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00:00Pretty crappy.
00:01Here's the funny thing.
00:03Everything else is great.
00:05Yeah.
00:05Like life in general, really good.
00:08They've already wrecked my day.
00:09It's just every time I put a Cavs playoff game on,
00:12I don't know in what way they're going to piss me off.
00:15Yeah, last night was ruined.
00:16My day today is ruined.
00:17I'll probably be ruined until 3 o'clock tomorrow,
00:19and then I'll find a way to just be like,
00:21well, you're only down two games to none,
00:23and then they'll just kick me in the balls for three hours again.
00:26Oh, no, no, they play at home, remember?
00:28Yeah, so we're going to be all right.
00:30Or how to play playoff basketball at home sometimes.
00:31That's going to be the point.
00:32They're like, yes, you're supposed to be able to do this.
00:34You're supposed to be able to, this is where you do win,
00:37and then they're just going to go ahead and just make it hurt all over again.
00:40Yeah, I will tell you,
00:42I thought the Pistons actually played better last night than game one,
00:45so I felt less like that was strictly a Cavs loss as opposed to a Pistons win,
00:51but I still come back.
00:52We were talking with Tom Withers in the break,
00:55and he was like, hey, the Pistons are really good,
00:57and I'm not trying to diminish what they've done.
01:00What they did in the regular season was impressive.
01:02I don't know how good the Pistons are
01:04because the Cavs still haven't shown up to the series.
01:07Yeah, and that's really what last night was.
01:09I mean, listen, Thompson's defense was incredible.
01:11There's obviously highlighting spots.
01:14Cade Cunningham's amazing,
01:15but you shoot 23% from three.
01:18You have nobody show up really in any sort of measurement
01:21outside of Donovan, who was inefficient from the field,
01:23and then Jared Allen, and you're just not going to win games.
01:26Yeah, and it's funny because we do have to get into the heart and stuff
01:28and just rip that bandit off in a second.
01:31He was awful.
01:31But, you know, we are actually doing a Zoom at the end of the game
01:35with my cabin boys, which did make it a little easier to handle in the moment.
01:40I've gotten progressively angrier the farther we've gotten away from it
01:43because every time I try and turn on the thing that I love,
01:45the thing that I love to do, which is sports talk,
01:47and any of its varieties, TV, listening to podcasts,
01:50listening to this station, listening to our buddy,
01:53Jim Costa in mornings, they gloated for 10 minutes today.
01:57I just have to turn it off because I start getting so mad
02:00I'm worried I won't make it to my next birthday
02:02because of how pissed I'm getting.
02:04But, like, I just, I can deal with so many ways of losing.
02:08I'm so in tune with losing as a Cleveland sports fan.
02:13I'm so psychologically accustomed to being let down
02:17that I, like, I'm always, like, I can always rationalize losing.
02:21The one way I can't is if you just don't show up.
02:26If you just, if you show up being out-hustled, out-intensitied,
02:31acting like this is a regular season game in, like, late December
02:35when you're kind of sick of the regular season already,
02:3740 games into the season,
02:39I just, I can't get behind a team that doesn't care enough.
02:42Where, listen, fans should always care as much,
02:45if maybe not just a touch more than the players.
02:48Because the players get to enjoy the process of it,
02:50and we just live with the results, right?
02:54The discrepancy between how much you and I care
02:57and the average Cavs fan cares
02:58and how much these guys care
03:01is so infuriating right now.
03:04Yeah, like, is James Harden, is his date ruined today?
03:06I don't know, you tell me.
03:07But, uh, well, I, the upsetting part about this, Nick,
03:11is that, once again, in a game where we felt like
03:13nobody was playing worth anything
03:14and they were struggling,
03:16it was 89-87 with 6.06 left in that game.
03:19Like, you're still a two-point game,
03:20six minutes left in the fourth quarter,
03:22and by the way, Atkinson, at any point,
03:23you can put Donovan in in the fourth quarter.
03:25He doesn't have to sit on the bench for seven minutes,
03:27I promise you.
03:27But, like, you're sitting there,
03:29and it's like they had another one of these games
03:30where you watch them go down 11,
03:32then you watch them go down 14 in the second,
03:34and they erase these large deficits,
03:36and they claw back into it,
03:37and you're like, all right,
03:38just when I can start to trust you maybe in this one,
03:41you go 0 for 11 from three in the fourth quarter,
03:44and you absolutely vomit all over your shoes.
03:47Like, it's just, it's time and time,
03:48it's just two games in a row.
03:49We watch the same exact game plan play out.
03:52And I can't believe that they haven't figured out
03:54that maybe they can't finish off games in the road
03:56because they spend 80% of the time
03:58clawing back in it.
03:59Yeah.
04:00Like, it is, and I just, I've,
04:01it's so funny.
04:02I know that the Cavs are not a flawless team.
04:05They are still an insanely talented team.
04:07I know that's, I know,
04:08when you say stuff like that
04:10after they've lost the last two games,
04:11people get pissed about this.
04:13Like, we had a, we had an angry text at the,
04:16or tweet, rather,
04:17about halfway through yesterday's game.
04:18You idiots don't know ball
04:20because you've been saying the Cavs
04:21are the more talented team.
04:22And it's like, that remains the fact.
04:25It remains the fact.
04:26And yet, in what, I mean,
04:28it's not even just on the road, by the way.
04:30It's just highlighted on the road.
04:31In half the games they played at home
04:33in the Toronto series,
04:34they'd lollygagged until halftime.
04:37And I just, I can't,
04:38no, here's the thing.
04:40I can't figure it out.
04:41You don't have it.
04:42You don't have heart.
04:43You don't have pride.
04:45You don't give a rat's ass about actually,
04:47you say everything the right way.
04:50Donovan says stuff the right way.
04:51We're going to figure it out.
04:52I want to win a championship.
04:53Harden says the right thing.
04:55Everybody in that locker room
04:56says the right thing.
04:57And I got three guys I can trust
04:59to show me that they mean it.
05:00It's Schroeder, it's Struis,
05:02and it's Tyson.
05:04Everyone else.
05:05Struis was awful last night too.
05:06But at least I know he's playing hard.
05:08At least I know I never have to doubt his energy.
05:11Was he 0 for 6 from threes?
05:12Had three points after a 19-point performance?
05:14But he did it in earnest.
05:15Yeah, and missed multiple wide-open threes
05:18in the fourth quarter.
05:19That was part of the reason why
05:20we couldn't actually close the game out.
05:22Yeah, but that failure was meant
05:23with his full heart.
05:24No, screw that noise.
05:26Max Struis, you're on my bad list too.
05:27There's so many guys from last night
05:29that I leave disappointed in.
05:30Obviously, James Harden
05:31is the highlight of the list.
05:32We know that.
05:33Mobley, you're on that list too.
05:35One rebound.
05:36You're a max player.
05:37Between Harden and Mobley,
05:38they're worth $100 million this year.
05:40And I didn't get as much as 11 points
05:42out of either one of them.
05:43It's just unacceptable, Nick.
05:45In a way.
05:45It's just such a bad team,
05:47all things considered.
05:47In a way.
05:48The funniest possible outcome
05:50for James Harden,
05:51after the arguments you and I have had
05:52about points versus...
05:53They're going to be just stupid turnovers.
05:55About turnovers.
05:56Is this going to your side
05:57if I need the points?
05:57Was he...
05:58I actually need the points?
05:59He almost halved turnovers.
06:01I think he had four turnovers last night
06:02as opposed to seven.
06:03And you could tell,
06:04like his main focus...
06:05I'm not blaming you, obviously.
06:07I blame the turnover convo, though.
06:09Because his main focus...
06:10I blame James Harden
06:10for what it's worth.
06:12Definitely.
06:12But his main focus seemed to be like,
06:14just don't turn the ball over.
06:15Doesn't matter what happens in this game,
06:17just as long as I don't turn the ball over.
06:18And then with a minute left
06:19in the fourth quarter,
06:20he went Leroy Jenkins on everybody.
06:21He was like,
06:21screw that noise.
06:22I'm going to go back to being Harden.
06:24And then you watch the fourth turnover.
06:25He had won the entire second half of the game.
06:27He took two shots
06:28in the second half of the game.
06:30And a lot of this...
06:30I'm telling you,
06:31a lot of this was like...
06:32I see myself,
06:32I'm like,
06:33is he just a petty human?
06:34Is that what he is?
06:35Is he just a petty human?
06:36Because he's like...
06:36He did get fat
06:37so he could get traded.
06:39Part of me is like,
06:40he's like,
06:40all right,
06:40I was a disaster in the first half.
06:42I'm just going to put this
06:43on everybody else
06:44so I won't be the blame.
06:45And then he looked up
06:45at the end of the fourth quarter
06:46and was like,
06:46oh,
06:47oh,
06:47I'm still the blame.
06:48People still want to yell at me
06:49because I'm James Harden.
06:50Okay, great.
06:50You know who I feel
06:51the worst for today?
06:52Those people that went out
06:54to that Berea Speedway
06:55to get Harden wine.
06:56To get the Harden wine sign.
06:57All 400 people
06:58who'd put their day
06:59in the balance
07:01to get Harden wine.
07:02They probably weren't,
07:02And then they had to drink
07:03that absolute swill
07:05only to watch James Harden
07:07abandon them in the playoffs.
07:09I love the idea
07:09of somebody getting so mad at Harden
07:10they throw their Speedway wine
07:11across the room
07:12and they say,
07:13I'm going to break this thing
07:14right in front of them.
07:14All of a sudden,
07:16the acidity of it
07:17eats through walls.
07:18It's like,
07:19it cleans up messes
07:20on the ground.
07:20It's like what they use
07:21to dissolve bodies
07:22for the cartel
07:23when they want to dismiss
07:24somebody from the earth.
07:25It's like half the ingredients
07:26in OxiClean.
07:27But no,
07:27I mean,
07:28it's just,
07:28I just,
07:29this,
07:30everything we've seen,
07:31listen,
07:31there were some positives
07:33to Harden
07:34in the Toronto series.
07:35There were some games
07:36you could at least
07:37make the case.
07:38Best player in the series.
07:40Right?
07:40Yeah.
07:40Do I think we,
07:41we didn't talk nearly enough
07:43about his struggles
07:44because Donovan was worse?
07:45Yes,
07:46absolutely.
07:47And by the way,
07:48there were positives.
07:48There were the defense
07:49at points.
07:50There was a nice scoring night.
07:53There were rebounds
07:53and assists
07:54to go with the turnovers.
07:56But this series,
07:58in every which way,
07:59and bleep John Hollinger,
08:01by the way,
08:01for game one.
08:01I mean,
08:01he said he was the best player
08:02on the court in game one.
08:03I don't know what to tell you.
08:04This series is everything
08:05I feared about
08:06when they traded
08:07for James Harden.
08:08The disappearing act
08:10is just so,
08:11and here's the thing.
08:11This goes deeper
08:13than Harden,
08:13in my opinion.
08:14Harden is obviously
08:15a big problem with this.
08:16The inefficiency
08:16from Donovan,
08:18I know this is going to sound
08:18like a defense here,
08:20but you said Max Strews
08:21had a good game.
08:21He scored three points
08:22and went 0 for 6
08:23from three points left.
08:24I didn't say that.
08:24I didn't say he had a good game.
08:24You shoot 23%.
08:26I said he played hard
08:27and that at least
08:27acquits you on some level.
08:29You shoot 23% from three
08:30on 30 plus shots.
08:32There's more than just
08:33James Harden
08:33that went into this equation.
08:340 for 11 from three
08:36in the fourth quarter alone
08:37when Harden didn't take
08:37a single shot.
08:38Unplayable.
08:39He didn't take
08:39a single shot though.
08:40Darius Garland
08:41not playing last night
08:42would have been better
08:43than James Harden
08:44playing last night.
08:45This goes deeper
08:46than Harden
08:46that game last night though.
08:47You can say that
08:48in every playoff loss,
08:49but the point is
08:50with a bullet.
08:51Mopley's got to grab
08:52some boards once in a while.
08:53If you want to talk
08:53about game one,
08:54there's got to be
08:54some players here.
08:56I pushed back gently
08:57on game one.
08:58He was absolutely
08:59unplayable.
09:00It was a complete embarrassment.
09:02Harden has to own up
09:02to his end of it.
09:03Nobody's denying that,
09:04but to suggest
09:05that it's just like
09:05as if everyone's playing great
09:07and Harden's the only one
09:07that's struggling
09:08is just not true.
09:09No, but he was clearly
09:10the worst Cavalier last night.
09:13With how much
09:15his involvement
09:16in the offense is,
09:17his absolute nothing
09:19burger of a game
09:20hurts you more than
09:21six missed threes
09:22by Max Struis.
09:23Because Max Struis
09:24isn't turning the ball over
09:25versus running away from being...
09:27No one can make an argument
09:28you need Harden
09:29to be better.
09:29He might have just
09:30played his way
09:31out of the Cavs' future.
09:32That's how bad
09:32he was last night.
09:34I mean, again,
09:35if you want to tell me
09:36you have no faith
09:36in James Harden,
09:37I'll tell you
09:37what I was thinking
09:38third quarter.
09:39I'm like,
09:39don't get the ball
09:39to Harden.
09:40In my mind,
09:40I'm like,
09:41you can't give him
09:42the ball in this moment
09:43because he's either
09:44going to dribble it
09:44off his knee
09:45or he's going to
09:45make a bad play.
09:46He's not getting
09:47to the rim
09:47in the slightest bit.
09:48Now, with that said,
09:50they are putting
09:50Thompson on him.
09:51Thompson's their best defender.
09:52He's doing a great job.
09:53That's part of this equation
09:55and you need at some point
09:56other guys to step up
09:57in the slightest bit.
09:58That game was right there for you.
09:59I need you to tell me
09:59how cock-ca James Harden was.
10:01I've said like seven times
10:03in this segment.
10:04Without any modifiers,
10:05without any
10:05Asar Thompson's on him.
10:07No, no, he wasn't bad.
10:08He was awful.
10:08He was bad.
10:09He was unplayable.
10:10To act like he was
10:10the only person
10:11that struggled in that game
10:12is just not accurate.
10:12I need you to say
10:13he was the worst Cavalier
10:14last night.
10:15I need you to say.
10:15I don't know that I can do that.
10:17I don't know that I can do that.
10:18Then I'm sorry.
10:19You are blind lust.
10:21Maybe you're on Harden Wine
10:22because that's a Harden
10:23apologist take.
10:24He was really bad.
10:24He was not really bad.
10:26He was awful.
10:26He was unplayable.
10:27These are the words
10:28that should be ascribed to him.
10:30I've said everything
10:31you want me to say.
10:31I don't know what else you want.
10:32No, unplayable and awful.
10:34That's what I want to hear.
10:35He's in the photo finish
10:36for worst on the court
10:37last night,
10:37but we're dealing
10:38with levels of dreck
10:39that what does it even matter
10:40at that point?
10:41Mobley was awful.
10:42Struess was awful.
10:44There were so many bad parts
10:45about last night's game.
10:46And Harden was awfuler.
10:47Yeah.
10:48Donovan scores 31.
10:49Great.
10:49It took him 24 shots
10:50to get there.
10:51Wildly inefficient
10:52in the process.
10:53There were so many bad parts.
10:55Again, you go 0 for 11
10:56in the fourth quarter
10:56from three.
10:57Harden didn't take
10:58any of those shots.
10:59You're down two points
11:00with six minutes left
11:01in the fourth quarter.
11:01Hell, you took a lead
11:02in the fourth quarter
11:03and Harden opted
11:04to basically see his way
11:05out of the whole entire thing
11:06and the Cavs themselves
11:08melted down.
11:09Yes, Harden's a part of that,
11:10but the Cavs themselves
11:11melted down.
11:12I think the literal
11:13Houdini act by Harden
11:15is worse than guys
11:15missing shots.
11:17I don't know.
11:17You wanted him to limit
11:18his turnover as he did that.
11:19That was like the main goal
11:20that he wanted.
11:20You said that.
11:21What did you say yesterday?
11:22Oh, I don't care about
11:2220 plus points.
11:23I would have loved
11:24a 20 plus point performance
11:25from Harden.
11:25Turns out getting 20 plus
11:26on Thompson,
11:27a hard thing to do.
11:28By the way,
11:28by the way,
11:29he basically,
11:31the whole point
11:31of just turning it
11:32into turnovers.
11:33Turn out scoring
11:33the basketball matters
11:34when you don't even
11:34crack a hundred
11:35with this roster.
11:36But the point is
11:37he had four turnovers
11:39while walking away
11:40from the basketball
11:41for half the game.
11:43So it's not even a true
11:44four turnover performance.
11:45He didn't cut it down
11:46because every time
11:47he touched the damn ball,
11:48he was a walking
11:49turnover machine.
11:50He just didn't touch
11:51the ball.
11:52He took a lot of shots.
11:52He just missed a lot
11:53of five footers
11:54is basically what it came down to.
11:55He took a lot of shots.
11:56This team loves floaters.
11:58Like,
11:58the only one that loves floaters
12:00more are fecophiliacs.
12:02He's not actually getting
12:02to the rim is the problem.
12:03Like Harden,
12:04where he actually ends up
12:05scoring on a consistent basis
12:06is he gets to the five foot line
12:08and gets to five feet
12:08away from the basket
12:09and then actually drive
12:10to the lane
12:10and get past it.
12:11They know exactly
12:12what he's going to do.
12:13JB's got this set up perfect.
12:15It's like,
12:15guys,
12:16at like five feet away
12:17from the basket,
12:18he's just going to
12:18chuck up the shot
12:19if you show any amount
12:20of pressure on him.
12:21And they did that
12:22all night last night
12:23and he kept missing.
12:24216-474-0092.
12:26And Nick Wilson says,
12:28at JP to learn on social media,
12:29social media reactions
12:30on X Powered
12:31by Shiven Jewelers,
12:33Cleveland's premier jewelry store.
12:34You're not winning that game.
12:35He is unplayable.
12:37He is awful.
12:37That is the only thing
12:38I want to hear.
12:39The only analysis
12:39of James Harden
12:40I want to hear on this show today
12:41is he is unplayable.
12:43Not,
12:43well,
12:43but what about,
12:44what about-ism?
12:44I am so over the what about-ism.
12:46James Harden is not
12:47the only person
12:48that was on the court
12:49in game two.
12:50Yeah,
12:50he wasn't on the court.
12:51You lost because you shot
12:5222% from three.
12:53But he might as well
12:54have been at Lemon Pepper
12:55in Magic City.
12:57You didn't score 100 points.
12:58There's more than one person
12:59on this team
13:00than James Harden.
13:01How much of this
13:02is on James Harden
13:03versus everyone else?
13:05I get it.
13:06You don't want to be wrong
13:06about the trade.
13:07It sucks.
13:08I get it.
13:08It's not about being right
13:10or being wrong about a trade.
13:11It's just the idea.
13:12It's just the idea that-
13:14He planted your flag
13:14on a washed-ass point guard.
13:16He was bad.
13:16That's what you've done.
13:17There's nothing else to say.
13:18Bad is not strong enough.
13:19He's unplayable.
13:20He was awful.
13:21For the love of God.
13:22But there were so many
13:23other reasons
13:24that the Cavs lost this game
13:25beyond just James Harden.
13:27Yes.
13:27And you're-
13:27Yes,
13:28but that's not a defense
13:28of James Harden.
13:29No,
13:29I have.
13:30Yes,
13:30I have.
13:31Just the same way
13:31I've acknowledged
13:36was unplayable.
13:38Unforgivably bad.
13:39You need a modifier
13:41in front of the word bad
13:42to describe how bad
13:43James Harden was.
13:46Sorry,
13:46I yelled there.
13:47I'm sorry.
13:47I mean,
13:48I guess he basically
13:49did make himself unplayable
13:50in the second half
13:51by removing himself
13:52from the offense.
13:52He was trying.
13:53While being on the court.
13:54He was trying to do-
13:55Well,
13:55they did keep him out
13:56for an extended stretch.
13:57The seven-minute stretch
13:58that Atkinson was trying
13:59to put Donovan in
14:00and trying to make
14:01that whole thing work.
14:01And by the way,
14:02again,
14:03two-point game,
14:04six minutes left.
14:05I don't know,
14:06Cavs,
14:06maybe go win a game.
14:07You're leading
14:08in the fourth quarter.
14:08First three quarters
14:09were disastrous.
14:10There was a guy.
14:10You erased 11-point deficit,
14:12a 14-point deficit
14:13in the second quarter.
14:14There was a guy you traded for
14:14that you could then
14:16put out there
14:16to help be the closer.
14:18It's just not all on him.
14:19James Soften,
14:20no James Harden.
14:20Two wide-open threes
14:21in that moment.
14:22I mean,
14:22there's so many parts
14:23of this game
14:24that goes beyond
14:24just James Harden.
14:25Yes,
14:26he's a massive reason
14:27for why they lost.
14:28No one's denying that.
14:29Number one reason?
14:29No one's-
14:30All right,
14:30you want to make a number one,
14:31you can make a number one
14:32if you want.
14:33But like number two
14:33and number three
14:35and number four
14:35aren't that far behind.
14:36Unplayable?
14:37I don't think he was unplayable.
14:38I think it was just
14:38really, really bad.
14:39He took himself out of the game
14:40while on the court.
14:41He made it four on five.
14:43That sounded very definitive.
14:44No,
14:44well,
14:44he made it four on four
14:45is what he was trying to do.
14:46He was trying to match up
14:47with Thompson,
14:47taking the best defender away
14:49and then make it four on four
14:50and getting other people looks.
14:51That was the whole goal.
14:52This wasn't hard to see.
14:53He was playing possum.
14:54That's what he was doing.
14:55He's done this before.
14:56That wasn't hard to see.
14:57He was trying to take
14:58their best defender in Thompson
14:59away
15:00and make the game
15:01a four on four game.
15:03And then what happened
15:03with the four on four part of this,
15:04the Cavs didn't do their part of it.
15:06Because he sure as hell
15:06wasn't playing basketball.
15:07Oh,
15:08I guess James Harden
15:08lost to the Pistons last night,
15:10not the Cavs.
15:11And James Harden's a big reason
15:12why you lost it.
15:12They don't break a hundred.
15:13You shoot 22% from three in the game
15:16and it's just all on James Harden,
15:17I guess.
15:18Okay.
15:18Yes.
15:18He's your second most important player
15:20with the way they set this up.
15:22Mobley doesn't get a mention
15:22in this whole entire segment?
15:23No,
15:24because it's not set up
15:24for Evan Mobley
15:25to win you damn games.
15:27It's set up for two players.
15:28Your two best players
15:29are Donovan Mitchell
15:30and James Harden.
15:31I don't know.
15:32Those are the jabronis
15:33that got to show up.
15:34It's supposed to be Mobley,
15:35though.
15:35Mobley's supposed to be
15:36your second best.
15:36Because we thought
15:37he was going to be
15:37Tim Duncan.
15:39Oh,
15:39gosh,
15:39what a convenient
15:40phone guy.
15:41Yeah,
15:41yeah.
15:41Supermax player.
15:42by the way,
15:43just so we're clear,
15:44because I can actually do this.
15:45I think Evan Mobley's
15:46the future of the Cleveland Cavaliers
15:48and he stunk ass last night.
15:50One rebound.
15:51Woo!
15:52That's all I needed.
15:53buddy.
15:54That's all we needed.
15:55We just needed to get to the idea
15:56that this was a team loss.
15:58you know what?
15:59I'll just go through the roster.
16:00Donovan,
16:00you suck.
16:02Who else we got?
16:03That's what I tried doing.
16:04Jared Allen?
16:04I tried doing it.
16:05No,
16:05Jared Allen was good.
16:05I think you're hurt.
16:06It's okay,
16:07buddy.
16:07I'm so sorry.
16:08Max Strews,
16:09make a freaking three-pointer.
16:11He cultured my ass.
16:13Who else we got?
16:14Schroeder.
16:15Who else?
16:16You want to go with Tyson
16:17a little bit?
16:17I thought Tyson was fine.
16:18Jalen,
16:19you're also the future of the Cavs.
16:20You're really okay.
16:21Dean Wade,
16:22suck it.
16:22Yeah,
16:22Dean Wade,
16:23more like...
16:24Why are we in there for defense
16:25when you can't score 100?
16:26More like Dwayne Wade statue,
16:28because that's how bad you are.
16:29It wasn't great.
16:30Eight points in 23 minutes.
16:31What are we even doing,
16:32like he shouldn't even be on the court.
16:34Talk about unplayable.
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