Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / Ariel DeJesus and Lou Terminello's Take on Knicks in Six Series Win Vs. Sixers on the Alex Garrett Podcast Network 5-3-24

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Ariel DeJesus and Lou Terminello's Take on Knicks in Six Series Win Vs. Sixers on the Alex Garrett Podcast Network 5-3-24 · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:01
Here's your host, Alex Garrett. All Right, as promised, Ariel Hoops
0:08
is on my podcast. They discuss last night's incredible win. Of course,
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we all wanted a game five, but Nixon six rhymes, so I guess
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that's what they wanted, right area. What a game last night. And
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you know, Brunson is basically the Man of New York. But Josh Hart
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as clutches ever once again. I mean, I know he's had some issues
0:28
here in there, but let's start with Josh. You know, last year
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he was carrying the seamon. This year. What a three last night,
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and that's not being talked about as much. I feel like anyway, No
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it's not man, and a shout out to Josh hart Man. This guy
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has has been the blue guy all season. He's had some ups and downs.
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You know, like every player, like even superstars, go through this
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MVP caw of the players. So obviously Josh hart has no exemption to that.
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But him hitting that crucial three point in that fourth quarter, which was
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the decided which basically decided that game, just shows you the testament of Josh
1:03
Starks. I called him Josh Starks for a reason because when he hits those
1:07
timely three pointers like that. That's what that's the nickname he deserves because he
1:11
hustles and he does all the little things you need, man. And what
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you see what Josh Hart is that what he does on a and the game
1:17
doesn't show up on the stat sheet because he rebounds out a high level,
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has a high IQ and the knack for the ball when it's coming off the
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rim to be in the right spots. And he was just hustling, diving
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everywhere. I mean, this guy was all over the place, man,
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and just giving you that nineties Nicks vibe because just all the grit and grind
1:34
that they were doing last night. And another guy that I want to give
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a shout out to for the last night's game was og Ananoby Man that dunked
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that. He then when he drove in and be kind of like wanted a
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contestant, but then went to the side towards the end and he dunked it
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on him. That then got me out. That done got me out of
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my seat. Man. I was kind of like as a kid seeing John
1:53
Starks junk dunk over Michael Jordan and Harvest Grant because it gave me that type
2:00
of energy and the show. There's the reason why we traded the two kids
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for O Gananoba because he was another guy that hit a couple of time we
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shots for us and got it going yesterday and you could see the Knicks were
2:10
running a lot more sets for OG and I love that. Man. Let's
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me talk about Og because as you know, when we traded, Barrett I
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was messaging you, oh my god, how are they doing this? But
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then Ananobe has found himself a role on this team right from when he got
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traded. I mean, another guy that's kind of flew under raidar. Yes,
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he's been injured on and off, but the point is he is carrying.
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He helped carry that team during a stretch, didn't he. Yeah he
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did, because there was a lot of times during that game, especially when
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we blew that twenty two point lead, you could see Ogananobe man just getting
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back into rhythm and honestly, man, I think he has something and a
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little chip on the shoulder would mbe It seemed like every time he took it
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to the hole, he wanted to drive on him and he took it in
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with Gusto man with like you could see the energy man to stare down and
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I haven't seen that type of passion for Ogi' usually even and killed guy,
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but he seemed to have a little distasteful for Joel Embiid, and I like
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that as in New Yorker because we all know, man, Joel Embid a
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great MVP caliber player. He is a ton of excuses that people are making
3:10
for him when the guy was putting up very good numbers. The old series
3:15
is beyond me. But you know, just seeing OG give that type of
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energy towards embad there, you know their MVP caliber player and their own won't
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court and I was taking care of business and beating them in Philly. That
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sols e the heart and the grit man of this team. Man. And
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the shoutouts to Dante Devencerenzo too, because a lot of people wrote him off
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for a couple of games he was a little off, but people forget what
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he did game two, and he stepped up from the beginning out the gate.
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Man. You could tell when that first shot went up and that went
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in that confidence, and anybody who's played basketball knows that. You know,
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basketball is a game of confidence, especially me because I played it a lot.
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And when your SHOT's not falling, man, it could seem like it
3:53
seemed like nothing. It can go right, but all you need sometimes just
3:57
that one shot to go in. And so you can see once I left
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his hand a lot of times, man, he was doing a lot of
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orchestrating too, out passing and getting hitting guys in their right spots. Man,
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Shout out to Dante Divinceizo man for stepping up. We need him all
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right. One other thing and I'm going to tie him Jalen here because obviously
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Villanova, you know, shout out to mister Jay Wright, who has mentored
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all these people, all these guys who are now on the next I mean,
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we have a Villanovo starting four or five, right, and I think
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Jay Wright is definitely a big credit. Look at what he's done, Look
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what he's brought to New York with these guys. Oh absolutely, Man,
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Shout outs to j Wright too, because we all know Nova Knicks started off
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as a joke, you know, saying basically like they only bring in Josh's
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friends. But I always tell people this, man this, I said,
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this is the summer, and even before we when we traded for Josh Ar
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last year, I said, they're not bringing in guys just because they're Jalen
4:44
Bruns' friend. They're bringing in guys because these guys are winners, they're high
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IQ players, and they're damn good basketball players. Man at the end of
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the day. And a lot of things that these guys do, especially with
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Josh har and Dante. You know what Dante, Dante every is always like
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everybody talks about his shoting and you know his marksmanship. But there's a lot
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of things that Dante does on the defensive end. He's an off ball pass
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you know, he gets in the passing lanes. He's another hustle guy that
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dies all over the floor, goes after lose balls, and those are things
5:11
that you know that go unseen and things that people don't talk about. These
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are high character, high Q guys like you said, Man Nova Nickson shout
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out to Jay Wright and Jalen Brunson. As you know, we as a
5:20
monster putting up video game numbers. And he stepped up in the right moments
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too. Man hit a lot of big shots and there's the reason why he's
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a a one. Unlike what Becky, he also went the team and assists
5:30
and I gotta say, you know, a guy can lead a team with
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his points. But if you can also do those bounce passes to your teammates
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and rely on them like Brunson does and has all year, that's a leader
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right there. He's not only shooting, he's passing it to the guys he
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knowes can get the job done. I mean, talk about that part of
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it too. Don't talk about the assist part. I liked that part of
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Jalen's game. Jalen Brunston was finding guys in his right spots, and you
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could see that he was. He made a couple of questionable decisions on the
6:00
struts, but he made up for it with the baskets and hitting guys in
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the right spot. Man towards the end and shout outs to Jalen Brunson,
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Man, I mean, that guy is just the A one and he's making
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all these analysis eat their words, man, because he basically he knocked out
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another MVP candidate in their own home court. And he was a big part
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of it, man, not the only part, but a big part of
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it. The shoutouts to JV Man the burner, all right. Well,
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one other thought I thought was down the stretch here, and obviously everybody got
6:28
on Mitchell Robinson for the foul in Game five, but to let m beeB
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score, knowing Europe by three and not fouling them, I thought that was
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a key play and I know it well, he just let the bucket in.
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But you know the next show disciplined those last ten seconds and that's got
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to give a shout out to Oh absolutely, man. I mean, these
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guys executed down the stretch. And another thing was a nact that a lot
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of people didn't talk about, especially with this game, was that the Knicks
6:56
hit their free throws down the stretch and that was their their Akerman where they
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were seeing a lot of those late game free throws that ended up costing them
7:02
in a lot of these games. And they hit their free throws. And
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I always say, man, you hit your free throws and you rebound,
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you win the glass game. There's a very high chance you win. You
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win the basketball game. And that's exactly what happened. Free throws make a
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difference. We saw that Tuesday night. Also, all right, let me
7:17
ask you this because I always will talk about your Twitter and how you got
7:20
a lot of people in your sphere welcome people look forward to Ari on your
7:25
Twitter. Arie underscore hoops eighty four. This round, Yeah, this round.
7:30
I'm actually I'm starting a new Nick podcast called the nixt In five.
7:33
I'm dropping an episode later this afternoon. I'm going to talk about the game
7:38
in less than five minutes, and obviously, you guys know, I'll do
7:42
the go school retro NBA. I got a tribute coming. I actually finished
7:46
it. I'm just editing it right now as I speak. I'm going to
7:48
be dropping that this afternoon. It's Ronnie Cychlee. If you guys don't know,
7:53
the spin Doctor. He was the first Lebanese basketball player to have play
7:57
in the NBA. And he was a very good low post center, a
8:01
very good center back in the days in the nineties with shocked Hakeem and Ewing,
8:05
and he's very underrated. I'm gonna give him a lot of his flowers.
8:07
Former Miami Orlando Magic Warrior. Well, if I can make a request
8:13
for your retro series, you gotta highlight the nineties Pacers next leading into this,
8:18
because I tell you what I remember, there were times I was excited
8:22
with that series and then crushed. I mean, it really went either way
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each night against the Pacers, isn't it. Oh? Definitely, man,
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I'm gonna you know what's crazy, I was thinking about that, Actually what
8:35
I'm gonna do because I have a Michael Ray Richardson tribute that I'm gonna post
8:39
up too. He follows me and I'm going to show give him his flowers.
8:43
But those nineties, that's basically one of the times where I grew up
8:46
being a Knick fan where what made me be as such a diar Nick fan
8:50
with the Knicks versus Bulls and the Knicks versus past because I remember Rick Smiths
8:54
and I'm definitely gonna touch on that because Rick Smiths and Patrick Ewing going at
8:56
it the Duncan Dutchman, Reggie Miller, uh start stealing that game from us
9:01
when we choke the laid down the stretch out of the Ewing finger roll us
9:05
losing that game and then winning and actually ending that series after that debacle kind
9:11
of reminds me of what happened last night. Man, or it's not in
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the same stratosphere, but man, it just it feels good to be a
9:20
team that you hate, man, because I can't stand Philly and I just
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don't like them. I hate I hate every team in Philly and to see
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them beat them in their home court and watching their fans go home disappointed.
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I loved it. Man, team is great, right, it's being a
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fan base, I thought, And I think about this with Carolina too and
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their series with the Ranger of Coming. What cowards it is to let to
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not want opposing teams in there? I mean, where where did that trend
9:43
begin? These? The culture is you have opposing teams and you have fans
9:48
the oposing team in your building. I mean, the Sixers look like cowards
9:52
this week, I thought. Anyway, with all of that promotion going on,
9:56
Yeah, that was awful. And it's it's it's terrible for revenue,
10:00
for revenue share, just revenue in itself, because you know, I go
10:03
to Nick games and I always see fans of other teams and that never bothers
10:07
me. Man. I actually like I enjoy the back and forth, you
10:09
know, the playful banter, as long as it doesn't get disrespectful. But
10:13
I see there was a video poster where a Nick fan got punched in the
10:16
face. I wasn't too crazy about that, but I'm not surprised because it's
10:20
Philly and there's a lot of there's a reason why a veteran stadium had a
10:24
jail downstairs because there's a lot of those fans can be very unruly. And
10:28
then I seen the news reporter actually telling people and run around about way to
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go do what they gotta do, and I just thought that Philly just to
10:37
me, I just I never liked Philly, never been a fan of it
10:39
aside from my fandom, I ever said. But that's more so because I
10:43
was a big Hoya fan and I followed him in his college years. He
10:46
just ended up getting playing for Philly. But I didn't like the statue that
10:48
they gave him. I thought he deserved a bigger one than that. I
10:52
thought it was just disrespectful. But I just I can't stand Philly. So
10:54
I love the city ironically, I love the history of the city. But
10:58
I'll tell you what it comes to the teams. I don't respect the Eagles
11:01
and the Sixers more more so than the other two teams. I'll put it
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that way. Now, you know you meant you mentioned other teams, and
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I'm just thinking about the whole first round. And we did see a couple
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of moments this round that, you know, Lebron out in the West and
11:18
Golden Stan. I you making it. You look at the West right now,
11:22
and we can talk about what happened with the Bucks and their disaster,
11:26
but I want to start with the West for a second if I can,
11:28
because it's not going to be a normal kind of conference. You're not gonna
11:33
have Lebron's or the Curries, and that's gonna change things, isn't it down
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the stretch here? Oh? Absolutely? Because now the matchup I'm looking forward
11:41
to our West is I want to see that a Man and Yokich. I
11:45
want to see that Nuggets and Minnesota series is going to be phenomenal about West.
11:50
I really can't wait for that. I don't think that I think the
11:52
Clippers is going to be hard for them to overcome, you know, especially
11:56
with Kawhi out. But I wouldn't necessarily write them off Jesse yet. I
12:00
think they can actually take them to seven. Even still, I never really
12:03
fully invested or I know that the Mavericks are a good team, but I
12:07
just never really fully bought into them. I don't know what it is.
12:11
I just I'm not really a big Mavericks guy. I don't think that they're
12:15
serious througho out West. I still had Denver coming out, you know,
12:18
out West Over Minnesota, but anything could happen. Man, I wouldn't be
12:22
surprised that Minnesota steels that series either. So that's one of the matchups I'm
12:24
looking forward to because I love Anthony Edwards is a great man. And the
12:30
Nuggets, of course trying to repeat. It's gonna be very interesting things because
12:33
they look pretty strong. I gotta see that. And then in the East,
12:37
is it okay to laugh a little bit that Doc Rivers is out again
12:39
in the first round? I just find that comical because he could not get
12:43
it done in Felly. He can't get it done with the Bucks, and
12:45
the Bucks look stupid. They make this change with a winning record and end
12:50
up a first round exit. I mean, what are they thinking in Milwaukee
12:52
right now? I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not
12:56
I know Doc Rivers is. I never really care for him as a coach,
13:01
but I think obviously not having Giannis obviously impacted them, and then Lillard
13:05
was hobbling, but they knew what they traded for. And I always say,
13:09
man, sometimes you can't You can't break something if it doesn't need to
13:13
be fixed. Because I think I said it this summer. A lot of
13:16
people on next Twitter went at me. I told him that Drew Holliday Trading
13:20
Drew Holliday was a mistake, and I feel like I'm gonna still stick to
13:24
that. I think Drew Holliday was was a big piece in that Bucks team
13:28
that a lot of people didn't really, you know, give credit for.
13:31
I know they wanted a piesy on it because I know they heard, you
13:33
know, the doorsteps that he wanted out eventually if they don't change, But
13:37
I just think that they met, they broke something that was good man.
13:41
I don't know if they can bounce back from that. I feel like Damian
13:45
Lilla is a getting up there in age and the injury injuries are really getting
13:48
to them now. I just don't see a run they're getting the one.
13:52
I think they're the oldest seam in the NBA if I'm not mistaken, and
13:56
it's not going to get any better exactly, then Middleton looks the shell of
13:58
himself and he's going through a lot of injury history the last few years.
14:03
I don't see it getting any better. In Milwaukee and Doc Rivers I think
14:05
eventually would be let go. Yeah, I don't know. I know that
14:09
it was a tough, tough card to deal with with Middleton, Lillard and
14:15
Jannis not one hundred healthy, and actually the two of them were out of
14:18
Games five and six. Ariel, I want I also like to talk about
14:22
people's human side. Right. We all see you on Twitter, but you're
14:24
a human being, So tell us what you do when you're not on Twitter.
14:26
What's your life like? For those that follow you that may not know
14:30
the whole story of Ariel, like, tell us a little bit about your
14:33
life but off of Twitter. Also, yeah, you guys don't know how.
14:37
I post a lot of stuff on Twitter obviously, like more sports,
14:41
but I'm a mental health advocate. If you guys don't know, I suffered
14:43
from ADHD, a low form of it man anxiety, So I'm big on
14:48
that. On mental health. I'm taking care of mental health of men and
14:50
women. And I'm also a proud Christian. I basically I got baptized over
14:56
the summer, so I'm very big on religon and now has got me through
15:00
a lot of trials and tribulations in life. And God is good all the
15:03
time. Man, I'm a very I'm a stickler for that, and I
15:07
also do a lot of stuff for the community we do. I do church
15:11
backpack giveaways during the summer with my church. I'm very active in the church
15:16
and the community and Guardfield, New Jersey if you guys don't know. So,
15:18
I'm a big mental health advocate and I love giving back to the community.
15:22
It's one of my things giving back and not expecting to receive anything in
15:26
return. I don't post a lot of it because I don't want kudos.
15:30
I don't want pats on the back. I just I love giving back to
15:33
people because you never know what people are suffering in silence, you know,
15:37
imagine have y'all we got to have a bigger discussion. And it is Mental
15:39
Health Awareness Month, so I'm sure you're going to be, you know,
15:43
working on that this whole month. Yes, man. I go to therapy
15:48
once every two weeks myself, and I encourage everyone and anyone who suffers from
15:54
mental health to do that because religious help them through the whole month as always,
16:00
right exactly, Yeah, No, it's true, and that's the reason
16:06
why I do what I do, because you need it. It's very it's
16:08
very therapeutic. Life can challenges can get you adversities, but I never want
16:14
anybody to feel like there's no one that wants to listen to them and hear
16:18
them. And I always tell people this, man, My my dms are
16:21
always open. Even if you don't want to talk about sports, you talk
16:23
about life, man, just anything. I like that type of stuff.
16:27
I can tell you're you're you're a very well rounded guy, and I like,
16:30
I like always talking to you, man. So I always love the
16:33
shout that the Twitter love we got on you know, we share each other's
16:37
posts. I love that too, So it's good stuff. It's a good
16:41
community that you've created their area, and kudos to that. We likewise see
16:45
you, man. I've always even since we met at the NBA Draft night,
16:49
Man, I always knew that me was going to always connect ever since
16:52
then when you interviewed me outside real quick. But I really I like what
16:56
you do. I like I always wanted to like do podcasts, which was
17:00
pretty cool, man, comping on as a guest and talking to you time
17:03
to time and at the end as world one last thing. Thirty years later,
17:10
this is the most hopeful I felt the city has been. Well,
17:11
maybe they're just because I'm hopeful thirty years later, are you feeling the same
17:15
hope? I mean there's just a lot going on, and I don't want
17:19
to ruse the memories of a lot of Knick fans right now, but I
17:23
feel like this team will I don't want to say they can recover from an
17:30
Alan Houston miss tipping type of thing, like I don't think that's gonna happen
17:34
thirty years later. I feel like there's some magic here that maybe was missing
17:38
thirty years ago. I don't know. It's just something different, No,
17:44
it is something different because the team is special and it's actually man this team
17:49
actually could outperform them because it's sustainable what they're doing right now, because they
17:55
have a mixture of youth, and they got all their draft picks. If
17:59
they want to had another piece, whoever that piece is, and we have
18:03
movable contracts. There's not one by contract on this seam. And all these
18:07
guys have contributed one way or another during the season and during the playoffs at
18:11
some point, and another guy I want to shout out, so he didn't
18:14
have it going a lot last night, but shout out to Douce McBride man,
18:18
because he's another guy that hit a big shot in that fourth quarter Too's
18:22
McBride has been a big part of the season overall, and that's he's led
18:26
to it. And of course at the Helm Tom Thibodeaux with the Knicks,
18:32
he's found that playoff recipe. I mean, the guy always got the balls
18:34
of the playoffs, but he never really got them far in the playoffs.
18:37
Now he's got either the different core or a different way he's managing leadership style.
18:44
But something's changed for him too coming to New York, don't you think,
18:48
Yeah, I think he adopted. I think he also he's he's made
18:52
adjustments. Man. A lot of people give the guy, you know,
18:53
a lot of a lot of stuff for not being in game coach and not
18:57
making adjustments. And you know, we could talk about the short man rotation,
19:02
but the short man rotation is because he's putting those guys that he trusts
19:04
and everybody needs to realize to a life. You look around the league,
19:07
and I'm not just talking about like president, I'm talking about past that playoff
19:11
rotations usually get shortened, especially in the playoffs. A lot of you see
19:15
a lot of teams run usually the eight best guys, you know, sometimes
19:19
seven, And I think that on Timm's doing that. I mean, he's
19:23
I don't feel like he's going to do that the whole playoffs. But I
19:26
feel like he's going to put those two those seven best guys that he trusts.
19:30
So the guys got it done, and he made a lot of in
19:33
game and adjustments. He rided the high hands and he let these guys do
19:38
what they had to do. Man, he put their faith in trusting them.
19:41
Because at the end of the day, Man, when you're a coach,
19:44
you got to put the faith in your main guys and you can't just
19:47
go away from them when things go a little south. Because there's ups and
19:49
downs in the playoffs. Man, it doesn't then the Knicks or not exempt
19:52
from it, and it clearly showed this series. But you know, we
19:56
punched them in the mouth when we needed to and we got the job done.
20:00
All right, Ario, Hopefully we can catch a watch party together this
20:03
series or sometimes in the playoffs. I feel like we're gonna have a bit
20:06
of a run here, and I like to say that in the springtime,
20:08
right, Yeah, definitely, I'll d M you and we'll meet up.
20:14
We'll meet up somewhere and watch and we'll catch a game. I'll them.
20:18
You'll let you know details and stuff for sure than sounds great. Ariel Ariel
20:22
Dangers ari Hoops eighty four on Alex Garret Podcasting Today. I love the quick
20:29
turnaround, man, I text you last night, let's do it pod today
20:32
and here we are, right, so great reaction to the Game six and
20:36
the entire series and let's get to the Semis and see what happens next.
20:41
Yeah, let's go. Man. You know my prediction, I had it
20:42
all year, Nick saying Celtics Eastern Conference Finals, man, And that's that's
20:48
what I'm thinking too. And the Knicks, you know, they actually had
20:52
a couple of good games against the Celtics, which gives me hope in the
20:53
playoffs. I know they's say the playoffs are different animal with basketball. How
20:57
they doing? The regularitis university team do matter in the postseason? Right?
21:03
Oh? Absolutely? Because I always felt like, even since last year before
21:06
tho Osi trade, I think the Knicks matchup very well with the Celtics,
21:08
saying the Celtics are not this team that everybody thinks that that can't be beat
21:12
because they have they have some issues in over there too. I never really
21:17
liked the fit with Missoula as a coach. I don't I don't think he's
21:21
the right coach for them, But obviously Porzingis is a little bit banged up,
21:26
which we all know as Nick fans, with the injuries with Porzingis and
21:29
this is his whole career even so, even though he's been healthy for the
21:30
most part for the last year and a half until recently, but the management
21:34
that they were loaded through him this year, I always felt like Porzingis,
21:38
I didn't know if he could make it through a playoff, through a few
21:41
playoff series, so I'm going to stick to that as well. I don't
21:44
think he's gonna make it healthy throughout the series. Guy was an all start
21:48
and then has that horrible fall, gets injured under the hoop. I'll never
21:52
forget it because he was like the golden boy for the knicks of the time.
21:56
I think he was even dating Jen Selter or something at the time,
22:00
and then everything went to crap for him. So I don't know. I
22:02
just he's actually had bad luck with him ever since that moment years ago.
22:07
If you remember, yeah, I do, and I never and then after
22:11
that, the way he left just left the bad taste. And I know
22:14
his brother had a lot to do with it, but he got caught up
22:18
in some allegations and you know, cryptic sending cryptic messages towards the Knicks,
22:22
and I just never really cared for him. That's why I never wanted the
22:25
reunion that some Knick fans wanted last summer with him coming back here. But
22:29
you could tell you misses New York. But I really he could stay over
22:33
there. We got something going on special over here. And mind you,
22:36
we're doing all this without our all NBA player, Julius Randall. So let's
22:40
not make the excuses that all the sixers were banged ut this and we're missing
22:44
We're missing Julius Randall and all NBA twenty four twenty four five guy, like,
22:49
so we can go down the line. I mean, I could tell
22:52
you the Knicks are doing it that Randall the answer. You know, I
22:55
have a winning record, who have Cole? And the Rangers are doing well
22:59
without Wheeler. I mean, you know, it's amazing to step up.
23:02
Some of these teams are doing uh without some of their big players. You're
23:04
right about that, absolutely, man, Julius Randall. Man, that's why
23:10
I use the hashtag winning for ju because seeing him on the sidelines yesterday and
23:14
you could tell it hurts him. And I was looking at his face and
23:18
his body language just say when they put the camera on him, and you
23:19
could tell he wants to be out there. But for him being there supporting
23:23
the man, I love it. Well. He'll be there all series,
23:27
and uh, I just hope, I just hope to have this drung continue
23:32
and maybe make it to the garden one of these games. I'm thinking of
23:34
the conference finals. If we get in the conference finals, I'm definitely gonna
23:37
try and get to one of those because that's going to be when the heat's
23:41
really there, you know, like that's gonna be Okay, we're here,
23:42
We're in the conference final. That's that's what I'm saying my money for.
23:45
Let me put it that way, smart man. But one step at a
23:51
time, one game at a time, right, So thank you, thanks
23:55
again, and we'll do this again soon, maybe recap the conference semifinals or
24:00
watch party. We'll see one of the other. We'll definitely reconnect, yeah
24:03
for sure, Alex Man, God bless you, God bless you, and
24:07
thanks for joining Alex Scaret podcast Network. Are you God bless you? Man?
24:11
Likewise man, take care all right, Well, let's take a quick
24:15
break here on the Alex Scaret Podcast Network, and I want to give a
24:18
shout out to Caleb Vasquez Junior. Caleb is a very dedicated Fanatics Friday poster.
24:23
Okay, today he posted with Jalen Brunson in honor of Nixon six and
24:29
Caleb actually won a Fanatics Friday prize. So if you are a Fanatics fan
24:37
and want to win something from Fanatics, I would highly recommend you join Fanatics
24:41
Friday hashtagging experience every Friday, and I'm going to do more of that podcasting
24:48
for Fanatics Friday as well. See what else we can win here at the
24:51
Alex Scaret Podcast Network. But congratulations to Nick fan, Yankee fan, and
24:56
all around New York sports fan Caleb Vasquez Junior. You can follow them actually
25:00
see Underscore Money three oh one. And if you buy any product from the
25:04
link in the description below, I do a commission and it supports the Alex
25:11
Garret Podcast Network. So join in on Fanatics Friday every day. Here's your
25:18
host, Alex Darren. We continue today with Round one coverage, right the
25:25
Knicks advancing after a game six victory. Nicks in sixth came true thanks to
25:30
Ariel Hoops for joining me and now Terminello's take sharing the spelly a little bit,
25:37
but boy, I got two great guests today and Louis U of course,
25:40
I have a great take every week. Thanks for joining me today,
25:44
Alex. Always a pleasure. It's been an exciting week of sports in hockey
25:51
and basketball locally, it's been exciting, and I think that the next round
25:56
is going to be very much why. I want to point out a couple
26:03
of things with you. First of all, the discipline the last ten seconds
26:07
is is what we saw last night, but we didn't see it in Game
26:10
five, and I feel like that was a big adjustment to be that.
26:15
How do you say disciplined if you will the last ten seconds and not commit
26:19
a foul against the Sixers after that big three bye, Josh Hart, I
26:22
want to start there. Well, I think for most of the series,
26:27
and let's face it, this series was incredibly close. The combined score for
26:34
the six games is only a one point difference, so all six games were
26:40
tremendously competitive for our ninety five percent of the game. He had a nixt
26:45
got off to a thirty three to eleven lead last night, and there's some
26:49
factors in the game that will of last night's game that we'll talk about.
26:53
But the Knicks are a better coach team, pure and simple. I think
26:59
their player are more coachable with and they have these coachable players like a Miles
27:07
McBride, Josh Hart, Dante DiVincenzo, who was fantastic last night, not
27:14
only hitting those three point shots, but defensively. I knew that guy was
27:18
a good player. I knew the next made a good signing when they signed
27:22
him. I didn't think he was this good. Miles McBride hit a big
27:26
three to put them ahead after they relinquished a nine point lead in the last
27:32
two forty eight, but they kept their points last night, like you said,
27:37
and an underrated play, an underrated play that is not going to get
27:41
I don't think a lot of action and a lot of credit that Josh Hart
27:45
hit the big three to win the game. But he also made a spectacular
27:52
catch when Brunson threw through a fastball that he caught right at the base line,
27:59
under the bass or else that would step out of the baseline, He
28:02
kept it in bound and then I believe he dribbled it out to either de
28:04
Vincenzo or Hartenstein right he did that's what that's that's what he did. But
28:10
that was a heck of a catch by Josh Hart. I mean, I
28:14
know, we talked about it on past shows. Here's a guy who bounced
28:18
around four teams in five years, Evencenzo, four teams in four years.
28:25
These guys are mainstays, and you scratch your head wondering how could all these
28:30
teams be wrong and miss on these guys. Yeah, I know this cap
28:37
situations and they got to move guys to fit the other guys in. But
28:41
these are winning players, and you have to have winning players to build chemistry
28:47
and to get where you are. Of course, the knicks are led,
28:51
and I'm happy to say that on this show. We early called it that
28:56
Jalen Brunson doesn't get the credit that he deserves. We had him as a
29:00
superstar. Early on, we questioned the fact why he wasn't a starter in
29:04
the All Star Game. We have recently questioned the fact that why isn't he
29:10
going to Paris for the US Olympic team this summer. It is mind boggling
29:15
to me. This guy is so good. He's only six foot one.
29:18
He's not a great athlete that's gonna fly through the air or run from baseline
29:25
a baseline in record time. But the guy knows how to play. The
29:29
guy knows how to win. He's a little bit like a coach on a
29:33
coach on the court. As I said, if I had to vote for
29:37
MVP, yes, Nikolay Jokicic would be first. I'm not going to say
29:41
I wouldn't vote Fielkic first, but Jalen Brunston would be my runner up.
29:45
And he better be for All First NBA when that comes out in the next
29:49
couple of weeks. If he is not All First Team NBA, you talk
29:53
about a travesty of justice, that is when it comes to to these basketball
30:02
honors. But the Knicks last night, I mean they got off the great
30:06
start they did, and they quickly gave it up. You know, Buddy
30:10
Heal came off the bench and he hit throw seventeen points in the second second
30:14
period to put the Sixers ahead. At halftime, the Sixers go up by
30:18
ten. Where's Buddy Healed? He doesn't play at all in the third quarter,
30:23
and I hey, Nick Nurse did coach championship team. But a very
30:29
very strange that we don't see Buddy Heel again. Who was six out of
30:33
nine from three point range till the fourth quarter, so that that was a
30:38
head scratcher. You know. I did get a chance to listen to Iron
30:44
Eagle, and he thought the fact that Embiid fouled out with twenty seconds left
30:49
the most pivotal part of the season wasn't matter the most. And I agree
30:53
with him. I like the way he broke down the last minute of the
30:56
game. That don't you agree or not? But no, no, I
30:59
agree now again, Joel Embiid had I mean they had to the Knicks were
31:03
ahead, they had to foul, So you don't Sometimes you don't have your
31:07
choice of okay, the guy who's going to commit the foul. But yes,
31:12
even philos Let that last possession, not having in beat on the court,
31:17
it was key. Now I'm want to say something about a Mbid.
31:21
I don't like some of his antics. I was over the line Atlantic antics
31:25
on the court. But I could tell you one thing. The guy played
31:29
his ass off on one leg. And the guy is a great shooter.
31:34
I mean he's just he might be as good a long range seven foot center
31:40
that we've ever seen, and he's not afraid to take it. Whether it's
31:45
from the corner, whether it's from the top of the key. He plays
31:48
hard. He made some turnovers. I don't know if he ever played he
31:52
has. He plays smart all the time. I don't know if that's on
31:55
him or if that's just on the Sixers as a team. Even look at
32:00
Josh Hart's game winning field goal. The Knicks were more prepared. Okay,
32:07
they wanted to get the ball out of Brunson's hands. They double team Brouns
32:09
and when he was in that left corner. But you can't lead Josh Hart
32:15
open that wide open. He had an open jumper. Yes, I know
32:19
he had hit a little bit of a skid in the middle of the series,
32:22
but lesson, he had sixteen points, fourteen rebounds. You can't do
32:25
it. So all those key things in the series as close as this,
32:31
the Knicks one, the Knicks one. All the battle for all those loose
32:35
balls. The Knicks played harder than the Sixers. The Knicks are a hard
32:40
notes team. They're a tough minded team. And all those little things that
32:45
you don't see in the box score, Alex, all those things you don't
32:47
see in the box score, the Knicks one. All those little things and
32:52
that's why they won the series. I mean, it's as simple as that.
32:58
And they had the best player on the court, not Embeid wasn't the
33:00
best player on the court. Yes he's great. Yes, he's the reigning
33:04
MVP, the best player on the court, the difference maker, the winning
33:07
player. Jalen Brunson. Can we also talk about the fact that he also
33:14
led the team last night and assists. Now, everybody's always about the points.
33:17
Oh my god, he made history and the history. The history he's
33:21
put up for the Knicks this season alone and this postseason is incredible. But
33:24
whenever I look at a star player, I look at his assist numbers,
33:28
And he led the team and assists too, Lou. I mean, that's
33:30
a big part of Sure, he has that quality that great point guards have.
33:36
He makes everybody else on the team better. Now, again, the
33:38
fact that he took I don't know whether he take thirty two shots or whatever
33:42
he took uh in these games. Again, if he doesn't score, who's
33:46
going to score? And who can guard him? Who can guard him?
33:51
When he gets into the paint. He's six foot one and he's still putting
33:55
that little mid range jump shot, that flower and he's still nobody's stopping him.
34:04
Nobody, nobody's stopping him. So I don't know what this guy has
34:09
to do to get recognized more. And again, he's playing in New York
34:13
and he's playing for the Knicks. And again, I think that media goes
34:16
give the Knicks a lot of leeway when they with their coverage, so it's
34:23
not like the Knicks get bashed around a lot. And let's face it,
34:27
this is the first time in twenty four years that they've won back to back
34:30
first rounds in back to back season, so it's been a long time.
34:36
Yeah. Well, you know, it's funny because I think ninety nine they
34:37
went to the finals. So maybe it's a good omen here. I don't
34:40
maybe it is. And as we said that, we know that the East
34:45
is wide open. I mean, the Celtics are by far and away the
34:47
best team. And after their hiccup in Game two against Miami, they did
34:54
what they were supposed to do. The Celtics bashed the Heat and it's as
34:59
a Heat team out their best player and without a couple of other players on
35:02
their roster because of injury, they bashed them like they should. And uh,
35:07
but I'm still now one hundred percent sold on the Celtics. Yes,
35:13
on their talent, I am, but you know there's something that that I
35:17
think that that they still have to show me. And they're gonna play the
35:22
winner of Cleveland Orlando Alex that that should be another I don't want to say
35:30
a layup. That's not fair, but that should be an easy series for
35:32
the Celtics twin again, as they always say, are they going? Is
35:37
Cleveland or Orlando going to beat the Boston Celtics four times in the seven game
35:40
series? I would say no. I would say no, And that's Jayson
35:51
Tatum saying we're gonna beat their asses right. Well, you know, I
35:55
will I will say this. The the Magic Cavaliers series is fasting to me
36:00
because for those of you who don't know, and we cover this on the
36:02
show, the Cavs specifically tanked that quarter to get the fourth seed and they're
36:09
still struggling. Cand anybody make sense of that loop. Well, again,
36:15
when you play with those cons, when you play with the sports guards like
36:19
that, usually bite Sea in the butt. And yeah, they're up three
36:23
games to two, they probably they might. This might be one of those
36:28
home team series Orlando might win tonight. Game seven, I guess is on
36:31
Sunday, and Cleveland might win at home. But neither one of these teams
36:36
is you know, neither one of these teams is going to go go far.
36:40
Yes, the Cavaliers have talent, magic half talent. But again,
36:45
is this an indictment on Donovan Mitchell. Yeah, I know he missed a
36:50
couple of games, but everybody was going crazy about Donovan Mitchell. Donovan Mitchell.
36:54
Nick's are going to get him, the nets are going to get him.
36:59
I mean when he was on you, he had great some great games.
37:01
But is he a difference maker? I don't know. I'm just throwing
37:05
that out there. I think he's a great player. But well, let
37:07
me ask let me ask Nick Finns this. Would they rather have Brunson or
37:10
Donovan Mitchell? Right, that's the age, I'll tell you. And I'm
37:15
not even a Knick fan. Uh Jaylen Bronson, you have exactly. But
37:21
in the moment, we all react to these things, not thinking about the
37:23
bigger picture. And that's New York sports. I mean that there's a team
37:27
found now that booze Aaron Judge for going over for so we are a very
37:30
reactionary city. Yet in the end it all pays out. And I think
37:35
Brunson, by the way, can we go a sho out to Leon Rose
37:37
for what he's put together and two guys behind the scenes, Okay, Leon
37:43
Rose and Jay Wright, because this is Nova's Nicks at this point, those
37:47
two have really helped the Knicks get where they are today. I truly believe
37:51
it. Right coaching these guys and Leon Roach putting them all together, well,
37:55
I mean you look at you look at the de Vincenzo went hard and
38:02
Brunson. They all played and if you want to include mckel bridges down the
38:07
road in Brooklyn, they all played four. Right, they all played a
38:10
game the right way. They've all played on a championship teams of twenty sixteen,
38:15
in two and eighteen, some play on both. I think Brunson played
38:21
on both. Devincenzo played on both, but I think he was injured that
38:24
first that first run, and the second time. In twenty eighteen he was
38:29
the most outstanding player of the final four. So you're one hundred percent right,
38:32
there's something there. It's not just coincidence. These guys know how to
38:37
These guys know how to play, or they learned how to play under a
38:42
great college coach. And yes, everything you said I agree with and it's
38:49
translated in the NBA big time. Oh absolutely. And I know that you're
38:52
you're still scratching your head about why the mav let him go. But that's
38:57
that's history right there. I mean, oh right, that's history. That's
39:00
a street. That is one of the biggest moves the Knicks have made it
39:04
quite a while. To be honest with you, Now, who's the best
39:07
free agent the Knicks I'd ever signed. I think it's I think you could
39:12
say it's Jalen Brunson. Oh absolutely, And this hands down, And now
39:15
that's a generational thing that I know about. And then you know, the
39:20
free agent thing, I've been starting to cook up more when I when I
39:22
see the NBA. But no, Brunson is really brought out the forefront for
39:25
the next Now you mentioned Josh Hart, did last night's three not remind you
39:30
of what he did against the Heat last year? That Big three against the
39:35
Heat? It reminded me of that moment exactly. I would say, I
39:37
would, I would agree with you without a doubt. And you know he's
39:43
he's an up and down, you know, outside shooter. But I'll tell
39:46
you one thing, man, that guy you got. You want a guy
39:52
like that on your team. Most of the time, guys like that come
39:55
off the bench and play twenty five to twenty eight minutes a game. They
40:00
don't start, but they help you win series, have successful seasons, win
40:06
championships. He starts, and of course Randall being hurt obviously is one of
40:13
the reasons. And by the way I think, and I'm not trying to
40:15
denigrate Julius Randall, maybe the Knicks are better off, and I know I
40:22
don't want to say better off, but they're just more ball movement with with
40:28
the the way the team is now so and open. Obi is always you
40:32
know, Obi has been a huge part of this as well. You know,
40:37
the guy's been on and off healthy this year. But that trade another
40:42
big trade, maybe one of the best trades in Nick history. Also,
40:45
yeah, it's it's an excellent trade. Obviously, the best trade in this
40:51
history was getting Dave de Busher back in Christmas Week of nineteen sixty eight.
40:57
He changed everything. He was a missing piece, very much like Gary Carter
41:00
was the missing piece for the Mets in eighty five. If you want to
41:05
compare sports, but on Anobe that trade spectacular trade for the Knicks. And
41:12
ironically it's going to be Siakaman on Anobi, who on Toronto who are going
41:19
to be playing against each other in this series, and that this would be
41:24
a good series. I mean it's Indiana has a lot of fire power.
41:30
They like to push the ball up court. They're well coached by Rick Carlisle.
41:34
Carlisle Alvis has won a championship when he was with Dallas. He's a
41:37
tremendous coach. I knew him when he played for the when he played and
41:43
was an assistant coach on the Nets, you knew right away. He knew
41:45
back then that the guy had coaching potential. Uh. And he's he's done
41:51
a great job. The Knicks are going in. I'm the Pride. They
41:54
just just a little while ago, popped up on h on my iPad about
42:00
the the betting line on the series. The Knicks are a solid favorite.
42:05
To me, this is a this is another toss up series. But Vegas
42:09
right now has Nicks. That's a pretty solid favorite. So we'll see.
42:15
But just putting a rap on last night's game. Uh, and this is
42:19
from a sixer point of view. Tobias Harris, you took two shots with
42:23
your team on the line, your season, your team season on the line.
42:27
You took two shots. I mean for all of you know embiid dragging
42:34
one leg, couldn't jump, You didn't help him at all, and that
42:38
and and be played as butt off. I mean, come on, Tobias
42:43
Harris, forty million dollars a year. When they pay you forty million dollars
42:49
a year, they pay you for games like last night, and you you
42:52
went into the witness protection program m. Yeah, And actually I thought I
42:59
thought that Nicks in a job of claiming down on Maxie, right, they
43:00
didn't really let him have that open shot all the time like he had from
43:05
the I mean, who could have thought a half quart shot in Game five?
43:07
But I mean yes, and the Knicks did focus on Maxiemore. But
43:13
again, look at the series you had, guy you had like guys like
43:16
Max. You scored forty seven points in Game five and it was spectacular forty
43:22
six or whatever it was. And then last night he really couldn't hit a
43:28
shot. Yeah, he got some baskets late in the game, but if
43:30
he had his game on, they might have been up by fifteen, and
43:32
it might not have come down to the end. So again I think he's
43:36
a terrific player. But again he let them down. He let them down
43:40
last night. But you know, like I said before, we saw Josh
43:45
Hart and Devincenzo who was in the shooting slop until last night, So you
43:49
don't know from game to game, you know, in the series like that,
43:54
But this Indiana series should be should be interesting. Obviously, Nick Indiana
44:00
have a history, but they haven't played in so long. And uh,
44:04
most of the guys uh on the Knicks and the Pacers have no idea who
44:09
Rick who, Rick Smith's and Reggie Miller and Charles Oakley and Derek Copper are
44:16
so uh uh it's it's it's almost get lifted for for this series just as
44:23
a homecoming. I mean, well, I don't know. You're gonna have
44:27
to uh you have to call James Dolan. I'll tell you what. It's
44:31
Uh, it's gonna be a wild series because you know, Obie Toppin is
44:37
gonna have a homecoming of sorts because he's gonna come back as a Pacer.
44:40
That'll be interesting. But Terry's Halliburton is the guy for the Pacers. It's
44:46
funny those are in the Northeast may not know all about the Pacers because who
44:51
watched them on a nightly base, right, But I'm sure you have some
44:52
insights that we may not have. So what's your scout, Portland. No,
44:55
Well, Halliburton is a fantastic player. I mean, there's no out
45:00
about it. And obviously it's going to be Hall Haliburton and and Brunson.
45:06
Haliburton and Brunson. I don't think they'll be guarding each other. But you
45:13
know, we'll we'll, we'll know that early in game one. Uh.
45:17
They have they have, they have a good team, and they have a
45:21
good bench. The Pacers led the league in bench scoring this year almost forty
45:25
seven points a game, forty six point eight per game. So that's something
45:30
to look out for. The key thing is those little things at the Knicks.
45:34
Get those loose balls, those offensive rebounds. The Knicks are a great
45:37
rebounding team. And again, look at look at Hartenstein. Hartenstein is underrated.
45:46
I'm not saying that anybody's going to confuse him with Kareem abdul Jabbar or
45:52
or Elijah Onon. But the guy, the guy is more than just a
45:58
pluggin absolutely is. He's part of the heart of this team. That is,
46:02
that's for sure, all right. Well, the one of the series
46:06
I want to talk about, and obviously we get to the West, but
46:08
we all knew Denver was most likely going to beat the Lakers, and they
46:12
did. We all knew, well, actually we didn't really all know the
46:15
Bucks were going to lose like that. But I gotta say the parallels between
46:20
Doc Rivers losing and the Sixers losing, it's almost like maybe Rivers wasn't the
46:23
problem for the Sixers. I don't know, but it's just amazing. He
46:27
was also knocked out the same round as his former team. There was a
46:31
bit of a parallel there. Well, Doc Rivers. I'm not the biggest
46:37
fan of Doc Rivers, but it's coaching. But I gotta give him on
46:43
pass on this Indiana series. He didn't have Netakoupo for one second of the
46:52
series. He's the second, the third best player in the NBA and he
46:58
didn't play one seton and Damian Lillard played half the series. So I'm gonna
47:07
on this series he gets a pass. But the last thirty nine games of
47:09
the regular season the Bucks were nineteen and twenty. After Doc Rivers took over
47:15
it's going to be a very interesting summer for the Milwaukee Bucks. And I
47:21
don't notice from anybody. This is just my observance. And I know he
47:25
just signed a long term deal with the Bucks. I wouldn't be surprised if
47:32
Annetta Koupo says, hey trade me. I don't know nothing. I haven't
47:39
heard from any of my NBA friends. This is just me, my observation.
47:44
I know how some of these NBA guys are. I could be wrong.
47:47
I'm just throwing it out there. This is just my observation, so
47:54
could be something to that. Now. I guess we could talk about the
48:00
as while I have you, because obviously it seems like the Lakers all of
48:04
a sudden are intermal right, so they fire their coach. Four head coaches,
48:08
what since Lebron came over. I mean, this is beyond absurd something.
48:15
You know, there's pulling the strings and then there's Lebron pulling the strings.
48:19
It's getting annoying to me personally. Well, I agree with you,
48:22
and it's not a Lebron only a Lebron problem. We've seen this in other
48:27
situations in the league many many times. Again, Well, Duran sort of
48:34
had the control over the Nets for a while, right, yeah, But
48:37
again, as I set you in the past, Steve Nash was picked by
48:43
Sean Marx that I that I know, And now that's starting to come out
48:49
as and I knew that, you know, three four years ago, and
48:53
I saw it recently in the post. So now that's starting to come out
48:57
how Sean Marks wanted Steve Nash. But the players do have an influence.
49:01
The players do have an influence. And Alex is when you're paying these guys
49:07
so much money. And I don't know if you saw the story, but
49:15
the NBA in this new collective ball game that collect excuse me, in this
49:20
new meteorites agreement that they're going to have, Apparently they already have a deal
49:22
with Amazon. We don't know the details of the deal, but it's apparently
49:30
a done deal or ninety five percent a done deal. Apparently with ABC and
49:35
ESPN, it's a done deal. NBC has allegedly offered the NBA twice with
49:42
TNT. For the TNT package offered, they offer two point five billion dollars
49:50
and the current packages is half of that. I don't know. It would
49:54
be a shame if just because we're so used to the NBA on T and
49:59
T that they're going to take the most money. But the point that I'm
50:01
trying to get to is, remember the revenue Collective Bowing Agreement, the revenue
50:07
sharing with the players. You're going to see a ninety five million or one
50:10
hundred million dollars a year player in the NBA in the next five years.
50:15
It's gonna happen. There's sixty five million dollar players now. Lillard's making sixty
50:21
two million and what did he do for the Bucks? Nothing? But this
50:27
is going to happen. And that's why when you when you when you're making
50:31
an investment like that, and I know Lebron has won the grace of all
50:35
time, but just make Lebron the coach if that's the case, and you
50:39
know what, he might be a good head coach. I don't know,
50:43
and maybe amazing that would be him him coaching his son. That would be
50:46
kind of interesting. If the Lakers win that direction, it won't happen.
50:51
But uh, basketball enthusiast in dream all right, twenty eight years in the
50:57
in the league as an executive, lou what what sands on you about this
51:02
playoffs? Maybe that in the NBA playoffs overall as you evolve, because I
51:07
always bring on for the history portion of all this stuff. So tell me
51:08
about the evolution of these playoffs every year. Anything different from this year than
51:13
maybe years past that you've noticed. I have. And thank god for the
51:17
Knick sixer series. Yes, I know they were both floor teams, but
51:22
they played compelling games and that was that was the most important thing for the
51:30
first round. You look at all these other playoffs series, there was Route
51:34
after route. Uh yeah, Cleveland and the Cleveland and Magic. It hasn't
51:38
gotten a lot of a lot of airtime. Most of the games have been
51:43
put on NBA TV, but the first four games were routes. It was
51:47
the other night. Uh it was a one point game. But that's what
51:52
has that's what has opened my eyes in this playoff series. Most of the
51:57
games have been have not been compelling. The Clipper game on Sunday against Dallas,
52:07
Clippers won up, went up by twenty four to twenty five, and
52:12
Dallas came back and took the lead. The Clippers eventually won it, so
52:15
that became a compelling game right at the end. But it has not been.
52:19
It has not been a compelling first round. I don't know if that's
52:22
because teams, and that's why that's why I give the Knicks an advantage in
52:28
a lot of these situations. They didn't they didn't take time off for rest
52:31
management. Their players always played. Even at the last game of the season
52:36
against the Chicago Bulls when everything was locked in, they went to double over,
52:39
they went to overtime, and the Knicks played guys forty five forty six
52:44
minutes. So I think that continuity that the Knicks have compared to some of
52:50
these other teams makes it makes a difference. That's why I think some of
52:54
these games are just just blowouts. And I never know, you never saw
52:59
blowouts like that, So that that has that has caught my eye. And
53:02
if you want to go back, like to the end of the Knicks game
53:06
last night, or not even in the last six minutes when they the other
53:10
night, when the when the Knicks went up three games to one and the
53:15
Sixers couldn't score for the last they were zero for eleven down the stretch last
53:19
six minutes and two seconds. Defense not only offensively, defensively, the Sixers
53:25
were didn't were clueless even last night. We saw that. And then,
53:30
like I said in the series, disclose every every offensive indeed, defensive possession
53:37
means something. So maybe because and Bead only played forty three games, they
53:42
didn't have the continuity. But Embiid's been there ten years. Yes, I
53:45
know he's probably played sixty percent of those games. But that's what that has
53:50
been. That's what been iye or it's been eye opening in the first round.
53:53
Look at the Suns and the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves put on the Route
53:59
four games, it was non competitive. The Sons with Kevin Durant, with
54:05
Devin Booker, with Bradley Deal, all three of those guys are making around
54:08
fifty million each. You talk about a disaster, that's a disaster. No,
54:16
it is, and it's it's It is disappointing because Phoenix was supposed to
54:21
be one of those teams really at the top of the conference and you know
54:23
the eight years and all that other stuff. I thought they were going to
54:27
evolve from that. But Timberwolves in general, it just seems like they've had
54:31
a lot of issues. And that's another team that has been healthy all year,
54:35
Right, So it's been on and off kind of injury prone for the
54:37
Sons or have they been healthy most of the year, Well, no,
54:39
well, the Sons. I mean, obviously in the NBA, there's real
54:44
injuries and there's fake injuries. You know, guys not playing for three games
54:46
because of and I'll say that he has a bruce calf, but that's okay.
54:50
Michael Jordan never took off for a Bruce calf. But that's a whole
54:52
another story. But the Timberwolves have had injuries. I mean, they lost
54:59
Karl Lance Towns and they actually lost their coach the other night who had a
55:04
tour, Patel Attendon, when his own guy, Mike Connelly, who's done
55:07
a great job for the Timberwolves as a point guard, rolled into him on
55:14
the bench and uh, Chris Finch had to get uh near an operation.
55:19
The Timberboles are gonna this Timperle's Nugget series are going to be interesting. You
55:22
see, the Nuggets aren't as good as they were last year because and we
55:25
said this before, because they're not as deep as they were in the past.
55:30
So it's this is a series to keep an eye on, and uh
55:34
as and I think the Nixon and the Pacers series is of series to keep
55:38
an eye and I think all these games are going to be compelling, and
55:42
I think as we move on, these games will get more more compelling.
55:46
I can't see Boston and Cleveland or Boston and the magic being compelling that that's
55:52
just me. Round two will be fun. Lou and Ariel, things for
55:57
both for joining me today on the alex are Podcast Network