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00:00Was that one song Jeff Phelps would know? Jeff Thomas might. Jeff loves music.
00:05The more things change, the more things change.
00:07No, same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.
00:11Talking Heads?
00:11Same as it ever was. Is that what it was?
00:13Yeah, Talking Heads.
00:13Alright, same as it ever was.
00:18Alright, so this is probably the worst way you could have started a season.
00:24This is probably the worst way you could have started a season, Tone.
00:27Yeah, it was not ideal. Not ideal at all.
00:29What, they built a 29-point lead?
00:31So that was good.
00:33Hey, that was fun. They were booing Philly off the floor in the first half.
00:36That was fun.
00:37So then I went to bed.
00:38I didn't hear a lot of boos.
00:40You should have.
00:41You should have went to bed. I didn't hear a lot of boos, actually.
00:43I didn't. I did not hear the boos.
00:45Yeah, there were some that were picked up.
00:46I'm sure there were. I mean, there were hardcore Philly fans there.
00:48I saw a bunch of tweets about it.
00:50Listen, I've seen some 76ers games in my day for whatever reason.
00:53It looked like a, we're here to see LeBron crowd, if you ask me.
00:58Well, he did the chalk thing at the start.
01:01He did it, and they...
01:02Gallagher has to smash the watermelon.
01:05But remember, there was a period of time where he refused to do the chalk.
01:09And everybody would go down there like, is he doing the chalk?
01:11Is he not doing the chalk?
01:12And so, of course, he did the chalk yesterday.
01:15He might not do it every night, but game one at that arena, whatever they're calling it now,
01:19I'll just call it the forum.
01:21Game one at the forum, he's going to do the chalk.
01:24This was just, it really is a kick in the stomach.
01:27There's no other way to put it.
01:29You and I, we almost gave away the whole show at 5.50, 5.45 this morning, because you and
01:37I got mad over it with each other.
01:40Because, you know, my question is, you know, are you mad?
01:42I want to ask the listeners, I want to ask the fans today, 216-474-0092, are you mad at
01:48the Cavs, or are you just turned off by them?
01:51And I do think there's a difference.
01:53And you got hot at me, and I'm going, well, I'm going to watch the Cavs.
01:56I have to watch the Cavs, even though, by the way, I did the math as I was filling out
02:00my schedule, because I always like to fill out the schedule, like, okay, who they got
02:02going on, da-da-da-da-da.
02:03You have a period of nearly three full weeks where they will not be on any regular TV.
02:08It's all on DAZN.
02:09So I got to ask Chris Kaiser about that coming up at 7.45, along with other things.
02:13You're going to ask him for a password?
02:14He's the EVP and the chief marketing officer for the Cavs and Rock Entertainment.
02:20But in full sincerity here, like, this is, I mean, it could be worse.
02:27Guys could have got hurt last night.
02:29This is almost as bad as it gets, because it's just more of the same.
02:33It's more letdowns, and I'm going to wait.
02:35I'm going to hold off.
02:36It will get even worse when you hear from Charles Barkley at 6.23, okay?
02:40It's even worse there.
02:42So there's just so much to dive into where you build this lead, and I'm telling you right
02:48now, they build up such a big lead, and the worst part about it, one of the worst things
02:53about it, Anthony, I was not confident at all.
02:56I was not confident at all.
02:57You know what's so funny?
02:58They had such a swollen lead.
03:00Was it 29 points at one point?
03:0229, yeah.
03:0229 points, and I was not confident whatsoever.
03:06Kenny, I was going to say it.
03:09What?
03:09I was like that.
03:11I wrote down in my notes on my phone.
03:13I don't write down a lot of notes.
03:14I wrote down in my notes when they had shaved immediately.
03:19I think it was three at the end of the first half, and then was it six straight to start
03:26the second half with a three-point play and another three that they ran an actual play
03:30for?
03:30You don't see a lot of plays being run.
03:31So that was nine points shaved, I think, off the lead.
03:34And I wrote down in my notes on my phone, I'm really not confident for being up this
03:39big.
03:40I'm not that confident they're going to hold on to win.
03:42And you could see the crowd turning, you could see Philly was turning turnovers into
03:48instant points, and then we never turned them over in the second half.
03:52We got zero points off turnovers in the second half.
03:56And then the bigs, which were such an advantage in the first half, because I was noting that
04:01Joel and B can't move.
04:04So if you and your bigs can just attack at all, you'll score every time.
04:10And then they disappeared in the second half.
04:13And it was atrocious all the way around.
04:14Then Donovan Mitchell, did he score in the second half?
04:17I mean, I thought...
04:18Oh, did he have four or two points in the fourth?
04:21Holy cow.
04:22He was missing an action.
04:23Did he have four or two points in the fourth?
04:24It was not a good Harden game.
04:26Like, you looked up and you're like, did anybody play well outside of Hazonia?
04:31Can we get more Hazonia?
04:33He was doing...
04:34By the way, I love all the veteran, the savvy veteran tricks that Hazonia was going to work
04:40on.
04:41He was like Kevin McHale in the post, defensively, at all the quick hands, anytime you tried to
04:47put the ball on the floor, cross over in front of him, yoink, I got it.
04:50Like, did Hazonia need to play many more minutes for them to have a shot to win that game?
04:55So, while it's only the first game of the season, and you could have seen it last night
05:00on ESPN, while it was the first game of the season, I think Kenny Atkinson already sounds
05:05like he's in postseason form.
05:06Oh, good.
05:07Let the survey say, well, Kenny, how do you blow a 29-point lead?
05:12They upped their pressure and physicality.
05:15It was pretty clear.
05:17You know, we did not handle it well.
05:19You know, 15 turnovers, you know, then the possession game just tilts the other way, right?
05:25And it puts you in a hole.
05:28Well, Kenny, what do you know about pressure?
05:32They punched us, and then I felt like we resisted in the third quarter.
05:36Had a little bit of a lead there, and then, again, they kept coming at us, pressuring us.
05:41We're turning it over, but we stayed with it.
05:43So, obviously, we've got to do a better job handling pressure.
05:47I mean, that's very clear.
05:49That is Nick's series, Kenny Atkinson.
05:51That was five months ago.
05:53Yeah, and how much money are you paying your guards?
05:54Well, you're paying everybody.
05:55A billion dollars.
05:56You're paying everybody a lot of money.
05:57You're paying them all.
05:58But you know what's interesting?
05:59It is, I've got to say, like, Kenny Atkinson, to say that after an opener, like, most coaches
06:08would just say, hey, it's one game.
06:09It's one of 82.
06:11They wouldn't have any sweeping indictments about their team in game one.
06:15But?
06:15Holy cow.
06:16Kenny Atkinson, to basically, like, he wants that.
06:20I'm sure he said things in a locker room, but to go public.
06:23Oh, this is, you think this is tough talking, Kenny, okay?
06:25Holy cow.
06:26I'm listening.
06:26I'm not fighting.
06:27Like, Kenny, it is so rare.
06:29Which Kenny?
06:30Kenny Atkinson.
06:30Okay.
06:31To Kenny Carman.
06:32Okay.
06:32Sorry.
06:32You call me Kenny sometimes, but you can.
06:34Go ahead.
06:35I just want to make sure.
06:36For him to say that right there and then is a little surprising to me because, you know,
06:44they had their training camp in, where were they?
06:47Ibiza?
06:47They were in Spain.
06:48Okay.
06:49They went to a...
06:50The lost city of Atlantis.
06:52Yeah.
06:52They had their training camp, preseason, whatever.
06:57You know, you could throw a lot of that out, although it looks like more teams actually
07:00tried in the preseason, which was bizarre.
07:03But you've got all these high-paid players.
07:05Their starting five is probably paid more than just about any starting five in the NBA
07:10outside of maybe...
07:10Well, I'd say Philly, but LeBron is getting paid in helicopter rides, apparently.
07:15So, according to the people that are doing the...
07:19Pablo Torre, the people that are doing the research.
07:20I'm not trying to be weird about this.
07:21I really am not.
07:22There's something about that just makes me so uncomfortable.
07:25We can talk about that.
07:26Write it down.
07:26You and I are very close.
07:28If you went in some way like that, I'd be like, never.
07:30I honestly wouldn't.
07:31I'm sorry.
07:32I'll write that down for later in the show.
07:33But for Kenny to attack toughness, you do not see a lot of NBA coaches attacking the
07:41toughness of their highly paid players one game into a season.
07:45Because honestly, Anthony, what else is he left to say?
07:47He tells me that his messaging is not like he's doing everything he can.
07:52Because everybody knows.
07:52Because everybody knows.
07:53Everybody and their brother knows.
07:54And again, I'm going to hold off on the Barkley until 623, okay?
07:57But everybody knows.
07:59Everybody knows it.
08:00It is the worst-kept secret.
08:02And I've tried.
08:03I've tried.
08:03I've tried to fight it.
08:05I've tried to do the...
08:07And like, well, I think it's overrated.
08:09I think they've played tough this, that, and the other.
08:11But now the head coach is saying it.
08:12So when the head coach is describing it then, well, then it's all out there.
08:17So I've been wrong.
08:18And I've been making an excuse for him.
08:20And then all the hardcore Cavs fans have been making an excuse for him then.
08:23Because there's the insidery Cavs fan who says, no, you guys just don't know what you're
08:27looking at.
08:27And you just want to blame toughness there.
08:29Okay, well, if it's not toughness, then it's a roster construction problem.
08:33So now we have to have a Kobe Altman conversation.
08:35We have to have a Cavs conversation there.
08:37We have to have a conversation about what your philosophy is, what you had to do, what
08:41you didn't do, what you could have done, what you didn't do.
08:44Like, there's so many other things to it.
08:45And so if you talk about toughness, you're going, well, we just need to get tougher.
08:49And I don't know how you get tougher.
08:50Because you gave up 29-point lead at the beginning of the season right now, last night.
08:54And then you've been giving up leads like, this is what you're known for.
08:56Like, I went back and I found it, because I've often, like, I love to make comparisons.
09:03You know that.
09:04I call the Guardians the Steelers of Major League Baseball.
09:08And it makes Guardians fans Steelers fans in so many ways.
09:11And last year, I go, they're the Ravens.
09:13And, like, they're complete.
09:15The Cavs are the Ravens, complete with regular season, fourth quarter, second half meltdowns.
09:20Yeah, and here's the hard thing.
09:21That was the game that everybody was watching.
09:23Remember, the Cavs are not a national television a bunch this year.
09:26So, like, outside of Cleveland, we talk so much about their challenging situation for accessibility here in Cleveland.
09:33Outside of Cleveland, how many people are going to watch a ton of Cavs games this year?
09:37Like, with all that's going on.
09:39Wasn't a good selling job last night, I'll tell you that right now.
09:41Like, you're going to see OKC.
09:43You're going to see Philly, you know, game in and game out.
09:46The Knicks will be on, you know, throughout the season.
09:49You have all these teams that are going to be on, like, 40 times on national television.
09:54That was the time to see the Cavs.
09:55And they built a 29-point lead.
09:57So, if you went to bed, you know, at halftime, you're thinking the Cavs are one of the best teams
10:01in the history of basketball.
10:03Not if you knew the Cavs.
10:04But that's the thing.
10:04If you know the Cavs.
10:05There was.
10:06There was a difference.
10:07Like, Philly, I hate to say this.
10:08It's not that Philly wasn't trying in the first half, but they tried in the third quarter.
10:12And they wiped out, like, 60% of that lead in six minutes.
10:19It was bonkers how quickly they changed the course of that game.
10:23But you know what?
10:25It was a playoff atmosphere.
10:27Kenny admits to that where he said everybody played a part in blowing the lead last night.
10:32Untimely turnover is usually what happened.
10:35You know, 15 turnovers.
10:36And it was across the board, right?
10:37Like, it wasn't just one guy or just our guards, you know, multiple people with, you know, multiple turnovers.
10:44We've got to look at it.
10:45That was playoff basketball there in the second half.
10:47How they played.
10:48How they upped their physicality.
10:50Okay.
10:50Playoff basketball there in the second half.
10:52Can I get back to regular season basketball so I can win the game?
10:54Kenny's not wrong.
10:55I'd like some more regular season basketball.
10:56I'd like, actually, I'd like some more preseason AAU basketball.
11:00Because in the AAU basketball, Harden and Donovan Mitchell, I like their chances to hold on to the 29-point
11:05lead.
11:06Because I think a lot of the other players would have already left.
11:08And they would have gone home.
11:11And some of the people in attendance would have wanted their money back for the parking and the admission now.
11:16Since AAU costs like $40 to try to go see your loved ones play basketball now.
11:20That's a podcast waiting to happen.
11:24I cannot believe how quickly that thing turned.
11:28And then I know it was probably me coping online yesterday.
11:32I could not believe the calls.
11:34They had like 30 straight whistles go against them in the third and fourth quarter.
11:38So maybe it's because they just didn't deal with the toughness.
11:40Were you tweeting about refs?
11:41Oh, yesterday?
11:42Kenny, 94 feet.
11:44Is it 93 or 94 feet?
11:46Baseline to baseline.
11:47They had two consecutive possessions and an us missing a shot that led to two free throws for Philly.
11:55And I could not spot a foul.
11:56I went back and looked.
11:57I said, you just gifted Philly four points.
12:00For what?
12:01I know Edgecombe got elbowed in the face by LeBron and they gave them two free throws for that.
12:0794 feet from the basket.
12:08I was like, well, it doesn't help when it's an NBA finals crowd all of a sudden.
12:12And then you have officials that are in the tank.
12:15What was that?
12:17What was that?
12:18I've never seen that before.
12:19I've never seen a team get four straight free throws 94 feet from the basket.
12:23This is already a disaster.
12:26This is a mess.
12:27This is game one of 82.
12:29And I'm telling you right now, because I've been doing the show with you for years.
12:32And you've always been the king of stop blaming the refs.
12:35That's lowest common denominator.
12:36That's stupid fan stuff.
12:37A lot of blaming the refs on those two possessions.
12:38But that's the whole thing.
12:39If you're sitting there, if you're blaming, but this is what makes me feel worse.
12:43The teams elbowed Vijay Edgecombe in the nose.
12:45They said two free throws, Philadelphia, 94 feet.
12:47Everybody come and take a walk.
12:48Let's go.
12:49Everybody huddle up.
12:50We've got to stop the game for seven minutes.
12:51You guys need to understand this.
12:53This is what makes it even worse.
12:54They called the fall on Donovan Mitchell.
12:55You have run.
12:56But this is what makes it even worse.
12:58This is why people need to be hitting it.
12:59Go look at it.
12:59Everybody, I plea you.
13:00Okay, but this is what everybody needs to be hitting a panic button for.
13:02You have run out of reasons.
13:05I'm not going to say excuses.
13:06You have run out of logical reasons why there might be struggling, why there might be problems.
13:11If you are the one blaming the refs, which you say to never do, and you have fought me
13:16tooth and nail going, Kenny, you can't blame refs.
13:19You can't blame refs.
13:19That's what stupid fans do.
13:21Those are your words, not mine.
13:23I didn't know you were blaming refs.
13:24I didn't see it online last night.
13:26At that point, yeah, I was looking for everyone.
13:27If you're blaming refs, then we have a much bigger problem to deal with with the Cavaliers
13:31than any of us think.
13:32Than any of us think.
13:33Because I couldn't rely on Evan Mobley and his three second half points.
13:36How many points in the second half did Donovan Mitchell have?
13:40In the fourth, I know he had two.
13:42He might have had four altogether.
13:48Well, you want us to treat the Cavs?
13:51I do want to know.
13:52You want us to treat the Cavs like the Browns?
13:53Here you go.
13:54I do want to know.
13:57You know, is there a penchant to even be mad at him right now?
14:01Or are you just thinking, yeah, it's more of the same, Kenny.
14:03It's more of the same tone.
14:06216-474-0092.
14:07I want to get to you guys on that.
14:08And yet again, the worst possible thing fans want to hear after the first game of the season.
14:15Charles Barkley said it again.
14:18It's coming up in five on the fan.
14:20She's...