Hour 1 – Knicks to the Finals YO!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Go New, your Go, Go New, your Go, It's in everything. Greetings,
Welcome inside the Jason Smith Show with the Big Dog
Ryan Hollins getting the full Nicks experience tonight. In for
Mike Carmon. What's happening, dude? How are you?

Speaker 3 (00:53):
What is going on? Brother?

Speaker 4 (00:55):
I'm doing great, but I don't know if I'm doing
as good as you.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
You are not nearly doing as well as I am
right now, not nearly as well. Now, come on after
closing that out to zip, oh, come on, man, really,
it's it's been some kind of run. And so this
shows you how fast the NBA playoffs stand like. You
just go back a week and a half ago where
I'm like, man, the Knicks are two games away from
blowing this roster up. They're gonna lose to CJ. McCollum

(01:21):
and Jonathan Kaminga and now all of a sudden, it's well,
it looks like they should be in the NBA Finals.
Like that's how fast the NBA playoff changes on a dime.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
I was actually telling Brendan Haywood that, and he didn't
want to hear it, and he was like, Celtics, Celtic, Celtics,
and and you had to fill Celtics because they got
Tatum back. But I said, the Knicks put a number
on the Celtics last year, even if they did advance.
And the Knicks have been in these situations before. They
are a clutch team. They know themselves. And every game

(01:52):
you get further into the the playoffs, you need that experience,
someone who's been there before, the clutch factors, all these
things play a part.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
So I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised. But how confident
are you in the Knicks? Man? Man?

Speaker 4 (02:08):
I know it take your fan hat off, but how
confident are you in them?

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Coming out of the East all right now?

Speaker 1 (02:14):
With a two to nothing lead, they beat the Sixers
one oh two, a close game, they pull away late.
The Nick Now tonight was it. You know, look, I
thought they were gonna win every game by fifty right,
because that's what they were doing, right, The Knicks just
win every game by fifty points. That's what's gonna happen
the rest of the set. It is the Eastern Conference,
they're gonna win every game by fifty. But the last
week or so, and really you want to see building

(02:35):
towards this. The last month of the regular season. Defensively,
the Knicks really got it together. And you could tell
at some point in the first round against the Hawks,
their chemistry level hit a new level, Like all of
a sudden, they look like they knew where everybody was. They,
you know, Karl Anthony Townsend, a new level of confidence.
They looked like they were really having fun with each other.

(02:57):
There wasn't any more square peg round hole boy. Every
other game, Kat's gonna have a good game. Then he's
gonna have a game where tonight where he gets in
foul trouble in the first eight minutes and commits three fouls,
like something happened. You can see teams they kind of
flip a switch, and sometimes it's a slow switch, sometimes
the fast switch. Sometimes maybe for the knickt case, they
just needed to get to the playoffs because they'd been

(03:19):
had deep runs the last three years and going through
all kinds of heartache and big wins and big losses.
But the way they've won in the last couple of weeks,
not only are they blowing teams out, now they find
a way to come from behind and win and find
the hot hand. And Unobi was terrific tonight, Brunson hitting
the big jumpers down the stretch when they need the
big bucket. Brunson is there. Like if you're the Sixers

(03:42):
right now, you're saying, Okay, we had game one, we
were red hot, right, We're gonna try to make Joel
Embi the guy, right, And that turned out to be
the bad strategy because edgecumb and Maxie couldn't really get
in the game. All right, Well, no Joel andb Tonight,
game two is gonna be different, and Maxi took over
the beginning of the game, and you're saying, Okay, this
may be a blessing in disguise for the Sixers because

(04:04):
now they got the younger players involved and this is
what they need to do. And they're walking out of
MSG with two losses, Like I don't know where you
go if you're the Sixers now and think things are
gonna change just because we're going home. Like the Knicks
are no longer having the end of games come back
to haunt them like they did in the playoffs last year,
like we've seen the times now they are finishing all
the games. They are finishing games in the third quarter.

(04:26):
Like you talk about teams that have hit the next level,
like the Timberwolves, I look at as a team that's
hit the next level in the last month or so,
and the Knicks have hit the next level.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah, no, I agree.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
And you know a lot of times outside of that
fifty point blowout, like these games are decided by five
or fewer points in New York, probably outside of Oklahoma City,
is the team that can step out and grind with
you and execute. And you know, everybody lost their mind
when when Brunson, you know, he was picked up by Atlanta.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
You know CJ.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
McCollum found them, he picked on them, and he really
really struggled to guard. Now in the playoffs, it's chest
not checkers. So you know as well as I know
that that Mike Brown and I played for Mike Brown,
we did Team USA stuff the Pan American games. Mike
Brown is gonna go out and fix the game plan,

(05:22):
you know, and you don't want to show your hand
in a seven game series in game one or two,
and the Knicks didn't. So I think it's intriguing that
Mike Brown is playing the chess match and he's waiting until, Hey,
we don't need to pull this out until game five
or six or seven. And you know, you guys have
in a sense conceited things. And I think what stands out.

(05:44):
I want to know your thoughts on this is what
stands out even more. And I wanted to sustainability, but
Kat is now this facilitating.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Carl Anthony Towns.

Speaker 4 (05:54):
He's got the ball in his hands at the top
of the key, and he's tasked with getting his teammates involved.
And he's a guy that we got to credit Mike
Brown a lot of times in the playoffs. He's trying
to post up or say, well, cat, you got a
small guy on you. You know you're not posting up,
you're not getting to the rim and creating contact. But
you're trusting him on the perimeter, letting him make plays.

(06:17):
And now I think the focus of his scoring has
come off of him, and the pressure on Karl Anthony
Towns has in a sense gone away.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
All right, now, before we get to cat, I want
to go back to something you buried the lead there.
You know, Mike Brown. You can give me his phone
number so I can text him.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
I I technically could.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, that means you can. Don't do it, Ryan, that
means you can. No, it's all positive, man, to be
all positive. It's gonna be all positive with Mike Brown.
It's not gonna be negative at all. We're up to zip.
I mean, we all positive.

Speaker 4 (06:47):
What if there is like a night where things don't
go bad and your emotions get the best of you.
I wouldn't want Coach Brown to be getting you know,
a random voice bested from you.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
No, No, I'm not gonna call. I'm gonna text them.
I mean, I'm not gonna be look is bad a
stage five. But listen, either Ryan, always known each other
for so long, Either you trust me or you don't.
At this point, I mean, I'm a professional. I mean
if I'm saying mean, I mean that big dog. This
is me, man, this is me telling you if you
can get if you can give me Mike Brown's number.

(07:19):
It's it's all positive, it's all ok right.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Now, okay, let's play this out.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
And you know, giving me the number that you tell
me is his, but it's really you. It's really I
can get a burner phone and pretending like people think
I'm talking with Mike Brown, but I'm really talking with you.

Speaker 4 (07:32):
All right, let's play this out then, Okay, I give
you Mike Brown's number, right, Yeah, your your first text
to Mike Brown is what go?

Speaker 3 (07:42):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (07:42):
My first text is go New York, Go New York, Go,
Go New York, Go New York Go. That's my first text.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Who is this or doesn't reply at all?

Speaker 1 (07:51):
And then I write that it's Chalomy. That's what I
would say. Yeah, yeah, I'd say it's Schaalome. Sure.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
Oh no.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
My first text we go New York, Go New York Go.
My next text would be, hey, exactly what I thought
when you got hired a year ago. This is where
I thought we would be, because it's where it's absolutely where.

Speaker 4 (08:09):
I thought it would When were you guys down two
to one or three one? Now, when you guys were down,
and let's say I give you the number, then what
would your first text.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
Ooh, we're down to one to the calves. It would
be dude, Steve Kirk getting stuff couldn't get stuff out
of Kaminga and he looks like an all star. What
is going on right there?

Speaker 3 (08:27):
CJ.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
McCollum is forty five years old? How are you losing
to two guys? By the way, this is Ryan Hollins.
That would be my text. That's an interview right there.
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
What if this?

Speaker 1 (08:41):
What if you give me his number and I send
him the positive text and I promise you I delete
it for the negative stuff? Number one? Would you believe me?
Number two? Would that be okay?

Speaker 4 (08:51):
I think that you know, I've heard from many credible
sources that when the Knicks were up fifty, you got
pretty obnoxious in the office. I mean things just spilled over.
I mean like it got it got. I don't know
at this moment which you're emotional emotional abilities?

Speaker 3 (09:12):
What do they what do they call it emotional charity?

Speaker 5 (09:14):
What?

Speaker 4 (09:15):
I don't know why you're if you're in the right
place right now to have Mike's number.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
No, I mean, look, I'm gonna put it on So
I'm gonna put it on social media as a poll.
How about this we put it on as a pole
and then depending what the people say, because I know
people that will vote for me, depending what the people say,
that'll be the answer.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
No, what do you mean?

Speaker 1 (09:34):
No, you could throw the poll up, but no, what
do you mean?

Speaker 3 (09:36):
No? What you mean? No? I like, I like having
access to coach. I don't want to force them to
change his number.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
It would be it would be fine. It wouldn't have
to change. Like I said, it's all Look, the Knicks
are going to the finals, so it's gonna be all positive.

Speaker 3 (09:49):
Okay, what if what if we settle?

Speaker 4 (09:51):
Like what if I find you like in an intern
or you know, like like someone in the media.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Let's way up to Mike Brown, mister Dolan, who is
this guy texting me? His name is on the radio.
His name is Jason. I don't want to text him anymore,
mister Dolan. See if he'll buy tickets to my next concert,
then you can text him back. All right, hey, mister Dolan,
All right, I think we could do. I think I
think that works. I think that works. Okay, all right,

(10:23):
here's the thing, here's the thing beginning of the show.
I'll work. I'm gonna work on you all night, like
you think this is this is gonna be like, hey,
when when when when? When you're you know, your your
defensive assignment is shack and it's gonna be okay early,
I'm feeling good. But then you're gonna get worn down
over the course. I'm gonna wear you down over the
course of the night. I'm gonna have Mike Brown's number.
I'm gonna, in fact, I'm gonna have everybody in your

(10:44):
phone's phone number by the end of the night to
night that is even remotely connected to the Knicks.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
Oh my gosh, oh.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
It is, it is. But your point on Karl Anthony
Towns right, just to get back to that, because this
is part what I would say is, well, you know
the thing about Kat and watching him, he's he's definitely
a body language and a vibe kind of guy. When
things are going well, you know it, right, You could
tell it from he makes those heat check passes. I'm like,

(11:16):
why is he trying to throw that ball through five
guys you know, down down to og under the But
I'm okay with that because that tells me for he
goes he's feeling it, he's in the game, and I
get it. And for the longest time it was always man,
he's supposed to be the one a. He's got to
be twenty four and ten every night. But really, the
crazy thing is that the Nicks have found he doesn't

(11:37):
need to be that guy. He just he needs to
be the guy that we can they can run the
offense through at times and it doesn't need to be
always Jalen Brunson to give them a different look. And
now that he can be that facilitator as well, like
that's the peak Karl Anthony Towns and it's different from
just what we thought it had to be. Was well,
he's got to be twenty four intel, he's got to
be that guy. He's gotta be guy. Gotta a guy
could dump the ball down too low, they can take

(11:59):
the pressure off brunts. And instead they found that if
he's a facilitator, it's okay. If he's out behind the
arc as much as he is taking threes, taking the
heat check threes that he takes, he's okay because running
the offense through him and being that different kind of
of of big has turned out to be exactly what
the Knicks needed. And I'll admit I didn't think that
was I didn't think that was what they need. I

(12:19):
didn't think that was something that was a solution. But
it turns out that now that they've gone to that,
that's exactly what they need.

Speaker 4 (12:25):
And in Kat's defense, it is hard in the playoffs.
You're not gonna just get on the block and post
guys up. They're too smart. They're gonna double team. They
get away with grabbing and holding, like you're just not
gonna be able to do that.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
Now.

Speaker 4 (12:41):
In fairness, if you do have a small guy on you,
you've got to punish him to the boards. And I
think that's where the heavy criticism of Cat was. But again,
when he can facilitate Brunston's so skilled, he can play
on and off the ball, and what you do, like
you said, body language, so you get him involved. I
think my Brown has done a great job, even though

(13:02):
it seems like about a week ago you feeling otherwise.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yeah, but it's good that we're doing the show tonight.
So now you can give me his number and it's positive.
And like, if you want to give me his number
and you need five minutes to call him and say hey,
just so you know, Jason Smith's gonna call you, he's
gonna you know, he's gonna says, oh my god, Jason Smith,
he's gonna be Knicks fans. He's gonna yeah. Oh absolutely,
he's great, man, He's awesome.

Speaker 3 (13:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
He's the first guy that said last year when the
Knicks fired TIBs, that Mike Brown's the guy. You go back,
you go, you go back, big dog. I'll tell you.
I'll find it on social media when they fire TIBs.
I said, Mike Brown is the guy. You're talking about,
someone who was the coach of the Year with Sacramento.
He won there defensively. He's gonna get them to a
point where they're responsible enough. Mike Brown is the guy.
And it took a little bit longer than expected, but

(13:48):
I don't think anybody can argue with where the Knicks
are right now. They're the favorites in the East, the
three seed. They have the least amount of problems of
any other team in the Eastern Conference, right which which
is something to be said, the least amount of problems
knock Wood and so yeah, I think this is exactly
where everything was supposed to be a year ago, and
here we are.

Speaker 4 (14:06):
What, in your opinion, is the biggest difference with this team.
And you know, like Tibbs is obviously he's physical, he's tough,
he's not gonna you know, dig into his bench at all,
and was extremely effective. And Mike from his time so
when Mike was coaching with Cleveland, he's more defensive minded,

(14:28):
you know, extremely thorough, amazing guy, long shoot arounds. And
when he won the championship there with Golden State, it
looked like he got more offensive minded. And then when
he coached the Kings, they were flying up and down
the floor, they played fast.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
He did a heck of a job over there.

Speaker 4 (14:46):
And unfortunately, Mike just seems like those coaches that he
just gets a raw deal. What is your opinion you
as you've seen from him, the difference from with Tibbs
and with Mike Brown with this group. And I'm putting
you on the see you know, don't act like if
you answer, well, that this is gonna change my opinion.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
No, no, no, I'll give you a quick well, I'll
give you a quick drop the mic one. Okay, So
the Knicks me, you know, being up in Game one
against the Sixers, are up by thirty points, Okay, most
of the fourth quarter was colec a Porty, you know Nickbride.
It was all the Knicks played their bench. Here's the difference, right,
if Tims was coaching the team, Brunson and Towns and

(15:29):
Og and Hart would still be in that game with
three minutes left to go, up thirty. But Mike Brown
knows I can't kill these guys, So yeah, I gotta
trust it. It's twenty We're up by twenty five points.
We're gonna keep this lead. It's okay. That's the first
thing is that Brunson at dead. They would have all
been in that game if Tims was coaching, and right
Brown had him on the sideline getting rest. That's the
number one difference right there. Is that enough to get

(15:51):
the phone call? Is that enough? Is that enough?

Speaker 3 (15:54):
Not quite?

Speaker 1 (15:58):
Jason Smith, Ryan Hollins for Mike Carmon. We got more
on the nixt win tonight. We'll have the big Game
two between the Spurs and the Tea Wolves, and big
news out of the NBA, the Celtics, the Lakers. Keep
it right here, Jason Smith, Ryan Hollins, Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
Sot gots here.

Speaker 6 (16:30):
I have a podcast empire.

Speaker 1 (16:32):
It continues to grow and.

Speaker 6 (16:34):
I have brought it here to iHeart. I'm also doing
a live radio show from three to five pm Eastern
because my.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
Wife wanted to kick me out of the house.

Speaker 6 (16:42):
It's called Stegatzi Company Live, which is available in podcast
form right when the show finishes every single day. Some
of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
I love you guys the show.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
It's one of my favorites.

Speaker 6 (16:56):
A lot of interact shit guys not taking themselves too serious.
Those are just some of the things that you could
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So listen to Steve Gotson Company Live and our original podcast.
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(17:18):
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Speaker 1 (17:33):
Fox Sports Radio, The Jason Smith Show with the Big
Dog Ryan Hollins in from Mike harmon tonight and already
on social media. Ryan, I gotta tell you. Everybody says
you should give me Mike Brown's cell phone number. Everybody
says it.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
Everybody someone said that it's one two four.

Speaker 1 (17:56):
Tell me the truth, Tell me the truth. How much
are you regretting telling me ten minutes ago you played
for Mike Brown? You know, how about you regretting saying that?

Speaker 3 (18:04):
Right now?

Speaker 4 (18:05):
I mean you you can kind of put things together.
I mean, you know that I know somebody that knows somebody. Right,
that's why we that's why we have fun on the show,
and we have some substance here.

Speaker 1 (18:18):
Yeah, I mean like like I didn't even ask, Like
I didn't even think about it until now, Like, can
you get me Brunson's number and towns and og I mean,
or Anne Hathaway like I mean, and I'll call any
of them. Sure.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
Now we're stretching there, We're okay.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
There, okay, all right?

Speaker 3 (18:31):
You know, no Mike is it. He's a good guy.
He's one of the good guys in our business.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah. No, Notice how no one has talked in the
last I mean, how long has it been since people
are saying, oh man TIBs oh if they kept TIBs
that no one's saying that, no one is saying that, Well,
it's it's.

Speaker 3 (18:46):
It thinks because as soon as there's just a single.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
Loss or a bad loss, that that's the first thing
that's gonna pop up with the Knicks. And I swear
for coaches, it is the toughest position in sports, Like
you can do nothing wrong, you can have your most
successful year and you can be fired and it happens consistently.
So I don't en the NBA coaches and their their

(19:11):
job security is a tough go.

Speaker 1 (19:14):
So again, we'll have more Nicks on the way because
you know, go to New York. But right now, nightcap,
it has been all Spurs so far, early in the
second quarter thirty three, twenty four. And you know I
said this going it shows you how hot I am
right now, right, I mean the nixt hot. I said
going into game two, this is going to be a
pissed Wemby And you know he's already mad. You know,

(19:35):
he talked about I didn't get the right energy in
the right places offensively in Game one, and he was
terrible offensively, even though he had a near quadruple double
with twelve blocks, oh for eight from three point range.
You know, Wemby's got to lead the way I said.
You watch the He's going to have a historical incredible
stat line in Game two and so far for Wemby.
Tonight again, we are early in the second quarter. Victor

(19:58):
wembin Yama eleven point six rebounds and an assist. He
is five out of seven from the floor. Yeah, but
how many goaltendings? Uh I got to ask Chris Finch.
Ask Chris Finch about the goaltendings. Ask him that, uh
so here he is already saying okay, you know, And
I kind of like that because the one question that
we had about Wemby was when he comes into the

(20:19):
league like he's a unicornant and watching him is just
I mean, he's the face of the league. He's the
guy that brings a skill set and don't want to
watch what he does more than anybody else. And I
see him and I go, man, yeah, he's such a
nice guy, right all he talks about but he's starting.
You could see that mean streaks that he's got, that
that NBA on court mean streak, and you can tell

(20:39):
that he was pissed after Game one and he came
into tonight with an agenda for Game two.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
Yeah, he's got the proper mentality.

Speaker 4 (20:46):
And for me watching Wemby, I think what impressed me
most this season is that maybe offensively, because of his
lack of strength, he's not where he's ultimately going to be,
but his mind was there and he absolutely plays winning basketball.
So if he's got a sacrifice and just block shots

(21:07):
and run the floor and or space up or let
one of his teammates dominate, like, he doesn't mind doing that.
And they've got Darren Fox, they've got Devin Vassel, like,
they have guys that can go score the basketball. So
for him, his ability to impact the game and wanting
to win and playing winning basketball. He didn't play winning
basketball last season, this year playing winning basketball, adding the physicality,

(21:29):
and then like how much he cares, Like he cares
so much it's impressive and in some means it's scary
because you're going like, where is the ceiling for this guy?
And a lot of times at what nineteen twenty years old,
not sure how young he is, but you're not thinking
like that, Like he's thinking different. His mind is on

(21:52):
another planet.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
When you watched him play the other night, Were there
a lot of blocks that could have been goalten? Was
this Chris Finch just gamesman shipping it or were there
a few out there? You said, Okay, Wendy's getting some
reputation calls.

Speaker 3 (22:06):
Oh no, they were significant goaltends and foals that weren't called. Right.

Speaker 4 (22:09):
But but the the defensive player of the year, he
gets those knobs.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (22:14):
And I'll give you this because this is tough for
the referees. Right when they see plays, they watch film
like players, and it happens so fast they have to anticipate.
So for like our guy a'lp right, when our prind
goes for a block and he gets to block, the
referees like goaltend, there's no way you jump that high,
And then they might go back and look him like, wow,

(22:34):
he actually got there. We'll give him some credit. But
with Wimby, he was guilty in the in the right
way and they're like, yeah, he normally blocks that he
can get there, and the referees have to adjust also.
So absolutely, a couple of fouls, a couple of goaltends,
couple a couple of plays, but those are reputation blocks.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
We'll call that.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
Because I because I get it right. I get that
part of it. It's just so weird to me that, Okay,
Chris Finch just won, they just won, and he's now
he's coming out with ah now, Like I don't know
if he was kind of feeling it like it was
a heat check for him postgame, like we just won
something to heat check Wenby's blocks. But I feel like
that that's something when things don't go your way and

(23:15):
you need a change, Like that's almost a thing I
would expect him to say, I gotta save that. I
want to save that for when we're coming off a
loss or something happens and you know, if we're if
they win to tie it at one, that's when I say, hey,
his blocks are goaltends. I can go back to game
one and show you that. Like, like Rick Carliles has
been a master at that, Like whatever he's wanted to

(23:35):
say throughout his career, he always finds a way to
fire that bullet at the right time. Right we're down
to Zip going home. When he says stuff like well,
I hope that the NBA referees don't want to continue
to reward the big market teams like New York over
the smaller market teams like, you know, when to fire
that bullet, And I thought Chris Finch doing that after
Game one, I thought, Oh, is that really when you
want to do that or do you want to save

(23:56):
that for a moment where Okay, we need that in
this series and maybe we at it for the next
game when we need a w.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
Well, you know, these calls are pretty apparent, and I
think the referees just didn't look for it the right way.
So in this instance, I hear what you're saying. Different scenario, though,
it could be that pivotal and what the referees and
the league is gonna do now they're gonna draw attention
to him blocking shots and goaltens that probably were missed
or fouls that were missed, you know, so it will

(24:25):
be something to be addressed because again, by reputation, they
were probably gonna let them keep getting away with it.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
They were gonna let it happen.

Speaker 4 (24:34):
So now it's gonna be you know, a poe for
the referees, a point of emphasis.

Speaker 1 (24:40):
All right, all right, Jason Smith, Ryan Hollins, Fox Sports Radio.
We'll have more on this game coming up again. Thirty six,
twenty four, Spurs with the lead, over the tea Wolves
midway through the second quarter. Now, big drama today. We've
been hearing reports the last couple of days. How much
you believe them? You know, Tracy mcgrady's saying that, Hey,
Jalen Brown's frustrated with Boston. We've heard about the frustration.

(25:02):
We saw him talking about his frustration with the officials. Hey,
you know, embad's getting the calls. We're not. Boston goes
out in the first round. And this is not a
run it back situation where if you're Boston you can say, well,
we didn't have Tatum all year, we underachieved, and now
we just have to be healthy for next year. No,
you were really good. You finished second in the Eastern Conference,

(25:23):
and you got Jason Tatum back at the perfect time,
and you blew a three to one lead to Philadelphia
and now you're home. And now, not only do I
think they need big changes, but seeing this Ryan, maybe
stuff is a little bit overblown, But there's a lot
of smoke with the happiness level of Jalen Brown and
Jason Tatum and where both of them are at. And

(25:43):
I don't know that Boston to get I'll give you
a hot take here I don't know that Boston looking
forward saying how do we retoo? We won the championship,
but we can't just keep keep bringing back the next team.
You've seen they have some deficiencies on their rocks. They
need they got enough. They need another big that can
that can be able to bang with big guys in
the East. Right, you need some more depth. You need
guys that can hit threes. Not just shoot threes, but

(26:05):
you need guys that can make threes. Right the Boston
loves to take threes. You need guys that can make them.
At some point, I don't know that the best thing
for Boston in the offseason, we might not see it,
is that instead of building around Tatum and Brown, it's
they're building around Tatum or Brown and one of those
guys gets traded. Whether it's Jason Tatum saying hey, this
is my team. If you're not gonna make it my team,

(26:26):
maybe I go someplace else, or if there's a lot
of fire to that smoke that Jalen Brown's unhappy in Boston,
you had to have Brad Stevens come out to today
and say, hey, no, everybody loves Jalen, We loved you.
Everything is great. I don't know the best thing for
Boston isn't hey build around one of those guys and
bring back what you need for this next level of
Boston to continue to compete in the East.

Speaker 3 (26:46):
I don't think that's the challenge. And obviously it's.

Speaker 4 (26:49):
Always hard to evaluate, because you could really argue that
if Jason Tatum was healthy, they would advance and possibly
advanced out of the East. He's that valuable. But I
don't think there's a chance now. Optimistically for opposing teams,
they're gonna say there's a chance, or hey, why don't

(27:09):
you move on? And I think you know that's what
you know, everyone's kind of poking at, like, hey, maybe
this doesn't work out, this doesn't work out, but those
guys are probably gonna be Celtics their entire career. It
would be hard to see unless free agency comes up
and you know, they don't sign extensions. But even now,
you know this, like you know, a year or two

(27:32):
essentially in advance, because they're already letting you know, I'm
not gonna sign an extension. Now, when those talks come,
then you could see something. But I don't think there's
a chance, and especially not with the year that jab
has had. And again, when it's a matter of health
and time, those moves aren't made. You kind of have
to deal what you have to deal with. And I

(27:52):
think Boston already knew coming into the season this wasn't
gonna be a championship year. Obviously, Jason Tatum getting back
and playing a lot sooner got everybody excited, but as
an organization, they knew that they had to cut Colls,
they had to trade away you know, their main player
prizingis holiday and move forward.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
And again they.

Speaker 4 (28:14):
Were extremely successful, but the mindset was not a championship
year here. And I think to answer your question, normally
you need two dominant wings because then they'll be going.
Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown would be going. Even though
we're not a perfect fit. Man, we need help. If
I had another guy just to help me out, you know,
this would work out here. So I don't think that

(28:37):
you let either of those guys walk.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
See doesn't Jalen Brown's happiness level or the possibility you're
trading him at his highest level right because he's not
going to have the year he had next year because
now he's going to be splitting things with Tatum again,
whereas he was able to be the guy this year
and hey, okay, things are going well, but playoffs come
and you saw that. Okay, we're not constructed to be
a championship team anymore. I don't know where you go

(29:00):
get all that depth unless you're saying, okay, well we'll
sacrifice one of these guys to bring back the two
or three pieces that we need and money that we
can spend someplace else to go get a big that
we need, or a guy that you know, or another
three and D guy that can actually hit threes. Like,
I don't know that. If you're the Celtics, you're not
stuck at that point, because where do you go, Like

(29:20):
do you have the money to go and and go
bring in the two or three big time players that
you need to say free agency? I don't know those
guys are out there, whereas you know a Jalen Brown
or a Jason Tatum. Okay, hey yeah, we're okay building around.
We want a guy to build around. And we've seen
this and Jason Jalen Brown looks like he might be
unhappy in Boston because these stories don't just come out
of nowhere. I look at when you when you have

(29:42):
to put all of that in the oppera and think
about it. I look at that and go, that might
be the solution at the end, when it's all said
and done, Man, that might be the solution. Maybe it's
you coming out of retirement to play for the Celtics.
That could be it.

Speaker 4 (29:53):
Man, it's a reality, even from the front office standpoint.
I understand your logic. A guy's playing well, they have
their highest value, you know, trade.

Speaker 3 (30:03):
Them and get the most back. Your fan base would
never forgive you. It's so that's the reason that a
lot of those.

Speaker 4 (30:11):
Deals do not and will not likely ever happen. Your
fan base would absolutely roll over and it wouldn't work
unless if you're trading him and you get a guy
of a higher caliber and or higher production or pretty
spot on like.

Speaker 3 (30:31):
Is older.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
You're trying to win now and keep this window open
where you're at right.

Speaker 4 (30:35):
Now, No, because you're sacrificing your future. And then Na
gets gets hurt, the young fella's ball and you know
Dalen Brown is balling. They're not gonna forgive you. It
would have to be a comparable player. Uh yeah, I
don't know. I can't think. I mean, like like you're
literally trading up like it means, oh you're getting SGA.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
Okay, we get it.

Speaker 4 (30:55):
Jaylen Brown could go like like that's that's what's that's
what's going on.

Speaker 3 (31:00):
That's all.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
Hey, why don't we trade SGA and why trade Jaylen
Brown for SGA? Yes? Because the South the Thunder will
do that. I love those fans say that. I love that.

Speaker 4 (31:08):
Yes, so that's why it's not happening. Or you're like, well,
you know you were good with your depth, so get
some depth. No, your fan base ain't forgiving you. It
doesn't work. So a lot of times, unless players are
vocally disgruntled asking for trades, you know you're not gonna

(31:28):
do that. That's not gonna happen because it would be
pretty irreparable. And if you saw essentially probably even more
so not with what happened in Dallas, it ain't. It
really ain't happening. That's not a trend that I think
will be seeing exit.

Speaker 1 (31:45):
How about a Fresca X at the Ryan Hollins The
Jason Smith Show with a big dog in for Mike Harmon.
So on opposite sides of that, but someone who's not
on opposite sides of anything, because she knows how good
the Knicks are. It's breamure. She's got what's trending right
now in the wide world.

Speaker 5 (32:00):
I do know how good the Knicks are. My mckel
bridges jersey should be here next week.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
Oh good, the T shirt you ordered the Knicks mckel
bridges jersey, Well, it's like a T shirt. Now you
got a jersey. Yeah, it's okay jersey. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (32:11):
So we were talking about how cute the the jerseys
were earlier today. So I just bit the bullet and
I did it. Jason, So you're welcome.

Speaker 1 (32:18):
Very nice. Yes, if we start losing, then you're throwing
that shirt out. We're burning it.

Speaker 5 (32:22):
Just kidding, We're just kidding, all right, guys. The Spurs
are on top of the Temberwolves forty four to thirty,
four and a half minutes left to go in the
second quarter. Right now, Julius Randall has eight points. Anthony
Edwards has three points. He didn't start the game, and
he is on a slight minutes restriction, according to Chris Finch. Earlier,
the Knicks took a two to oh series lead over
the seventy six ers with a one o eight one

(32:44):
oh two victory Jalen Brunson led the way for New
York with twenty six points and six assists. Carl Anthony
Town's twenty points and ten rebounds at his fifth double
double in eight postseason games. In the NHL Playoff, Sabers
took Game one with a four to two victory over
the Canadians. And right now, I think it's still scoreless

(33:05):
between the Ducks and Golden Knights, just ending the first
period there in Vegas. In baseball, Aaron Judge hit his
fifteenth home run of the season, and he's now and
leading the league, but the Yankees fell to the Rangers
six to one. Pete Alonzo hit a three run homer
as Orioles took down the Marlins seven to four. Andi
Pa has hit a career high three home runs as
the Dodgers curbs on the Astros twelve to two. And

(33:27):
right now the Mets are shutting out the Rockies four
to zero. It's the top of the fifth and Pirates
shutting out the Diamondbacks one to zero.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's the top of the fifth. Back to you guys,
Thanks a bunch brite Jason Smith, Ryan Hollins coming up next,
got the play of the day. Coming your way and
we break down what is exactly up with Joel Mbid.
Oh boy, can't wait to hear Ryan's thoughts on that.
That's next Right here, this is Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
I'm on a boat, well we will. We'll have the
latest on Mike Rabele and Diana Russini coming up next hour.
Jason Smith. Ryan Hollins in for Mike Harmon tonight. Right now,
it's all San Antonio fifty seven thirty four over Minnesota

(34:25):
a minute to go before halftime, and I think at halftime,
Big Dog Chris Finch is gonna say, hey, all of
these buckets should have been disallowed in the first half. Really,
this should be a tie game. This is no way
we're losing by twenty three points here in the first half.

Speaker 4 (34:41):
He just mixing things up a little bit. And you know,
you had to play the behind games in the playoffs.
And again, no one thought that San Antonio would just
go down to oh at home. But I will say
Minnesota is the one team.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
Man. They make it hard for an analyst.

Speaker 4 (34:58):
They make it hard Man, have a get up here,
and you're gonna ask me who's gonna win, who's gonna lose,
And and you know sometimes they're flying around making plays
and you know, everybody picked Denver the series before. And
you know, even with their injuries, no Anthony Edwards, they
went and stuck it to the nuggets like they they

(35:20):
went and and you know, it's funny when I'm looking
at their roster construction, it's all versatility. And the reason
I say that is normally, Okay, you got a point guard,
you got wings, you got a big like outside of
Rudy Rudy Gobert, everybody can shoot, pass and dribble. You know,
they've got a lot of shot creators. And in today's NBA,

(35:43):
you normally see teams with you know, a star too.
You just talked about the Celtics at the last segment,
and then you wanna assemble them with three and D guys,
guys who can defend and hit threes.

Speaker 3 (35:53):
But they're a.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
Unique roster because they've got a lot of guys who
can create their shot. And it played out like Terren
Shennon Jr. Was Was unbelievable, not so great here tonight,
but you know, Minnesota, they are, they are extremely intriguing.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
I love the fact that you say Minnesota makes it
tough on an analyst when you're an analyst for the
Rockets and that first round series you went through with
the Lakers, that tells you how tough Minnesota makes it
on you.

Speaker 4 (36:23):
Yeah, well, because you know, you're relying on us as
an analyst to tell you what's gonna happen and make
sense of things. And sometimes there isn't sense to be made.
It's just it's playoff basketball. You still gotta play the game. Hey,
le Brown's got some juice. Juice left and you know, hey,
no Anthony Edwards and and you know, honestly, all season

(36:43):
Minnesota has been able to play well without Anthony Edwards
in there with, you know, and you know, as good
as good a player as he is, it can be shocking.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
But you know, your your team that can prepare for
those moments.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
Let's get to the play of the day now. The
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(37:15):
what you get to be the play of.

Speaker 7 (37:17):
The day fronts on top of the key cross over
on Barlow. They got the match up again to the
foul line spins, fadeaway jumpers. Hey buried it, tailing prints
it with two clutch jumpers and the next on a
seven nothing run have their largest lead up by four.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
Next TV on the call. You know, for the last
few years, right, I sit here and say, it's just
amazing how Kevin Durant mastered the lost art of the
midrange jumper. Right, there's nobody that can make it like him.
And he's you know, he'd have those spurts where hey,
there's thirteen straight points in row by Durant. Half of
them were mid range jumpers right from fifteen feet. He
now has to see dot to Brunson. I mean brought

(37:52):
the way. I mean, this is now his bread and butter.
It's not the three at the end of the shot clockets.
I'm gonna find a way to get in my fade
away that fifteen foot like nobody hits him like he does.
And he had two huge ones in the fourth quarter
that gave the Knicks a six point lead. Like it,
really you talk about a lost art. It's good to
see that KD had it for a long time. And

(38:13):
now you know Brunson's that guy.

Speaker 4 (38:15):
Yeah, Brunson is so unique man. He's such a winner. Again,
he's a guy that makes the andlest look silly. He
was undersize, he wasn't the quickest guy come out of college,
but again he was a winner, win a national championship
over at Villanova with Devincenzo. But his ability to create
shots and his toughness it it's it's amazing. And not

(38:36):
just a tiny, tiny guard because he's strong, but he's
six two and he's a guy that doesn't jump out
the gym. But his ability to get his shot off
like it is ridiculous.

Speaker 3 (38:47):
And again you gotta have a closer. Now.

Speaker 4 (38:50):
The challenge with Brunson is the later that he gets,
you know, kind of the you know, his struggles they
come with putting size on him, you know, getting length
on him that can bother those contested fadeaways or step
throughs or the floaters, So I'm intrigued to see how
it works out, man, But he's box office, make no mistake.
You know you can argue easily one of the best,

(39:12):
if not the best closer in the game.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
Now to get away from this for a second, the
Knicks win tonight, and because I know you gotta, I
know you, you're You're foment the mouth for this. Joel
Embiid does not play a couple of injuries going into
Game two. He does not play as good as he
was for the Sixers and the last three games against
the Celtics, scoring one hundred points in last three games.
Where are you on what you've seen from Embid and

(39:36):
now another injury for him? Is they try to deal
with things going back for Game three.

Speaker 4 (39:40):
Well, that's just gonna be Joel's career. You know, for
those that remember when he was drafted, I think he
missed his first two seasons. Everybody's like just amazed when
he's out. But that's just that's just what it's gonna be.
Joel's intriguering because you know he plays hard, but a
lot of times just for his career is gonna be
what it is. He's playing through injury, and Joel Embiid.

(40:00):
Maybe what we would thought if we could have gotten
more basketball out of Greg Odin Man, So uh.

Speaker 1 (40:06):
Wow, that's you think that's the career would have been
for Odin?

Speaker 3 (40:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (40:10):
Man, Greg was a dog. He was extremely quick, block shots.
I don't know if he would have been shooting threes
like Joel, but as far as a dominant, dominant, transcendent
force in the.

Speaker 3 (40:22):
League, yeah, Greg was different. He was different.

Speaker 4 (40:26):
So again, when you're that big, and these are the
problems that the big guys have and we're looking at longevity,
it's those injuries and you know Joel is playing through them,
thinking about it like Wimby we're nervous about he missed
with the bloodcott last season.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
You're nervous about something you know going wrong with him.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
Ay yo, mean you know we felt like Rob with Yea,
we didn't get to see enough of him. So you know,
just those are the challenges that Joel is going to
get to a point, and it seems like this season
he just kinds like like I gotta play through it,
like I'm never gonna be super help healthy exit.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
How about a Fresca exit? The Ryan Hollins, Jason Smith,
Ryan Hollinds in for Mike Harmon Tonight, we got more
NBA on the way. It's a huge halftime lead for
the Spurs. Meanwhile, how bad are things for the Lakers
and Luka Doncic Oh, you'll hear it coming up next
right here, Jason Smith, Ryan Hollins. This is Fox Sports Radio.