December 18, 2025 • 26 mins
Jason Smith, Mike Harmon and NBA Writer Mark Medina weigh-in on the Knicks not raising an NBA Cup banner despite the Lakers and Bucks doing so the past two seasons
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two am Eastern seven to eleven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Foxsports Radio
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Speaker 2 (00:22):
Let's give this you're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Greetings, Welcome inside final hour tonight The Jason Smith Show
with my bes friend Mike Harmon. Bat So, I just
want to say this before we get to the NFL.
It is okay that the Knicks have decided to not
(00:52):
raise the Emirates Cup banner at Madison Square Garden. After
sorry that the world champion Knicks have decided not to
raise the Emirates Cup banner at MSG in the next
days weeks, They're going to continue to focus on the
season at hand, and I know Adam Silver is gonna
be upset, But it is okay because Mike Harmon, this
championship is for me. It's for me, It's for every
(01:15):
Knicks fan that waited how many years for some crazy
mid season tournament to be invented that the Knicks could
win something and we could celebrate.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
This is my championship. That's why it's okay.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Just always remember all championships were invented at some point, yeah,
exact people started playing a game and then they said,
at the end, what do we need to do?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, hey, seven, how do we give it?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Now?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Seventy years from now, we're saying, Wow, the Knicks won
that Great E Cup over the Spurs.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
That was fantastic.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, we're talking about it like it's a super Bowl.
Trust me, Well we talked about it yesterday. Right, it's
the opportunity to celebrate the game. We talk about the
Spurs and what they're becoming and your preseason prediction and
the depth there and guys coming back from injury and
they're gonna be a force in the West.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Your Knicks trying to find the identity in the post
Thibodeaux era and showing out in front of folks.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Is it perfect? No?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
But do you get more people involved? Great, it's the
Knicks in prime time in a standalone window. If nothing else.
You got both sides, right, you got fans and you
got hate watching, and yes, you have those five rows
of people in attendance, But forget about that for a moment.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I don't know what the.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Television ratings were on it, and I really don't care
if you don't like it to watch. But that's the
rule of thumb with every NBA night of games. If
you're not into it because it's the regular season, then
you know what, you weren't gonna watch until April anyway,
So don't try to spoil it for everybody else.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So if you're gonna put it.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Out as a championship, as a tournament that you know incentivized,
because I heard people cry about that, you're the only
played because I got an extra five hundred thousand. Fine,
be good, we got some good basketball played, because that's
a bit. We should all be so lucky to have
someone dangle a carrot in the form of a giant
bucket of cash in front of us. If that's what
(03:07):
it takes, good, I'm not gonna play it. Oh but
that's what you're gonna give me? Yeah fine, Yeah, I'm good.
I'll absolutely play for that. I didn't know it was
that kind of money. Yeah, I'll absolutely do it. Yeah yeah, yeah,
all good, All good, right, I mean obviously we had
the thumb thing go on. We talked about that a
little bit yesterday. How odd that was with Hart and Brunson.
(03:28):
We had the podium and that, but no banner. It's
like the banner is for you Smith, of course, what
will it be? And eventually they will be forced by
the sponsor to put one up and look and here's
here's the here's the realism of it. And oh, by
the way, hey Blake, everybody that made fun of the
Knicks winning and celebrate everybody celebrates winning the E Cup?
(03:50):
Oh with the Knicks one? Yeah, Jason, wait, don't we
host Larry O'Brien trophy. We're really celebrating job. Really drunk.
I'm drunk that night on the show. Yeah, everybody, I
can't wait. That'll be some next stuff. It'll be drunk
on butter beer. It'll just be a sugar high. But
it's the just the idea, Yeah, exactly, get get it
nice and prothee but the idea that you know, don't
(04:13):
celebrate this.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Do we watch how guys celebrate regular season wins? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Season season win twelve. Hey, we've got a three game
winning streak and they're running up and down.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Like they've won a title.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Now, these guys actually win a half a million dollars
each in a standalone tournament, and they're supposed to go
add no big deal, next up, see again Friday, Like
it's so disingenuous, hot take nonsense, like my god, find
something else, get a hug. But look, but here's why
it's okay, right because to tell the truth about it
(04:48):
is this, the Knicks are gonna raise the banner at
some point. Right the NBA wants to me right now,
Adam Silver is trying to find a way to call
James don't want to say, Hey, you know, we do
this for a reason. We have this tournament here. It's
gon gonna happen. The Knicks are doing the right thing.
They're showing everybody we won. We're moving on. It's not
the real prize. It's a prize. It's a championship. It's
(05:09):
Jalen Brunson's first of four trophies this year, the E
Cup Championship, the E Cup MVP, the NBA MVP, and
then the Larry O'Brien Trophy. But that's what they have
to do. They have to make it. They have to
make Listen, we don't care Brunston even said after the game,
We're gonna celebrate this for a day or so, then
we're back at it.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Look, they they play tomorrow night.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And already I think four of their starting five is
gonna be ruled out. I think Brunson might be the
only guy that plays. And why are you playing Brunson
at that point? Just sit everybody for the game against
the Pacers. It doesn't matter. So of course they're gonna
do this. But eventually the Knicks are gonna raise the banner.
Right it may be the beginning of next season. It
maybe sometime they all care, they will have some kind
(05:47):
of everybody's gonna everybody's gonna be okay, they'll raise a banner.
It's just now the Knicks are showing you one championship
down this year. One to go, go New York, Go
New York, Go, Go New York, Go New York.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Go. That's all it is.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, find your wins man every day and if folks
don't like it, that's fine. Yeah, you know, go find
something else that brings you a little bit of happiness.
A song, a piece of cake, a frosty beverage like
the butter beer.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I mean, it's it's not for everybody.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
And yes, we had we had fun with it, right
in terms of what you were gonna buy and and
is it to be all to end all? No, But
as of December sixteenth, December seventeenth, yeah, you won it
won nothing.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
You get to claim victory in a tournament.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Because it sounds like you've been there before, But the
next we haven't.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Man.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
We come on man, second round of the playoffs and
where where we're kind of tipsy, like, whoa, I haven't
been here before?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Okay, all right, man, I don't know. I don't know
how to act. I haven't.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
It's like the first party I went to where there
was alcohol, I'm like, how do I act?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
What do I do?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Like?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I don't know, man, I'd ever been in this situation before.
All the other party has been dungeons and dragons. Now
of a sudden, there's alcohol. What do I let me
ask you? Did you walk up to a table where
there was a beer sitting and just decide you were
going to take it? Uh?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
No, I never did that. I think I've ever experienced
that before.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I've I've been on the other end of that, Mike Harmon,
and it's not pretty it'll be in my book.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
It'll be it'll be in my book. I write to
write a bit, it'll be in my book.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Uh So, while that's happening, while the Knicks are still sorry,
the world champion Knicks continue to celebrate their E Cup.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
No banner, no ship that doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
What what do you mean when you of course the
Harmon's gonna make a T shirt with that on it.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Frostbray's got a ship head. Don't put that in his head.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Uh this out of the NFL that we got some
big NFL stories coming up. We got big quarterback stories.
We got basically, we have quarterback stories the rest of
this hour, right, so you know how great this hour
is going to be. Cam Ward, Titans quarterback, said he
wants to be involved in the Titans head coaching search process.
Obviously it's not a great year for them. They're looking
(08:00):
for the search of their next coach, and cam Ward
said he wants to be involved. Quote, I want to
meet all of them, every coach who gets the opportunity
to come here. I want to have conversations throughout the
process with them. I'm gonna be here for that whole time. Okay,
all right, that's that's very much a gen Z athlete going, well,
why I'm involved? Of course I want to be involved.
(08:22):
I have every right to be involved in this search,
right because i'm But it makes sense. He is your
number one pick, he is your quarterback. You want him
to be comfortable with the next head coach, So it
makes it. It's weird for a guy who really hasn't
flashed at all this year to make a request like that,
but still you want him on the same page.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
I get it. But that's the thing about cam Ward.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I don't know that there has been a more non descript,
generic number one overall pick who's a quarterback in the
history of the NFL. I mean, there's been other number
one overall picks. We don't talk about that much. How
much we talk about Jake Long, right, got Mario Williams Right, Yeah,
I get that. But as far as quarterbacks go, guys
go number one, they're a big deal. Here goes Can.
(09:06):
It doesn't matter where you go. It doesn't matter if
you're in Tennessee. We find you.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Right, you're a star in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
But cam Ward, I mean, this guy's a number one
pick in the draft, and I don't know that we've
talked about him at all this year, Like I really,
he has been so nondescript.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
He is not flat.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
He's at one or two games this year where his
quarterback rating has been over ninety. Rights, he started every game,
He's got eleven touchdowns, right, He's thrown for twenty six
hundred yards. Like this has been the most nondescript, generic,
underachieving rookie season for a number one pick that I
can remember. And it's not the just even Zach Wilson
(09:42):
when he played he was bad, I mean, but like
he's just kind of there like it. It's not like
cam Ward has shown you that, man, he's really terrible.
He can't do the job. But he's not flashed at
all to make you think like he is the quarterback
of the future. If it was a better quarterback class
next year, right, if it was the twenty twenty seven
quarterback class coming in and the Titans were picking first,
(10:03):
or they could still wind up picking first overall, the
time to pick it for guess who's not the quarterback
next year? Cam Ward and arch Manning is the quarterback
or somebody else coming in as the quarterback, and and
and you know, maybe you know, if Dante Moore rises
through the playoff, let you know, he's a guy liked
his his skill set the most in college this year.
Like if there was a better choice at quarterback, I
(10:23):
don't know if the cam Ward's not a one and
done with Tennessee and they're saying, you know what didn't
really work, it's a new coach coming in. Were picking
this high in the draft again, we have a chance
to maybe get a generational guy where cam Ward was
the beneficiary last year of Hey, he was the best
quarterback coming out of the draft. Okay, you know he was.
He was terrific at Miami, right, terrific player. But it
(10:43):
wasn't a great class last year. It's not a great
class this year. So it's just really odd when you
think about cam Ward. Okay, he makes a headline today
and I bring it up there. It's like the first
headline time we've talked about him all season long. It's
amazing that a guy could be that anonymous to be
a number one overall pick, that's a quarterback in the NFL. Yeah,
you and I have drifted into the cam Ward territory
(11:05):
a little bit as related to you know, Trevor Lawrence
and some of the other top picks and trying to
evaluate week to week, and even Trevor Lawrence right now,
he's on a heater and it's all things relative. It
was Jets. It's not a heater. It was the Jets.
It doesn't but they've scored twenty five points or better
in seven straight games and he's thrown twelve touchdowns what
(11:26):
the last five weeks.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's so you're on a run.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Half of those are against the Jets, them against a
couple of rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Hey, hey, I'm not going to read the guy's whole resume. Football.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
He ran for a touchdown, he had six touchdowns, I know,
and he had a rushing touchdown a couple of weeks ago.
But either way, they're playing some pretty good football. The
point is we brought up cam Ward there. Cam Ward
popped up as well. You know, after the win over Cleveland,
you know that one of the defenders got on the
PA on the plane and was kind of dismissing some
(12:02):
of what Ward had to say in terms of, hey,
this was great, but we still have a lot of
work to do whatever else. And then someone that was
on the plane, a reporter, decided to go public with that,
and he got kicked off the charter going forward. But
you've had a couple of games where he's played well.
Unfortunately it gets sucked away as story forty on a
(12:23):
NFL weekend, right, even if you have a bunch of
teams on bye week, it's like, all right, Tennessee, they've
lost a lot of games in a row. It becomes
a quick news it And by the way, he didn't
play terribly. Now back to the other thing we were
talking about, because sky is falling in Baltimore, Cincinnati, insert
city here, right, I mean that's what it's big, because
I mean they had a narrow loss to Houston, they
(12:45):
had a narrow loss where he played pretty well against Seattle.
I mean their losses. And that's the problem is that
it piles up. He's taken what forty nine sacks. I'd
love to go through the tape and just sit there,
you know, you me some butterbe, some cheese, some nachos, whatever,
and Greg Cosel from the Sunday Show and try to
(13:05):
describe how much, all right, each of these forty nine sacks,
if we did the pie chart, how much is him
versus the offensive line? Because the offensive line's not good,
but as we know, a lot of that falls to
the quarterback five point six yards per attempt. That's Dylan
Gabriel and Aaron Rodgers. Oh yeah, in the process. Right,
(13:25):
So there's there's a lot to be desired. But you're
also in a situation whereby they fired the coach right away,
right There was no gestation period, There was no hemming
and hauling about that.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Do we keep him? No, it fired him, And.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Here here's what you have is an absolute disaster and
a lost season. But I appreciate whether it's for appearance
sake or if he's truly trying to take on that
leadership role that he wants to be a part of it. Like,
if I'm the guy for whoever's next, then I want
to I want to.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Have that rapport.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Exit out about a Fresca exit, swollen dome. Jason Smith
Mike Harmon Love from the Fox Sports radio studios.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Again, just so he's.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Been so anonymous all so the first time we're talking
about him is here we are three days before the
end of the season. You know, they scored thirty one
points against Cleveland. He had a seventy rating. We got
more NFL on the Way, plus an NBA visit. What
to expect now that the Cup is over? Are the
Knicks really the best? Can anybody beat the thunder?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
That's next? Right here? I heard that smart guy jerk.
That's next, Jason. 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. Hey is Cabino and Rich from Fox
Sports Radio Now.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
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Speaker 5 (15:10):
Check us out on YouTube, Subscribe, hit that dumbs up
icon Coming away.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
The Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Harmon.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
The Knicks won't hang that banner.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
The world Champion Knicks, World Champion Knicks, E Cup Champion Knicks.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
It's their world. We're all living in it. They're not
hanging a banner. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
They get back to action tomorrow night, Full Night in
the NBA. Joining us now on the hotline NBA insider
who is continuing his effort to try to undermine the
efforts of JJ Reddick, although this year it's not been
going that well because the Lake has been pretty good.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
It's longtime NBA insider Mark Medina.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
He's on Twitter at Mark g underscore Medina, Mark, what's
happening man?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
How are you?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Hey? Jason? At least I've been effective with the destoring.
The Lakers aren't playing good defense, But I got no
answers for Luca dodgritche on offense.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Well that's okay because I watched Lucas say today that
all the defensive changes start with him.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I'm like, wait, really they start?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
They really like he's gonna suddenly change and play great defense.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
That's gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Hey, hey, Jason, He's don't gain a lot of steals, right,
I mean him being dpoy. It could be as unexpected
as the Knicks winning the NBA Cup. You know, you
never know.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I don't know that that was unexpected. The next it's
the Knicks first of two championships. Jalen Bruns is gonna
have four trophies this year, the E Cup, the E
Cup MVP, the NBA MVP, and Malari O'Brien Trophy.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
That's four trophies him.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Okay, uh, the Knicks are a good team, but Jase,
I hate the Burscher bubble. Let's look at NBA Cup history.
Each champion the last year's you know what happened to
them in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Okay, it's also only been to.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
You woss in the first round.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
It's also it's not like it's not like it's been
fifty years.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
It's been two years. But I did.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
That's not statistically relevant, But I dig the fact that
you actually uttered the links.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Let's look back at NBA Cup history.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Let's look back at the history of this tournament. Yeah,
the more.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
The Knicks are trying to buck the trends. I mean,
you guys are the first team not to raise the
banner up because James Dolan thinks he's above it all.
Like they haven't had a banner since nineteen seventy three.
Celebrate something. I mean, they got a revenge against the
Spurs team that beat them in the NBA Finals the
last time they were there in nineteen ninety nine, Like
why why has he got to be a party prooper
(17:40):
here now?
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Well, so we'll have it eventually. We're focused on the Bay.
It's one championship down, one to go. We're focused on
the big things. That's how it is, you.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Know what, trolling aside. The Knicks do have a really
good chance. I will give you this to get to
the NBA Finals now, to win the championship. I think
the Oklahoma City Thunder I have something to say about that.
Probably the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. But let it.
You know, in the Eastern Conference you got no Celtics
Owingiana Pacers, a lot of wild card teams. I think
it's uh, you know, a march to the finals without
(18:13):
much brush up.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
That's an anything. We just beat the Spurs, who beat
the Thunder. You can't.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Property marks, it's the transmit property of NBA cup logic.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Well, you know, you got to find your wins where you.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Can in this holiday holiday holiday season for the next
the only the question for me is will they have
enough depth to weather the storm of the rest of
the season, because as of now, this doesn't give you
an automatic buy into an Eastern Conference final. These guys
are playing many heavy minutes night in, night out.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Yeah, it's it's a good question. And look I'm trolling
Jason because it's you know, it's easy. Low hanging Fruit
are legitimate team and we saw in this NBA Cup
kind of a microcossum and makes what makes them so special.
It's a lot of things. Jalen Brunson's in the MVP
conversation Karl Anthony Towns he's an efficient big man, very versatile,
(19:06):
mckl bridge's great wing defender, Josh Hart, do it all
role player, Jordan clarkson his instant offense off the bench,
Tyler Kollik like he's a great second round pick who
can provide a spark. And Mike Brown's a really good
head coach. I mean, he's been experienced, he knows how
to bring the best out of guys. He's also not
(19:27):
afraid with experimenting with different lineup combinations. And you know,
unlike the Mike Brown earlier in his career where he
was known as just hey, he's all about defense and
not so a devative old offense. He really turned a
corner when he was with the Warrior Staff, you know,
as an associate coach under Steve Kerr, and with the
Sacramento Kings, he's very good offensively as well as gaining
(19:49):
them to play at a fast paced and just really
utilizing his talent to the best of their abilities. So
they are the real deal. I don't think it's a
first round exit, despite what I A Cup Hits for suggests,
But this Wow, Wow West led by the Thunder is
going to be a gall well.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Look, I'll say that to be to give you a
big serious point about the Knicks, is that and we
mentioned this last night. They needed this win because with
the specter of Tibbs hanging over the Knicks, with the changes,
is it working? Things were much more difficult early on.
There's questions are they going to gel in time as
Karl Anthony Towns the guy? Will they trade for Giannis
(20:26):
at the deadline? Whill they have to make these big changes.
This is your tangible evidence that you can point to
and say what we're doing is working right, We have
good right now, everything is going well. Look, moving Josh
Hart to the starting lineup was a big deal for them.
That's kind of where their run started, but like they
needed that bit of tangible proof that what we're doing
is working. We love Mike Brown, everything is good going forward,
(20:47):
So this was a big They needed that win much
more than the Spurs did.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Yeah, and it reinforces hey, how does a team perform
in high six games? Just because of the stage, the
prize money with the five hundred and thirty five. You know,
Mike Brown and every other coach has liked this tournament
so far because it's only gets guys that otherwise may
have been sleepwalking to a regular season game to actually
care a lot more, and coaches like players that care
(21:13):
a lot more, so that all helps. I think, you know, again,
it's it's a small sample size is the third year,
but there is some level of concern on when you
have this game, not that anyone's really dousing each other
with champagne, but just kind of the bounce back of
what the next week is like from a scheduling standpoint.
But I think big picture, it's all really positive and
(21:36):
as what it means in the trade deadline, look like,
I think there's a lot of thinking around the league
that the Knicks had the most and best assets to
offer the Milwaukee Bucks to for Gianni sont Tokumpo, and
I think that that's possible even without trading Jalen Brunson.
You can buy in Karl Anthony Towens, mckal bridges, maybe
some draft picks and some other players. But they don't
(22:00):
have to do that, And if the Bucks are asking
for so much in return, I think the Knicks can
feel comfortable with saying no. And I think the last
thing is everything is up for fluid, up for debate.
Everything's fluid. But if I had a guess with Giannis,
I think that this gets more result in the off
season than in the mid season because there's just so
(22:22):
much There's so much push pool on. You want to
make this big move, but is it going to disrupt
chemistry mid season? And how do you make the most
of everyone you know without much time and even with
the honest being a game changing player, do you take
a few steps back to go forward? So with that,
I don't think Giannis is moving anywhere until the summer.
(22:44):
But for the Knicks, at least they feel comfortable that
they can at least have a say that as opposed
to this is what the Bucks are going to do.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Mark We had that fun the other night one sixteen
one fourteen Lakers and Suns and Dylan Brooks, professional agitator
getting it after it's saying I wish I'd just let
James take the shots. You can airball it, professional social
media guy, and back and forth. But Lebron jay and
stepping up to the free throw and everybody looking around going, wait,
what are we doing here?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
How's that going over? With your buddy?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
JJ Reddick, Hey, JJ was very honest saying that Leigal
was supposed to make the free or shoot the free
throw to obviously make it. You know, I think Lebron
redeemed himself with you know, getting fouled. Now that might
be disputed with Devin Booker with whether he actually hit
the rest or not, but he did make two out
of three, so he did rectify to some degree. But yeah,
(23:38):
you know, small, small things like that matter, and so
you hate for Lebron to do something that's needlessly difficult
when you have Luca Doctrich on your team. But I
will say at the same time, since his return, he's
mostly hit the right buttons, He's hit the scoring mode
when he's needed. He's accepted being facility tater when needed.
(24:01):
He's even had some chase down block So he's not
Lebron ten years ago, nor should we expect. But I
think for the most part he has adapted to his role.
But there are exceptions like the free throw where you
know he can't help himself and think, Hey, I'm the
guy when he actually isn't.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Hey. Mark.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Lastly, we saw the big headline coming into the E
Cup last night, Joe Lakem's email to a fan talking
about the frustration the Warriors have and Steve Curse had listen,
We're all frustrated.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
The email is not a big deal.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I got a feeling the Warriors are kind of feeling
that the things getting a little tight there and maybe
a big deal could be.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
On the horizon for them because clearly they need something else.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah, they clearly do. I mean they thought that going
in this season, Steph Curry and Jimmy Bower, the great
chemistry that they forged would be enough to have them
be in the mix and Raymond's healthier. But there's alway
his questions about Jonathan kaminga with what was going to
happen after the way these prolonged contract negotiations went, and
(25:07):
there was an early pop at the beginning of the
season that his play was really good, but that's been
Kaminga in a nutshell. He's very feasts or family, he's
very unpredictable, and they structured his contract in a way
that would be a team friendly deal, that would be
easily tradable. So I think it's inevitable he's gonna be
dealt before the trade deadline. But the question is what
(25:27):
do they get in return, Because there's a reason why
Kaminga didn't really get as much offers as he had
hoped and thought he would have gotten last offseason, and
had many reasons beyond just second Apron concerns. It's just
that a lot of teams are skeptical about him. So, yeah,
the Warriors need to make some changes, and they're definitely frustration.
(25:52):
But I don't think the email foreshadows that miss is
Steve Kerrs last year or anything like that. I think
that they've had a healthy dynamic. I think it just
captures that Joe's very candidate blog, and you know they're
used to at least having a shot to contend for
a title, and that's obviously not happening so far.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
He's on Twitter at mark G Underscore Medina. That's at
mark G Underscore Medina Athlon Sports Spectrum Sportsnet and riding
one of the e bikes that Luca bought him for
a Christmas present. Marcus always buddy, appreciated.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Man. Have a great holiday.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
We'll talk to you soonch you guys. Jason, enjoy the
NBA Cup until June.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, there it is first. Yeah, because then I can
enjoin the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
We're good. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Jason Smith Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern,
seven pm Pacific.
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two am Eastern seven to eleven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Foxsports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every night on the
iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Let's give this you're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Greetings, Welcome inside final hour tonight The Jason Smith Show
with my bes friend Mike Harmon. Bat So, I just
want to say this before we get to the NFL.
It is okay that the Knicks have decided to not
(00:52):
raise the Emirates Cup banner at Madison Square Garden. After
sorry that the world champion Knicks have decided not to
raise the Emirates Cup banner at MSG in the next
days weeks, They're going to continue to focus on the
season at hand, and I know Adam Silver is gonna
be upset, But it is okay because Mike Harmon, this
championship is for me. It's for me, It's for every
(01:15):
Knicks fan that waited how many years for some crazy
mid season tournament to be invented that the Knicks could
win something and we could celebrate.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
This is my championship. That's why it's okay.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Just always remember all championships were invented at some point, yeah,
exact people started playing a game and then they said,
at the end, what do we need to do?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, hey, seven, how do we give it?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Now?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Seventy years from now, we're saying, Wow, the Knicks won
that Great E Cup over the Spurs.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
That was fantastic.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, we're talking about it like it's a super Bowl.
Trust me, Well we talked about it yesterday. Right, it's
the opportunity to celebrate the game. We talk about the
Spurs and what they're becoming and your preseason prediction and
the depth there and guys coming back from injury and
they're gonna be a force in the West.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Your Knicks trying to find the identity in the post
Thibodeaux era and showing out in front of folks.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Is it perfect? No?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
But do you get more people involved? Great, it's the
Knicks in prime time in a standalone window. If nothing else.
You got both sides, right, you got fans and you
got hate watching, and yes, you have those five rows
of people in attendance, But forget about that for a moment.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I don't know what the.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Television ratings were on it, and I really don't care
if you don't like it to watch. But that's the
rule of thumb with every NBA night of games. If
you're not into it because it's the regular season, then
you know what, you weren't gonna watch until April anyway,
So don't try to spoil it for everybody else.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So if you're gonna put it.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Out as a championship, as a tournament that you know incentivized,
because I heard people cry about that, you're the only
played because I got an extra five hundred thousand. Fine,
be good, we got some good basketball played, because that's
a bit. We should all be so lucky to have
someone dangle a carrot in the form of a giant
bucket of cash in front of us. If that's what
(03:07):
it takes, good, I'm not gonna play it. Oh but
that's what you're gonna give me? Yeah fine, Yeah, I'm good.
I'll absolutely play for that. I didn't know it was
that kind of money. Yeah, I'll absolutely do it. Yeah yeah, yeah,
all good, All good, right, I mean obviously we had
the thumb thing go on. We talked about that a
little bit yesterday. How odd that was with Hart and Brunson.
(03:28):
We had the podium and that, but no banner. It's
like the banner is for you Smith, of course, what
will it be? And eventually they will be forced by
the sponsor to put one up and look and here's
here's the here's the realism of it. And oh, by
the way, hey Blake, everybody that made fun of the
Knicks winning and celebrate everybody celebrates winning the E Cup?
(03:50):
Oh with the Knicks one? Yeah, Jason, wait, don't we
host Larry O'Brien trophy. We're really celebrating job. Really drunk.
I'm drunk that night on the show. Yeah, everybody, I
can't wait. That'll be some next stuff. It'll be drunk
on butter beer. It'll just be a sugar high. But
it's the just the idea, Yeah, exactly, get get it
nice and prothee but the idea that you know, don't
(04:13):
celebrate this.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Do we watch how guys celebrate regular season wins? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Season season win twelve. Hey, we've got a three game
winning streak and they're running up and down.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Like they've won a title.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Now, these guys actually win a half a million dollars
each in a standalone tournament, and they're supposed to go
add no big deal, next up, see again Friday, Like
it's so disingenuous, hot take nonsense, like my god, find
something else, get a hug. But look, but here's why
it's okay, right because to tell the truth about it
(04:48):
is this, the Knicks are gonna raise the banner at
some point. Right the NBA wants to me right now,
Adam Silver is trying to find a way to call
James don't want to say, Hey, you know, we do
this for a reason. We have this tournament here. It's
gon gonna happen. The Knicks are doing the right thing.
They're showing everybody we won. We're moving on. It's not
the real prize. It's a prize. It's a championship. It's
(05:09):
Jalen Brunson's first of four trophies this year, the E
Cup Championship, the E Cup MVP, the NBA MVP, and
then the Larry O'Brien Trophy. But that's what they have
to do. They have to make it. They have to
make Listen, we don't care Brunston even said after the game,
We're gonna celebrate this for a day or so, then
we're back at it.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Look, they they play tomorrow night.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And already I think four of their starting five is
gonna be ruled out. I think Brunson might be the
only guy that plays. And why are you playing Brunson
at that point? Just sit everybody for the game against
the Pacers. It doesn't matter. So of course they're gonna
do this. But eventually the Knicks are gonna raise the banner.
Right it may be the beginning of next season. It
maybe sometime they all care, they will have some kind
(05:47):
of everybody's gonna everybody's gonna be okay, they'll raise a banner.
It's just now the Knicks are showing you one championship
down this year. One to go, go New York, Go
New York, Go, Go New York, Go New York.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Go. That's all it is.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, find your wins man every day and if folks
don't like it, that's fine. Yeah, you know, go find
something else that brings you a little bit of happiness.
A song, a piece of cake, a frosty beverage like
the butter beer.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I mean, it's it's not for everybody.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
And yes, we had we had fun with it, right
in terms of what you were gonna buy and and
is it to be all to end all? No, But
as of December sixteenth, December seventeenth, yeah, you won it
won nothing.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
You get to claim victory in a tournament.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Because it sounds like you've been there before, But the
next we haven't.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Man.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
We come on man, second round of the playoffs and
where where we're kind of tipsy, like, whoa, I haven't
been here before?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Okay, all right, man, I don't know. I don't know
how to act. I haven't.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
It's like the first party I went to where there
was alcohol, I'm like, how do I act?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
What do I do?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Like?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I don't know, man, I'd ever been in this situation before.
All the other party has been dungeons and dragons. Now
of a sudden, there's alcohol. What do I let me
ask you? Did you walk up to a table where
there was a beer sitting and just decide you were
going to take it? Uh?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
No, I never did that. I think I've ever experienced
that before.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I've I've been on the other end of that, Mike Harmon,
and it's not pretty it'll be in my book.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
It'll be it'll be in my book. I write to
write a bit, it'll be in my book.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Uh So, while that's happening, while the Knicks are still sorry,
the world champion Knicks continue to celebrate their E Cup.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
No banner, no ship that doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
What what do you mean when you of course the
Harmon's gonna make a T shirt with that on it.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Frostbray's got a ship head. Don't put that in his head.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Uh this out of the NFL that we got some
big NFL stories coming up. We got big quarterback stories.
We got basically, we have quarterback stories the rest of
this hour, right, so you know how great this hour
is going to be. Cam Ward, Titans quarterback, said he
wants to be involved in the Titans head coaching search process.
Obviously it's not a great year for them. They're looking
(08:00):
for the search of their next coach, and cam Ward
said he wants to be involved. Quote, I want to
meet all of them, every coach who gets the opportunity
to come here. I want to have conversations throughout the
process with them. I'm gonna be here for that whole time. Okay,
all right, that's that's very much a gen Z athlete going, well,
why I'm involved? Of course I want to be involved.
(08:22):
I have every right to be involved in this search,
right because i'm But it makes sense. He is your
number one pick, he is your quarterback. You want him
to be comfortable with the next head coach, So it
makes it. It's weird for a guy who really hasn't
flashed at all this year to make a request like that,
but still you want him on the same page.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
I get it. But that's the thing about cam Ward.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I don't know that there has been a more non descript,
generic number one overall pick who's a quarterback in the
history of the NFL. I mean, there's been other number
one overall picks. We don't talk about that much. How
much we talk about Jake Long, right, got Mario Williams Right, Yeah,
I get that. But as far as quarterbacks go, guys
go number one, they're a big deal. Here goes Can.
(09:06):
It doesn't matter where you go. It doesn't matter if
you're in Tennessee. We find you.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Right, you're a star in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
But cam Ward, I mean, this guy's a number one
pick in the draft, and I don't know that we've
talked about him at all this year, Like I really,
he has been so nondescript.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
He is not flat.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
He's at one or two games this year where his
quarterback rating has been over ninety. Rights, he started every game,
He's got eleven touchdowns, right, He's thrown for twenty six
hundred yards. Like this has been the most nondescript, generic,
underachieving rookie season for a number one pick that I
can remember. And it's not the just even Zach Wilson
(09:42):
when he played he was bad, I mean, but like
he's just kind of there like it. It's not like
cam Ward has shown you that, man, he's really terrible.
He can't do the job. But he's not flashed at
all to make you think like he is the quarterback
of the future. If it was a better quarterback class
next year, right, if it was the twenty twenty seven
quarterback class coming in and the Titans were picking first,
(10:03):
or they could still wind up picking first overall, the
time to pick it for guess who's not the quarterback
next year? Cam Ward and arch Manning is the quarterback
or somebody else coming in as the quarterback, and and
and you know, maybe you know, if Dante Moore rises
through the playoff, let you know, he's a guy liked
his his skill set the most in college this year.
Like if there was a better choice at quarterback, I
(10:23):
don't know if the cam Ward's not a one and
done with Tennessee and they're saying, you know what didn't
really work, it's a new coach coming in. Were picking
this high in the draft again, we have a chance
to maybe get a generational guy where cam Ward was
the beneficiary last year of Hey, he was the best
quarterback coming out of the draft. Okay, you know he was.
He was terrific at Miami, right, terrific player. But it
(10:43):
wasn't a great class last year. It's not a great
class this year. So it's just really odd when you
think about cam Ward. Okay, he makes a headline today
and I bring it up there. It's like the first
headline time we've talked about him all season long. It's
amazing that a guy could be that anonymous to be
a number one overall pick, that's a quarterback in the NFL. Yeah,
you and I have drifted into the cam Ward territory
(11:05):
a little bit as related to you know, Trevor Lawrence
and some of the other top picks and trying to
evaluate week to week, and even Trevor Lawrence right now,
he's on a heater and it's all things relative. It
was Jets. It's not a heater. It was the Jets.
It doesn't but they've scored twenty five points or better
in seven straight games and he's thrown twelve touchdowns what
(11:26):
the last five weeks.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's so you're on a run.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Half of those are against the Jets, them against a
couple of rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Hey, hey, I'm not going to read the guy's whole resume. Football.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
He ran for a touchdown, he had six touchdowns, I know,
and he had a rushing touchdown a couple of weeks ago.
But either way, they're playing some pretty good football. The
point is we brought up cam Ward there. Cam Ward
popped up as well. You know, after the win over Cleveland,
you know that one of the defenders got on the
PA on the plane and was kind of dismissing some
(12:02):
of what Ward had to say in terms of, hey,
this was great, but we still have a lot of
work to do whatever else. And then someone that was
on the plane, a reporter, decided to go public with that,
and he got kicked off the charter going forward. But
you've had a couple of games where he's played well.
Unfortunately it gets sucked away as story forty on a
(12:23):
NFL weekend, right, even if you have a bunch of
teams on bye week, it's like, all right, Tennessee, they've
lost a lot of games in a row. It becomes
a quick news it And by the way, he didn't
play terribly. Now back to the other thing we were
talking about, because sky is falling in Baltimore, Cincinnati, insert
city here, right, I mean that's what it's big, because
I mean they had a narrow loss to Houston, they
(12:45):
had a narrow loss where he played pretty well against Seattle.
I mean their losses. And that's the problem is that
it piles up. He's taken what forty nine sacks. I'd
love to go through the tape and just sit there,
you know, you me some butterbe, some cheese, some nachos, whatever,
and Greg Cosel from the Sunday Show and try to
(13:05):
describe how much, all right, each of these forty nine sacks,
if we did the pie chart, how much is him
versus the offensive line? Because the offensive line's not good,
but as we know, a lot of that falls to
the quarterback five point six yards per attempt. That's Dylan
Gabriel and Aaron Rodgers. Oh yeah, in the process. Right,
(13:25):
So there's there's a lot to be desired. But you're
also in a situation whereby they fired the coach right away,
right There was no gestation period, There was no hemming
and hauling about that.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Do we keep him? No, it fired him, And.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Here here's what you have is an absolute disaster and
a lost season. But I appreciate whether it's for appearance
sake or if he's truly trying to take on that
leadership role that he wants to be a part of it. Like,
if I'm the guy for whoever's next, then I want
to I want to.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Have that rapport.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Exit out about a Fresca exit, swollen dome. Jason Smith
Mike Harmon Love from the Fox Sports radio studios.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Again, just so he's.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Been so anonymous all so the first time we're talking
about him is here we are three days before the
end of the season. You know, they scored thirty one
points against Cleveland. He had a seventy rating. We got
more NFL on the Way, plus an NBA visit. What
to expect now that the Cup is over? Are the
Knicks really the best? Can anybody beat the thunder?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
That's next? Right here? I heard that smart guy jerk.
That's next, Jason. 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. Hey is Cabino and Rich from Fox
Sports Radio Now.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
In addition to hearing us live weekdays from five to
seven pm Eastern and two to four Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio, We're excited to announce a brand new YouTube
channel for the show.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yep, that's right. You can now watch and Rich live
on YouTube every day.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
All you gotta do search coven No and Rich FSR
on YouTube again, go to YouTube search Covino en Rich FSR.
Speaker 5 (15:10):
Check us out on YouTube, Subscribe, hit that dumbs up
icon Coming away.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
The Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Harmon.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
The Knicks won't hang that banner.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
The world Champion Knicks, World Champion Knicks, E Cup Champion Knicks.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
It's their world. We're all living in it. They're not
hanging a banner. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
They get back to action tomorrow night, Full Night in
the NBA. Joining us now on the hotline NBA insider
who is continuing his effort to try to undermine the
efforts of JJ Reddick, although this year it's not been
going that well because the Lake has been pretty good.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
It's longtime NBA insider Mark Medina.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
He's on Twitter at Mark g underscore Medina, Mark, what's
happening man?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
How are you?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Hey? Jason? At least I've been effective with the destoring.
The Lakers aren't playing good defense, But I got no
answers for Luca dodgritche on offense.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Well that's okay because I watched Lucas say today that
all the defensive changes start with him.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I'm like, wait, really they start?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
They really like he's gonna suddenly change and play great defense.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
That's gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Hey, hey, Jason, He's don't gain a lot of steals, right,
I mean him being dpoy. It could be as unexpected
as the Knicks winning the NBA Cup. You know, you
never know.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I don't know that that was unexpected. The next it's
the Knicks first of two championships. Jalen Bruns is gonna
have four trophies this year, the E Cup, the E
Cup MVP, the NBA MVP, and Malari O'Brien Trophy.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
That's four trophies him.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Okay, uh, the Knicks are a good team, but Jase,
I hate the Burscher bubble. Let's look at NBA Cup history.
Each champion the last year's you know what happened to
them in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Okay, it's also only been to.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
You woss in the first round.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
It's also it's not like it's not like it's been
fifty years.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
It's been two years. But I did.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
That's not statistically relevant, But I dig the fact that
you actually uttered the links.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Let's look back at NBA Cup history.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Let's look back at the history of this tournament. Yeah,
the more.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
The Knicks are trying to buck the trends. I mean,
you guys are the first team not to raise the
banner up because James Dolan thinks he's above it all.
Like they haven't had a banner since nineteen seventy three.
Celebrate something. I mean, they got a revenge against the
Spurs team that beat them in the NBA Finals the
last time they were there in nineteen ninety nine, Like
why why has he got to be a party prooper
(17:40):
here now?
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Well, so we'll have it eventually. We're focused on the Bay.
It's one championship down, one to go. We're focused on
the big things. That's how it is, you.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Know what, trolling aside. The Knicks do have a really
good chance. I will give you this to get to
the NBA Finals now, to win the championship. I think
the Oklahoma City Thunder I have something to say about that.
Probably the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. But let it.
You know, in the Eastern Conference you got no Celtics
Owingiana Pacers, a lot of wild card teams. I think
it's uh, you know, a march to the finals without
(18:13):
much brush up.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
That's an anything. We just beat the Spurs, who beat
the Thunder. You can't.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Property marks, it's the transmit property of NBA cup logic.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Well, you know, you got to find your wins where you.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Can in this holiday holiday holiday season for the next
the only the question for me is will they have
enough depth to weather the storm of the rest of
the season, because as of now, this doesn't give you
an automatic buy into an Eastern Conference final. These guys
are playing many heavy minutes night in, night out.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Yeah, it's it's a good question. And look I'm trolling
Jason because it's you know, it's easy. Low hanging Fruit
are legitimate team and we saw in this NBA Cup
kind of a microcossum and makes what makes them so special.
It's a lot of things. Jalen Brunson's in the MVP
conversation Karl Anthony Towns he's an efficient big man, very versatile,
(19:06):
mckl bridge's great wing defender, Josh Hart, do it all
role player, Jordan clarkson his instant offense off the bench,
Tyler Kollik like he's a great second round pick who
can provide a spark. And Mike Brown's a really good
head coach. I mean, he's been experienced, he knows how
to bring the best out of guys. He's also not
(19:27):
afraid with experimenting with different lineup combinations. And you know,
unlike the Mike Brown earlier in his career where he
was known as just hey, he's all about defense and
not so a devative old offense. He really turned a
corner when he was with the Warrior Staff, you know,
as an associate coach under Steve Kerr, and with the
Sacramento Kings, he's very good offensively as well as gaining
(19:49):
them to play at a fast paced and just really
utilizing his talent to the best of their abilities. So
they are the real deal. I don't think it's a
first round exit, despite what I A Cup Hits for suggests,
But this Wow, Wow West led by the Thunder is
going to be a gall well.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Look, I'll say that to be to give you a
big serious point about the Knicks, is that and we
mentioned this last night. They needed this win because with
the specter of Tibbs hanging over the Knicks, with the changes,
is it working? Things were much more difficult early on.
There's questions are they going to gel in time as
Karl Anthony Towns the guy? Will they trade for Giannis
(20:26):
at the deadline? Whill they have to make these big changes.
This is your tangible evidence that you can point to
and say what we're doing is working right, We have
good right now, everything is going well. Look, moving Josh
Hart to the starting lineup was a big deal for them.
That's kind of where their run started, but like they
needed that bit of tangible proof that what we're doing
is working. We love Mike Brown, everything is good going forward,
(20:47):
So this was a big They needed that win much
more than the Spurs did.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Yeah, and it reinforces hey, how does a team perform
in high six games? Just because of the stage, the
prize money with the five hundred and thirty five. You know,
Mike Brown and every other coach has liked this tournament
so far because it's only gets guys that otherwise may
have been sleepwalking to a regular season game to actually
care a lot more, and coaches like players that care
(21:13):
a lot more, so that all helps. I think, you know, again,
it's it's a small sample size is the third year,
but there is some level of concern on when you
have this game, not that anyone's really dousing each other
with champagne, but just kind of the bounce back of
what the next week is like from a scheduling standpoint.
But I think big picture, it's all really positive and
(21:36):
as what it means in the trade deadline, look like,
I think there's a lot of thinking around the league
that the Knicks had the most and best assets to
offer the Milwaukee Bucks to for Gianni sont Tokumpo, and
I think that that's possible even without trading Jalen Brunson.
You can buy in Karl Anthony Towens, mckal bridges, maybe
some draft picks and some other players. But they don't
(22:00):
have to do that, And if the Bucks are asking
for so much in return, I think the Knicks can
feel comfortable with saying no. And I think the last
thing is everything is up for fluid, up for debate.
Everything's fluid. But if I had a guess with Giannis,
I think that this gets more result in the off
season than in the mid season because there's just so
(22:22):
much There's so much push pool on. You want to
make this big move, but is it going to disrupt
chemistry mid season? And how do you make the most
of everyone you know without much time and even with
the honest being a game changing player, do you take
a few steps back to go forward? So with that,
I don't think Giannis is moving anywhere until the summer.
(22:44):
But for the Knicks, at least they feel comfortable that
they can at least have a say that as opposed
to this is what the Bucks are going to do.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Mark We had that fun the other night one sixteen
one fourteen Lakers and Suns and Dylan Brooks, professional agitator
getting it after it's saying I wish I'd just let
James take the shots. You can airball it, professional social
media guy, and back and forth. But Lebron jay and
stepping up to the free throw and everybody looking around going, wait,
what are we doing here?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
How's that going over? With your buddy?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
JJ Reddick, Hey, JJ was very honest saying that Leigal
was supposed to make the free or shoot the free
throw to obviously make it. You know, I think Lebron
redeemed himself with you know, getting fouled. Now that might
be disputed with Devin Booker with whether he actually hit
the rest or not, but he did make two out
of three, so he did rectify to some degree. But yeah,
(23:38):
you know, small, small things like that matter, and so
you hate for Lebron to do something that's needlessly difficult
when you have Luca Doctrich on your team. But I
will say at the same time, since his return, he's
mostly hit the right buttons, He's hit the scoring mode
when he's needed. He's accepted being facility tater when needed.
(24:01):
He's even had some chase down block So he's not
Lebron ten years ago, nor should we expect. But I
think for the most part he has adapted to his role.
But there are exceptions like the free throw where you
know he can't help himself and think, Hey, I'm the
guy when he actually isn't.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Hey. Mark.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Lastly, we saw the big headline coming into the E
Cup last night, Joe Lakem's email to a fan talking
about the frustration the Warriors have and Steve Curse had listen,
We're all frustrated.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
The email is not a big deal.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
I got a feeling the Warriors are kind of feeling
that the things getting a little tight there and maybe
a big deal could be.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
On the horizon for them because clearly they need something else.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah, they clearly do. I mean they thought that going
in this season, Steph Curry and Jimmy Bower, the great
chemistry that they forged would be enough to have them
be in the mix and Raymond's healthier. But there's alway
his questions about Jonathan kaminga with what was going to
happen after the way these prolonged contract negotiations went, and
(25:07):
there was an early pop at the beginning of the
season that his play was really good, but that's been
Kaminga in a nutshell. He's very feasts or family, he's
very unpredictable, and they structured his contract in a way
that would be a team friendly deal, that would be
easily tradable. So I think it's inevitable he's gonna be
dealt before the trade deadline. But the question is what
(25:27):
do they get in return, Because there's a reason why
Kaminga didn't really get as much offers as he had
hoped and thought he would have gotten last offseason, and
had many reasons beyond just second Apron concerns. It's just
that a lot of teams are skeptical about him. So, yeah,
the Warriors need to make some changes, and they're definitely frustration.
(25:52):
But I don't think the email foreshadows that miss is
Steve Kerrs last year or anything like that. I think
that they've had a healthy dynamic. I think it just
captures that Joe's very candidate blog, and you know they're
used to at least having a shot to contend for
a title, and that's obviously not happening so far.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
He's on Twitter at mark G Underscore Medina. That's at
mark G Underscore Medina Athlon Sports Spectrum Sportsnet and riding
one of the e bikes that Luca bought him for
a Christmas present. Marcus always buddy, appreciated.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Man. Have a great holiday.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
We'll talk to you soonch you guys. Jason, enjoy the
NBA Cup until June.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, there it is first. Yeah, because then I can
enjoin the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
We're good. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Jason Smith Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern,
seven pm Pacific.
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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