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00:00Chris Fedor is on the hotline.
00:02Weissart, right?
00:02We make it right.
00:03Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:05Fedor, I talked to you on Saturday about whether you had in your briefcase
00:10the obituary ready to unveil for the masses the
00:16now-they-tell-us story on the Cleveland Cavaliers,
00:19and yet James Harden, Max Struess, and, you know, host of others
00:25made sure that you'd have to put that back in the briefcase,
00:28at least for a few days.
00:30What did you make of that, Chris Fedor?
00:33Well, that's what the first three games have come down to, guys.
00:37The Cavs have put themselves in a situation to be in a clutch time situation
00:41in the first three games against Detroit, and in two of them,
00:46they did not come through, and then on Saturday they did.
00:49And when you're in these playoff environments
00:52and you're playing against these really, really talented teams,
00:55you're going to have to find ways to execute down-the-stretch games.
00:58You're going to have to find ways to come up with quality offense
01:02against these elite defensive teams.
01:05And then going into Saturday, the Cavs had more losses in clutch time
01:11than any team in the playoffs,
01:13and the Pistons had more wins in clutch time than any team in the playoffs,
01:18but that reversed for one game because James Harden did what he was brought here to do.
01:23And in the situation that the Cavs were in in games one and game two,
01:27James Harden was right there, had the ball in his hands.
01:32What he was brought here for didn't come through late in Detroit.
01:37Donovan Mitchell, what he was brought here for,
01:40why he is on this roster didn't come through late.
01:43The Cavs figured it out in game three,
01:45and if they're in that situation again, we'll see what they learned
01:48and what other things they can go back to.
01:51But that's what the three games have been decided by,
01:54those moments down the stretch of the game.
01:57And that's why James Harden's here.
01:59That's why the Cavs have invested in him.
02:02That's why the Cavs believe in him.
02:04And I thought it was really, really interesting,
02:06despite his failures in game two,
02:08that Kenny Atkinson was willing to go back to him,
02:11put the ball back in his hands,
02:13and he made the plays that he needed to make.
02:16Yeah, that's right where I was headed, Chris.
02:19Does the final three minutes or so where Harden was just exceptional,
02:27like, has the faith been restored with him?
02:29Like, can we all breathe easy with the ball in his hands,
02:34in the clutch, and kind of forget about, I don't know,
02:38the first eight games of the playoffs for him?
02:42I don't think so.
02:43I think you have to do it over and over and over again,
02:45and that's what greatness requires.
02:48That's what his role and his responsibility for this team requires.
02:53But I do think that there was something that happened
02:57throughout the course of the game that kind of allowed him
02:59to be a little bit better in that situation.
03:02And the Cavs kind of reconfigured their offense in game three
03:07so that not as much was put on his shoulders.
03:11I think there's an understanding that this version of James Harden,
03:15this is not an in-prime superstar,
03:17that you just run everything through throughout the course of a playoff battle.
03:23You have to manage him a little bit throughout the course of the game.
03:26And in game three, the Cavs reconfigured the offense.
03:31They got the ball to Donovan Mitchell more.
03:33They played Dennis Schroeder more.
03:36Jared Allen was more involved offensively.
03:38So throughout the course of the game, not as much was demanded of James.
03:44He didn't have to do too much before that situation arose.
03:49In fact, in the first two games of the series against Detroit,
03:53James Harden had a usage rate right around 28.
03:57In game three, his usage rate was down to 19.
04:02So when you got into that situation in the late game,
04:06he could exploit his matchup a little bit better
04:09because he wasn't as physically or mentally worn down
04:12because of everything he was required to do before those moments.
04:17And I think that was an understanding that the Cavs had.
04:20I think that was a recognition that the Cavs had of,
04:23we have to find a way to not make him do as much throughout the course of this 48-minute
04:28game.
04:29We can't overburden him because that's not who he is at this stage of his career.
04:35That's not what he's capable of at this stage of his career.
04:38We have to give Donovan Mitchell that kind of treatment.
04:41We have to demand that much more from Donovan Mitchell because he's the in-prime superstar.
04:47And then I just felt like James was a little bit more fresh.
04:50I think he wasn't as worn down.
04:53I think the turnovers, that was a big part of it.
04:56I think the pace that the Cavs played with in game three,
04:59I think that was a big part of it too.
05:01So if they can continue to manage it that kind of way,
05:04I think it's going to be beneficial for everybody, including James.
05:08But does that erase everything that happened at times against Toronto?
05:13No.
05:13Does it erase everything that happened in the first two games against Detroit?
05:17No.
05:17But it breathed life into the series and it kept the season alive.
05:22And that's all that matters at this point in time.
05:25Chris Fedor, join us on the hotline.
05:28Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points in that game after in the first two games,
05:33I highlighted a bunch of plays where I thought, man, Donovan, is he worried about the hammy?
05:40Watch him as he sprints back on this possession.
05:42Watch him as he comes up lame on this possession, not elevating around the rim,
05:47playing into Detroit's hands.
05:48They're not very concerned about him finishing right at the rim.
05:51And then he does that.
05:53Then he looks as spry as I've seen him in like a month.
05:56So, did he speak at all to what transpired between game two and game three?
06:02Because this is a chance they have to actually come back and win the series,
06:05is if Kate Cunningham and Tobias Harris can actually wear down,
06:08but Donovan Mitchell gets stronger each game, which I didn't figure in,
06:12in part of the calculus, that you might have a shift in this series
06:16and things that are taking place.
06:20I think Donovan's a little bit more comfortable in this series than he was
06:23against Toronto, just stylistically, the way that the Pistons play him
06:27is very, very different than what Toronto did.
06:31And a lot of the players talked about that coming into this series, guys,
06:34and a lot of the coaches talked about that coming into this series as well.
06:39You know, Detroit's got this reputation defensively,
06:41and they're a very, very good defensive team.
06:43And Asar Thompson was a defensive player of the year finalist for a reason.
06:48But stylistically, it's a little bit more straightforward.
06:51It's Detroit saying, hey, like,
06:53we do what we do, and we think we do it really, really well.
06:57But we don't need to send a bunch of traps, right?
07:01We don't need to do all these unique wrinkles the way that the Toronto Raptors did.
07:07And I think that caught Donovan off guard.
07:09I think he caught the Cavs' offense off guard.
07:11It took a rhythm at times throughout the course of that Toronto series.
07:17And that kind of attention, you know, Donovan hasn't seen that over and over and over again.
07:24When it comes to the Pistons, you know, he just has to win his matchup at various points.
07:29And sometimes it's going to be difficult because sometimes it's going to be Asar Thompson.
07:33Sometimes it's going to be Cade Cunningham.
07:35But it's more predictable what the Pistons are going to do defensively.
07:41There's a better understanding of what the Pistons are going to do defensively.
07:46And he's just going to have to win his matchup.
07:48And he's going to have to create separation and knock down shots.
07:51He's going to have opportunities at times to drive to the basket.
07:55But that means he's going to have to play through contact and things along those lines.
07:59So I understand that a lot of people are looking at Donovan and when he doesn't have good games
08:04or he's not driving to the basket over and over and over again.
08:08And they're asking questions about, OK, is it his hamstring?
08:11Is it his groin?
08:12Is it his ankle?
08:13And things along those lines.
08:15I think in the first round, it was more of the Raptors defense and trying to do everything
08:20that they could to bother him and keep him from being the Donovan Mitchell that he's capable of being.
08:28And I think at times, Donovan looked at that scenario in the series against the Raptors and saying,
08:35I can make an impact other kinds of ways.
08:38Like my team can benefit from the attention that I'm commanding from the Raptors.
08:44And that might be beneficial for somebody like Jared Allen or somebody like Evan Mobley
08:50or somebody like James Harden that I'm occupying a certain kind of defender.
08:54And that's what he did at the end of game three.
08:57He occupied Assar Thompson so that James Harden didn't have to deal with Assar Thompson.
09:02And James Harden had a more favorable matchup against either Tobias Harris or Duncan Robinson.
09:08So there's still value in what Donovan does and the attention that he commands from a specific team.
09:15And I think it's just he's trying to pick his spots in the best way that he possibly can.
09:21And he's trying to do what it is that he thinks is best for this offense in certain situations.
09:27And sometimes I think he understands that that's scoring and taking advantage of those matchups,
09:33putting his head down and going to the basket or trying to get his shot off and create separation that
09:39kind of way.
09:40And I think sometimes he thinks it's stand in the corner, draw attention away from the other guys on this
09:47team
09:47and allow them to make plays and make shots because this isn't tennis.
09:53This isn't golf.
09:54This is a one-man thing.
09:55This is basketball.
09:56And it's what he thinks in the moment.
09:59He's not always going to be right about this, but it's what he thinks in the moment is best for
10:04this offense as a whole
10:05and this team as a whole.
10:07So, Chris, after the game, Kenny Atkinson said that he had to throw the rotational minutes thing out.
10:15He likes to have a pattern.
10:18And I got to ask you, and I mean this with all due respect, did a light bulb go off?
10:25Did he just magically figure out that's what you're supposed to do in the playoffs?
10:28Did it really take their season to be pushed to the brink for him to realize, yeah, you got to
10:35play your star players longer than you would in the regular season?
10:39Well, they were down 0-2, so they had to win that game.
10:43Can't go down 0-3.
10:44So you got to start doing a little bit different when it comes to managing minutes and rotations and stuff.
10:51And look, every coach has a belief.
10:55Every coach has a certain way of doing things.
10:59You know, Tom Thibodeau got criticized when he was with the New York Knicks for never using his bench and
11:05playing his guys 45 to 48 minutes.
11:09Kenny Atkinson believes in depth.
11:12Kenny Atkinson has celebrated this team's depth since the offseason.
11:17Kenny Atkinson came from the Golden State Warriors, where it was about strength in numbers, where it was about playing
11:2410 guys in his playoff rotation and things along those lines.
11:29So every coach is going to have a different level of comfort.
11:33But I think what Kenny realized is that there are certain minutes throughout the course of a game that could
11:41change the outcome.
11:42And I think if you go back to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Detroit, that lineup that
11:49he used at the beginning of the fourth quarter, you can't do those kinds of things in Game 1 of
11:56the Eastern Conference semifinals.
12:00And I think that was very, very costly from a Cavs perspective.
12:04So I think it's, you know, you go back, you watch it, you reevaluate some things.
12:10You consider making other kinds of stylistic and rotational changes and things along those lines.
12:17But as I said, after Game 1, after Game 2, there's no rule that says you have to continue to
12:25stick with your regular season rotation.
12:27There's no rule that says you have to continue to play these guys regular season minutes.
12:32That's the value of being in the playoffs.
12:35That if you have to play Cade Cunningham, like the Detroit Pistons, 42 minutes and all 12 of the fourth
12:41quarter, then that's what you do.
12:43And that's creating an advantage for your basketball team.
12:47So we'll see how Kenny wants to manage this.
12:50I do think there's also a big picture thing in play of this is a seven-game series and every
12:57game is every other day.
12:58And we have to find a way, the best way that we possibly can, to make it so that these
13:05guys don't wear down physically and mentally by the end of this particular series.
13:09But when you're down 0-2 and you're at home and you can't afford to go down 0-3, then
13:16that means you play Donovan Mitchell all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter.
13:19That means you play a majority of your guys as much as you possibly can.
13:24That means you don't play Keon Ellis.
13:26That means you don't play Thomas Bryant.
13:29But I don't think it's going to be, in every situation, like, this is what I'm going to do and
13:36I'm determined to do it.
13:37I think he needs to be flexible and adaptable.
13:40I think he needs to read the game situation.
13:43I think he needs to read the moment and try to make the right decisions based on all of the
13:50information in front of him.
13:51In the first two games of the series, I think we can all admit that he didn't make the right
13:56decisions when it came to his lineups and his rotations.
13:59And those things were costly.
14:01They played part in the Cavs going down 0-2.
14:03In game three, we can all say that he did make the right decisions with his lineups, his minute management,
14:09all that kind of stuff.
14:11And it led to a win.
14:12So he needs to be better than what he was in the first two games of the series.
14:16Chris, what's the right decision for the starting lineup tonight?
14:21I still think there's advantages to continuing to go with Dean Wade and the familiarity and the chemistry that that
14:30group has.
14:32But I think it, and I would go that way, because there's a reason why he's on this roster.
14:38There's a benefit to the things that he brings to the table.
14:41But I think you just have to continue to have a short leash on him.
14:45And if that means you have to go to Jalen Tyson to guard Kate Cunningham,
14:49or if that means you have to go to Max Struess, I think you can do that.
14:54I think the value of having playable depth is that you can start one way and you can finish a
15:00different way.
15:01Or you can start one way and you can continue to try some of these other options that you have
15:07on this roster
15:08and find what it is that you're missing and what it is that you need in that moment.
15:13But I do think that there is a value to continuity, consistency, the defense that Dean brings,
15:20the size that he brings, the ability to wear on Kate Cunningham early in the game
15:25so that maybe he's worn down by the end of the game.
15:28So I wouldn't change anything after winning your first game in this particular series.
15:35All right, Chris.
15:36I hope to do this again with the season still going, with the season still on.
15:41I don't want that obituary.
15:43That's up to the Cavs, right?
15:44It is.
15:44I know.
15:44They get mad at us.
15:45I just, you know, I'd like to see them play a few more games.
15:48That's all.
15:49And tonight's going to go a long way towards deciding that.
15:51As always, you can follow them, Cleveland.com.
15:53And the playing dealer, Chris, excellent job as always.
15:57You got it, guys.
15:58Thanks for having me.
15:58See you.
15:59All right, Chris Fedor on the Wiseheart Right.
16:01Make it right.
16:01Call Kyle Right hotline as Dan Gilbert will be there tonight.
16:05Seeing Mike Brown already advance to the Eastern Cup.
16:09Did he fire Mike Brown twice?
16:10Yes, he did.
16:11Okay, J.B. Bickerstaff up two games to one.
16:14And what?
16:15Somewhere David Blatt is having success overseas.
16:17Somewhere.
16:18I just, you know he is.
16:19He might be retired, but might be coaching intramurals.
16:22I don't know.
16:23But this has got to be especially cruel for Dan.
16:26Watching this unfold, there's no way they can allow Detroit to go up three games to one
16:32with him sitting courtside and J.B. Bickerstaff riding those refs for the better part of three hours.
16:37It's a $400 million cruel joke.
16:41Yeah.
16:42It's a pretty expensive roster.
16:44Yeah, pretty expensive second and out.
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