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00:00A white and gold winner for your Cavaliers!
00:03Woo!
00:04I don't have to sit there and eat nasty conmo.
00:09I'm going to eat.
00:11But I don't have to sit there and take it.
00:13Well, I mean, I might as well.
00:19Now you have to talk because I'm eating donuts.
00:23Go Cavs, baby! Go Cavs!
00:25The ratio to outcome of a playoff game,
00:29a must-win, all-time, huge, significant playoff game for a Cleveland team.
00:34The ratio of that with the tweets of the last five minutes of a half
00:40where you would have thought they were an 0-16 Browns team.
00:45You would have thought this was the worst team in the history of Cleveland sports
00:49in the last five minutes of the first half
00:52if you just monitored the tweets that were coming in.
00:55Because I sat there at halftime and I was at the game, Kenny,
00:59and I thought about leaving.
01:00I thought about leaving.
01:02I literally...
01:03No!
01:04I was texting my wife because she was going up to bed
01:07and she was giving me the update of the sleep
01:09and how's everybody doing and where's the cat
01:11and what am I coming home to?
01:13Where's the cat?
01:13Who's going to get the monitor?
01:14You ain't been home in hours.
01:15Where the hell are you supposed to know where the cat is?
01:17Because if the cat starts meowing, it starts a ripple effect.
01:21If Mason wakes up, if Izzy wakes Mason up, then we're going to have a talking to
01:25and it disrupts the sleep.
01:27All right.
01:27We've got to look at the watch because it's going to have the VO Max monitoring
01:32and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
01:34All I know is this at halftime, I go, I might be leaving.
01:39And I got a pep talk.
01:40Branson Wright gave me a pep talk in the bowels of the arena.
01:44Branson Wright gave you a pep talk?
01:45We're sitting there, we're to the point where we're showing each other tweets
01:48that we're sending.
01:49Really?
01:50We're like, here's what I'm sending.
01:51What are you sending?
01:53It was DefCon.
01:54I think you're showing another Instagram post on your phone right to the camera,
01:58so you better be careful there.
02:00We'll do that in a little bit.
02:01It's nothing incriminating for you.
02:03There was a comment on an Instagram post we will get to coming up at 643
02:07by a member of the Sanders family.
02:10Oh, boy.
02:11Way we go.
02:12Anyway.
02:13So it was DefCon.
02:14It was a level of DefCon, without a doubt, and rightfully so,
02:18because James Harden has this throwback to clock, I want to say 20 minutes,
02:2718 minutes of the first half, because the last four minutes of the first half
02:31was turnover layup, turnover layup, miss shot layup.
02:36It was one of the worst transgressions against playoff basketball I've ever seen.
02:42And I was just like, they quit.
02:43Oh, my God, they quit.
02:44They quit in a playoff game.
02:45They're done.
02:46They're getting eliminated.
02:47Kenny, they're getting eliminated.
02:49My Cavaliers that are supposed to make a deep run in the playoffs are done.
02:54I know.
02:54Are done.
02:56And then a funny thing happened when they put Dennis Schroeder in.
03:00Hey, man.
03:01That's why they call it a team.
03:03And that's the end of the show.
03:04Have a great day.
03:05No, I was proud of myself because I didn't check a thing.
03:08I put sleep on my phone.
03:10I said, I'll see you on the other side.
03:11And I woke up this morning, and it was 30 texts.
03:15And it was great.
03:16They were all negative.
03:17They were all negative.
03:19Every single one.
03:2030 texts, 30 negative comments.
03:23And then after I kind of tried to, like, size up the time when the game ended,
03:27there was nothing after they won.
03:30I go, you guys got to be kidding me.
03:31You guys got to be kidding me.
03:32There was nothing good.
03:33But I didn't check social media.
03:35I didn't do a damn thing.
03:36I sat there in my bed and watched that game, sitting up, and just, I kept it on low.
03:43I turned it down, and I just let the game, and I just sat there stewing in my feelings
03:48in the first half, at the end of the first half.
03:50I did turn up inside the NBA.
03:52I saw that.
03:53That was something we're going to go over here in a bit.
03:55But I saw the second half, and I just was relieved that they won.
04:00I knew I had a feeling, and I didn't, because I'm like, I got to go to bed.
04:05And if I start looking at my mentions, if I start looking at the phone, I'm going to
04:08be up until 2 in the morning.
04:09I guarantee it.
04:10And it was.
04:11And I do think, I'm not going to sit there.
04:15Like, this has been a weird series already.
04:17You've had people flipping and flopping and calling each other out, then having to take
04:21it back.
04:21Like, I just think a lot of people are doing it as a defense mechanism.
04:25I think that they, the malaise is still there.
04:29They're waiting for this team to let them down.
04:32And so, they're going to get their feelings off.
04:34And I'm seeing, even after the game, I saw social media, when I woke up, I'm like, this
04:38is after the game.
04:39This is after the game.
04:40This is, like, immediately.
04:41Well, if they need Dennis Schroeder to bail them out, you know how this is going to go.
04:46All right, guys.
04:46Like, you do need people to show up.
04:49Like, J.J.
04:50Barea showed up way back in the day.
04:53You're right.
04:53You've had a lot of guys.
04:54Derek White show up over the last couple of years.
04:57Now, he's a quality player.
04:58But I'm saying, like, you don't sit there.
05:00When you talk about the Celtics, you're not talking about Derek White first.
05:04As an outsider, you're not talking Derek White first reference.
05:06No offense to him.
05:07Who helped us out in the finals with a four-point play?
05:08It was.
05:09Wait, a four-point play?
05:10Was it there with a three-point play?
05:12I thought you were going to J.R. Smith, who's an actually well-known player.
05:15We've had him on.
05:16I was going to say Damon Jones, but it wasn't.
05:19No, it wasn't.
05:19I can't remember his name.
05:20He helped us with a different thing.
05:22This is what the NBA playoffs.
05:26It's a lobster bisque.
05:28It was.
05:29The playoffs are awesome in the NBA because you do.
05:32You have to be uncomfortable as a coach.
05:36You have to go into whatever you have.
05:39The catalog of guys that you're like, oh, yeah, I remember him, Thomas Bryant.
05:43I remember him.
05:44We've been calling for him all series.
05:45Not that I thought that was the difference in why we lost in two games in Toronto.
05:49But I'm like, I don't know.
05:50He could come in and be a spark plug.
05:53He could come in and he made a quick defensive play.
05:56And it's those types of things that can change a series immediately.
06:01And that was a game where the last few minutes of the first half, we all thought this was going
06:07to be a quitting basketball team.
06:09This was going to be a team that was just going to lay down, be humiliated.
06:13I know.
06:14Humiliated.
06:14And by the way, it's Canada and it's USA.
06:17Like, Donald Trump is going to have a press conference.
06:19That's how bad the last few minutes of that game, that first half was.
06:23That's the level of ineptitude that you saw and then for them to turn it around.
06:30Yeah.
06:30And then in the crunch time, there was six minutes left.
06:34And that qualified as crunch time in this game.
06:37They had Harden, Struis, Merrill, Allen, Schroeder.
06:41They had a bizarre lineup that if you would have told me before the game, in the fourth quarter, with
06:48six minutes left, that would be a group I'd say we're waving the white flag.
06:51That's it.
06:51We're getting eliminated.
06:52And are we trading Donovan?
06:54Are we trading Mobley?
06:56Kenny's gone.
06:57Kobe's gone.
06:58I'm right here.
06:59And now here we go.
07:00Game six in Toronto and you can win the series.
07:05Yeah, I'm glad it turned.
07:07I'm glad it turned.
07:08Because if it didn't turn, I can't imagine what today would be like.
07:12And honestly, I think it'll be pretty quiet out there.
07:14I do want to know, 216-474-0092, are you feeling more confident?
07:19Are you feeling better about the Cavs now after that win?
07:22I thought it was a gritty win.
07:23Some things didn't go well for you.
07:25It turned the ball over like crazy again.
07:26And I think you had just as many turnovers as what Toronto did, actually.
07:30But it seemed to come in just these waves of turnovers, like you said, at the end of the first
07:34half.
07:34Live ball turnovers.
07:35And that was one of the things.
07:36I was listening to Jeff on the way in.
07:38That's one of the things that he thought was critical for game six.
07:40Kenny thought was critical for game six was the possession battle.
07:44You can't turn the ball over.
07:45You've got to win on the boards.
07:46And if you do that in game six, there should not be a game seven.
07:51I don't know how many people, I think we're in this weird feeling now, not this weird place where, yeah,
07:59you can't help but feel more confident because you're a 3-2 series lead, but you're also going on the
08:04road.
08:05The trust is still not there.
08:07The trust is still not there to close it out.
08:10And for Toronto, they've earned respect there.
08:13They have earned a lot of respect to it.
08:14So I think we're just in this weird place of being as comfortable and confident as most teams would be
08:20in a 3-2 series, not where they would knock it down, which is what we thought would be yesterday
08:26morning before last night's game.
08:28Like, hey, if they win, I think a lot of people are going to say we're still not out of
08:31the woods.
08:31If they lose, I think a lot of people are going to be hitting DEFCON 1, and they won't care
08:34about any of these guys requesting trades and all the other stuff.
08:37They're not paying attention to Detroit and Cade Cunningham having 40-plus last night and winning that game and stretching
08:44out that series where now Detroit is back in it could maybe, if that series goes 7 and you're playing
08:51the winner of that series, it's like, oh, are you watching the Raptors?
08:54No, nobody cares because they're just focused on, wait, we were told the Raptors were bad, and we were huge
09:01favorites before the series.
09:03Why is this series going so long?
09:05I understand that.
09:06So I think it's – I just think it's going to be a weird day for Browns fans, wholehearted –
09:10or Browns fans, Cavs fans.
09:12It's always a weird day for Browns fans.
09:14We will get to why it's a very weird day for Browns fans.
09:16I know, I know, I know, I know.
09:17640, we'll get to it, I promise.
09:19But I do think it's a weird day for Cavs fans because you're happy your team won.
09:23Everybody should be happy they won, my God.
09:25But I just don't think there's a lot of confidence moving forward.
09:31Fans are not – to me, I would be like, hey, I've told you all along,
09:35this series is why – I thought – I mean, seriously, at halftime, I thought it was over.
09:38So I'm not going to – I'm not going to wave the pom-poms and act like, why did you
09:42guys not believe?
09:43Like, I told you, I was getting ready to leave at halftime.
09:47That's how bad it was.
09:48And then the Dennis Schroeder takeover –
09:50You wouldn't have watched game six?
09:51Oh, I told you, I was done.
09:53I was going to find something else.
09:54That was it.
09:55So Dennis Schroeder, 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, 5 of 8 from the field in the
10:01fourth quarter,
10:02and he played the entire – so this is why we talk about the playoffs are so different.
10:08Nobody would have had that on their bingo card.
10:11Nobody would have had that in the regular season.
10:13It's not that look anything.
10:14Yeah, I know.
10:15That, hey, Dennis Schroeder's going to play 12 minutes.
10:17He's going to play an entire fourth quarter.
10:19He's going to be playing while Donovan Mitchell is on the bench,
10:22and the coach is going to admit, I'm keeping Donovan Mitchell on the bench.
10:27All right, I want to get to that 6-23 because there was a hell of a piece of audio
10:29from Kenny Atkinson,
10:31which I thought was him trusting his best player, and I think a lot of – it's weird.
10:37I think a lot of people believe the same thing I did and what you did.
10:41I think you're on the same wave with me.
10:42Don't tell me yet.
10:43Don't tell me yet.
10:44But I saw a lot of people going after Kenny Atkinson for something he admitted in the postgame.
10:47I'm going to play that coming up at 6-23 later on this morning.
10:51But I feel better about it.
10:53It's not where the series is over, though.
10:54And so it's playing out the way I thought.
10:57And because of the reactions that I was getting from fans,
11:00I just don't think that this is going to be a feeling today of celebration.
11:05We got this in the bag like we've seen in years past.
11:08I think that this is very game-to-game with the Cavs fans because you're going up there to Toronto,
11:13and I think that they've proven a time or two that that is going to be a tough atmosphere.
11:17And that you have not responded well to that atmosphere.
11:21So it's still arm's length.
11:23Arm's length.
11:24And I don't think that – but let me state for the record.
11:27I don't think it's bad that Dennis Schroeder stepped in there and gave you quality at the end of the
11:32game
11:32where he scores 11 of his 19 in the game in the final quarter of the game.
11:38I think that that's a great –
11:40Evan Mobley hitting a couple of threes in the fourth quarter is a great thing.
11:43Now, that's somebody you actually need.
11:45We've got to talk about Evan.
11:45That's somebody you actually really, really, really need.
11:47But you need a guy like Dennis Schroeder to come in there and be a veteran for you,
11:50and I thought that he did.
11:51I thought that he showed a lot of poise as a guy who's been in the league a long time.
11:54It was mismatched basketball.
11:55That's where you can run all your sets.
11:57You can run all your plays.
11:58Or you can put in your Hall of Famer because Dennis Schroeder is a future NBA Hall of Famer.
12:05Kids, check out his international play.
12:08But when he got in there and just diagnosed, oh, I can beat this guy off the dribble and get
12:13to the basket.
12:14They have no help.
12:15There's no – there's no pack line defense, right?
12:18There's nobody back there that can – and Schroeder, the takeover.
12:23When you've got a team where Donovan is trying to figure out where his place was.
12:28I do think Donovan had more active legs yesterday than he's had in a while.
12:33When James Harden – I know the turnovers.
12:35I know we're going to talk about those to death.
12:37But when James Harden has that first quarter and just gives Cavs fans some hope that they can hang in
12:44there.
12:45When all of that was going on and Evan Mobley hits the two biggest threes of the season
12:52where I don't think anybody in that arena was going, yes, Evan, take it.
12:58Well, that's one where –
12:59It was the quintessential no, no, no, no, no, no.
13:03Yes!
13:03As a team – I'm glad you brought this up.
13:06As a team, I don't think there's much trust.
13:08When it comes to Evan, I don't think there's much trust.
13:10But that's – you needed a guy to step up there and have the green light.
13:14Because I think in a lot of cases he might have wanted to pass off.
13:17Because there's not a whole lot of thought that he's going to step up and overcome some of the controversy
13:22that's been surrounding him as far as him being that player that the Cavs need him to be.
13:27And there's been a lot of nasty things that have been said about him.
13:29I mean, things that – again, I don't think that people would say to his face on some of these
13:34podcasts,
13:34the things that you send us, some of the things on the radio.
13:38And I haven't enjoyed it.
13:40I thought it was really lowbrow and really crappy to say some of those things about him.
13:44But either way – and I think you could be critical without saying some of the nasty things that have
13:48been said.
13:50But – and there's plenty of reasons to be critical.
13:51But he steps in there and he hits two big shots.
13:55In so many ways, keeps your head afloat, saves the series in so many ways.
14:00And then now we head to a game six where, yeah, you could possibly close it out.
14:04But I think we're going to see a lot more of the same.
14:05I think we're going to see a lot of blitzing.
14:07I think there's going to be some turnover issues again.
14:09It just has been that way over the last few games.
14:12And you're probably going to have to go out there and grind out another win the way you did.
14:16So the challenge is there.
14:18You win this game on Friday night.
14:21Everything's going to be okay until we get to the next series.
14:24If the Magic end up closing out the Detroit Pistons,
14:26I think there's a different ball of wax there.
14:30If Detroit comes back, I'm going to be interested to see where our temperature is when it comes to Detroit.
14:35But you've got to get past game six first.
14:37Say it again.
14:38Say it again.
14:39What you just said.
14:40I thought their season was over at halftime.
14:42I don't think a lot of people disagree with you.
14:43Holy cow.
14:44I have no faith.
14:45I don't think a lot of people disagree with you.
14:46What was it?
14:4774-67 and a half?
14:48Yeah.
14:49Charles Barkley thought it was over at halftime.
14:50Oh, God.
14:51Did he ever.
14:52You want to hear it?
14:52Yes.
14:53Hell yeah.
14:53All right.
14:53Here we go.
14:54Just got to say, man, I just want to apologize for taking the Cavs to get to the final.
14:59Man, you're halfway through game five.
15:02Ernie, what you see, no team's going to get to the championship playing like the last three games.
15:08They haven't played three bad games, two bad games in a half in a row.
15:12Like, they don't value the basketball.
15:14They don't play with, you can't win with consistent players.
15:18When you, and Shaq and Kenny know, when you're on a good team, there's a sense of urgency.
15:23There's no sense of urgency with this Cavs team.
15:25Who are you apologizing to?
15:26Oh, America.
15:27I've been bamboozled, hoodwink, letter straight.
15:29Well, that's what you've done to America, too.
15:32I just love Ernie.
15:33Audio courtesy ESPN.
15:34It's halftime of game five.
15:37I have a little more from Barkley.
15:39Yeah, please.
15:39Let it ride.
15:40This is Inside the NBA on ESPN.
15:44If I hit the button.
15:46Their starters still didn't play good to me.
15:49Their bench guys, to me, was the difference.
15:53Because they might have finished it, but when they were not playing well,
15:57because they got off to an awful start, and when he went to his bench,
16:01those guys gave them some life and some energy.
16:03But the starters got to pick it up.
16:05You know, James and Donovan, they got to play better.
16:08Mobley got to play better.
16:09My man Jared Allen got to play better.
16:12James had a pretty good first quarter.
16:13Yeah.
16:14Yeah, he did.
16:15But they were down.
16:16But like the fourth quarter, one point between Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.
16:20That can't happen.
16:21Your best players have to be your best players.
16:25And Donovan and James have not played.
16:27They played good the first two.
16:29But this is three, in my opinion, subpar games in a row.
16:32That can't happen.
16:34They should win this series, especially now that Brandon Ingram's out.
16:38Well, at halftime, you were acting like the sky was falling.
16:41It is falling.
16:42You got to play hard, man.
16:44You can't relax.
16:45You just can't play, man.
16:47You got to play with desperation.
16:49The playoffs are desperation.
16:50You got to play like this is a really big deal.
16:55It's amazing because like this actually leads into what we were going to do with Mary Kay coming up at
17:01643.
17:02Just because I don't like what he said doesn't mean it's not true.
17:05He's talking about the finals.
17:06He's not talking about just beating Toronto.
17:08Yeah, he doesn't care.
17:09Charles Barkley's talking about the finals is what he's saying.
17:13So, he may end up being very well right.
17:15I hope he's wrong, obviously.
17:16But I can't sit here and make fun of him for what he said and him ending up being wrong
17:22after the first half.
17:25Whereas, he's talking about a team that was supposed to go to the NBA finals, not this.
17:28100%.
17:29Look, I could sit here and if we were a little more dominating in this series, I would implore you
17:36to go look at the other series,
17:37look at the other games, call out the flaws with the Boston Celtics, call out the flaws with the New
17:42York Knicks, with Detroit, with Orlando.
17:45I could do that all day.
17:46Guess who's not going to care?
17:48Anybody that wants to call us or listen to us today because they were sold a bill of goods.
17:53They don't care that the other teams, what bill of goods that the Knicks are all in, that the Celtics
17:59were unbelievable in the regular season.
18:01Like, nobody cares.
18:02They are just like, hold up your end of the bargain, Cavs.
18:05And I will tell you, as embarrassing as those last few minutes of that first half was, as rough as
18:14it looked for Evan Mobley in that first half.
18:16I mean, he looked so outmatched, so outclassed.
18:20Both of our bigs just looked like they were feckless.
18:23They had no answers whatsoever for Toronto.
18:26The Raptors were flying high.
18:28There were a lot of Raptors fans that apparently just drove up game day because the tickets were so cheap
18:33because you guys don't believe in this team.
18:35So the opposing team in a playoffs in Cleveland, Ohio, are buying up tickets to your team, and nobody thinks
18:42you guys have a shot.
18:43And you're getting ridiculed like that by Charles Barkley and some of the leading voices in the NBA.
18:49I did not know there were a lot of Raptors fans there.
18:51I'm writing that down.
18:52I'm sorry.
18:52They were there.
18:53There was a bathroom stall open, and I said, you were here first.
18:57First, you made the trip.
18:58Your team's up at half.
18:59You go ahead.
19:00He was in a bathroom stall.
19:01That's interesting.
19:01You go ahead.
19:02Makes a lot of sense.
19:03It does, doesn't it?
19:04Old habits die hard.
19:05So all of that stuff is happening.
19:06I will say this for the Cavs defense.
19:09They played their asses off in the second half in an F fourth quarter.
19:13They did.
19:14They played hard.
19:14And I know.
19:15Okay, Lima.
19:16Great.
19:17They played hard in the playoffs.
19:18Well, you know what?
19:19Someone needed to wake them up.
19:21Somebody needed to, and Dennis Schroeder and Evan Mobley hitting those threes, and Evan
19:25Mobley with some big defensive rebounds.
19:27Harden had some big defensive rebounds.
19:29All those loose balls that were going to the Raptors in those two games in Toronto, all
19:34of a sudden the Cavaliers said, hey, you know what?
19:36Give me that.
19:37I'm glad you mentioned this.
19:38I want to be in this series.
19:39I'm glad you mentioned this.
19:39I'd like to continue playing basketball.
19:41Because Kenny mentioned it, and this is something that caught a lot of people's eyes, or caught a
19:45lot of people's ears in the postgame, where Kenny has said about keeping Mitchell on the
19:50bench later in the fourth quarter, and why he did such a thing.
19:54Well, I was going to put Donovan and Evan back in, and they said, no, this group's rolling.
19:59I was like, what?
20:01Like, that never happens in the NBA.
20:03But that shows Donovan, he's so selfless.
20:07I think there's four minutes left.
20:09I think they just scored a bucket.
20:12Now, when they scored another bucket, I did get them in.
20:14I said, come on.
20:15But, like, they knew that group was doing well, and wanted to keep them out there, both
20:19him and Evan.
20:20So, that immediately got met with question by some of our media brethren there.
20:25Donovan Mitchell explains his side of things.
20:28It's not his side of things, but he gives his explanation about why he did not want to
20:31go back into the game at that juncture hit it.
20:34I mean, when you got to, like, it's about the group, right?
20:37Like, it's not about, and he asked me and Evan, and we were just like, no, like, why?
20:41Like, you know what I'm saying?
20:42Like, this is working.
20:43We're getting stops.
20:45And I think the biggest thing about this group is it's about the collective.
20:48It isn't about one person or two people.
20:50Like, we know who we are, and we know what Dennis is bringing, right?
20:53Like, you ride the hot hand.
20:55You don't make a sub, you know what I mean?
20:57And I think that just speaks to, you know, what we have as a group.
21:00You know, and I feel like every single person, one through 15, would say the same thing if
21:04they were in that position, right?
21:05It's about the group.
21:06It isn't about, you know, each individual.
21:08Well, so when you got guys in a group that's really, you know, closing the game out in
21:12a sense, not in a sense, but closing the game out, you stick with it no matter who's out
21:16there on the floor.
21:18Dennis Schroeder was asked about it.
21:20He had 19 points, 11 in the fourth quarter.
21:23And this, remember, this is off the heels.
21:25And we're going to get deeper into the Dennis Schroeder halftime speech.
21:28This is apparently off the heels of a halftime speech from Dennis Schroeder where he lit into
21:32the basketball team.
21:33Here's Dennis about being left out there for the fourth.
21:36No, I didn't know that.
21:37I'm the same way, though.
21:38When somebody is balling, and even when the coach tells me to get in, I'm letting the
21:43guy cook whoever cooks.
21:45And I appreciate it from Don.
21:48That means a lot.
21:49You know, he's a superstar.
21:50Not a lot of superstars does that, who I've been around.
21:53So it's a, I mean, high character group, I think, in this locker room.
21:57And that shows why.
21:59Just glad that we pulled this one out.
22:01Okay, you know more about these things when it comes to the end.
22:03Let me just give you my opinion.
22:05I just assume that that's what, if a leader on a basketball team like Donovan Mitchell
22:09sees this sort of thing, that's what you do as the head coach.
22:11I mean, you do want to empower your players, do you not?
22:14Now, there is a time where it's like, hey, get your ass in there.
22:17You're the number one here.
22:18Let's go.
22:19There may come a time for that.
22:21But if you see your guy going and going well, and he's the guy who lit into everybody,
22:25he's a veteran.
22:26It wasn't like he's just some guy at the end of the bench who barely gets to play.
22:29It's not like Grady Dick was laying into the Toronto Raptors at halftime or anything like that.
22:33Like, no, this is something serious here.
22:36This is a veteran that's respected in this league, letting him have it.
22:38So, fine.
22:39Donovan Mitchell, who is the supreme leader of this team, went ahead and let him do it.
22:43I did not see a problem with this whatsoever.
22:45I did not see a problem with it.
22:47But maybe I'm wrong.
22:47I want to kind of lay it out for you there.
22:49Well, here's the thing.
22:50They traded for – everybody makes a big deal about Harden.
22:54But they traded for Schroeder.
22:56And Keon Ellis is out of the rotation.
22:58That's something we'll probably end up talking about in the offseason.
23:01Like, that was actually – I thought it was talked about as the bigger prize in the DeAndre Hunter deal.
23:07But, obviously, he hasn't had any playoff moments like this in his career.
23:11And Dennis Schroeder's had big-time moments.
23:13I joke about the Hall of Fame resume, but, you know, he's got an incredible Hall of Fame, you know,
23:19international resume.
23:21And he's unafraid.
23:22That's what I'm getting to.
23:23They acquired two guys at the deadline that are unafraid in these moments.
23:29One of them is James Harden.
23:30You saw that in the first quarter.
23:32Like, he doesn't care that universally he's being ridiculed for the turnovers.
23:37He does not care.
23:38Like, think about that.
23:39He seems not to.
23:39It's amazing.
23:40There are a lot of guys that would just take them out and James Harden, for better or for worse,
23:44right?
23:45He doesn't care.
23:46He's like, I need to put the team on my back.
23:48And that's what James Harden did in the first quarter.
23:50And no, the guy didn't notice that James Harden made, like, six defensive plays in that game.
23:56Like, James Harden, which kind of makes you wonder, why doesn't he do that all the time?
23:59So, ultimately, for the record, do you agree with me on this?
24:02I'm not hitting it wrong there.
24:03This is what I'm getting at.
24:04When they traded for James Harden, I almost think guys are deferring too much to James Harden.
24:08But they also see a guy like Dennis Schroeder, and no one is going to say anything about James Harden
24:16being on the floor, even with Donovan not being on the floor, in crunch time of a life-or-death
24:22playoff game because he's got the resume.
24:25Everybody in that league knows who Dennis Schroeder is.
24:27I mean, seriously.
24:28Like, that's not a casual fans, non-ball knowers, had fun with that.
24:33They might not know Dennis Schroeder.
24:35Every person, everybody on Toronto knows exactly who that is.
24:38And you know what?
24:39They've seen it.
24:40Dennis Schroeder has had these moments in these games where he's like, all right, I got a mismatch.
24:45I'm going to go lay up.
24:47Or I'm going to get the ball in the cylinder, and we have a chance to score here in an
24:51otherwise terrible situation where we can't get anything to fall.
24:54If Donovan is the one saying it, I can't see how it's the wrong thing to do.
25:00And there is such an ebb and a flow where there's places where you know it's the right time to
25:05bring guys in.
25:06It's places where you know it's the wrong time to bring guys in.
25:09And if I'm Kenny, yeah, I'm looking at it going, hey, they just got a bucket.
25:13I need to get my guys back in there.
25:15I might need to take the ideas of the guy who's the leader of this team, honestly, who runs the
25:20franchise in so many ways is Donovan.
25:22And with that comes a great responsibility because we can see it later on in this postseason where there is
25:27going to be some serious criticism of him for anything like this or some questions for anything like this because
25:31we may wonder in a fourth quarter later on.
25:33But I think that he's obviously capable of handling that responsibility.
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