that if that's your if that's your one
09:47trick on it you've been right if you're one thing with Harden throughout these years is I just don't
09:51think he can win an NBA finals you're going to be right you've been right for 17 years you've been
09:55right uh but like it just feels very closed-minded to not look and see what Harden's doing in his
10:00role
10:00on this team and to turn that around and make it to be like well I just I just don't
10:04I don't mess with
10:05Harden so I can't mess with the Cavs and I feel like that's been the tune that I've gotten with
10:08a lot of the national guys I think the the interesting thing to me about it though is is
10:13I think if you just want to put this on Harden that's fine because of history uh I think it's
10:18okay to put this on the Cavs as well because of their lack of history of of deepened postseason
10:23success I do and like I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out that it wasn't
10:28just Darius Garland that couldn't get past the second round right I have no problem with pointing
10:33out that James Harden hasn't uh really he's gotten into the finals he has gotten to conference finals
10:39but has had as many clunkers late in the the series as he has great games like I think it's
10:45fine if
10:45you don't have a or if you lack belief in this Cavs team because that's what this postseason should be
10:50about okay but that clip would have hit way harder for me if that whole thing was about Donovan instead
10:54of James Harden oh yeah that whole clip is him going left go going on about I don't I just
10:59don't trust
10:59Donovan he's never made it out of the second round I can't mess with the Donovan led basketball
11:03team I think that clip goes a million times harder for someone like myself I'm like oh okay you got
11:08some real beef with what the Cavs are doing when you go to the Harden level of it it just
11:12it just
11:12comes across like you're not paying attention to what this Cavs team is I mean I I get it but
11:17I I
11:18think it's all fair I think it's all fair because it's all based on what they've done and like I
11:22I this is
11:24the ultimate you know what or get off the pot and I know people don't want it to be that
11:28right
11:28because well you what happens this offseason and all that I'm focused on the now and today
11:33and this is as good of an opportunity the rest of the Eastern Conference feels I don't want to say
11:39it's weekend because that's I think a little overplayed there's a lot of good teams there's
11:45maybe one great team and then there's a lot of teams I think are in similar conversations but none of
11:49them are definitively better than the Cavs than I mean the postseason so this is uh this is your
11:54next best chance since last year to really make that deep run yeah no it's all right there and so
12:00like that's that's where mine's at like I don't I like I said in a Celtics series I'd give you
12:05a 46%
12:06chance uh out of 100 to to win a seven game series against the Celtics but like okay let's go
12:13see I like
12:13I hope they're playing every bit of Rosillo sound any of the things that I said six weeks ago or
12:19two weeks ago I hope they're playing this stuff just pumping it through that locker room
12:24non-stop because I think I want them to understand like not only do you have as much pressure in
12:32these playoffs as anyone else in the entire NBA but also you a lot of people don't believe in you
12:40yet I'm trying to think of pressure uh because like the teams that we talk about uh is when we
12:45talk about the same length of odds OKC is not changing their team at all the Spurs aren't changing
12:49their team at all Boston's not changing their team at all if we look at the top four teams with
12:53the best odds the the one team that could have a massive shake-up if they don't deliver would be
12:57the Cavs now I could see Denver shaking some things up uh but I say that about them every offseason
13:02they never do any of that and so like you know they could use a little lightly used James Harden
13:06Lakers will probably shake things up just because LeBron probably won't be there next year but like
13:10the Reeves-Dontich side of things isn't going to go anywhere like yeah you're not wrong like from a
13:15pressure standpoint and who could actually see shake-ups if you don't perform in the postseason
13:19the Cavs are at the top of that list but I think that but I do think like there is
13:23a lack of belief
13:24and when I say lack of belief I'm talking about like compared to other years like in anybody that
13:29talked to is there excitement about the Cavs yes of course is there hope for the Cavs yes but nobody
13:36trusts the Cavs in the postseason yet and that's the way this is supposed to be we've gone into and
13:41I'll
13:41say it for myself as well we've gone into the playoffs of the three previous years going this
13:46is different right that first year with Donovan we didn't have Donovan last year in the play-in
13:50right and he went and he got waxed by the Knicks and then you went the next year and you
13:54hey you got
13:55through that first round you go right in the second round and there were injuries and other things but
14:00then you got waxed by the Celtics and then last year it's like you just had the you know one
14:04of the
14:05the best regular season from the Cavs without LeBron ever right this has got it's got to be different
14:11and then it went the way against the Pacers that it had each of the previous times had been
14:16eliminated well I think the Heat series gave people confidence too because the Heat series was just
14:19so one-sided and then you got injuries injuries piled up and then before you could blink all of a
14:24sudden the series was over and so like that's like I think and listen I think it's okay if the
14:29Cavs are
14:30a little salty about the lack of belief I get it if they feel like they've been a victim of
14:34circumstance
14:34from injuries or from this other stuff for me in this convo is that it doesn't feel like it's a
14:37lack
14:38of belief in the Cavs even though we are doing that here and I get that and I think I
14:41think you're
14:41fair to point that out I think a lot more people are just left go on it where it's just
14:45it's a lack
14:45of belief in Harden and there isn't that fair it for sure it is Harden hasn't defeated those
14:50accusations of course it's fair but I don't think people look at it as this big lack of belief in
14:55the Cavs and their postseason woes they're just attaching everything they know about Harden and
14:59this is all I need to do 216-474-0092 do they do fans do you as a fan still
15:06uh lack belief in this
15:08Cavs team and the funny thing is like I I know I've seen some some debate about uh four or
15:15five
15:15matchup in the the regular or in the first round and how close that's going to be guys if that's
15:21a
15:21close series you're going to see some panic from other Cavs fans if they if they do end up getting
15:26Detroit in the second round and it's a fiercely contested six or seven game six seven uh matchup
15:34yes I think you're going to see people panic from this like I think because I because I again I
15:39think
15:39that speaks to the truth which is whether it's Donovan and the Cavs whether it's from the Harden
15:45side of stuff even Keon Ellis who doesn't have a lot of postseason experience like this postseason
15:50experience is about proving you are different than the three previous times and that and I want to
15:56point it out that's not just about the end result that's not just about being hyper competitive
16:02against Boston in the the Eastern Conference Finals it's also about beating teams you should
16:08beat well yeah that includes Detroit by the way I don't care that they're the one seed they're a bit
16:12of a paper tiger yeah but that was the part of the that was the part of the case that
16:15I was making the
16:15other day about the idea that like like we haven't seen them get past two rounds in the postseason
16:20and part of that is is taking not even what are layups but taking easier matchups and doing what
16:25you're supposed to do like good teams don't falter against the Pistons good teams don't falter
16:29against the Hawks if it's round one they get in there and they take care of business and so like
16:33like doing that and accomplishing that would show some growth for the Cavs for me so I have said I
16:38lack some belief in the Cavs because of what this postseason is and that's again that's what gets me
16:44excited about this do you lack any belief I depends what we're talking about like what is the belief
16:48about them going to the NBA finals because then yes I would lack some belief is the belief about them
16:52going to the Eastern Conference finals I don't really lack much belief there uh like do I think
16:56this is a different Cavs team yes yes I do do I think they're going to do better than I've
17:00ever seen
17:01a Cavs team in the Donovan Mitchell era do yes I believe in that 100 percent I think each round
17:09prospectively offers you a chance to to to take down a narrative on you uh the Hawks is just are
17:15you
17:15going to play down to your competition which happened with the magic and I feel like in some ways
17:19happened in that Indiana series as well even though they went to the NBA finals that that wasn't an
17:24NBA finals worthy team they had an incredible ride of luck and incredible three-point shooting
17:30that's why they broke it up not even half a year later so I think that that's one two if
17:36you play
17:36Detroit in the the second round it offers you the ability to push back on the idea you're soft and
17:41then three it offers you to push back on the idea that you might be a really great regular season
17:46team
17:47but you're not one of the four best teams in the NBA at any point like you couldn't in terms
17:53of
17:53narrative busting the road is there for sure now you just gotta ride that road and you gotta get as
17:59far as you can oh it's all right in front of them that's like that's the cool thing that they
18:02have
18:02offered up is it's all right in front of them to knock down these little roadblocks one by one by
18:07one
18:07and really change people's perceptions and you're right as a Cavs fan to sit there and say like I'm I'm
18:12questioning what this team is we watched it too many times in the postseason in recent years to give
18:16them the benefit of the doubt like the burden of proof is on them to showcase that they're different
18:20I think they are different but maybe I'm just that idiot in the corner that has believed this one too
18:24many times
18:24I think they're different but they're different but they're different but they're different but they're different and they're different from
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