We're Getting Vintage Playoff James Harden

Speaking of setting the tone or not setting the tone, James Harden is not setting the tone for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavs down 0-2 in their series.

Uh, some numbers on James Harden and, uh, they're ugly, Evan, I gotta warn you.

Uh, 4 times in the last 9 playoff games, uh, the 9 playoff games the Cavs have played in.

Harden has finished with more turnovers than field goals made.

That includes game 2 of this series.

He had 3 buckets, he had 4 turnovers.

In his career, according to Tom Haberstro over Yahoo Sports, 30 times.

In his playoff career, he has more turnovers than he has made buckets.

That is a ghastly number.

His performance on Thursday was hideous, 3 of 13 from the floor, 0 of 4 from three-point range.

He was a -15 overall.

No other Cavs starter was worse than -6.

So he was more than double.

In the negative, in the plus minus for the, amongst the Cavs starters.

For this series, he is shooting 32.1%. Look, I was around Cleveland during the Toronto series, called one of their games for NBC.

The Cavs have had nothing but lofty praise for James Harden, his work ethic, his attitude, all those things.

But the definition of insanity, ET is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.

Here we go again with James Harden in the postseason.

We're crossing our fingers, new team expecting a different result, and here we go again, kind of the same old James Harden.

What have you made of the way Harden's played and You know, how problematic is this right now for the Cavs down 0-2?

I mean, I think it's a recipe for success for himself personally, because you've seen a couple of seasons, he's had bad game sevens and walked in a max contract.

So he's probably just doing something along those lines, like, you know, remember the game versus Warriors and all that where he just basically tanked it.

The next day you see him signing for 150, 102 million is, is crazy.

I think, uh, one thing that occurs is, um, That defense is too tough to try to play superhero basketball, especially when you seem like you're a little bit a step too slow.

If this was James Harden 6 or 7 years ago, cool.

But we're at a point now where it's like, hey, he's towards the other end of his career, and we're trying to make him be Superman, make him be a superhero.

And I just think right now guys have his number.

Um, The thing that kind of took over the NBA the past 5 or 6 years is 3-point shooting, high offense, and we still have a lot of offense, but right now, one thing that's kept up and evolved is defense has kept up.

There's so many defenders out there now.

You know, uh, players are so much longer now, and he's going up against, he's gone up against the Detroit Pistons.

Last series, he's going up against the Toronto Raptors.

Half them kids are 6'7, 6'8, wings that can guard in something that is going to make it a rough night for them.

And I think when you get ready to, uh, you know, show up and show out.

It it gets way tougher when you have guys like Evan Mobley struggling, when some of your shooters aren't hitting shots.

Now you're loading so much up on James Harden, and guys don't have to worry too much about the others, and it's making it a rough, rough night for James.

I believe throughout the playoffs, none of them have really found their their rhythm besides like a Matt Struss and, you know, consistently.

Yeah, um, I don't think the series is over because I think if any team can be beaten 4 out of 5, it might be Detroit.

They're a very good number 1 seed, but we've seen they're flawed.

Sometimes the shots aren't falling.

Jalen Duran continues to Not be the version of himself we saw in the regular season.

They've got some guys that are playing really well.

Cade Cunningham.

I mean, Cade is a lot of fun to watch, man.

Like Cade, he is just unflappable out there.

Like you just, you , I mean, he's been compared to Doncic in the past, but he's a much more composed version.

Of Luka Doncic in this game too, he goes for what, 25 points, 7 of 14 from the floor, 3 of 6 from three-point range, perfect 8 for 8 from the free throw line, 10 assists, uh, did have 5 turnovers.

That's not great.

So Cade.

He had 10 points in the 4th.

He, he almost, think about it, he almost plays like a veteran quarterback.

Like, like, like when, like when, when it turns on, he doesn't, like he just doesn't miss.

Like he's so, he's so steady.

Not the same thing about Luca, but like they, like Kay's personality never goes above a 5.

And then like, but his confidence never drops.

And then when it gets gritty, he's almost like a Detroit individual where it's like, oh, perfect.

This is going to get gritty.

I'm gritty enough for this, but I'm gonna make this shit look smooth.

And that's all he really does and it's turned up from there.

I, I personally think If anybody can lose a game, I agree, 4 out of 5, cool, but there's so many question marks and it's been in the past month on the Cleveland Cavaliers, that I think they're, they're, uh, they've been wounded so much this year.

Evan Mobley is so up and down and inconsistent.

Jared Allen has came back from injury, he's trying to figure it out.

Donovan Mitchell's trying to figure out if he's a star and wants to shoot it or not, or he's trying to be a decoy.

You understand what I'm saying?

And then James Harden is like, man, like, They're on my ass, you know, and I, I just, I think that, you know, Coach Atkinson has to really figure out ways to really get them back in order, because at the end of the day, you know, they always say your defense has to win one game, you know what I mean, your stars got to win two games and then the others got to win one, you know what I mean?

And I feel like you can't rely on Schroeder too much in those situations, especially with, you know, those guys coming out playing how they want to play.

It's going to be a chess match.

And you know, you gotta really be able to step up and serve and Tobias Harris is playing at a high level.

Duncan Robinson's pucking his matchup, like, do you understand what I'm saying?

And Cade Cunningham.

He'll leave the game and be like, man, I, I had a couple of turnovers, I didn't play so well, and it's like, man, this dude ain't working.

I don't know how Jay Kidd was back in the day or whatever, but he's at a different level of mental, bro.

Like, that's a man out there and he's a child, like he, he.

If the ball is in his hands, man, I, I don't believe he's getting no 4 or 5.

The same kid that just brought his team back down from 3-1.

You know what I mean?

Like, it's, it's a, it's cage time.

I told JT I'm like, man, if, if y'all don't win versus Sixers, I'm gonna get my K jersey.

You know what I mean?

But, but, but what do you think?

What do you think the Cavs have to do in that sense?

Like what do, what do you believe is still going to click because I feel like they're all, everybody's kind of being like, who's going to take the wheel?

I mean, It, it's, it's too simplistic, but like, how about man up?

Like you're just kind of getting punked by a more physical, defensive-minded Detroit team, which, you know , is not, everybody's not playing great like Cade is, but I mentioned Durran.

Like Robinson shot the ball really well, but he's capable of going the other way.

Uh, they're, they're a beatable team like Orlando showed that in the first round.

If you play a certain way, a physical way.

You can match them.

And right now, the Cavs are not doing that.

Like Harden has been a disaster.

Evan Mobley, 9 points in game two.

Like, come on, man.

Like, you know, Kenny Atkinson calls Evan Mobley the ceiling raiser on that team.

He's right.

Like if Evan Mobley is giving you like 20% on a good shooting percentage, you're really tough to beat.

But when he's giving you 9 and not playing great defense, at least not physical defense, that's a problem.

Like Donovan Mitchell had, you know, a great line, 30-something points, but he was 11 for 20.

4 from the field.

He was 2 of 9 from three-point range.

Like, your backcourt cannot be what 2 of 13 from three-point range.

Can't do it.

Can't happen.

So, I mean, look, there is an X's and O's element to all this.

I think that JB Bickerstaff so far is having a better series than Kenny Atkinson, but part of it is like, hey, man, like, Let's just play physical .

Let's man up.

Let's match their physicality.

Let's match their defensive intensity.

They're only scoring 107 points.

Let's crack 97, right?

And then, and maybe we give ourselves a chance to, to win some of these games.

To me, it's about like just, hey, let's match the energy.

Maybe they'll do that at home.

They're a much better home team than they are on the road.

Maybe things change when the series goes back to Cleveland, but game 3 is win or go home, man.

That's it.

Like no teams come back from that 3-0 deficit.

You gotta win that game and to do it, you gotta match them physically.

Good luck.