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00:00I'm oddly confident with a Cavs team that is down 0-2.
00:04Are you as confident as Daryl is, saying they're going to go even the series up
00:07at two games apiece by the time we get back to the Garden?
00:10Yeah.
00:11I don't know I'm rubber stamping it.
00:13I don't know I'm guaranteeing it, which Daryl will then un-guarantee.
00:16But it won't be surprised, depending on whatever happens.
00:19Well, that's the key.
00:20But no, I mean, I expect this thing to go back to Madison Square Garden tied up at two.
00:25I expect the Cavs to take care of business, and then it becomes a three-game series.
00:29I don't know that they'll win it.
00:30It does take, when you fall down 0-2 in consecutive series,
00:34it does take a lot to get back into it.
00:39Okay.
00:40Yeah, I mean, there's a reason why after the Pistons series, we all had the numbers.
00:4393% of teams that take a 2-0 advantage win that series.
00:47I think I got to round on folks a little bit here.
00:49And again, if you're like where we are, you're not the person I'm talking to.
00:53All right?
00:55Let's have a little more trust in this Cavs team.
00:58Again, I'm not here to polish anything.
01:01It was what it was.
01:02Game one certainly was what it was.
01:04And if you still got residual anger from game one, no problem at all.
01:09But specific to being down 0-2, the Knicks have not played lights out.
01:14The Cavs are coming home.
01:15The Cavs have played better at home.
01:17I think there's a lack of luck in those shots not falling.
01:21They were good looks in game two.
01:23Nick Atkinson over here.
01:25No, I would actually call timeouts when necessary.
01:28The unlucky part.
01:29If Nick was the head coach, we would be at ones right now.
01:33Thank you very much.
01:34I believe in that.
01:35And I believe you too.
01:37You would.
01:38Now I don't want to take away our nice moment here, but I believe a monkey could have us at
01:42one game apiece at this point if they were in charge.
01:43I like monkeys now, but this being said, guys, they've gone to the Eastern Conference Finals.
01:50Let's have a little bit more faith.
01:52And I can't believe I'm saying that because I'm not always the guy that comes out and says that sort
01:56of things.
01:57The Cavs should have earned a modicum of trust from us at this point.
02:01And the only time that I have felt like they violated my trust is when I've had issues about the
02:09effort or the focus.
02:10I don't really have those issues from the first two games.
02:14Right.
02:14Yeah, the shots were open.
02:15They just didn't fall.
02:15And so if I think they're playing really hard, and I think the gap between the Knicks and the Cavs,
02:21not the diff, but the gap is nil, maybe 3% difference, 3% difference from you being 1-1
02:28or maybe even up 2-0 in this series.
02:30Man, I'm kind of jacked up to see what they do in game three.
02:34The only hang up I think people have in this discussion, because I think a lot of people do agree
02:37with you and myself and how we feel about this game, just not making a massive deal about it.
02:41It is what it is.
02:42They missed a lot of shots.
02:43If you think something's seriously wrong with Donovan Mitchell, then I feel like your perception of this series has changed
02:48drastically.
02:49And I get that.
02:50Donovan was good at points.
02:52It's not like he was completely ineffective in this game, and he was really, really good for most of game
02:57one.
02:57Yeah, it was the quietest 19-point second half I've ever seen in my life.
03:01But I just, I think, I think we're holding on to residual frustration, because it was a frustrating regular season,
03:08and because we had the Harden and Garland Wars,
03:12and all of this, by the way, is totally, and by the way, it's also four years.
03:16It's four years, and it feels like bleep or get off the pot time.
03:20All of these things are fair reasons.
03:22I think it's time to get over them.
03:25Like, listen, the Knicks fans are going to melt down if you win the next two games.
03:29So, it's not like New York is some mecca of, oh, they do it differently.
03:33But, like, I think the Cavs have earned, I'm going to say the word trust, trust, that they're going to
03:39keep this series going and keep it interesting.
03:41And the sky is falling, woe is me stuff.
03:44I just think it's misplaced.
03:46I don't see the point in wallowing in the misery when you're in the Eastern Conference Finals.
03:51When you're in the first round and can't get out, get it.
03:53When you're in the second round for three straight years and can't get out, I get it.
03:57Guys, as recently as game six of the Piston Series, I would wallow in the marsh with you.
04:05I don't think we're there.
04:07Like, we've been here before.
04:09Let's act like we've been here before, and let's kind of charge up on the fact that, guys, you don't
04:16have to like James Harden.
04:19That's fine.
04:20You can love Donovan Mitchell, though.
04:22I know we love Donovan.
04:23I know we love Evan.
04:24Evan has acquitted himself very well in these playoffs, regardless of what happened in the second half last night.
04:30Jared Allen has acquitted himself very well in these playoffs, no matter the fact that Kenny took him off the
04:35court for a stretch of that game.
04:36Like, even Struis, as bad as Max Struis was last night.
04:40You're not in the third round of the playoffs without Max Struis.
04:43Every guy.
04:44Even Sam Merrill, he was awful last night, but we had a game five with Sam Merrill game.
04:48Schroeder was damn near unplayable in game one.
04:51Guys, you're not here without Schroeder.
04:53This is a different Cavs team.
04:56That doesn't mean they're going to win this series.
04:57It doesn't mean they're not going to get swept.
04:59But it does mean two games in, to sit here in panic or to be down on them.
05:06And again, I saw that word unlikable on Twitter a couple times in the last 24 hours.
05:10Unlikable was a pretty popular term.
05:11And that's just, I don't think that's fair.
05:13And I'm an adult.
05:14I don't get into fair.
05:15Life isn't fair.
05:16But I think this team, I'm going to go back to they should have earned more trust and admiration for
05:22us.
05:22Even if it's been a bumpy process to get there.
05:25Are people really, are they, I think they're still mad about game one.
05:28Are people really that upset with the Cavs after game two?
05:31I just saw unlikable like five times and then you guys brought it up in the pre-show meeting and
05:35it like triggered me back to the last 12 hours on Twitter.
05:38I'm not debating whether or not Twitter is doing that, right?
05:41But I am interested to talk to people that are actually upset with this team because I want to know
05:44why.
05:44And I do wonder if that's part of the Donovan angle at play.
05:47I wonder if it is Evan Mobley disappearing in the second half of that game.
05:50I want to know what exactly is bothering the Cavs fan the most because me and you have been basically
05:56unbothered is the right term here.
05:58We've just been unbothered by what happened last night.
06:01And that's not typical to go down 2-0 in a series and just act as if we still have
06:05a bunch of time.
06:05There's something about this Cavs team that has made us feel like they have a lot more time than maybe
06:09they really do.
06:11And I want to talk about the Mobley thing too because I will get to Donovan's health coming up in
06:14about 10 minutes here.
06:15But just specific to the Evan stuff.
06:18Guys, they could get swept in this series.
06:21And I think Evan and Jared have answered every narrative about them.
06:26And I get that Evan didn't have a point in the second half last night.
06:31Guys, yeah, he's not the focal point of the offense.
06:35Evan Mobley, if you're a power forward or a big, whatever you want to call him, and they simply stop
06:41going to you.
06:43I get the age-old theory.
06:46And you've seen the cut-ups too of him calling for the ball.
06:47Yes, exactly.
06:49And that's always the rebuttal.
06:50That's the weird part about this.
06:51The rebuttal is, well, he should call for the ball.
06:53He's calling for the ball.
06:54He's calling for the ball.
06:55We got cut-ups of him calling for the ball.
06:56And by the way, he was really good in the first half.
06:59Like, really, really good.
06:59He was exceptional in the first few minutes.
07:01And it was one of those things where it's like, oh my gosh, the confidence that he had is a
07:04confidence that we haven't seen before this playoffs got underway with him.
07:07Listen, Mitchell Robinson is a rough matchup because he's just an absolute brawmable of a human being.
07:16And the Cavs are handling his physicality, I think, in a way better than I've ever seen them handle that
07:22kind of big.
07:23Even Carl Anthony Towns, completely different kind of big.
07:25But Carl is a big, strong dude, too.
07:28He's much more of a finesse player.
07:29I'm not trying to turn him into, like, Mike Tyson in his prime.
07:32But they're handling the bigs for New York.
07:35And they're not the reason why the Cavs are down two hours.
07:37Yes.
07:37I don't think anybody would make that guess.
07:39Exactly.
07:39And I just, you know, it's funny.
07:40Like, halfway through that game, I was thinking to myself, man, I don't know that I can trade Evan Mobley
07:46this summer.
07:47So, I don't know that he's acquitted himself of that much.
07:51Oh, I think I'm there.
07:52I'm so in on where he is.
07:54And people are going to say, well, the stats don't look different.
07:56The ball looks different.
07:58He is much more aggressive.
07:59He is much more feisty.
08:01And I really am excited to see where he can go here because I think he's finally acclimated.
08:06He and Jared have finally acclimated the playoffs.
08:08I mean, he's definitely changed my perception of him relative to, let's say, four weeks ago.
08:12Like, he's done that.
08:13I'm still, if Giannis is on the table, I'm still trading him, but he's definitely carved into that.
08:18He's made it a harder discussion.
08:19I'll give him bonus points for that.
08:21It was already a sticky wicket of a conversation.
08:23That's the word of the damn day.
08:25It was already a tough conversation for him to have.
08:28I don't know I'm trading the next, what, 24-year-old Evan Mobley for 31-year-old Giannis.
08:34I know that most teams do it, and it's just the NBA.
08:37You always trade for the best player in the deal.
08:39If you can get him on the perceived cheap, you do it, right?
08:42I understand that.
08:43I think Evan Mobley, like, I think we can have our cake and eat it, too.
08:48After, what is it now, 16 playoff games, I think it's entirely possible that you can
08:54keep winning with Donovan over the next year to three years, four years, however long his
08:59prime is, and then you can get to a point where Evan, it's not happening as quick as
09:04you want, but where eventually this does become Evan's team, and you are consistently at this
09:09same level, second, third, fourth round of the playoffs kind of team.
09:13Yeah, I mean, he's shown some growth.
09:14I'm not going to deny that.
09:15Like, the three-point shot, I think, has been a real bonus for him, but also the idea that
09:19he'll just go to the basket with authority, and it's one of those things that, for years,
09:24it just kind of felt like everything he did was very timid offensively, and it was very
09:27reserved, and he just doesn't have that, and I really appreciate that.
09:30And against the bigs, he's not, like, we've seen him times in the playoffs where, all right,
09:35you got the matchup on a wing, or even one of their guards, and now you're just going
09:40to back him down.
09:41He went, I'm trying to think of the play sequence, he went up against Cat last night,
09:45and he just went after him.
09:48Yeah.
09:48And by the way, it didn't turn into a bucket.
09:51It didn't, because it was good defense by Cat, but you could, he was giving Cat the business.
09:56Like, I, it's so funny, man, like, I don't think I've ever been this confident or this
10:03happy with my team through two losses before, and the bigs are a part of that.
10:07Like, I don't think that, I don't think most people understand, I'm not trying to turn it
10:12into ball-know-er versus not ball-know-er, I don't think most people understand the causal
10:16thing of how the Cavs are set up, and how if the bigs are going to eat, it's because the
10:20guards are helping them, right?
10:22They're setting the table for them.
10:23Which is part of what made the guards missing so many shots last night, such a big deal.
10:27So, like, I think there is always going to, I understand the natural thing that happens
10:31of what happened with Evan, not getting a point in the second half.
10:34Totally get it.
10:35You have to look at the cause and effect on this.
10:38Because right now, the number one reason why I think they can still, no, number one,
10:42but one of the biggest reasons I think they can still win this series, and I think it'd
10:46be fun to see what they can do in a hypothetical NBA Finals matchup, is because these bigs
10:51look different.
10:53And after six months of hearing Evan Mobley get talked down about Jarrett being run out
10:58of town, in fairness, I took him out of the court for a year ago and never put him back
11:01in.
11:02I can't believe you did that.
11:02He's back in.
11:03You're back in, King.
11:05We argued extensively over that one.
11:06And it was because the woman sitting courtside in Game 7 in Detroit, that look in her eyes,
11:12she saw the dog in him.
11:13She saw it, and I'm like, you know what?
11:15We're not that kind of show.
11:15We're not that kind of show.
11:17But she saw it, and then I saw it.
11:19Jarrett's back in the court for it.
11:20Well, you fell in love with the DeAndre Hunter, and that's a problem.
11:23A lot of people do that, though.
11:24That's a problem, though.
11:25A lot of lot lizards do.
11:28We're not that kind of show.
11:29Not that kind of show.
11:30Now, one thing I do think bears a big discussion, and probably some concern, is the status of Donovan
11:36Mitchell.
11:37So, let's start here with Kenny Atkinson.
11:39This is Kenny Atkinson last night, talking about a potential Mitchell injury.
11:44After halftime, I thought he was moving well, so he's not complaining about it to me.
11:49But I did see him, you know, trying to work through it.
11:51Probably some stiffness, but I, you know, asked him if he wanted to come out in the fourth
11:55quarter, and he's like, I'm fine.
11:57So, I think he's fine.
11:58All right.
11:58So, it is something, but it's nothing.
12:01And that, by the way, sounded very reasonable.
12:03That actually sounded more reasonable than people talking about it.
12:05People that are talking about it are making the suggestion that Donovan is clearly injured
12:09because for an early part of the game, he just looked different than you normally see him.
12:13And listen, I agree with that.
12:14Seven points in the first half, didn't look particularly explosive at times.
12:17I agree with that assessment.
12:19Second half, even though I've called it the quietest 19 points in NBA history, he did look
12:23different, like Kenny's suggesting.
12:24He did seem like maybe he worked through whatever he had to work through.
12:27All right.
12:27So, here is Donovan being asked about his health.
12:30Kenny was saying before he thought you were working through something with your health on ESPN
12:34broadcast, they mentioned that, too.
12:36I'm great.
12:37I'm great.
12:38I'm great.
12:40Did he say it too many times for you?
12:41I think I know you well enough that anytime anyone repeats it that many times, you're just
12:45immediately like, no thanks.
12:46You can also hear the smile.
12:48Yeah, the smile is definitely something.
12:50So, you get the smile.
12:51You get that.
12:53Here's the thing.
12:54I know we want the truth on this.
12:56And I tend to believe that the fans deserve a fair amount of truth.
13:00All sports leagues are as paranoid and secretive as it can possibly get until they have no
13:07other choice but to not be.
13:09And so, if it's a slight enough injury that they don't put it on the injury report, if
13:14they can do that, they will because they just don't want to give the other team any understanding
13:18of how to target that player.
13:20Yeah, if the series had ended yesterday with that loss, would I have expected him in the
13:26postgame or even today to come out and be like, oh yeah, Donovan was actually going
13:30through this and this and this?
13:32That edge is no.
13:33I do think he looked different in the first half.
13:35I think in the second half, the only complaint I have about Donovan Mitchell in the second half
13:39of that game was the idea that your Knicks are on an 11-0 run and Atkinson is like,
13:44now you need to ride the pint.
13:46Now you need to get benched.
13:46Like, I just didn't see it.
13:48I wish I did.
13:49I just didn't see it.
13:50This is a tough one because I don't think Donovan's 100%.
13:55I also don't think anybody this time of year is 100%.
13:57I was going to say, like, so if he's 93%, let's say, or he's 92.3%, like, what's the,
14:02like, I mean, no one's 100%.
14:04This isn't how this works.
14:05Even if he's 70%.
14:08It's the NBA.
14:09Nobody cares.
14:10And I care.
14:11You care.
14:12Cavs fans care.
14:14But in the end, okay, if you're healthy enough to play, then you've got to deliver results.
14:18We'll, we'll, listen, we'll, we'll, we'll look at you and go gamer, right?
14:22We'll get excited about that if you succeed.
14:25And so this is like, I, I don't believe he's 100% healthy, but if you're out there, then
14:31you have to get results.
14:33And I thought the results were okay yesterday.
14:37But when you're down Oh two, nobody's going to, and nobody's really going to care that
14:41you're averaging 26 points a game when you're down Oh two.
14:43And I just, I thought the broadcast, uh, I thought they wanted to highlight it.
14:47They did, but it was funny.
14:48Even in those moments, Richard Jefferson's like, Oh, and his gate, he just doesn't look
14:51normal.
14:52And then he doesn't look as explosive as he normally does.
14:54And then like, as he's saying that Mitchell was driving to the basket and finishing a layup.
14:58And it was just like, I, I get, I get you want to make a story out of something here,
15:01but he, you guys are acting as if he is legitimately out there on crutches, trying to play basketball.
15:06It's just not the case.
15:07I actually thought that was the funniest part of last night's game.
15:10It was as if Twitter was three minutes behind what was on the court, because you would have
15:16the same thing that happened with Richard Jefferson.
15:18You would have people panicking.
15:19What's up with Donovan?
15:20What's up with Donovan?
15:21And as soon as I would see one of those tweets, you'd get a blast out of Donovan offensively or
15:26defensively.
15:27Exactly right.
15:27And it was just the funniest thing in the world.
15:29Cause it happened literally all night to where it honestly, I just stopped looking at Twitter
15:36because it was confusing me where I was like, cause I saw what everybody else saw, but it
15:41was the lag between social media and the TV product or the reaction to Donovan not being
15:46healthy and just his immediate response that was like, all right, I I'm having a stroke
15:50or something's going wrong here.
15:52It's just, I did people want that to, maybe people wanted him to be injured and not because
15:56they want him to be injured for the rest of the series or anything, but it would help
15:58justify why our superstar isn't playing up to Jalen Brunson.
16:02And in the superstar versus superstar battle.
16:05And it's not that it's Donovan's fault.
16:07It's been two games.
16:08There's still a lot of series left, but in that battle, Brunson wiped the floor with him
16:11in game one, uh, because for three quarters, Donovan was that best answer.
16:15And the fourth quarter Brunson took over.
16:16And then, uh, the game Brunson had yesterday was just a markedly better game.
16:20I think right now it's five quarters to three.
16:23I think like, yes, Jalen has been the better player and Jalen is up to Oh, Jalen was also
16:29playing in front of home cooking and here's the home crowd.
16:32And I, I think when you talk about building around a undersized combo guard point guard,
16:38whatever you want to call Jalen Brunson, they've done everything you should do.
16:42They've got a bunch of guys who can shoot the three.
16:45They've got a bunch of three and D players.
16:46They've got size at place next to him.
16:47They also have one of the better bigs in the NBA as well.
16:52Like Jalen's great.
16:54They have allowed him to be as great as he is because I think he's perfectly protected
16:59by the roster around him.
17:00And I don't think you can say the same thing.
17:02Donovan's got a lot of talent.
17:03I'm trying to think because we do have a lot of talent in this team, but I don't know that
17:06you have the kind of wing talent.
17:08Like if you're that kind of guard, we don't have the wing talent.
17:10You need that wing talent with size in athleticism and shooting.
17:14So you've got some of that, but you don't have one.
17:16I mean, Hart, Ananobi, Mikkel Bridges, like that's, you put three of those next to, you
17:22put three of those next to Darius and Karl-Anthony Towns, and I think Darius can do this.
17:27Well, the big change from Brunson from last year to this year has been, Tibbs would let
17:31him do what Donovan sometimes falls victim to, what Harden still falls victim to, just
17:35dribbling into the ground 200 times and then trying to make a play in an ISO setting.
17:40And Brunson did that at the end of game one.
17:41But what Brown's done with him is turned him into, like they moved the ball at a rate
17:45that they didn't previously.
17:46This is a different version of Brunson, completely different, and it's working for him.
17:50It's worked all season long for him.
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