00:00You know, I tried to wake him up early in the morning, ladies and gentlemen, from all
00:04his duties, it was NBA TV, it was the Kentucky Derby, it's been all sorts of stuff from John
00:10Fanta, play-by-play announcer, as he appears on the Wiseheart Right, We Make It Right,
00:17call Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:19Fanta, were you chanting USA, USA, in your home watching the Cavs pull off Game 7?
00:28As trying to stay quiet for the baby.
00:31Now, I'll tell you what, before talking anything about how the game was won, I got handed to
00:40the folks that were at Rocket Arena last night, and I was thinking about this, when LeBron
00:47came back to Cleveland for the second goal round, I felt like our crowds, they were still
00:55very strong, but guys, to a degree, your crowd gets corporatized because of how big LeBron
01:00James is, okay?
01:02I thought last night, that crowd and the shots that NBC put up, that was, those were the diehards
01:10that found their way into the building, and that place was rocking.
01:14I mean, it had an old-school Cavs playoff vibe to it.
01:19The na-na-na-na goodbye at the end.
01:22I just thought that, I gotta tip my hat, Cleveland fans are always good.
01:28That crowd last night helped the Cavaliers.
01:31They realized when the Cavs got down in the game, they didn't turn on their team.
01:36There are other fan bases who proceed to turn on their team, and then things go disastrously.
01:42Let's be real, Boston fans didn't will the Celtics back on Saturday night.
01:46Cavs fans helped last night.
01:48That was a home court advantage to a tee, and I give them an immense amount of credit.
01:53They helped change the game.
01:55They've got the best hype people in the NBA.
01:58I would argue they have the best hype people in sports.
02:02Well, and the team gave them something to get hyped about.
02:04The Make Some Noise crew did their job last night.
02:08Like, my ears are still ringing from that game.
02:12That's how locked that building was.
02:14Darryl was there front and center.
02:15Well, in the media section, which is not front or center.
02:18Hey, still a great view.
02:20But you know what?
02:21That's a credit to it.
02:23Look, I'm watching that game last night.
02:25I don't know what you two were thinking.
02:28Here's what I was thinking.
02:29I was thinking of the owner.
02:30And I was thinking to myself, Dan Gilbert wants only one thing.
02:38Contend for championships.
02:40If they lose that game last night, he's not patient.
02:43He's not sitting around and waiting.
02:45The urgency came out.
02:47The edge came out.
02:49And from game presentation on down, the Cavs do things right, and they survived.
02:54Did they shed the toughness label once and for all, John Fanta?
02:59Not once and for all.
03:01They need to shed it in this series here.
03:04They need to be the tougher, more physical team than the Detroit Pistons.
03:09The Cavs have more methods of offense than Detroit.
03:12They really do.
03:13They can score in more ways than the Pistons.
03:17They've got more options.
03:19I think James Harden was bothered at times by Toronto's length.
03:23And I want to give Darko Ryakovich a lot of credit.
03:27I thought he coached his tail off in the series.
03:29Until Harden took him out at the end of the game.
03:31He form-tackled him.
03:32Yeah, he did.
03:33He had had enough of facing him.
03:35He had had enough of facing him.
03:36I mean, look, Toronto's defense caused problems for the Cavs.
03:40It did.
03:41They affected the Cavs.
03:42They affected the Cavs' ability to run their stuff and be fluid offensively.
03:47Detroit's very good on the defensive end of the floor.
03:50But to me, the Cavaliers, it's very clear.
03:55When they get a little bit of that nastiness, when they put some stops together,
04:00they get downhill.
04:02Because if you're giving all your attention to Mitchell and Harden or one of them,
04:07other guys are going to get open shots.
04:09And last night, as time wore on, some of those open looks starting to fall
04:13and then things turn into a cavalache.
04:16Is that the best you've ever seen, Jared Allen?
04:20Yes.
04:21And, Daryl, maybe by a wide margin.
04:25I mean, it's far and away his best Cavs moment.
04:30Game seven, you have been fighting the narrative that you can't shed off the
04:36playoff demons, that you can't perform.
04:40Forget it.
04:41He, if you want to, the Cavaliers, have they shed off all those demons yet?
04:46No.
04:48No.
04:48But Jared Allen shed off a big one last night.
04:51He came out in that second half, and he was taking names.
04:56That's the enforcer the Cavs have been looking for.
05:00That's the mentality.
05:02And when Evan Mobley goes on the game with four fouls, I think we're all thinking,
05:07uh-oh, this is trouble.
05:08And it's like that guy just said, I've had enough.
05:11Like, we've been waiting for that from the Cavs.
05:14Stop getting, when Allen got pushed down and he turned around and walked the other way,
05:18I'm like, man, fight back.
05:20He fought back last night.
05:22Give him all his flowers.
05:24John Fanta with us right now on the hotline.
05:26We have some audio from Fanta I want to get to from this weekend's Kentucky Derby.
05:30Before we get to that, so, you know, Kenny Atkinson, it was on the ropes, right?
05:34I mean, if things were going the way they were going for the first, I'd say, 20 of the opening
05:3824 minutes, you know, we're talking about maybe a dismissal first thing today.
05:44Instead, Kenny was looking just kind of in the comfort zone there at the end.
05:49He kind of cheesing with the smile.
05:51He's in the locker room.
05:53He was that way before the game.
05:55Oh, yeah.
05:55I mean, I can't lie.
05:58So, his pregame press conference, like, nothing was on the line.
06:02You would have never known it was the game seven.
06:04Had no idea.
06:05Other than him talking about that it was game seven, you would have had no idea that he was
06:09sweating bullets.
06:10So, John, like, when you win, obviously play the outcome, and you're like, all right,
06:14I like that mentality.
06:16When they lose, it's like, how could they come out with laissez-faire attitude?
06:23Overall, they have to know.
06:25It can't take them seven games to find an identity and to actually, you know, get into
06:31guys and force turnovers and play hard.
06:33Like, they know they can't do that against Detroit.
06:35They'll be bounced early if that's the case.
06:38No, but I think they match up better with Detroit than they do Toronto.
06:42I do.
06:43And I know people would come back and say, well, Toronto was shorthanded.
06:47But Toronto had multiple guys who could create for themselves and who had that positional length
06:54that can give the Cavs.
06:56You know, Mitchell and Harden are not going to be getting defensive awards.
07:00With Detroit, Detroit's got some people on their team that you can play off of.
07:05They just do.
07:07Now, Jalen Duren decided to show up yesterday.
07:10That's a huge key to this upcoming series is which version of Duren's playing, and then
07:14therefore which version of Allen and Mobley are playing.
07:18And then Tobias Harris.
07:19I mean, Cade Cunningham, when the Pistons have struggled, it's because, and forgive me,
07:23guys, I'm holding my son Colin in here this morning.
07:27When Cade Cunningham doesn't have a sidekick, the Pistons, they're lost.
07:32I mean, but it shouldn't take seven games.
07:36But I will say this about Kenny.
07:38What's it help if you go up there pregame and you're tight as can be and you're looking
07:44around?
07:45You know, you got to just, you got to play.
07:49At that point, my son wants to talk too.
07:51You got to play.
07:53Like, you have to go out and play.
07:54You can't get all riled up or you can't be different.
07:57Harry Francona was always that way deep into a playoff series.
08:01He would show up and he'd say, let's go out there and do what we do.
08:05Like, I know it's easy to say when you've won, but here's the thing.
08:11Kenny's getting paid a lot of money.
08:13He'd be counting his dollar bills if he was relieved of his duties.
08:16He'd probably get another NBA coaching job because those things are opening up like cookies
08:20at a bakery.
08:21Uh, he, he's fine.
08:24And I, I thought, you know, by, by everybody's questioning early on, like if your demeanor's
08:30tight, you lose that game last night.
08:32You go down early and you, you don't fight back.
08:35Um, last night was the difference between Kenny Atkinson and, and J.B.
08:40Bickerstaff.
08:40Now we really feel it because you fired J.B.
08:44Because you said he was holding your team back.
08:46Now you better beat him.
08:48Uh, all right, John, uh, along those lines, go ahead and call your shot in the series.
08:52Who do you got?
08:53How many games?
08:56I think the Cavaliers are going to win this series.
08:59Uh, I think they're going to win this series in six games.
09:03I think that, that, that this is a better matchup for them.
09:06I think for the Cavs, teams that can score in a variety of ways, give them problems because
09:12at times for them, uh, they fall into some hero ball and their supporting cast can be
09:19up and down at times from a shot making perspective.
09:22You know, I, I can't say enough, like two of Struis, Dean Wade, Sam Merrill, two of those
09:29guys going is so key.
09:30You know, Detroit's got a hot Danish Jenkins.
09:33He's playing quite well.
09:35It's not like I'm sitting here scared of Detroit's offense.
09:38I'm just not, you know, you can't let Cade be a facilitator.
09:42If Cade's a scorer, go ahead.
09:44You know, like score 32.
09:46But if you're letting him score 32 and have eight or nine assists, that's a problem.
09:51That's a big problem.
09:52So how the Cavs defend Tobias Harris and how they keep Cade as a scorer, not a passer, is
10:00going to determine the series.
10:01But guys, you know, Cleveland's taken seven of the last 10 meetings from the Detroit
10:07Pistons.
10:09And Detroit is a really formidable team, a good team.
10:13They had to come back from 3-1 down, but they were still down 3-1 to an eighth seed.
10:18The Cavs know what Detroit wants to do.
10:21And sure, the Pistons do know, do know the Cavs well.
10:24But I loved your point earlier.
10:27James Harden played within himself last night.
10:30I even felt Donovan.
10:31Donovan didn't hit threes.
10:33But late in the game, Donovan played smart.
10:35He said, let me do what it takes to win.
10:38These two guys are on a mission.
10:40And it's to shed the narratives that are out there that they can't perform this time of
10:44year.
10:44This is staring you in the face.
10:46Cade Kiam's a great player, but you're James Harden and Donovan Mitchell.
10:50Play within yourself.
10:51Set up your teammates.
10:52Get stops.
10:53It's right in front of the Cavs.
10:55They win this thing in six games.
10:56All right, Fanta, you were at Churchill Downs over the weekend, and I caught some of the
11:03clips.
11:04Owen said, we teed this one up, said we got a pretty good one involving you.
11:09So, John, you got to talk to the mayor of the infield, and now we get to hear it.
11:13Hey, I'm looking for the mayor of the infield.
11:15Do you know where to find him?
11:17That's me.
11:18Is it?
11:20Indeed.
11:21Wow, it is you, David Humes, the mayor of the infield.
11:24How are you?
11:25A little loosey from partying all night, but, you know, it's Derby Eve last night, so.
11:34What do you think of this first-timer?
11:36You look ridiculous, John.
11:39I don't mind telling you.
11:41I mean.
11:42You don't approve?
11:44Well.
11:45All right.
11:45It is Derby Day.
11:46It is Derby Day.
11:47So, responsible reporting at a dignified event.
11:52John Fanta, you were the man to do that job.
11:54Always the man to do that job.
11:56How was that first experience?
11:58Well, David is in to come to the muni lot this September.
12:02I don't know if he's going to survive the muni lot, if we're being honest.
12:06He's really excited.
12:08Yeah.
12:08I mean, he is the mayor of the infield.
12:11He later told me he does annulments, baptisms, and marriages.
12:16He's been the mayor of the infield for 27 years.
12:20And whatever he was on is what I want to be on at the end of my life.
12:24End of your life?
12:26Why wait?
12:27Come on, Fanta.
12:28That's true.
12:28I mean, you're 24-7 right now.
12:31You've got the young child.
12:32You need a little bit of a distraction here and there.
12:36This guy was out late the night before, so did he get any sleep?
12:43Clearly no.
12:44My goodness.
12:44Clearly no.
12:45I mean, his first answer, you know, I say to him, like,
12:51and what was that first?
12:52Oh, and can you play that one more time?
12:54The first.
12:55It's kind of wallowing, wallowing.
12:56Here we go.
12:57Hey, I'm looking for the mayor of the infield.
12:59Do you know where to find him?
13:01That's me.
13:03Is it?
13:04Give it one more.
13:05Wow.
13:06It is you, David Humes, the mayor of the infield.
13:09How are you?
13:14I mean, sounds like Pat Shurmur talking about his offense.
13:20On that note.
13:21I can't beat that one.
13:22On that note, John, I really enjoyed your coverage over the weekend.
13:25Thanks for showing up.
13:27And Cavs in six, John Fanta against Detroit
13:29and heading to the Eastern Conference Finals, written in stone.
13:31Thanks, John.
13:33Thank you, boys.
13:34Always good to talk with you.
13:36All right.
13:37Fanta right now doing his daddy duties, doing the feeding.
13:42He sent me a nice picture.
13:43That's called multitasking.
13:45Yeah.
13:45That's what that is right there.
13:47The guy that was in Louisville for, I mean, that, you got to go watch that whole video.
13:52That's crazy.
13:53The hat that John's wearing is phenomenal.
13:55Did you see him chug the drink too?
13:58No.
13:58The special Kentucky Derby mint julep beverage.
14:03No, it wasn't a mint julep, but it was a special cocktail.
14:05Manito.
14:06And he, I mean, John just right down the hatch.
14:10Impressive.
14:10Impressive work by John.
14:12Impressive all the way around.
14:13All right.
14:14Let's hear it.
14:15I want to hear from fans.
14:16Cavs, they're moving on.
14:18We spent a lot of time talking about the toughness.
14:22Did they finally clear that hurdle?
14:25We know there's a long way to go.
14:28Are the Cavs fans going to be finally optimistic or are they going to sound like some of them
14:32from the afternoon show?
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