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the Michael K Show podcast. I

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weekdays at 1 on 880 ESPN,

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your smart speaker. And

0:41

a good afternoon everybody. This is

0:43

indeed the Michael K Show. We thank

0:45

you for joining us on this

0:47

Friday. It is April 11. It's 2025.

0:51

The weather's not too great, but it looks

0:53

like we're gonna have baseball at Yankee Stadium

0:55

tonight. Rain should hold up for most of

0:57

the game, so they're expecting rain about 10 -10 -30.

0:59

Game should be over by then. And

1:01

we should have baseball in Sacramento as well,

1:03

where the Mets are playing the A's.

1:05

Hope everybody's having a wonderful day. Hope we

1:07

have a big weekend planned and can

1:09

plan around the weather. And you know the

1:11

deal. There's only one rule with the

1:13

show. You're the co -host. Otherwise, no

1:16

rules. It's all right. 1

1:18

-800 -919 -3776. 1 -800 -919 -3776. So

1:20

let's get involved. Let's get

1:22

talking. And let's start with

1:24

the Knicks against the Pistons

1:26

last night. Let's just start

1:28

with Barton Carlin. And you know,

1:30

obviously Bart is a big

1:33

Detroit Pistons fan. He's coming from

1:35

Detroit. And you know, you're supposed

1:37

to love your team. And they've made

1:39

an unbelievable jump over the last year and become

1:41

a playoff team. Not even a play

1:43

-in team, but a legitimate playoff

1:45

team. And I

1:47

just can't read

1:49

that much into yesterday's

1:51

game. I can't.

1:54

I know the Knicks lost. But

1:56

look at the guys they played. They

1:58

did not play Brunson. that much, they

2:00

did not play towns all that much,

2:02

they didn't play hard at all, they

2:04

didn't play Ananobi at all, and

2:07

they didn't play Mitchell Robinson at all.

2:09

So how could you have any kind

2:11

of import, or put any kind

2:13

of import on that game? How is

2:15

that a litmus test of any way?

2:17

Now bar brought up a real point, they've

2:20

been a problem for the Knicks

2:22

all year, even when the Knicks were

2:24

playing their players. I get it. And

2:26

I've said this before. And I've said

2:29

this before. It is hard for

2:31

the Knicks to play a young

2:33

team with fresh legs and

2:35

length. That's exactly

2:37

what Detroit is. But in

2:40

watching that game yesterday,

2:42

there's nothing that I could

2:44

derive from that game that

2:46

would give me any pause other

2:48

than this. I thought that Dennis

2:50

Ruder was hounding Brunson to

2:53

the point where it impacted

2:55

Brunson's game. He would

2:58

not let the guy bring the

3:00

ball up the court. He made

3:02

it difficult for the Knicks to

3:04

inbound from under the Pistons

3:06

basket to get it to

3:09

Brunson. It seems like Shruder

3:11

has endless energy. Just does.

3:13

He's going to be all over

3:16

Brunson. So there's going to

3:18

need to be some help. Now

3:20

there's still a chance because of

3:22

the way the schedule makes

3:24

itself out. That the Knicks might not

3:27

play the Pistons in the first round.

3:29

The Pistons could pass the Bucks

3:31

and then the Knicks would play the

3:33

Bucks Most people think well the

3:35

Bucks would be the easy one. I don't

3:37

think that either would be easy I've

3:39

said this over and over again, but

3:41

I will say this the Knicks should beat

3:44

both teams They have no excuse

3:46

to beat to be beaten by either team

3:48

But when you say you'd rather play

3:50

Milwaukee, I'd say you know what tap

3:52

the brakes a little bit of that

3:54

Tap the brakes. Because if

3:56

you did a draft of

3:58

all three teams... Who's the number

4:01

one pick? If you had the

4:03

number one pick of the entire

4:05

rosters of all three teams, who's

4:07

the first guy you're taking? You're

4:09

taking Antetacumpo. You're not even thinking

4:11

about it. You're taking Antetacumpo. So

4:14

why would you be so anxious

4:16

to play the team with the

4:18

best player? I know they're compromised

4:20

and we don't have an idea

4:22

if Damien Lillard will play. But

4:24

they do have championship DNA on

4:27

that team. They know how to

4:29

win. They have a coach that's

4:31

won a championship. So I don't

4:33

think that's going to be easy.

4:35

And I told you what scares

4:37

me about the pistons, length, young

4:40

legs, all of that. But if

4:42

you say Michael, you have to

4:44

choose one team that you want

4:46

the next to play. I'd say

4:48

Detroit. Because there are things that

4:50

Detroit does that will make them...

4:52

difficult for the Knicks. But they

4:55

don't have the best player of

4:57

the three teams. Kate Cunningham is

4:59

a pretty good player, and they've

5:01

got some aggressive players as well.

5:03

They're going to make the Knicks

5:05

pay for every single layup. I'm

5:08

not saying these are the bad

5:10

boy pistons, but you know, they're

5:12

kind of modeled after that. They're

5:14

not going to take anything from

5:16

anybody. They're going to push you

5:18

around, they're going to get aggressive.

5:21

But they have not had experience

5:23

in the postseason in the postseason

5:25

in the postseason. So let's see

5:27

exactly how it works out when

5:29

they have to go to Madison

5:31

Square Garden to start the series

5:34

Let's see how that impacts them

5:36

That's what I'm looking to do.

5:38

I want to I I I'm

5:40

going to bet the Knicks Know

5:42

how to play in big games

5:44

at this point better than the

5:46

Pistons The Pistons have taken a

5:49

huge jump this year new coach

5:51

some of the players have come

5:53

of age Should not beat the

5:55

Knicks and as I said before

5:57

Or if the standings are rejiggered

5:59

a little bit with the final

6:02

two games, and the Knicks end

6:04

up playing the Bucks, that doesn't

6:06

scare me either. I'm just saying

6:08

that the team that scares me

6:10

the most would be the team

6:12

with the best player. Because who

6:15

knows of Antetacupo's going to 50

6:17

points and drags the bucks over

6:19

the finish line. So tonight, the

6:21

Knicks are at the garden against

6:23

the Cavs. Orlando is at Indy.

6:25

So IndyB Cleveland last night, so

6:28

the Knicks have not clinced the

6:30

number three spot. They have not

6:32

clinched it. And then Milwaukee's at

6:34

Detroit. Then on Sunday, the final

6:36

game of the regular season, you

6:38

have the Knicks at Brooklyn, you

6:40

have Indiana at Cleveland, and you

6:43

have Detroit at Milwaukee. So, Detroit

6:45

Milwaukee, they're going to solve their

6:47

own issue. Where they are going

6:49

to finish, and who they're going

6:51

to play. The Knicks could have

6:53

it solved if they don't beat

6:56

the Cavs tonight. If

6:58

they don't be the Cavs

7:00

tonight and Orlando loses to

7:02

Indy, well all of a

7:05

sudden the Knicks are going

7:07

to have to beat the

7:09

Brooklyn Nets. And the Nets

7:11

pretty much are pretty secure

7:13

that they're going to be

7:16

in the lottery. You don't

7:18

think they'd love to knock

7:20

off the Knicks and knock

7:22

them down to the four.

7:24

That would be a little

7:26

demoralizing. But

7:28

nothing at all that Would put them

7:31

in a position where they can't win

7:33

a series I've heard all the whispers

7:35

I've heard everybody talk about Now if

7:37

they get knocked out in the first

7:40

round tips is gonna go well I

7:42

don't think he is You don't fire

7:44

a guy that his teams won 50

7:46

games twice in the last three years

7:49

You don't fire a guy who's turned

7:51

around the culture of this team And

7:53

I don't know if you guys saw

7:55

this, we get a lot of these

7:58

phone calls too. The

8:00

Guardian did an extensive look

8:03

at Tibbs and The fact

8:05

that he plays his player

8:08

so many minutes and Other

8:10

than his first three years

8:12

in Chicago His teams have

8:15

not had more injuries than

8:17

any other team including teams

8:20

that have load management and

8:22

rest their players all the

8:24

time so I think that's

8:27

just a tired old narrative

8:32

I don't think you're going to lose

8:35

in the first round, but if they

8:37

do, under no circumstances do I think,

8:39

okay, that means you have to bang

8:41

tips. No, I don't believe it. I

8:44

think he's a really, really good coach.

8:46

And before you say, well, if they

8:48

lose, they have to get rid of

8:51

him. I would ask you this, who

8:53

you bring it in? Coaches seem to

8:55

be a diamond dozen now. That's Mike

8:58

Malone, as Mike Malone. One of the

9:00

championship a couple years ago. It's just

9:02

got fired Nobody's safe Nobody's safe, but

9:05

I think Tibbs is safe. I think

9:07

he's an alignment with the Knicks front

9:09

office I think he's an alignment with

9:11

James Dolan. I don't think he's going

9:14

anywhere so you can all wish all

9:16

you want That's like all the people

9:18

that we were talking about yesterday that

9:21

said well the you should have Luke

9:23

Weaver's their closer and take the job

9:25

from Devin Williams, but you could You

9:28

can think all you want. The Yankees

9:30

are going to do what they think

9:32

is right. And that's keep Devin Williams

9:35

in the clothes roll for a long

9:37

time. And the Knicks are going to

9:39

do what's right. There's no genius. There's

9:41

no wonder boy out there that you're

9:44

going to bring in to be the

9:46

coach, that you think is going to

9:48

be 100% better. Tim says the track

9:51

record. Now he does not have a

9:53

championship. He might have had one if

9:55

Derek didn't get hurt in Chicago. So

10:00

please, I love Bart. You can't

10:02

read that much into that game

10:05

yesterday. I watched it with curiosity

10:07

to see the style of play

10:09

that Detroit is probably going to

10:12

unleash on its first-round opponent and

10:14

it's controlled chaos and aggression. I

10:16

get it. I understand it. Makes

10:19

sense. Nixon handle it. Tell me

10:21

the Knicks would not have won

10:23

that game yesterday if Josh Hart

10:26

was playing. If

10:29

Mitchell Robinson was playing, O.G. Ananobi,

10:31

their best defender, if he was

10:33

playing. If Bronson was playing, as

10:36

usual, 38 to 40 minutes, rather

10:38

than 20, come on. You can't

10:41

read anything that game last night.

10:43

Sorry, you can't. I won't. I

10:45

refuse. Yankees against the Giants tonight.

10:48

Robbie Ray against Marcus Stroman. So

10:50

it's going to be Stroman, it's

10:53

going to be Warren, and then

10:55

it's going to be Rodone. And

10:58

we'll see. Giants have gotten off

11:00

to a good start at 9

11:02

and 5. Yankees are in first

11:04

place in the east at 7

11:06

and 5. Giants have great pitching,

11:09

a good bullpen, their team area

11:11

is 2.78. And that seems to

11:13

be the thing, everybody, that has

11:15

slowed down the torpedo bats. Yeah,

11:17

good pitching. Good pitching will jam

11:19

you. Good pitching will have you

11:21

hit the ball at the end

11:23

of the bat. Good pitching will

11:25

strike you out, and guess what?

11:28

That neutralizes any effect of the

11:30

torpedo bat. Did you even think

11:32

about the torpedo bat at all?

11:34

When the Yankees are in Detroit

11:36

being shut down by three real

11:38

good starters? No. You didn't, did

11:40

you? The torpedo bat really played

11:42

up when the Yankees played a

11:45

terrible Milwaukee team where the pitching

11:47

was ravaged. And the Yankees tattooed

11:49

them. Absolutely embarrassed them. Let's see

11:51

what they do. against this giant

11:53

team. And the Mets hit the

11:55

road. They're going to play. the

11:57

A's in Sacramento. So once a

11:59

week, our program director, John Winthrop,

12:01

asked me, give me a prediction

12:04

so they could put it on

12:06

our social media sites. And my

12:08

prediction yesterday was that Juan Soda

12:10

is going to go off in

12:12

these three games against the A's.

12:14

First of all, they're playing in

12:16

the minor league ballpark. The A's

12:18

will be aggressive, I think, in

12:21

pitching to him. They will not

12:23

pitch around him the way the

12:25

way the Marlins did. I mean

12:27

maybe in certain moments, but not

12:29

constantly. I think he's gonna have

12:31

a big big series So you

12:33

have Griffin canning tonight Against JP

12:35

Sears to form a Yankee So

12:37

the age are five and eight

12:40

the match are eight and four

12:42

so those those are your two

12:44

New York teams 1-800-9-1-9-3-7-7-6 Let's go

12:46

to the phones as we involve

12:48

you here as the co-host. We'll

12:50

start up with Pete and Staten

12:52

Pete Hey Mike, how are you

12:54

doing Pete? Not bad. So one

12:57

of the big things that they

12:59

never get into with Tibbs is

13:01

he doesn't use his bench correctly.

13:03

And what I mean by that

13:05

is he subs in like even

13:07

like on the second quarter where

13:09

he'll go with four bench guys

13:11

and one starter. You need to

13:13

incorporate maybe two bench guys in

13:16

a starter and then pull him

13:18

out. But you got precious. Now

13:20

it doesn't even get off the

13:22

bench anymore. You can't use a

13:24

six eight power forward. to push

13:26

around a guy for 12 minutes?

13:28

That's I think his biggest problem.

13:30

But Pete, you realize that once

13:33

you get to the playoffs, everybody

13:35

uses a short rotation. Now, Tibs

13:37

happens to use a short rotation

13:39

in the regular season. But you

13:41

show me a team that's going

13:43

to be in the playoffs that

13:45

starts next week with the playing.

13:47

That goes 90. Ten. Nine or

13:50

ten. Tell me the team. They

13:53

keep it short. They use their best players. That's

13:55

what you save them up for. That's why

13:57

you have load management Well,

14:00

Tip's doesn't have load management. And it's

14:03

funny, nobody screamed yesterday. Tim's gave that

14:05

game away. Tim's in play three of

14:07

his important players. You can't tell me

14:09

that they're seriously hurt. He gave that

14:12

game away. He never does that. How

14:14

did the team win 50 some odd

14:16

games? I think they might be a

14:18

50 or a... How did they win

14:21

that if he had such bad rotations?

14:23

How? How's it possible

14:25

that he was able to win?

14:27

How's he won 50 games two

14:30

out of the last three years?

14:32

How's he going to the second

14:34

round of the plus if he's

14:36

such a terrible rotation coach? How?

14:39

Nobody seems to have that answer.

14:41

Because if anybody could call up

14:43

right now and tell me, Tibbs

14:46

has slowed down a championship team.

14:48

I want you to explain that

14:50

to me. I think he's gotten

14:52

everything that you could get out

14:55

of this team. They are not

14:57

good enough to beat the Celtics.

14:59

They're not good enough to beat

15:01

the Cavs. They would not be

15:04

good enough to beat OKC. They're

15:06

not. So it's not like he's

15:08

hacked them up by being a

15:11

bad coach. I think he's gotten

15:13

the most out of them. They

15:15

are a team that has some

15:17

limitations. You watch that game against

15:20

Boston. They really want to win

15:22

that game. Boston didn't

15:24

play Jaylon Brown that often

15:27

in that game. Boston has

15:29

too many answers to everything

15:31

the Knicks throw at them.

15:33

There's not a team in

15:36

basketball that can account for

15:38

Chris Daps for Zingas when

15:40

he's hot. Not a team.

15:43

He just carved the Knicks

15:45

up. You pick your poison.

15:47

You can try to slow

15:49

down tate him with your

15:52

big guy? Horford

15:55

is a load. That lets Porsingas run

15:57

free. The guy could hit 35 foot

15:59

3 pointers. He's unguardable. Who are you

16:02

putting on? Chris Debs, we're saying he's

16:04

gonna slow him down. The Knicks don't

16:06

have an answer. They don't have an

16:08

answer. And I'm not ripping the Knicks.

16:11

No one does. No one has an

16:13

answer. Chris in the car. Chris. How's

16:15

it going Michael? Thank you for taking

16:18

my call. You got it. What's up?

16:20

So I will preface this by saying

16:22

I think Tibbs is a phenomenal. My

16:24

question to you is the Guardian article

16:27

that you mentioned. I'm curious to know

16:29

if that's total injuries or significant player

16:31

injuries because my knock on Tibbs ever

16:34

since, you know, back in the Chicago

16:36

days, is because of his short man

16:38

rotation in the regular season, injuries affect

16:40

his teams more than they do so

16:43

other teams. And I understand what you

16:45

mean. In the playoffs, yes, you go

16:47

to a short rotation. That makes sense.

16:49

but in the regular season when you're

16:52

not you know when you're not always

16:54

playing eight nine players you get significant

16:56

injuries like a jaylin bronson like you

16:59

know like unfortunately it was a freak

17:01

injury but like a derrick rose back

17:03

in chicago things like that's what might

17:05

be my only knock on him is

17:08

that the short rotation in the regular

17:10

season while he may be getting better

17:12

from lesser teams it's not helping them

17:15

in the long run which you know

17:17

the the NBA season is a marathon

17:19

it's not a sprint and he treats

17:21

it like a sprints But let me

17:24

ask you this Chris, how does the

17:26

Bronson injury have anything to do with

17:28

him playing a lot of minutes? It

17:30

was a big part of the game.

17:33

Of course your best player is going

17:35

to be on it. He turned his

17:37

ankle. That has nothing to do with

17:40

playing it too much. I agree with

17:42

that, but to your point, when you

17:44

mention load management, right? I'm not saying

17:46

that injury happened because he was playing

17:49

too often or not, but that's going

17:51

to be the knock on him, and

17:53

then lesser educated fans are going to

17:56

say, he plays them, every injury is

17:58

on him, whatever, whatever. But I do

18:00

think that he runs these players ragged

18:02

with the short rotation in most games

18:05

that other teams are not. But okay,

18:07

but let me ask you Chris, where's

18:09

the raggedness manifesting itself? What do you

18:11

mean? Where's he running the Knicks ragged

18:14

this year? He plays a short rotation.

18:16

I don't think they're going to be

18:18

better in the long run. But they

18:21

are what they are. They're not going

18:23

to be worse. I don't understand what

18:25

you think. This is now the the

18:27

hip sheet thing. Let's criticize. Tibs and

18:30

the fact that he doesn't give his

18:32

players load management. So Michael Bridges has

18:34

played every single game in his NBA

18:37

career. Every one. He's at 80 right

18:39

now. He's going to play tonight. He's

18:41

going to play Sunday. 82 games. One

18:43

year he played 83 when he got

18:46

traded to the Nets. Is he any

18:48

worse for where? He has had a

18:50

great year or something because he plays

18:52

all the time. He played every single

18:55

game at Villanova. Every game. And

18:57

he played every high school game

18:59

but one. Where the coach thought

19:01

it would benefit the high school

19:03

team to get a better matchup

19:06

in the state playoffs if they

19:08

lost that game. That's the only

19:10

game he's missed since high school.

19:12

That's not a tips thing. Jaylon

19:14

Brunson, with the injury that he

19:16

had, he's gonna end up playing

19:18

65 games this year. Josh Hart's

19:20

gonna play 78. These guys want

19:22

to play. You're going to tell

19:24

them not to play? They want

19:26

to play. Josh Hart never wants

19:28

to come out of a game.

19:30

O.G. supposedly is injury prone, right?

19:33

How about this year? Has he

19:35

been? He's having an unbelievable year.

19:37

Spike in St. Pete, Spike. What's

19:39

up? Yeah, okay. It's low-hanging fruit

19:41

and we know each other well

19:43

enough. I'm tired of hearing this.

19:45

I don't mean I'm tired of

19:47

hearing you saying But it's low

19:49

hanging fruit. Here's the difference between

19:51

this year's team and last year's

19:53

team. Last year's team was ravaged

19:55

by injuries. And I'm not going

19:57

to say we would have beaten

20:00

Indiana if we didn't have two

20:02

starters out and Brunson got hurt

20:04

in that game, but we don't

20:06

have that chance. Let's put it

20:08

this way. It's so easy and

20:10

you mentioned in your opening about

20:12

the Guardian and the research in

20:14

the minutes. It used to be

20:16

Julius Randall and Tibbs. Now they

20:18

got rid of Randall, they opened

20:20

up the floor, they got towns

20:22

who was as good as scoring

20:24

center. Yes, he's not as good,

20:27

defensively. This is the first Knicks

20:29

team, I'm going back 50 years,

20:31

that's had a predominant offensive surge.

20:33

They're top of the league, they're

20:35

always the defensive team. And they

20:37

struggle. They do struggle. But last

20:39

night... the fourth quarter, he threw

20:41

the talent. Now what's going to

20:43

happen? I'm going to throw this

20:45

question at you and then have

20:47

a great weekend. And we, it

20:49

comes down to the Brooklyn game

20:51

on Sunday. And he starts P.J.

20:54

Tucker and the French kid and

20:56

he starts all the rookies and

20:58

the league last year punished Alice.

21:00

Remember they blew that game for

21:02

the draft pick? Yep. And they

21:04

gave him a big fine. So,

21:06

you know, sometimes in series. but

21:08

the Yankees won that last game

21:10

and you know bailed them out

21:12

and they're not anything you know

21:14

just play who's on the schedule.

21:16

It seems to me I would

21:18

prefer to play Detroit because they

21:20

don't have as much experience. Cunningham's

21:23

a number one draft pick. He's

21:25

a superstar now and he'll get

21:27

a big bag as they call

21:29

it but they don't really have

21:31

the good matchups. I think the

21:33

Knicks this year we're gonna have

21:35

to outscore the opposition. Do you

21:37

agree? I mean, that's why you

21:39

have cat there for sure, but

21:41

I mean, they've got to play,

21:43

they have to play some defense.

21:45

They've got to play some defense

21:47

in big parts. The thing that

21:50

makes it difficult, it's hard to

21:52

play defense because you can expose.

21:54

Jaylin Brunson. That's the one part

21:56

of his game that's not that's

21:58

not a lead. He's a bad

22:00

defender. So you're going to expose

22:02

him. But with Mitchell Robinson in

22:04

and O.G. Ananobi, they should be

22:06

able to play defense in big

22:08

parts of the game. I don't

22:10

know if they could outscore people.

22:12

They cannot score Boston. Boston's a

22:14

great three-point shooting team and they

22:17

take them constantly and the Knicks

22:19

don't defend the three very well.

22:21

So no, I don't think they

22:23

could outscore Boston. And I think

22:25

they can play some defense against

22:27

Detroit and against Milwaukee as well.

22:29

That's why I think that the

22:31

first round shouldn't be an issue.

22:33

Now in terms of them getting...

22:35

The reason that Dallas got fine,

22:37

they chose not to make the

22:39

playoffs. They chose not to make

22:41

the playoffs. And it worked out

22:44

for them because they got a

22:46

real good pick. That pick would

22:48

have gone to the Knicks. They

22:50

ended up making a real good

22:52

pick. I think it was lively

22:54

that pick. That really helped them.

22:57

Imagine choosing not to make the playoffs

22:59

so you can keep your lottery pick.

23:01

That deserves a fine. If the Knicks

23:03

don't play anybody on Sunday, I think

23:05

they will. They might not play them

23:07

a lot of minutes. It doesn't matter

23:10

if the Knicks finish third or fourth.

23:12

If they finish third, they're going to

23:14

play Dallas or Milwaukee. They're going to

23:16

have home court in either way. So,

23:18

Tips finds himself under no pressure whatsoever.

23:21

I don't think he's choosing which team

23:23

he wants to play, and he knows

23:25

that either way he finishes, it's going

23:27

to be home court advantage at Madison

23:29

Square Garden. It's just the way it's

23:32

going to work. Now, this is a

23:34

guy who should never be punished for

23:36

resting players, because he never rests players.

23:38

He's getting put on the griddle constantly

23:40

by basketball fans around the country and

23:42

in New York, because they got to

23:45

find something to complain about. And the

23:47

thing they complain about is he doesn't

23:49

use a long rotation. All he does

23:51

is win the game, he's supposed to

23:53

win though. And you can say, well

23:56

he doesn't be Cleveland, he doesn't mean

23:58

Boston, doesn't mean okay, see, you know

24:00

what? Not supposed to. He's not as

24:02

good as them. If he's losing games,

24:04

that he should win, then come back

24:06

to me. I'm sure that Frank Isola

24:09

has some strong opinions about this. He

24:11

has long defended tips when it comes

24:13

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Sierra, let's get moving. not.

34:09

There were some circumstances that certainly

34:11

go into all of it, but you

34:13

could probably, maybe you could make the

34:15

case. They're not better than Oklahoma City.

34:17

They're not better than Cleveland Cavaliers. They're

34:19

not better than Boston. And the way

34:21

that they're kind of handling these last

34:24

few games here, it seems to me like they're

34:26

trying to arrange it where they end up

34:28

forth. and then they stay out of the

34:30

bracket of the Boston Celtics, which I actually

34:32

think would be a smart thing to do.

34:34

Because I still think Cleveland's been great. I

34:36

would still rather play Cleveland if you get

34:38

to a second round. I'd rather play them

34:40

in the second round and play the Boston

34:42

Celtics. I feel the same way. I don't

34:44

think they'd be Cleveland, but I think they'd

34:46

have a chance. And I watch the Celtics

34:48

against the Knicks, and I think they have

34:50

too many answers that the Knicks... cannot come

34:52

up with anything. They don't have anybody stop

34:54

poor singers, they don't have anybody stop Tatum.

34:56

I don't think the Knicks have a chance

34:59

to be Boston, so I don't look at

35:01

that as any referendum on the coaching of

35:03

Tibbs. It just comes down to management, but

35:05

the way the roster is put together. The

35:07

Knicks roster is not as good as the Celtics.

35:10

Yeah, and I think what also happens in

35:12

the playoffs too if you play Boston, you know,

35:14

you think about what they can do to Jaylon

35:16

Brunson. They could put Derek white on

35:19

them. They could put Drew Holliday who's

35:21

essentially built like a linebacker. Let's assume

35:23

that Jaylon Brown is going to get

35:25

about 10 days to rest before he

35:27

plays his next game. And that wouldn't

35:30

even be the second round when they

35:32

would play the next, if both of

35:34

them were to win. He could be

35:36

a lot healthier. They could put him

35:39

on Jaylon Brunson and try to wear

35:41

him down. Boston, you know, people would

35:43

easily forget, you know, Boston last year.

35:46

They hit the ground running when the season started.

35:48

They had the great record during the regular

35:50

season and they smoked the competition all

35:52

playoff long. They are a great team and the big

35:54

thing for them was kind of getting through this regular

35:56

season. Look at all the games that they've won on

35:58

the road. Boston is still... a really really dangerous

36:01

team and they have spent the

36:03

entire season. They're so deep they

36:05

have so many good players that

36:07

it seems like they never have

36:10

their full complementing players. They actually

36:12

like they'll, you take today off,

36:14

the other guy will take the

36:16

next, like Al Horford has missed

36:18

a bunch of games, Presingas as

36:21

you know, gets hurt a lot. The

36:23

one bunch of games, as you know, gets hurt

36:25

a lot. The one constant in that team is

36:27

Tatum. He played, what he played the other night

36:29

against the Knicks, I think he got, did he

36:32

get the 50 minutes or 48 or 49? Jason

36:34

Tatum plays all the time. Nobody's ever telling Joe

36:36

Mazzoul to take him out and Joe Mazzoul is

36:38

not going to take him out. Go look at

36:41

the Coliocas, go look at the minutes he plays.

36:43

Go look at the minutes LeBron and Lukadonchic play.

36:45

Jay Jayjay Redic is pretty smart. As a first

36:47

year head coach, he's realized the key to play my

36:49

best players, my best players, a lot of minutes. A

36:51

lot of minutes. A lot of minutes. That's

36:53

a lot of minutes. That's good start.

36:55

Is there a team, either the Celtics,

36:58

not the Celtics, the Bucks or the

37:00

Pistons, that you think is a tougher

37:02

matchup for the Knicks? Well, it's

37:04

interesting about the Pistons, because they're

37:06

athletic, and they do have some toughness

37:08

on their team. But you know, the

37:11

way this works, Mike, I look at

37:13

Detroit and I look at Houston the

37:15

same way. Houston will be a tough

37:17

team. They're going to finish

37:19

with the second best record in

37:21

the Western Conference, which is

37:24

something. and how their first ever playoffs, and you

37:26

look at Detroit with Kate Cunningham, it's going to be your

37:28

first time going through it, you can say, they could figure

37:30

it out, but there is something about that. And I know

37:32

that they've done well against the Knicks, but playing in the

37:34

guards in the playoffs would not be easy. The one thing

37:36

about Milwaukee is, you know, Bobby Portis is a key part

37:39

of that team. He served that 25 game suspension. He's back,

37:41

so he helps their bench, and with Damien little with being

37:43

back. The ball. The ball is in Janice with being back.

37:45

The ball is in Janice in Janice in his hands, Janice

37:47

in his hands, he's all the hands, he's, he's, he's, he's,

37:49

he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's,

37:51

he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he And it's not

37:54

like he's taking 35 shots a game.

37:56

He's actually doing a really good

37:58

job distributing the ball. They'll then

38:00

go down in the post. So Janus, as

38:03

kind of like the point guard of their

38:05

team, is actually worked out from Milwaukee.

38:07

And guess what? If the Knicks played

38:09

Milwaukee in the first round, which

38:12

could happen, who's the best player in

38:14

the series? The best player in the

38:16

series, the best player in the series

38:18

is gonna be honest. Sometimes that like

38:21

determines that goes a long way to

38:23

determining who's gonna win. So I don't

38:25

think there's any easy first round series

38:27

for the next. aren't going to have to

38:29

get on a plane now until game three

38:32

of the playoffs, which is pretty good. You

38:34

know, their last two games are both in the

38:36

New York air. They play Sunday in Brooklyn. They

38:38

won't play into what next Saturday or

38:40

Sunday at Madison Square Garden. So the

38:42

next road game probably won't be for

38:44

two weeks from today. That's a long

38:47

way away. And I actually think that's a

38:49

that'll help the next. That's why this whole

38:51

thing about resting in minutes. Plenty of time

38:53

to rest over the next two weeks. All

38:55

right, give me the one thing, Frank, and

38:57

what's on with Frank, I saw a lot

39:00

of serious ex-amine of the yes network. Give

39:02

me the one thing that you could pull out

39:04

positive from this net season, as the next

39:06

are going to finish on Sunday against the

39:08

next. What, I mean, I would say that Jordi

39:10

looks like he can coach, but what else?

39:13

All right, well, one thing about Jordi, Judy

39:15

Fernandez, Fernandez, and you know how this

39:17

works, Mike, Mike. There's a, I

39:19

think there's three European coaches in

39:21

the NBA right now, Toronto, Memphis,

39:23

and in Brooklyn with Judy Fernandez.

39:25

Judy Fernandez was an assistant coach

39:27

for a long time in the

39:30

NBA with Mike Brown in both

39:32

Cleveland and Sacramento. He was with

39:34

Michael Malone in Denver. Like the guy

39:36

knows how the sausage is made. Like

39:38

he understands the league really well and

39:40

he's been around great, great, great players,

39:43

including Nicoliocatch with the Denver,

39:45

with the Denver Nuggets. So. He

39:47

to me he came in and the idea was well, this

39:49

is kind of a throw a year for the net and

39:51

they're gonna tank and they're gonna try to get a high

39:53

pick But you know when you're a first-year head coaching

39:56

you're trying to prove yourself, especially since

39:58

you didn't play the NBA I thought he

40:00

came in with the right attitude. He tried to

40:02

set a standard. He holds the players accountable.

40:04

If they had a poor performer, I mean,

40:07

every time after games, it was refreshing to

40:09

hear him say things like, we didn't deserve

40:11

to win this game. We weren't the better

40:13

team. He doesn't sugarcoat anything. And I think

40:15

what he did, he created an environment with,

40:18

they got a lot of hard playing guys.

40:20

I think I gotta get to get healthy,

40:22

you know, Cam Johnson, Cam Thomas, Cam. a

40:24

lot of games, but I think they have

40:26

a good thing with Jordi. And if you

40:28

know the way it works, Mike, we always

40:30

have our own opinions, and I know you

40:32

do this for baseball, you'll have your own

40:35

opinions that you're pretty confident,

40:37

but you do seek out people in

40:39

baseball that you respect, whether they're

40:41

executives, you know, people on the

40:44

coaching staff or ex-players, to get

40:46

what they think about, Jordi Fernandez,

40:48

especially coaches. They've been really, really

40:50

impressed with him. and get the

40:53

number one pick which would be

40:55

great just even from a marketing

40:57

standpoint if you get Cooper's flag

41:00

but they're gonna at they probably

41:02

will draft six let's assume

41:04

everything holds form and they

41:07

draft six there's gonna be

41:09

a good player there good players are

41:11

all over the draft it's all over

41:13

the draft it's a good player there

41:15

good players are all over the draft

41:17

it's a matter of where of where

41:20

you select them and he played a

41:22

big role with Cooper Flag growing up.

41:24

What was his take on the collapse by

41:26

Duke and the last shot by Flag? He

41:28

didn't have a problem with the last shot.

41:30

I think he was a little surprised

41:33

by the way that they collapsed. And

41:35

you know, the kid Proctor really made

41:37

some mistakes. You know, before he got

41:39

fouled and went to the line on the

41:41

one-in-one, he could have thrown the ball ahead.

41:43

And they probably would have gotten a dunk

41:45

and they would have gone that dunk and

41:48

they would have won that game. I'm working

41:50

at this kid for Maine. He said, I

41:52

think this kid is special. I think this

41:54

kid has a chance to be a great

41:56

player. And then maybe a summer later, he

41:58

started calling up college programs, including... Duke, he

42:00

called up USA basketball and I think they

42:02

were all thinking, well, it's a kid from

42:04

Maine, how good can he really be? And

42:07

then the kid finally got invited to a

42:09

USA basketball kind of showcase out in Vegas

42:11

and he actually tore it up and then

42:13

Brian's phone blew up. Every coach in the

42:15

country was calling him up. And Brian actually

42:18

told Cooper Flag two summers ago, he told

42:20

him when he was working out, he said,

42:22

listen, he goes, you should call up Kevin

42:24

to Rand. call up some NBA players and

42:26

see if you can work out with them.

42:28

I really can't do anything for you anymore.

42:31

Like you're too good for me, I can't

42:33

really keep up. You should think about doing

42:35

something like that. The kids got the right

42:37

attitude. I went to watch youth playing person

42:39

when they beat Alabama and when you watch

42:42

them play, I was kind of impressed for

42:44

a young team. They play like they'd been

42:46

together for a long time. Unfortunately, they didn't

42:48

play that way the last 90 seconds against

42:50

Houston, but you know. Brian Calibrani was saying

42:53

a lot of that is Cooper Flye, he

42:55

just makes the right play when he's out

42:57

on the court. And he's got that one

42:59

intangible that you need. He's driven to be

43:01

great. And he makes an impact on both

43:03

ends of the court. Like Brian loves the

43:06

kid. He just loves his whole attitude. And

43:08

I and Eagle mentioned Brian's name on the

43:10

air, which we got a big kick out

43:12

of when it happened because we asked I'd

43:14

if he would do that. But I said

43:17

he was probably going to do it. Anyway,

43:19

but it's been pretty cool to watch watch

43:21

the kid develop and he's going to be

43:23

the number one pick But I will say

43:25

this I know he's coming out But if

43:27

he didn't like the team that wins the

43:30

lottery, it's not the craziest thing to think

43:32

that will go back These guys make so

43:34

much money now in college. I think there's

43:36

probably a 2% chance that happens, but it's

43:38

not. I don't think it's entirely ruled out

43:41

Frank great stuff. I hope you have a

43:43

good weekend. I hope you have a good

43:45

weekend All right, thank you so much. Frank,

43:47

I solo, he's great. So some insight on

43:49

the Knicks and the Nets and Cooper Flag

43:52

as well. Get back to taking your phone

43:54

calls. I want to remind everybody, you know,

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you're going to hear a sound right now.

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