Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / Knicks Need To Have One Leg UP on Keeping Themselves Alive in ECF 5-25-25
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Money satisfied. That's the goal here for the Knicks. As
- 0:10Speaker 1: we begin one look up with Alex Garrett. Keep yourself alive,
- 0:13Speaker 1: as Queen would sing it, It's been my brain in
- 0:15Speaker 1: the whole day today because down oh two going to
- 0:19Speaker 1: a field house in Indiana that has given the Knicks
- 0:22Speaker 1: and the nick fans nightmares year after year. Can this
- 0:25Speaker 1: be the year the tide is turned? Look the Halliburton
- 0:29Speaker 1: shot in Game one that nobody thought would go into
- 0:32Speaker 1: tie it It did. Pacers were followed with another epic
- 0:36Speaker 1: performance just a day later and go up to and
- 0:40Speaker 1: oh in the series. I'm not sure what the answer is.
- 0:43Speaker 1: I mean, it seems like they gotta keep Nie Smith
- 0:45Speaker 1: and Halliburton on lockdown. But also this team has to
- 0:51Speaker 1: rebound offensively. I mean literally rebound, making their shots, hitting
- 0:55Speaker 1: their free throws too, by the way, I mean, there's
- 0:59Speaker 1: just a lot. And I want to mention this because
- 1:02Speaker 1: Mike Lupaka, who is a brilliant sports writer for the
- 1:05Speaker 1: New York Daily News, made this strong comparison even before
- 1:09Speaker 1: the start of the series of number elevens, boldly saying,
- 1:15Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson, the Knicks number eleven and captain has the
- 1:18Speaker 1: chance to be like the Rangers number eleven Mark Messier,
- 1:23Speaker 1: and I still think there's two games to go where
- 1:27Speaker 1: he can prove to be you know, the Knicks Messier.
- 1:30Speaker 1: And he has he's proven himself to be the captain,
- 1:32Speaker 1: the leader those ice in his vain moments. But now's
- 1:37Speaker 1: the time, whether he got stepped on the foot or not,
- 1:39Speaker 1: for him to lead this squad into Indiana with a
- 1:43Speaker 1: different energy than last year. I mean, last year it
- 1:45Speaker 1: really was Jalen or bust. Thank god, he's got playmakers
- 1:51Speaker 1: around him now, kat He's got a Josh Hart who
- 1:55Speaker 1: had last year, but his heart's a little stronger this
- 1:57Speaker 1: year and a little more effective. He's also got he's
- 2:02Speaker 1: also got McBride and McCall bridges around him also. I
- 2:07Speaker 1: mean this this guy is a supporting cast, but it's
- 2:10Speaker 1: up to him to lead this squad and to lock
- 2:13Speaker 1: down the Pacers offense. And uh, you know Mitchell Robinson
- 2:18Speaker 1: jumping around trying to defend these guys. You know, it
- 2:22Speaker 1: looked a little mannic on Friday night. It looked like
- 2:25Speaker 1: the Pacers just would not miss, and every time the
- 2:28Speaker 1: Knicks had to run, the Pacers just do a little better.
- 2:31Speaker 1: So today. It's a clamped down kind of thing, a
- 2:33Speaker 1: lockdown type of game they have to play so that
- 2:38Speaker 1: Halliburton and Nie Smith specifically are shut down. Now, obviously
- 2:44Speaker 1: it's gonna be tough. They're gonna be in road territory.
- 2:46Speaker 1: They're gonna be in tostile territory, if you will, So
- 2:50Speaker 1: that's not gonna be easy. But I think if they
- 2:53Speaker 1: have this mentality of keeping themselves alive, the Knicks can
- 2:56Speaker 1: do this well. Anyway, Lubagat brought some interesting stats to
- 3:00Speaker 1: the article going into the series, because here here are
- 3:06Speaker 1: some interesting stats. He's nearly averaging Brunston's twenty nine points
- 3:10Speaker 1: in the playoffs going into the series, to go with
- 3:12Speaker 1: seven point seven assists, and while Lupuca notes he did
- 3:17Speaker 1: not come here with the championship pedigree that messiated when
- 3:20Speaker 1: he got to the Garden from the Oilers, Brunson has
- 3:26Speaker 1: now established himself as the most important free agent signing
- 3:29Speaker 1: in the city since Reggie Jackson. That's right, Jalen Brunson
- 3:34Speaker 1: getting a comparison to mister October. We need him to
- 3:37Speaker 1: be mister May right now for the Knicks. If he's
- 3:41Speaker 1: gonna be compared to mister October, who of course came
- 3:44Speaker 1: to the Yankees and helped win two straight World Series.
- 3:50Speaker 1: He then goes, this is interesting. He then compares what
- 3:54Speaker 1: Brunson could be to the great Dave de Busher was
- 3:57Speaker 1: for the Old Knicks when they traded how he this
- 3:59Speaker 1: is why I love Lupa. He's so historical minded and
- 4:02Speaker 1: so nostalgic in his writing. He even got compared. He
- 4:11Speaker 1: even compares Runson's playoff postseason to Walt Clyde Fraser when
- 4:16Speaker 1: Walt did on the night when Willis limped out and
- 4:19Speaker 1: made those two jumpers before sitting out the rest of
- 4:21Speaker 1: Game seven in nineteen seventy. All Clyde did that night
- 4:26Speaker 1: was score thirty six. I mean, you gotta read this article.
- 4:28Speaker 1: He is comparing Brunson's performances some legendary names, and now
- 4:34Speaker 1: it's time for that legendary postseason to come to fruition
- 4:38Speaker 1: against the Pacers. Footstep down or not. Twenty nine points
- 4:42Speaker 1: a game or not. This is where he leads him.
- 4:46Speaker 1: And I don't mean just scoring, because I think he
- 4:47Speaker 1: can be backed up as adventure a cat who's making
- 4:50Speaker 1: threes from like seven feet out. It's really remarkable to
- 4:54Speaker 1: watch him when he's odd, but he's got to lead
- 4:57Speaker 1: this team with that emotion, with that passion, with that drive.
- 5:02Speaker 1: And yes, maybe the fouling issue is a problem here,
- 5:07Speaker 1: because on many occasions Brunton is either fouled out or
- 5:13Speaker 1: has gotten to the five to foul mark, forcing Gibbs
- 5:16Speaker 1: to sit him down for a while in critical stretches.
- 5:20Speaker 1: But I hope, I hope that if the Knicks go
- 5:24Speaker 1: on what do they go on a like seventeen or
- 5:29Speaker 1: eighteen oh run on Monday night on Wednesday night, only
- 5:32Speaker 1: to blow it and give it up with five straight
- 5:34Speaker 1: threes heading into that Halliburton shot. They need to get
- 5:38Speaker 1: on that run again, but this time clamp it down
- 5:42Speaker 1: and they will be fine. I do think this guard
- 5:44Speaker 1: this game and the series goes back to the Garden.
- 5:47Speaker 1: I really do believe that. I can't see us losing
- 5:51Speaker 1: two in Indiana. Being swept is just unimaginable right now.
- 5:56Speaker 1: So I'm gonna go out and the live and say
- 5:57Speaker 1: there will be a game five at the Garden. What
- 6:00Speaker 1: happens before that, though, is one possession at a time.
- 6:03Speaker 1: Nick's ought to take it one possession at a time.
- 6:07Speaker 1: If they're gonna help Brunson become the number eleven Messier
- 6:12Speaker 1: equivalent in the postseason. I didn't realize that this is
- 6:17Speaker 1: fifty two years since the Knicks have won as a title. Okay,
- 6:22Speaker 1: fifty two years. It was fifty four when Messier stepped
- 6:26Speaker 1: up and helped deliver that Rangers Cup in ninety four.
- 6:30Speaker 1: The parallels are there, the stage is set, the series
- 6:34Speaker 1: is backs against wall kind of right now, and oh
- 6:38Speaker 1: and three, I'd say it's even more, but right now
- 6:40Speaker 1: it is a kind of baxsgans Wall moment moment. But
- 6:44Speaker 1: they gotta have urgency and they gotta put prunts in
- 6:48Speaker 1: in that position to make those threes. And what I
- 6:54Speaker 1: also noticed was they were trying to run around find
- 6:55Speaker 1: the best shot. Just take the shot. I know you're
- 6:58Speaker 1: trying to find that best position again the pacers to
- 7:01Speaker 1: make these shots. Just shoot the ball and see what happens.
- 7:05Speaker 1: It's like in hockey. You know these teams try and
- 7:07Speaker 1: pass it too much before making it go. Just take
- 7:10Speaker 1: the shot. Even in basketball, I get you want the
- 7:13Speaker 1: perimeter offense there. You want to drive to the lane also,
- 7:16Speaker 1: but if you see the open shot, just take it.
- 7:19Speaker 1: Don't try the fancy passes. It's too late. In the
- 7:22Speaker 1: game really to try and be fancy. You see the shot,
- 7:25Speaker 1: you just take it and hope for a miracle, or
- 7:29Speaker 1: as the Daily News said today, hoop for a miracle
- 7:32Speaker 1: in Indiana. That's it for now. I'm gonna drop again
- 7:35Speaker 1: the promo code as Fanatics has a forty percent off
- 7:41Speaker 1: deal right now Opthanatic, So I'm gonna drop my link
- 7:44Speaker 1: and you too can get part of the deal from
- 7:46Speaker 1: Amorial Day weekend and when you're buying the shirts, when
- 7:49Speaker 1: you're taking advantage of all these different deals, always remember
- 7:54Speaker 1: to thank the troops because basketball, baseball, hockey, and football aside,
- 8:01Speaker 1: it's the troops that are making this country safe and
- 8:05Speaker 1: making us a secure country to be able to enjoy
- 8:09Speaker 1: these moments here in New York City wherever you may be,
- 8:12Speaker 1: So thank the troops this weekend, this Memorial Day as well,