June 30, 2024 • 21 mins
Zach & Zack fill in for Levack & Goz to discuss why they believe the Knicks built a championship caliber roster.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
It's Lavak and guzz on the Voiceof the Capitol Regions Sports fan Fox Sports
ninety five to nine and nine eightyDO just waking up in the morning and
to be well, quite honestly,this is Lavack and guys on Fox Sports
(00:21):
nine eighty ninety five point nine FM. If you're just tuning in, thank
you guys for tuning in. Howeveryou may be tuning in. I'm your
host today, Zach with an H, and sitting right next to me co
hosting the show is Zach with aK. And I am still convinced you
spell your name wrong. I amstill convinced you spell your name wrong.
You are zac Ch, you areZach. You know, I just that's
(00:44):
how I was raised. You know, makes a chess sound, not a
cuss sound, which is why there'sa C and a K for mine.
But that's just me. Well,the one thing that I do like about
your name, even though I hatethe way that you spell it with a
K. K is a perfect segueinto our next segment, which is Nicks.
That doesn't start with a ch.It starts with a K. See
(01:07):
what I did there, But youknow it does start with the ch championship
aspirations. So what are the Knickschampionship aspirations? As you know, they
traded for mckel bridges from the BrooklynNets. They and I need to ask
you this because no offense, you'rea little geekier than I am. Okay,
in a word, hurple the NovaKnicks the Infinity Stone. So they
(01:33):
bring mckel bridges. So everybody's saying, this is like getting the last Dono's
sinfiny stone. Whatever, What doesthat mean? What does that mean?
What does that mean? So inthis respect, what we're talking about is
we're basically we're filling out the wholething. This is the the cherry on
(01:55):
top, if you will, thefully kidding out the needs you have as
a team. As we're talking aboutinfinity stones. With the Knicks, you
have a great roster they've put together. But this is kind of that cornerstone
piece that kind of rounds out whatyou're what you're starting in five look like
and and gives you this core piecethat is going to be accessible to you.
(02:15):
And that's why he's been valued ashighly as he has to a point
where their betting odds have changed withthis, which is something that is insane
to me, where one player hasmade such a drastic change to what their
overall outcomes are in the betting oddsfor championship hopes. Well, that's what
(02:36):
it does in basketball world. Mmhmm, different than the NFL world.
There's one guy. When you havefive guys on the court at all times
as opposed to eleven on a field, can change your odds drastically, especially
when you add a guy to thecaliber of mckel bridges who not only can
(02:58):
score, but he is one ofthe better lockdown defenders on the wing position.
And guess who plays on the wingposition. Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum.
Oh yeah, it's just crazy tosee them go from plus seventeen hundred
down to plus nine hundred. That'sstill solid money there, Oh yeah,
(03:20):
still solid money. But also showsthe confidence of not only you know,
the fan base the team at thispoint, but specifically the betters, the
betting community, the analysts who havesat there and gone, oh oh,
this is actually, oh my god, this is that infinity stone. This
(03:40):
does make it so that this isviable, This does make it so this
is gonna be competitive. Do Ineed to watch the movie to figure out
what an infinity Infinity stone is it'sit is it is power. Okay,
it is you. You assemble themand you become theeer of all of the
Infinity Stones. Can we just saythat they're rounding around the Avengers or something?
(04:08):
I don't know. Is that notgood enough? Why? What's the
Infinity Stone? Why's it got tobe that the memes are off the hook?
And one day I will understand whatis gonna say? I think he's
just lacking in their pop culture.But I mean that's just me. The
Avengers no longer assemble. I thoughtthat was the thing. I mean,
(04:30):
they don't really anymore. I meana lot of them kind of laughed.
Robertown Junior wanted too much money.There you go. But you know what's
going to be really exciting outside ofthe Knicks championships aspirations? Something that as
a thirty five year old man backin my youth, Back in my youth,
Junior, my heyday, back inyour head, you imagine an old
(04:55):
man who is here doing nothing morethan dogging on the about sports. So
back I can't even begin to goof whatever. So back in my heyday,
the Knicks World Championship ninety five,two thousand. At this point before
(05:16):
all of this happened, I wouldhave just settled for making the playoffs every
single year, every single year,because being a Knicks fan since nineteen ninety
eight or nineteen eighty eight when Iwas born. Since two thousand, the
Knicks have made the playoffs. AndI can count it on one hand how
many times they've made the playoffs sincetwo thousand. So I would have settled
(05:40):
being a miserable Knicks fan just tomake the playoffs. But now, as
we like to say, the InfinityStone, the Glove or whatever is complete,
complete, You're gonna destroy everybody everything. I have championship expectations. Now
I'm not saying that they have towin a championship, but I expect us
(06:02):
to compete for one moving forward,and I think bringing in a guy like
mckel bridges. I know a lotof people talk about they gave up five
draft picks for him, but guesswhat, we stockpiled draft picks for a
reason. And when you have DanteDiVincenzo, and you have Jalen Brunson,
and you have Josh Hart, andyou have such a tight knitted community guys
(06:28):
that all play together at Nova,Guys that you know you have Mitchell Robinson
and hopefully Isaiah Hartenstein come back.These guys are legit friends, their buddies,
they're hanging out. The chemistry willbe unmatched, unmatched, and that
is the biggest thing. So whatwe lack in giving away these five draft
(06:48):
picks is what we're gaining into addinga high caliber player that's not going to
mess with the chemistry. That's themost important part is the chemistry of it
all. Strengthen numbers. Like wetalked about earlier, you get Michel Bridges,
who is a potential twenty point agame scorer, a lockdown defender,
(07:11):
and oh yeah, he loves playingwith these guys. They won a championship
at Villanova. So yeah, youcould have went with Donovan Mitchell, You
could have went with Devin Booker,But who knows what kind of impact Kevin
Durant or Devin Booker or any ofthese guys would have had on this team
in the chemistry. You bring ina guy you know works because guess what
(07:31):
you've seen it work. Yeah,and this is kind of what we talked
about earlier, where was you know, it's about maximizing your pieces. You
know, what are you bringing inthe value you're getting out of that and
mainly how that value interacts with yourcurrent team. This is a guy who's
coming in. He already had experiencewith these guys. He can mold into
the team chemistry, he can moldin with the team community, and he
(07:55):
just is going to and it's gonnabe relatively seamless in comparison bringing in like
you're saying, Kevin Durant or somebodylike that, who there's a lot there
and a lot of adjustments you're gonnahave to make, and a lot of
players who are gonna have to makethose adjustments to work with a veteran guy
like that. This isn't the samesituation. This is like them and welcoming
(08:18):
their buddy to the party Like this, they're saying, oh my god,
he's coming here. Let's go,like, let's do the rerun. Speaking
of party, how fun outside ofbeing a potential championship contender, how fun
is it just going to be towatch these guys being together, growing up
together, playing college ball together,now playing in the NBA together. We
(08:41):
can finally put the rest that SpongeBobmean of SpongeBob and Patrick running around and
Squidward just looking out the window,all sad and depressed and stuff. We
can finally put that the rest becausewith Kel Bridges, your home, bud
your home, You've got your community, You've got your buddies. We're back
in and we're doing the rerun.We're back at it again. I want
(09:03):
to say, what is the SpongeBobice cream place? I'm o Willie Weeney
or whatever. Weenihead Juniors, WeenieheadJuniors. That is totally those four guys,
Dante DiVincenzo, Jalen Brunson, JoshHart, Michel Bridges. They are
Weeni Hut Juniors. They are totallyWeeny Hut Juniors. And I'm gonna enjoy
(09:24):
every moment of it. But froma talent standpoint, where does this team
not only rack up in the East, but as the NBA of the whole.
I think they saw the Celtics wina championship and they said, we
had so many injuries. I know, Weeniehut Junior won't leave my head.
(09:46):
We had so many injuries and westill still could have given the Celtics more
of a run than the Pacers didand getting their butt swept. Still even
without Jalen Brunson, who broke hishand at the end of the series.
I love that they identified how theywanted to build their team. They got
(10:11):
the right head coach for the culturethat they wanted to create. They got
a monster in Jalen Brunson, who, believe it or not, people thought
when he originally signed his four year, hundred million dollar contract that it was
ridiculous. And I knew. Ididn't think he was going to be this,
but I knew he was going tobe a piece of a team that
(10:33):
they were going to build. Thiskid is so humble, He is so
outspoken about being a leader and notnecessarily needing to be a leader, but
will be a leader. He takeson so many different roles. He doesn't
need to be the number one ona championship. He will be, He'll
(10:56):
tell you he'll be, but hedoesn't need to be. He'll take a
back to anybody at any time.So if Michel Bridges is having a forty
point game, Jalen Brunson's like,all right, I'm backing off. You
got it. This is his night. He was the perfect guy to build
around. Now, what often getslost around that is the need for Julius
(11:18):
Randall. Julius Randall got hurt lastyear, and that's really when the Knicks
struggled for a moment. They gotog and they took off. Are you
worried about how Julius Randall will fitwith the Nova Knicks because he's got to
play a part in this. Yeah, And that's something you definitely have to
keep in mind when evaluating guys bringingin versus you know, guys you already
(11:43):
have. You do have to alwayskeep in mind the different aspects of not
only who you are bringing in andhow those guys are all gonna vibe as
the Nova Knicks, but also verymuch working him into that system as well
to create a Knix culture, notjust the Nova culture. Yeah. And
(12:03):
I think, like you said,the way that they've changed his team,
the way that the head coach hasbeen, that all comes together for that
mission of creating that culture. Idon't want us to forget about Julius Randall
because he is the guy that gotthis whole thing started. Nobody wanted to
come to New York. Yeah,Julius Randall came to New York. He
put into work, He got usto the playoffs, and that helped us
(12:26):
be attractive to guys like Jalen Brunson. Now, having your father on the
coaching staff as well, that definitelyhelps. But Julius Randall is really the
guy that got it kickstarted, soI don't want him to be lost in
all of this. Now, thisis a small sample size. That's what
she said. The Knicks three pointpercentage without Julius Randall compared to with Julius
(12:50):
Randall. Now, this is asmall sample size, Like I said,
that's what she said. That's whatI'm saying. Jalen Brunson thirty seven percent
up to forty three percent with him, Dante DiVincenzo thirty eight to forty four
with him OG small sample size thirtysix to forty three. Josh Hart thirty
(13:11):
to thirty three. He has neverbeen that great of a consistent shooter,
but has shown the ability and theconfidence to shoot it when needed. Miles
McBride small sample size thirty nine percentto fifty three percent. Now here's where
it really gets fun. I knowthere's talk about Julius Randall clogging up this
(13:31):
offense. Listen to the stat cornerthrees, OG ANDOBI without Julius Randall seventeen
percent from corner three thirty nine withhim, Dante DiVincenzo seventeen percent of his
shots from three from corner twenty twopercent with Julius Randall, Josh Hart seven
(13:54):
to eighteen. These guys will getinvolved. Julius Randall will pass. Now.
I think what people are stuck onis when Julius Randall had to carry
this team or when Jalen Brunson andJulius Randall were trying to carry the team
together. The postseason is a differentanimal. You have to be a different
(14:20):
kind of player to be able toup your stats and be that dude,
which I do think Julius Randall iscapable of being. But the amount that
he got double and triple teams playeda horrific effect into our minds on what
we think of Julius Randall as astrengthen numbers type of team Right now,
(14:46):
I think Julius Randall understands that hedoesn't have to be the guy, but
he's one of the guys, andI think that's going to have a positive
impact on not only his game,but the team as a whole will be
And I think that gets forgotten becausehe was the ball stopper, because he
needed to be the ball stopper,but watching from the side being injured,
(15:11):
I think he knows his role andhe's going to play it to perfection.
What do you think I yeah,absolutely, I think that, especially at
that point. I think that youat that point you have a team where
you need to know how to congealat the playoffs because that is where everything
(15:33):
is on the line. The championshipsis what you're playing for. Of course,
we now have the nd season tournamentas the nd season championship, but
we're not here for that. You'rehere on this team to win games.
And everything you said, well,it's a small sample size, sure whatever
everything you said was a positive trend. Yep. Everything made their stats better
by him being there, and thatcan't be lost because you have to acknowledge
(15:58):
the guy guys who support you tomake you better, and especially when you're
going to the postseason, the mostvital thing is making sure you have all
of the pieces that work and buildon one another in order to overcome the
championship teams that have made it tothat point. YEP. Because that's the
(16:18):
thing too. You're not just facinganyone at that stage. You're facing the
top and premiere of competition and youneed guys that can get in their back
YEP. Now, I don't wantto be a jerk because I'm a Knicks
fan, but Josh Hart played abovehis means in the postseason. Og played
above his means in the postseason.Dante da Vincenzo played above his means in
(16:40):
the postseason. These guys were reliedon so heavily that when they were off,
it was Jalen Brunson or nobody.That's what Julius Randall is going to
bring. That's what mckel Bridges isgoing to bring. In the fact that
you now have og an Anobi andmckel bridges side by side in a league
(17:00):
that is so heavily dominated by forwardswing players, you now have two lockdown
defenders. You have Josh Hart ina wing, and hopefully, hopefully there's
some hope to bringing back Isaiah Hartenstein. Now it's gonna be a little difficult.
(17:22):
So I'm gonna pose this question toyou before we get into it.
Money or fit. Ooh. I'malways someone where I go with FIT because
I think if you can show yourvalue, you can get the money.
(17:44):
I'm gonna but you personally, personally, I go FIT because I think that
a situation that fits for you betterand puts you in a spot to succeed,
it will inevitably get you the money. Now, how much of a
difference or you willing to go so, I'm gonna throw numbers out there that
may sound a little crazy to you. We just saw Nick Claxton sign four
(18:07):
years, one hundred million dollars.That seems to be the going rate for
a starting caliber center. The mostthe Knicks can offer if they findangle this
mckel Bridges that hasn't beneficial until thenew league starts, where they can add
Miles McBride or whatever four or fivemillion dollars salary that they can to get
(18:29):
under the apron. I'm not gonnago crazy explaining aprons to you, but
if they add four or five millionto this trade for mckel Bridges, they
get under an apron where they canoffer Hartenstein around seventeen eighteen million dollars.
I just told you Nick Claxton makingtwenty five How much of a fit are
(18:55):
you willing to lose out on money? To be honest, that stage that's
definitely a big hit. You know. Obviously you can try and convince them
they can make that money. Upelsewhere and things like that, But overall,
really you're gonna have to sell itto that player that I am offering
you a championship. I'm not offeringyou cash. I'm offering you success.
(19:21):
And I think if you can sellthat concept to them and say this isn't
gonna be where you make the bigdollars, this is how you get to
the big dollars. And I thinkif you can sell that idea, then
I think then they can be okaywith that. It definitely is a drop
and will take some convincing, butI think that if you can sell the
success of a team, I thinkyou can do it. If I'm being
(19:41):
honest with myself, it's gonna takea lot of convincing because, if I'm
Hartenstein, I worked my ass offto get to this point. Mm hmm.
I was a forgotten man at theend of a rotation until I came
to the Knicks yep, and withMitchell Robinson going down, I was able
to show how much I meant tothis team. I'm a willing passer,
(20:02):
I'm a great rebounder, I ama good defender. Now my scoring can
be a little better, but Ican score mm hmm, I am worth
the twenty five million. I haveproven the worth that I'm twenty five million
now. I love being with MitchellRobinson, I love being with the Nova
Nicks. I love the atmosphere ofMSG. But if I'm being honest with
(20:25):
myself, New York's expensive, well, you just gotta hope you can replicate
that performance. If you're not gonnabe there is gonna be. What the
Knicks are gonna come at you andsay, is you know we've We've loved
the contributions you've made. You didmake a huge statement, but this is
what we can feasibly do. AndI don't know how you can get around
(20:45):
that. I mean, you reallycan't get around it. The money is
what the money is. If theyultimately come to the conclusion that they can
get Hartenstein back, I think McBrideis one thousand percent included in that mchel
Bridges trade, so they can makefor the money to offer the seventeen eighteen
million dollars for the Knicks. Eitherway, they are a championship contender even
(21:08):
without Hartenstein. I know that's alot to say, but I really believe
that this team built solidly, strengthenednumbers. We may not have the best
two guys on the court, butwe're gonna have the best ten guys to
go against your best ten guys,and that ultimately is what this team relies
on as strengthened numbers. This isthe Lavak and Gosh Show on Fox Sports
(21:30):
SIN eighty ninety five point nine FM. Enough of that, Let's get into
some football talk. Let's get intothe bills. We'll discuss it next
It's Lavak and guzz on the Voiceof the Capitol Regions Sports fan Fox Sports
ninety five to nine and nine eightyDO just waking up in the morning and
to be well, quite honestly,this is Lavack and guys on Fox Sports
(00:21):
nine eighty ninety five point nine FM. If you're just tuning in, thank
you guys for tuning in. Howeveryou may be tuning in. I'm your
host today, Zach with an H, and sitting right next to me co
hosting the show is Zach with aK. And I am still convinced you
spell your name wrong. I amstill convinced you spell your name wrong.
You are zac Ch, you areZach. You know, I just that's
(00:44):
how I was raised. You know, makes a chess sound, not a
cuss sound, which is why there'sa C and a K for mine.
But that's just me. Well,the one thing that I do like about
your name, even though I hatethe way that you spell it with a
K. K is a perfect segueinto our next segment, which is Nicks.
That doesn't start with a ch.It starts with a K. See
(01:07):
what I did there, But youknow it does start with the ch championship
aspirations. So what are the Knickschampionship aspirations? As you know, they
traded for mckel bridges from the BrooklynNets. They and I need to ask
you this because no offense, you'rea little geekier than I am. Okay,
in a word, hurple the NovaKnicks the Infinity Stone. So they
(01:33):
bring mckel bridges. So everybody's saying, this is like getting the last Dono's
sinfiny stone. Whatever, What doesthat mean? What does that mean?
What does that mean? So inthis respect, what we're talking about is
we're basically we're filling out the wholething. This is the the cherry on
(01:55):
top, if you will, thefully kidding out the needs you have as
a team. As we're talking aboutinfinity stones. With the Knicks, you
have a great roster they've put together. But this is kind of that cornerstone
piece that kind of rounds out whatyou're what you're starting in five look like
and and gives you this core piecethat is going to be accessible to you.
(02:15):
And that's why he's been valued ashighly as he has to a point
where their betting odds have changed withthis, which is something that is insane
to me, where one player hasmade such a drastic change to what their
overall outcomes are in the betting oddsfor championship hopes. Well, that's what
(02:36):
it does in basketball world. Mmhmm, different than the NFL world.
There's one guy. When you havefive guys on the court at all times
as opposed to eleven on a field, can change your odds drastically, especially
when you add a guy to thecaliber of mckel bridges who not only can
(02:58):
score, but he is one ofthe better lockdown defenders on the wing position.
And guess who plays on the wingposition. Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum.
Oh yeah, it's just crazy tosee them go from plus seventeen hundred
down to plus nine hundred. That'sstill solid money there, Oh yeah,
(03:20):
still solid money. But also showsthe confidence of not only you know,
the fan base the team at thispoint, but specifically the betters, the
betting community, the analysts who havesat there and gone, oh oh,
this is actually, oh my god, this is that infinity stone. This
(03:40):
does make it so that this isviable, This does make it so this
is gonna be competitive. Do Ineed to watch the movie to figure out
what an infinity Infinity stone is it'sit is it is power. Okay,
it is you. You assemble themand you become theeer of all of the
Infinity Stones. Can we just saythat they're rounding around the Avengers or something?
(04:08):
I don't know. Is that notgood enough? Why? What's the
Infinity Stone? Why's it got tobe that the memes are off the hook?
And one day I will understand whatis gonna say? I think he's
just lacking in their pop culture.But I mean that's just me. The
Avengers no longer assemble. I thoughtthat was the thing. I mean,
(04:30):
they don't really anymore. I meana lot of them kind of laughed.
Robertown Junior wanted too much money.There you go. But you know what's
going to be really exciting outside ofthe Knicks championships aspirations? Something that as
a thirty five year old man backin my youth, Back in my youth,
Junior, my heyday, back inyour head, you imagine an old
(04:55):
man who is here doing nothing morethan dogging on the about sports. So
back I can't even begin to goof whatever. So back in my heyday,
the Knicks World Championship ninety five,two thousand. At this point before
(05:16):
all of this happened, I wouldhave just settled for making the playoffs every
single year, every single year,because being a Knicks fan since nineteen ninety
eight or nineteen eighty eight when Iwas born. Since two thousand, the
Knicks have made the playoffs. AndI can count it on one hand how
many times they've made the playoffs sincetwo thousand. So I would have settled
(05:40):
being a miserable Knicks fan just tomake the playoffs. But now, as
we like to say, the InfinityStone, the Glove or whatever is complete,
complete, You're gonna destroy everybody everything. I have championship expectations. Now
I'm not saying that they have towin a championship, but I expect us
(06:02):
to compete for one moving forward,and I think bringing in a guy like
mckel bridges. I know a lotof people talk about they gave up five
draft picks for him, but guesswhat, we stockpiled draft picks for a
reason. And when you have DanteDiVincenzo, and you have Jalen Brunson,
and you have Josh Hart, andyou have such a tight knitted community guys
(06:28):
that all play together at Nova,Guys that you know you have Mitchell Robinson
and hopefully Isaiah Hartenstein come back.These guys are legit friends, their buddies,
they're hanging out. The chemistry willbe unmatched, unmatched, and that
is the biggest thing. So whatwe lack in giving away these five draft
(06:48):
picks is what we're gaining into addinga high caliber player that's not going to
mess with the chemistry. That's themost important part is the chemistry of it
all. Strengthen numbers. Like wetalked about earlier, you get Michel Bridges,
who is a potential twenty point agame scorer, a lockdown defender,
(07:11):
and oh yeah, he loves playingwith these guys. They won a championship
at Villanova. So yeah, youcould have went with Donovan Mitchell, You
could have went with Devin Booker,But who knows what kind of impact Kevin
Durant or Devin Booker or any ofthese guys would have had on this team
in the chemistry. You bring ina guy you know works because guess what
(07:31):
you've seen it work. Yeah,and this is kind of what we talked
about earlier, where was you know, it's about maximizing your pieces. You
know, what are you bringing inthe value you're getting out of that and
mainly how that value interacts with yourcurrent team. This is a guy who's
coming in. He already had experiencewith these guys. He can mold into
the team chemistry, he can moldin with the team community, and he
(07:55):
just is going to and it's gonnabe relatively seamless in comparison bringing in like
you're saying, Kevin Durant or somebodylike that, who there's a lot there
and a lot of adjustments you're gonnahave to make, and a lot of
players who are gonna have to makethose adjustments to work with a veteran guy
like that. This isn't the samesituation. This is like them and welcoming
(08:18):
their buddy to the party Like this, they're saying, oh my god,
he's coming here. Let's go,like, let's do the rerun. Speaking
of party, how fun outside ofbeing a potential championship contender, how fun
is it just going to be towatch these guys being together, growing up
together, playing college ball together,now playing in the NBA together. We
(08:41):
can finally put the rest that SpongeBobmean of SpongeBob and Patrick running around and
Squidward just looking out the window,all sad and depressed and stuff. We
can finally put that the rest becausewith Kel Bridges, your home, bud
your home, You've got your community, You've got your buddies. We're back
in and we're doing the rerun.We're back at it again. I want
(09:03):
to say, what is the SpongeBobice cream place? I'm o Willie Weeney
or whatever. Weenihead Juniors, WeenieheadJuniors. That is totally those four guys,
Dante DiVincenzo, Jalen Brunson, JoshHart, Michel Bridges. They are
Weeni Hut Juniors. They are totallyWeeny Hut Juniors. And I'm gonna enjoy
(09:24):
every moment of it. But froma talent standpoint, where does this team
not only rack up in the East, but as the NBA of the whole.
I think they saw the Celtics wina championship and they said, we
had so many injuries. I know, Weeniehut Junior won't leave my head.
(09:46):
We had so many injuries and westill still could have given the Celtics more
of a run than the Pacers didand getting their butt swept. Still even
without Jalen Brunson, who broke hishand at the end of the series.
I love that they identified how theywanted to build their team. They got
(10:11):
the right head coach for the culturethat they wanted to create. They got
a monster in Jalen Brunson, who, believe it or not, people thought
when he originally signed his four year, hundred million dollar contract that it was
ridiculous. And I knew. Ididn't think he was going to be this,
but I knew he was going tobe a piece of a team that
(10:33):
they were going to build. Thiskid is so humble, He is so
outspoken about being a leader and notnecessarily needing to be a leader, but
will be a leader. He takeson so many different roles. He doesn't
need to be the number one ona championship. He will be, He'll
(10:56):
tell you he'll be, but hedoesn't need to be. He'll take a
back to anybody at any time.So if Michel Bridges is having a forty
point game, Jalen Brunson's like,all right, I'm backing off. You
got it. This is his night. He was the perfect guy to build
around. Now, what often getslost around that is the need for Julius
(11:18):
Randall. Julius Randall got hurt lastyear, and that's really when the Knicks
struggled for a moment. They gotog and they took off. Are you
worried about how Julius Randall will fitwith the Nova Knicks because he's got to
play a part in this. Yeah, And that's something you definitely have to
keep in mind when evaluating guys bringingin versus you know, guys you already
(11:43):
have. You do have to alwayskeep in mind the different aspects of not
only who you are bringing in andhow those guys are all gonna vibe as
the Nova Knicks, but also verymuch working him into that system as well
to create a Knix culture, notjust the Nova culture. Yeah. And
(12:03):
I think, like you said,the way that they've changed his team,
the way that the head coach hasbeen, that all comes together for that
mission of creating that culture. Idon't want us to forget about Julius Randall
because he is the guy that gotthis whole thing started. Nobody wanted to
come to New York. Yeah,Julius Randall came to New York. He
put into work, He got usto the playoffs, and that helped us
(12:26):
be attractive to guys like Jalen Brunson. Now, having your father on the
coaching staff as well, that definitelyhelps. But Julius Randall is really the
guy that got it kickstarted, soI don't want him to be lost in
all of this. Now, thisis a small sample size. That's what
she said. The Knicks three pointpercentage without Julius Randall compared to with Julius
(12:50):
Randall. Now, this is asmall sample size, Like I said,
that's what she said. That's whatI'm saying. Jalen Brunson thirty seven percent
up to forty three percent with him, Dante DiVincenzo thirty eight to forty four
with him OG small sample size thirtysix to forty three. Josh Hart thirty
(13:11):
to thirty three. He has neverbeen that great of a consistent shooter,
but has shown the ability and theconfidence to shoot it when needed. Miles
McBride small sample size thirty nine percentto fifty three percent. Now here's where
it really gets fun. I knowthere's talk about Julius Randall clogging up this
(13:31):
offense. Listen to the stat cornerthrees, OG ANDOBI without Julius Randall seventeen
percent from corner three thirty nine withhim, Dante DiVincenzo seventeen percent of his
shots from three from corner twenty twopercent with Julius Randall, Josh Hart seven
(13:54):
to eighteen. These guys will getinvolved. Julius Randall will pass. Now.
I think what people are stuck onis when Julius Randall had to carry
this team or when Jalen Brunson andJulius Randall were trying to carry the team
together. The postseason is a differentanimal. You have to be a different
(14:20):
kind of player to be able toup your stats and be that dude,
which I do think Julius Randall iscapable of being. But the amount that
he got double and triple teams playeda horrific effect into our minds on what
we think of Julius Randall as astrengthen numbers type of team Right now,
(14:46):
I think Julius Randall understands that hedoesn't have to be the guy, but
he's one of the guys, andI think that's going to have a positive
impact on not only his game,but the team as a whole will be
And I think that gets forgotten becausehe was the ball stopper, because he
needed to be the ball stopper,but watching from the side being injured,
(15:11):
I think he knows his role andhe's going to play it to perfection.
What do you think I yeah,absolutely, I think that, especially at
that point. I think that youat that point you have a team where
you need to know how to congealat the playoffs because that is where everything
(15:33):
is on the line. The championshipsis what you're playing for. Of course,
we now have the nd season tournamentas the nd season championship, but
we're not here for that. You'rehere on this team to win games.
And everything you said, well,it's a small sample size, sure whatever
everything you said was a positive trend. Yep. Everything made their stats better
by him being there, and thatcan't be lost because you have to acknowledge
(15:58):
the guy guys who support you tomake you better, and especially when you're
going to the postseason, the mostvital thing is making sure you have all
of the pieces that work and buildon one another in order to overcome the
championship teams that have made it tothat point. YEP. Because that's the
(16:18):
thing too. You're not just facinganyone at that stage. You're facing the
top and premiere of competition and youneed guys that can get in their back
YEP. Now, I don't wantto be a jerk because I'm a Knicks
fan, but Josh Hart played abovehis means in the postseason. Og played
above his means in the postseason.Dante da Vincenzo played above his means in
(16:40):
the postseason. These guys were reliedon so heavily that when they were off,
it was Jalen Brunson or nobody.That's what Julius Randall is going to
bring. That's what mckel Bridges isgoing to bring. In the fact that
you now have og an Anobi andmckel bridges side by side in a league
(17:00):
that is so heavily dominated by forwardswing players, you now have two lockdown
defenders. You have Josh Hart ina wing, and hopefully, hopefully there's
some hope to bringing back Isaiah Hartenstein. Now it's gonna be a little difficult.
(17:22):
So I'm gonna pose this question toyou before we get into it.
Money or fit. Ooh. I'malways someone where I go with FIT because
I think if you can show yourvalue, you can get the money.
(17:44):
I'm gonna but you personally, personally, I go FIT because I think that
a situation that fits for you betterand puts you in a spot to succeed,
it will inevitably get you the money. Now, how much of a
difference or you willing to go so, I'm gonna throw numbers out there that
may sound a little crazy to you. We just saw Nick Claxton sign four
(18:07):
years, one hundred million dollars.That seems to be the going rate for
a starting caliber center. The mostthe Knicks can offer if they findangle this
mckel Bridges that hasn't beneficial until thenew league starts, where they can add
Miles McBride or whatever four or fivemillion dollars salary that they can to get
(18:29):
under the apron. I'm not gonnago crazy explaining aprons to you, but
if they add four or five millionto this trade for mckel Bridges, they
get under an apron where they canoffer Hartenstein around seventeen eighteen million dollars.
I just told you Nick Claxton makingtwenty five How much of a fit are
(18:55):
you willing to lose out on money? To be honest, that stage that's
definitely a big hit. You know. Obviously you can try and convince them
they can make that money. Upelsewhere and things like that, But overall,
really you're gonna have to sell itto that player that I am offering
you a championship. I'm not offeringyou cash. I'm offering you success.
(19:21):
And I think if you can sellthat concept to them and say this isn't
gonna be where you make the bigdollars, this is how you get to
the big dollars. And I thinkif you can sell that idea, then
I think then they can be okaywith that. It definitely is a drop
and will take some convincing, butI think that if you can sell the
success of a team, I thinkyou can do it. If I'm being
(19:41):
honest with myself, it's gonna takea lot of convincing because, if I'm
Hartenstein, I worked my ass offto get to this point. Mm hmm.
I was a forgotten man at theend of a rotation until I came
to the Knicks yep, and withMitchell Robinson going down, I was able
to show how much I meant tothis team. I'm a willing passer,
(20:02):
I'm a great rebounder, I ama good defender. Now my scoring can
be a little better, but Ican score mm hmm, I am worth
the twenty five million. I haveproven the worth that I'm twenty five million
now. I love being with MitchellRobinson, I love being with the Nova
Nicks. I love the atmosphere ofMSG. But if I'm being honest with
(20:25):
myself, New York's expensive, well, you just gotta hope you can replicate
that performance. If you're not gonnabe there is gonna be. What the
Knicks are gonna come at you andsay, is you know we've We've loved
the contributions you've made. You didmake a huge statement, but this is
what we can feasibly do. AndI don't know how you can get around
(20:45):
that. I mean, you reallycan't get around it. The money is
what the money is. If theyultimately come to the conclusion that they can
get Hartenstein back, I think McBrideis one thousand percent included in that mchel
Bridges trade, so they can makefor the money to offer the seventeen eighteen
million dollars for the Knicks. Eitherway, they are a championship contender even
(21:08):
without Hartenstein. I know that's alot to say, but I really believe
that this team built solidly, strengthenednumbers. We may not have the best
two guys on the court, butwe're gonna have the best ten guys to
go against your best ten guys,and that ultimately is what this team relies
on as strengthened numbers. This isthe Lavak and Gosh Show on Fox Sports
(21:30):
SIN eighty ninety five point nine FM. Enough of that, Let's get into
some football talk. Let's get intothe bills. We'll discuss it next
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