Latest / NY's Sports Loud Mouth (VIDEO) / NBA Conference Finals Preview: Who will come out on top?

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NBA Conference Finals Preview: Who will come out on top? · NY's Sports Loud Mouth (VIDEO)

0:05
The Knicks will take on the Pacers in the Eastern Conference
0:08
Finals after the Knicks record domination of the Celtics in
0:12
Game 6. The OK C Thunder dismantled the
0:15
Nuggets in Game 7 to join Anthony Edwards and the
0:18
Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals starting
0:21
Tuesday. The NHL Conference Finals are
0:24
set as well with Dallas and Edmonton in a Western Conference
0:27
Finals rematch from last year and Carol faces the defending
0:31
champions Florida Panthers after they cruised 6 to one in game
0:35
seven in Toronto. And later tonight, our 49ers
0:38
fanatic Owen the Tick Rickner joins the show to, let's call it
0:43
evaluate the five year $265,000,000 Brock Purdy
0:46
extension. We'll make a call to the pen,
0:49
throw a few from goodies bag of balls and talk some baseball
0:51
before we dial it up on another jam packed Monday night edition
0:55
of Jabba and the Mouth Even. That's are going to get him
1:00
significant. They're going to have a ton of
1:01
money to spend. Why not putting in one of the
1:04
top three offensive players in the league?
1:14
We're going to be looking at Aaron Judge and saying that he
1:16
can't win the big game, Michael Jordan said.
1:19
I played 82 games. You don't see LeBron doing that.
1:22
A. Game where you got to go?
1:24
Before I told you, Giant fans and Saquon Barkley, this
2:27
Let's do it. You're listening to Jabba and
2:29
the Mouth. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to
2:34
a new show of Jabba in the Mouth.
2:37
My name is Errol Marks, my Co host Jabba Chamberlain and
2:42
Speedy PD 631-672-3108 is the number to call.
2:49
Go to our website at www.worldwidesportsradio.com.
2:54
Check out all our shows throughout the week, including
2:57
Jabba in the Mouth and all you got to do, ladies and gentlemen,
3:00
is go Mondays and Thursdays on YouTube, on all the social
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media, Spotify, Apple, we're on every single social media around
3:09
the country. Remember, go to our website at
3:11
www.worldwidesportsradio.com. Jabba, how are you, man?
3:17
Good. We we just got put in tornado,
3:19
our tornado watches. So you never know.
3:22
We were 90°, then it was 70, got down to like 40 something and
3:25
now it's just humid and so we're going to watch till about 9:00.
3:29
So if I have to dip out, that's why.
3:32
I, I heard an OKC during the OKC game, there was tornado
3:37
warnings. Every single time there was a
3:39
commercial break, this guy was popping on because I actually, I
3:43
have a stick. So I, I watched the OKC Thunder
3:47
game like on an OKC Thunder channel.
3:50
So I watched it on ABC on the OKC Thunder channel.
3:54
So every time it went to commercial, commercial break,
3:57
you're not, you're going to miss anything.
3:58
And then you see all these different green areas over there
4:02
in OK C where Oklahoma there could be a tornado coming
4:06
through. So it's crazy.
4:08
I've never really experienced a tornado here in Long Island.
4:12
There was like 3 of them in the last piss 15 years.
4:15
One time it hit Ronkonkoma and right by the Ronkonkoma lake.
4:20
I think it was like 3 years ago where it took out a tree and
4:24
that was all it did and, and everybody said, oh, there was
4:27
actually a tornado. I never actually seen one.
4:30
Have you ever seen a tornado? Because I've never seen one.
4:33
I can't tell you how many I I've seen in my life, really.
4:37
You've seen a. Lot I mean, I've legitimately
4:39
and I've lived here, mind you, off and on for, you know, 12
4:43
years, but I've, I've, I've only taken shelter one time in my 39
4:49
years of life. Really.
4:51
It's just for like, I've driven through them, like they'll just
4:54
be like right next to you and you just look and you just keep
4:56
driving. You just look right on that.
4:58
There's a tornado, who cares? I'll just drive right through
5:01
it. I mean, you're not driving
5:03
through it, but if it's like, oh, it's here, you'll be good.
5:06
But yeah, we it's weird because Lincoln sits in like a bowl.
5:11
And so, I mean, obviously we're in Tornado Alley, but for some
5:16
reason it always seems to go around us like they'll be like,
5:18
you can you can go outside and see it forming.
5:21
Like it's, it's pretty cool and you can kind of feel it when
5:23
it's going to come. But yeah, I've that's, it's kind
5:27
of just par for the course here. I will tell you one that I do
5:31
not mess with. That's earthquakes.
5:33
No, really. Thank you.
5:35
I've never, I've never seen an earthquake.
5:37
I've never seen one. I have felt an earthquake.
5:40
It was about a year and a half ago.
5:42
I was inside a building and somebody said there was like, I
5:45
forget what it was a 3.5 earthquake.
5:48
And everybody says did you feel that?
5:50
I said I didn't feel anything. I I felt somebody.
5:53
Well, I smelt somebody farting right next to me, but I didn't
5:56
feel the earth actually quake. So.
5:58
Yeah, it's, it's nuts. I was, I was living in Hawaii
6:01
and on the 14th floor and I knew it was going to get like, we're
6:06
going to have some crappy weather, but not never been
6:08
through an earthquake. And they come on like where I'd
6:12
lived was like half, half hotel, half condos on the water.
6:16
And I was like, oh, I called my dad because it's five hours
6:19
different. So they're freaking out and
6:22
they're like, are you OK? Are you OK?
6:24
And I'm like, yeah, it was crazy.
6:26
It was like a 7.4 in the aftershock was like a 4/8.
6:30
And then they come on probably about 10 minutes later.
6:33
They're like for all you on waterside.
6:35
We are in a tsunami warning. I'm like, what the like, what do
6:38
I do in that case? Like I mean sit on the balcony
6:42
and watch the water try to flood this place.
6:44
I was. Tsunami.
6:46
If there's a tsunami heading over to us, we're pretty much
6:50
dead. I mean, we live on an island
6:52
around all bodies of water. There's beaches all over here.
6:56
So if Long Island ever gets hit by a tsunami, we're all dead.
6:59
Because if it's 100 feet in the air, it's taking out every
7:03
single part of Long Island. Long Island is not that big.
7:07
It's about from from Montauk to Manhattan, I would say it's
7:11
about, I would say an hour away, hour and 15 minutes away.
7:16
So think about it that way. And every and one side there's a
7:20
body of water on, on the other side, it's a body of water all
7:23
the way to the city. If a tsunami hits New York or
7:26
even just Long Island, there's no more Long Island.
7:28
It's pretty much water, so. Yeah, they, they were explaining
7:32
it's basically like the, the like the water and then
7:36
obviously under, basically it's like an earthquake under the
7:38
water and that's what pushes the swell out or whatever.
7:40
I was like, I could, I could pass on that.
7:43
Like the shaking of the building was enough.
7:45
But you can tell that they've had them before because, you
7:48
know, I thought stuff would be falling all over the place.
7:51
There was a couple things, like in the living room that, you
7:54
know, kind of fell over, but like all the pictures and stuff,
7:56
they were cemented to the wall. So nothing, nothing really
7:59
happened. We lost power, but thank
8:01
goodness we had a generator and so it was that was nice.
8:05
They're like just don't open your fridges till we figure it
8:07
out. And so we just went to the ABC
8:10
store. It's like the convenience store
8:11
that and just grab like chips, salsa and just like stuff you
8:16
could munch. You and your salsa, your chips
8:18
and your salsa. That's is that all Nebraska
8:20
people eat Really. Seriously.
8:23
That's not all I hear from you is sauce and sauce and salsa and
8:29
and chips. You've got to have your potato
8:31
chips. You've got to have all different
8:32
kinds of chips. I do not like potato chips.
8:35
Actually, the only time I eat a potato chip is if I have some
8:38
kind of sour cream and chive dip.
8:41
That's the only way I eat potato chips.
8:43
I don't eat it plain. I'm not one to eat potato chips
8:46
plain. By the way, I want to give a
8:48
shout out to all the people that came out for my birthday at
8:50
Mohegan Sun. I had a great, great time.
8:53
I want to give a shout out to Fish.
8:54
He drove almost 3 hours to come and hang out for 5 1/2 hours and
8:59
then drive all the way home. He was tired as hell, but I want
9:02
to thank Fish for making that trip and all the guys that came
9:05
out. I really do appreciate every
9:08
single one of you, including Speedy being the the the comedy
9:12
show of the whole event, because everything if if you never hung
9:16
out with me and Speedy offset it, It's just one of the
9:20
craziest things to even be a part of.
9:23
And me doing what I do if you if you think I'm crazy on the show,
9:28
you have no idea what I do to him when I'm off air.
9:32
So it was one of the the craziest, I would say 12 1/2
9:36
hours we spent with with all the different guys that came out.
9:40
So I want to thank everybody that came out for my birthday.
9:43
I really appreciate it. All the guys and, and gals,
9:45
including Brittany that came out for my birthday.
9:48
Yes, Snug, I am not 50 years old, I'm 43.
9:51
Stop being an idiot. As we all know, the Thunder blew
9:54
out the Nuggets 125 to 93 to advance to their first
9:59
conference finals since 2015 and 16.
10:03
Despite Jokic having a near triple double experience, the
10:08
Thunder held Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Junior and Jamal
10:12
Murray to a combined number of 27 points.
10:16
Shy had 35 points, 3 rebounds at 4 assists and Jaylee Williams
10:21
actually showed up to an NBA playoff game scoring 24 points
10:26
more than any player scored on the Nuggets.
10:29
The Thunder will take on the Timberwolves in the Western
10:32
Conference Finals. The Knicks Blue out the Celtics
10:34
119 to 81 to advance to their first conference finals since 99
10:40
and 2000. Jalen Brown was the Celtics, the
10:44
only Celtic that scored 20 points or more after fouling out
10:49
in the third quarter. The Knicks had four players
10:53
scoring over 2020 points with Michael Bridges, Karl Anthony
10:57
Towns, OG Anobi and Jalen Brunson.
11:00
The Knicks will face off against the Pacers in the Eastern
11:03
Conference Finals, the same matchup as their last appearance
11:08
in 99 and 2000. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I
11:11
want to get into the Western Conference because I watched the
11:15
game yesterday and the game was back and forth really in the
11:18
first half. But after the first half, it was
11:21
all the Thunder. The Nuggets look like going into
11:26
the second-half, they left everything in the locker room
11:29
because they came out and they were absolutely flat in the
11:33
second-half. They didn't play defense, they
11:36
couldn't score any points and they look like a shell of what
11:39
they were throughout this series and throughout the playoffs.
11:42
Now, Yokich sitting there right now and and I will say this
11:45
about the the the Denver Nuggets.
11:48
I really thought that the Denver Nuggets had an opportunity to go
11:51
to the finals and maybe face off against the Knicks or face off
11:54
against the Pacers or the Celtics.
11:56
Because I did think with Yokich having the experience that he
12:01
had in some of these guys like Jamal Murray and then obviously
12:04
Michael Porter, I really thought that this team had the
12:07
experience to knock off the OK C Thunder, a team that's very,
12:10
very young and are still a little wet behind the ears.
12:14
But OK C Thunder and shy Alexander showed up.
12:18
Shy will be the MVP, ladies and gentlemen.
12:20
I don't think you can argue that he is going to be the MVP now
12:24
and it has nothing to do with the playoffs because the NBA
12:27
already discusses in votes before the playoffs even start
12:31
who who's going to be the MVP of the league.
12:34
But what I've seen in this series was the OK C Thunder show
12:39
that they finally want to be in the Western Conference finals,
12:43
want to face off against the best in the West.
12:46
And, and the Timberwolves are going to be a hard opponent.
12:49
They're young, they're right now very hungry.
12:52
And, and we all know Anthony Edwards has been here before, as
12:55
he was last year and got knocked out by The Mavericks.
12:59
This is going to be a different OKC Thunder.
13:01
The Mavericks were not as good as the OKC Thunder.
13:06
They're much younger, much more faster, and they have one of the
13:09
best offensive players in the NBA right now.
13:12
And now, I'm not saying Luca wasn't or Kyrie Irving, it
13:14
wasn't either. But this guy, he's on a whole
13:17
nother level this year. He's going to win his first MVP
13:20
and he stands for something. And that really that something
13:24
is it's just a superstar. And that's what we have seen for
13:28
Shy Alexander in the last three seasons.
13:30
He showed it for Team Canada in the Olympics.
13:33
And now you're seeing how special and how talented he is
13:37
playing for a team that really is starting to figure things out
13:40
and could win multiple championships.
13:42
But we've seen this before. This OK C Thunder team was
13:46
really, really good with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook,
13:51
who was playing for the opposing team, the Nuggets, James Harden,
13:55
Serge Ibaka. This team was stacked when they
13:58
were as as good as any team in any Western Young Conference
14:02
team in the Western Conference we've seen over the years.
14:06
I remember this because this is the team that got knocked out by
14:10
the Miami Heat. This is the team that a lot of
14:12
people thought was the future of the NBA.
14:15
And then and now you see this team, totally different team.
14:19
You don't have Russell Westbrook on this team anymore, James
14:21
Harden or any of those guys. Serge Ibaka is not even in the
14:24
NBA anymore. So and Kevin Durant on his tail
14:27
end of his career. So you're watching this OK C
14:31
Thunder show why they deserve every accolades that they had
14:36
all season long and they were the best by far the best team in
14:39
the Western Conference all season long.
14:41
So I, I was so excited to, to see shy Alexander after the game
14:46
and go up there and speak to the press and he really took all the
14:50
cameras off himself and said if it wasn't for my team mates, if
14:54
we didn't make that, if we didn't sign Hornstein in the
14:57
offseason and we didn't, we didn't give these guys an
15:00
opportunity to step up and be the players that they have
15:03
become over the last couple of years at with the Thunder.
15:08
We, we're not in the Western Conference finals.
15:10
It's not all me. We're A-Team.
15:12
And that's what you want to hear from your superstar.
15:14
So I, I love to hear that from every team superstar.
15:17
You don't hear that from Anthony Edwards, ladies and gentlemen.
15:20
Anthony Edwards, when everything's flying high, he's
15:24
doing great, he's the best. And then when they're flying
15:29
low, well, he wasn't playing well and he wasn't playing well.
15:32
This is the problem. You want your superstar players
15:35
to take responsibility when the team isn't playing well.
15:39
So this is a battle of two different teams, two different
15:42
superstars, and probably two of the best young players in the
15:46
NBA. Yeah, you also look at the
15:47
Anthony Edwards from a scoring perspective.
15:49
Like that's what the Thunder did very well defensively in this
15:52
last two games or last three games that they won in this
15:55
Denver series, like taking away a lot of the wings scoring fish.
15:58
I was talking about the same kind of thing with what we're
16:00
doing. Save your tears.
16:01
Like I thought the good match up for Christian Brown and Michael
16:03
Porter, he had, they won good games since then.
16:05
They disappeared big time. And now you saw in this game
16:07
Jamal Murray disappeared. Aarin Gordon was doing great in
16:10
the beginning of the series and then they were able to adjust to
16:12
him him as well. OK Minnesota's wings are not as
16:15
prevalent scoring the ball outside of Anthony Edwards, so
16:18
it'll be interesting to see if they approach with that kind of
16:20
game plan. Now.
16:20
The size advantage it depth wise is going to be very similar for
16:24
both teams. I think when you look at the
16:26
Nas, Reed and Gobert impact that Minnesota can bring and the
16:31
defense that they have even coming off the bench, Then you
16:32
have OK C with Jalen Williams as well as he played in game seven
16:35
with Chet Holmes. He hasn't played well really
16:38
throughout that series. It was a matter of fact,
16:40
offensively, he was offensively throughout the playoffs.
16:44
He finally stepped up in an important Game 7.
16:46
But if he plays like that against the Timberwolves,
16:49
there's no way OKC is winning that that that that series,
16:52
especially the way other players have stepped up for those teams.
16:56
One guy that we very much know for the New York Knicks, who
17:00
played for the New York Knicks for a significant amount of
17:03
time, the bricklayer himself. So we all know that he doesn't
17:07
show up in important parts of certain games.
17:10
Now. He's been different with the
17:12
Timberwolves, he's played better with the Timberwolves.
17:14
So I'm interested to see how he is going to and Dante Diva
17:19
Chance, I call him the brick layer.
17:20
I don't even want to give him a name because everybody knows who
17:23
I'm speaking about. OK, but Dante Diva Chance always
17:26
been a very important piece. A guy that comes off the bench,
17:28
He adds not only that, that mediocre style of, you know,
17:33
play that we expect a a bench player to bring out, but he
17:37
gives you that 3 point and he gives you that meanness that you
17:40
want off the bench. If you watch all season long
17:44
where a lot of these fights happen with the Timberwolves,
17:46
who starts most of those fights? Dante Divicenzo.
17:49
Why? Cuz he's standing up for Anthony
17:51
Edwards. He's the aggressor when it comes
17:54
to and you wouldn't think that with all these different players
17:57
on this team. Karl Anthony Towns obviously
17:59
wasn't an aggressive player and that's why a lot of people call
18:02
him the flopping man because you seen him with the Knicks.
18:05
There is no aggressiveness to him whatsoever.
18:08
He's not the enforcer and that's why they needed Robinson back.
18:12
Now you're looking at obviously a Timberwolves team that has an
18:16
enforcer. He might not be as big as, you
18:19
know, guys like Karl Anthony Town, but he gives you that
18:22
little meanness. He gives you that lion and he he
18:25
brings you to his dad. And once Dante Diva Chancel goes
18:28
out there and he roars, he could be pretty scary.
18:32
We saw it last year when Robertson was getting pushed
18:34
around with the the I'm sorry with the 76ers.
18:38
And then who was sticking up for Robertson?
18:41
It was Dante Diva. That's something that the
18:43
Timberwolves needed and that's what Anthony Edwards needs.
18:46
And I think that's what I think the Timberwolves have that they
18:49
didn't have last year. They have that personality in
18:52
the locker room and they have that angry person coming off the
18:56
bench that you don't know what he's going to do in the middle
18:58
of a basketball game. Yeah.
18:59
And you also look at the intensity, the psychologically
19:01
speaking that OKC needed to get to going because you saw in the
19:04
beginning of this series, like they're kind of playing very
19:06
talent driven, but they didn't really have the firepower when
19:10
it comes to an adversity standpoint.
19:11
And we're talking about them being going to the five youngest
19:13
teams in the NBA. Like that's going to come with
19:14
that kind of thing too. But you wonder how battle tested
19:17
they were. And I think you saw it later in
19:19
the series. They could win in many different
19:20
ways, not just winning with just the talent alone and even having
19:25
Shy play many different ways too.
19:26
He could be a passer this game. He was a scorer and he stuck to
19:29
being a scorer. He didn't deviate like we
19:31
sometimes see there were point guards and we talked about it
19:32
all the time in hockey too. Sometimes I try to be passers
19:34
too much and it didn't work for them.
19:36
They stuck to that game kind of game plan and same kind of thing
19:38
on the defensive side with Yokich.
19:39
Like, they made him be a shooter in that game in the second-half
19:42
and it really backfired for them when everyone else was
19:45
struggling because they were making Yokich pass.
19:48
And then when Yokich wasn't scoring, then everyone else went
19:50
cold. And that's a big problem that
19:52
the Nuggets had in that Game 7 has a problem the Nuggets had in
19:54
Game 4, even though they almost won, they just couldn't score
19:57
from that perspective. And that'll be an interesting
19:59
coaching battle to see what 2 very young coaches.
20:01
I think the OK, I think the Minnesota coach with Finch is
20:03
better, but slightly. But again, it's going to be
20:06
interesting to see how these two teams adjust.
20:07
I don't think coaching has anything to do, no.
20:09
I don't think it's, I don't think it's a significant one
20:11
either. If.
20:11
Anthony Edwards shows up and Shy Alexander shows up.
20:15
We want to see the secondary offensive players play.
20:17
If Williams shows up like he did in game seven, OK C should fly
20:21
right past the Timberwolves. There are much better team
20:24
offensively. But if Williams doesn't show up
20:27
in this series like he did throughout the Nugget series,
20:30
they're not beating the Timberwolves because Julius
20:32
Randall, AKA shouldn't have give him a name.
20:34
The Bricklayer himself and obviously Dante, Diva, Chancel
20:38
and all the other guys that they have on that roster are going to
20:41
be able to give them enough off the bench and in their lineup
20:44
where they're going to get enough points where they should
20:46
beat the OKC Thunder there. I believe a better all around
20:50
defensive team than OK C is too as well so.
20:53
That's why I'm saying the role players I think from Minnesota
20:55
outside of Julius Randall are more defensive driven for OK CI,
20:58
think they're both. There are a lot of good
20:59
defenders on that OK C team, but I think a lot of them, Caruso,
21:02
Dort, like you said, Williams at the top of his game are probably
21:05
slightly more on offense. But again, you also could get
21:08
the defensive prowess as well. Yeah, I think it's, I mean, the
21:12
biggest part for me and speed touched on it too, is, is going
21:16
to be those role players because at at this point that you're
21:19
going to have an off night, Do you turn shy into a passer and
21:21
and somebody steps up? I think Jalen Williams might be
21:24
the the wild card in this if he can, you know, stay consistent
21:28
and not take a game off because I mean, for the most part, he
21:31
played pretty consistent. But, you know, there was some
21:34
days where he didn't have it. But and and that's to be said,
21:37
but I think the role players on the Minnesota side are perfect
21:43
for what they need to do because they don't have to go out.
21:46
And that's maybe exactly why Julius Randall, or as you want
21:51
to call him, the bricklayer, is doing a little bit better.
21:54
We'll see. We'll see what happens in this
21:55
series. Obviously the stakes get a
21:57
little bit higher as you go, but I mean, he's been consistent for
22:00
what they've needed from him and and that may be just a due to
22:04
the environment and you know how he doesn't have to put all the
22:07
pressure on himself and and sometimes change of scenery does
22:10
that for you. And I love Bulldogs like
22:13
Demoncenzo, Like you got to have those guys.
22:15
It's like the enforcer in hockey.
22:16
You got to have them like you're protecting your guys.
22:19
So I think it's two tails of of the role players.
22:23
Obviously, OKC being more offensive driven and I think
22:27
Minnesota defensive driven. It's I, I think Minnesota's the
22:30
better team overall. But if you know one of the two,
22:34
don't step up and and see what happens.
22:36
But it's going to be an interesting series on on a lot
22:40
of fronts. So I have a very interesting
22:44
matchup in this series that I want to see.
22:46
The one that I'm really interested in it's Chet and
22:48
Julius Randle because they're going to put Chet on Julius
22:51
Randle and think that him at his 190 lbs while being 7/1 is going
22:56
to be able to stop that big guy from muscling him into the post.
23:01
If Julius Randall wins that battle, it's going to be a close
23:05
series. If the battle is even or Chet
23:07
wins, it could be a sweep. That's how important I think
23:12
that battle is. I disagree with the a little bit
23:16
of what you guys said about OKC's wing players.
23:19
Caruso and Dort are two of the top 10 three and D guys in the
23:23
NBA. I think they're better than the
23:26
plain D guys that we have or the plain O guys we have on like,
23:31
you know, the Vincenzo is good enough on defense.
23:33
He's not Lou Dort. Lou Dort's one of the best in
23:35
the NBA at that position. And Alex Caruso is phenomenal.
23:40
They they got him. That was one of the best trades
23:42
they made when they got him from the Bulls.
23:44
What a great move. And then they have all these
23:47
other guys that are that you haven't even heard of that just
23:50
score points that off the bench because shy can find them.
23:54
And he and shy is like one of those guys that we used to watch
23:57
about 10 years ago. He's dicing everybody up.
23:59
And then he finds the guy that because they he brought two guys
24:01
to him. It's very simple offense and
24:04
they have these other guys doing different actions and their
24:06
coach is smart, Dagnos smart. They won 68 games.
24:09
Can't do that, not being smart. You know what he did, the Jokic,
24:12
he threw his like 1,000,000 fouls at Yokich.
24:14
He took his third string center, put him out there against
24:17
Yokich, just the hack the shit out of him so that he would wear
24:20
down in A7 game series. And Yokich was not good in Game
24:23
7. It's a smart coach over there.
24:25
I think that they're going to have, I really think they're
24:28
going to have their way with the Timberwolves.
24:30
I disagree, and I think they. Haven't even been tested though,
24:32
we don't know how good they. Are they haven't been tested?
24:35
Who the Timberwolves? The Lakers The Lakers no showed
24:38
and they lost Steph in Game 2. The Timberwolves have been here
24:43
before. They went to the Western
24:45
Conference finals. Didn't they get swept in the
24:47
Western? Conference, it doesn't matter.
24:49
It doesn't matter the fact that first of all, I don't think they
24:53
got swept. They they won four games to 1
24:56
and the Timberwolves didn't show up.
24:58
But Anthony Edwards has been here before.
25:00
He knew that. He knows that he has been here
25:02
before and he wasn't the player that he was throughout the
25:06
season before he got there last year against Dallas and Dallas,
25:09
to me, they were riding high. They obviously Kyrie Irving and
25:13
Luka Dodrick, they were a completely different ball,
25:16
different team. I think OKC already knows who
25:18
they are. OKC knows they're the best team
25:21
and they were the best team really all season long besides
25:24
the Cavaliers. They were by far the best team
25:26
in the NBA and the most consistent team in the NBA.
25:30
But this is an OKC Thunder team that's never been here before
25:33
with the youth that they have over there and Shy Alexander.
25:36
Go look at what he's done in the Olympics.
25:38
Has he ever played one big game before in his career?
25:41
He never was. He's never been in those big
25:44
games. He's never succeeded against
25:47
those big opportunities. So obviously we're going to see
25:51
now if he can get over the hump and get his team to the to the
25:54
finals. But I, I, I don't know if you
25:56
look at a young team and you're going to trust a coach that's
25:59
really never been there either. So I mean, there, there's this
26:03
an understanding and a factual solution to what is going to go
26:07
on in this series. He got a still a very young team
26:11
in the Timberwolves. They're young.
26:12
They have some young players. Julius Randall is getting up
26:15
there. He's 3031 years old.
26:17
Dante Divacento is 28. I mean, everybody else, even you
26:21
look at the talent that they have over there.
26:23
You're saying and I I don't know if you're saying it this way,
26:26
but you're making it seem like the Timberwolves don't have
26:28
enough talent. Mike Conley is a great player.
26:31
He's a good point. He's done.
26:34
He's still a good leader. He gives you 20 minutes a game.
26:38
Why are why are the Timberwolves a six seed and they're in the
26:40
Western Conference finals? You think you think they're not
26:43
good enough to be here? It's ridiculous.
26:46
Rudy Gobert. You don't think Rudy Gobert is a
26:48
good center? This this guy is 1 defensive
26:51
player of the year multiple times.
26:52
Depends about him, depends about Gobert.
26:54
You've seen Gobert get absolutely cooked in the
26:57
playoffs by teams that pull him out away from the basket.
27:00
We I mean is one of my favorite clips that I cut for this show
27:04
is Luca dicing him up, doing a step back three and then MF ING
27:08
him to his face afterwards to which basically ended the series
27:12
ahead of time. And you're right, it was four
27:14
games to 1, but it wasn't a close series whatsoever.
27:17
Anthony Edwards didn't show up in that series and he opened his
27:20
mouth before the series about Kyrie Irving.
27:22
It pissed Kyrie Irving off. If Anthony Edwards is smart, he
27:26
stays away from opening his mouth and really just plays the
27:29
game. If Anthony Edwards does that, he
27:31
can absolutely compete against Shy Alexander.
27:33
You can argue these are the two best young players right now in
27:36
the NBA and I in this and Anthony Edwards to me, even
27:40
though just want to take responsibility or and and take
27:42
assurance that he is the face of United States basketball right
27:45
now. He absolutely is.
27:48
And he has a chance to prove himself against one of the best
27:51
offensive talents we've seen in a very long time.
27:54
But to say that, OK, C is that much better than the
27:57
Timberwolves, that's ridiculous. OK, C has never been here
28:00
before. They're a young roster that
28:02
again, is going to have many chances to get here.
28:05
But we thought that years and years ago with Kevin Durant,
28:09
James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka.
28:11
Serge Ibaka, if you remember, three of those three out of the
28:14
four players that were part of that roster are Hall of Farmers,
28:18
arguably three of the best players of this era.
28:22
So and they were on the same roster and never won a
28:25
championship. Just think about that.
28:28
They don't have the talent that and and as good as OK C is with
28:32
Jalen Williams and then obviously Shy Alexander and the
28:35
players that they have over there, which they have good
28:37
young Dorton, like you were saying, there are good players
28:40
there. They're nowhere close to as good
28:42
as that OK C Thunder team was when they went to the finals.
28:46
I mean, it's a different era. It's hard to compare those teams
28:48
because they were set up differently.
28:49
Ibaka was this power forward today, he would be a center.
28:54
You know, it's it's a little bit different how they'd play that
28:57
that series. And obviously those are, you're
28:59
not wrong, Hall of Fame players. I just like how they comprise
29:02
the scene. We didn't even mention my buddy
29:04
and our buddy friend of New York Knicks, Isaiah Hardenstein, who
29:07
Hardenstein, who absolutely is the glue guy and we all knew he
29:12
would be for that team. He just as he did for the
29:15
Knicks, just runs to the rim with the best of them, back cuts
29:19
with the best of them, and then plays face up defense without
29:22
fouling with the best of them. Is he a little undersized
29:26
against some centers? Yes, he is.
29:27
Is he the strongest guy? No, but he's strong enough
29:29
against most guys. He's a really.
29:33
Fish, you want to hear something crazy?
29:34
You want to hear something crazy.
29:35
If the Knicks beat the Pacers, they would.
29:38
And and it doesn't matter who the Knicks play in the Finals,
29:41
either OK C or the Timberwolves, they're going to play at least
29:45
one player or two players from the roster that they had last
29:49
year. Just think about that.
29:50
If they play the Timberwolves, they'll have to play Dante Di
29:53
Vicenzo and Julius Randall. The the brick layer.
29:56
If they play OK C, they're going to play Isaiah Harnstein.
29:59
So it's crazy that at least one or two important players to
30:04
those New York Knick teams from last year are going to play at
30:09
least the Finals this year on another roster.
30:11
It's it's crazy. And the Knicks are completely
30:14
different team that they were than they were last year with
30:17
Mikhail Bridges and Karl Anthony Towns and some of the players
30:20
that they added in the offseason.
30:21
So it is interesting. Go.
30:23
And I'm sorry to cut you off, but we haven't even spoke about
30:26
the Knicks. We have not even spoken about
30:28
that. But I.
30:28
Was going to get a segue and and you know as you guys are talking
30:31
about Ant and Shy and those guys just think about all the four
30:34
superstars that are left, none of them have ever won.
30:38
So there's going to be a first time winner.
30:39
So when you guys are bringing that up, I was thinking I was
30:42
reading earlier and I was like second straight year that that's
30:44
happened. It's crazy and it's.
30:46
Going to be who's the most ready right of these guys and I would
30:50
argue the two guys in the East are more ready than the two guys
30:54
in the West. I disagree.
30:55
Really. I disagree.
30:56
Really interested. I disagree.
30:58
Anthony Edwards is ready at. All I I disagree with you, why
31:01
do you hate on Anthony Edwards? This guy is special.
31:07
He's special. He's.
31:08
Special Is he a leader, though? It doesn't be the best guy on
31:11
your team. Oh, come on, Fish.
31:13
There are a lot of guys that won.
31:14
There are a lot of guys that won in the past that weren't great
31:17
leaders. OK, stop it.
31:19
It doesn't matter about leadership.
31:20
Man, I don't know. Someone's got to be a leader on
31:22
that squad. And if it's Julius Randle, as
31:25
you call him, the bricklayer, I don't like their odds.
31:28
That's just me. I I don't think when it comes to
31:31
talent, when you have a player of that magnitude and if he
31:34
takes over games, which we all know that Anthony Edwards could
31:37
do, I believe that Anthony Edwards will find a way to get
31:41
his team through this series as he's done many, many times and
31:44
he's been Anthony Edwards. It's not like he's never been
31:47
here before. He lost last year, but he's been
31:49
there before. Now he has a chance.
31:51
New ownership, obviously we see Alex Rodriguez, he's bringing
31:54
Barry Bonds. I've seen videos that Barry
31:56
Bonds was hanging out with the the Timberwolves.
31:58
I saw that Don Mattingly was there recently hanging out with
32:02
some of the Timberwolves play. Barry.
32:03
Barry Bonds drove a rod to the game.
32:05
Yeah, that's crazy. So.
32:07
I I don't know, I, I'd love to talk about the Knicks in a
32:10
second, but I'll just say this about this matchup.
32:11
It's going to be fun to watch because it's two ascending stars
32:14
in the NBA, right, with Edwards and Shy, But I don't think that
32:19
the Timberwolves matched up very well.
32:21
This is exactly the type of team if Gobert has to come out from
32:25
underneath the paint to guard Chet.
32:27
They're in a lot of trouble in this series and I think that's
32:30
going. To I disagree.
32:31
So I, I, I think the Timberwolves have just as good
32:34
chance to win this series as the Denver Nuggets did in the last
32:38
series. I, it's all about what superstar
32:40
is going to show up and the secondary players.
32:43
What secondary is going to step up to help the superstar?
32:46
I think both shy and Anthony Edwards is going to show up in
32:49
the series and put up big, big, big, big numbers.
32:52
It all depends on the secondary players.
32:54
If they're going to Julius Randall shows up like he's been
32:57
throughout the playoffs. Why could Julius Randall is
33:00
better than Jalen Williams when he's when he's playing as good
33:03
as he is? OK, you can't even argue that
33:05
he's a better rebounder. He's a better offensive player.
33:08
And, and, and even though he doesn't play a lick of defense
33:11
and Jalen Williams does, I, I still take Julius Randall when
33:16
he's at the top of his game than Jalen Williams.
33:18
Just my opinion. Speaking of the New York Knicks,
33:21
Speaking of the I, I, I want to get off that because we've been
33:24
speaking about OK, C and, and we are here in New York and I
33:27
wanted to leave this and I wanted to argue and, and, and
33:31
tell people what I feel about the New York Knicks.
33:34
And, and, and the honest God truth is I'm excited.
33:37
Any New York Knicks fan, we're all wearing Knick hats except
33:40
Jabba. I mean, Speedy's wearing it.
33:43
Scoop says he's wearing it indeed, his hat.
33:45
But three out of the five guys right now on this show is
33:48
wearing Knick hats. I'm wearing the Wolves jersey
33:50
too, because this is what I think the NBA Finals is going to
33:53
be. I think it's the Knicks and I
33:55
think it's going to be the Wolves.
33:57
That's the truth. But nevertheless, this is so
34:00
funny. First of all, the Knicks fans
34:02
are crazy. I, I don't, I don't know what's
34:05
going on, but they are crazier than Yankee fans, Met fans,
34:08
Islander Ranger fans, Jets giant fans.
34:11
These guys, they're out there after they knock off the Celtics
34:15
throughout this series at home. They're they're shutting down
34:18
streets at night right now, 7th Ave., because the fans are going
34:24
crazy, climbing up buildings, you know, breaking things,
34:28
flipping cars. They're nuts.
34:30
They're absolutely nuts. They haven't won anything yet.
34:33
They haven't won anything yet. And yes, they're going to an
34:36
Eastern Conference finals. They haven't been to in 26
34:39
years. I love that you see all these
34:42
superstar movie stars coming to the game and they're all Knicks
34:46
fans. They all show up when the Knicks
34:47
are winning. And then you have all the old
34:50
Knicks. You have Larry Johnson, Alan
34:52
Houston, Latrell Spreewell, John Starks, Stephon Marbury, Barry
34:57
Carmelo Anthony, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing.
35:00
It's great, ladies and gentlemen.
35:02
It's fun to watch. You don't see Charles Oakley, by
35:04
the way. That's a whole nother story.
35:06
The fact here is the New York Knicks have not been in this
35:10
position in 26 years. So as a Knick fan, you should be
35:15
excited, you should be happy. And this has a lot to do with
35:18
the guy that James Dolan put in charge when everybody was
35:23
booing, Everybody hated this move.
35:26
I, I didn't know what to expect. But Leon Rose, when he took over
35:30
this team, this is an agent. He's never been in a position
35:34
like this before. He's never been put under
35:37
pressure like this before. He stamped his name to this
35:41
team. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he
35:43
stamped this his name to this team when he brought in Jalen
35:49
Bronson for $58 million. He signed Jalen Bronson and
35:54
brought him in on a three-year deal and, and nobody and I'm
35:58
sorry, Knick fans, besides the Villanova fans that are Knick
36:01
fans throughout the country, nobody really knew who Jaylen
36:05
Brunson was and how good Jaylen Brunson could be.
36:10
But as soon as he stepped in Madison Square Garden, and he
36:13
wore his colors proudly, and his father played on that New York
36:18
Knick team in 99 when they lost in the finals and he was three
36:22
years old, three, when he was running around that locker room,
36:27
nobody would ever have thought that 26 years later, this guy
36:32
would be the captain of the team.
36:34
This guy would be the best player on this team.
36:36
This guy would be the leader of this team.
36:38
It's an amazing story. And why not see this player go
36:43
against the same team they beat to go to the Finals against the
36:48
Spurs in the Pacers? It is a it's a great story.
36:53
Now the Knicks have to get it done.
36:55
They couldn't get it done last year against the Pacers, but
36:58
they got it done against a Celtic team that everybody was
37:01
riding high. Everybody, including yours
37:03
truly, thought that the Celtics were the best team going into
37:07
the playoffs. I don't think you can argue
37:09
that. Nobody could argue that you had
37:13
guys like Tatum and Jaylen Brown and White and all the weapons
37:18
that they had in Porzingis, even though he wasn't 100% healthy
37:21
and they had a winning pedigree. This is a team that went all the
37:24
way to the finals and didn't even lose.
37:27
That's how good they were last year.
37:29
And this was the same roster, the same roster and nobody would
37:36
have thought winning both games back-to-back games in in Boston
37:40
at the Boston Garden and and coming back from a 20 point
37:44
deficit that they still nobody would have thought that even up
37:48
to that they were going to win the series.
37:50
I did have them winning in seven the Knicks.
37:53
But I know a lot of people will say, oh, you were just guessing,
37:56
but there's something about this team that this New York Knick
37:59
team has not had since the 99 team that that was there.
38:04
Sprewell was a a lightning rod, a personality.
38:09
We all know what he did when he played for another team.
38:12
And I'm not going to mention smacking the crap out of his
38:14
coach. And everybody knows who I'm
38:16
talking about. So I'm not going to mention.
38:19
I'll I'll mention it was the Golden State Warriors.
38:21
If you don't remember that it was, but Latrell Spiro gave them
38:27
a rod that the Knicks didn't have in the 94 season.
38:31
A guy that could go up and down the court, can do things that we
38:35
have never seen a shooting guard slash point guard do with the
38:38
New York Knicks really since I would say walk like Frazier.
38:43
And he gave him a distinct personality.
38:46
Larry Johnson, the Grandma Ma personality that he was over
38:50
there in Charlotte. He gave the Knicks leadership.
38:53
He gave the Knicks a pedigree that they didn't have.
38:56
And that was a guy that can hit big shots in big games when need
39:00
be. And they had that Alan Houston
39:03
when they made that move, bringing it from Detroit,
39:05
remember that they needed a guy that can shoot and shoot threes
39:09
and make those shots. They brought in Alan Houston to
39:12
do just that, old Patrick Ewing, but they had guys that gave them
39:18
a distinct size and personality like Lamarcus Camby's that we've
39:23
seen over the years. We need that type of team and we
39:28
haven't had it in 26 years. Even the Carmelo Anthony Nix
39:32
with Stottlemeyer and those guys, they didn't have that
39:36
personality. That mean tiny type of team that
39:40
could defend the perimeter and had those winged defenders that
39:44
the Knicks had in the 94 season when they had the bigs of
39:48
Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason and those type of players that
39:53
would beat you to the ground if you would try to drive to the
39:56
hole. They don't have that.
39:58
They didn't have that for 26 years.
40:01
And thank you to Leon Rose for all the Knicks fans that were
40:05
attacking the OG and an Obi trade when they cheated RJ
40:09
Barrett and quickly. To the Toronto, yes the Toronto
40:14
Raptors and said who the hell is OG on Adobe?
40:17
This guy is one of the best wing defenders in the NBA.
40:21
He is really improved in his shooting ability at the
40:26
three-point line, his free throw shooting, his game completely
40:31
unique. And there's not many players
40:33
that have it in the NBA. Guys like Kawhi Leonard, like we
40:36
have spoken about and you know, I'm talking about Fish.
40:39
We and Fish talk about it all the time.
40:40
This guy has that distinct ability to be another Kawhi
40:44
Leonard and he's still not even. He's right there almost in a
40:47
prime of his career. Mikkel Bridges, who the Knicks
40:50
traded for in the offseason for five first round picks, and Josh
40:55
Silverberg and every stupid Knicks man attacking this move
40:59
saying this is the worst move, This is going to set the Knicks
41:02
back. Where?
41:04
Where are the Knicks fans saying that now you have two distinct
41:07
wing defenders, top five wing defenders now on one roster.
41:12
And then you make a move for Karl Anthony Towns, the flopping
41:16
genius. And that's what I call him now
41:18
because he likes to flop and he likes to cry to the referees.
41:21
But when Karl Anthony Towns plays his game, he is
41:25
unstoppable. When he can get to the hole and
41:28
he can shoot the three and not shoot those 40 foot 3 point
41:32
shots that make you sick to your stomach.
41:34
When he forces them up and he plays his game, he's
41:37
unstoppable. And there's nobody on the Pacers
41:40
that could stop him. And now a healthy Mitchell
41:44
Robinson. And when you have a beast of a
41:47
man like that that can rebound offensively and defensively and
41:52
give you a distinct defensive presence in the paint.
41:56
This team is as good as any Nick team we've seen since the 73
42:01
champion Nick team with Phil Jackson and and and Wool Clive
42:05
Frazier and all those players, the Butcher.
42:08
This is a completely different Nick team, but congratulations
42:13
to Tom Thibodeau for a guy that a lot of Knick fans, including
42:17
yours truly, wanted him gone. A guy that I just feel like it's
42:22
passed, it's passed by for, for a coach like that.
42:25
He's an old timing coach that does some stupid things, throws
42:29
players out there over and over and over again and wears them
42:33
down. But Josh Hart has been such an
42:37
aggressive and great personality that is playing 48 minutes
42:41
almost every single game and he is one of the clear leaders of
42:44
this team and it it's just it's fun to watch.
42:47
I'm going to tell you this right now.
42:49
If the Knicks, Knicks could get out of this series against the
42:52
Pacers. It doesn't matter if it's OK C
42:55
and it doesn't matter if it's Timberwolves.
42:56
They are the favorites of winning the NBA championship.
42:59
They have beaten the best team in the playoffs in the Celtics.
43:03
They deserve all the credit in the world.
43:05
And I'm not saying this because I'm a Knick fan.
43:07
I'm saying this because I watch this team religiously.
43:10
This is it. This is a team that this is a
43:13
this is a different type of team.
43:14
Now, I, I think they're completely different.
43:17
I think they believe in themselves.
43:19
I think no matter how bad they're down, they believe they
43:22
can come back. When you see teams come back
43:25
from deficits like we've seen. And by the way, I loved what
43:29
they did to the Celtics in Game 6 because they let the Celtics
43:33
know early there's not a chance in hell you're winning this
43:36
game. It don't matter what you do in
43:38
this game and what Jaylen Brown does in this game.
43:41
We're going to put you through the ringer.
43:43
And boy, oh boy did they do that.
43:46
And by by the third quarter, the game was over, guys, It was an
43:50
over game. They were up 35 points with
43:54
what, 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter?
43:56
The Knicks was playing their backup players with 7 1/2
44:00
minutes in the fourth quarter, the game was completely over.
44:03
And that says a lot. This is not a bad Celtic team,
44:05
even losing Jason Tatum And the Knicks were up three to one
44:09
against the Celtics, which Jason Tatum.
44:12
So I don't want to hear from the Celtic fans.
44:14
I don't want to hear it from all the stupid press guys out there
44:17
saying, well, then if the Knicks had to play Jason Tatum in game
44:21
six, it might have been a different game.
44:23
It was never going to be a different game.
44:25
This is a completely different New York Knick team.
44:27
They're they have the heart of a champion and they're hungry.
44:31
And this is this is this is what we wanted to see.
44:34
This is what we've been craving to see for 26 years.
44:38
I am so excited. And not only do I think they're
44:41
going to pulverize the Pacers, they're going to bring them,
44:43
they're going to teach them a lesson.
44:45
I I and I think they're going to teach them a lesson for what
44:48
happened last year. I, I wouldn't be surprised if
44:51
this is a sweep, OK, I wouldn't even be surprised if this is
44:54
sweet. It won't be.
44:56
But I think this goes six games. I think the Knicks are the
44:58
better team. I even and by the way, Miles
45:01
McBride, you played sensational, sensational in the Celtic
45:06
series. You finally showed up to a
45:08
series and add to me, if the Knicks have a six man that could
45:12
do that off the bench throughout the next series, you know the
45:16
Pacers don't have a chance. So that's all I got to say about
45:19
that. And Knick fans are crazy.
45:21
Absolutely crazy. Yeah, the Knicks built a model
45:23
to be able to beat the Celtics with the bringing in these wing
45:26
defenders that they've done. You talked about the OG and an
45:28
OB trade, which at the time seemed like a lot.
45:30
And then it was only like a week later when you were talking
45:32
about like he would take a pay cut that I really buy into
45:34
something like that. And then Mikhail Bridges as
45:36
well, same kind of philosophy. He.
45:37
Didn't take a pay cut Speed. No, no he didn't.
45:39
But then I guess he encouraged Jalen. 240 million no, no, he.
45:43
Didn't eventually, but he said they those were the rumors at
45:46
the time that he was going to do it and not be Jalen Bronson, who
45:48
did. I guess they negotiate whatever,
45:49
but either way they built it on that model.
45:51
Then they bring in Michaela Bridges.
45:52
They had McBride off the bench. That's still a very good
45:55
perimeter defender. His offensive game streaky, we
45:57
understand, But this is the team model that you had to use to be
46:00
able to beat the Celtics. And it's the same kind of thing
46:02
that Minnesota has adapted to in the Western Conference and OKC
46:06
to an extent now, I think. With, with the with.
46:09
The Pacers matchup, it's a little different.
46:11
I talked about last week with Rick Carlisle.
46:12
Rick Carlisle is the anti Tom Thibodeau, Tom Thibodeau or Tom
46:16
Thibodeau is very structured with his rotation and Rick
46:19
Carlisle plays eight or nine different guys and that'll be an
46:21
interesting coaching match up to decipher in this game because
46:24
they both have the stars. Bronson I think is better than
46:26
Halliburton, but they both have stars that are doing.
46:28
They both have a comeback prowess.
46:30
The Knicks are much greater than the Pacers when it comes to the
46:32
comeback, but let's not dodge that.
46:34
The Pacers did 3. I started as well, so that'll be
46:38
an interesting match of the Knicks have to play well in the
46:40
third quarter. If they don't play well in the
46:42
third quarter, that's where we see most of their losses.
46:43
But they put their foot on their throat against the Celtics and.
46:46
Games breaking news busy all day today.
46:48
Which is something you didn't see you were looking for that if
46:51
fire from any of those teams. OKC had the dominant victories
46:54
in the Denver series at Game 2 and then the last game in Game 7
46:57
the Timberwolves had in the Lakers series.
46:59
Where was that dominant victory for the Knicks?
47:01
We hadn't seen it outside of the one game against the Pistons
47:03
where they had the 21 O run. Now they finally have it, which
47:06
puts them to that level of dominance again in.
47:08
Addition I like anal. That they've overcome.
47:13
Yeah, between all the fart noises, yes, I think, I think
47:18
the Knicks just have such a great balance of certain guys.
47:22
Like obviously we know Cats not the greatest offender, but when
47:25
you guy like Mitchell Robinson can come in, then obviously you
47:28
got your superstar. I just think they're they're
47:30
built better around as I I think they'll win in six two.
47:34
I I kind of wanted to see Halliburton and Brunson go at it
47:37
on WWE just to kind of get kind of get a foot up on the game to
47:40
see what happened. But he he pulled the chair out
47:43
and they dipped. But you know, it's it's funny to
47:46
see these guys like embrace kind of what they are unlike, you
47:51
know, some other guys that we've talked about.
47:53
And I think, you know, just with the other side, I think
47:58
Halliburton's going to need a little bit more help by just
48:00
like the way the Knicks are structured.
48:02
I think they do lose on the on the rotational side of things
48:06
from the coaching side of it. And I'm going to start a
48:09
petition on on X Twitter, whatever you guys call it to.
48:12
If can we shave Tibbs head? Like, what are we doing here?
48:16
Like I it just, it's, it bugs me every time they like, does he
48:21
like, oh, this is, this is this is the joint right here.
48:23
This is. It's horrible.
48:26
Before coaches left, I think Chris Finch for the
48:28
Timberwolves, the only one that actually has hair.
48:31
Right. I'm like, man, but then it's
48:33
like, all right, he's got a rocket if they're going to get
48:35
to the finals. And then it's like, all right,
48:37
if we win the finals, can we shave that?
48:39
Jabba. Wouldn't it be fitting?
48:41
Would it be fitting if Thibodeau is the one that takes him to the
48:43
Finals and Thibodeau is the one that brings a championship home
48:47
for New York? A guy that was a New York Knicks
48:51
fan his whole life. He comes from Connecticut.
48:53
This is a guy that worked on the Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy
48:57
always wanted this job and the Knicks would never give it to
49:00
him. And then Leon Rose takes over
49:02
and he's the first person he calls is Tom Thibodeau.
49:05
And, and remember, this is the same Tom Thibodeau that was
49:08
coaching Karl Anthony Towns over there with the Timberwolves.
49:12
And there were things going on in that locker room he couldn't
49:14
control, but he was there to say, you know what, I'll take
49:18
Karl Anthony Towns over here. I'll I let him be in my starting
49:21
center and I can win with Karl Anthony Towns with this roster
49:24
and he's done that. He's gone.
49:26
Further, they started from the top though, and they believed in
49:28
Tibbs and whatever it was like him being the first guy they
49:31
called me like you can take it and and run with it with the
49:35
adjustments that we made and yeah, everybody thought we were
49:37
idiots giving up five first round picks, but being able to
49:40
put those that was. For bridges, not for towns.
49:43
I think, I think this is the team that Thibodeau wanted over
49:46
there with the Timberwolves. He just couldn't get the right
49:49
team together and he was running.
49:50
He was the GM of that roster too.
49:53
So not only was he the coach, he was the the GM.
49:55
All I want Thibodeau to do is concentrate on his rotation and
49:58
make sure he makes the right rotation.
50:00
I don't care. I don't want him making any
50:02
choices on who's on this roster or who's going to do this and
50:06
who's going to do that. I I want him to just concentrate
50:09
on his job. If this is the roster that Tom
50:12
Thibodeau wanted and he has it right now, he's got 2 wing
50:15
defenders. He's got a guy like Josh Hart
50:17
that can defend multiple positions and do all the gritty
50:20
stuff that the Knicks need him to do, rebound and and assist
50:24
and be the tough guy to stand up for the players.
50:27
And then obviously you got the two bigs and Karl Anthony Towns.
50:31
That gives you a dynamic offensive game.
50:33
And then, you know, Mitchell Robinson, even though we call it
50:36
Hack a Mitch, this is a guy that could do so many things on the
50:40
offensive side and defensive side by rebounding, blocking and
50:45
defending the paint and being the anchor of that defense.
50:47
And Mitchell Robinson Doug gets a face off against Nick's legend
50:49
Obie Toffin. Yeah, so that's that's the real
50:52
thing that he didn't have in Minnesota was a Mitchell
50:55
Robinson, a guy who's 611 but is wingspans of a guy who's like 8
50:58
foot 9 or something. He can and closes out like a
51:01
guard on the perimeter. Did you see there was a great
51:04
play. I put it up a little earlier ago
51:06
when he closed out on Jaylen Brown in the corner 3 and Jaylen
51:10
Brown was so shocked that he closed out on him.
51:13
He he couldn't get rid of the ball and turned it over.
51:16
And Mitch just like palmed the ball from him.
51:18
That's crazy from the guy that was the Finals MVP last year.
51:23
If with having a healthy Mitchell Robinson, I mean, if he
51:26
was healthy last year against the Pacers that they might have
51:29
been a very different story. But we know that Embiid
51:31
intentionally hurt him by pulling on his ankle when Embiid
51:34
didn't want the sauce from Mitchell Robinson in that
51:36
series. And you know, karma gets you
51:38
sometimes Joelle, I'll think the thing that I really got annoyed
51:42
by at late in the game and I'm watching the whole thing because
51:44
I was loving every second of it. Obviously by the fourth quarter
51:49
you got Richard Jefferson, Doris Burke.
51:51
All they can talk about is Tibbs has got to get the players out.
51:54
It's cruel punishment to keep them in with a 30 something
51:58
point lead. And I'm just like, but that's
52:01
who he is. He'll take him out, but he wants
52:04
to give them their ovation because this is a guy who
52:08
believes that basketball is won by the best condition team.
52:12
You know who he is as a coach. He's the guy that kept them
52:15
doing suicides late at night. He's the guy when he was
52:18
younger. He's the guy that made sure that
52:20
when it came down to late in the game, he wasn't going to lose
52:23
because his guys retired. And that's what we see.
52:27
The Knicks just wear teams down, even though these guys are
52:31
playing so much minutes. They're not getting tired.
52:34
They're just not. Look at them.
52:36
Do they look tired? Does OG and Nanobi look tired to
52:39
you? And they, by the way, they got
52:42
OG and Nanobi for Emmanuel Clickley and RJ Barrett and
52:46
Precious, who's not in the rotation anymore apparently.
52:49
You know, with him, it just is an extra depth piece.
52:53
OG and Nanobi, as you said, I think he's the best wing
52:56
defender in the NBA, not one of the best.
52:58
I think he's #1 the what he can do with his length and size and
53:02
physicality, he's strong as well.
53:04
It's really different out there and when he's healthy, knock on
53:08
wood because he's the only one I really worry about is when he
53:10
went down last year against the Pacers, it was a problem for the
53:13
Knicks, but they have Mikhail Bridges now as well.
53:16
And Mikhail Bridges has a similar skill set but more of a
53:18
guard and is really good with that mid range jumper.
53:22
You know who he reminds me of? Errol DeMar DeRozan with that
53:25
mid range jump. Oh, let's hope he's not DeMar
53:27
DeRozan in the playoffs. DeMar DeRozan never shows up in
53:31
the playoffs. Never did for Toronto.
53:34
And no matter where he went, including the San Antonio Spurs,
53:36
the man never shows up in the playoffs for some.
53:39
Damn. Guy you trade him and then you
53:40
win the next year, right so. And he was the guy that the
53:42
Knicks were looking at in the offseason.
53:44
I remember God, they didn't make a move for His.
53:46
Skill set they want very similar to bridges right but he's.
53:49
He's not. He's horribly inefficient.
53:51
He's not Mikhail Bridges. No and no, he's not, not at this
53:55
point in his career at least for sure.
53:56
And what Bridges has been able to do for them is get that
53:59
inside space. We have so much going on in the
54:01
three-point line and you have cat who can do some things out
54:04
there. And what do you have running
54:06
around in between those two areas?
54:08
You've got Mikhail Bridges running around and he's going
54:11
to, he's liable to hit every one of those shots.
54:12
I mean, there was a ball that was passed, it was kicked.
54:15
They didn't call the kickball. It went right to Bridges and he
54:18
went into like a perfectly beautiful like 2 step fade away
54:22
swish like he was like, I don't know, like Kobe or something
54:25
doing it. It was beautiful.
54:28
That guy's good man. He's worth 5 non lottery first
54:31
round picks. Who care?
54:33
Who care even if it was lottery first round picks To me, when
54:37
you have a chance to win a championship which you have not
54:39
won since 1973, I trade the whole team away.
54:43
I trade 20 years of draft picks away if he's going to help me
54:47
win a championship. It's not easy to win an NBA
54:50
championship, especially for the Knicks.
54:52
When was the last time the Knicks had a number one pick?
54:55
Could please, could please tell me 1985 It was Patrick Ewing, It
55:00
was Patrick. Ewing frozen envelope.
55:02
Yeah, which everybody has said that the Knicks obviously
55:05
cheated because the NBA wanted them to get Patrick Ewing.
55:09
The fact is it you can't bet on draft picks.
55:12
You don't know what these guys are going to be if they're going
55:14
to be healthy. We've seen how many.
55:17
There are so many guys in the past.
55:19
Portland, remember, how many guys did Portland Trail Blazers
55:22
draft that were were going to be great and couldn't stay healthy
55:25
and barely played? I I'm not, I don't like to throw
55:28
anybody under the bus, but we've seen many teams over the years
55:32
get high draft picks and they never amounted to anything.
55:36
Markel's faults, remember him? I mean, this guy was going to be
55:39
the next big thing, the big point guard.
55:42
Oh, where's he going? Is he going to the seven Sixers?
55:44
Is he going to the Lakers? Is he going here?
55:46
Is it going now? And the fact is, it didn't
55:48
matter where he was going because he sucks.
55:51
So that's the facts. Unfortunately, you don't know
55:54
what these guys are going to be. You know what Mikkel Bridges is?
55:58
You know what OG Ananobi is? That's what you need, guaranteed
56:02
players. And that's what the Knicks have
56:04
right now. This is the best defensive Knick
56:07
team we've seen since the 19 1970s.
56:09
It's not even an argument and anybody that argues that don't
56:13
know basketball. That's why the Knicks have a
56:15
chance right now. It has nothing to do with Jalen
56:17
Brunson's offense or Karl Anthony Towns taking over games
56:20
and scoring 35 to 40 points. You have a guy like Hart that
56:24
can defend multiple positions, Mikkel Bridges that can defend
56:27
multiple positions, OG Anobi that could defend multiple
56:30
positions, even Mitchell Robertson that could defend
56:34
multiple positions. When you have this type of
56:37
aggressive defense and you can move them and a rotation, you
56:42
can win. You can beat any offensive team
56:45
because you have the ability to defend them.
56:49
And that's why, and This is why I believe Tom Thibodeau has the
56:52
team that he's always wanted. He wanted guys that can play 2
56:56
dimensional type of game. And Remember, Remember the the
57:00
Bulls remember they only had Derrick Rose.
57:03
He didn't play defense a lick of it.
57:05
Jaylen Brunson don't play a lick of defense, but he never as good
57:09
as the defense the Bulls provided.
57:11
He never had four guys that can play 2 dimensional basketball
57:17
and can take over games like Ojana Nobi, Michael Bridges and
57:22
Josh Hart and could do it in different ways the way they've
57:25
done it throughout the playoffs. So that's why the Knicks are
57:29
different. That's why the Knicks have a
57:30
chance. I'll end with this for this
57:33
guys. He had it one other time, Errol,
57:36
and it was in college with the same guys.
57:37
And you know what he did? He won two national
57:39
championships. 2 That guy has real mental toughness now.
57:45
Remember Carmelo with the with dressing in black to finish off
57:48
the Celtics? You talking about Villanova?
57:49
Talking about Villanova, yeah, Villanova, you know, like he's
57:53
done it. He's real.
57:54
I know Mellow won the title when he was in college, too, but he
57:57
didn't hit the big shot at the end.
57:58
He didn't run the show the way that Jalen Brunson did as far as
58:02
late in games and that type of mental toughness, we've never
58:06
seen it in New York. I, I maybe that Bernard King
58:09
year before he got hurt, but we've never really seen it
58:12
sustained like this. And what he's doing is so
58:15
special from a leadership standpoint that I mean, I'm
58:19
going to have to go out and get to go get, go get a shirt, man.
58:22
This is, this is the guy. I think he's the most ready of
58:25
the four, you know, point guards or these 4 guards right now to
58:30
win if I really think he is. If he brings a championship home
58:33
to New York, they'll have a picture of a statue of Tom
58:35
Thibodeau on one side and a statue of Jalen Brunson on the
58:38
other. And that's the facts.
58:40
And I, I love Cat's enthusiasm, but I don't want to see Cat
58:43
going out there to the audience, going crazy, doing all this
58:47
stupid crap to the audience when he hits a layup and he gets
58:50
fouled. Cat, play your GameStop shooting
58:53
up 45 foot jumpers and making me sick to my stomach every time
58:56
you do it. We'll be back on Thursday,
58:58
Speedy. We have any guests not.
58:59
Definitively yet, I asked our friend Stuart Schweiger.
59:02
He was interested in coming back on, but I haven't heard from him
59:04
since last week. I know you were also mentioning.
59:06
Riley as well possibility. I'm I'm working on Riley.
59:10
The problem is, is that, you know, obviously rookie camps
59:13
opened up in their training and, and getting Riley on a show.
59:17
I knew this was going to happen. He said, oh, after the after the
59:20
draft. Now he's you know, it's, it's
59:22
rookie camps and everything like that.
59:23
So I got to get Riley to just give us 25 minutes.
59:27
He should. I told him you're going to get
59:30
it to the NFL and you're going to be bigger than everybody
59:32
else. And he says that's not going to
59:34
happen. So we'll see.
59:35
I'll get Riley on the show. Don't worry about it.
59:37
Trust Riley. I I trust him too.
59:39
It's just it's a pain in the yes, but and I really think he's
59:41
going to get that job. But couldn't we, is there any
59:44
way, like if there's a time that works that it's not when we're
59:47
there, where we could just like cut it and then just place it
59:50
in, Yeah. We could do that, yes, but he
59:52
he's it's probably easier for him to do it at night, not in
59:56
the daytime because he's training in the daytime.
59:58
So it I don't think it's going to make a difference.
1:00:01
I think he'll come on later at night and do the show.
1:00:04
I just think it in the daytime it's going to be a little bit
1:00:06
harder for him. So we're working on it.
1:00:08
I I'll get Riley on. He said he wanted to come on.
1:00:11
He said he would. So it's.
1:00:12
It's just a painting. I think he's going to get that
1:00:15
job. I don't think it's going to be
1:00:16
this year. It's going to be two years.
1:00:18
But I do believe Riley Leonard is going to be a starting
1:00:20
quarterback of the the Colts. I really think he's going to get
1:00:23
that job. So such a hard worker, that kid.
1:00:26
Anyways, we'll be back on Thursday with new content, new
1:00:30
guest and more craziness. Thank you to all the fans that
1:00:33
tuned in and listened to our crazy 5 hour show.
1:00:36
We'll talk to you on Thursday. Good night.
1:00:38
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