On today's episode, Jason discusses why he refuses to believe that the San Antonio Spurs are dead after falling behind 0-2 in the NBA Finals, why the narrative that Victor Wembanyama would somehow become less great if he loses to the New York Knicks, where these Knicks rank amongst the greatest NBA champions since the Steph Curry-Kevin Durant Golden State Warriors, and how the discourse surrounding Jalen Brunson in this series continues to miss the mark.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up, Straight Fire fan, It's me Jason McIntyre,
straight Ooh b Monday, June the eighth, it is World
Cup week here in America. What a time to be alive.
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. First World Cup on
US soil kicks off Thursday. The first World Cup on
(00:33):
US soil since I believe in nineteen ninety four, I
was a young guy. I or still remember some of
the highlights that the Brazil game on July fourth was everything.
Oh my gosh, I don't even know if Robb g
was born. He's such a young guy. But I'm fired
up for the World Cup. Got some bets fired on
the newsletter, some futures World Cup stuff. But because there's
(00:54):
an NBA game tonight, we're going to go back to
the NBA Finals, and we didn't. We didn't do a
podcast Friday night at one in the morning to recap
the Spurs blowing another fourth quarter lead to the Knicks
to go down oh two. However, Game three tonight, obviously
tonight is the series. I'm gonna be on an island here.
My hot take is that a the series is not
(01:18):
remotely close to over, and I think be the Spurs
win out right tonight. I have not bet it yet.
I'm waiting for all these Jibbronis in New York to
bet the nixt handover fist. I'm seeing two and a
half right now. Come on, guys, let's push that out
to three and a half.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Four, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Obviously. I picked the Knicks on this podcast before the series.
I think they're gonna win this series no matter what.
But it's not over. I think we could easily go
six games, maybe even seven. I picked Nicks in six.
I do not think this is gonna be a sweep.
I would be floored if the Spurs lost Game three,
so I did look it up. Yes, five teams have
(01:53):
pulled off being down two and rallying. The nineteen sixty
nine Celtics Bill Russell was player coach. Okay, we don't
need to even talk about that. The Portland Trailblazers in
seventy seven Bill Walton lose two to the Sixers and
then Walton takes over. They went four in a row
Miami Heat against the MAVs. That was the Dwayne Wade team.
(02:14):
I mean, that was really the last, well, I guess
you know, Dirk won onon a few years after that,
but Dwayne was a solo act in that series.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
I mean it was incredible. And then, of course twenty sixteen,
the Golden State Warriors, no Kevin Durant yet against Lebron
they're up two to oh, they're up three to one,
and Cleveland comes back to take down the seventy three
win Warriors. And then of course you've got in twenty
twenty one one. You know, I guess the it was
(02:44):
not the COVID year. I mean, there was still a
COVID issue in America and people were still masking up
in twenty twenty one. But the Bucks take down the Suns.
Remember Phoenix race to an O two lead, and then
Giannis put the team on his back and had a
fifty piece in game six. However, what's different is that
none of those teams that were down oh two lost
(03:07):
both at home. That's what makes this incredibly challenging. Here's
the thing that this is the problem out here in
sportsland in the media, and we got all these influencers
and all this stuff happening. Now anybody sees something and
they're like, well, we haven't seen that before, so there's
no chance of it happening. And well, actually, you know
(03:29):
this Spurs team, We've never seen a team go from
zero playoffs the year before, no playoff history really other
than deeron Fox the series Harrison barnesom and then win
a title or get to the finals. We just don't
see that. So nobody thought it could happen. And that's
where I thought it could happen. That's why I had
the Spurs coming out of the West. This one's a
little different because you know, everybody's I love the Knicks,
(03:53):
I'm rooting for them. I think people are missing this, guys.
In the first two games the Spurs led with less
than two and a half minutes. They just happen to
blow both of those games. This easily could be two
nothing Spurs. It could. It should probably be one one.
I mean the final ten seconds of game two, I
(04:16):
was in shock for a good four minutes, just sitting there.
Why did that really happen? Wemby has a turnover, a
foul and then this is the game winning shot in
the final ten seconds. That's unbelievable. I think I read
somewhere that that nobody had ever done that, a turnover,
a foul, and a miss game winning shot attempt to
the final ten seconds. That had not been done in
NBA playoffics, or maybe it was just the finals, but
(04:40):
it was bad. The stuff that's coming out of Wemby,
he's saying all the right things right now in the
in the interviews in New York and listen, let's be real.
The garden is going to be juiced up. Okay, they're
gonna have the President there. I believe we will hear
the loudest cascade of booze in the history of president
showing up to an NBA game. There's gonna be pressure
(05:00):
on the Knicks. These fans, you know, they go crazy.
Remember the Knicks Game one against the Cabs. They were
down twenty two, needed a historic comeback. Okay, this is
a really good Knicks team. I did the quarter by
quarter breakdown, okay to so, uh, the Spurs won the
first quarter Game one, and then I mean, I think
(05:22):
you go Knicks next, Knicks. They won the second third.
I mean, if you want to go push in quarter two,
you know it was twenty nine to twenty eight. Fine,
we gonna go push. So it's Spurs push and then
the Knicks definitely won the second half. Game two. First quarter,
Spurs race out to a big lead. Knicks, second quarter,
Knicks third quarter. Fourth quarter, Spurs had it. They were
(05:45):
down fourteen, store back and take the lead. I know
they lose the game, Jay, How could you win the
fourth and lose the game? Well, they were down by
a billion points and rallied and they dominated in the
fourth quarter. So if we're going quarter by quarter, I
got two to one to one Knicks in the first
one and two two in Game two. That's not a blowout.
This is not a route, guys, It's just not. And
(06:07):
I know that people want issues with the refs are
Carl Anthony Towns and Josh Hart. Okay, fine, you know listen,
I love heart. That was a trip. It was a
blatant trip. The technical Mitchell Robinson was a little goofy.
I'll say that, But I just I don't think the
Spurs are dead at all. I think we haven't seen
a good game yet, from a great game yet from
the combo of Castle and Harper. They play good in Spurts,
(06:30):
but they're not consistently good. Webin Yamo was great with
twenty nine and nine but he only took four shots
in the first half. They haven't put together a total
complete effort. And I do think we get that in
Game three in New York and I know, Oh it's
on the road. It's so tough to win. Again, the
Cavs is up by twenty two. Now they blew it.
They got the veterans. I don't Spurs know this is
(06:52):
their season. You can't go down oh three, you go
down oath through. It's over the Knicks playing with a
lot of house money right now. I'm sure there's a
lot of family members to get tickets. You heard Josh
Hart say it stinks a lot of our fans can't
get tickets because they're priced out. I will say, not
only are they priced out, but all anybody's doing is
watching these games on TV. I don't know if you
saw this. Rob nearly seventeen million viewers in Game one
(07:16):
for the NBA Finals.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That was up.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Ninety percent compared to last year's NBA Finals. I had
to take a deep breath and be like, who was it. Oh, yeah,
it was okc Indiana slight upgrade. When you get upgrade
by ninety percent of the audience. So this was the
most watched Game one since Warriors Calves. That was KD
(07:39):
versus Lebron OKD and Curry, and it is the most
fought watched Finals contest since Game six of Raptors Warriors. Now,
I don't know if this means, you know, I'm not
gonna be goofy and so the NBA's back. This is
all Webby. I mean it's I'm sure a lot of
it has to do with the Knicks. I compared the
Nick storyline to like when the Red Sox and Cubs
(08:00):
made a run to the World Series. I think it
it's that kind of feeling, like people in Texas and
Wyoming and Seattle they're into this next team. It's usually
people don't like New York.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
This is different.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
This team's totally different. With Jalen Brunson leading the way,
he's a likable star. I think people have latched on
to Karl Anthony Towns and the you know, redemption member
in Minnesota didn't want him. His mom passes away during COVID.
You know, people like that. The Villanova Knicks people love
that angle. I mean, they're a likable team. Most likable
to the NIXT team since Jeremy Lynn, right, I think
(08:34):
we would agree with that. So there's just so much happening.
I think, you know, for the better bin of the league,
we need the Spurs to win this one, just so
it adds fuel to think about this. If the Spurs
can win game three, game four is Wednesday, Game five
would be Saturday. So you're looking at Thursday, the World
(08:54):
Cup opens, Friday, USA Paraguay. That's gonna be. I mean,
that's in ormous out here at so far, and then
Saturday NBA Finals and oh, by the way, the Saturday
World Cups late Morocco Brazil. It's a freaking game. And
the beauty of the World Cup is there's games every
day for like the first couple of weeks, and then
you get to the knockout rounds and it's not as
(09:15):
many every day. But Rob, I'm fired up. I do
think the Spurs get it done tonight. I know I'm
on an island thinking that the series is not over,
but I don't know.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
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the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
I will respectfully disagree with you. I think this series
is over. I think it's put I think it's a rap.
And to your point, though, I will give you credit,
this has not been a blowout. This has not been
you know, the Knicks looking like the greatest team ever
like they had through the first eleven games coming into
this series. The Spurs have been right there with them
basically throughout. You know, they had a big lead there
(09:59):
in Game one. The issue is, I think that what
you're seeing play out in real time is the Knicks
just look like a better basketball team right now. Doesn't
mean that they're demonstrably better, doesn't mean they're historically better.
It's just game to game, night to night, quarter to quarter,
half to half, they are the better team. And it's
not a talent issue, because the Spurs will not be
(10:21):
here if they were deficient talent wise. They are deficient
in their experience and that's what's happening. Is you mentioned it,
last five minutes of each game has been very close.
The difference is is that the New York Knicks have
a guy in Jalen Brunson who, even though is not
shooting the ball, well knows where he wants to go
on the floor, knows what kind of action he wants
to get into, knows which spots he's most comfortable with.
(10:43):
Karl Anthony Towns by virtue of being a veteran player,
knows where his spots are, knows what plays to run.
That's what's permeating throughout their entire team, between Kat and
Brunson and Michal and Og and Harr and even Landry
Shammitt and the San Antonio rs just do.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Not have that. People forget.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
I know that it's exciting because they're such a good
team and they're so exciting. They are at a minimum
one year, if not two years ahead of schedule, say
for Victor waynm Minyama. Because he's so unique, he is
the alien. He is arguably about health, permitting gonna be
one of the greatest players who ever lived. Stefan Castle.
Even his most optimistic supporters were not expecting to be
(11:24):
this good this quickly in year two, right, Dylan Harper,
his most optimistic supporters did not expect him to be
this good this quickly. If that was the case, he
might have gone first overall ahead of Cooper Flag. If
you were seeing what he's gonna do in the postseason,
in big moments like no, I'm just saying, like nobody
they knew that he had great long term potential. They
(11:44):
love the talent, but to expect him to be arguably
the best point guard on an NBA Finals team, I
don't think anybody had that, And they're being over card
at all. Devin Vessel, Julian Champagne. Champagne was off the scrappy.
They got him for free, right, So you know, even
people who liked him thought, yeah, you know, he's a good,
(12:04):
solid guy. Maybe your seventh eighth man on a good team.
You know he'd be okay. And all of these guys
have hit all at the same time, peaking all at
the right moment, but they don't have What they do
not have, however, is experience. What they do not have
is mental and emotional maturity in the biggest moments. You
can get away with that when you're going against Portland
(12:26):
because you're just more talented than them. You can get
away with that against Minnesota because they're so banged up
they don't have.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Any guards, right.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
You can even get away with that against Oklahoma City,
who was down, as we mentioned, two of their.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Top four players in that series.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
You cannot do that against a veteran Leyden Knicks team
that has been together now for several seasons, that is
coached by a guy who very quietly has built himself
a hell of a resume in Mike Brown and.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Get away with it.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
So, if these games are going to continue to come
down to the last five minutes, I'm going to continue
to bet on the New York Knicks.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Interesting, So you think the Spurs would need a significant
lead heading into the final five minutes? Absolutely, I mean
they had a fourteen to nothing run to get back
in the game, you know, like I don't.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
And then what happened and then what happened in game two?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Well, I mean, if if Wenby doesn't throw that disastrous
the back of.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
That is the big one.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Right.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
But here's their last three possessions. Offensively, you have victor Or,
you have the Victor Weinbanyama on the left side of
the of the lane shoots a fallaway turnaround jump shot.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I think that was the two for one, right?
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Was that miss?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Is that one?
Speaker 4 (13:35):
Yep gets the defensive rebound turnover Victor winman Yama. Then
they get a chance to win the game. You say, hey,
we're gonna drop our best play to get the best
chance at a basket? What do they run a brush
screen with Victor Weinbanyama who pulls into a step fallaway
seventeen footer against their best defender and Mitchell Robinson Like
(13:55):
that is not something that an experienced veteran team is
going to do. And if they are going to call
a play like that, it's gonna be with the guy
who has done it over and over and over, like
Jalen Brunt. It's not gonna be a guy like Victor Wumming,
all due respect, that is not his game at this
stage of his career right now.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, yeah, not having a clutch guy like Brunson. Hurts
a Castle had tweaked his ankle, Fox had played well,
I think he tweaked his ankle. Let me ask you
about Brunson real quick. I'm getting weird. I mean people
are strange. Man. As soon as I bring up to
Becky Hammond stuff, and you know, I'm not letting that.
I'm like a dog on a leisha with that thing
or what is it, a dog on a chain?
Speaker 3 (14:34):
What you said?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Gee said, I just butchered that whatever it is, dog
off of leash dog off of leash. Yes, I cannot
let go of the Becky Hammon comment. And as soon
as I say it, people, wait a minute. Brunson has
not been good. He's only at thirty three percent shooting.
That's like SGA numbers. Time the freak out. Okay, okay,
time out. Let's look at winning time in the fourth quarter.
(14:57):
Can you tell me what happened? I don't know. Brunson
makes the game when free throw in one game and
it makes the go ahead basket in the other, that's clutch,
that's winning. That's what Jayalen bruns does. Is he shooting
a great Now? Thirty three percent is not good, not
against Castle, not against Harper. He's shooting four of seventeen
(15:17):
from three. Those are like SGA numbers. The difference is
he's coming up big in the clutch. SGA did not
come up big in the clutch in the fourth quarter.
He just didn't and the games weren't really close. Now
what is that? What does that mean? I got people saying, oh,
J Matt, come on, if JDub were there, I think
Thunder would tear apart the Knicks. I don't know, Rob.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
Really would they based on what JDub barely played this
year and they still won sixty five games or whatever
it is, right, he played like thirty three games.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Like if you want to go back to last year, yeah,
Jadab was awesome last year. The reality is he wasn't
as good this year. Neither was SGA. He won MVP,
but look at his numbers. They were down across the
board from a year ago. I'm not making this up.
That's not a hate this is just reality. Again, I
will concede Brunson is not shot it great, but all
(16:08):
that matters. It's not how you start until you finish.
And if you're winning these games, he's been good. Now
if he puts up a six for thirty and he
misses the game winning shot, well that that's a bad
result obviously. But if he's got the game winning points
in both games one and two in click games that
were both clutch time, I mean, Rob, can you beat
up on Brunson for that? No?
Speaker 3 (16:30):
I don't think you can.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
But I also think that you can't heap this amazing
amount of praise that he's been getting either. And again
this is coming from a guy who, like me, I
had the Nickson six before it started I'm on record
here five minutes ago saying I think the series is
already over and it may even be a sweep. But
I'm also not gonna go out on a limb and
blindly say that Jalen Brunson has been awesome in the series.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
I can't say that.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
How about it, We'll adjust it. Awesome in the fourth.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
Quarter, awesome in the fourth quarter. Shore And I will say,
I saw your tweet, you mentioned it. People look at
efficiency like that's the be all end all when it
comes to sports. That's the thing that the nerds do.
That's the thing that the guys who the pencil pushers do.
You talk to real basketball players and you play on
the rec league with like real basketball players, and they say,
well you get to the playoffs. I don't care how
(17:12):
you get it done. I don't care what it looks like.
Get it done. And Jalen Brunton, his credit, has gotten
it done. What I will say again, though, however, is
that the key to this Knicks team. And we talked
about with the Becky Hammond conversation, but a wee can
have a go. It's not that Jalen Brunson is their
best player. And this is gonna defeat the narrative that, hey,
you can win with the six to two, six foot
(17:33):
underguy being your best player. It's that who is your
worst player? And right now through the last whatever month
and a half of playoff basketball, every player that the
Knicks put on the floor at any given moment is
at least solid on both ends of the floor. They
do not have a weak link anywhere. You can't say, oh,
this guy's on the floor, I'm gonna pick on him.
(17:55):
You can't do it because even Jalen Brunson being small,
I believe in Game one team shot three or thirteen.
And then you mentioned, hey, a guy like Josh Harten A,
he's a he can't shoo. We're gonna leave Hi wide open,
all right, You leave him wide open. He might burn you,
like he did against the Cavs in a couple of games.
But in this series, you know what he's done. He's
crashed the boards because they're leaving him wide open, and
he's getting you second chance opportunities. He is creating offense
(18:16):
that way. So there is nobody on the floor at
any given moment that you feel is a liability. I
think that's why these Knicks are so good, and I
think that should be the story less so than hell,
look what Jalen Brunson is doing.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
If you've saw this, but Landry Shammitt has hit six
threes in the series. Lynd off the bench, He's been enormous.
The guy comes in, he's got the flame thrower. Three
in game one, three in game two. Essentially he's out playing.
And again, Dylan Harper's been great, but I mean Harper's
(18:49):
largely been played to a stand so by Landry Shammitt
because of the threes. I mean, Miles McBride. They just
got a lot of guys on the knicks. It's almost
like people undervalued them. I don't really want to get
in the MVP debate, yet it does seem like it
would have to be Kat or Brunson at this point.
I don't know how you don't give it to Brunson
(19:12):
given the game winning stuff. Cat's been incredible. My OG
sleeper pick not looking amazing, but again, there's still a
lot of ways to go in the series. I am curious, Rob,
you know, I saw the stat that Michael Jordan lost
his first finals game against the Lakers, then they came
back and won the next four. Shaq was famously swept
(19:33):
in his first finals trip against Elijah One. Lebron was
swept in his first finals trip with the Calves against
the Spurs. Young guys, I just want to be clear,
this is not a blemish. If Wenby goes out in
four or five or six or so, it's not Well,
you guys can't call him the greatest thing ever. Well,
(19:54):
he's obviously not the greatest thing ever. He's twenty two.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Could he be?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yes, even with a loss, that still can make him
the greatest ever. I don't think that changes anything. A
four or five or six game sample size in the
finals doesn't change anything. I remember, guys, Magic Johnson had
already won titles and he blew it in Boston and
they started calling him Tragic Johnson. That was like his nickname.
(20:19):
They changed Magic to Tragic. They tried to bury Magic Johnson.
It was like, Okay, it's a finals, you'll be back
here in a year or two. Multiple times like Lebron
getting swept by this person. I mean, people were surprised
that the Cats were even there. Shack, now, that was
different Shack against Elijah one, because they had taken down
the Bulls. If you remember Rob, when Jordan had come back,
(20:42):
they beat the Bulls. I know that series. Basically that
didn't happen because you know, it makes Michael Jordan look bad.
But whatever, And it's weird. It's like Shaq got swept
by Olaja one and it's like, Okay, it doesn't really matter.
Shaq was still able to become a great all time legend.
Like again, I'm more of like, the finals will elevate
(21:02):
you than the finals will tear you down. I just
don't believe in this whole Well, you lost the finals.
Do you know how hard is to get to the
finals and then win. Now, the Spurs were favorites coming in.
They are definitely heavy underdogs now. But Rob, I don't know.
I just I don't want people coming out bashing one Minyamas.
Oh this guy stinks. He's not Like, can we just
slowed down on that?
Speaker 4 (21:23):
You know?
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
Absolutely, And this goes back to the thing about Lebron James.
And I know it's weird. To say it comes back
to Lebron, But like most things in the NBA, there's
six degrees of Lebron no matter what you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
And when it.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Comes to Lebron James, somehow making ten NBA finals is
considered a negative because he didn't win them. All Right,
I'm almost this ten or eleven, I'm almost positive, and
he's four and six in the finals.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I'm almost positive.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
But it's like, yeah, it's bad for you to get
to the finals and lose, or it's better for you
to get to the finals and lose in the first
round than it is for you to get to the
finals and lose. Like somehow Michael Jordan going zero for
six of getting to the finals during his first six
years of his career is somehow better than Lebron getting
there in seven and losing getting swept, Like, I don't
understand that. And for Victor Webman Yama, we all agree,
(22:22):
even someone like me who was late to the party
with Victor Wemberya, we all agree that assuming health, the
sky is the limit with this man, that he can
realistically this is not hyperbably end up as the single
greatest basketball player who ever lived. You have, guys, like
Paul Pierce saying, now this is his first healthy season
(22:43):
since he got to the NBA, saying he's already the best,
most talented player I've ever seen. And Paul Pierce is
going to be in the Hall of Fame, So him
say something like that speaks volumes about what these guys
think about who he is and what he can become.
And there is no shame in getting to the NBA
Five Finals again, one year at least perhaps two years
(23:03):
ahead of schedule, where your best players are twenty two,
twenty one, and twenty and losing to a veteran team
that has been together for several years, and losing to
a team that has multiple All NBA players on it,
that has multiple All Star players aside that that has
(23:23):
a two time Coach of the Year on the sidelines,
that has a guy who was undefeated in the playoffs
in twenty seventeen. Another Regis account for him goes to
Steve Kerr. But that great Golden State Warriors team with
Stephen kd that one that only lost one game. The
one game that was lost was not lost by Mike Brown,
It was lost by Steve Kerr. He was thirteen to
oh during that playoff run. So is that was that game?
(23:46):
Was that the game or where the Cavs hit like
twenty five?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Ye?
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Yes, correct, correct, But this is a very good team
and statistically, depending what stat you like, coming into the
finals was arguably the single greatest postseason team in NBA history.
So I don't understand how if things go the way
I expect they're gonna go and Victor Ormon comes up short,
even if he gets swept, how on earth is that
(24:09):
a negative thing when he even got there in the
first place.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I don't get it.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
It's just dumb. So that the only blemish that year
for the KD. Curry Warriors Year one was Game four,
the Cats hit twenty four to threes Cave Kevin Love
six of eight, j R. Smith five and nine, Kyrie
seven of twelve, and Lebron three of eight. That's I mean.
And then of course you come back the next game
in the in the uh, the Warriors finish him off one.
(24:38):
I know people are gonna listen if the Knicks win,
Oh my gosh, if the Knicks win tonight, Rob, It's
gonna be like, hey, is this the greatest team of
all time? I will pump the brakes I'll close out
with a bit of a hot take, Rob. I believe
since that Warriors team, the Curry KD Warriors, that this
(24:59):
Knicks team is better than any champion we've seen. That
would include last year's thunder. That would include the Denver Nuggets.
That would include the Milwaukee Bucks, that would include the
Bubble Lakers. I got some pushback on the Bubble Lakers.
That would include the Celtics, and there might have been
one other team that I missed, but.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
I think that's all of them.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
I think you're right again. A lot of it has
to do with we haven't seen anyone peel off thirteen wins. Again,
I don't want to hear this thunder from last year.
They needed seven against the Pacers, they needed seven against
the Nuggets. Let's just stop. These Knicks have won thirteen
in a row with an average barge in a victory.
It is shrinking now, but it's still I think the
(25:39):
largest point differential in NBA playoff history. This is a
historic run. The Celtics were not historic a few years ago.
The Denver units were good, but not historic. The Lakers
bubble wins interesting, Rob, because if you look at the
matchup that Lakers team had ad an all time great center,
(26:00):
all time great defensive player. Maybe not an all time
great center, all time great defensive player. Obviously late Pride
and Lebron quintessential role players in Kuzma, Caruso, Danny Green,
Dwight Howard. Coming off the bench, Rondo CACP would have
been like the perfect defender, small, quick, sturdy or just
(26:21):
Jalen Brunson and Caruso obviously would have been very good.
I just look at that lakersy, but I'm like, that
would probably for my money, be the second best champ
after this next team. How would you rank him?
Speaker 4 (26:35):
I'll tell you what makes this Knix team difficult to
rank is because they were not this good throughout the
entirety of the season.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
They want to know where close to this.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
They There were real conversations being had in the first
round when they went down to one to see Jim
Mcdowmanhawk's about Hey, Mike Brown, Mike Brown gonna get fired?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Do we got to break up this group?
Speaker 4 (26:55):
Does the Nova Nicks sound fun in theory, but they
don't really fit together? Is cagn be on the way out?
Speaker 3 (27:00):
And so on and so forth? And then they just
caught lightning in a bottle.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
And became statistically the greatest team in it ever, right,
So it's hard to factor in that aspect of it
when throughout the regular season they were not great. The
other four teams that you mentioned, I believe were all
at worst top two seeds in their conference. So that's
kind of trick. It's kind of like when people mentioned
(27:24):
the one Lakers as being one of the greatest teams ever, said, well,
I think they were a two seed or a three
seed that year, and they just ratcheted up in the playoffs.
You can say they had a great postseason run and
they were the greatest playoff team, but I would still
not put them ahead of the twenty seventeen Warriors.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Wouldn't put ahead of the Jordan Bowles.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
Teams like that, because they were not dominant start to finish.
And with that in mind, I think I would probably
lean the Bubble Lakers because they were the best team
throughout the entirety of the season and they ended up
winning the championship, but I.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Think they forget Yeah, they would be a close second these.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Nicks that after the year after the Bubble Lakers, the
Lakers were awesome again, m hm. And they were up
to one on the Suns and then Ad gets hurt
and it all fell apart because if they wouldn't remember,
the Suns ended up leading to nothing in the finals. Yep,
those Lakers probably go to the finals and are maybe
back to back so and again, just to defend these
knicks a little bit, I know, people are like, well,
(28:17):
who'd they beat? If you look at the odds, the
Cleveland Cavaliers beginning of the season, beginning of the playoffs
were top two in the East to get to the finals,
and number two you beat the Sixers, Well, the Sixers stink. Well,
I don't know. They took down Boston, which was the
favorite according to everybody coming into the playoffs to come
out of the East, and they beat Boston after being
down three to one. So I don't I just I
don't know that I can hear well who they beat?
(28:39):
Like this is a what the Cavs win fifty five
games and the Celtics took down the number one seed.
I guess at some point, Rob, we have to divorce
the the regular season from the playoffs. And as you've said,
they're two different sports practically, right, absolutely, so I'm gonna
put more value on the postseason run. And what are they?
(29:00):
Thirteen and two? Is that what it is?
Speaker 3 (29:02):
They won fourteen, fourteen and two, fourteen and two.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Man, I again, last year's thunder just in two series
needed to go seven. Nobody's pushed the next other than
the Hawks like three games in. Like it's kind of crazy.
So anyways, I'm on the UH. I'm on the Spurs
money line tonight. I'm I'm assuming your knicks.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
I am on the next money line. Yep, you have to.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
You have to admit, Rob, this podcast needs the UH
needs the Spurs to win to one thousand. Everybody you
do a five day a week radio.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Show that that is true.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
But I will say for this specific show, j mag,
you haven't seen our numbers before. Our best stuff is
always NBA offseason. What may or may not happen. People
love the rumor mill. They come to this show to
talk about Giannis and Lebron and those kind of guys.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
We should save it. But since you just mentioned it,
I don't believe that the Spurs will overreact if they
lose this series. I don't think there will be like, oh,
we gotta go get Yannis. They're not gonna do that,
do you though, do you think there's any well, you know,
let's move off to Aaron Fox.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
Well, the dearon Fox thing. I think it's just better
for their team with Dylan Harper. I think Dylan Harper
is a better player.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
The only thing is you need depth to get to
sure sure absolutely, and and moving off Fox like, I
don't know. I mean, they've got a good bench six
Van of the Year Calton Johnson, Dylan Harper, Barnes Cornett.
I don't know really where they could upgrade, except you know,
they're all just going to be mature in a year older.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
You know, yeah, I think you never know. I think
that's the biggest thing. But one thing I would like
to see them get.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
I think that's what's showing out in this series a
little bit is they don't really have big wings. They
really start four guards and a seven foot eight dude.
So if they could get some six six to six
nine players. They don't got to be great players, but
just size sure, maybe someone like that'd be fine. You know,
there's a Ruy Hatchamura type of guy would be great
for them. You know, he could eat up some minutes
(30:52):
Japanese lose him. I'm not not saying it, but someone
like him, he doesn't got to be a super stopper.
Someone who can give you quality fifteen to twenty minutes
in a playoff game.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
I think would be huge for that.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
And I think you pointed out those second chance buckets
that the hustle rebounds, Josh Hartz owning them og bridges,
like all those guys are bigger than the dudes the
Spurs are putting out there.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, so that hurts, all right, enjoy it tonight, We're
back tomorrow. See it
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up, Straight Fire fan, It's me Jason McIntyre,
straight Ooh b Monday, June the eighth, it is World
Cup week here in America. What a time to be alive.
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. First World Cup on
US soil kicks off Thursday. The first World Cup on
(00:33):
US soil since I believe in nineteen ninety four, I
was a young guy. I or still remember some of
the highlights that the Brazil game on July fourth was everything.
Oh my gosh, I don't even know if Robb g
was born. He's such a young guy. But I'm fired
up for the World Cup. Got some bets fired on
the newsletter, some futures World Cup stuff. But because there's
(00:54):
an NBA game tonight, we're going to go back to
the NBA Finals, and we didn't. We didn't do a
podcast Friday night at one in the morning to recap
the Spurs blowing another fourth quarter lead to the Knicks
to go down oh two. However, Game three tonight, obviously
tonight is the series. I'm gonna be on an island here.
My hot take is that a the series is not
(01:18):
remotely close to over, and I think be the Spurs
win out right tonight. I have not bet it yet.
I'm waiting for all these Jibbronis in New York to
bet the nixt handover fist. I'm seeing two and a
half right now. Come on, guys, let's push that out
to three and a half.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Four, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Obviously. I picked the Knicks on this podcast before the series.
I think they're gonna win this series no matter what.
But it's not over. I think we could easily go
six games, maybe even seven. I picked Nicks in six.
I do not think this is gonna be a sweep.
I would be floored if the Spurs lost Game three,
so I did look it up. Yes, five teams have
(01:53):
pulled off being down two and rallying. The nineteen sixty
nine Celtics Bill Russell was player coach. Okay, we don't
need to even talk about that. The Portland Trailblazers in
seventy seven Bill Walton lose two to the Sixers and
then Walton takes over. They went four in a row
Miami Heat against the MAVs. That was the Dwayne Wade team.
(02:14):
I mean, that was really the last, well, I guess
you know, Dirk won onon a few years after that,
but Dwayne was a solo act in that series.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
I mean it was incredible. And then, of course twenty sixteen,
the Golden State Warriors, no Kevin Durant yet against Lebron
they're up two to oh, they're up three to one,
and Cleveland comes back to take down the seventy three
win Warriors. And then of course you've got in twenty
twenty one one. You know, I guess the it was
(02:44):
not the COVID year. I mean, there was still a
COVID issue in America and people were still masking up
in twenty twenty one. But the Bucks take down the Suns.
Remember Phoenix race to an O two lead, and then
Giannis put the team on his back and had a
fifty piece in game six. However, what's different is that
none of those teams that were down oh two lost
(03:07):
both at home. That's what makes this incredibly challenging. Here's
the thing that this is the problem out here in
sportsland in the media, and we got all these influencers
and all this stuff happening. Now anybody sees something and
they're like, well, we haven't seen that before, so there's
no chance of it happening. And well, actually, you know
(03:29):
this Spurs team, We've never seen a team go from
zero playoffs the year before, no playoff history really other
than deeron Fox the series Harrison barnesom and then win
a title or get to the finals. We just don't
see that. So nobody thought it could happen. And that's
where I thought it could happen. That's why I had
the Spurs coming out of the West. This one's a
little different because you know, everybody's I love the Knicks,
(03:53):
I'm rooting for them. I think people are missing this, guys.
In the first two games the Spurs led with less
than two and a half minutes. They just happen to
blow both of those games. This easily could be two
nothing Spurs. It could. It should probably be one one.
I mean the final ten seconds of game two, I
(04:16):
was in shock for a good four minutes, just sitting there.
Why did that really happen? Wemby has a turnover, a
foul and then this is the game winning shot in
the final ten seconds. That's unbelievable. I think I read
somewhere that that nobody had ever done that, a turnover,
a foul, and a miss game winning shot attempt to
the final ten seconds. That had not been done in
NBA playoffics, or maybe it was just the finals, but
(04:40):
it was bad. The stuff that's coming out of Wemby,
he's saying all the right things right now in the
in the interviews in New York and listen, let's be real.
The garden is going to be juiced up. Okay, they're
gonna have the President there. I believe we will hear
the loudest cascade of booze in the history of president
showing up to an NBA game. There's gonna be pressure
(05:00):
on the Knicks. These fans, you know, they go crazy.
Remember the Knicks Game one against the Cabs. They were
down twenty two, needed a historic comeback. Okay, this is
a really good Knicks team. I did the quarter by
quarter breakdown, okay to so, uh, the Spurs won the
first quarter Game one, and then I mean, I think
(05:22):
you go Knicks next, Knicks. They won the second third.
I mean, if you want to go push in quarter two,
you know it was twenty nine to twenty eight. Fine,
we gonna go push. So it's Spurs push and then
the Knicks definitely won the second half. Game two. First quarter,
Spurs race out to a big lead. Knicks, second quarter,
Knicks third quarter. Fourth quarter, Spurs had it. They were
(05:45):
down fourteen, store back and take the lead. I know
they lose the game, Jay, How could you win the
fourth and lose the game? Well, they were down by
a billion points and rallied and they dominated in the
fourth quarter. So if we're going quarter by quarter, I
got two to one to one Knicks in the first
one and two two in Game two. That's not a blowout.
This is not a route, guys, It's just not. And
(06:07):
I know that people want issues with the refs are
Carl Anthony Towns and Josh Hart. Okay, fine, you know listen,
I love heart. That was a trip. It was a
blatant trip. The technical Mitchell Robinson was a little goofy.
I'll say that, But I just I don't think the
Spurs are dead at all. I think we haven't seen
a good game yet, from a great game yet from
the combo of Castle and Harper. They play good in Spurts,
(06:30):
but they're not consistently good. Webin Yamo was great with
twenty nine and nine but he only took four shots
in the first half. They haven't put together a total
complete effort. And I do think we get that in
Game three in New York and I know, Oh it's
on the road. It's so tough to win. Again, the
Cavs is up by twenty two. Now they blew it.
They got the veterans. I don't Spurs know this is
(06:52):
their season. You can't go down oh three, you go
down oath through. It's over the Knicks playing with a
lot of house money right now. I'm sure there's a
lot of family members to get tickets. You heard Josh
Hart say it stinks a lot of our fans can't
get tickets because they're priced out. I will say, not
only are they priced out, but all anybody's doing is
watching these games on TV. I don't know if you
saw this. Rob nearly seventeen million viewers in Game one
(07:16):
for the NBA Finals.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That was up.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Ninety percent compared to last year's NBA Finals. I had
to take a deep breath and be like, who was it. Oh, yeah,
it was okc Indiana slight upgrade. When you get upgrade
by ninety percent of the audience. So this was the
most watched Game one since Warriors Calves. That was KD
(07:39):
versus Lebron OKD and Curry, and it is the most
fought watched Finals contest since Game six of Raptors Warriors. Now,
I don't know if this means, you know, I'm not
gonna be goofy and so the NBA's back. This is
all Webby. I mean it's I'm sure a lot of
it has to do with the Knicks. I compared the
Nick storyline to like when the Red Sox and Cubs
(08:00):
made a run to the World Series. I think it
it's that kind of feeling, like people in Texas and
Wyoming and Seattle they're into this next team. It's usually
people don't like New York.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
This is different.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
This team's totally different. With Jalen Brunson leading the way,
he's a likable star. I think people have latched on
to Karl Anthony Towns and the you know, redemption member
in Minnesota didn't want him. His mom passes away during COVID.
You know, people like that. The Villanova Knicks people love
that angle. I mean, they're a likable team. Most likable
to the NIXT team since Jeremy Lynn, right, I think
(08:34):
we would agree with that. So there's just so much happening.
I think, you know, for the better bin of the league,
we need the Spurs to win this one, just so
it adds fuel to think about this. If the Spurs
can win game three, game four is Wednesday, Game five
would be Saturday. So you're looking at Thursday, the World
(08:54):
Cup opens, Friday, USA Paraguay. That's gonna be. I mean,
that's in ormous out here at so far, and then
Saturday NBA Finals and oh, by the way, the Saturday
World Cups late Morocco Brazil. It's a freaking game. And
the beauty of the World Cup is there's games every
day for like the first couple of weeks, and then
you get to the knockout rounds and it's not as
(09:15):
many every day. But Rob, I'm fired up. I do
think the Spurs get it done tonight. I know I'm
on an island thinking that the series is not over,
but I don't know.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 4 (09:37):
I will respectfully disagree with you. I think this series
is over. I think it's put I think it's a rap.
And to your point, though, I will give you credit,
this has not been a blowout. This has not been
you know, the Knicks looking like the greatest team ever
like they had through the first eleven games coming into
this series. The Spurs have been right there with them
basically throughout. You know, they had a big lead there
(09:59):
in Game one. The issue is, I think that what
you're seeing play out in real time is the Knicks
just look like a better basketball team right now. Doesn't
mean that they're demonstrably better, doesn't mean they're historically better.
It's just game to game, night to night, quarter to quarter,
half to half, they are the better team. And it's
not a talent issue, because the Spurs will not be
(10:21):
here if they were deficient talent wise. They are deficient
in their experience and that's what's happening. Is you mentioned it,
last five minutes of each game has been very close.
The difference is is that the New York Knicks have
a guy in Jalen Brunson who, even though is not
shooting the ball, well knows where he wants to go
on the floor, knows what kind of action he wants
to get into, knows which spots he's most comfortable with.
(10:43):
Karl Anthony Towns by virtue of being a veteran player,
knows where his spots are, knows what plays to run.
That's what's permeating throughout their entire team, between Kat and
Brunson and Michal and Og and Harr and even Landry
Shammitt and the San Antonio rs just do.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Not have that. People forget.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
I know that it's exciting because they're such a good
team and they're so exciting. They are at a minimum
one year, if not two years ahead of schedule, say
for Victor waynm Minyama. Because he's so unique, he is
the alien. He is arguably about health, permitting gonna be
one of the greatest players who ever lived. Stefan Castle.
Even his most optimistic supporters were not expecting to be
(11:24):
this good this quickly in year two, right, Dylan Harper,
his most optimistic supporters did not expect him to be
this good this quickly. If that was the case, he
might have gone first overall ahead of Cooper Flag. If
you were seeing what he's gonna do in the postseason,
in big moments like no, I'm just saying, like nobody
they knew that he had great long term potential. They
(11:44):
love the talent, but to expect him to be arguably
the best point guard on an NBA Finals team, I
don't think anybody had that, And they're being over card
at all. Devin Vessel, Julian Champagne. Champagne was off the scrappy.
They got him for free, right, So you know, even
people who liked him thought, yeah, you know, he's a good,
(12:04):
solid guy. Maybe your seventh eighth man on a good team.
You know he'd be okay. And all of these guys
have hit all at the same time, peaking all at
the right moment, but they don't have What they do
not have, however, is experience. What they do not have
is mental and emotional maturity in the biggest moments. You
can get away with that when you're going against Portland
(12:26):
because you're just more talented than them. You can get
away with that against Minnesota because they're so banged up
they don't have.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Any guards, right.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
You can even get away with that against Oklahoma City,
who was down, as we mentioned, two of their.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Top four players in that series.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
You cannot do that against a veteran Leyden Knicks team
that has been together now for several seasons, that is
coached by a guy who very quietly has built himself
a hell of a resume in Mike Brown and.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Get away with it.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
So, if these games are going to continue to come
down to the last five minutes, I'm going to continue
to bet on the New York Knicks.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Interesting, So you think the Spurs would need a significant
lead heading into the final five minutes? Absolutely, I mean
they had a fourteen to nothing run to get back
in the game, you know, like I don't.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
And then what happened and then what happened in game two?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Well, I mean, if if Wenby doesn't throw that disastrous
the back of.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
That is the big one.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Right.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
But here's their last three possessions. Offensively, you have victor Or,
you have the Victor Weinbanyama on the left side of
the of the lane shoots a fallaway turnaround jump shot.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I think that was the two for one, right?
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Was that miss?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Is that one?
Speaker 4 (13:35):
Yep gets the defensive rebound turnover Victor winman Yama. Then
they get a chance to win the game. You say, hey,
we're gonna drop our best play to get the best
chance at a basket? What do they run a brush
screen with Victor Weinbanyama who pulls into a step fallaway
seventeen footer against their best defender and Mitchell Robinson Like
(13:55):
that is not something that an experienced veteran team is
going to do. And if they are going to call
a play like that, it's gonna be with the guy
who has done it over and over and over, like
Jalen Brunt. It's not gonna be a guy like Victor Wumming,
all due respect, that is not his game at this
stage of his career right now.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, yeah, not having a clutch guy like Brunson. Hurts
a Castle had tweaked his ankle, Fox had played well,
I think he tweaked his ankle. Let me ask you
about Brunson real quick. I'm getting weird. I mean people
are strange. Man. As soon as I bring up to
Becky Hammond stuff, and you know, I'm not letting that.
I'm like a dog on a leisha with that thing
or what is it, a dog on a chain?
Speaker 3 (14:34):
What you said?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Gee said, I just butchered that whatever it is, dog
off of leash dog off of leash. Yes, I cannot
let go of the Becky Hammon comment. And as soon
as I say it, people, wait a minute. Brunson has
not been good. He's only at thirty three percent shooting.
That's like SGA numbers. Time the freak out. Okay, okay,
time out. Let's look at winning time in the fourth quarter.
(14:57):
Can you tell me what happened? I don't know. Brunson
makes the game when free throw in one game and
it makes the go ahead basket in the other, that's clutch,
that's winning. That's what Jayalen bruns does. Is he shooting
a great Now? Thirty three percent is not good, not
against Castle, not against Harper. He's shooting four of seventeen
(15:17):
from three. Those are like SGA numbers. The difference is
he's coming up big in the clutch. SGA did not
come up big in the clutch in the fourth quarter.
He just didn't and the games weren't really close. Now
what is that? What does that mean? I got people saying, oh,
J Matt, come on, if JDub were there, I think
Thunder would tear apart the Knicks. I don't know, Rob.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
Really would they based on what JDub barely played this
year and they still won sixty five games or whatever
it is, right, he played like thirty three games.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Like if you want to go back to last year, yeah,
Jadab was awesome last year. The reality is he wasn't
as good this year. Neither was SGA. He won MVP,
but look at his numbers. They were down across the
board from a year ago. I'm not making this up.
That's not a hate this is just reality. Again, I
will concede Brunson is not shot it great, but all
(16:08):
that matters. It's not how you start until you finish.
And if you're winning these games, he's been good. Now
if he puts up a six for thirty and he
misses the game winning shot, well that that's a bad
result obviously. But if he's got the game winning points
in both games one and two in click games that
were both clutch time, I mean, Rob, can you beat
up on Brunson for that? No?
Speaker 3 (16:30):
I don't think you can.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
But I also think that you can't heap this amazing
amount of praise that he's been getting either. And again
this is coming from a guy who, like me, I
had the Nickson six before it started I'm on record
here five minutes ago saying I think the series is
already over and it may even be a sweep. But
I'm also not gonna go out on a limb and
blindly say that Jalen Brunson has been awesome in the series.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
I can't say that.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
How about it, We'll adjust it. Awesome in the fourth.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
Quarter, awesome in the fourth quarter. Shore And I will say,
I saw your tweet, you mentioned it. People look at
efficiency like that's the be all end all when it
comes to sports. That's the thing that the nerds do.
That's the thing that the guys who the pencil pushers do.
You talk to real basketball players and you play on
the rec league with like real basketball players, and they say,
well you get to the playoffs. I don't care how
(17:12):
you get it done. I don't care what it looks like.
Get it done. And Jalen Brunton, his credit, has gotten
it done. What I will say again, though, however, is
that the key to this Knicks team. And we talked
about with the Becky Hammond conversation, but a wee can
have a go. It's not that Jalen Brunson is their
best player. And this is gonna defeat the narrative that, hey,
you can win with the six to two, six foot
(17:33):
underguy being your best player. It's that who is your
worst player? And right now through the last whatever month
and a half of playoff basketball, every player that the
Knicks put on the floor at any given moment is
at least solid on both ends of the floor. They
do not have a weak link anywhere. You can't say, oh,
this guy's on the floor, I'm gonna pick on him.
(17:55):
You can't do it because even Jalen Brunson being small,
I believe in Game one team shot three or thirteen.
And then you mentioned, hey, a guy like Josh Harten A,
he's a he can't shoo. We're gonna leave Hi wide open,
all right, You leave him wide open. He might burn you,
like he did against the Cavs in a couple of games.
But in this series, you know what he's done. He's
crashed the boards because they're leaving him wide open, and
he's getting you second chance opportunities. He is creating offense
(18:16):
that way. So there is nobody on the floor at
any given moment that you feel is a liability. I
think that's why these Knicks are so good, and I
think that should be the story less so than hell,
look what Jalen Brunson is doing.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
If you've saw this, but Landry Shammitt has hit six
threes in the series. Lynd off the bench, He's been enormous.
The guy comes in, he's got the flame thrower. Three
in game one, three in game two. Essentially he's out playing.
And again, Dylan Harper's been great, but I mean Harper's
(18:49):
largely been played to a stand so by Landry Shammitt
because of the threes. I mean, Miles McBride. They just
got a lot of guys on the knicks. It's almost
like people undervalued them. I don't really want to get
in the MVP debate, yet it does seem like it
would have to be Kat or Brunson at this point.
I don't know how you don't give it to Brunson
(19:12):
given the game winning stuff. Cat's been incredible. My OG
sleeper pick not looking amazing, but again, there's still a
lot of ways to go in the series. I am curious, Rob,
you know, I saw the stat that Michael Jordan lost
his first finals game against the Lakers, then they came
back and won the next four. Shaq was famously swept
(19:33):
in his first finals trip against Elijah One. Lebron was
swept in his first finals trip with the Calves against
the Spurs. Young guys, I just want to be clear,
this is not a blemish. If Wenby goes out in
four or five or six or so, it's not Well,
you guys can't call him the greatest thing ever. Well,
(19:54):
he's obviously not the greatest thing ever. He's twenty two.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Could he be?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yes, even with a loss, that still can make him
the greatest ever. I don't think that changes anything. A
four or five or six game sample size in the
finals doesn't change anything. I remember, guys, Magic Johnson had
already won titles and he blew it in Boston and
they started calling him Tragic Johnson. That was like his nickname.
(20:19):
They changed Magic to Tragic. They tried to bury Magic Johnson.
It was like, Okay, it's a finals, you'll be back
here in a year or two. Multiple times like Lebron
getting swept by this person. I mean, people were surprised
that the Cats were even there. Shack, now, that was
different Shack against Elijah one, because they had taken down
the Bulls. If you remember Rob, when Jordan had come back,
(20:42):
they beat the Bulls. I know that series. Basically that
didn't happen because you know, it makes Michael Jordan look bad.
But whatever, And it's weird. It's like Shaq got swept
by Olaja one and it's like, Okay, it doesn't really matter.
Shaq was still able to become a great all time legend.
Like again, I'm more of like, the finals will elevate
(21:02):
you than the finals will tear you down. I just
don't believe in this whole Well, you lost the finals.
Do you know how hard is to get to the
finals and then win. Now, the Spurs were favorites coming in.
They are definitely heavy underdogs now. But Rob, I don't know.
I just I don't want people coming out bashing one Minyamas.
Oh this guy stinks. He's not Like, can we just
slowed down on that?
Speaker 4 (21:23):
You know?
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 3 (21:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
Absolutely, And this goes back to the thing about Lebron James.
And I know it's weird. To say it comes back
to Lebron, But like most things in the NBA, there's
six degrees of Lebron no matter what you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
And when it.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Comes to Lebron James, somehow making ten NBA finals is
considered a negative because he didn't win them. All Right,
I'm almost this ten or eleven, I'm almost positive, and
he's four and six in the finals.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I'm almost positive.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
But it's like, yeah, it's bad for you to get
to the finals and lose, or it's better for you
to get to the finals and lose in the first
round than it is for you to get to the
finals and lose. Like somehow Michael Jordan going zero for
six of getting to the finals during his first six
years of his career is somehow better than Lebron getting
there in seven and losing getting swept, Like, I don't
understand that. And for Victor Webman Yama, we all agree,
(22:22):
even someone like me who was late to the party
with Victor Wemberya, we all agree that assuming health, the
sky is the limit with this man, that he can
realistically this is not hyperbably end up as the single
greatest basketball player who ever lived. You have, guys, like
Paul Pierce saying, now this is his first healthy season
(22:43):
since he got to the NBA, saying he's already the best,
most talented player I've ever seen. And Paul Pierce is
going to be in the Hall of Fame, So him
say something like that speaks volumes about what these guys
think about who he is and what he can become.
And there is no shame in getting to the NBA
Five Finals again, one year at least perhaps two years
(23:03):
ahead of schedule, where your best players are twenty two,
twenty one, and twenty and losing to a veteran team
that has been together for several years, and losing to
a team that has multiple All NBA players on it,
that has multiple All Star players aside that that has
(23:23):
a two time Coach of the Year on the sidelines,
that has a guy who was undefeated in the playoffs
in twenty seventeen. Another Regis account for him goes to
Steve Kerr. But that great Golden State Warriors team with
Stephen kd that one that only lost one game. The
one game that was lost was not lost by Mike Brown,
It was lost by Steve Kerr. He was thirteen to
oh during that playoff run. So is that was that game?
(23:46):
Was that the game or where the Cavs hit like
twenty five?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Ye?
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Yes, correct, correct, But this is a very good team
and statistically, depending what stat you like, coming into the
finals was arguably the single greatest postseason team in NBA history.
So I don't understand how if things go the way
I expect they're gonna go and Victor Ormon comes up short,
even if he gets swept, how on earth is that
(24:09):
a negative thing when he even got there in the
first place.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I don't get it.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
It's just dumb. So that the only blemish that year
for the KD. Curry Warriors Year one was Game four,
the Cats hit twenty four to threes Cave Kevin Love
six of eight, j R. Smith five and nine, Kyrie
seven of twelve, and Lebron three of eight. That's I mean.
And then of course you come back the next game
in the in the uh, the Warriors finish him off one.
(24:38):
I know people are gonna listen if the Knicks win,
Oh my gosh, if the Knicks win tonight, Rob, It's
gonna be like, hey, is this the greatest team of
all time? I will pump the brakes I'll close out
with a bit of a hot take, Rob. I believe
since that Warriors team, the Curry KD Warriors, that this
(24:59):
Knicks team is better than any champion we've seen. That
would include last year's thunder. That would include the Denver Nuggets.
That would include the Milwaukee Bucks, that would include the
Bubble Lakers. I got some pushback on the Bubble Lakers.
That would include the Celtics, and there might have been
one other team that I missed, but.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
I think that's all of them.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
I think you're right again. A lot of it has
to do with we haven't seen anyone peel off thirteen wins. Again,
I don't want to hear this thunder from last year.
They needed seven against the Pacers, they needed seven against
the Nuggets. Let's just stop. These Knicks have won thirteen
in a row with an average barge in a victory.
It is shrinking now, but it's still I think the
(25:39):
largest point differential in NBA playoff history. This is a
historic run. The Celtics were not historic a few years ago.
The Denver units were good, but not historic. The Lakers
bubble wins interesting, Rob, because if you look at the
matchup that Lakers team had ad an all time great center,
(26:00):
all time great defensive player. Maybe not an all time
great center, all time great defensive player. Obviously late Pride
and Lebron quintessential role players in Kuzma, Caruso, Danny Green,
Dwight Howard. Coming off the bench, Rondo CACP would have
been like the perfect defender, small, quick, sturdy or just
(26:21):
Jalen Brunson and Caruso obviously would have been very good.
I just look at that lakersy, but I'm like, that
would probably for my money, be the second best champ
after this next team. How would you rank him?
Speaker 4 (26:35):
I'll tell you what makes this Knix team difficult to
rank is because they were not this good throughout the
entirety of the season.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
They want to know where close to this.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
They There were real conversations being had in the first
round when they went down to one to see Jim
Mcdowmanhawk's about Hey, Mike Brown, Mike Brown gonna get fired?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Do we got to break up this group?
Speaker 4 (26:55):
Does the Nova Nicks sound fun in theory, but they
don't really fit together? Is cagn be on the way out?
Speaker 3 (27:00):
And so on and so forth? And then they just
caught lightning in a bottle.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
And became statistically the greatest team in it ever, right,
So it's hard to factor in that aspect of it
when throughout the regular season they were not great. The
other four teams that you mentioned, I believe were all
at worst top two seeds in their conference. So that's
kind of trick. It's kind of like when people mentioned
(27:24):
the one Lakers as being one of the greatest teams ever, said, well,
I think they were a two seed or a three
seed that year, and they just ratcheted up in the playoffs.
You can say they had a great postseason run and
they were the greatest playoff team, but I would still
not put them ahead of the twenty seventeen Warriors.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Wouldn't put ahead of the Jordan Bowles.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
Teams like that, because they were not dominant start to finish.
And with that in mind, I think I would probably
lean the Bubble Lakers because they were the best team
throughout the entirety of the season and they ended up
winning the championship, but I.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Think they forget Yeah, they would be a close second these.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Nicks that after the year after the Bubble Lakers, the
Lakers were awesome again, m hm. And they were up
to one on the Suns and then Ad gets hurt
and it all fell apart because if they wouldn't remember,
the Suns ended up leading to nothing in the finals. Yep,
those Lakers probably go to the finals and are maybe
back to back so and again, just to defend these
knicks a little bit, I know, people are like, well,
(28:17):
who'd they beat? If you look at the odds, the
Cleveland Cavaliers beginning of the season, beginning of the playoffs
were top two in the East to get to the finals,
and number two you beat the Sixers, Well, the Sixers stink. Well,
I don't know. They took down Boston, which was the
favorite according to everybody coming into the playoffs to come
out of the East, and they beat Boston after being
down three to one. So I don't I just I
don't know that I can hear well who they beat?
(28:39):
Like this is a what the Cavs win fifty five
games and the Celtics took down the number one seed.
I guess at some point, Rob, we have to divorce
the the regular season from the playoffs. And as you've said,
they're two different sports practically, right, absolutely, so I'm gonna
put more value on the postseason run. And what are they?
(29:00):
Thirteen and two? Is that what it is?
Speaker 3 (29:02):
They won fourteen, fourteen and two, fourteen and two.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Man, I again, last year's thunder just in two series
needed to go seven. Nobody's pushed the next other than
the Hawks like three games in. Like it's kind of crazy.
So anyways, I'm on the UH. I'm on the Spurs
money line tonight. I'm I'm assuming your knicks.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
I am on the next money line. Yep, you have to.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
You have to admit, Rob, this podcast needs the UH
needs the Spurs to win to one thousand. Everybody you
do a five day a week radio.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Show that that is true.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
But I will say for this specific show, j mag,
you haven't seen our numbers before. Our best stuff is
always NBA offseason. What may or may not happen. People
love the rumor mill. They come to this show to
talk about Giannis and Lebron and those kind of guys.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
We should save it. But since you just mentioned it,
I don't believe that the Spurs will overreact if they
lose this series. I don't think there will be like, oh,
we gotta go get Yannis. They're not gonna do that,
do you though, do you think there's any well, you know,
let's move off to Aaron Fox.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
Well, the dearon Fox thing. I think it's just better
for their team with Dylan Harper. I think Dylan Harper
is a better player.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
The only thing is you need depth to get to
sure sure absolutely, and and moving off Fox like, I
don't know. I mean, they've got a good bench six
Van of the Year Calton Johnson, Dylan Harper, Barnes Cornett.
I don't know really where they could upgrade, except you know,
they're all just going to be mature in a year older.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
You know, yeah, I think you never know. I think
that's the biggest thing. But one thing I would like
to see them get.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
I think that's what's showing out in this series a
little bit is they don't really have big wings. They
really start four guards and a seven foot eight dude.
So if they could get some six six to six
nine players. They don't got to be great players, but
just size sure, maybe someone like that'd be fine. You know,
there's a Ruy Hatchamura type of guy would be great
for them. You know, he could eat up some minutes
(30:52):
Japanese lose him. I'm not not saying it, but someone
like him, he doesn't got to be a super stopper.
Someone who can give you quality fifteen to twenty minutes
in a playoff game.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
I think would be huge for that.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
And I think you pointed out those second chance buckets
that the hustle rebounds, Josh Hartz owning them og bridges,
like all those guys are bigger than the dudes the
Spurs are putting out there.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, so that hurts, all right, enjoy it tonight, We're
back tomorrow. See it
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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