June 15, 2026 • 34 mins
Colin Cowherd reacts to the Knicks winning their first championship in 53 years and why this team’s improbable comebacks in the 4th quarter were a mentality instilled by their star player Jalen Brunson.
Colin shares this week’s Where Colin Was Right, Where Colin Was Wrong segment – Why he was right about Team USA after their dominant win in the opening match of the World Cup.
NBA champion Brian Scalabrine joins the show to tell Colin why we should have expected Brunson to lead a team to an NBA Championship and why Victor Wembanyama came up short in the Finals.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
It is a Monday World Cup underway. The United States
men's national team. Get to that in a second.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Are they just gonna breeze through their group?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
One hour from now, Colin right, Colin wrang plenty of both.
So let's wrap a bow around the NBA season and
what the New York nick did. And I think one
of the reasons they were a pretty likable team and
the ratings were so big, they weren't your classic We're
(01:08):
going to go buy stars. Virtually every move the New
York Knicks made to build this team was questioned. I mean,
obviously they fired they fired Tibbs. People weren't sure about that.
Go back and look at the columns. The Karl Anthony
Trech Towns trade. Well, they had to give up Dante Divinceenzo.
That didn't go over well. Jalen Brunson free agency. Most
(01:30):
people thought, why overpaid McHale Bridges. Remember they gave away
five first round picks. I mean I remember saying I
like it, that that is a haul for McHale Bridges.
I mean og people liked it, but he had been
banged up in Toronto. You weren't quite sure, and you
put this team together and everything had been questioned. And
(01:53):
so even though you had, like you know, Kat was
a former lottery pick and Bridges was a top ten pick,
it was mostly doubted. Eye rolled people moves trades. Even
the head coach Mike Brown. Nobody liked it. And it
created an underdog mentality. So you know, the never give
(02:14):
up Knicks is not just a slogan, it really is
their reality. A lot of that guys, these that were
doubted on this roster. Now, did they get some breaks.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
They played three teams in the playoffs coming out of
a grueling seven game series. They stayed away from injuries,
They remained very, very healthy. They gained some momentum in
the atrocious Eastern Conference, and it should be noted San Antonio,
as I said before the series, was a was a
better matchup for the Knicks than Okc. Okac had been
(02:46):
to a championship final. Okac had more depth, more experience.
All that youth really came unraveled, especially in fourth quarters
in this series. But another thing I really liked about
the is this championship and this team was about culture,
not a boring, analytic led, repetitive three point shooting contest.
(03:11):
This was about grit and it was about hard work
and culture and the Villanova guys. I mean, the NBA
regular season becomes so formulaic and so repetitive. I mean,
the Celtics a few years ago got to the finals
and the ratings weren't necessarily that great the year they
won the championship. It's just the same offense, follow the leader,
(03:35):
small ball, three point shooting. The Knicks are not that.
The Knicks are their own team. They're led by a
small guy, not a center, not a wing, an undersized guy.
You know, we thought they had defensive liabilities and instead,
I mean they were the number one defensive team in
the entire playoffs.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Is that crazy?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Better than Oklahoma City, better than Detroit, better than San Antonio.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
We looked at the Knicks.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And we're like, I said this all year, like if
Cat and Brunson are on the floor at the same time,
You're like, I don't know. Also, this team pivoted multiple times.
They came into the playoffs very Jalen Brunson dependent, and
then they pivoted early in the Atlanta series to having
Cat initiate more offense, and then the Spurs sort of
(04:24):
figured that out, and then they went back in the
last two games of this series late to being Jalen
Brunson dependent so offensively, defensively, they made all sorts of
adjustments coaching adjustment in the offseason. There were chemistry issues.
There were reports late in the regular season like defense
and chemistry and the rotation, and all of it vanished.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
So I just like the humility, I like the hard work.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I like a group of guys, I mean, even Brunson
and his dad easy to wrap your arms around that.
Here's Jalen Brunch and the MVP on winning the title.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Eleven players in NBA history have a forty five point
game in the NBA finals and you're one of them.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
What did it take to get that done? Tonight?
Speaker 6 (05:13):
Everything I was just trying to go out there just
just will us to win. Wasn't focused on anything else
besides trying to win the game, getting stops, getting out
and running, just figuring out how to cut.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
That lead or to gain it.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
When we got it, really exciting moment, moment knowing that
we just we won't give up.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
You know, the reality of being a columnist or a
talk show host is you have a show the next
day or a column the next day. But it is
interesting those Nicks moves, all of them by at least
some of us were panned, Like I didn't like the
TIBs move. I'm like, you just got to the conference finals.
What are you doing? Like like what Mike Brown's been
fired multiple times. Mike Brown was the first choice. I
(05:59):
did like them Bridges move, but five first round picks
is a ton. Jalen Brunson, nobody thought he would be
this other than his dad, you know, Dante de Vincenzo.
They lost him. I remember when Hartenstein left, ok see.
I remember being on the air and saying, oh man,
that's a big loss. That is gutting so doubted the
entire time. They were only a third seed in the East,
(06:22):
so not all championships looked the same. Good for the Knicks.
All right, let's talk to the United States men's national team.
By now, you know we won, but it isn't that
we won. Okay, we said Friday on the show, we
think we'll win. It was how we won that was
the smoothest first half, the slickest, the best aesthetic, the
(06:47):
most creative. I mean, until Friday, I always thought we
labored to score goals even when we won, right, we
wouldn't get that many great looks. Certainly an open play
highly dependent on counter attacking and set pieces and corner kicks,
but the ability to dominate possession get great looks. You know,
(07:12):
I always felt when I watched soccer United States, we
had some athletes, but we were sort of wooden really,
where we were a little rigid, and we'd get opportunities
and we wouldn't take advantage of them. And Paraguay, by
the way, beat Argentina and Brazil and qualifying, so they're
more than capable. Not a dynamic offense, but more than capable.
But great athletes. Here's what they have in common. You
(07:35):
can go to Mike Trout in his prime, Mookie Bets,
MJ Dirk Noovinski scoring. Great athletes make plays look easy.
It's like man and that's practice and repetition and skill.
And you can also tell from our attacking style that
our coach believes in us. For years and years, everybody
wanted to blame Klinsmann. You can Burrhalter. The truth is
(07:59):
our coaches did not employ an attacking style because we couldn't.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
We'd get burned.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
We had to play counterattack, conservative, rock, fight, win one nothing,
set up pieces. That's not what this team is. Valerin
Ballyguan is a remarkable striker, and then you have Pulisic splitting.
The defense has always been really playmaker and goal scorer,
(08:25):
but primarily a great point guard who needs a guy
that he can set up and depend on. Baligan had
two goals. We haven't had a multiple World Cup goal
scorer since nineteen thirty. So if you thought to yourself
watching this man, it looks smooth, it looked different, you
are right. We didn't look this creative. We weren't filled
(08:48):
with this many playmakers. I know you said and felt
and talked with friends man, that first half, that's as
good as we've looked. Your eyes aren't fooling you. Balligan
was a very good youth player, a striker, a goal scorer,
and he chose Us over England because he would have
probably been there second or third. He is our one,
(09:11):
and I mean, I just thought it was a thing
of beauty. It's not that we won. It looked had
you taken our jerseys off and put on Argentina or Spain,
you would have said, oh, that's what they look like.
Overwhelming Paraguay. That's what Germany has looked like through the years.
That's what England will look like in some of their matches.
(09:32):
That's what Argentina has looked like. Where you're like, oh,
dominating possession man, when they get opportunities they Now do
you realize Polisic, how many shots.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Did Polisic have in that zero Who's had zero shots
on goal? We had four goals.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
That tells you the depth of talent, depth of talent
Alexei laws Polisic after.
Speaker 7 (10:00):
I mean, I think that's the greatest half of group
play from a men's team at a World Cup in history.
Everything went right, total dominance from top to bottom.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
It's pretty special to watch.
Speaker 8 (10:14):
It's it's fun to look around and know that there's
differnk guys that can get can pull off these different
skills and moves and things going on. It's great, it's great,
but more, you know, than just that. I feel like
there's such a good connection between us right now. I
really like the way even battle again. I mean what
you'll you know, everyone to look at the goals, but
the way he's fighting against these center backs, holding up
the ball, getting fouls, you know, Surge, all these guys
(10:38):
kind of really good performance as well, so they all
deserve a lot of credit.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
You know, they call it a beautiful game, but be
really honest, ours wasn't that beautiful? It wasn't we won
by rock fight, counterattack, you know one nothing cross your fingers.
We said that Friday, that was the beautiful game. That's
what it looks like, the passing, the fluidity, the open play,
opportunities seized. That's what I said in an essay about
(11:04):
a week ago. I think we can seize this World Cup.
That doesn't mean we necessarily win it, but we take
advantage of opportunities us soil and that's what it looks like.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Jamik. That was fun. We were texting during that thing.
That was about as good. Well.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
It was the best half of soccer by the United
States men's national team ever, not just offensively, just fluidity.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
The way it looked it was absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 9 (11:26):
Yeah, the scenes in the stadium, Colin, were unbelievable. I mean,
just an absolutely electric performance. I've never heard so far
that loud for sports. On that second Balligan goal, it
was just like, holy cow. Once you put three on
the board and a half, it wasn't like, oh, maybe
we could hold them off. It's like, oh damn, we
got a squad. We might make a run here. Colin,
(11:48):
I'm already looking at tickets for the round of thirty two.
I will let you know because we're winning the group.
By the way, on Friday against Australia, that's a lot.
We're winning that game. Hey, quarterfinals are bust. We look
like a legitimately awesome contender.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
And it's also I noticed this against Germany. So let's say,
let's talk boxing.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
So you know when.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Mike Tyson's in his prime, is that you had to
be very careful, even if you thought you had a
length advantage and an experienced advantage. You know, Larry and
old Larry Holmes fought him and stayed at bay for
rounds and rounds, and then Larry got greedy and Tyson
knocked him out. Like you paid respect to Mike by
your style against Mike, is that you always just you
(12:33):
had to kind of even if you had late length advantages,
you always sort of kept yourself at bay a little
bit attacked, move away from Mike, or if you did,
you clenched him. You got really close because you knew
of his power. Watched Germany when we tied it against Germany,
and you go back, They're not as aggressive against us,
And that is the advantage of the respect being paid.
(12:56):
When you are gifted, you can't cheat. You can't be
overly aggressive. When we would play before this World Cup,
when we would play a Netherlands or a Brazil, a Spain,
when we would play them, why weren't we super aggressive?
Speaker 3 (13:10):
That's respect that they have.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Better talent, they have better personnel, and that's what the
great players do. It's not just that you play them,
it's how you play them. How do you formulate your
game plan. You could watch our dominant time of possession,
not only against Paraguay, but also the corner kick advantage
and the time of possession advantage against Germany and countries.
(13:34):
Now watch them play us a little bit differently, not
as aggressively, because they know in open space we can
burn them.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
We have that skill level.
Speaker 9 (13:42):
I mean, dest was unbelievable, Pools was unstoppable, Colin. Did
you hear the comments the Paraguay coach made about Pochettino.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
He was like, dude, we got embarrassed. Pochettino watched their
earlier meeting.
Speaker 9 (13:55):
I think they met in November and adjusted everything, and
Paraguay was just called flat foot.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
They had no answers, colling.
Speaker 9 (14:02):
It was just relentless from our offense, and like you said,
we've never seen that before from the USA.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
T be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
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Speaker 10 (14:17):
STU Gotts here. I have a podcast Empire. It continues
to grow, and I have brought it here to iHeart.
I'm also doing a live radio show from three to
five pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me
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which is available in podcast form right when the show
finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports.
(14:41):
A lot of phone.
Speaker 9 (14:42):
Calls I love you on your show.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
It's one of my favorites.
Speaker 10 (14:44):
A lot of interact shit guys not taking themselves too seriously.
Those are just some of the things that you could
expect from Stu Gotts and Company and Steve Gotson Company Live.
So listen to Stu Gotson Company Live and our original podcast.
Please subscribe. I have rate and review Steve Gotsen Company
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(15:06):
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Speaker 1 (15:18):
We do it every week at this time, where Colin's right,
We're Colin's wrong. Every Monday, at this time, here we
go where Colin was right.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I said.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
The United States men's national team. This group was different,
thirteen players returning. Like any great championship team, all of
our best players are either in their prime or going
into their prime. I think Balligan, Wholissick, Weston McKinney, dest
are elite players, international players. My takeaway this it would
(15:52):
look different. We'd fly through the group stage and we
have a chance to win two knockout games, which is
not something we regularly. So was I surprised how beautiful
it was in the first half, Yes, but I'm not
surprised at our ability to play attacking soccer and dominate.
I said it against Germany. I'll say it again. I
(16:13):
think we can go toe to toe with all but
about two teams in the World Cup where Colin was
wrong well a lot with the Knicks. I didn't like
the TIBs firing. I thought he had created a culture
and momentum.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
I said.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
I thought Jalen Brunson very good player, but he's not
a star. I'm wrong there. I thought I picked the
Spurs to win in six. I thought Wemby would be
the difference. I didn't listen to myself. Inexperience always matters
in these big championship moments, and let's be honest, Wemby
got bullied in this series.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
He was not dependable. Late.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
I thought Mike Brown and his staff had a notch
above series against Mitch Johnson and his staff. I still
don't get the reluctance to play Dylan Harper in crucial minutes.
Daron Fox had a bad series. I'm not sure they
can move that contract. I was just wrong on the Knicks.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
A lot where Colin was right.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
But I loved Og onnob for a long time.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
I had said he's the first or the second best Nick,
and I said that before the finals, not Cat. I
think if you asked thirty gms in the league privately,
he's the guy.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Now.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Brunson's the finisher and the closer, and Og early in
his career, had some injury issues. But that tip in
was the play of the year in the NBA. He's
a two way player. The blocks, the three pointers, the toughness,
the humility. He averaged twenty one a game. I just
think he's a one of those great athletes.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
It's the linebacker who can cover in space and pass rush.
He can do so many things and never wants credit
for anything.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
I was right on Og.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Where Colin was wrong, but I was.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Really wrong on Wimby.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I just thought he got pushed around, could never get
to his spot.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
He's not a big bodied guy.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
He was very inefficient in the series, shot forty two percent. Now,
some of this is on the Spurs staff. That played
him only twenty eight to twenty nine minutes during the
regular season and relied on him heavily to play forty
minutes in the postseason. That's on the staff, But too
many threes, really bad late hesitant, and some of his
(18:20):
postgame comments I thought.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Were off the mark.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Bill Simmons said he would bet his life on the
Warriors stealing Lebron from the Lakers. Well, we don't want
him to bet his life if this doesn't happen. That's
not what I'm rooting for. But it does make two
of us listen. The Warriors analytically pass more than almost
every team in the NBA. The Lakers don't. That's because
Luca's got the ball in his hands a lot. The
(18:49):
Warriors are a natural fit. That offensive ecosystem, with Steph
and Draymond often being a canalyst, is built for him.
He's got the wisdom in the intel diligence to fit
into an offense that has been touch tough on young guys.
Also his ability to facilitate the offense. It's very highly
(19:10):
steffed dependent. They need another score, they need another wisdom
filled veteran. They need another great distributor lebron and I
agree with Simmons, He's got to listen.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
This is a perfect fit.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Where Colin was right, Andy Reid and the Chiefs Brett
Veach did it again, restructured Patrick Mahomes deal third time
in six years. Kansas City has reset the quarterback market.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
This isn't hard to figure out.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Do exactly the opposite of what the Cowboys did with
Dak Prescott, re set the market regularly and Mahomes off
an injury. You notice that why would they do it
now because they may get a better deal that if
he's an MVP at the end of the season, constantly
ahead of the game on quarterback contracts. Brett Veach and
(20:04):
the Chiefs always a little early. Don't do what the
Cowboys did where Colin was raw. I really liked Jalen Brunson,
but I didn't think a ball centric point guard who's
smallish could lead you to a title. Becky Hammond didn't think,
so I didn't either. Like Steve Nash to me was
a better long range shooting Jalen Brunson a little better
(20:27):
from three oo's felt like that to me. Similar games,
the one handed closing, very clever, always find their spot.
But he was by a mile the highest usage rate
guy in the finals. Yet he was at his best
in the final game of the series, which is the
opposite of Harden or a Luca, where they wear down
over a series. So it was pretty damn remarkable. He
(20:50):
was better late in the fourth quarter in the final
two games.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I was wrong.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Where Colin was right now, the Dodgers haven't ruined baseball.
The one d seventh payroll Washington Nationals lead baseball and
run score. How about that, the team with no money
or at least not spending. Oh, by the way, the
Dodgers just lost two of three to the lowly Chicago
White Sox. The low payroll Brewers, Guardians, and Rays are
(21:18):
having great seasons. Take a deep breath. Baseball's got more
parody right now than the NBA, which does have a
salary cap.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Where Colin was right, the.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Big ten and Ken Paxon, the Attorney General of Texas,
thankfully did the same thing and said, guys stop threatening
to not play Texas tech athletic teams because of Brandon Soresby. Guys,
it's a bad thing. He bet on games when he
was in Indiana. It's not good we all know that,
(21:58):
but gambling's legal. It's an NCAA by law. Texas Tech
is going to defend him. It's ridiculous to think you
could cancel games. These teams have contracts with networks. Turbulence
happens with young people in college sports all the time,
all the time. You should have seen it coming. I
have no problem if you suspend him for the year.
(22:20):
It's not about that, but week management by the NC DOUBLEA,
just like weak parenting, allows a brushfire to become an inferno.
And once again, the NC DOUBLEA really nowhere to be
found come punishment time.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern Non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Colin Wright Colin Wrong on a Monday and with that.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Brian Scalabrini has been a Celtics TV analyst for a
long time, co hosting the Starting Lineup with our buddy
of Frank Isola. All right, let's start with this. Brian,
I was wrong on Jalen Brunson. I felt that ball
center high usage rate wears down in a series.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Not a great defender.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
I mean your takeaway when Becky Hammond said it, I
agreed with her. I'm like, I can like a guy.
He can be an all star, he can dominate the East.
But the fact that he was a dominant closer and
Wemby disappeared.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I didn't forecast that, did you.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
Yeah, I mean I don't think anybody did. Even though
he had success in high school. Like remember I was
in Chicago where Rick Brunston was an assistant coach on
that staff.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Jalen Brunston would come in.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
After practice and he'd work out with us, and he
was really good, and he won in high school. He
won two national championships. In college, he won at Dallas
and Dallas. You would think that they would know what
they're doing. They were always looking for a new star.
He got to the Knicks, They got, you know, pretty far.
But I think like his mentality, it's up there with
(23:54):
the greats, like the all time greats, to Steph Curry's,
the Michael Jordan's and Larry Birds and Magic Johnson's.
Speaker 5 (24:00):
You know, he just didn't have the physical tools that
those guys have.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
But you know, when it comes to like the fourth
quarter and delivering, I think your mentality goes a lot
further than people realize. It's like you can go on
the other side of it and look like Yaron Fox
was a little bit shook up by the moment. Other guys,
I mean, maybe you could point to Wimby and say
he wasn't ready for the moment, But the mentality of
Jalen Brunson is what got him through. And I knew
(24:25):
the kid. I watched the kid, I followed the kid.
I rooted for the kid, and I didn't see you
know this level of success.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah, I mean you listen, you were in four finals.
You played eleven years. You know this league inside it
Out's why you and I Sol are so good. You
know the league. As I was saying this, if you
go to the last eight championships, the way the NBA
officiates Brian in the finals, only Jokis is a true
center that's won, and he's kind of an international center
facing the basket, loves to shoot high, pick and rolls.
(24:52):
My take is watching Wemby, he got bullied. I don't
think even Yannis, although he doesn't get bullied as much
more of a wing player because he's got the ball
so often. Is that The reality is it's hard that
the NBA makes it so difficult for a big to
find his spot down low. And is it possible that
(25:13):
Wemby will never be like the classic center. Is he's
gonna be Mori yanis more Jokics than what we what
we view as a classic center.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Sure, sure, I don't.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
He's not gonna be with like he's not going to
turn into Kareema bou Jabbar.
Speaker 8 (25:28):
No.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
But you remember that we believe Warriors beat Dirk Davitski,
who won the MVP that year. Like Dirk was really good,
but he was guardable and then you know, I think
a couple of playoff blunders the first round exit, and
then he came back and when they beat Miami in
the finals, he was unguardable.
Speaker 5 (25:46):
No one could guard. He just went through in the
entire roster.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
So I do think like with Wemby in his mindset,
and he's only in his third year. He hasn't even
made it to the playoffs before this year, he hasn't
even finished a complete season. I guess his rookie year
he did. So it's like there's there's a lot to
grow with a guy like Wemby, and I think that
team is going to show that, and you know the
knickt DA, they're the ones that blew Game one against
(26:11):
Halliburton when the shot went up above the shot clocking drop.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
So they had their playoff blenders as well. Yep, but
since in San.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Antonio doing it at the highest level, I think it's
still a really successful season for them, and I think
Wimby can grow from this.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
You know I said this, and you know this as
a Celtics analyst. I said, I kept thinking of the
Celtics watching the Knicks because there's such rivals.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
I said.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
I looked at the Knicks bigs and I count Og
as a big, I mean three and d I look
at Robinson's physicality, cat skill, and I'm like, man, the
Celtics frontline is unathletic compared to that.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
They need to take a swing.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And then I look at and I look at the
collective humility and how well the Knicks play together, and
I'm like, I'm not sure Tatum and Brown like each other,
like both of them, but Tatum's strangely passive and brown
sends my favorite season ever and it was one without Tatum.
And I kind of look at the Knicks and I
(27:11):
want your perspective on this, because there's a Yawnis rumor
to the Celtics that I'm like, well, that would close
the gap, But the Knicks bring virtually everybody back. I
think Robinson's contract may they may move that. But I mean,
should we look at the Knicks as a one off
or it's a pretty darn good roster Brian.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Yeah, I think the Knicks are better in the playoffs,
and we can previously give him credit for like if
you think about what Bridges does, you know he plays
his eighty two games, but in the playoffs he goes up.
I heard you talking about Ogna Nooby. It's amazing the
Knicks got him for RJ. Barrett and Manuel quickly. Like
he is a gamer. He defends at a high level.
(27:50):
He knocks down shots, he makes big plays. Karnthy Towns
is a matchup nightmare. So yeah, I do look at
the Knicks as the favorite next year. I know, the
odds came out and the odds came out to win
the championship Oklahoma City, San Antonio Celtics.
Speaker 5 (28:04):
And then it came in Knicks.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
But I think the Knicks do have the best roster
because in a playoff game like where are you going
to lean your defense? And you still have to deal
with Jalen Brunton, who is an absolute terror when it
comes to that fourth quarter. He might not play well,
he didn't actually have a great series, but in the
fourth quarter every game when he needed to make a play,
he made the play. So you asked this question about
(28:26):
the Jannis trumors, I hear the same things. I just
I'm not sure the Celtics are going to go down
that road. I don't know for a fact that they
wouldn't go down that road, but it doesn't seem like
to beat their mo But I do think the Celtics
are trying to gear up with a healthy Tatum and
trying to look at the Knicks, look at Oklahoma City,
look at San Antonio, and seeing can we put a
(28:47):
team together that can challenge those four teams.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
So, you know, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
One of the things I said that I found really
likable about the Knicks, and I've said this about the Celtics,
is I always say I like analytics over analytics. I
will look at the numbers and the analytics, but in football,
it is blocking and tackling. I don't care what the
numbers say. And in basketball it's situational. I need a basket.
I need to stop. I don't care what I mean
(29:16):
when Brunson scoring, I don't need a three, I need
a basket. That's what the Spurs needed this entire series.
With four minutes left, stop the momentum. And I look
at Boston and I think, God, they're so formulaic in
regards to threes. Do you think, like this Celtics team,
you know how this is a copycat league. For years
it was small ball. That was just the Warriors. Not
(29:39):
everybody else could do that because Draymond plays so big
for his size. Do you think the Celtics tweak their
formula if they got a Yannis who does not shoot
a three and be like, okay, guys, we are a
little burdened by the incessant three point formula.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Actually that's a really good point.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
You know, it doesn't seem like they're a mo to
take it guy at thirty one, and you know you'd
have to give up Jalen Brown. I don't know if
there's a way to do it without giving up Jalen Brown.
And to say like, hey, we rely too many on
too many three. So if we go out and get
personnel that can change that, then maybe we can, you
know attack. You know, in the Oklahoma City, Indiana series,
(30:20):
that series also didn't.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Produce a lot of threes.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
There was a lot more pace, a lot more mid range,
a lot more going to the basket.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
And now this year it's the same kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
I think the San Antonio Spurs relied a lot on
the three. But you know, when you play a certain
style and the coach is a certain way, you know,
I would just like to see, like with the Knicks,
things weren't going well one way, they just adapted to
a different way. And I think all teams need to
do that. And maybe that's what you're talking about when
you talk about analytics. It's just like finding a guy
that's going to make a play, and that play doesn't
(30:49):
have to be a three. It doesn't have to be
a layup. It could be a driving kick and you
know two or three times, or coming up with a
big defensive stop or taking a charge.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
Those are in the in.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
The finals the margins are tight, or even in the
Eastern Conference finals where the margins are tight. You know,
those little plays make a big difference, and you know,
maybe the Celtis look at it and say like, well,
Yiannis can make plays, our guys can't make, so maybe
we go down that road. But it just doesn't feel
right to me, and you know, like it was. It's
not like I have conversations with anybody. It doesn't feel
like the Celtics.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
Would go down that road. But you bring up a
good point.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
If they want to go away from being three happy,
I guess that would be an interesting deal.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Finally, I found the nickst incredibly likable. I know their
arrival of the Celtics, but there was something. You know,
Mike Brown success looks like a lot of different things
to other people. And he's coached with Carlisle, good coach,
and Popovich and Kerr. What was Mike Brown When they
made the move for Tibbs. I was like, man, Tibbs
(31:47):
has a formula, they have a culture, they like each other,
they're physical.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Like I didn't like it.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
I'm like, man, James Dolan needs to go back and
build another sphere and leave the basketball guys to the basketball.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
But Adames Dolan was right.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Are you surprised the success Mike Brown had because you know,
unlike football, you can be fired multiple times in the NBA.
It doesn't ding your credibility apparently. What did you make
of it?
Speaker 5 (32:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (32:13):
Yeah, So, you know, I think that with Mike Brown,
there were times where they were talking about minutes. You know,
the minutes are actually the same as it was with Thibodeau,
and then they talk about ball movement, and the ball
movement is the same as it was with Thibodeau. So
then they talk about defense, which also was the same.
Speaker 5 (32:31):
You know. So I think like, sometimes.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
There's a narrative that people go with and people write,
and they wrote that narrative and maybe they just wanted
Thibodeau gone. I have no idea why, but you can't
argue with the end results. And I will say, like
Mike Brown made a few decisions and he didn't stick
with it, which was really nice. There was a time
when they were playing through Karl Anthony Towns and then
Karl Anthony Towns was a no.
Speaker 5 (32:52):
Show, so they just went a different route, right.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
And then I think Jalen Bruntsey did a good job
of trying to get everyone involved.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
But at times when they're twenty two to the Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Cavaliers, Jalen Brunson is what brought him back so like,
even though the narrative.
Speaker 5 (33:05):
Was too much of this and too much.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
Of that, I think Mike Brown is probably a little
bit more adaptable, and maybe that's what the Knicks needed.
I think their defense this year was average at best,
and something happened. I don't know what happened. It was
game three against Atlanta. From game four on, their defense
was completely different. They started flying around more, they started
trapping the ball.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
They were way more impactful, way more physical.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Is that Mike Brown saying hat this didn't work the
first three games when we're down two to one to Atlanta.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
I don't know. But he puts the right buttons and
that's all that really matters.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
And I think nowadays, maybe like an NFL head coach,
it's about relying on your offensive coordinator, defensive coordinators, having
more of a collaborative effort. And it seemed like Mike
Brown throughout he did a really good job of making
it a collaborative effort.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
And I think I can give him a ton of
credit for that.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Eleven years in the league, got to the finals four times.
One of the smarter guys, he and Frank Iisola are great.
We put him on regularly on this show show as well, Brian.
Great seeing you man. I always appreciate your insight.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
You got to callin s here
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noone Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
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or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
It is a Monday World Cup underway. The United States
men's national team. Get to that in a second.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Are they just gonna breeze through their group?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
One hour from now, Colin right, Colin wrang plenty of both.
So let's wrap a bow around the NBA season and
what the New York nick did. And I think one
of the reasons they were a pretty likable team and
the ratings were so big, they weren't your classic We're
(01:08):
going to go buy stars. Virtually every move the New
York Knicks made to build this team was questioned. I mean,
obviously they fired they fired Tibbs. People weren't sure about that.
Go back and look at the columns. The Karl Anthony
Trech Towns trade. Well, they had to give up Dante Divinceenzo.
That didn't go over well. Jalen Brunson free agency. Most
(01:30):
people thought, why overpaid McHale Bridges. Remember they gave away
five first round picks. I mean I remember saying I
like it, that that is a haul for McHale Bridges.
I mean og people liked it, but he had been
banged up in Toronto. You weren't quite sure, and you
put this team together and everything had been questioned. And
(01:53):
so even though you had, like you know, Kat was
a former lottery pick and Bridges was a top ten pick,
it was mostly doubted. Eye rolled people moves trades. Even
the head coach Mike Brown. Nobody liked it. And it
created an underdog mentality. So you know, the never give
(02:14):
up Knicks is not just a slogan, it really is
their reality. A lot of that guys, these that were
doubted on this roster. Now, did they get some breaks.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
They played three teams in the playoffs coming out of
a grueling seven game series. They stayed away from injuries,
They remained very, very healthy. They gained some momentum in
the atrocious Eastern Conference, and it should be noted San Antonio,
as I said before the series, was a was a
better matchup for the Knicks than Okc. Okac had been
(02:46):
to a championship final. Okac had more depth, more experience.
All that youth really came unraveled, especially in fourth quarters
in this series. But another thing I really liked about
the is this championship and this team was about culture,
not a boring, analytic led, repetitive three point shooting contest.
(03:11):
This was about grit and it was about hard work
and culture and the Villanova guys. I mean, the NBA
regular season becomes so formulaic and so repetitive. I mean,
the Celtics a few years ago got to the finals
and the ratings weren't necessarily that great the year they
won the championship. It's just the same offense, follow the leader,
(03:35):
small ball, three point shooting. The Knicks are not that.
The Knicks are their own team. They're led by a
small guy, not a center, not a wing, an undersized guy.
You know, we thought they had defensive liabilities and instead,
I mean they were the number one defensive team in
the entire playoffs.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Is that crazy?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Better than Oklahoma City, better than Detroit, better than San Antonio.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
We looked at the Knicks.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And we're like, I said this all year, like if
Cat and Brunson are on the floor at the same time,
You're like, I don't know. Also, this team pivoted multiple times.
They came into the playoffs very Jalen Brunson dependent, and
then they pivoted early in the Atlanta series to having
Cat initiate more offense, and then the Spurs sort of
(04:24):
figured that out, and then they went back in the
last two games of this series late to being Jalen
Brunson dependent so offensively, defensively, they made all sorts of
adjustments coaching adjustment in the offseason. There were chemistry issues.
There were reports late in the regular season like defense
and chemistry and the rotation, and all of it vanished.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
So I just like the humility, I like the hard work.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I like a group of guys, I mean, even Brunson
and his dad easy to wrap your arms around that.
Here's Jalen Brunch and the MVP on winning the title.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Eleven players in NBA history have a forty five point
game in the NBA finals and you're one of them.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
What did it take to get that done? Tonight?
Speaker 6 (05:13):
Everything I was just trying to go out there just
just will us to win. Wasn't focused on anything else
besides trying to win the game, getting stops, getting out
and running, just figuring out how to cut.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
That lead or to gain it.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
When we got it, really exciting moment, moment knowing that
we just we won't give up.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
You know, the reality of being a columnist or a
talk show host is you have a show the next
day or a column the next day. But it is
interesting those Nicks moves, all of them by at least
some of us were panned, Like I didn't like the
TIBs move. I'm like, you just got to the conference finals.
What are you doing? Like like what Mike Brown's been
fired multiple times. Mike Brown was the first choice. I
(05:59):
did like them Bridges move, but five first round picks
is a ton. Jalen Brunson, nobody thought he would be
this other than his dad, you know, Dante de Vincenzo.
They lost him. I remember when Hartenstein left, ok see.
I remember being on the air and saying, oh man,
that's a big loss. That is gutting so doubted the
entire time. They were only a third seed in the East,
(06:22):
so not all championships looked the same. Good for the Knicks.
All right, let's talk to the United States men's national team.
By now, you know we won, but it isn't that
we won. Okay, we said Friday on the show, we
think we'll win. It was how we won that was
the smoothest first half, the slickest, the best aesthetic, the
(06:47):
most creative. I mean, until Friday, I always thought we
labored to score goals even when we won, right, we
wouldn't get that many great looks. Certainly an open play
highly dependent on counter attacking and set pieces and corner kicks,
but the ability to dominate possession get great looks. You know,
(07:12):
I always felt when I watched soccer United States, we
had some athletes, but we were sort of wooden really,
where we were a little rigid, and we'd get opportunities
and we wouldn't take advantage of them. And Paraguay, by
the way, beat Argentina and Brazil and qualifying, so they're
more than capable. Not a dynamic offense, but more than capable.
But great athletes. Here's what they have in common. You
(07:35):
can go to Mike Trout in his prime, Mookie Bets,
MJ Dirk Noovinski scoring. Great athletes make plays look easy.
It's like man and that's practice and repetition and skill.
And you can also tell from our attacking style that
our coach believes in us. For years and years, everybody
wanted to blame Klinsmann. You can Burrhalter. The truth is
(07:59):
our coaches did not employ an attacking style because we couldn't.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
We'd get burned.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
We had to play counterattack, conservative, rock, fight, win one nothing,
set up pieces. That's not what this team is. Valerin
Ballyguan is a remarkable striker, and then you have Pulisic splitting.
The defense has always been really playmaker and goal scorer,
(08:25):
but primarily a great point guard who needs a guy
that he can set up and depend on. Baligan had
two goals. We haven't had a multiple World Cup goal
scorer since nineteen thirty. So if you thought to yourself
watching this man, it looks smooth, it looked different, you
are right. We didn't look this creative. We weren't filled
(08:48):
with this many playmakers. I know you said and felt
and talked with friends man, that first half, that's as
good as we've looked. Your eyes aren't fooling you. Balligan
was a very good youth player, a striker, a goal scorer,
and he chose Us over England because he would have
probably been there second or third. He is our one,
(09:11):
and I mean, I just thought it was a thing
of beauty. It's not that we won. It looked had
you taken our jerseys off and put on Argentina or Spain,
you would have said, oh, that's what they look like.
Overwhelming Paraguay. That's what Germany has looked like through the years.
That's what England will look like in some of their matches.
(09:32):
That's what Argentina has looked like. Where you're like, oh,
dominating possession man, when they get opportunities they Now do
you realize Polisic, how many shots.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Did Polisic have in that zero Who's had zero shots
on goal? We had four goals.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
That tells you the depth of talent, depth of talent
Alexei laws Polisic after.
Speaker 7 (10:00):
I mean, I think that's the greatest half of group
play from a men's team at a World Cup in history.
Everything went right, total dominance from top to bottom.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
It's pretty special to watch.
Speaker 8 (10:14):
It's it's fun to look around and know that there's
differnk guys that can get can pull off these different
skills and moves and things going on. It's great, it's great,
but more, you know, than just that. I feel like
there's such a good connection between us right now. I
really like the way even battle again. I mean what
you'll you know, everyone to look at the goals, but
the way he's fighting against these center backs, holding up
the ball, getting fouls, you know, Surge, all these guys
(10:38):
kind of really good performance as well, so they all
deserve a lot of credit.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
You know, they call it a beautiful game, but be
really honest, ours wasn't that beautiful? It wasn't we won
by rock fight, counterattack, you know one nothing cross your fingers.
We said that Friday, that was the beautiful game. That's
what it looks like, the passing, the fluidity, the open play,
opportunities seized. That's what I said in an essay about
(11:04):
a week ago. I think we can seize this World Cup.
That doesn't mean we necessarily win it, but we take
advantage of opportunities us soil and that's what it looks like.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Jamik. That was fun. We were texting during that thing.
That was about as good. Well.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
It was the best half of soccer by the United
States men's national team ever, not just offensively, just fluidity.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
The way it looked it was absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 9 (11:26):
Yeah, the scenes in the stadium, Colin, were unbelievable. I mean,
just an absolutely electric performance. I've never heard so far
that loud for sports. On that second Balligan goal, it
was just like, holy cow. Once you put three on
the board and a half, it wasn't like, oh, maybe
we could hold them off. It's like, oh damn, we
got a squad. We might make a run here. Colin,
(11:48):
I'm already looking at tickets for the round of thirty two.
I will let you know because we're winning the group.
By the way, on Friday against Australia, that's a lot.
We're winning that game. Hey, quarterfinals are bust. We look
like a legitimately awesome contender.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
And it's also I noticed this against Germany. So let's say,
let's talk boxing.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
So you know when.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Mike Tyson's in his prime, is that you had to
be very careful, even if you thought you had a
length advantage and an experienced advantage. You know, Larry and
old Larry Holmes fought him and stayed at bay for
rounds and rounds, and then Larry got greedy and Tyson
knocked him out. Like you paid respect to Mike by
your style against Mike, is that you always just you
(12:33):
had to kind of even if you had late length advantages,
you always sort of kept yourself at bay a little
bit attacked, move away from Mike, or if you did,
you clenched him. You got really close because you knew
of his power. Watched Germany when we tied it against Germany,
and you go back, They're not as aggressive against us,
And that is the advantage of the respect being paid.
(12:56):
When you are gifted, you can't cheat. You can't be
overly aggressive. When we would play before this World Cup,
when we would play a Netherlands or a Brazil, a Spain,
when we would play them, why weren't we super aggressive?
Speaker 3 (13:10):
That's respect that they have.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Better talent, they have better personnel, and that's what the
great players do. It's not just that you play them,
it's how you play them. How do you formulate your
game plan. You could watch our dominant time of possession,
not only against Paraguay, but also the corner kick advantage
and the time of possession advantage against Germany and countries.
(13:34):
Now watch them play us a little bit differently, not
as aggressively, because they know in open space we can
burn them.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
We have that skill level.
Speaker 9 (13:42):
I mean, dest was unbelievable, Pools was unstoppable, Colin. Did
you hear the comments the Paraguay coach made about Pochettino.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
He was like, dude, we got embarrassed. Pochettino watched their
earlier meeting.
Speaker 9 (13:55):
I think they met in November and adjusted everything, and
Paraguay was just called flat foot.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
They had no answers, colling.
Speaker 9 (14:02):
It was just relentless from our offense, and like you said,
we've never seen that before from the USA.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
T be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
weekdays and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 10 (14:17):
STU Gotts here. I have a podcast Empire. It continues
to grow, and I have brought it here to iHeart.
I'm also doing a live radio show from three to
five pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me
out of the house. It's called Stegts and Company Live,
which is available in podcast form right when the show
finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports.
(14:41):
A lot of phone.
Speaker 9 (14:42):
Calls I love you on your show.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
It's one of my favorites.
Speaker 10 (14:44):
A lot of interact shit guys not taking themselves too seriously.
Those are just some of the things that you could
expect from Stu Gotts and Company and Steve Gotson Company Live.
So listen to Stu Gotson Company Live and our original podcast.
Please subscribe. I have rate and review Steve Gotsen Company
and God Bless Football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. You
(15:06):
do it today and you can check all of those
out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
We do it every week at this time, where Colin's right,
We're Colin's wrong. Every Monday, at this time, here we
go where Colin was right.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I said.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
The United States men's national team. This group was different,
thirteen players returning. Like any great championship team, all of
our best players are either in their prime or going
into their prime. I think Balligan, Wholissick, Weston McKinney, dest
are elite players, international players. My takeaway this it would
(15:52):
look different. We'd fly through the group stage and we
have a chance to win two knockout games, which is
not something we regularly. So was I surprised how beautiful
it was in the first half, Yes, but I'm not
surprised at our ability to play attacking soccer and dominate.
I said it against Germany. I'll say it again. I
(16:13):
think we can go toe to toe with all but
about two teams in the World Cup where Colin was
wrong well a lot with the Knicks. I didn't like
the TIBs firing. I thought he had created a culture
and momentum.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
I said.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
I thought Jalen Brunson very good player, but he's not
a star. I'm wrong there. I thought I picked the
Spurs to win in six. I thought Wemby would be
the difference. I didn't listen to myself. Inexperience always matters
in these big championship moments, and let's be honest, Wemby
got bullied in this series.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
He was not dependable. Late.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
I thought Mike Brown and his staff had a notch
above series against Mitch Johnson and his staff. I still
don't get the reluctance to play Dylan Harper in crucial minutes.
Daron Fox had a bad series. I'm not sure they
can move that contract. I was just wrong on the Knicks.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
A lot where Colin was right.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
But I loved Og onnob for a long time.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
I had said he's the first or the second best Nick,
and I said that before the finals, not Cat. I
think if you asked thirty gms in the league privately,
he's the guy.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Now.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Brunson's the finisher and the closer, and Og early in
his career, had some injury issues. But that tip in
was the play of the year in the NBA. He's
a two way player. The blocks, the three pointers, the toughness,
the humility. He averaged twenty one a game. I just
think he's a one of those great athletes.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
It's the linebacker who can cover in space and pass rush.
He can do so many things and never wants credit
for anything.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
I was right on Og.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Where Colin was wrong, but I was.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Really wrong on Wimby.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I just thought he got pushed around, could never get
to his spot.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
He's not a big bodied guy.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
He was very inefficient in the series, shot forty two percent. Now,
some of this is on the Spurs staff. That played
him only twenty eight to twenty nine minutes during the
regular season and relied on him heavily to play forty
minutes in the postseason. That's on the staff, But too
many threes, really bad late hesitant, and some of his
(18:20):
postgame comments I thought.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Were off the mark.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Bill Simmons said he would bet his life on the
Warriors stealing Lebron from the Lakers. Well, we don't want
him to bet his life if this doesn't happen. That's
not what I'm rooting for. But it does make two
of us listen. The Warriors analytically pass more than almost
every team in the NBA. The Lakers don't. That's because
Luca's got the ball in his hands a lot. The
(18:49):
Warriors are a natural fit. That offensive ecosystem, with Steph
and Draymond often being a canalyst, is built for him.
He's got the wisdom in the intel diligence to fit
into an offense that has been touch tough on young guys.
Also his ability to facilitate the offense. It's very highly
(19:10):
steffed dependent. They need another score, they need another wisdom
filled veteran. They need another great distributor lebron and I
agree with Simmons, He's got to listen.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
This is a perfect fit.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Where Colin was right, Andy Reid and the Chiefs Brett
Veach did it again, restructured Patrick Mahomes deal third time
in six years. Kansas City has reset the quarterback market.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
This isn't hard to figure out.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Do exactly the opposite of what the Cowboys did with
Dak Prescott, re set the market regularly and Mahomes off
an injury. You notice that why would they do it
now because they may get a better deal that if
he's an MVP at the end of the season, constantly
ahead of the game on quarterback contracts. Brett Veach and
(20:04):
the Chiefs always a little early. Don't do what the
Cowboys did where Colin was raw. I really liked Jalen Brunson,
but I didn't think a ball centric point guard who's
smallish could lead you to a title. Becky Hammond didn't think,
so I didn't either. Like Steve Nash to me was
a better long range shooting Jalen Brunson a little better
(20:27):
from three oo's felt like that to me. Similar games,
the one handed closing, very clever, always find their spot.
But he was by a mile the highest usage rate
guy in the finals. Yet he was at his best
in the final game of the series, which is the
opposite of Harden or a Luca, where they wear down
over a series. So it was pretty damn remarkable. He
(20:50):
was better late in the fourth quarter in the final
two games.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I was wrong.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Where Colin was right now, the Dodgers haven't ruined baseball.
The one d seventh payroll Washington Nationals lead baseball and
run score. How about that, the team with no money
or at least not spending. Oh, by the way, the
Dodgers just lost two of three to the lowly Chicago
White Sox. The low payroll Brewers, Guardians, and Rays are
(21:18):
having great seasons. Take a deep breath. Baseball's got more
parody right now than the NBA, which does have a
salary cap.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Where Colin was right, the.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Big ten and Ken Paxon, the Attorney General of Texas,
thankfully did the same thing and said, guys stop threatening
to not play Texas tech athletic teams because of Brandon Soresby. Guys,
it's a bad thing. He bet on games when he
was in Indiana. It's not good we all know that,
(21:58):
but gambling's legal. It's an NCAA by law. Texas Tech
is going to defend him. It's ridiculous to think you
could cancel games. These teams have contracts with networks. Turbulence
happens with young people in college sports all the time,
all the time. You should have seen it coming. I
have no problem if you suspend him for the year.
(22:20):
It's not about that, but week management by the NC DOUBLEA,
just like weak parenting, allows a brushfire to become an inferno.
And once again, the NC DOUBLEA really nowhere to be
found come punishment time.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern Non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Colin Wright Colin Wrong on a Monday and with that.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Brian Scalabrini has been a Celtics TV analyst for a
long time, co hosting the Starting Lineup with our buddy
of Frank Isola. All right, let's start with this. Brian,
I was wrong on Jalen Brunson. I felt that ball
center high usage rate wears down in a series.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Not a great defender.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
I mean your takeaway when Becky Hammond said it, I
agreed with her. I'm like, I can like a guy.
He can be an all star, he can dominate the East.
But the fact that he was a dominant closer and
Wemby disappeared.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I didn't forecast that, did you.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
Yeah, I mean I don't think anybody did. Even though
he had success in high school. Like remember I was
in Chicago where Rick Brunston was an assistant coach on
that staff.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Jalen Brunston would come in.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
After practice and he'd work out with us, and he
was really good, and he won in high school. He
won two national championships. In college, he won at Dallas
and Dallas. You would think that they would know what
they're doing. They were always looking for a new star.
He got to the Knicks, They got, you know, pretty far.
But I think like his mentality, it's up there with
(23:54):
the greats, like the all time greats, to Steph Curry's,
the Michael Jordan's and Larry Birds and Magic Johnson's.
Speaker 5 (24:00):
You know, he just didn't have the physical tools that
those guys have.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
But you know, when it comes to like the fourth
quarter and delivering, I think your mentality goes a lot
further than people realize. It's like you can go on
the other side of it and look like Yaron Fox
was a little bit shook up by the moment. Other guys,
I mean, maybe you could point to Wimby and say
he wasn't ready for the moment, But the mentality of
Jalen Brunson is what got him through. And I knew
(24:25):
the kid. I watched the kid, I followed the kid.
I rooted for the kid, and I didn't see you
know this level of success.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah, I mean you listen, you were in four finals.
You played eleven years. You know this league inside it
Out's why you and I Sol are so good. You
know the league. As I was saying this, if you
go to the last eight championships, the way the NBA
officiates Brian in the finals, only Jokis is a true
center that's won, and he's kind of an international center
facing the basket, loves to shoot high, pick and rolls.
(24:52):
My take is watching Wemby, he got bullied. I don't
think even Yannis, although he doesn't get bullied as much
more of a wing player because he's got the ball
so often. Is that The reality is it's hard that
the NBA makes it so difficult for a big to
find his spot down low. And is it possible that
(25:13):
Wemby will never be like the classic center. Is he's
gonna be Mori yanis more Jokics than what we what
we view as a classic center.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Sure, sure, I don't.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
He's not gonna be with like he's not going to
turn into Kareema bou Jabbar.
Speaker 8 (25:28):
No.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
But you remember that we believe Warriors beat Dirk Davitski,
who won the MVP that year. Like Dirk was really good,
but he was guardable and then you know, I think
a couple of playoff blunders the first round exit, and
then he came back and when they beat Miami in
the finals, he was unguardable.
Speaker 5 (25:46):
No one could guard. He just went through in the
entire roster.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
So I do think like with Wemby in his mindset,
and he's only in his third year. He hasn't even
made it to the playoffs before this year, he hasn't
even finished a complete season. I guess his rookie year
he did. So it's like there's there's a lot to
grow with a guy like Wemby, and I think that
team is going to show that, and you know the
knickt DA, they're the ones that blew Game one against
(26:11):
Halliburton when the shot went up above the shot clocking drop.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
So they had their playoff blenders as well. Yep, but
since in San.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Antonio doing it at the highest level, I think it's
still a really successful season for them, and I think
Wimby can grow from this.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
You know I said this, and you know this as
a Celtics analyst. I said, I kept thinking of the
Celtics watching the Knicks because there's such rivals.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
I said.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
I looked at the Knicks bigs and I count Og
as a big, I mean three and d I look
at Robinson's physicality, cat skill, and I'm like, man, the
Celtics frontline is unathletic compared to that.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
They need to take a swing.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And then I look at and I look at the
collective humility and how well the Knicks play together, and
I'm like, I'm not sure Tatum and Brown like each other,
like both of them, but Tatum's strangely passive and brown
sends my favorite season ever and it was one without Tatum.
And I kind of look at the Knicks and I
(27:11):
want your perspective on this, because there's a Yawnis rumor
to the Celtics that I'm like, well, that would close
the gap, But the Knicks bring virtually everybody back. I
think Robinson's contract may they may move that. But I mean,
should we look at the Knicks as a one off
or it's a pretty darn good roster Brian.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Yeah, I think the Knicks are better in the playoffs,
and we can previously give him credit for like if
you think about what Bridges does, you know he plays
his eighty two games, but in the playoffs he goes up.
I heard you talking about Ogna Nooby. It's amazing the
Knicks got him for RJ. Barrett and Manuel quickly. Like
he is a gamer. He defends at a high level.
(27:50):
He knocks down shots, he makes big plays. Karnthy Towns
is a matchup nightmare. So yeah, I do look at
the Knicks as the favorite next year. I know, the
odds came out and the odds came out to win
the championship Oklahoma City, San Antonio Celtics.
Speaker 5 (28:04):
And then it came in Knicks.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
But I think the Knicks do have the best roster
because in a playoff game like where are you going
to lean your defense? And you still have to deal
with Jalen Brunton, who is an absolute terror when it
comes to that fourth quarter. He might not play well,
he didn't actually have a great series, but in the
fourth quarter every game when he needed to make a play,
he made the play. So you asked this question about
(28:26):
the Jannis trumors, I hear the same things. I just
I'm not sure the Celtics are going to go down
that road. I don't know for a fact that they
wouldn't go down that road, but it doesn't seem like
to beat their mo But I do think the Celtics
are trying to gear up with a healthy Tatum and
trying to look at the Knicks, look at Oklahoma City,
look at San Antonio, and seeing can we put a
(28:47):
team together that can challenge those four teams.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
So, you know, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
One of the things I said that I found really
likable about the Knicks, and I've said this about the Celtics,
is I always say I like analytics over analytics. I
will look at the numbers and the analytics, but in football,
it is blocking and tackling. I don't care what the
numbers say. And in basketball it's situational. I need a basket.
I need to stop. I don't care what I mean
(29:16):
when Brunson scoring, I don't need a three, I need
a basket. That's what the Spurs needed this entire series.
With four minutes left, stop the momentum. And I look
at Boston and I think, God, they're so formulaic in
regards to threes. Do you think, like this Celtics team,
you know how this is a copycat league. For years
it was small ball. That was just the Warriors. Not
(29:39):
everybody else could do that because Draymond plays so big
for his size. Do you think the Celtics tweak their
formula if they got a Yannis who does not shoot
a three and be like, okay, guys, we are a
little burdened by the incessant three point formula.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Actually that's a really good point.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
You know, it doesn't seem like they're a mo to
take it guy at thirty one, and you know you'd
have to give up Jalen Brown. I don't know if
there's a way to do it without giving up Jalen Brown.
And to say like, hey, we rely too many on
too many three. So if we go out and get
personnel that can change that, then maybe we can, you
know attack. You know, in the Oklahoma City, Indiana series,
(30:20):
that series also didn't.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Produce a lot of threes.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
There was a lot more pace, a lot more mid range,
a lot more going to the basket.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
And now this year it's the same kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
I think the San Antonio Spurs relied a lot on
the three. But you know, when you play a certain
style and the coach is a certain way, you know,
I would just like to see, like with the Knicks,
things weren't going well one way, they just adapted to
a different way. And I think all teams need to
do that. And maybe that's what you're talking about when
you talk about analytics. It's just like finding a guy
that's going to make a play, and that play doesn't
(30:49):
have to be a three. It doesn't have to be
a layup. It could be a driving kick and you
know two or three times, or coming up with a
big defensive stop or taking a charge.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
Those are in the in.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
The finals the margins are tight, or even in the
Eastern Conference finals where the margins are tight. You know,
those little plays make a big difference, and you know,
maybe the Celtis look at it and say like, well,
Yiannis can make plays, our guys can't make, so maybe
we go down that road. But it just doesn't feel
right to me, and you know, like it was. It's
not like I have conversations with anybody. It doesn't feel
like the Celtics.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
Would go down that road. But you bring up a
good point.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
If they want to go away from being three happy,
I guess that would be an interesting deal.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Finally, I found the nickst incredibly likable. I know their
arrival of the Celtics, but there was something. You know,
Mike Brown success looks like a lot of different things
to other people. And he's coached with Carlisle, good coach,
and Popovich and Kerr. What was Mike Brown When they
made the move for Tibbs. I was like, man, Tibbs
(31:47):
has a formula, they have a culture, they like each other,
they're physical.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Like I didn't like it.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
I'm like, man, James Dolan needs to go back and
build another sphere and leave the basketball guys to the basketball.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
But Adames Dolan was right.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Are you surprised the success Mike Brown had because you know,
unlike football, you can be fired multiple times in the NBA.
It doesn't ding your credibility apparently. What did you make
of it?
Speaker 5 (32:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (32:13):
Yeah, So, you know, I think that with Mike Brown,
there were times where they were talking about minutes. You know,
the minutes are actually the same as it was with Thibodeau,
and then they talk about ball movement, and the ball
movement is the same as it was with Thibodeau. So
then they talk about defense, which also was the same.
Speaker 5 (32:31):
You know. So I think like, sometimes.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
There's a narrative that people go with and people write,
and they wrote that narrative and maybe they just wanted
Thibodeau gone. I have no idea why, but you can't
argue with the end results. And I will say, like
Mike Brown made a few decisions and he didn't stick
with it, which was really nice. There was a time
when they were playing through Karl Anthony Towns and then
Karl Anthony Towns was a no.
Speaker 5 (32:52):
Show, so they just went a different route, right.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
And then I think Jalen Bruntsey did a good job
of trying to get everyone involved.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
But at times when they're twenty two to the Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Cavaliers, Jalen Brunson is what brought him back so like,
even though the narrative.
Speaker 5 (33:05):
Was too much of this and too much.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
Of that, I think Mike Brown is probably a little
bit more adaptable, and maybe that's what the Knicks needed.
I think their defense this year was average at best,
and something happened. I don't know what happened. It was
game three against Atlanta. From game four on, their defense
was completely different. They started flying around more, they started
trapping the ball.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
They were way more impactful, way more physical.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Is that Mike Brown saying hat this didn't work the
first three games when we're down two to one to Atlanta.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
I don't know. But he puts the right buttons and
that's all that really matters.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
And I think nowadays, maybe like an NFL head coach,
it's about relying on your offensive coordinator, defensive coordinators, having
more of a collaborative effort. And it seemed like Mike
Brown throughout he did a really good job of making
it a collaborative effort.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
And I think I can give him a ton of
credit for that.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Eleven years in the league, got to the finals four times.
One of the smarter guys, he and Frank Iisola are great.
We put him on regularly on this show show as well, Brian.
Great seeing you man. I always appreciate your insight.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
You got to callin s here
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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