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2026 NBA ECF PREVIEW ON ONELEGUPALEX MEDIA WITH TERMINELLO’s TAKE · OneLegUpAlex Sports

0:00
Speaker 1: All right, Well, guess what it is decided? Who the
0:05
Speaker 1: Knicks are going to play in the Conference finals after
0:08
Speaker 1: a gritty seven game series, it will be the Cleveland Cavaliers.
0:12
Speaker 1: And I waited to get Terminello's take on this till
0:15
Speaker 1: we knew for sure who would be. I think the
0:18
Speaker 1: Calves versus Knicks is a very interesting matchup, but I
0:21
Speaker 1: think I think lewis Terminello. It's sort of an, I
0:24
Speaker 1: don't want to say easier pathway, but.
0:26
Speaker 2: It is a a.
0:30
Speaker 1: Manageable pathway to the to the finals for the next
0:33
Speaker 1: wouldn't you say.
0:35
Speaker 2: Alex, good afternoon, Thanks for having me. As always, Yes,
0:38
Speaker 2: it is a more comfortable path for the Knicks to
0:43
Speaker 2: get to the NBA Finals for the first time since
0:45
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety nine. You thought that they would have to
0:50
Speaker 2: play the two teams that finished ahead of them during
0:53
Speaker 2: the regular season, Detroit and Boston, where they would have
0:56
Speaker 2: to open up on the road, but they've opened up
0:59
Speaker 2: at home for or all three series in the Eastern
1:02
Speaker 2: Conference playoffs. They'll be playing Cleveland, which has had a
1:08
Speaker 2: tough playoff both with Toronto and UH and with Detroit
1:14
Speaker 2: on just a day's rest. Sometimes that helps because the
1:16
Speaker 2: Knicks have had a long layoff, and yes it helped
1:20
Speaker 2: the health of og Anenobe. But sometimes you know that
1:24
Speaker 2: first half tomorrow night they might be they might be
1:26
Speaker 2: a little, uh, a little rusty. So but it's always
1:30
Speaker 2: good to open up at home instead of traveling today
1:33
Speaker 2: to Detroit. You know a couple of things about Detroit.
1:36
Speaker 2: We kind of talked about it going into the playoffs.
1:39
Speaker 2: Are they mature enough? Do they have the second option? Well,
1:43
Speaker 2: they they've accomplished great things in a short period of
1:46
Speaker 2: time over the last couple of years, but they're not
1:48
Speaker 2: ready yet. Like we had talked about, they don't have that.
1:52
Speaker 2: They didn't have the consistent second option from Caid Cunningham
1:56
Speaker 2: and Cunningham did not have a good game last night.
1:59
Speaker 2: Plus the fact they were mature and they what after
2:04
Speaker 2: they won a great game on the road Friday night,
2:07
Speaker 2: they really were never win last night's game.
2:10
Speaker 1: Well yeah, And I mean, I know the Calves had
2:12
Speaker 1: a dominant couple of quarters there. I was falling from afar,
2:16
Speaker 1: But I don't know. I just think the Knicks versus
2:18
Speaker 1: the Calves is and the healthier team. I'm more confident.
2:23
Speaker 1: Plus they didn't look too bad against the Sixers after
2:26
Speaker 1: and I think that the blown lead against the Hawks
2:30
Speaker 1: really fired them up, and it keeps them fired up
2:33
Speaker 1: during the conference finals now so.
2:36
Speaker 2: Well, I mean I think that they're obviously they know,
2:39
Speaker 2: you know, he's they know this is their opportunity to
2:42
Speaker 2: at least get to the finals.
2:45
Speaker 1: The two teams that are because Harden also switched up
2:47
Speaker 1: to right, So Harden got a little he stepped up
2:51
Speaker 1: a bit more during the series right for the Cavs.
2:54
Speaker 2: I mean, he kind of deferred to Donovan Mitchell last night,
2:58
Speaker 2: who was spectacular, just really a fantastic all around basketball
3:03
Speaker 2: game for Mitchell. Again, another seventh game where Harden didn't
3:09
Speaker 2: hit double figures. He didn't didn't have really any effect
3:16
Speaker 2: on last night's game. But again, he's still Harden, and
3:21
Speaker 2: yes he's had playoff failures. But could there be a
3:25
Speaker 2: game where he goes off for thirty, thirty five or
3:29
Speaker 2: fifteen assists? He could I don't see it happening. I
3:36
Speaker 2: think the Knicks will win this series. I'm not going
3:38
Speaker 2: to pick the number of games, but I think the
3:42
Speaker 2: Knicks will be in control of this series most of
3:46
Speaker 2: the way.
3:48
Speaker 1: Spider Brunson is like the headline now so we'll see
3:51
Speaker 1: how that goes. By the way, Domin Mitchell's a guy,
3:54
Speaker 1: Knicks fans wanted down their team a while ago. If
3:57
Speaker 1: you remember correctly, I mean they I did.
4:00
Speaker 2: And h yes and utah, and the Knicks could not
4:05
Speaker 2: agree on on trade compensation. If Danny Inge really wanted
4:11
Speaker 2: to trade him to uh the Knicks in the first place,
4:14
Speaker 2: he asked for three unprotected picks RJ. Barrett, one or
4:21
Speaker 2: two other another player. But the Knicks still wildn't give
4:24
Speaker 2: up the three number one the three unprotected draft picks,
4:27
Speaker 2: which they eventually gave to the Nets for Bridges. So
4:31
Speaker 2: uh again, Donvid Mitchell is a fantastic player. He's going
4:36
Speaker 2: to get to the foul line a lot. The Cavaliers
4:38
Speaker 2: get to the foul line a lot. The Knicks get
4:40
Speaker 2: to the foul line a lot, led by Brunson, So
4:43
Speaker 2: foul trouble will be key. The way the game is
4:47
Speaker 2: called will be key. The Cavaliers are more athletic with
4:52
Speaker 2: upfront with Evon Mobley and former net Jared Allen, but
4:56
Speaker 2: they're not really bulky physical guys, so that should offset
5:03
Speaker 2: their advantage athletically inside to the Knicks. I mean, I really,
5:10
Speaker 2: I mean, I really see the Knicks controlling this series.
5:14
Speaker 2: I could be wrong. Obviously, Hey, anything can happen, especially
5:17
Speaker 2: if there's an injury, and you know how that affects
5:21
Speaker 2: affects things. But I think the next are on a
5:23
Speaker 2: pretty good path to be playing Oklahoma City or San Antonio,
5:27
Speaker 2: which are the best two teams in the league. But
5:30
Speaker 2: I think Oklahoma City obviously defending champ. They've been there,
5:35
Speaker 2: they're still young, and uh, you know they'll be there.
5:39
Speaker 1: By the way, I forgot Max Juice, who's been a
5:41
Speaker 1: you know, a legend of the Big East. He's been
5:43
Speaker 1: doing really well for Cleveland. I mean, he's been there
5:46
Speaker 1: in his whole career.
5:46
Speaker 2: I believe right well, he well he was you know,
5:49
Speaker 2: he was at with Miami. You know, he's bounced around
5:52
Speaker 2: the league and now he's you know, he's a fixture
5:54
Speaker 2: in Cleveland. And again, look at Sam Merrill last night.
6:01
Speaker 2: Look at all look at the threes that he connected
6:05
Speaker 2: within a couple of times used a thread of the
6:07
Speaker 2: three to get inside and hit mid range jumpers. So again,
6:13
Speaker 2: Cleveland has an excellent team. They have an excellent coach
6:16
Speaker 2: in uh former NETS coach Kenny Atkinson, who was an
6:20
Speaker 2: assistant coach on the Warrior team with Mike Brown a
6:24
Speaker 2: couple of years back. So there's there's some storylines here.
6:28
Speaker 2: But I think when the smoke clears, the Knicks will
6:31
Speaker 2: be the team that emerges UH and will be playing
6:35
Speaker 2: either Oklahoma City or San Antonio, probably Oklahoma City UH
6:39
Speaker 2: in the NBA Finals, and the Knicks will give We'll
6:42
Speaker 2: give Oklahoma City, I believe, a tough time. Do I
6:46
Speaker 2: think they we'll beat them Friday seven? Right now, I
6:49
Speaker 2: would say no, Let's let's get through this series, see
6:52
Speaker 2: who's healthy, see how they play. But I think Oklahoma
6:56
Speaker 2: City and the Knicks will be an interesting final that
7:01
Speaker 2: that basketball fans are gonna want to see now.
7:06
Speaker 1: I guess Sga was asked if he was he thought
7:12
Speaker 1: the team was a dynasty or where they rank. I
7:14
Speaker 1: wouldn't call them a dynasty yet they only won one.
7:17
Speaker 1: I mean, dynasty is like three of us.
7:19
Speaker 2: Now, they're not a dynasty. Then they're a potential dynasty
7:22
Speaker 2: because they're so talented and they're so young. But no, no, no, no, no.
7:26
Speaker 1: No, yeah, I just I don't see them as as
7:29
Speaker 1: a dynasty yet. But I guess the post felt like
7:32
Speaker 1: ask him the question By the way, that's first team
7:35
Speaker 1: is no joke. I think they can take the Thunder
7:37
Speaker 1: to six or seven.
7:38
Speaker 2: Also, I think all I do too. I mean, Victor
7:41
Speaker 2: Wembanyama is just an amazing young player who's going to
7:44
Speaker 2: get better and better. Stephen Castle out of Yukon. We
7:48
Speaker 2: talked about Dylan Harper last week. The two went to
7:50
Speaker 2: Rutgers for his freshman year. He's going to be a superstar.
7:55
Speaker 2: You know, he would have been greatest and that's where
7:57
Speaker 2: able to get him in, But again they didn't. They
8:01
Speaker 2: lost spots in a lottery last year and this year.
8:04
Speaker 2: But Dylan Hopper is terrific. They really got a nice team.
8:09
Speaker 2: I don't know if they're ready to beat Oklahoma City
8:12
Speaker 2: Friday seven, but if they can, I think that helps
8:15
Speaker 2: the Knicks a little bit. If I was a Knick fan,
8:17
Speaker 2: I'd rather play San Antonio than Oklahoma City.
8:20
Speaker 1: I'd rather play a banged up team that goes seven
8:23
Speaker 1: and whoever it is, because that weekends the team a
8:25
Speaker 1: little bit. But we'll have to see how it goes
8:27
Speaker 1: all right, As the Knicks were waiting their opponent, the
8:33
Speaker 1: City through an l r R strike, which I find ridiculous,
8:36
Speaker 1: and we just talked about it a little while ago.
8:39
Speaker 1: The city was rallying around the Subway series and I
8:43
Speaker 1: ended up at two of the games, one thanks to
8:45
Speaker 1: Ryan and the one I ended up going there and
8:48
Speaker 1: just you know, seeing if your friends over the few
8:51
Speaker 1: hours there at second a game two. But the Yanks
8:55
Speaker 1: don't have it together. I mean, the Mets heros yesterday
8:59
Speaker 1: was pretty intriguing, the baby hit, the tyrone, Taylor come,
9:03
Speaker 1: you know, to come back like that. But the Yanks
9:07
Speaker 1: just don't have it together right now. They're two banged up.
9:11
Speaker 1: Spencer Jones is not working out right now. He had
9:14
Speaker 1: to be pinched for last night. By yes Day, by
9:16
Speaker 1: the way, I mean, there are things about this team
9:19
Speaker 1: that I know where almost a Memorial Day. But then
9:22
Speaker 1: you get healthier and hopefully sooner or later, or these
9:25
Speaker 1: series losses will continue to add.
9:27
Speaker 2: Up Louis well. If the Yankees are banged up, what
9:31
Speaker 2: are the Mets? The Mets are banged up on steroids
9:35
Speaker 2: without without the six starters, including two of their pitchers,
9:40
Speaker 2: a key reserve in Mauricio. The Yankees still in good shape.
9:46
Speaker 2: I mean they are, yes, they we talked about it.
9:50
Speaker 2: They're pitching, the staff is tremendous. Their back end is suspect.
9:55
Speaker 2: I assume the Yankees will show up the bullpen by
9:58
Speaker 2: the trading deadline. Bednar is good. He's not great. That
10:03
Speaker 2: may not. That might be unfair to him to try
10:06
Speaker 2: to compare him to a guy like say Mariano Rivera,
10:09
Speaker 2: because he's the greatest of all time. But when Ben
10:14
Speaker 2: Nark comes in, it's not like Mason Miller coming in
10:18
Speaker 2: or Edwin Diaz coming in. He's good, he's good. Yeah,
10:25
Speaker 2: the Yankees bombed. The Yankee lineup is not as good
10:29
Speaker 2: as I thought it would be. But again, I Ben
10:33
Speaker 2: Rice is better than I ever thought he would be.
10:36
Speaker 2: I never thought Ben Rice would be this kind of
10:38
Speaker 2: offensive player, and he certainly is. And this is not
10:42
Speaker 2: And I don't think Ben Rice is a fluke. I
10:44
Speaker 2: think Ben Rice is going to get better and better
10:46
Speaker 2: and better. He's legit.
10:47
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what, the fact that they still
10:51
Speaker 1: are twenty wins before Memorial Day is pretty good. I
10:54
Speaker 1: like to have a team at the clip of thirty
10:56
Speaker 1: five or forty by Memorial Days. So it's it's good
10:59
Speaker 1: in that regard. But it's amazing to think the Golden Boy,
11:04
Speaker 1: the Jersey Kid Frank Volpi. Anthony Volpi, uh, you know,
11:10
Speaker 1: is now a backup. He's starting because of an injury.
11:12
Speaker 1: And I think his career downswing is sad. It is
11:16
Speaker 1: tragic in a lot of ways. And I think one
11:20
Speaker 1: Cabby comes back, he will be demoted again. And how
11:24
Speaker 1: sad is that?
11:25
Speaker 2: Look? Again? Will he be demoted or will he be
11:30
Speaker 2: traded to a team that's looking for a middle infield er,
11:32
Speaker 2: either either second base or shortstop. He made a couple
11:35
Speaker 2: of fine defensive plays in this in this series over
11:38
Speaker 2: the weekend, and he walks seven times, and he's really
11:42
Speaker 2: not known for being selective at the plate, Alex. I mean,
11:47
Speaker 2: I think that there are teams in the major leagues
11:50
Speaker 2: that they scowed every player on every team that will
11:53
Speaker 2: take will definitely take first of all the kid's young
11:56
Speaker 2: and take a chance on him. Two years ago he
11:59
Speaker 2: saw twenty eight basically sold eighteen last year, droving seventy runs,
12:02
Speaker 2: even though his batting average is low. I think it's
12:06
Speaker 2: too early to give him on Anthony Volpi. If you're
12:09
Speaker 2: I'm not even talking about the Yankees, if you're any
12:10
Speaker 2: major league team, because when Jordane Lombard, who's supposed to
12:14
Speaker 2: be their best prospect comes up. Is he going to
12:17
Speaker 2: be the shortstop or they're gonna put them in a
12:19
Speaker 2: different position. I mean that I don't know.
12:26
Speaker 1: Well, they've just Blue Jays this week and the Mets
12:29
Speaker 1: face the Reds, and the Reds of I mean, actually,
12:32
Speaker 1: the Mets could take two out of three again this series.
12:35
Speaker 1: I mean they look like they're a bit on the
12:37
Speaker 1: hot streak. I know they lost Friday, but still the
12:40
Speaker 1: way they beat the Tigers, the way they do two
12:42
Speaker 1: out of three here. And the pitching, I mean, we
12:46
Speaker 1: talked about that. That was always a concern, but the
12:49
Speaker 1: pitching did hold on. I mean, Peterson's performance on Saturday
12:53
Speaker 1: was pretty good. He made Jazz waste to run at
12:56
Speaker 1: third and Judge and that was the turning point to me.
12:59
Speaker 1: If when Jazz cannot put Judge Hall, you know, get
13:03
Speaker 1: Judge home. That changed the dynamic of the game as
13:05
Speaker 1: far as I'm concerned.
13:07
Speaker 2: In Game two, so the Mets. The Mets obviously, with
13:12
Speaker 2: the freak injury to Clay Holmes, who's been just tremendous
13:17
Speaker 2: since the Mets have signed him last year, that's gonna hurt.
13:20
Speaker 2: He's going to be out three months. They don't have
13:23
Speaker 2: saying the uh and so they don't know who's going
13:27
Speaker 2: to pitch two of these four games against the Nationals.
13:29
Speaker 2: If the Mets can go four and three this week,
13:32
Speaker 2: that'll knock, That'll get them a game closer to five hundred.
13:37
Speaker 2: I mean, I think that's the way you have to
13:38
Speaker 2: look at it. I mean, I know they're ten and
13:40
Speaker 2: five in May. Somehow they're ten and five in May
13:43
Speaker 2: with this depleted patchwork lineup. But is that going to continue?
13:49
Speaker 2: I don't even know who's out there that who they
13:51
Speaker 2: can do.
13:51
Speaker 1: I guess the Reds are next weekend, so they go
13:53
Speaker 1: to Nationals. Now the redsid Yeah, right, they go.
13:55
Speaker 2: To Nationals for four games, and the Nationals are second
13:58
Speaker 2: behind the Yankees. I believe at least going into the
14:00
Speaker 2: weekend or going into the week in UH run scored,
14:05
Speaker 2: so the Nationals can hit.
14:07
Speaker 1: And I know, I know it's early, but the fact
14:09
Speaker 1: that both teams have a n L East and a
14:12
Speaker 1: last implications this week.
14:14
Speaker 2: It's a big week to end May.
14:15
Speaker 1: I have you know, to end this stretch, bridge this
14:20
Speaker 1: quarter stretch before the next stretch after Memorial Day.
14:23
Speaker 2: So no, Alex, I totally, I totally agree with you.
14:28
Speaker 2: So I mean the nets. The Mets just have to
14:33
Speaker 2: try to scrape out as many wins as they can.
14:36
Speaker 2: It can they I don't know. I mean, you know,
14:38
Speaker 2: look at look at look at the lineup. I mean,
14:40
Speaker 2: Torrenz is a terrific backup catcher, but he's not a starter.
14:44
Speaker 2: And the more these guys play, the more you see
14:47
Speaker 2: his weaknesses, not defensively offensively. Yes, he got a big
14:50
Speaker 2: hit yesterday to make it five when the Yankees were
14:54
Speaker 2: up five to one, to make it five three, But
14:58
Speaker 2: you know, if he's getting four at that's a day,
15:00
Speaker 2: for every game for a month, you're gonna see his
15:04
Speaker 2: weaknesses offensively again. And it's tough. It's tough, but just
15:13
Speaker 2: got to take it one game at the time and
15:16
Speaker 2: see what happens. But it was an exciting weekend. It
15:21
Speaker 2: was if you're a Met fan. And uh, that was
15:24
Speaker 2: a great win yesterday.
15:26
Speaker 1: They always seem to beat the Yankees at home and
15:29
Speaker 1: and then sometimes on the road too, so they always
15:31
Speaker 1: can get into a high gear, especially recent of recent years.
15:35
Speaker 1: So you know, and I was just thinking about this, Louis.
15:39
Speaker 1: If Stearns did it right and kept Nimo and Pete
15:44
Speaker 1: Alonso to mix in with those new kids of Benge
15:48
Speaker 1: and aj Ewing, I think that's still a good lineup.
15:52
Speaker 1: Like I would, I would watch that lineup every night. Well, yeah,
15:56
Speaker 1: for sure.
15:58
Speaker 2: But and you know, there's been no bigger critic of
16:02
Speaker 2: David Stearns than me. A couple of weeks ago on
16:05
Speaker 2: this podcast, I said he's ruining a franchise. I actually
16:09
Speaker 2: have to take a little bit of a step back.
16:10
Speaker 2: I'm not saying that I agree with everything he did,
16:13
Speaker 2: but in his defense, he can come back and say,
16:16
Speaker 2: wait a second. Polanco, who's a very good hitter. I
16:22
Speaker 2: mean twenty six seventy six and two seventy five last year.
16:25
Speaker 2: Now he twenty six home runs in Seattle, switch hither.
16:28
Speaker 2: This is gonna probably be the main designated hither And
16:30
Speaker 2: the Mets have no dh They don't, I mean Austin
16:33
Speaker 2: Slater and Menande's they're DFA players and they will be
16:36
Speaker 2: DFA before the end of the year. There's no doubt
16:38
Speaker 2: about it once injured guy's come back. But Stearns can say,
16:43
Speaker 2: I have thirteen guys on a disabled list, how can
16:45
Speaker 2: you grade me? And I would have to I can't
16:50
Speaker 2: say I disagree with him. You got Lindor who never
16:53
Speaker 2: misses a game. Guy plays one hundred and fifty five,
16:56
Speaker 2: one hundred and sixty games every year. And he's been
16:59
Speaker 2: out for a month, and he might be out for
17:00
Speaker 2: another month. You know, uh you add up all these
17:05
Speaker 2: met injuries. I'm not, as you know, I'm not a
17:08
Speaker 2: fan of Lewis Robert Jr. But he wasn't terrible for
17:12
Speaker 2: the Mets. I think he was gonna seek his level
17:14
Speaker 2: of incompetency, uh if the more he played. But that's
17:18
Speaker 2: me talking, that's not I'm not a baseball guy like
17:21
Speaker 2: David Sterns. I'm a baseball observer. So if David Stearns
17:25
Speaker 2: wants to say, hey, uh give me a pass, okay,
17:29
Speaker 2: all right. Nimo has been great for Texas. He made
17:33
Speaker 2: a spectacular catch yesterday, robbing a home run in their
17:36
Speaker 2: game against the Astros. But again, for every Alonso fan
17:42
Speaker 2: and your one on one, most of my uh met
17:45
Speaker 2: friends are not most of them, all of them are.
17:48
Speaker 2: He's done nothing for the Orioles. He's had no impact on,
17:52
Speaker 2: you know, on the Oriols so far. Yes, I'm sure
17:54
Speaker 2: he'll I'm sure he'll uh produce, but it's not like, uh,
18:00
Speaker 2: he's up there with Rice and Judge and Schwarber.
18:05
Speaker 1: Who the Mets the Phillies were they fifteen and five
18:09
Speaker 1: or fifteen and four?
18:13
Speaker 2: They were nine to nineteen, just like the Mets, and uh,
18:19
Speaker 2: fifteen and four. Since now, the only thing is the
18:22
Speaker 2: Phillies were playing terribly. They didn't have injuries, they have
18:25
Speaker 2: their full line.
18:26
Speaker 1: You can't say, you can't not say Mattingly has made
18:29
Speaker 1: a difference down in Philly.
18:30
Speaker 2: I mean they probably got a they probably got a
18:34
Speaker 2: boost from the change in managers. I don't know. Again,
18:38
Speaker 2: I haven't watched them that closely. I don't know what
18:44
Speaker 2: changes Manningly has done. He hasn't made really any changes
18:47
Speaker 2: to the lineup. Plus the fact that they got they
18:49
Speaker 2: got Zach Wheeler back, uh and coming off the surgery,
18:53
Speaker 2: and that you know, Zach Wheeler might be the most
18:56
Speaker 2: underrated big time pitcher in Major League Baseball.
18:59
Speaker 1: And he's got he's got what do you call it
19:02
Speaker 1: longevity because he's been in the league forever.
19:04
Speaker 2: It feels like m no and he I mean he
19:07
Speaker 2: shout out the well nobody gets a complete game show
19:10
Speaker 2: that anymore. But he was you know, they beat the
19:15
Speaker 2: Pirates six nothing yesterday. The Phillies are on the run,
19:18
Speaker 2: no doubt about it, and they're they're gonna They're a
19:20
Speaker 2: good team.
19:21
Speaker 1: We know he's been in South Jersey yesterday before I
19:23
Speaker 1: had to come back to radio that the restaurant my
19:26
Speaker 1: friend and I went to for a fundraiser had Phillies on.
19:31
Speaker 1: That's how far Deep and Jersey we were at. But
19:33
Speaker 1: sure enough, they swept the Pirates. And you know, I'm
19:37
Speaker 1: happy for manically and I always am happy for for
19:40
Speaker 1: for him.
19:41
Speaker 2: I always wanted to.
19:41
Speaker 1: See him succeed, So we'll see what happened.
19:43
Speaker 2: He's a good man.
19:45
Speaker 1: But all right, I guess saying in getting away from that,
19:53
Speaker 1: but we just recapped the Flyers and Penguins, right, some
19:57
Speaker 1: of the Phillies and and Pirates with Phip Flyers when
20:00
Speaker 1: obviously Flyers are out. But the one series remaining in
20:04
Speaker 1: that in that semifinal is the Buffalo Sabers and uh
20:10
Speaker 1: in Montreal and it's game seven.
20:13
Speaker 2: Now. I think we both kind of called that it
20:15
Speaker 2: would go this far, didn't we.
20:16
Speaker 1: I feel like we all, yes we did, and I'm
20:20
Speaker 1: not surprised, but I'm also happy, like these two teams
20:24
Speaker 1: show they could be the future of the Eastern Conference
20:28
Speaker 1: is what I'm seeing from this series.
20:30
Speaker 2: Oh, there's no doubt about it. I totally agree with
20:33
Speaker 2: with that statement. This is not going to be a
20:36
Speaker 2: one year wonder unless they have guys get key injuries.
20:40
Speaker 2: These are these are exciting, deep, young, skilled teams. Uh.
20:46
Speaker 2: The goaltending for both teams in the series has been shaky.
20:50
Speaker 2: I assume in Game seven tonight that it will that
20:53
Speaker 2: Buffalo will go with Ukapeca lucan In. They've been going
20:57
Speaker 2: back and forth between Alex Lyon and uh luncan In.
21:03
Speaker 2: There was a lot of goal soft goals given up
21:07
Speaker 2: in this series. This is the highest scoring series, and
21:10
Speaker 2: when you don't get top notch goaltending, you're gonna get
21:13
Speaker 2: games like the other night, eight three Montreal on the
21:17
Speaker 2: game before six to three, So you're not gonna get
21:19
Speaker 2: a lot of two one three two games. I'm wondering
21:24
Speaker 2: tonight for Game seven if Montreal will insert Brendan Gallagher
21:32
Speaker 2: back into the lineup. He's only played three or three
21:34
Speaker 2: playoff games. He's been a healthy scratch, as as the
21:38
Speaker 2: Montreal youngsters have you know, have just taken over of
21:48
Speaker 2: this Montreal roster. But I wonder if they're gonna put
21:50
Speaker 2: Brendan Gallagher to give them a little a little jump
21:54
Speaker 2: on the road. Somebody plays with with a lot of
21:56
Speaker 2: fire and intensity, has a lot of jam.
22:00
Speaker 1: And there's a veteran. These are the Gallagher that's been
22:02
Speaker 1: around for a while.
22:03
Speaker 2: Right that. Yes, h well absolutely.
22:07
Speaker 1: Louis t We don't know. But and I feel like
22:10
Speaker 1: the rest of the conference finals are sort of like
22:14
Speaker 1: or semis are sort of predictable, you know, I mean,
22:17
Speaker 1: Aves winning, We saw that Vegas winning, We saw that
22:22
Speaker 1: Kines obviously winning.
22:23
Speaker 2: We saw that.
22:25
Speaker 1: But but I'd like to see Vegas be the upender
22:29
Speaker 1: of the AVS. I think that would be kind of
22:30
Speaker 1: fun if they knocked out Colorado. I think they could
22:33
Speaker 1: do it too.
22:34
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm going to say they have a chance.
22:38
Speaker 2: I think Colorado is going to win the Cup. But
22:42
Speaker 2: one thing you talk about Vegas really interesting. You know
22:45
Speaker 2: how Mitch Marner was basically semi run He was run
22:51
Speaker 2: out of Toronto and went as a free agent. He
22:53
Speaker 2: signed with, you know, with the Golden Knights, and the
22:57
Speaker 2: part of the reason why the media and fans in Toronto,
23:01
Speaker 2: which are relentless, relentless when it comes to the maple leafs,
23:08
Speaker 2: got on monitor is because Toronto they considered him one
23:13
Speaker 2: of the main reasons why Toronto didn't go farther in
23:16
Speaker 2: the playoffs over the last nine years with you know,
23:18
Speaker 2: Manor and Tavaris and Neilander and Austin Matthews. But in
23:24
Speaker 2: this playoffs, with Vegas getting away from Toronto. You know,
23:29
Speaker 2: he's the leading scorer in the playoffs. In the NHL
23:32
Speaker 2: Playoffs with eighteen points. He's a plus eleven. He has
23:37
Speaker 2: four short handed assists and heat right now probably would
23:45
Speaker 2: be the front run of the Winter Conto Mic Trophy.
23:48
Speaker 2: He has the most valuable player in the playoffs. He
23:50
Speaker 2: scored a brilliant goal in Game six to give him
23:52
Speaker 2: one nothing lead at Anaheim, and I mean, dere good.
24:00
Speaker 2: This is going to be an interesting series, especially if
24:02
Speaker 2: they get one of the first two in Denver. That
24:06
Speaker 2: series can go, could go a long way. The other
24:10
Speaker 2: thing was Vegas, Yeah, going into the playoffs, their goaltender
24:15
Speaker 2: was susceptible. Who was going to be their goaltender. So
24:19
Speaker 2: Carter Hart from a flyer and he's bounced back from
24:25
Speaker 2: severe personal issues regarding a sexual assault accusation when he
24:33
Speaker 2: was playing in World Junior for Canada. Six seven years ago.
24:37
Speaker 2: He was acquitted and they signed him on December first,
24:43
Speaker 2: and he's played, He's played great for him. He can
24:45
Speaker 2: continue playing like that. I think Vegas. Vegas has a
24:51
Speaker 2: chance to make this a long series, if not pull
24:52
Speaker 2: off the upset. Getting William Carson back also helped. He
24:57
Speaker 2: missed basically the whole season and he's back, and you know,
25:02
Speaker 2: they got Torchs back behind a bench. You know, we
25:04
Speaker 2: got there with eight games to eight games to go,
25:07
Speaker 2: and he's an experienced coach who won a Stanley Cup.
25:12
Speaker 2: And Vegas has twelve players who have played on Cup winners,
25:17
Speaker 2: the most in the NHL. That experience is going to
25:20
Speaker 2: help them. They have twelve players who won the Cup
25:24
Speaker 2: and you can't you can't underscore that, that experience that
25:28
Speaker 2: they have. So I'm looking forward to both both conference finals.
25:32
Speaker 2: I really am. Actually I'm looking forward to the conference
25:34
Speaker 2: finals and both the NBA. And you know, I've been
25:36
Speaker 2: down on the NBA, but I'm gonna I'm interested in
25:40
Speaker 2: both conference finals in the NA in the NHL and
25:43
Speaker 2: the NBA.
25:46
Speaker 1: All right, let me ask you this. You wanted to
25:49
Speaker 1: come on also and talk about this schedule release for
25:53
Speaker 1: the NFL give us Terminalo's take. I understand the Jets
25:56
Speaker 1: have no primetime games whatsoever. That's kind of interesting and
26:02
Speaker 1: and I think it's interesting the Giants aren't a Fox
26:05
Speaker 1: Game of the Week. I mean, they're got primetime, but
26:08
Speaker 1: they're not like one of those fours twenty five games.
26:10
Speaker 2: It looks like it's very interesting to me. Okay, a
26:13
Speaker 2: couple of things. The Giants were seven and twenty seven
26:18
Speaker 2: the last two years. I am shocked they got four
26:21
Speaker 2: primetime games. The first two weeks they're on primetime. Yeah.
26:25
Speaker 2: I know they got Harbor, but he doesn't play. He's
26:28
Speaker 2: a coach. I know. The NFL is now on so
26:33
Speaker 2: many networks that they've split the baby so many different
26:37
Speaker 2: ways that Sunday at one o'clock in four to twenty
26:42
Speaker 2: five is what we all used to love. I think
26:50
Speaker 2: they're devaluing the one o'clock in the four to twenty
26:53
Speaker 2: five spots. So it's just just crazy. I mean, we
27:01
Speaker 2: have Thanksgiving Wednesday, Thanksgiving game, EVE game, then we have
27:08
Speaker 2: three games on Thanksgiving, then we have a Black Friday game,
27:12
Speaker 2: then we have a Sunday night football game, then we
27:14
Speaker 2: have a Monday night football game. At seven games right there,
27:17
Speaker 2: seven out of the sixteen possible games, at least Fox
27:22
Speaker 2: and CBS, the Sunday afternoon carriers, to choose between nine games.
27:29
Speaker 2: And you know, unless there's a miracle and one of
27:33
Speaker 2: these teams that one of the five teams that don't
27:36
Speaker 2: have a primetime game all of a sudden become a contender,
27:40
Speaker 2: a semicontender, none of those none of those teams that
27:44
Speaker 2: don't have a primetime going to get flexed into primetime.
27:46
Speaker 2: They're not. The Giants made out with the schedule they did.
27:54
Speaker 2: I think if you look at weeks and again, nobody knows,
27:58
Speaker 2: this is the worst thing you do is saying you're
27:59
Speaker 2: gonna win this, They're gonna lose that this week, they're
28:01
Speaker 2: gonna win here. That's the worst thing you can do.
28:04
Speaker 2: But if you look at weeks three to six, the
28:08
Speaker 2: Giants can win any one of those games. I mean
28:12
Speaker 2: they can. If you look at weeks two to four
28:14
Speaker 2: for the Jets, Packers, Bears, Lions, they could lose all
28:21
Speaker 2: three of those games. And you know, I think there's
28:23
Speaker 2: a good chance that Adam Glenn is going to be
28:27
Speaker 2: fired by November first. Well, if that is true, and
28:31
Speaker 2: if I am right, and I hope I'm not. I
28:33
Speaker 2: hope I'm wrong. The NFL giving them the Packers, the Bears,
28:40
Speaker 2: and the Lions three straight weeks, that's gonna help accelerate
28:43
Speaker 2: in Greece the skids for Aaron Glenn, and I assume
28:47
Speaker 2: Frank Wright would be the interim coach. I assume that.
28:50
Speaker 2: I can't say that for sure. Again, I hope not.
28:54
Speaker 2: I hope Aaron Glenn successful. And I think the Jets
28:56
Speaker 2: have done a good job borifying this roster a little bit.
29:00
Speaker 2: But the NFL schedule is very strange that I think
29:05
Speaker 2: it's overexposure. Alex and is no bigger football fan than me,
29:09
Speaker 2: But how much is too much? And I think the
29:14
Speaker 2: Giants did well on their schedule. I did, and I
29:16
Speaker 2: mean I think it will help their brand too that
29:18
Speaker 2: they have four games on on on prime time against
29:23
Speaker 2: America's team opening the week, and then they get and
29:26
Speaker 2: then the second week at Los Angeles against a team
29:29
Speaker 2: that right now, if you believe in the betting odds,
29:33
Speaker 2: is either one or two on on winning the Super Bowl.
29:37
Speaker 2: All right.
29:38
Speaker 1: The other the other thing I would say is that
29:48
Speaker 1: I liked the diet Titans are coming into met Life
29:51
Speaker 1: to face the Giants, although I wish they were facing
29:53
Speaker 1: the Jets at home too, that would have been interesting.
29:56
Speaker 1: But hey, they're pitting them against their old coaches, which
29:59
Speaker 1: I find interesting and I think the NFL had a
30:02
Speaker 1: reason for doing that.
30:03
Speaker 2: But we'll see, no doubt, there's only one reason why
30:08
Speaker 2: the Jets are starting in Nashville. If Salah wasn't the
30:11
Speaker 2: coach of the Titans, they would not be starting in Nashville.
30:17
Speaker 2: And a lot of people are putting pressure on on
30:19
Speaker 2: Glenn and the Jets now that they have to win
30:21
Speaker 2: that game. Well, still, it's still opening day for a
30:24
Speaker 2: team that is in a quote unquote a gap year,
30:28
Speaker 2: which equals non contention. But you know, we'll see what happens.
30:36
Speaker 2: But that's why the Jets are starting in Nashville. Well,
30:45
Speaker 2: Louis will.
30:45
Speaker 1: Have to see what happens. I don't even know who
30:48
Speaker 1: the Jets quarterback is. I guess Gino Smith. It's just
30:50
Speaker 1: kind of odd that he would be the guy, but
30:52
Speaker 1: I guess he is.
30:53
Speaker 2: No, he's going to be the quarterback this year. I
30:56
Speaker 2: don't know if he's going to be the quarterback next year,
30:59
Speaker 2: but it was gonna be. It was gonna be Geno Smith.
31:02
Speaker 2: Or Cousins are one of those guys to fill in
31:05
Speaker 2: the gap until they draft a quarterback in twenty seven,
31:12
Speaker 2: which I assume they will do, and if they win
31:16
Speaker 2: more games than they thought, they'll probably use those three
31:19
Speaker 2: number ones to move up in the draft. So we'll see.
31:25
Speaker 2: But that's next year, so we'll see. We'll see if
31:28
Speaker 2: Aaron Glenn at this time next year is still a coach,
31:31
Speaker 2: and there's still the Jets are still far away from
31:35
Speaker 2: being where they want.
31:36
Speaker 1: To be, all right, Louis, Well, we're morel day is
31:39
Speaker 1: right here. I can't believe it's next week, but we
31:41
Speaker 1: got to do a show about the first quarter of
31:44
Speaker 1: the season because we're pretty much there of the MLB season,
31:48
Speaker 1: And another thing we don't know about next year is
31:50
Speaker 1: if they'll be baseball, So we got to enjoy everything now.
31:53
Speaker 1: But I'm sure you're keeping eyes on the contract talks,
31:56
Speaker 1: right I am.
31:57
Speaker 2: And I know that they had their first meeting Major
32:02
Speaker 2: League Baseball and the player Associate had their first real
32:04
Speaker 2: meeting last week. I hope, I hope that they somehow
32:10
Speaker 2: can avoid a strike, a lockout, work stoppage, whatever you
32:14
Speaker 2: want to call it. It would just hurt baseball so bad,
32:20
Speaker 2: it really would. I mean, baseball is the arrows plunking up.
32:25
Speaker 2: You know, for a while there, the NBA had nudged
32:28
Speaker 2: baseball maybe into the number three sport in this country,
32:32
Speaker 2: well baseball, and that made that was maybe major League Baseball,
32:36
Speaker 2: Alex is number two behind pro football if you want
32:42
Speaker 2: to include college football, and college football is like professional football.
32:46
Speaker 2: They might be number three, but they're right. Baseball is
32:50
Speaker 2: right there is back there behind the sport of football
32:54
Speaker 2: in my in my opinion, and you know, I know
32:57
Speaker 2: the NBA would have had made some noise that they
33:00
Speaker 2: number two, but they're not. They're not in my opinion.
33:04
Speaker 2: And I love baseball. Hey, Alex, you know I love
33:06
Speaker 2: all the sports. I'm looking forward to Game seven tonight
33:10
Speaker 2: and I have no rooting interest for Buffalo wal Montreal,
33:14
Speaker 2: but I'm going to I'm looking forward to watching that
33:16
Speaker 2: game tonight.
33:17
Speaker 1: So it'll be worth it, and and it might even
33:21
Speaker 1: be worth turning off baseball to watch that, because I
33:24
Speaker 1: do find playoff hockey, and I missed playoff hockey here
33:27
Speaker 1: in New York. I do find it a little a
33:30
Speaker 1: little energy boost, honestly, to just watch how fast they go.
33:33
Speaker 1: It is fast pace for sure.
33:35
Speaker 2: So oh it is one last thing. Lets you go.
33:39
Speaker 2: Congratulations to Ion the phenom Matthew Schaeffer being a unanimous
33:44
Speaker 2: winner of the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year,
33:48
Speaker 2: first time he was a unanimous winner since ninety two.
33:51
Speaker 2: Ninety three win Teamo Solani won the Rookie of the
33:54
Speaker 2: Year Calder Trophy with the Winnipeg Jet. With the Winnipeg
33:59
Speaker 2: Jets to be confused with these win the Pagets that
34:02
Speaker 2: are playing today, but uh, that capped off his phenomenal
34:09
Speaker 2: rookie year. I just wanted to get get him thumbs
34:12
Speaker 2: up and uh.
34:13
Speaker 1: And I believe there's a foundation he has also which
34:17
Speaker 1: is pretty special too.
34:18
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I saw that. The kid's unbelievable. He's incredible.
34:22
Speaker 2: As Brendan Burke said after that during that tremendous game
34:26
Speaker 2: against Toronto back in January, the kids incredible and he's
34:31
Speaker 2: incredible in so many ways. So uh, let's uh, let's
34:37
Speaker 2: look forward to next season and you'll be a little
34:40
Speaker 2: bit stronger, I hope.
34:41
Speaker 1: And that's another team. I don't think he's going to
34:43
Speaker 1: go anywhere. I think the Islanders are still on the
34:45
Speaker 1: come up. If you will, they will get to the
34:47
Speaker 1: playoffs with Matty Schaeffer and maybe.
34:49
Speaker 2: More hopefully they'll win a couple Matty Schaeffer, that's the goal.
34:53
Speaker 1: Well, Louis T. Always a pleasure talking with you and
34:57
Speaker 1: catching up, and you know, we'll see we we will
35:00
Speaker 1: see how this, uh, this next few weeks shape up.
35:04
Speaker 1: I'm going to Cooperstown on Saturday, so that'll be exciting
35:08
Speaker 1: to cover the Military Baseball Classic. It's two hundred and
35:11
Speaker 1: fifty years and I'm going to Cooperstown to to honor
35:15
Speaker 1: Themendment women, men and women of our armed forces and
35:18
Speaker 1: Armed services.
35:18
Speaker 2: So that's that's You're gonna have an interesting weekend, Alex
35:22
Speaker 2: up there, so enjoy that. That's that's that's gonna be fun.
35:26
Speaker 2: Louis T.
35:27
Speaker 1: Love you man, and God bless. I won't talk to
35:29
Speaker 1: you soon on Terminalo's take.
35:31
Speaker 2: Thank you, Alex, God bless