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00:00There's no secret, Kenny just stood up and went, I don't know what to do.
00:04I think he had the bullhorn, was Mike Brown going, we're going at him again!
00:09We're going at him again, yeah, bring him up, action, one-on-one, okay, clear out!
00:15Just so you know, I want to be fair!
00:17You make a joke, I guarantee, what celebrity, because Spike was sitting on the other side, right?
00:23So he wasn't, was there a celebrity around Kenny Atkinson?
00:27You know a New York fan was saying that to him.
00:29You know a fan was saying that to him.
00:31As the game went on, they're going to do it again!
00:34You can't, like, you knew that they were going to do it.
00:36And they kept doing it, and I don't blame them for doing it.
00:38I heard, you know, on the warm-up show with Jeff Thomas.
00:43Wait, we're giving Jeff a lot of credit here.
00:44Must listen on a day like today.
00:46He can't get in a fight with himself.
00:48No.
00:49But they had Kenny Atkinson saying, well, we trust Harden, he's been one of our defenders in the postseason.
00:55And I know that's going to, that's going to be very polarizing.
00:58Because depending on, you know, your prior thoughts on Harden, like, I've never tried to sell Harden as some plus
01:05-plus defender.
01:06But in the Detroit series and in the Toronto series, his size was an advantage against those, those long, bigger
01:13wings.
01:13Could you call a timeout, I'm sorry, could you call a timeout and give James some help?
01:18The help would be him going to the bench.
01:20I can understand.
01:21Because he can't guard, especially at that time of the game.
01:24You know, Brunson was relatively fresh because he hadn't done ISO ball.
01:29Here's the thing, everyone's going to say, well, game two, they'll just do that all game.
01:32Well, no, if you do that all game, then you have a chance to throw everybody out of rhythm.
01:38Brunson will get gassed because it's a lot.
01:40Like, listen, Donovan Mitchell was gassed, a lot of it, because he had six steals.
01:45Remember, this is the best.
01:46Guys, for three quarters, that's the best defense I've ever seen Donovan Mitchell play.
01:49Ever.
01:50Yes, easily.
01:50In any uniform, going back to Louisville.
01:53That was Dwayne Wade stuff.
01:54You know, that's been the comparison of him for a long time.
01:57And then I'd always say, yeah, but the difference is the amount of, the amount of incredible defensive plays that,
02:04I mean, guys,
02:06Donovan Mitchell was stealing the ball from guys, from Carl Anthony Towns,
02:09and taking it the other way and finishing in transition.
02:11The flip side of that is, he was going to be gassed by the end of the game.
02:16And so there were a lot of things that, in that time, like, you're trying to come up with answers.
02:21And I think he just didn't want to go to Schroeder, because Schroeder had been abysmal on both ends.
02:26He didn't want to go to Struis because he was worried about fouls.
02:30Struis is going to foul.
02:31They're going to call him, again, you can't breathe on Jalen Brunson, especially at MSG, when he gets into his
02:36mid-range bag and all of that.
02:38And he doesn't trust Tyson at this stage of the year, and he doesn't trust Keon Ellis.
02:43Who do you have left?
02:44Whoever you have, they're going to bring him into action.
02:46But I think he was derelict in his duty to at least call a timeout.
02:49And I know that seems to be feckless how I'm saying it, but that's what they're there for.
02:53You at least try it.
02:53Because I'll make a comparison here, and it's going to be a little bit loose.
02:57So over the last month, Stephen Kwan has struggled all year and going back to last year, right?
03:01Stephen Kwan has been a leadoff hitter up until, what, last week?
03:05And people for a month were yelling about it.
03:08It's like, no, Stephen Vogt should be the last guy to have full faith and confidence in Stephen Kwan.
03:15It should be that way.
03:16If you're the first person to pull him out of that spot, then they don't believe that you trust them.
03:22They can't trust you.
03:23You're causing problems.
03:25And James Harden, in his career, this is a first ballot Hall of Famer and MVP.
03:31He's at a higher standing in his lead than Stephen is in his.
03:34But it's a bigger issue where it's like, I can't just pull James off the court in a big moment.
03:39Because it's game one.
03:40I'm going to need him.
03:41But I can call a timeout.
03:43I can give him some help.
03:45You can also show different looks.
03:48There's 10 different ways to guard a screen and roll.
03:50Yes.
03:50And, you know, the funny thing is they finally did with Merrill.
03:53They realized, oh, we don't have to just give up the switch 100% of the time.
03:58There can be a little bit of a, I mean, you can ice.
04:02You can blitz.
04:03You can do all sorts of things to defend the screen and roll.
04:08What you can't do when he scored seven straight times on Harden is to just give up the switch again.
04:14Now, they did eventually just come with a double like they did Cade.
04:17What's the difference between Detroit and New York?
04:19New York has capable guys that, you know, you still want the ball out of Brunson's hands.
04:24But they do have Mikael Bridges.
04:26And they did give up a ton of assets to get him and OG and an OB.
04:31Dwayne in Bedford, you're first up on the fan.
04:33Hello, Dwayne.
04:34Hey, guys.
04:35Good morning.
04:35I've got a bunch of questions for you guys.
04:39Hey, first of all, you know, games are not won.
04:45Championship games are not won by titles, accolades, or vintage, you know, plays.
04:55You know, you've got Mobley, that's seven feet tall.
04:59And then you've got these individuals that are 6'1", 6'2", doing layups on them.
05:04He's not putting his hands up.
05:06He's not doing none of that.
05:07You have James Harden, you know, who's a superstar in the past.
05:12You know, I mean, superstar.
05:14But can't check Brunson.
05:16Why aren't these guys going to the base, man?
05:19Dwayne, Dwayne, I take you.
05:22Dwayne, stay with me.
05:23I take you seriously.
05:24I do.
05:25I respect your comments.
05:26Do you want to hand the phone off to your wife real quick?
05:27Can you please hand the phone off to whoever's saying throw in the game in the background, please?
05:30Can you help?
05:31Can you do that?
05:32Who is that?
05:32Who is that?
05:34Give her the phone.
05:35Come on, Dwayne.
05:35Give her the phone, Dwayne.
05:37Give her the phone.
05:38Let me say this one last thing.
05:39Tell her she can't swear, but give her the phone.
05:40All right, say this one thing, but you've got to hand her the phone.
05:42What else do you want to get off your chest?
05:43But she's got to get the phone here.
05:45Okay, I'll be good.
05:47You got guys from Mitchell all the way to the end of the bridge that got us here.
05:54And I don't blame him.
05:57I don't blame him for still having faith because fans are always supposed to be the first ones
06:01to give up on a guy.
06:02A coach should never really try to – the coach should pull out all the stuff before he gives
06:06up on a guy.
06:07Now, Dwayne, if you can –
06:07Call a timeout real quick.
06:09Call a timeout.
06:10You have three left.
06:11And hand her the phone.
06:11I need to hear from her.
06:12You have to use it or lose it, and you've got the two other ones.
06:14Hand her the phone.
06:16Okay, okay.
06:16One last one.
06:17No, you've got to hand her the phone.
06:19You're going to get the boot.
06:20You're going to get the boot.
06:21Hand her the phone.
06:21Seven straight times, Jalen Brunson and James Harden.
06:24End of the bench, man.
06:27And now we're going to hear the woman talking about throwing the games.
06:30And you're not even getting overtime.
06:31You're just done.
06:32No.
06:33It's over.
06:33You blew it.
06:34And now you have to answer to her for the rest of the day because I guarantee that she's
06:37going to hear that and go, why didn't you hand me the phone?
06:39And Dwayne in the press conference is going to go, I thought it was a great call.
06:42We've got to be good teammates.
06:43I thought it was a great call.
06:44Great call.
06:45I mean, that was a great – and listen, I don't like to call those timeouts.
06:47The points were salient, but you had to pass it off at some point.
06:50I mean, we held them in check most of the game, right?
06:53It was basically a fourth quarter.
06:54He got loose, and we definitely tried to mix up some stuff, throw some stuff at him.
06:59We'll have to keep looking at it.
07:00No, they didn't.
07:00Hit a lot of those tough floaters and hit that tough contested three.
07:04I felt like they hit a lot of tough shots.
07:06I mean, the two bridges, threes, kind of what are you going to do?
07:11This is a recording, Anthony.
07:12Sorry.
07:12You scared the hell out of me.
07:13That wasn't him live.
07:14I'm sorry.
07:15You scared the hell out of me.
07:16I thought it was a Q&A.
07:1720 minutes away from Chris Kaiser, executive vice president of the Cavs,
07:21joining us in studio.
07:23That poor guy.
07:25I want to play other – I want to play the players, cuts from the players,
07:29but Kenny was so awful in the postgame.
07:32He was awful.
07:34It was.
07:34It was.
07:35It was so –
07:36I tried to fight it.
07:37I tried to fight because, Ken, that's what started our fight,
07:39was you couldn't believe what you heard from the coach.
07:42And now, as the show is progressing, I feel bad about the opening segment
07:49because now I'm getting increasingly frustrated
07:51because they didn't show a bunch of looks.
07:54Glad you're there.
07:55They didn't until the game was within a possession.
07:58They waited until it got to five and three.
08:03I asked you guys before.
08:05I might have actually said it.
08:07Like, it's – what would you rather have?
08:09Would you rather Kenny just stonewall you like Kevin did in postgame losses
08:14or would you rather Kenny do what he does?
08:19Okay.
08:19Which is kind of laugh his way through these things,
08:22and it's like this is no laughing matter.
08:24This was an historic loss.
08:25But I remember him in the regular season holding the team accountable.
08:29That's what I'm saying.
08:30Like, he was like cussing at him before.
08:32Okay.
08:32So, here is my suspicion on that.
08:35And, you know, we're comparing football again where you have a week
08:40to basically rub noses in it.
08:42You can't do that in the playoffs because he's got to –
08:47part of it is keeping spirits high.
08:49He even mentioned that.
08:50You know, he thought some of the body language was bad.
08:53He alluded to their heads getting down.
08:54But what you can't do, what you don't want to do,
08:56is lose the thought that there's a belief in them.
09:03Because if they drop their confidence on the road
09:05and they just get blown out by 25 in game two,
09:07that's probably the series.
09:09But there's a screenshot going around of him, like, smiling with everybody.
09:12And it's like, you've got to give your fans something.
09:14And really, all he could have been like is like, guys, I trust my guys.
09:17It got out of hand.
09:18It's on me.
09:19We wouldn't be here if it weren't for James.
09:21We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Donovan.
09:23Like, I've got a couple of people going,
09:24aren't you guys going to hammer Donovan for going scoreless in the fourth?
09:26And it's like, yeah, he's a great player.
09:28And we need him to score more.
09:30And he was fantastic through three quarters.
09:31He absolutely was.
09:32But if you're Kenny Atkinson, you could look,
09:35and you could tell the truth.
09:36That's the truth.
09:37Like, you could look and go, this is a great basketball team.
09:39What happened tonight is not indicative of who we are.
09:43I messed this thing up.
09:44I will go back and fix this.
09:46These guys have played a lot of basketball.
09:47We'll crunch the tape.
09:48We will come out better on Thursday.
09:50I can promise you that.
09:51And people could kind of, instead of kind of,
09:53hey, how we doing, everybody?
09:55Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.
09:56Like, you can't do that, man.
09:58You can't do that.
09:59It's a one-team town.
10:00It's a one-team town, and there is a segment of every single fan base,
10:05especially with the Cavs and Guardians, where they are as hardcore as ever,
10:08and they know that these opportunities do not come around a lot,
10:12and you have to be cognizant of that.
10:14And it's like, buddy, I could say read the room,
10:17but maybe the media doesn't care as much.
10:19I don't think NBA media cares as much as NBA fans do.
10:22I think they're kind of cool, but whatever.
10:24They act cool.
10:24But when it comes to fans, like, you've got to give the fans what they desire.
10:29And a Cavs fan was really, really, really angry after what happened yesterday.
10:34And I could, honestly, I don't want to sit there and rip James Harden.
10:38We aren't there if it weren't for James Harden.
10:41I know that.
10:41And I know that I've got to get possibly six more games out of James Harden here.
10:45We've got to get going here.
10:46So it isn't about that.
10:48But, damn it, you could throw something on your shoulder
10:50because you're the head coach and you're supposed to.
10:51Yeah, are you putting guys in position?
10:53That is the one thing as a head coach.
10:55You know, we always laugh like, oh, well, you know, in the NBA,
10:58you throw out the balls and say superstars deliver.
11:01Okay, that's fine until you go up against a team that they've maxed out their assets too.
11:07Like, I think people have to understand, like, the Knicks have gone all in.
11:11It's why James Dolan, at the start of the year, said he's expecting finals.
11:15Like, nothing else he is expecting.
11:18He's kept saying we have a team good enough to go to the NBA finals.
11:20And so, I'm in agreement with you.
11:22I do think you have to walk that tight line of making sure that your guys still believe.
11:28And when I saw Donovan Mitchell walking off into the tunnel, they had a shot of him.
11:34He wasn't there with his teammates.
11:36You could tell he's like, oh, man, I gave it my all.
11:41We should have won the game.
11:42I had us in position to win.
11:43We were up 22, and we blew the game.
11:46Like, I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I just saw, what does James Harden have left in
11:51the tank?
11:52We have to turn around and play again.
11:53And so, now, you look at it as a fan, and so many fans are going to go, man, game
11:58one, 2018.
11:59Because the rest of the series was just kind of, all right, whatever.
12:04And I think a lot of fans have that in their mind.
12:08And so, you have to come out, and you have to answer this.
12:11Because it isn't Golden State.
12:13That's New York.
12:13You can beat New York.
12:14You're by 22.
12:15You can beat them.
12:16You beat them during the regular season.
12:18You could beat this basketball team.
12:19Yeah, I'm not sitting here in awe of New York.
12:20No.
12:20Like, what are we going to do?
12:21But mentally.
12:22They're good.
12:22I respect them.
12:23But Judas Priest, guys.
12:24Mentally.
12:25And I got to say, they rely on James Harden.
12:27He plays, like, the most minutes on the team in the playoffs.
12:30What is he going to have left?
12:32And what are you going to do the next time that ISO matchup gets cooking again?
12:37And before we get to the phones here, because we got Chris coming up,
12:39and then we got about last night, I want to get to you guys.
12:42The thing that I think that people are most frustrated with, it's, you know,
12:45I've told him and told him and told him, last year, Indiana was just better than you.
12:48All right, well, they'll get Tyrese Halliburton again next year.
12:51They're just better.
12:52Boston two years ago was just better than you.
12:54I can accept those things.
12:56But there's a lot of times where you feel let down, and it's like,
12:59it's not where you're not good enough.
13:01You're doing these things to yourself.
13:04That's the issue.
13:05It's you fail to do what's necessary.
13:07That's what I think bothers a lot of fans, whether it be the players
13:10or whether it be the head coach of the basketball team not doing what's
13:13necessary to help cultivate that.
13:152-1-6-4-7-4-0-0-92.
13:17Deshaun in Cleveland.
13:19You're next up on the fan.
13:20Hello, Deshaun.
13:22What's going on, fellas?
13:23Hi, Deshaun.
13:24Go ahead.
13:24No, no, no.
13:25I'm going to talk to you because this guy, Carmen, is just talking crazy this morning.
13:30So, if you watched that game last night, you watched that game,
13:33did you come away thinking, oh, we're not going to stop him?
13:37No.
13:37OG Ananobi, he's a monster.
13:39Mikel Bridges, we can't stop these guys.
13:42We lost the game because Dean Wade couldn't guard him at the end of the game
13:47because obviously he was talking to me.
13:48You're going to put this on Dean Wade, and you're going to tell me that I have my head
13:51in the sand.
13:52You're going to tell me that I have my head in the sand, and you're going to sit here
13:54and blame Dean Wade.
13:56What, Dean?
13:57Did you watch the game?
13:58Did you see how...
13:59No, I stared at the wall, Deshaun.
14:00You think I didn't watch the game?
14:02Yes, of course I watched the game.
14:03You're going to sit here and give me Dean Wade.
14:04He was playing when Dean Wade was on him.
14:06He wasn't going...
14:07But how dare you call in and insult your own intelligence to try to tell me that the
14:14reason we lost was Dean Wade?
14:17Yeah, Broughton scored all his points.
14:19Dean Wade wasn't out there.
14:20Who are you watching?
14:21So your complaint, you're saying that he should have been out there, that...
14:25No, no, no.
14:25I'm thinking, listen, Lima, I'm thinking that he's not used to playing.
14:29He's only used to playing 20 minutes.
14:30Yeah.
14:31He's got to wrap it up.
14:32He played 29 last night.
14:33He's got to play 40 because he's the only one on the team that can guard him.
14:37When he's guarding him, he's not clearing it out.
14:39But they kept switching to Harden in the fourth quarter.
14:42I'm watching it right now.
14:43They kept switching to Harden every time that Wade was on him.
14:46That could be...
14:47He doesn't have to switch.
14:48You don't have to switch.
14:48Bridges would just bring Harden over and they'd switch it up.
14:51I do think they could have fought a little bit harder to not just give up the switch.
14:54There are different...
14:55But that's not on Dean Wade.
14:56That's not on Dean Wade.
14:58That's on Kenny Atkinson.
14:59Well, that's dope.
15:00Listen, coaching was major.
15:02And I'm not saying that Atkinson is absolved of this because it's his coach.
15:05I would sure as hell hope not.
15:07No, no, no.
15:08For sure.
15:08We know it's his fault he didn't call a timeout.
15:10But Dean Wade.
15:11When Dean Wade guard Brunson, they're not a prolific offense.
15:15Sounds like a cop-out.
15:16Sounds like a cop-out to me.
15:17No, they're not.
15:17That sounds like a cop-out.
15:18No, I think he's saying they do have personnel that...
15:22And we saw it for most of the game.
15:24Then why aren't we yelling about the guy who's in charge of the personnel?
15:27They don't have anybody to guard Donovan Mitchell.
15:28They don't have anybody to guard Donovan Mitchell.
15:29We have somebody for Brunson.
15:31I'm telling you, we're going to be fine.
15:33It's one game, and I know you want to...
15:35Like all the rest of the idiots in Cleveland, like they haven't seen it for two rounds.
15:39Wait, did I say the series was over?
15:42Did I say the series was over?
15:43Well, you wanted to.
15:44No, I didn't.
15:45No, I didn't.
15:46If I wanted to, I would have said it.
15:48If I wanted to, I would have said it, Deshaun.
15:50I didn't say it.
15:50I was pressing.
15:51So I didn't say it.
15:52He pressed me.
15:53I almost came over the table at him, and I still didn't say it.
15:55So what more can I tell you that I do not believe that the series is over?
16:00Because it has been one game.
16:01Let me ask you this.
16:02Hold on.
16:02Let me ask you this.
16:03What?
16:03Do we think Donovan Mitchell was scared of the moment, or do we think he was tired?
16:06I think he was tired.
16:07I think he was tired.
16:07I don't think he's afraid of the moment.
16:08He threw up an airball floater with a minute left.
16:11Like, he didn't hit anything.
16:12Deshaun, thank you for the call.
16:13I think he was totally gassed.
16:15I think it was a Herculean effort out of him on both ends, and I think he was out of
16:19gas.
16:20And so that's part of the problem.
16:22You know, Harden was not hitting his threes.
16:24That's, you know, a couple games now in a row.
16:26He can't hit his three.
16:27And so then, where are the points going to come from?
16:30Because all of a sudden, that spacing got a little compromised.
16:34Evan didn't really have his way like he did.
16:36And I thought Evan was outstanding for most of that game.
16:39But, you know, a bunch of guys.
16:41It's a team effort to lose a game.
16:43I mean, the national headlines are going to be Harden, Harden, Harden, Harden, Harden.
16:46But why was it Harden?
16:48Why did it have to be?
16:49You've got the most expensive roster in the league.
16:51Why is it you can't let your team win and lose based on James Harden at 36 years old?
16:57I mean, this isn't 2018 James Harden.
16:59Thomas and Shaker.
17:00I see your point.
17:01Thomas and his, to that matter.
17:02Thomas and Shaker.
17:03Hello.
17:04Hey, guys.
17:05Hey, I'm not going to insult anybody's intelligence here because Kenny Ackston, he's an idiot.
17:09Yo, you know, James Harden yesterday, here's a football reference.
17:13He looked like Romeo Cornell guarding Jalen Brunson yesterday.
17:16He looked horrible.
17:17I'm sorry.
17:18I'm sorry.
17:18Like, I'm sitting there watching this game.
17:20What do you say?
17:21Did he flip a coin every possession?
17:23A better chance.
17:23This is one of the most awkward questions you've ever asked in an interview about the
17:26coin flip because I don't know if he remembered or he just didn't want to do it.
17:30Go ahead, Thomas.
17:33So, Kenny Ackston, one of the last few minutes of Kenny Ackston just watching his players gas,
17:38not going on timeout, was one of the most infuriating things ever.
17:42It was like standing behind a glass window and just watching just something just unforeseen
17:46happen.
17:47It was horrible.
17:48And, yeah, you know, you know, Lima, you did say that, oh, you can't trust Strews or Jalen
17:54Tyson.
17:54I would love for him to just call a timeout and put Strews in.
17:58Hey, we finished the regulation with two timeouts.
18:01He could have called a timeout, put Max Strews in the game.
18:04I wouldn't have had a big problem.
18:05I would not have had a problem with it at that time.
18:07I wasn't sitting there saying they have to stick with this because it clearly wasn't
18:11working.
18:11I'm just trying to get a window into the mindset that what he didn't want to do was send Brunson
18:16to the free throw line.
18:17Now, when it gets down to the point where it's scoring every single time, you have to
18:21try something else.
18:21I actually didn't want to.
18:22I wanted to try something else except for subbing him off.
18:25I thought subbing him off might send a terrible message.
18:27I mean, he's supposed to be one of your...
18:29You're worried that you might lose him for the rest of the series.
18:30Yeah, and maybe I should.
18:31Maybe I should expect more out of him.
18:33He's a 36-year-old veteran and a Hall of Famer and all that other crap.
18:36But I just thought, man, it did feel like a freak-out move if he pulled him out.
18:41But it wouldn't feel like a freak-out move if they just took a timeout and reset themselves
18:45when they're up still by double digits.
18:48Or something.
18:48He was just sitting there looking at...
18:49What are you looking at, Kenny?
18:50Were you looking at Grant Carpenter in the first row or something?
18:54Pay attention, Kenny.
18:55Call a timeout.
18:56Come on, Kenny.
18:57He's so fired.
18:58He's so fired.
19:00Thomas, thank you very much for the call.
19:01Well, I don't think they're going to fire him in the middle of the series.
19:03No, they're not.
19:04Yeah, but the owner thinks a lot like fans.
19:08The owner thinks a lot like fans.
19:09And if they...
19:10I'm telling you, man, like the season wasn't...
19:14I don't think the season was last night.
19:16And if I said that at the beginning of the show, right then and there,
19:19because I said it could end up being that way,
19:21but I don't think the season was last night.
19:22I do think the season is tomorrow.
19:24Because if they go down 2-0, we come in on Friday,
19:27I'm not going to want to say it because I'm going to be a fan,
19:30but maybe some people are going to go,
19:32Kenny, you need to accept reality here.
19:34Kenny, you need to accept reality here.
19:36That's what I said after the first two games of Detroit, you were away.
19:37Because if they go that way, you're going to look at that 22-point loss,
19:41and Dan's going to look at that 22-point loss,
19:43and he's as big a fan as anybody out there.
19:45And what do fans want right now?
19:47And by the way, when we come back,
19:48I know we've got a lot of stuff going on this morning.
19:50We've got Chris Kaiser coming up.
19:50We've got Chris Kaiser.
19:51We also have Dan Gilbert going to social media yesterday after the game.
19:55Ooh.
19:57Spicy on the fan.
19:58Spicy on the fan.
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