Latest / Stugotz and Company / Set 2: The Last Knicks Finals (w/Charlie Ward)

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Set 2: The Last Knicks Finals (w/Charlie Ward) · Stugotz and Company

• 0:21
  Speaker 1: He's a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. He was a part
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: of starter on the New York Knicks finals team in
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine. He's the greatest quarterback I've ever seen,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: and now he's a head coach.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Very exciting to have him on. Charlie Ward is with us.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Of all the things I just named, what is the
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: best one on the resume? It's me thinking you're the
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: best college quarterback I've ever seen. Yes, I'll say all
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of the about Charlie.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: How'd you get into coaching? Why'd you want to get
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: into coaching?
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: Well, I've been coaching for the past eighteen years or so.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: I started out in high school as a football coach
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: and got into basketball the past seven years and high
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: school ranks and my first year at Florida and m
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: in college now. So I've been coaching. Even when I retired,
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: I coached two years with the Rockets, so so it's
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: part of my DNA. My dad was a coach growing up,
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: so I've I've been around it. I like sports, so
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: it's a good fit Charlie as a coach.
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: If I told you you're starting a team today and
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: you could have Jalen Brunson ogn Andobi or Karl Anthony
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: Towns to build your team around.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: Who would you pick? Uh, Well, you need all three
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: of the guys, But of course you know Jalen would
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: be the main guy because of just what he's brought
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: to the table here. You know, you can score it,
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: he can pass it, he commands a double team. But
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: you need a guy, I mean, like Og who's you
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: need complimentary players. So he's a compliment to Jalen, and
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: so it's just it's just who he is and Cat
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: is very similar. So they all three are different and
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: you need those type of players on your team. So
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: if you're going to start a team, you would go
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: with Jalen just because of just his leadership and the
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: way he's able to command certain things. And then of
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: course you need those other guys as well to be
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: able to make the team go.
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: Charlie, I want to, if you don't mind, go back
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: to your run to the finals in ninety nine with
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: the Knicks and obviously beating Miami on that run was
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: heartbreaking for me, But what was your favorite part about
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: that run? It feels it felt like because it was
• 2:45
  Speaker 5: a shortened season, everything came together at just the right time.
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: And it seemed like a lot of fun for you guys.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: It was, and you know, we had some new pieces
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: that we were trying to fit into the puzzle, and
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: it took us some time because it was a shortened
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: season and when you had Latreil Spree, well Marcus Camby
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: just to name a couple that were new. They had
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: to get used to coach Van Gunny style. And it
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: took us some time to do that. And once we
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: found our stretch, found our our chemistry. It happened at
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: the latter part of the year because we needed to
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: win like five, five or six games in a row
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: at the end just to be the eighth seed. And
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: that kind of helped helped us, you know, gave us
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: that momentum we needed are going into the going into
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: the playoffs, and it was it was a great run.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: You know, it was five games. We beat Miami on
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: a Allen Houston buzzer.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Beater, don't remind Hilie.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: Then we swept Atlanta, and then we beat Indiana in
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: six games, you know where Larry Johnson four point play,
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: so to help us, you know, get over that hum.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: So it's just we came up a little short to
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: in the finals by the end of the day. You know,
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: it's very similar to kind of what the Knicks have done,
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: and all the teams that normally make a run. You
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: find your chemistry and you hit your stride. You know,
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: Nicks winn in like thirteen whatever it was, games in
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  Speaker 3: a row. Some of that is not by accident. Those
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: are habits that are built, and so it's starting to
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: carry over because all the champions that you know, they've
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: had breaks along the way to help them win games.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: And so you can just keep going back into history,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: whether it's Super Bowls, whether it's NBA Finals, whatever it
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: may be, or any kind of championship, the teams have
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: had to overcome something unless they were just better through
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: throughout that series or in that game to help them
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: get over the top. I think about Tom Brady being
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: down twenty eight to three. You know, people counted them
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: out and they end up coming back to win. So
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: those things are normally, you know, very similar.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Charlie, can you put us there? Can you put us
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: inside your head?
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: What are you thinking when the Knicks or down twenty
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: nine and they come all the way back to win
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: the game, Game four at MSG and now a game
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: away from winning an NBA championship.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: What were you thinking, Well.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: The first half was something uncharacteristic because the Spurs were
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: shooting lights out. The Spurs were shooting lights out and
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: they weren't missing. They're there three kept looking up there,
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: the three eighty percent. Yeah, and their Phil golvercenter is
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: like seventy percent and they were shooting, you know, eighty
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: nine percent or something from the free through the line,
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: and the Knicks were sputtering along and so for them
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: to be down I'm not sure how many points they
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: were down at halftime, but for them to give up
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: seventy six points was just something unreal, especially for a
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: team that defensively, you know, they hang their hat on
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: that end. But the Spurs were doing a great job
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: of getting creating open shots and they made those shots.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: And I think in the second half, of course, they
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: had to cut their number down, which they ended up doing,
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: holding them to thirty points. And they had to put
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: a push offensively, which they're capable of doing because they
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: scored forty two points in a quarter, so they're capable
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: of doing that. And the thing that when they started
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: making the run and cutting it, they got it to
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: like fifteen in the fourth quarter with eight thirty or
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: so to go, and I was telling Bernard King, if
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: we can get it down to ten, you know, within
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: the next three three minutes, they would have a chance
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: to kind of cut this lead. And they kept going
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: back and forth. They cut it to like thirteen, and
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: then the Spurs would push it back up to eighteen,
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: and then it got to fifteen, and then it was
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: a right around a three minute mark or so, it's
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: when it was like four points and you saw the
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: momentum started to shift. The Spurs to me, started drifting,
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: they started looking at the score and weren't playing good basketball.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: They're shooting quick. They had a couple of turnovers, and
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: the Knicks started to put a run together and it
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: was one of those moments where once it got down
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: the flour, you knew that they had a chance to
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: pull us off. And that's when a garden got really,
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: really loud. Charlie, you played for this team.
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: What would it mean to that building, that city, that
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: fan base if they are able to close this out
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: and actually bring a title to this city.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: Of course, it'll be big because it hadn't happened in
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: fifty three years, and you know, Everyone's always clamoring for
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: a championship, but to do it in New York is
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: always different, you know, It's it's a different, different vibe.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: The thing that I don't like is we even at
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: all championships, people get belligerent and start doing crazy things
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: as opposed to just celebrating celebrating the team and the accomplishment.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: They see it as an opportunity to act crazy. But
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: other than that, you know, it'll be a great feeling
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: for New York to win another championionship. It has been
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: a minute. The Giants, I think maybe the last time
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: something like this has happened from a national stage, and
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: the Knicks. They're Knicks fans all over the place, and
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: so it'll be a great moment for all of us.
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: At the end of the day, Charlie, every time a
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: Nicks alum is shown on the Jumbo tronk, the reaction
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: is almost always louder than any celebrity there. What's it
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: like to feel that kind of appreciation from Knicks fans
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: all these years later.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: Well, that's just New York fans in general. They appreciate
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: the work that you brought in, and so it's just
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's a great feeling because you feel welcome
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: when you go back. They do a great job. The
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: organization does a great job of bringing back the alumni.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: No matter how many years you've played, if you want
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: to come back, they work to welcome you back in
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: some form of fashion. I had a few of my
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: nine to nine teammates at the game the other night,
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: so you know, got a chance to see them, and
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: so it's always, you know, great to be able to
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: be welcome back to a place where you call home.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: And for me, it was nine and a half seasons.
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: Charlie is, is this almost like a Chicago cub situation right,
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: because it's been so long for the Knicks in the
• 10:37
  Speaker 5: NBA Because even some of the guys you talked about,
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: like you spent almost all of your career in New York,
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: but some of these guys only spent a portion of
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: their career in New York. But it's they're so tied
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: in and they're so locked into this run, and it
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: just feels like everybody is sort of on board with that,
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: Like not that everybody's cheering against the Spurs or anything,
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: but it feels like if the Knicks win, we get it.
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: Like it's been so long. They deserve this.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: The Spurs, of course, this year's team is fighting. They
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: have five five NBA championships, and the Knicks have, you know,
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: won and so it's just one of those type of
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: deals where it feels like everyone wants the Knicks to
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: win because they have they's they feel like it's time
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: and and so that's kind of part of part of
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: the part of the deal that that you're seeing. And
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: then again, they're Knicks fans everywhere. You know, I've encountered
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: Knicks fans, uh, not just in New York, but even
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: here in Tallahassee. You know, people saying I'm rooting for
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: the Knicks, or I'm from New York. All those things
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: are are are are are always going to be there,
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: and I'm grateful that I get to be a part
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: of it now. Some of the players that played and
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: only played for a few years, like Carmelo, Anthony Stefan, Marlberry,
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: those guys are New York legends. So that kind of
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: just plays into who they are, even though they might
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: not have had a success while they were there, but
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: they are New York legends and so they're going to
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: be always welcome.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Charlie what do you make of guys like Shumpert and
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Metaworld Peace wearing their own jerseys. I mean it's a
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: little what do you make of that? I mean, ridiculous,
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: But you have to.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: Know who they are, who people are, right, So once
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: you understand those things, you know it makes sense. Go ahead, Charlie.
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: Before Mitchell Robinson in twenty twenty two, you were the
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: last next draft pick to sign a multi year contract
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: with the team after their rookie deal it lasted twenty
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: three years. At any point during that stretch where you like,
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: come on Nicks like Gallinari, Wilson, Chandler, somebody signed his
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: second deal.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: It wasn't brought some I didn't you know, I didn't
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: follow that, but it was brought to my attention when
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: it actually happened. But this is just unfortunate. It was
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: kind of like the times that we that the Knicks
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: were in during that time that we were the management piece.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: You know, it wasn't where it should have been, and
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: you weren't getting the retention from some of the guys
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: that were being drafted. So you know, I was grateful
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: to be able to hold that title for a long time.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: But even me, you know it was crazy because not
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: everyone wanted me to be there for second contract because
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: I wasn't you know, you're too uncle New York style
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: point guard. But I knew my role was in the community,
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: all those types of things. So I was blessed to
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: be there for nine and a half years, not being
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: a superstar, but I did start my role.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Charlie, I've always wondered this, and since I have you,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: i'll let you go, and just a minute here, I've
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: always wondered, do you regret it all? You're the greatest
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: college quarterback I've ever seen. Do you regret it all?
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: The decision to go to the NBA and not play
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: in the NFL.
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: No, I don't regret At the end of the day,
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: when we finished college, the thing that everyone wants that
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: I had an opportunity to do was to play professionally.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: And when you have a job after college and it's
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: one of the jobs that you dreamed about, you don't
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: have any regrets.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: If at any point that Jets had called you and
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: asked you to play quarterback, your answer would have been no.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: Right when how about today? He's a Jets man.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: He doesn't love it, he's a Jets like.
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: Today question, the answer would always be no.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Age it would always be out. Uh, will you go
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: to game six? Are you going to to any of
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: these games?
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Charlie?
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: I was at game four?
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Will you be going to game six? If? If inded,
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: it goes back to Madison Square guarding No.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately for me. Uh. I you know, we have young
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: men coming in for summer school and we'll start welcoming
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: them and getting them prepared for uh summer workouts. So
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: I know him to get back for one game. Last
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: year it was the Eastern Conference Finals Game one where
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: Holla Birdon hit the the bunk jumper at that hit
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: the top of the rim.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: You picked the good games, Charlie, Yeah.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: Went in uh and then last game was game four.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: So I know him to get to one game every
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: year and hopefully Uh. That game was great for the
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: Knicks fans for us in general. But I hope we
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: can win on Saturday so that we can post the
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: trophy and not to me. I'm hoping it happens because
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: that's the way. Uh. San Antonio won their first championship
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: on our home court.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: Charley, we appreciate, we appreciate the time greatly.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: On the way out, here. Tell us what you're doing
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: with Charlie Wards Champions Ranch. Champions Ranch dot org is
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: the website for more information. But tell us what you're
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: doing there.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, my family foundation, we're building a youth and family
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: sports education in wellness campus here in Tallahassee. And it's
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: a one stop shop model for the community and those
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: that are in the region and also a national opportunity
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: for those outside of our region to be able to
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: come and enjoy, uh, the programs and services that will
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: be able to offer at the Champions Ranch.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: All right, Charlie, we appreciate the time, and that's good
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: luck to the next and uh, this is a very
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: exciting time.
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: Man. I'm glad you're joining it like the rest of
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: the fans are. That's very cool.
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: There's no chance you and PJ.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: Brown have become friends, right, No, no chance.
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: Yes, Charlie we were friends after that, well to hear.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Actually, yeah, we were.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: In Chapel, We went to Chapel together and all those
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: types of things. No, it was just hea the moment
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: type thing.
• 17:37
  Speaker 5: So it was always such a weird fight between two
• 17:39
  Speaker 5: of the nicest guys in the league.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: It was very streng yes, but it took so much
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: the Light winning that series.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that was the only one out of the four.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: All right, thank you sir, thank you, appreciate you.