THE SPURS ARE BEATING THEMSELVES! 😳 Knicks Experience Taking Over the NBA Finals? | Finals Prediction

The Spurs don't have a Knicks problem—they have a Spurs problem.

In this episode, we break down why San Antonio continues to hurt itself with costly mistakes, how New York's veteran experience is becoming the biggest factor in the NBA Finals, and whether the young Spurs can recover before it's too late.

🏀 Topics:

•  Why the Spurs are their own worst enemy 
•  The hidden advantage giving the Knicks control of the series 
•  Can Wemby and the Spurs respond under pressure? 
•  My updated NBA Finals prediction 
•  What Game 3 means for the championship 

Do you think the Spurs can come back, or is New York too experienced to let this slip away?

👇 Drop your Finals prediction in the comments!

#NBAFinals #Knicks #Spurs #Wembanyama #NBAPlayoffs #NBATalk #BasketballPodcast #ScorersSociety #NewYorkKnicks #SanAntonioSpurs #NBADebate #RealHoopers

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Scores, welcome back to the show. As you know, my name is Sean Sha Gamos, and this is the real Hooper show. And the finals is here. The Spurs down 0-2, Knicks up 2-0. Will they make a turnaround? Will the Spurs come back? Will it be a sweep? Will it be a gentleman's sweep? Will you on our way to Madison Square Garden? The most expensive seats ever. Will he do it there? Will he go back to San Antonio? We'll see. And we're gonna talk about it today. I got my guy here. My guy E was good, my boy.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Yo, what's good, bro?

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Woo! You already know it was good. The NBA Finals. Yeah, yeah. NBA Finals, man. Listen, man. I didn't see it going this way. I didn't see the Spurs going down 2-0. Maybe 1-1. Maybe 1-1. I say 1-1.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Yeah, I thought it was gonna be 1-1.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

I thought the Spurs was 1-1. It's gonna be 1-1, bro. You know what happened, bro? Wimby was crying two weeks ago. Look, I posted uh I posted a reaction video to Kevin Garnett's uh uh his uh where he had his comment where he talked about Wimby was too emotional. That was too emotional for that moment. But here's the thing, right? That's not the reason why they're losing, right? Like, he's 22 years old. And it is the irony of the most emotional player we've ever seen in the NBA calling someone else, telling someone else not to be too emotional is crazy. But that's another story for another day. I'm gonna tell you why the Spurs is losing, bro. You know why the Spurs is losing, bro? Why they're losing, bro? They're beating themselves. This is for every hooper that's struggling to get recruited right now. I know this process is tough. Trust me, I've been there before. Coaches miss players every day, and a lot of talented athletes never get the exposure they deserve. But that's exactly why Scout Us College was created. Scout Us College helped players get in front of real coaches by allowing you to create a player profile, upload your highlights, stats, and game film all in one place. And get this, it gets better. Scout us also offer NIL opportunities for athletes who are serious about taking the game to the next level. The best part is, it's free to sign up. And if you want to upgrade your profile, use our code SCORESOCIDI for a discount. Don't wait until it's too late. Summer basketball is right around the corner, and every exposure opportunity matters. Create your profile today and start your recruitment journey with Scouters College. They like, don't get me wrong. I think the Knicks won the the first game fair and square. They're all fair and square. But I think the Knicks, Nick the Knicks beat them the first game. The Spurs, the second game, they beating themselves. Beating themselves. Like, think about this, right? Carr Anthony Towns is not known for a pull-up jump shot. He's not known for a pull-up jump shot. He's known for driving to the basket or shooting three, right? Yeah. Why are you chasing off balance chasing off balance closeouts on Carantine Towns? Why? Just live with it. You Wimby, you 7'4, live with it. If he makes the shot over 8'2 wingspan, five. Five. The first game, Carl Anthony Towns was 0 for 2, right? The second game, he was 3 for 5. I'll live with it. If Carl Anthony Towns is gonna beat me shooting threes over Wimby, I'm okay with that.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

See, my only issue with that is he's not only beating you shooting threes. Or him going 0 for 2 and then 3 for 5 is showing that he's not selling with the jump shot. He's beating you in in multiple ways. Right. With his passing, like you said, getting to the basket. Yeah, and he's still he's still scoring 8, 10 to 20 points. Right. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 4:16

So here's the thing. When he gets them post-ups, he's getting them on switches. He is playing hard, so he's gonna get some putbacks. This is not playground basketball. When I say play good defense, don't beat yourself, slow him down. I don't mean that Carl Anthony Towns is not gonna score. I don't mean he's going to necessarily uh miss all his shots because you're you're you're contesting your contesting a shot. I'm not saying that. What I am saying is he's he's averaging a double double right now. He's averaging a double double in this series, um 19 and 12 in this series. But his shooting percentages is what we're focusing on. He's shooting 55% from the field and 42% from three. You want those numbers to go down. You can get 19 points, but at what expense? You get, see, the Spurs can blow him out and he still can get 19 points. Right?

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

You can have 19 points and the Spurs win by three. But did but is the 19 points on 55% shooting? Is it on 20% shooting, 30% shooting? See, they're doing a good job against Jalen Brunson. Jalen Brunson is 33% from the field, 23% from three. His last the last game, he was five for 26. You can live with that. You can live with that. Because you know why? These guys are professionals. There's no such thing as ohma just shut them down and you just don't score at all. It's not playground. These guys hire people to actually play defense on them and to show them various scenarios so they're comfortable in the game. So they're gonna hit shots. These guys are shooting a thousand jump shots a day, or not, if not more, while they're practicing. They're gonna hit shots. They're gonna get high. But you want, when you're looking at Kat, Kat getting everything he wants. Kat is in his comfort zone. That's the biggest thing. So when I look at the Spurs, I look at it like, why are you guys playing these guys this way? Make him do things he don't want to do. Make Cat put the ball on the ground, right? Sure. But don't allow him to get straight to the basket. Don't allow him to get straight to the basket with no rim protector. Make him pull up.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

See, now my question is how the how uncomfortable can Wemby really make Cat? Because I haven't seen him being uncomfortable by anybody.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Because what you're seeing, he's not really posting uh Wimby up, right? He's finding his postgames through switches. Right? Then they're moving the basketball. The Knicks are moving the basketball, making Wimby chase the three. Right? So what I would say is one, don't switch on these, don't switch on the pick and rolls. Stay solid. Then make him play over two hands all night. If he beats you over that, he's more prepared than you. That's uncomfortable, though. It's uncomfortable for Kat to play against a Wimby who's one of the tallest guys in the league and skill and the defensive, the unanimous defensive player of the year. It's different. You feel me? So I just think they gotta make this shit. I think they gotta make him uncomfortable. They're beating themselves in other ways as well, though. Like, for instance, the last play, well not the last play, but the the notable play, the last notable play, where Remby threw the ball to Castle when he wasn't looking. You're beating yourself. You're beating yourself. Like, if anything, just wait until a guard comes. Slow it down. What you in a rush for? What you in a rush for? I I said this last show. The Spurs are too erratic. The Spurs are too erratic in this moment. They're just moving too fast. They're rushing. Calm down. Like that was an unforced turnover. You're beating yourself. Silly fouls. There was a play in the first half where the clock was winding down, shot clock winded down. Jose Alvarado has the basketball. Castle is guarding him. He forces him to the baseline. One to two seconds left on a shot clock. Jose Alvarado pump fix. Castle jumps into space, foul. Why? Why? He's five six. You're six foot six. Why are you even jumping? Why are you even overplaying it? If he hits the shot, he hits the shot. And you gotta be okay with that. Another play. Second half, fourth quarter, I believe one to two minutes left in the game. OG, Pump Face, Champetti, or Vassel, one of the two, reaches their hand in on the three-point shot, Fouser. Why? What are you doing? You're beating yourself. You're beating yourself. Then it then also, I like, I actually like the defense intensity. What do you think about the defense intensity?

SPEAKER_01 10:30

I think it's been pretty good defense on both ends. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Now here's the thing. I believe there's a such thing as defensive pace. Are you familiar with that?

SPEAKER_01 10:42

No, I'm not familiar with that.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

So here's the thing. They are playing half-court defense, like meeting them at half-court from start to finish.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Talking about the Spurs, right? Spurs. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Right? Now, what's happening is this. Once they start moving the ball, the Spurs is chasing all over the place. They're chasing all over the place. Over a course of a long game, you're going to get tired. You're going to start making silly mistakes. It's not, you're not, they're not going to get tired when it comes to physical, but they will get mental fatigue. And that's where you throw the ball to Castle when he's not looking. That's when you file an OG or a Jose Alvarado on a three. That's what you're seeing. That's when you have your tallest player running out to uh cat. He blows by him and he's dunking, laying the ball up, getting foul. That's what you have. That's what you have. See, they're doing a good job on a lot of these guys. But what's happening is guys start missing shots and they start getting wide open shots. They start feeling comfortable. They start feeling comfortable as the game goes on. And then they start hitting timely shots at the end. That's what you're seeing out of Jalen Brunson. So I think what's really hurting the Spurs, at least for the last game, game two, what's hurting the Spurs game two is that they're beating themselves. They're just simply beating themselves. Like costly fouls with the shot clock running down. For what? Why are we following Jose Alvarado? Why? Why? Castle, why? Why are we following OG? Why? Then the defensive piece. It's okay to pressure, but you I don't think you can pressure all game. Because now you guys are running all over the place. Cat, all you're doing is pump fake and go into the basket because you're out of position. You gotta give it to them in doses, pause. You gotta, you gotta, you can't play that style the entire game. Because now you're tired. And that's when the mental fatigue comes in. That's when you start throwing the ball to someone who's not looking. The Spurs are beating themselves in this situation. But I'm gonna tell you why the Knicks are winning. I'm gonna tell you why the Knicks are winning. Okay. You know what matters, man, in the finals? As you have playoff, deep playoff runs, what matters the most is experience. Have you been here before? That's what you're seeing. The average age on the Spurs is 22 years old. Right? The Knicks have players on their team that's been to the finals. Not only been to the finals, won a championship. Now, don't get me wrong, the Spurs have a Harrison Barnes who won a championship, right? But he's not playing as much as OG. OG has won a championship with the Toronto Raptors. He's been here before. He's playing poised, averaging about 17 points. Averaging 17 points in the series and playing stellar defense. I mean stellar defense. Mikhail Bridges. Mikhail Bridges played in the finals. He played in the finals with the Suns. He was up 2-0 with the Suns. End up losing. End up losing. So he already know the business. He already know the deal. And then, last but not least, Mike Brown. Mike Brown has been to the finals seven times as a coach. He's been twice as a head coach. This year is being one of them. 2007 with uh the Cleveland Cavaliers. Then he also been an assistant coach for the Warriors in 2017, 18, 19, and 2022. Been to the finals. He already knows the deal. He's calm in this situation. He knows how to calm his players down. He knows how to keep these guys in control. That's just what it is. That's what's really keeping the Spurs, excuse me, the Knicks ahead of these guys. They just have the experience, man. They got the experience. And guys, you know, we can sit here and break down the percentages and break down who had the lead and score, who's the high score. We can do that all day. But at the end of the day, that's not what's winning this game. That's not what's winning this game, man. What's winning this game right now, man, is or this series is experience. And I think the Knicks. I'd be surprised if the Knicks drop the ball on this one. I'm not gonna lie to you.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

You think it's gonna be a sweep, or you think the Spurs could come into Discord? I think it's still a game. Still two games, actually.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

I'm an underdog spirit, right? I'm an underdog spirit. Right now, the Spurs is the underdog. And I'm gonna still say Spurs and seven. Are you still saying Spurs and seven? But I'll be surprised if it gets there.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

I'll be surprised. I'm also a realist. I'm also a realist. This is a real Hooper show. We're not biased. We're not silly. We're not, you know. But I believe that the Spurs would now have to come in with some more maturity. And I think the environment that they're about to enter with the pressures that they have on their shoulders is going to be too heavy. It's going to be too heavy. But I always root for the underdog. I always root for the team who people is counting out. And I got faith in them. I don't know if they can get it to seven. I think they can get a win in. I don't think it's going to be a sweep. It'd be crazy. If it's a sweep, this would be one of the most historic runs we've ever seen from any team. Any team. I believe that Lakers team back in 2001. I mean, you guys can jump in the comments and let me know what other team went undefeated in the last three series that they played in before when they won the championship.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

That's tough. I know, I know that Golden State team, I think they lost to Braun. I think they lost one game to Braun. But they did pretty good. What did I say about the Knicks, though? You think the Knicks is a you know. I think Mike Brown.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Mike says a lot about Mike Brown. Nothing really much changed. Nothing changed for the Knicks. You know, you drop Jose Alvarado is playing some big minutes. They picked up Clarkson, but he's not playing a lot of time. Uh McBride's been there. Shamit. Shamit's uh he's he's huge for them. But for the most part, their core group stays the same. Their core group is the starters. You put Mike Brown, a championship coach in there. Game changer. It's a game changer. And people don't want to admit this. They don't think coaching matters. They think coaching is just like they draw like X's and O's. Me and my guy, he was just talking here. We was talking about, like, you know, I see what you was saying. I see what you're saying when you talk about if you would you rather win a championship as a bench player or be a role player that gets minutes on a losing team. And the biggest difference on a championship team is the coach makes everyone feel like family. Everyone's involved. Like I play, I was a sophomore on some uh in high school where I played on some really good teams. A really good team, right? I was we was the biggest team in Philly. I think we lost in that year. I believe we lost in the suite 16 of the public lead or whatnot. And for me, I didn't feel left out. I went to all the tournaments, I was at practice every day. The dudes welcome the starters, the seniors, they welcomed me with open arms, they talked to me, they didn't make me feel like, yo, man, get out of here, you're a bum, you're a scrub, you ain't playing, get out of here, you're like, yo, bro, get grab, go grab my bags. Like, you know what I mean? It was all like a family, you feel me? So when you have a good coach, a good coach turns a team into a family. And the Knicks, I said this early in the year. I felt the Knicks was going to come out the East because they had the most experience with Jason Tatum was out at that time. They had the most experience with Tyrese Halliburton out at that time. So I felt like the Knicks would come out the East. But I didn't know if they was able to beat the Spurs, they're able to beat OKC. But now that you see Mike Brown coaching against a young Mitch, a young Mitch, you see him being out coach. He's being out coach, and the reason why he's being out coached is because experience matters. Experience matter. But make sure y'all tap in, man. Make sure you guys tap in. For all my fathers out there, you don't have to buy it. Send it to your girl. Score society goes activewear. I'm taking 35% off the entire store until Father's Day. Put real hoopers in check at checkout. All yours, bro. All yours. Everything we wear, everything we do is all of quality. I've never had a review that said, oh, this quality was terrible. Never had it. So make sure you guys tap in. Make sure you follow us on all social sites, Score Society. Until next time, let's continue to think elite and together. Welcome to Score Society.