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00:00Tonight, the Cavaliers play the New York-Nicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
00:05Now, we just move the day over.
00:08If the Cavs win tonight, I think tomorrow is a totally different conversation about the series.
00:14Because I think there's something, I'm trying to save it for 6-22,
00:17about who I think is the most important player for the Cavaliers in this series.
00:20And it's probably, if anybody's listened to us for an extended period of time,
00:25it's probably exactly who they think I'm going to say.
00:30But, nobody, I've got to tell you guys this, and maybe this is freeing,
00:33and maybe it makes it easier to get behind them,
00:36because it's been failed expectations over the last four years.
00:40Like, I kind of want to gauge the barometer of the fans today,
00:43because it's been lack of expectations, failure to find those expectations over the last few years.
00:49And now, we're in a series where, don't come after the messenger, nobody is picking us.
00:55Nobody is picking us in this series.
00:57And you had Termini on yesterday, and I mean, he can be a jerk,
01:02but I think he was actually trying to be a little bit respectful,
01:04as he was like, yeah, there's three teams, and then there's you.
01:07Like, of the four best teams in the NBA, you're fourth with a bullet,
01:11and then there's everybody else above you.
01:13Like, he was trying to be that.
01:14He was trying to be nice about it, but that's what he was saying.
01:16And I bet you after he saw last night's game, because I watched last night's game,
01:19and oh boy, the Varsity versus JV is something you're going to hear a lot about,
01:24because those two teams did look like they are on a completely different level.
01:28Well, we are going to hear a lot today, I guarantee it.
01:30If you're listening to us, you probably won't hear much,
01:33because we've got to get ready for the Knicks game.
01:35But I think in the national perspective, I guarantee there will be a take of
01:39this is the real finals.
01:40Yes.
01:41Of the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder,
01:43because that game last night was fantastic.
01:45We'll talk more about it in about last night.
01:46But I want to know to you, like, you're the king of low expectations,
01:51and then you can be surprised.
01:53Does this feel better to be the underdog?
01:55Because now, I want to know if people kind of let the air out from under their collar,
01:59or they're going, well, wait a minute, we put together the most expensive team in the NBA,
02:02and now no one's given us a chance.
02:05Like, what?
02:06Am I, Kenny, I'm supposed to be satisfied by this?
02:08Like, I wonder how people are going to feel about this.
02:10It's weird, because I guarantee that I've vacillated over the years.
02:14There have been some times I've been like, that's a loser attitude.
02:16Like, when you have LeBron James, you know, to act like you were some big underdog ever,
02:20even though you were those first two years, well, really, every year against Golden State,
02:25especially when they added Kevin Durant, you were always considered the underdog.
02:28And I was like, yeah, but we do have LeBron James.
02:30That is different.
02:31Now, there's no LeBron James on this team, and the Knicks, over the course of the last
02:36two weeks, have just been propped up like they're some unbeatable team.
02:40And I'm like, man, I have a lot of Knicks fans in my life, and none of the Knicks fans
02:45were thrilled about Mike Brown and their team, you know, for big portions of the year,
02:50despite the fact that by the numbers, they were a top-five offense and a top-five defense.
02:54And yet, you couldn't find a lot of Knicks fans that were like,
02:57we're definitely going to represent the East.
02:59Before the postseason, they were as dour as I think I've ever heard of them.
03:03I mean, they can be a boisterous, front-running group.
03:06They were about as down as I think I've ever seen them.
03:09And now, after what happened in the postseason, I mean, the Atlanta series,
03:12I mean, you had Stephen A. Smith out there on television saying that he thought
03:15that Atlanta could get them in the series, and that he was going to go nuts
03:17if they hadn't actually got them in the series.
03:19They beat Atlanta in the closeout game by a billion,
03:22and then they made quick work of the 76ers, and now it's this team.
03:26The hobbling Sixers, yeah.
03:27It's this team that cannot be derailed.
03:30And I just, I have to ask people if they just, if they feel better about it,
03:34that people love being the underdog, man.
03:37It's an easy, easy thing to take advantage of.
03:40And people love being the underdog so much that the teams that are favorites
03:45make up different things.
03:46Like, the year Georgia won the national championship back-to-back
03:49and said people were taking them to go 7-5 that next year.
03:52Tom Brady making things up.
03:54Michael Jordan famous for making up adversity.
03:57Like, people love to be the underdog.
03:59It's easy.
04:00And now here, you're the natural underdog.
04:02Like, there's a couple of engagement maps out there saying that America's
04:05rooting for the Knicks.
04:06I don't believe that whatsoever.
04:07But, and I think those are just for engagement.
04:10But, I think a lot of people are just taking the Knicks to win.
04:14So, is it a freeing experience for a Cavs fan, or is it a frustrating one
04:19considering the salary that's been spent?
04:21Here's what I love about going on the road.
04:23Now, you don't love having to play every other day, and you've got, you've
04:27got, you know, veterans like James Harden, and you're wondering what is that
04:31going to look like by the end of this series?
04:33One game at a time.
04:34You've got to think mentally.
04:35But, here's what I do love.
04:36Like, the get-in price at Mass Square Garden surged ahead last night again.
04:40It went up like $100.
04:41It's up to $550.
04:42It dropped.
04:43No, no, it went up again.
04:45No, I mean, it dropped originally, now it's up.
04:47Yeah, and there are $1,000 tickets, you know, almost in the rafters at that
04:51place.
04:52What do you think that crowd that paid all that money is going to be doing if the
04:56Cavs, like, get off to a hot shooting start?
04:59And Max Strews or Sam Merrill, like, then all of a sudden, and the overreactions to
05:05every half, every quarter, every game start to permeate.
05:09And it's not like the Cavs don't have firepower that can hang.
05:14Like, they obviously do.
05:16Imagine if James Harden is just shooting well.
05:17I mean, he had a terrible shooting game.
05:20I mean, he had balls going in and out.
05:21Like, imagine if this just goes in and the Cavs get off to a great start.
05:25What that building is going to be like, because we talk about the Browns and all the treacherous
05:31memories that we have and the dicey moments with the Browns.
05:34That's when the Browns were good, you know, about not being able to get over the hump.
05:39The Knicks, they talk about that.
05:41That's their community about being bit.
05:43They have so many agonizing moments.
05:45And Donovan Mitchell has gone into Madison Square Garden before, and he has lit them up.
05:51And you're telling me when he sees Jalen Brunson out there, this is a lot different from seeing
05:56all those wings, all those, you know, very lengthy athletic players against Toronto and Detroit.
06:04This is very different when he sees Carl Anthony Towns.
06:08Like, Donovan Mitchell has a chance to have himself a series, and I think he could be better
06:14positioned to have a much bigger Eastern Conference Finals than what we saw the last two rounds.
06:19Yesterday, on Afternoon Drive, a former Cavalier who has a bit of a dubious past in this town
06:30had this to say about the Cavaliers and their season.
06:33Here is Carlos Boozer.
06:36When was the last time you guys were going into the Conference Finals, right?
06:39He's obviously done his job.
06:40You guys have had success this season.
06:42Now, is that the goal?
06:43No, the goal is to win an NBA championship.
06:45Let's be very clear.
06:46They're playing their butts off to win an NBA championship, but have they had a successful season?
06:51Absolutely.
06:52That's all I was saying yesterday.
06:54And a lot of people actually saw it that way, too.
06:56There are a lot of people that actually could see it.
06:58Let's say, well, and I think part of it is because they take a look at the odds.
07:01You know, you said you did the number crunch yesterday.
07:04You said there was a 35% chance that they win the finals, or they win the Eastern Conference Finals.
07:08Just based on the Vegas odds.
07:09Which makes you an underdog, based on the Vegas odds.
07:12And then, from what we saw last night, we'll get more into it about last night, coming up at 745
07:15this morning,
07:16because I think the real MVP probably won the game last night.
07:20Those two teams are, Victor Wemenyama is at a different level.
07:23And it's, the way that he already is, it can be just an invitational for him over the next how
07:30many years.
07:30But again, I'm doing things that I just accused people of doing last week,
07:34where it's just like, hey, it's never always going to be the way you think it is.
07:36Not in this league, but the way it's made now with the second apron, where it's going to be one
07:41team and everybody else.
07:42It's harder to put together.
07:43Super teams are almost impossible now.
07:45All those things we said last week.
07:47But it looked last night like these were two teams that were just at another level.
07:51To see Shea Gildress Alexander, that atmosphere at home, and then for what San Antonio did, unbelievable.
07:58I mean, to hit that shot, going to overtime, to send the thing to overtime, I mean, I've never seen
08:04a big man shoot like that in my life from that level.
08:07I mean, it was fourth row.
08:09You guys will see the highlights today.
08:10It was unreal.
08:11And I know that Jeff had brought it up earlier today on the warm-up show.
08:15Yes.
08:15Yeah, and then you just see as there's nobody that can keep him off the boards.
08:22And poor Alex Caruso had a monster, had the best game of his career yesterday.
08:26I think he hit like eight threes and was playing just stifling defense.
08:30And he had Wemby on him, and they just threw the ball to Wemby, and it was the easiest dunk
08:34of all time.
08:35It's like, what are you supposed to do?
08:36And I'll tell you this, but I find myself torn here because I'm saying things here that you don't disagree
08:40with.
08:41How could anybody?
08:42Well, because it all seems to be common sense, right?
08:45And I think that there have been years past where we have brought up other teams and how good they
08:50are,
08:51and people got really agitated, going, what are you saying, we don't have a chance?
08:54Is that what you're saying?
08:55Are you saying that the Cavs, you guys are hosting Cleveland, we don't have a chance?
08:58And I'm going, well, no.
08:59And we've had that argument before.
09:01But here we are in this series getting ready for the Knicks, and it's been a weird year.
09:08And I'm not getting the type of reaction that we had 2014 through 2018 where it was us against the
09:16world,
09:17this big everybody's in.
09:19There's been a lot of naysayers locally, man.
09:22A lot of fans who have been waiting for the other shoe.
09:25To have your team be in the final four of any sport at any level, normally that's accompanied by a
09:31city-wide, a region-wide.
09:34And for whatever reason, like, people have just been, which is funny, they're so likable.
09:39But they sent 25 buses of people up there to Detroit.
09:43So what is the disconnect?
09:45Donovan's not some diva.
09:47No.
09:47Jared Allen, you saw him again.
09:49Great guy.
09:50The emerging videos of him from his wedding doing the high school musical thing with Dean Wade and his teammates.
09:57Like, this is such a likable non-diva team.
09:59You could say maybe you hated Harden your whole life, and now Harden came in.
10:03But Harden's been, to me, such a likable guy since he's been here.
10:07Yeah, you might not like the turnovers and maybe the style that he plays the game and the foul baiting.
10:11But him, like, off the floor, he's been such a cool customer.
10:15Like, I don't know how you couldn't like that as well.
10:18Like, every bit of this team is likable, and yet this city has, like, kind of held them at arm's
10:23length until maybe now.
10:24Yes.
10:24And now that you got the Knicks, it's like shooting fish in a bit.
10:27I hope it's tonight.
10:28I hope it's tonight.
10:28Oh, I think once you see the Knicks celebrities, you've got a Knicks guy doing the game of Mike Breen
10:33who's awesome.
10:34But it's all going to be about the Knicks.
10:36But everything, and by the way, if the Cavs win game one tonight, it's going to be about what the
10:40Knicks did to lose it.
10:41And I think if you can't get galvanized around that, then, I don't know, maybe you're just not into hoops
10:47or you're just bored with sports in general.
10:49I don't know what it is.
10:50I'm telling you, I have no idea what it is because there seems to be such a disconnect.
10:54And I wish I could.
10:55I'm trying to come up with theories because I have people who get in on social media.
11:00Social media reactions are brought to you by Owen.
11:02Shive and Jewelers, Cleveland's premier jewelry store.
11:05And I got folks who already, like, we have OTA starting today, and I got people complaining about, why aren't
11:10you mentioning the Browns?
11:11It's like, well, 640, we'll mention the Browns, guys.
11:13Wait, OTAs compared to the Eastern Conference Finals?
11:15Compared to the Eastern Conference Finals.
11:16So I got some folks who go, why do you even talk about that sport compared to 25 busloads of
11:21people that are going up there to watch Detroit?
11:23So where's the disconnect and where we fit?
11:25Well, yeah, for those people, obviously there's different types of people.
11:26For those people, this is the biggest thing going by far right now.
11:29But there have been years, again, where what you might say is the truth in actual analysis, and people got
11:35mad hearing the analysis brought up because they want us to wave the towels and get excited.
11:40And I've liked that because you want a healthy fan base, and I'm just not getting that type of reaction.
11:46It'll take winning one of the first two.
11:47If you win one of the first two.
11:49It makes tonight very important because if they go out there and they get hammered tonight, I think we're just
11:51going to get a malaise from people again.
11:53They're expected to get demolished tonight.
11:55They're seven and a half point dogs.
11:56The good news is you just saw the Spurs in a relatively short turnaround came out and beat the team
12:04that everybody has just crowned in Oklahoma City.
12:07Now, they've got Wembeama.
12:08What do we have?
12:09Well, maybe you have Donovan Mitchell putting on his show at Madison Square Garden.
12:12He's done it plenty of times.
12:13So that would be awesome in his first Eastern Conference Finals, putting a stamp.
12:18The further you get, we talk about shaping, forging a legacy.
12:22This is huge for Donovan Mitchell.
12:24Like, he'll never have to hear that a Donovan Mitchell-led team has not been able to get past the
12:29second round.
12:29He'll never have to hear it again.
12:30You know what's even better than that?
12:31Hey, a Donovan Mitchell team in the Eastern Conference Finals put on a show at MSG.
12:37This is where the legacies truly get forged.
12:40I'm going to give you an opportunity to beat me to the punch.
12:43Who do you think is the most important cavalier of the series?
12:45I think it's Evan.
12:47I do think it's Evan Mobley.
12:48He beats me to the punch.
12:50I think it's Evan.
12:50Why do you think it's Evan Mobley?
12:52Just because I think...
12:53I knew I should have said it first.
12:55I think if the sheriff...
12:57Damn it.
12:59...can put an end to this Carl Anthony Towns madness.
13:03Carl Anthony Towns is a very talented player.
13:05He's going to make so much money in this league.
13:07I remember him winning the three-point shootout here in Cleveland.
13:11And then, you know, just throwing bombs in from 30 feet at times.
13:17I've seen him do it, you know, his whole career.
13:20But they've made it seem like they're unbeatable with him acting as the point guard.
13:24Yeah.
13:24And hitting their cutters.
13:25Their cutters are so talented.
13:26That's something all Cavs fans have to watch.
13:28Like, James Harden can't fall asleep in the corner.
13:31They've got guys in Bridges and Ananobi that are so, so adept.
13:37And Josh Hart at being able to cut.
13:39And you can't fall asleep on these guys.
13:42And that includes everybody.
13:43But him at point guard, I don't see that flying with Evan Mobley and his pterodactyl arms kind of being
13:50around the ball and bothering him.
13:53And this, to me, is such a huge series for Mobley.
13:56I should have brought it up before you.
13:57I knew it.
13:58Because I'm proud of myself that we agree with each other on this.
14:02Because I go, man, I know it's worked.
14:05I know it worked like crazy against Philadelphia.
14:08I know it's worked in the past.
14:09I just – and I got to tell you, I'd be – would you be 100% shocked if they
14:14say they won the tip-off tonight
14:16and all of a sudden standing at the top of the key is someone else running the offense?
14:19You know, running point for the New York Knicks.
14:22Oh, if it's just back to –
14:22If it's just back to normal Jalen Brunson pick and roll.
14:26Exactly.
14:26I wouldn't be surprised because it's like, well, Carl Anthony Towns is a great player.
14:32But having Evan come out with his length, you haven't really seen anything like that at the top of the
14:37key.
14:38So maybe that changes things.
14:39And maybe they just go, you know what, we're going to go back with what got it first and see
14:43where it is.
14:44Or Mike Brown's like, maybe that's thinking too much.
14:46We'll see if we can beat him this way.
14:47Here's what I love.
14:47We heard so much in these matchups against the Knicks about Mitchell Robinson and Carl Anthony Towns
14:53and how are we going to match their toughness inside.
14:55But they're playing inverted.
14:56They're playing outside.
14:58And when Mitchell Robinson's not on the floor, because Mitchell Robinson doesn't start.
15:01Yeah.
15:01So when he's not on the floor, all of a sudden you have Jared Allen back there playing like a
15:05demon as well on both ends.
15:07Like, I think you've got some matchup.
15:09I think Knicks fans are discounting how we are aligned to beat this Knicks team now without confidence our bigs
15:18are playing.
15:18The confidence that they're playing with.
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