Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Jorge Sedano on the Knicks win in game 1 of the NBA Finals, Jalen Brunson closing the game, Jazz's No. 2 pick + more

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Jorge Sedano on the Knicks win in game 1 of the NBA Finals, Jalen Brunson closing the game, Jazz's No. 2 pick + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: Another one. Your tune to the Sean O'Connell Show from
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  Speaker 1: the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred and one
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  Speaker 1: half an.
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  Speaker 2: Another one all right, joining us now on the Shawn
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  Speaker 2: O'Connell Show.
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  Speaker 1: One of the hardest working guys in sports at the moment,
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  Speaker 1: George Sadano on the ESPN coverage of these NBA Finals.
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  Speaker 1: He's got his own radio show. You hear him on
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  Speaker 1: play by play. Sometimes you'll see him on the sideline.
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  Speaker 1: He's even made Greg Popovich smile during an interview. George Saddana,
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the show.
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  Speaker 3: How are you hey, How are you man? Thanks for
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  Speaker 3: having me.
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  Speaker 1: Uh. Game one of these NBA Finals and New York
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  Speaker 1: Knicks come away with a ten point victory. How close
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  Speaker 1: did that thing play out to the way you thought
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  Speaker 1: it would?
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  Speaker 3: It did not play out the way I thought it would.
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  Speaker 3: I thought that when San Antonio particularly pulled away and
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  Speaker 3: was up fourteen in the third quarter, that they would
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  Speaker 3: just kind of cruise after that. And I think the
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  Speaker 3: problem was they also felt that way, and it looked
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  Speaker 3: like they took their foot off the gas a little bit. Now.
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  Speaker 3: They went to some substitutions to some backups there, and
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  Speaker 3: the game got away from them pretty quickly there. All
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  Speaker 3: of a sudden, it went from fourteen to six very quickly.
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  Speaker 3: And then even when when Minyama and some of the
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  Speaker 3: starters came back in, they were in a real dogfight
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  Speaker 3: at that particular point. But there were a few things
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  Speaker 3: that surprised me, I would say from the San Antonio side,
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  Speaker 3: how far when Minyama started, when he was initiating offense
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  Speaker 3: from the basket, the average was about seventeen feet, which
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  Speaker 3: is way too far for someone like him. That's the
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  Speaker 3: second furthest he's had this postseason. I believe it was
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  Speaker 3: Game three of the Portland series in the first round,
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  Speaker 3: which was the one with where he started a little
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  Speaker 3: further away from the basket. And that was certainly a
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  Speaker 3: thing that we saw during the Western Conference finals too,
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  Speaker 3: that he kind of floated in and out in regards
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  Speaker 3: to how close or far he was from the basket.
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  Speaker 3: But their success clearly is when he's closer. The other thing,
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  Speaker 3: the thing that didn't surprise me though, was Jalen Brunton
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  Speaker 3: finishing the game the way he did, because that's just
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  Speaker 3: who he's been. He was the most clutch player two
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  Speaker 3: years ago in the NBA, and he continues to be
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  Speaker 3: one of them, if not the most clutch player in
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  Speaker 3: the sport. And we saw that on full display despite
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  Speaker 3: having real struggles early on, both from an injury perspective
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  Speaker 3: and from an efficiency perspective.
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  Speaker 1: So the Victor win Minyama question is, you know, can
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  Speaker 1: he take over in a series like this against the
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  Speaker 1: team like New York and Karl Anthony Towns and Mitch Robinson.
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  Speaker 1: Did I think did a good job against him in
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  Speaker 1: Game one. I don't anticipate he's going to have many
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  Speaker 1: games where he turns the ball over six times and
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  Speaker 1: shoots poorly from three and shoots poorly from the field.
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  Speaker 1: And maybe it is a product of what you were
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  Speaker 1: saying initiating that offense too far away from the basket.
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  Speaker 1: There's obviously a lot more to it for San Antonio
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  Speaker 1: than just getting better games out of Victor wm Binyama.
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  Speaker 1: But the way that he has coached and the adjustments
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  Speaker 1: that we saw them make in the Western Conference Final
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  Speaker 1: with him in particular, do we get that for Game
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  Speaker 1: two when they take on New York again?
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  Speaker 2: Oh?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think their level of execution was subar yesterday
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  Speaker 3: in a lot of different ways, so I would imagine
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  Speaker 3: we'll see him be a lot better in this next game.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, think about it. He had a really bad
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  Speaker 3: Game five in the Western Conference Finals, and then I
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  Speaker 3: thought played phenomenally in Game six, and then in Game
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  Speaker 3: seven he played very well as well against Oklahoma City.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm not.
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  Speaker 3: Worried much like him. I know he said something similar
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  Speaker 3: yesterday in his press conference. I feel like san Antonio
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  Speaker 3: will fight back and we'll.
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  Speaker 2: Be one one heading back to New York.
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  Speaker 3: But to me, the one thing, if I'm san Antonio,
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  Speaker 3: you need to figure out what's going on with Daron
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  Speaker 3: Fox because I know he's been dealing with some injuries,
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  Speaker 3: but it felt at times watching him that the moment
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  Speaker 3: might have been a little big for him, and I
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  Speaker 3: think that he just looked really hesitant at times out there.
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  Speaker 1: I was about to ask you who the second most
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  Speaker 1: important player in this series is for san Antonio, and
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  Speaker 1: if he's going to continue to play poorly, I think
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  Speaker 1: it makes him, by default on the wrong end of
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  Speaker 1: the spectrum, a more important player than maybe they want
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  Speaker 1: him to be.
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  Speaker 2: But is there a fix?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, listen, he's a veteran man. This is
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  Speaker 3: something he's going to have to work through. And I
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  Speaker 3: get it he's dealing with some injuries still, probably that ankle.
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  Speaker 3: It was a high angle spraying. You don't recover from
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  Speaker 3: that very quickly, So I'm not trying to give him
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  Speaker 3: an excuse. It is the reality what he's dealing with.
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  Speaker 3: But if you're playing, you know that's the deal. Like
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  Speaker 3: the expectation is you're going to play at the very
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  Speaker 3: least a level, at a level of basketball where you're
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  Speaker 3: not going to be a detriment to the team. I
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  Speaker 3: would say this, the one thing I would look at
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  Speaker 3: if I were San Antonio is playing Dylan Harper Moore.
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  Speaker 3: I know he hasn't played a ton more than twenty
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  Speaker 3: eight minutes per game in any game this postseason, but
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  Speaker 3: he's young and he's certainly capable, and I thought he
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  Speaker 3: was their best player on the floor last night. I
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  Speaker 3: do think Stefan Castle can give them a little more,
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  Speaker 3: although what he gives them defensively is so impressive too.
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  Speaker 3: You know, he's as good of a point of attack
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  Speaker 3: defender as anyone in the sport I think right now,
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  Speaker 3: and he's only in his second year. But yeah, I
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  Speaker 3: think that that guard play just needs to be better.
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  Speaker 3: They're at their best when Victor is doing his thing
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  Speaker 3: and those three guards are cooking too. For sure.
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  Speaker 1: We had Gordy Chies in studio earlier, earlier today, longtime
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  Speaker 1: NBA assistant, and he pointed out the quirky, fun little
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  Speaker 1: stat that Josh Hart, nobody except for Dennis Rodman has
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  Speaker 1: had a game like he had in Game one with
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  Speaker 1: fifteen rebounds and no turnovers and he only scored three points.
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  Speaker 1: But his role in this series is that it is
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  Speaker 1: that what we're going to see from him, where he's
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  Speaker 1: just that guy making those hustle plays, crashing the boards
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  Speaker 1: on both ends and sometimes occasionally making win Binyam's life difficult.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what he's best suited for. That's for sure.
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  Speaker 3: It's funny you mentioned Dennis Rodman because that was the
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  Speaker 3: same comparison that Carl Anthony Towns just made to me
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  Speaker 3: just literally less than an hour ago, when he and
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  Speaker 3: I were talking about Josh Hart's impact. And yeah, I mean,
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  Speaker 3: I think that's just what he does. He's a disruptor
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  Speaker 3: on defense, he's an energy player, he's a hustle player.
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  Speaker 3: If he gives you baskets. To me, that's a bonus.
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  Speaker 3: That's just gravy, and I know he had that monster
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  Speaker 3: game against Cleveland, but to me, what you saw yesterday
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  Speaker 3: is really the epitome of what Josh Hart brings to
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  Speaker 3: the table.
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  Speaker 1: This series obviously got another one in San Antonio, but
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  Speaker 1: if the ticket prices are any indication what this thing
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  Speaker 1: is going to be when it heads back to.
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  Speaker 2: The Garden, it will be for the ages.
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  Speaker 1: What do you anticipate when this series gets back to
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  Speaker 1: New York.
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  Speaker 3: It's a great question. I'm expecting everything and anything like,
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  Speaker 3: I don't know what to expect. I guess expect the unexpected.
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  Speaker 3: When we get to New York, the energy will be
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  Speaker 3: off the charts. You know, I've been a lot of
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  Speaker 3: NBA arenas in my career, and I don't think we'll
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  Speaker 3: ever be able to anticipate what we're going to get
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  Speaker 3: for that Game three at the Garden with this next
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  Speaker 3: team in the finals as likable the next team as
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  Speaker 3: they've maybe ever had to be honest with the at
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  Speaker 3: least in my lifetime. I wasn't around when Willis Reid
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  Speaker 3: and those guys won the championship, and certainly those Patrick
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  Speaker 3: Ewing teams were fun to watch in a lot of ways,
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  Speaker 3: But I don't know if they had the type of
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  Speaker 3: endearing characters that this particular group has, at least to
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  Speaker 3: the general public. I would say certainly to New Yorkers,
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  Speaker 3: but I think just overall just a very likable team,
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  Speaker 3: which is not something you normally correlate with the Knicks.
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  Speaker 1: George Sodano's our guest here on the Sean O'Connell show
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  Speaker 1: for a couple more minutes. He's on the coverage for
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  Speaker 1: these NBA Finals. Game one went to New York. In
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  Speaker 1: San Antonio, the Spurs will try to even it up
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  Speaker 1: before they head back to New York. Where As I
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  Speaker 1: just mentioned, ticket prices are absolutely insane and it is
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  Speaker 1: going to be quite the spectacle, and at the risk
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  Speaker 1: of leaning into a tired trope, this is it's This
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  Speaker 1: series feels like a win win for the NBA because
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  Speaker 1: either your biggest rising star gets his first NBA championship
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  Speaker 1: or the New York Knicks win an NBA championship and
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  Speaker 1: the largest media market and this legendary team, this franchise
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  Speaker 1: that hasn't had that kind of success in a long time,
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  Speaker 1: climbs back to the top of the mountain.
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  Speaker 2: But if if the League Office had its drugs.
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  Speaker 1: If there was one one thing that serves the NBA better,
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  Speaker 1: is it Wemby starting his run of maybe generational greatness
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  Speaker 1: now with a championship, Or is it this New York
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  Speaker 1: Knicks team capping off one of the great stories in
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  Speaker 1: the NBA.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, look, I mean that's tough question. But what I
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  Speaker 3: would say is, I don't think this Nick team is
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  Speaker 3: a generational team. Where I think when Minyama is a
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  Speaker 3: generational player, and I think the Spurs are set up
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  Speaker 3: for success for a really long time with Stefan Castle
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  Speaker 3: and Dylan Harper as part of a big three with
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  Speaker 3: one Minama, and I think they will get their championship
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  Speaker 3: or championships. So I think the better story for twenty
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  Speaker 3: twenty six would be the next ending their fifty three
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  Speaker 3: year drought and having that one championship that they can
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  Speaker 3: celebrate and having New York just go bonkers. So yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I think it would be that. If you're making me
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  Speaker 3: kind of like split hairs here, it would probably be that.
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  Speaker 3: But I think any of the two results to your
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  Speaker 3: point earlier, would be fantastic for the league.
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  Speaker 1: I want to get away from the finals here for
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  Speaker 1: a second, because We've got a very exciting NBA draft
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  Speaker 1: coming up four fans here in Salt Lake City, the
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  Speaker 1: Jazz drafting number two. Obviously, Aj Debonsa and Darren Peterson
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  Speaker 1: are considered the top two talents here, and we've had
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  Speaker 1: these conversations back and forth, like, well, do you have
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  Speaker 1: to care about which guy will want to stay longer
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  Speaker 1: in Salt Lake City because AJ's got these obvious links
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  Speaker 1: to the to the state, into the franchise, and Darren
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  Speaker 1: Peterson does it Necessarily You're all over the league, right,
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  Speaker 1: you get to go to every NBA arena and you
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  Speaker 1: get to talk to these players on a level that
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  Speaker 1: we never get to. And so maybe you could tell
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  Speaker 1: me we're getting these surveys that come out that Utah's
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  Speaker 1: they're not the bottom of the league when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to player perception.
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  Speaker 2: And where would you least like to play. That's Memphis
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  Speaker 2: for now.
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  Speaker 1: But do you get a sense that Salt Lake City,
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  Speaker 1: that the Utah Jazz are maybe becoming, if not more desirable,
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  Speaker 1: at least less of a pariah in the NBA. Yeah?
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  Speaker 3: Look, I like Ryan, I think people like Ryan. I
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  Speaker 3: think that it starts there, right, you know, I think
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  Speaker 3: that with age and that group they're building something. I
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  Speaker 3: think that you know that helps, right. I think when
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  Speaker 3: you're losing, that makes things even worse, you know what
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  Speaker 3: I mean. And they have, you know, chosen to take
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  Speaker 3: a certain path for a while now. But you know
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  Speaker 3: that fan base in that building is as good as
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  Speaker 3: any in the league.
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  Speaker 2: When the team is good.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think there's any question. I would say that
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  Speaker 3: they're very supportive even when the team is not very good.
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  Speaker 3: But when when the team is rocket, I mean, that
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  Speaker 3: place is insane and it's tough for opposing players, So
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  Speaker 3: for the home team, it's fantastic. But yeah, look, I
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  Speaker 3: think that I think Utah being good again would be
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  Speaker 3: good for the West because there's plenty of history there.
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  Speaker 3: I think that, you know, there's already natural rivalries that
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  Speaker 3: can take place, and you know, again, I just think
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  Speaker 3: that they will be back on tracks. They got a
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  Speaker 3: good owner, they got a good front office, and I
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  Speaker 3: don't think you can go wrong with either guy. Obviously,
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  Speaker 3: Debonta makes a ton of sense for obvious reasons. And
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  Speaker 3: I understand the I said hesitation with Peterson too, but
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  Speaker 3: he is as good a player as anyone in this draft,
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  Speaker 3: and as far as the score, he might be the
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  Speaker 3: best guy. So it really just depends on what it
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  Speaker 3: is you know, you guys need and how the draft
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  Speaker 3: ends up falling to you. I think either guy is
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  Speaker 3: going to put you guys in a really good spot.
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  Speaker 3: And I think that now that the team is focused
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  Speaker 3: on winning again, I think that everything will start to
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  Speaker 3: kind of work itself out, and that includes players wanting
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  Speaker 3: to play there.
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  Speaker 1: And I guess this circles back to the finals. But
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  Speaker 1: you know, the Jazz, it's fun rounding into a time
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  Speaker 1: where tanking is going to be punished. When you don't
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  Speaker 1: have to tank, that's good for the Utah Jazz. And
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  Speaker 1: we think that they'll actually get out there and they'll
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  Speaker 1: compete and maybe be like a playoff team sooner than later.
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  Speaker 1: And then you look at the West and you look
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  Speaker 1: at San Antonio already being in the finals in Victor
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  Speaker 1: wiman Yama's third year, and you look at an Oklahoma
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  Speaker 1: City team that maybe have some salary things to work out,
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  Speaker 1: but they're a young team with you know, a championship
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  Speaker 1: under their belt and a bunch of star potential, and
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  Speaker 1: you look at it and say, well, you can't just
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  Speaker 1: get good if you're the Utah Jazz. You have to
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  Speaker 1: get really dang and you probably have to do so
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  Speaker 1: fast because you're gonna have to be competing with this
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  Speaker 1: San Antonio team, with this version of Oklahoma City at
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  Speaker 1: least for a couple more years. Who knows what Denver's
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  Speaker 1: going to be in the near future. Who knows who
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  Speaker 1: else is on the come up. So as the Jazz
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  Speaker 1: try to close that gap, I mean, how big is it?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, it's pretty big. But it starts with you guys
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  Speaker 3: putting together a team. And again it goes back to
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  Speaker 3: the group that you have there understanding what it takes
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  Speaker 3: to win. Right. It's not going to be an easy
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  Speaker 3: task by any stretch of the imagination because I think
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  Speaker 3: that not only San Antonio, but to your point, Oklahoma
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  Speaker 3: City to me, is not going anywhere anytime soon. I
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  Speaker 3: actually think Oklahoma City, you know, if you I agree
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  Speaker 3: with what Jalen Williams said post that series, right, if
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  Speaker 3: he's healthy, they win and they probably end up winning
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  Speaker 3: the title again in my opinion, because they're the deepest
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  Speaker 3: team in the sport. So yeah, there's a gap, there's
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  Speaker 3: no question about that. But the interesting part about this
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  Speaker 3: league in the way it's currently structured is that the
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  Speaker 3: financial ramification is not to bore your audience too much.
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  Speaker 3: Of the salary structure and the salary cap structure is
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  Speaker 3: so punitive. It's just hard to keep teams together for
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  Speaker 3: too long. Like you've got windows of three to five
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  Speaker 3: years max in most cases. So I think because of that,
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  Speaker 3: there will be opportunities for other teams here, you know,
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  Speaker 3: within a certain amount of time.
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  Speaker 2: George, I know.
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  Speaker 1: You're up against it and we appreciate you giving us
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  Speaker 1: some time today. I know it's a busy time with
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  Speaker 1: the Finals happening right now, so thank you. We'll have
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  Speaker 1: you on again soon.
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  Speaker 2: You got it.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for having me George Sadano on the Finals coverage
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  Speaker 1: for ESPN. He hosts his own radio show in Los Angeles.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: He is a Southern California lifer and you'll see him
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: and hear him sometimes on college football coming up this fall.
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  Speaker 2: Great stuff from George Saddano.