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00:00Come on, this sucks.
00:01Our team isn't that bad.
00:03They're exhausted because they had to go to two seven-game series.
00:06Our coach forgot to coach the last two games.
00:09We're trying to do too much.
00:11I didn't expect them to win last night.
00:13I'm still mad about game one.
00:16Can they please turn things around when they come back?
00:19Can I ask you a question?
00:20Oh, sure.
00:21And I don't disagree with you.
00:23I think you're right.
00:25You keep saying the Cavs are exhausted.
00:27They are exhausted.
00:29Okay.
00:30Well, they don't have a choice.
00:31I know.
00:32No, they do.
00:33No, the next game is tomorrow.
00:35What should they do?
00:36Well, if I was Kenny, I'd figure out a way to use more than just one guy off the bench
00:42that's been sitting.
00:43You've got to be able to figure out a way to sprinkle.
00:45He played four guys last night.
00:46He did play Tyson 10 minutes.
00:48Yeah, I know.
00:48That was the one thing I did notice that he did put him in.
00:50I had to look through the numbers.
00:51Sorry, I had to use Google for a second to look through some of these numbers.
00:54But, you know, Schroeder has not played anywhere near where I want him to play.
01:01He fears.
01:02No one fears him anymore.
01:04Nobody fears him anymore.
01:05There's nothing going on there.
01:07When we got him, I was so excited because I couldn't stand watching him play for other teams because he
01:12aggravated me so much.
01:13Now, I don't even think the Knicks even think he's on the floor at this point.
01:16But my point is, I mean, you're throwing these guys out there.
01:20He came after another over.
01:21Last night, though.
01:22Schroeder?
01:23Brought a little energy.
01:24A little bit.
01:24I like him.
01:25That's the problem.
01:26He's not being the jerky player that he was against the Cavaliers.
01:29I need him to be a m-hole.
01:31Come on, man.
01:32Let's get fired up.
01:36Merrill sucked last night.
01:38Just sucked.
01:400 for 7 from 3.
01:42Can you give me one three-pointer, please?
01:46You've got some legs.
01:47You haven't been playing.
01:49Well, you have been playing.
01:51You played 23 minutes.
01:51It's just Tyson didn't give you a whole lot.
01:54You got 10 minutes from him.
01:55I want more from him.
01:57I don't care.
01:58Larry Nance has got to be the healthiest guy in Northeast Ohio right now.
02:01I don't know if he can help you or not.
02:03But you know what?
02:04He can give you two minutes.
02:05It'll give you two minutes you can take away from Evan Mobley or Jared Allen.
02:08Give them a second to be together.
02:10But it's Harden and Mitchell that look absolutely just spent at the end of these games.
02:17And we go into panic mode when we cross midcourt.
02:21See, I don't think Allen and Mobley, I don't think it's exhaustion or being tired as much as it is
02:30being ignored.
02:30No, I think Harden and Mitchell are tired at the end of these games.
02:34I think the two of those guys are just gassed.
02:37Well, Donovan looks like he's dragging an extra 10 pounds of potatoes up and down the floor.
02:44Something looks like it's not quite right, and I appreciate him gutting it out.
02:49Something's not quite right.
02:50At this time of the year, you've got to gut it out.
02:52Look, I'm not disagreeing with any of that.
02:54I just, when I see him hitting the front of the rim consistently, I'm like, and then at the end
02:58of the game, when you don't need him on the floor, game clearly in hand for the Knicks, you're not
03:04coming back.
03:06Listen, the announcers were right.
03:07I said it right before they said it.
03:09Get the starters off the floor.
03:11Because, was it Legler or was it Jefferson?
03:14I thought it was Jefferson that said, like, the minute you put them on the bench, now they're getting rest
03:18for the next game.
03:20It's all they needed to do.
03:21The game was lost.
03:23Get the starters off the floor.
03:24There was no reason to play them.
03:27All right, I feel better.
03:28Thanks, guys.
03:29As you go into game three, what's a, are you confident because they're at home?
03:36Or are you confident because this team you think is better than what they showed in New York?
03:43I think they're better than what they showed in New York.
03:45I think they are the team that grew the 22-point lead.
03:48Now, I do know that the Knicks were not playing well when they grew that lead.
03:52I also know that their coach could have coached them to a victory.
03:55Knicks looked a little rusty.
03:57In game one.
03:57I'm sorry, and I don't like to blame coaches, but Kenny blew the end of the game, game one.
04:03He could have done something to mix it up, to stop them from one basket in regulation,
04:08even if it was just calling a timeout.
04:10He could have done that, but he didn't.
04:13He did yesterday, but halfway through an 18-0 run.
04:17You're a game and a half late on that one.
04:21This team is better than what we've seen.
04:23I don't know if they have it in them to make it to six, seven games in this,
04:28and I'm not saying six, seven because the kids say that.
04:30I'm saying it's because that's the reality of it, six game, seventh game.
04:33I don't have a lot of faith in them, but I do believe they can win game three.
04:38I think being at home will make a difference.
04:43We sat here for two days and talked about Josh Hart, Jeff.
04:46The two of us sat here and talked.
04:48If two idiots who are behind a microphone talking sports from 10 to 2 every day
04:53can talk about Josh Hart's impact or lack of impact
04:56and then watch it come to fruition over the air, something is wrong.
05:00Wrong.
05:01Wrong.
05:02I know Josh Hart's a really good basketball player all the way around.
05:07I didn't expect him to score.
05:08I don't think the Knicks expected him to score.
05:10You were the guy who said, look out for this guy.
05:14He's due to have a big game.
05:15That's all well and good.
05:17My point, he's the least of the Cavs' concerns.
05:20Jeff, he didn't have to.
05:21They showed that.
05:22They weren't concerned about him at all because they left him open all night.
05:25And continued to leave him open.
05:27And that's the problem.
05:28And never adjusted.
05:29Uncle.
05:30I remember yesterday we were talking about you said three things for the game.
05:34Yeah.
05:35I said somebody other than Jalen Brunson will score 20 points for the Knicks.
05:38I said the same thing for the Cavs about other than Donovan Mitchell.
05:42I was wrong on that one.
05:43Nobody else did.
05:45James had the 18.
05:46But Hart had the big game for the Knicks.
05:49But Hart's now had a big game.
05:52Brunson has had a huge game.
05:53And he had 14 assists last night.
05:56So that was outstanding.
05:58And through two games here in this series, and it is only two games,
06:03you've got four members of the Knicks averaging at least 15.5 points a game.
06:10They've shown depth.
06:12They've shown versatility.
06:13They're better than we are so far.
06:14Well, so far.
06:16Except for a couple of quarters.
06:17All of their starters are averaging at least 13.5 points a game.
06:21The Cavs have two guys averaging over 15 points a game.
06:25It's just James and Donovan.
06:27And the analysis that I read said the Knicks have shown they can beat you with a bunch of
06:31different guys offensively already in different ways because Brunson goes from 38 points to
06:3714 assists.
06:39And it said this.
06:40And tell me if you agree with this.
06:43Okay.
06:44For the Cavs to win a game, Mitchell and or Harden have to be huge.
06:54I define huge because I think, to be honest with you, 30 points and then Mobley or Allen
07:03has to be?
07:03No, no.
07:05The analysis thought it has to be Harden or Mitchell because the other guys aren't going
07:11to beat you.
07:12And I thought, well, that's, I don't know.
07:16Through the first two games.
07:18I think Mobley or Allen can beat them if Harden or Mitchell has, and I don't think 25 points
07:24is a huge night, but if somebody can give me a 25 and 10 and Mobley and Allen are active
07:31and they can get, you know, close to 20 points each, then I think the Cavaliers win.
07:36It doesn't have to be both Mitchell and Harden and they've got to use what they have to their
07:41advantage.
07:42Mobley and Allen have to be active.
07:45They've got to get them moving in these games and they don't have to take three pointers
07:50all the time.
07:51Get the ball down low.
07:53I'll take my chances with somebody getting hot with threes.
07:57And then if I've got to worry about it at the end of the game and I've got to start
08:00burying
08:01threes, then I'll start doing that.
08:02They need to use Mobley and Allen more.
08:05Those two guys need to be the driving force to get to the basket.
08:10Mitchell and Harden will get, one of them needs to get theirs, but they need more assists.
08:14You can't walk out of a game like last night where your guards only had three assists.
08:20Harden had two and Mitchell had one.
08:22Am I reading the right box?
08:24A part of that though, Andy, is they weren't hitting shots.
08:27But still, I mean, you scored 93 points.
08:32Dean Wade shouldn't have more assists than Harden or Mitchell.
08:35Well, it's hard to argue with that one.
08:38Through the two games, and this is the number where Evan Mobley's career is sitting, kind
08:43of.
08:44He's played over 38 minutes in the two games.
08:47Now there was overtime.
08:47But he's averaging 12 shots a game.
08:50And yesterday, eight shots.
08:54And how they didn't get him more shots than any shots in that second half is just mind-boggling,
09:01especially after his first quarter.
09:02I mean, in that first quarter, didn't you think, oh, this is going to be the Evan Mobley
09:07game?
09:07Yeah.
09:08Yeah.
09:09Evan's going to have about 26 points and about 16 rebounds.
09:12And let's keep going to it.
09:14That's the way that one smelled to me.
09:15I mean, I don't think Mike Brown is the Mensa of basketball coaches, but he was smart enough
09:20to make sure that Brunson in game one, when they got hot, that you said this yesterday,
09:24I thought it was perfect, that he went back to the LeBron offense when he first got here.
09:28He was like, all right, everybody else flatten out.
09:30There we go.
09:31Let LeBron go.
09:32And that's what he did with Brunson in game one.
09:34And then they were smart enough to know that when Brunson was getting double teamed, that
09:38he was going to start dishing the ball 14 assists last night.
09:43I'm not saying that Mike Brown's a genius, but they're doing the right things.
09:47That's why the Knicks won both these games.
09:49They found the hot hand against a tired team in game one to have an epic meltdown.
09:55And last night, the Cavs could not adjust.
09:59So what, give Brunson, after the fact that they decided they were going to leave Hart
10:03alone, maybe you don't.
10:05Maybe you take the double off of Brunson for a little bit, try to slow Hart down, and then
10:10go back to doubling up on Brunson.
10:12But they didn't do that.
10:13They didn't make an adjustment.
10:14The worst thing I've ever heard any coach say in, I mean, I've been coaching probably
10:20since mid-90s.
10:22It doesn't matter at what level.
10:23It doesn't matter what you're saying.
10:24The dumbest thing I've ever heard any coach ever say when someone, I had another coach
10:29asked this other coach about something in-game, and they saw it, and they didn't do anything
10:34about it.
10:34The coach said, well, what did you expect me to do, make an adjustment?
10:37The answer is, hell yes, make an adjustment.
10:41It was the dumbest thing I've ever heard any coach say ever when another coach had asked
10:46this coach, he said, hey, you do realize that, and it was a hockey game, that they were
10:50doing this.
10:51I was going to say, this is not an NBA coach.
10:54No, and he said, yeah, I did notice that.
10:57And then the other coach said, well, what are you going to do about it?
10:59And the other coach got mad at him and said, what do you expect me to do, make an in
11:02-game
11:02adjustment?
11:03And the other people were standing around the other side and were like, yes, that's your
11:08job.
11:08That would be...
11:08You're a coach.
11:09That would be ideal.
11:10You should maybe stop coaching today if you really believe what you just said.
11:14No.
11:15Make an adjustment.
11:16I asked before we went to break there.
11:19You're home for game three.
11:21Is that enough to give you confidence?
11:23A little bit.
11:24A little bit more than I would...
11:25If game three was in New York, this thing's over.
11:27I don't understand the lack of adjustments by the Cavs coaching staff and the entire staff
11:33in game one on Brunson, and then yesterday, not getting Evan any shots and not picking
11:41up Josh Hart.
11:43I don't understand.
11:44That said, I think Kenny Atkinson is a good coach.
11:47I don't know what happened these last two games.
11:49I'm surprised that they didn't make those moves.
11:53I think he'll be better in game three.
11:56I think the Cavs have a great chance to win the game.
12:00And I think the Cavs will play better at home.
12:03One thing I...
12:05I'll lay out the scenario for tomorrow night.
12:07You ready?
12:08Here's what's going to happen.
12:09Cavs are going to come out hot.
12:11They're going to build a double-digit lead in the first half.
12:14And then you better buckle up, because I think it's going to be a fight the rest of
12:18the way.
12:19A double-digit lead...
12:20The Knicks will not get blown out of this game.
12:23No way.
12:23They're not getting blown out of it.
12:24But I'll bet you the Cavs come out hot and build a big lead.
12:27And then they're going to have to try and hang on to it.
12:31We've seen that, haven't we?
12:33Yeah.
12:33But when you have a tired team that's played...
12:37How do you combat that?
12:38What are you going to do?
12:38Well, you've got to be smarter.
12:39I mean, this is where the coach comes in.
12:41But here's the thing.
12:42This is where the coach comes in.
12:43He's got to recognize that his players need help.
12:46But you're not playing those guys, Andy, because they're not as good as the other
12:49guys.
12:49They are.
12:50But the question is, do you want...
12:53Do you need Donovan Mitchell at 60% when maybe if you got him another minute on the
13:01bench, maybe if you got him another 30 seconds on the bench, he could be at 70% in the
13:05fourth
13:05quarter.
13:06These fourth quarters have been killing this team.
13:08And the last two games, for sure.
13:10For sure.
13:12And part of it is the fatigue of the playoffs.
13:14It's scheduling based on having to go seven games with two other series.
13:18You know, at first when they were up 22, I was saying to myself, thank you, Detroit.
13:23You made this team better after a really tough seven-game series.
13:28And I'm watching them play against the Knicks.
13:30They're taking advantage of everything.
13:32They're moving the basketball.
13:33They're finding the bigs.
13:34They're getting open.
13:35They're doing all the right things to build a 22-point lead.
13:38And then all of a sudden, it was like somebody turned the light switch off and just drained
13:43them of all electricity that they had.
13:46And that is natural.
13:47I get it.
13:48I understand it.
13:48They may be professional athletes.
13:50They may be making goo gobs of money.
13:52And you're like, oh, they get paid to be in shape.
13:54Blah, blah, blah, blah.
13:54I get it.
13:55That might be the first goo gobs we've ever had on the show.
13:57It's true.
13:59I like that.
14:00I actually like that one.
14:01It was in the suitcase for like 16 years.
14:03And I finally brought it out.
14:04But I'm looking at this and I'm just saying, you've got to figure out a way to help your
14:10team.
14:10And this is where I think coaching comes in.
14:12This is where coaching in the fourth quarter, knowing what you got, you've got to be mindful
14:17of everything.
14:19You can't just sit there and let things go.
14:21There's one play where I thought, okay, let it go.
14:24And that was the final shot of regulation where Merrill hit it and went back out.
14:29And I was glad that Kenny didn't give them the opportunity to set up a defense.
14:33I was okay with that.
14:34But he's got to take more control of this game.
14:36He's got to figure out how to utilize the best of the abilities of the players that he's
14:41got.
14:42And I feel like we're not only fighting the Knicks, we're fighting ourselves.
14:46Can I, are you surprised, I am, at the lack of play for Keon Ellis?
14:54In the first two games.
14:56Now, is Keon the answer?
14:58I don't know.
14:59He might've been against Brunson in game one.
15:01But you traded...
15:03To bring him in.
15:04You traded DeAndre Hunter.
15:06And I thought DeAndre was just fine here.
15:10I don't think he was thriving here.
15:13I don't know why.
15:16But if you had a six-foot-eight-inch DeAndre Hunter in this series, would you be better
15:24off than if you had a Dennis Schroeder who you're not playing a whole lot and a Keon
15:29Ellis who you're not playing at all?
15:31I mean, didn't you make that move because you wanted the three and D guy?
15:35Yes.
15:35Keon Ellis for the playoffs in theory?
15:38Is he in the doghouse or is he just...
15:40I don't know.
15:41I mean, Tyson finally got out of the doghouse last night.
15:43And by the way, we talk about Tyson being a good three-point shooter.
15:46What did he get?
15:46Three last night?
15:470 for 3.
15:480 for 3.
15:48I would much rather have DeAndre Hunter in this series than Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroeder
15:56combined.
15:58The main...
15:59They're not playing Ellis, so we don't know if he'd have an impact or not.
16:02Jeff, he's playing eight and a half, basically, is what he's doing.
16:05He's playing eight and a half.
16:07And Dennis has been a little bit of energy, but not overly impactful.
16:12And you traded away your prize trade acquisition from the previous trade deadline for these two
16:20guys who aren't helping you right now.
16:24You know what the unsung stat in last night's game is?
16:28Share it with me, Andy.
16:29In 32 minutes, as mad as you were at James Harden in game one...
16:34Oh, I know.
16:34Say it.
16:34He had no turnovers last night.
16:36None.
16:38None.
16:39If James Harden has a zero turnover night, you should be winning those games.
16:44But, by the same token, when Dean Wade has more assists than your two guards, you've got
16:49to ask yourself, what are we doing?
16:50And I understand missing baskets has to do with the assists.
16:53There's just...
16:57I really feel like there are times that it's like we're not even playing another team.
17:01We're just playing against ourselves and we're beating ourselves up over careless things.
17:06And it goes back to even the first series against Toronto.
17:08How many times did you watch this team against Toronto in the first series and go, man, was
17:12that stupid?
17:13Why did they do that?
17:14Why didn't they try to do this?
17:16What was the hurry?
17:16What was the rush?
17:17Why did they play selfish?
17:18I don't get it.
17:19How about just moving the basketball?
17:20Oh, look at that.
17:21They moved the basketball and they had success.
17:23Oh, how about that?
17:24That's what?
17:25They used the big guys?
17:26Hey, Jared Allen really isn't as bad as people said they were.
17:29Why aren't we using Jared Allen more?
17:32All of these things are on the table.
17:34You've all thought all of these things throughout the playoffs.
17:37And now, all of the problems are coming to fruition, including free throws.
17:42We're not even talking about that because they could be a difference maker in these games
17:47too.
17:47They actually, though the Cavs missed 10 of them last night, because of Mitchell Robinson,
17:52the Knicks actually shot a lower percentage.
17:54Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Max Struess, and Dennis Schroeder all had more assists than either
18:03James Harden or Donovan Mitchell.
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