00:00Beatle and Decker, Run It Back TV, Michelle Beatle joining us right now.
00:05Hi, Michelle.
00:06What's up, guys?
00:07No, by all means, make fun of the garden.
00:10I'm here for it, and I'm condoning it.
00:12So, yeah.
00:13This is, I'm so glad to have you, because I know you hate Knicks fans.
00:18Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:19But.
00:19Definitely.
00:20I'm not sensing a great deal of belief in the Cavs here in this series,
00:24and I need somebody nationally to believe in the Cavs,
00:28because I'm a little sick of the bing-bong hysteria that I'm hearing from the Natty.
00:33Well, I'll say this.
00:34You know what?
00:35The Cavs have been, and you guys know this more than anyone,
00:37there's a bit of a heck, a Jekyll and Hyde.
00:40And this goes back to last year, obviously.
00:42So, I think some of us feel like we got burned,
00:44like we jumped in feet first, all about the Cavs,
00:48loved Kenny Atkinson, loved the makeup of the team,
00:50like nothing bad to say about anybody.
00:53And then it sort of just, like, fizzled out like a bad firecracker.
00:57And so, I think part of that is we're a little bit burned by that.
01:00I think the other part of that is that New York looks so strong so far,
01:05but they've also been off for, like, a year and a half.
01:07I mean, they've been throwing birthday parties,
01:09and Mitchell Robinson's just, it feels like they're on vacation.
01:12I do think there is a value in that for the Cavs to be coming in.
01:15Couldn't be more confident.
01:17Coming in hot.
01:18I'm a big fan of game one upsets.
01:21We just had one, quote, unquote, last night.
01:23OKC was off forever.
01:24So, you know, I also am a jinx.
01:27And so, if I feel something deep in my heart,
01:29that is usually wrong, and that is in your favor.
01:33All right, we like this.
01:34No jinx away.
01:35I had no idea.
01:36You're good.
01:36I'm the mush.
01:37I am the mush.
01:38It's why I'm very superstitious about my own team
01:40and how I post and tweeting.
01:42I'm very superstitious about it.
01:44So, yeah, I feel like, I mean, Donovan Mitchell,
01:47this is all new territory.
01:48And I think most people are legitimately thrilled for him.
01:52So, yeah, there is definitely a polarizing aspect to the New York Knicks.
01:56Probably more their fans than the team itself.
01:58I really don't have an issue with the team.
02:00But we all want to shut the fans up.
02:02So, it'd be better if you guys did it and not wait until the finals.
02:05We would very much appreciate that as a nation.
02:08Yeah, Michelle, I just think it's so odd.
02:10It's like they, yes, they went through the Hawks
02:12and then basically a Joel Embiidless 76ers team.
02:15And large point differential, I get it,
02:17but people are acting as if the Knicks are all of a sudden
02:19the greatest team ever assembled.
02:21Yeah, but I think that's all Knicks too, right?
02:24Like everything with them is magnified by 100.
02:28Normal things that most teams would just sort of deal with,
02:31it is so elevated for them.
02:34And I think part of that is the, and I don't mean this negatively.
02:37I mean, we're all, as fans, we're desperate, right?
02:39Like the whole point is we're desperate for wins and championships.
02:41I think that fan base more than a lot has been feeling that sort of desperation
02:46thirst for a really, really long time.
02:50And they almost just get so amped up.
02:52I mean, look, they were naming streets last season.
02:55Like that was one of the most cringe things I've seen in a really long time
02:59to just go ahead and get ahead of yourself.
03:01So, they have to get to the finals or it's a failure because you fired your coach
03:05for not.
03:06So, they're in a weird place as far as expectation, the spotlight that automatically
03:11comes with New York and everything about it.
03:13So, I am legitimately excited for tonight's game because I do think the first
03:18five minutes will be chaotic.
03:20We've got a lot of rest and we've got a lot of confidence coming in.
03:23It's a good clash.
03:24All right.
03:24This is a loaded question.
03:26It's kind of the only one I really ask anymore.
03:29Donovan or Jalen Brunson, who's a better player?
03:32Oh, dang.
03:34That's tough.
03:35You know what?
03:35I'll answer it like this.
03:37It's probably like the weenie answer.
03:39But I feel like Donovan, we know this, has not had the chance yet to sort of show
03:45these big, giant moments what he's capable of, which is, again, why this series is
03:49so important, I think, for him and his legacy and kind of his place in this league.
03:54Whereas Brunson now has had quite a few of those hot, spicy moments that he just
03:59kind of carries the team on his back.
04:02You know, physically, it's crazy.
04:05Like, I don't know that I'm picking one necessarily over the other.
04:08The fact that we once were faced with possibly that decision for the Knicks is still sort
04:12of crazy in the back of my mind.
04:14I think Jalen Brunson gets a slight nod, but that is only because he's had more clutch
04:19moments in big times.
04:20That's it.
04:21Donovan can change all that, literally, in the span of two weeks.
04:25All right.
04:25If you were to rank the top five players in this matchup, how would you do it?
04:29Oh, man.
04:29Okay.
04:30So that's a tough one, because there's talent, and then there's players that I count on.
04:33Like, I think those are sometimes not even close to the same thing.
04:36And Cat would be a prime example.
04:38I'm going to go Jalen Donovan.
04:39I'm going to do Cat, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he's going to not
04:44disappear every other game.
04:45But that is not really the pattern.
04:47So I'm probably going to look stupid when this is all said and done.
04:50I'm going to go Evan Mobley.
04:52And I think this is weird.
04:54I think for the value and coming off that last series, what you guys, like Max Struess is
04:59an annoying person if you're the other team.
05:01I think there's a lot of value in sort of what he brought.
05:04And I'm just going to go ahead and throw him in there.
05:06He could be the hair, but also I think he was very valuable for you guys.
05:09Struess over Harden.
05:11Yeah.
05:12I just, I still go back to game six Spurs when he really just sort of cemented a bad rep.
05:20But again, I want his legacy to change in this as well.
05:23I'm telling you, like nobody dislikes James Harden.
05:27I feel like he's the kid that we're all rooting for.
05:29And then if he doesn't do it, we're just sort of collectively like, oh, like we're sad
05:34about it, even though he's not, he doesn't play for my team.
05:36I think he's on the way to sort of maybe crush some of that, but the pressure's on,
05:41man.
05:42You cannot go back.
05:44You cannot revert to old playoff Harden.
05:46So it's interesting you say that because I do think, and this is an approximate number
05:50of clearly vetted it.
05:5233% of people, the second they hear James Harden's on a team just says, well, they're
05:56going to lose because James Harden.
05:57And so I want to believe that there are people rooting for James Harden to subvert the narrative
06:05about him, but it feels like, like even if James was good in a loss, he still would take
06:10the L like he does.
06:11The Cavs don't just need to advance in this.
06:13He also needs to be one of the two biggest reasons to shed that narrative because he
06:17has to go above and beyond or the goalpost will move.
06:20Is that a fair or am I being a Harden homer, which I've never accused of being?
06:24Well, no, by the way, and that would be totally fine.
06:26And I do think a lot of us root for him to kind of leave this bad rep or bad
06:31expectation
06:31behind, and this is no better chance than now, right?
06:34Like, what is he, 37?
06:36I mean, there's, time is ticking.
06:39I honestly, like even if they were to lose, if he shows up in every one of those games,
06:44I really don't think the narrative is as negative as possibly maybe you were painting it.
06:49I think what we're afraid of as legacy watchers is that, okay, fine, they lose, what have you,
06:56but he just disappears.
06:57Or every other game is sort of a non-event, nondescript.
07:00Which James Harden was really not effective type game.
07:03Then, unfortunately, I think that narrative continues on very loudly and very strong.
07:08But we've seen it, like we've seen him.
07:10And maybe he doesn't have a game specifically the stats that people maybe dream, but he's
07:14effective in other ways.
07:15Like that, I think, is something that has also come out of that last series.
07:19I just, I really hope he does it because I'm one of those.
07:23I'm one of those people that's been carrying for years around this notion of, oh, you traded
07:27for James Harden?
07:28Oh, that's cute.
07:29Like that's sort of how it was viewed.
07:31And this is a big moment for him.
07:33I'm stoked, man.
07:34I just think there are a couple guys on that team that have sort of, I hate that word, but
07:39keep using it, that legacy riding sort of on this series.
07:43And they're going up against a team that's supposed to go to the finals, according to
07:46every expert in the world.
07:48For tonight, Michelle, are the Cavs at a disadvantage because of the schedule and having one day off
07:53after back-to-back Game 7s?
07:54Meanwhile, the Knicks have had a million days off?
07:57Yeah, I don't know.
07:58I wish I had like the actual stats, but I am not that person.
08:03I think there is like a bad part of having this much time off.
08:09Think about it.
08:09Anytime you go on vacation, you come back.
08:11Those first days or two at work are awful.
08:13Like you're in a fog.
08:14You know what we were doing?
08:15Forgot how to do everything.
08:16I think there's something to that.
08:18And I do think watching the Cavs not just win Game 7, but absolutely demolish a 61-1 seed
08:25in their house, I don't know that there's a higher level of confidence that you should
08:30be bringing in.
08:31So I'm actually leaning Cavs tonight.
08:33I think having that much time off is not great.
08:37And that's what I'm going with.
08:38That's my superstition for tonight.
08:40I'm sticking with it.
08:41Michelle, you're so passionate about this stuff.
08:44You've always got such a great attitude about this.
08:46So I feel bad that I might be putting you in a position to be a mush of your team.
08:52Wemby was awesome last night.
08:54That was a very fun game.
08:57And it does feel like this could be his moment to literally take the next dynastic run away
09:03from the Thunder and put it in San Antonio.
09:08Can I get you to agree with some of this?
09:09Are we mushing?
09:10I just want to make sure.
09:11I don't want to put you guys behind the eight ball here.
09:13No, look, I don't post before the game or during the game.
09:17I don't even answer texts during the game.
09:18So that part of the mush, I've quieted.
09:20I'm OK on that.
09:21But no, I think based off of last night, who's not excited?
09:25That was one of, and this is not hyperbole, it was one of the best games we've seen.
09:29And it was certainly a hell of a performance for a first time playoff guy to come in and
09:34sort of drop the bomb the way he did.
09:36I mean, he's just wired differently.
09:38We've all run out of adjectives.
09:40We've all run out of analogies.
09:41Like, it's sort of a crazy thing.
09:43And this is year three for him.
09:45I don't think OKC went to bed last night feeling like, yeah, this will be fine.
09:50We'll be fine.
09:50We'll make it to the finals.
09:51We'll repeat.
09:51I think they actually genuinely have some concerns.
09:54And they have a lot of spaces that they need to improve upon based off last night.
09:58And SGA was kind of off.
09:59And guys, Chet needs to figure out if he's prideful or not, because I don't know what
10:03happens to that guy when he faces Wemby.
10:05But we also, we didn't have Deere and Fox.
10:07We had crazy turnover.
10:09So there's a lot of room for improvement on an already just absolutely incredible game
10:14to watch.
10:15I went into this thinking, this is all great, valuable experience.
10:19I don't feel stressed.
10:20All of that went out the window last night at the end of regulation.
10:23I forgot what it's like to be personally invested.
10:26It's been seven years since my team's been in the playoffs.
10:28Um, yeah, I actually kind of was like, is this happening?
10:32Is this possible?
10:33And that's the first time I've really thought that this season.
10:36So yeah, I probably just mushed it.
10:37Um, but I don't think it's crazy to think that we're watching something happen in real
10:41time that might turn out to be a big, big problem for everybody else.
10:44Every time I watched LeBron, when he was first in the NBA, I was like, he's six foot
10:49eight.
10:49He's 260 pounds.
10:51He's a, he's a point guard in a power forwards body.
10:54This is, we've maxed it out.
10:55And then, then came Kevin Durant, who's seven foot one and doing this.
10:59And then Nikoli Jokic, who literally looks like me, but seven feet tall.
11:03And, uh, and by the way, much more athletic.
11:06And now Wemby, it's like, he's seven foot five.
11:09He's a point guard.
11:10And yet he could also dominate in the post.
11:13This has got to be the most a human body can max out in the end, right?
11:16There's not going to be like a seven foot nine version of Wemby 10 years from now.
11:19Right.
11:20I mean, I say no, but the whole point of sort of breaking the seal is like, okay, now
11:25we're in it.
11:25Now it's going to happen again and again and again.
11:28Although good Lord, the brain has a hard time processing a bigger, taller, more skilled
11:33person.
11:33He's sort of a hybrid and he also tweaks direction.
11:36Well, like he does something wrong and it feels like he learns immediately.
11:40It's like watching, it's like playing a video game where you're constantly adding powers or
11:44skills or weapons to your arsenal.
11:46Like, I feel like he's doing that, but he's doing it in a sped up way.
11:50Um, it is, it is crazy.
11:52He's a hybrid of like all those guys that you just described.
11:55And I, I don't get it.
11:57Sometimes I wish he could be a little more, uh, I know the muscle thing is going to take
12:01a while cause he's so dang thing, but it's the one thing that worries me.
12:05Like he's on the floor all the time.
12:06So that has to stop that.
12:07That drives me crazy.
12:08And it makes me hold my breath and I don't want to see it because he's too thin for that.
12:13You guys, he's going to snap.
12:14And that's not what we're looking for here.
12:15Are the Cavs getting LeBron this summer?
12:18God, I, you tell me like we're all sitting here guessing and I'm just like, wow, that's
12:22pretty, that's a pretty Hollywood ending.
12:24But then again, I think, well, if the Cavs advance and go to the finals, do you want to
12:28add LeBron James?
12:29Like that feels a little bit weird to me too.
12:31Always, always, always add LeBron.
12:33Yeah.
12:34Oh, really?
12:35So, okay.
12:35I'm glad you guys are telling me that.
12:36That's like cheese on a burger.
12:37If given the option, I'm always going to say yes.
12:40Okay.
12:41Fair enough.
12:41You know what?
12:42Now I see it that way and I totally understand.
12:43It would be an amazing, just sort of full circle, put a cherry on top kind of moment.
12:50But I also think he kind of loves being out here and that's going to be, that's going
12:53to be the tough sell, I guess.
12:54We shall see what the Lakers end up doing because they got a lot of decisions to make.
12:58We'd like it if when you talk about LeBron in his decision this summer on run it back,
13:03if you referenced us as people close to LeBron.
13:07Yeah.
13:07We could be that for you.
13:08Yeah.
13:09Or boots on the ground in Cleveland.
13:11We'll take either one of those as long as it's then followed.
13:14I believe their names are Nick Wilson and Jonathan Peterlin because we do like when people mention
13:18our names on national broadcasts.
13:20Well, we only like it when it's positive because they can go the other way and that's no fun.
13:25Just forget my name if you're going to do that.
13:27Please.
13:28I'll do that.
13:29Okay.
13:31But what if we use your name to get national headlines, Michelle?
13:34Because I'm interested in that.
13:35So you take the fall, but then we get the glow up from it.
13:39Yeah.
13:40I mean, I see what you're doing.
13:41I'm not sure I'm on board.
13:43All right.
13:44Well, listen.
13:46I'll give you this opportunity.
13:47Give me your best 30 seconds on Stephen A. Smith right now.
13:50Dear God.
13:51No.
13:52I'd rather walk into traffic on fire.
13:56Okay.
13:56I just, I thought it was there.
13:57It was the opportunity that was there.
13:58That's the headline all we, that's all we needed.
14:00Yeah.
14:01There you go.
14:01I'd rather walk into traffic than talk about Stephen A. Smith.
14:04All right.
14:05We got it.
14:06All right.
14:07Barrett Sports Media, here we come.
14:09Here we go.
14:11Michelle, great stuff.
14:12Appreciate you.
14:14No, good luck, guys.
14:15We're all watching and counting on you.
14:16I would say the same thing about the Spurs until we get to the NBA Finals,
14:20and then I'll stop rooting for you, but we can, there's a detente here, I feel.
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