00:00Mike, is it nostalgic at all for you to be coaching against the Cavs or were you used to coach
00:05for this Eastern Conference follow-up or do you have any trick down memory at all approaching the series?
00:12No, my youngest son really likes, I had a great time there, my youngest son though really likes Cleveland playing
00:19football at Case Western Reserve so the only thing that kind of brought back memories was he said he might
00:27come to Cleveland for a game.
00:28He hasn't been anyplace else but he might come to Cleveland for a game.
00:32Was everybody healthy and ready to go for game one?
00:35Everybody practiced today, you know again I'm just going to follow the medicals lead but everybody practiced today.
00:43When did you fall practice?
00:45Yeah.
00:45When you look at the matchup, they have Harden, Mitchell, Allen and Mowgli, what do you make of the Cavs
00:53as a roster and the way Kenny's been coaching them and what are the challenges that they post to you
00:56guys?
00:56Yeah, Kenny's done a phenomenal job.
00:59You know Kenny, we know each other well from our time at Goldman State together.
01:03He's a great person and obviously a really good coach and he's got those guys playing at a high level.
01:09You know, to sit back and watch those guys take both their series to seven games and find the resiliency
01:18to win in seven games just shows how experienced that team is when it comes to the playoffs.
01:26There was no panic in them at all starting with Kenny on down.
01:30So it's a really, really good team, high level team that's extremely well coached.
01:36Mike, what's the challenge for you with nine days off before the ball game?
01:41Considering they're coming right off the game, do you worry about complacency?
01:45Do you worry about not being sharp?
01:47Do you worry about being a step slow?
01:48Yeah, I mean, you worry about all those things, you know, but at the end of the day, you know,
01:55we've had a chance to rest too and they've had to play, you know, 14 games in 29, 30 days.
02:01And so, you know, it could go either way.
02:05You just hope that, you know, when we step out there, our competitive spirit is at an extremely high level
02:13and we don't ease into the game at all because they're a dangerous, dangerous offensive team.
02:21They're very potent with their shooters and playmakers and they have size and toughness and all that.
02:28So there's a lot of things you worry about, but that's why it's good that you got to go play
02:34the games.
02:34Mike, what are you talking about?
02:36In 2009.
02:37I'm sorry, say it again?
02:38In 2009 with the Cavs, you guys, I think you swept the first two series and then might have nine
02:45days between the end of your second round and the start of the conference final.
02:51And obviously you guys fell short in that conference final.
02:53I'm just wondering, does that come into your mind at all in terms of stuff you can take lessons from
02:59in terms of how to approach this kind of break or is that not something?
03:04Yeah, you always try to, you know, lean on stuff that you've done in the past, but you, you know,
03:10in the same breath, this team is different.
03:12It's a different time.
03:14And so you lean on, you know, your past experiences, you lean on the players, you lean on, you know,
03:21the coaches around you.
03:22Obviously, I think Chris Gent might have been with me, but other than Chris Gent, everybody else is new.
03:29So, you always try to take past experiences, good or bad, into account with what you do in the present.
03:40But, you know, you still got to go play the game at the end of the day to see what
03:45happens and make adjustments as you're going through the process.
03:48Mike, is that year you spent with Kenny? I think it was one year at Golden State that you guys
03:53worked together?
03:54I think it was one for sure. I don't know if it was two.
03:56I guess when you work with a guy close up, do you kind of go into this saying, I know
04:01how he thinks or I know he's going to try to do this?
04:03I mean, it's different because that team is different than his team, which is different than our team.
04:11And so, you know, so it's different from that standpoint.
04:18We probably, you know, we probably gain more knowledge of how we're coaching our teams based on the times that
04:25we played against each other this year more than in the past.
04:31Mike, how much can game one of a series set the tone for a series?
04:38Last year, before you were here, they lost game one to the conference finals and kind of set the tone
04:43for the whole series.
04:44How much can game one sort of set a tone for the games after?
04:48I mean, it can obviously set the tone, but I think Cleveland lost in game one to Detroit.
04:57So at the end of the day, you know, each game is its own separate entity.
05:03And, you know, you've got to try to be able to make adjustments after games to see if you can
05:09counter anything that you're having problems with.
05:11And if you do, you may have a chance to come out on top.
05:16But, you know, for us, and I think it's no different for any team, you always want to hit first,
05:25second, third and obviously last.
05:27So trying to do that is going to be big.
05:31We've talked about it before with the starts of our games.
05:35And our guys, to their credit, have done a better job in the playoffs than what we did towards the
05:41end of the regular season.
05:42How important is the game?
05:49You talk about you and Kenny being able to learn more about how each other, how you'll play each other
05:57from the games this year than you would have whatever from the year at Golden State.
06:02I'm curious how different is that team with James now than they were the first time, the first few times.
06:09You know, it's different. You've got another guy that's an all-star.
06:14So, I mean, if you think about it, I think James has been an all-star before.
06:21Donovan Mitchell, Mobley, I think Jared Allen.
06:24Jared.
06:26Allen's been. You know, you're talking about that. I remember back in the day when I was with Pop.
06:31Pop said, you know, he was just kind of like, you need three all-stars to win a championship.
06:35Well, they got four, you know.
06:36And so James being the fourth one has added a dimension to their team that not many teams have.
06:44Not many teams can say, hey, we have four all-stars on our roster.
06:48And that fourth guy in James is a playmaker and a scorer.
06:52So he presents a problem when you have that and Donovan Mitchell and everybody else.
06:57And then they have the shooting.
06:58So it's a different team and he makes them different because of the experience that he has,
07:05especially in the playoffs and in great moments and him being a Hall of Fame caliber player.
07:13All right, let me do more stuff.
07:14You technically only have two all-stars, but I'm sure you think in your mind you have four as well,
07:19right?
07:19For sure.
07:20Yeah.
07:21How important is it to...
07:23So if you guys can help me out in the future, Caster votes the right one.
07:31Given how important Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are to their offense,
07:36how important is it for you guys to attack those two defensively?
07:41You know, we have to put pressure on them in all phases, starting with transition or, you know,
07:48starting with transition and ending with the ability to try to go offense or rebound.
07:53And, you know, you want to make all of their guys, especially guys that playmate for them and do a
08:01lot for them,
08:01you want to try to make them work as much as you can.
08:04But that's not going to be our focal point.
08:07I think we're trying to take the best possible shot that we can get because it's hard to score in
08:12the playoffs.
08:13But, you know, we do want to make those guys work, starting with transition.
08:16So we have to be conscious of trying to play the right way against this group.
08:23All right, last one, Chris.
08:24I know it's going to be more than just two guys on opposite teams going at each other,
08:29but Jalen and Donovan, close friend, they have a good history with each other.
08:33What do you make of those two guys as superstar guards with a chance to go to the NBA Finals
08:38hanging in the balance?
08:40You know, it should be fun. I mean, it should be fun. It should be, you know, entertaining.
08:44There's a lot of story lines for you guys to write about, stuff like that.
08:51And, you know, I didn't know that they were close friends, you know, so that's...
08:56They didn't know each other pretty well.
08:58Donovan's from someplace in New York, right?
09:01Right here.
09:02From West, but somebody told me, somebody came up to me and said he...
09:07Is it, or is it like one of the, like, town's close to Teardown?
09:11Yeah.
09:12He's born in Elm Street, yeah, right down the road.
09:14He played on Greenwich Country Day.
09:16Oh, so he played in Connecticut.
09:19But he played in AAU in the city.
09:20He played in...
09:21No, no, no.
09:23His dad...
09:23Which one was with the Mets?
09:24His dad still works with the Mets.
09:26Oh, his dad works with the Mets right now?
09:28Yes.
09:28Yeah.
09:29Oh, wow.
09:31What's he do for the Mets?
09:32He's like...
09:33He's in community relations.
09:35Oh, he's in community relations?
09:36He's great in engagement.
09:37Yeah, he can get a crowd going.
09:39Oh, okay.
09:40He's quick.
09:40He's got a good first step.
09:43So, this is where Donovan got it from.
09:45Is it good, though, that, like, you know, you have two star players in the same position
09:49that go at each other in a series like this?
09:52I mean, I don't look at it like that.
09:54But I think it's good for you guys and it's good for the fans, maybe.
09:57But, you know, at the end of the day, especially when you get this far in the playoffs, you're
10:04going to have stars on either team.
10:07And it makes for a good storyline, but at the end of the day, it's not anything that
10:12we think, or at least that I think much about.
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