Knicks & Spurs in the NBA Finals!

The Knicks are in the NBA Finals, and we’re not treating it like a headline. We’re treating it like a problem set. Steven and Justin are joined by Rabbi Keith to dig into why this Knicks team looks legit right now, what the Spurs actually are beyond the Victor Wembanyama hype, and why this series has the feel of a real coaching chess match instead of a quick coronation.

We get deep into the matchup details: how San Antonio used high pick and roll to turn Wembanyama into gravity, why OKC’s depth didn’t save them, and which Spurs role players are quietly swinging games. On the Knicks side, we talk about balanced scoring, playoff physicality, and the two-way math that changes everything late: Jalen Brunson as the closer plus Karl-Anthony Towns as a paint option you can’t “Hack” because he shoots free throws at an elite rate. If you love NBA Finals preview content, Knicks analysis, and real basketball strategy, this is the episode.

Then we widen the lens to the rest of the sports world: we remember NFL legend Raymond Berry, react to the Chicago Bears stadium situation around Soldier Field and Arlington Heights, and hit the chaos of the day’s NFL moves including Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants bringing back Odell Beckham Jr. We wrap by calling out how defense and coaching decisions can expose stars when the pressure peaks, with James Harden as the case study.

Subscribe on YouTube and X, share this with a friend who’s locked into the Finals, and leave us a review. What’s your prediction: Knicks in 6, Knicks in 7, or Spurs spoil it?

Transcript

Knicks Finals Shock And Show Milestone

0:01

Hello everyone, the Knicks are in the finals. Unbelievable. Here on Sports Talk Live with Steven Justin. So how are you, Justin? I'm doing just fine, Steve. How are you? I'm good. This is a good week for sports all around. A lot of trades today, a lot of things happen. But let's start right here. YouTube. Sports live with Steve and Justin just broke 250,000 views. Amazing, isn't it? That's awesome. Thank you so much, everybody who tunes in. And having said that, not only are you broadcasting live on YouTube, we broadcast live on Riverside System. We also broadcast live on my Facebook page. We now officially are broadcasting live on X. So you can watch us in a few different places. So on X, we are on Sports Talk at Sports Talk SJ. Sorry, it took me a minute to remember. At Sports Talk SJ. And please like and subscribe us there. Like and subscribe us on YouTube. Please come and watch us and learn and teach us, I should say, about what the hell we're doing. But you know, I mean just that w if we have uh please bring us topics you want to hear about. We enjoy uh hearing your feedback and we're gonna try to keep the train on the tracks here. So not for anything. Uh runaway trade. I think the first thing we should really get to are the Knicks. It's unbelievable they made the finals. And we have Rabbi Keith who's gonna talk to us a little bit about basketball, unless you want to talk about anything else first. No, let's go right to the basketball. We can save all the other stuff for later. Okay. Please like, subscribe on YouTube, on X, and please send us your comments. We're we're glad to talk about them. You can watch us live, and then also afterwards, there's a more professional edited kind of one that we post and gets all the likes. So let's bring in the rabbi.

Rabbi Keith Joins The Basketball Talk

2:47

Rabbi! How are you guys doing? How are you? Lahaim, what's going on? Hey and what's up, I don't know. Usual, just hanging out. Yeah, I'm really excited. Yeah, thanks for watching. I don't know if I took I I I glad to have you back always. But I don't know if I told you this. Did I tell you this? That we have 250,000 D I get it right this time. You see, it's backwards when I see it. So that's why I screw it up. Views in a few months, in in six months, what have we been doing it for? Ten months, maybe? So we're getting there. We're getting there. Every time I go on the show, somebody comes up to me and goes, Rabbi, I loved you on there. You know, so I mean, you know, the show's catching on. It's doing good, man. It's popping. So the real funny part is that I do all these shorts and I posted them on X, that Andrew Dice Clay re did what reposted one of his jokes that I didn't even get. I didn't even understand it. My dream in life has been fulfilled. Andrew Dice Clay, who Justin and I spent literally all of 10th and 11th grade listening to the same album playing Tech Mobile. I didn't even think we went to school. I think we played Tech Mobile. And like with argued over who got to be Jerry Ball the whole time. And we listened to over and over again an album called The Dave the And Laughter died. He has this really bizarre bit about uh our back get it. And so I threw the red red hour back thing in thinking Justin would get it. I'm thinking Andrew Dice Clay would be like, check it out, you know. So it was pretty cool. I mean, like that was, you know, I'm pretty much, I was ready to die after that. I was like, you know, and that was on TikTok. So you can find us on TikTok. I think it's Steven Justin or Stephen Justin Live. Just look for us. Yeah, sorry. Just to correct you, this the Twitter is sports live SJ. It's exactly what I said, three different ways. Sports Live SJ on X. It's not Twitter. Thank you. On X. That's great with Twitter. Since we're correcting each other. I I tend to appeal a lot to 12-year-olds. So the TikTok whole thing is nice, kind of getting on. Dice has a TikTok account that blew me away. I thought you could only be like a teenage girl doing a dance trend if you were on TikTok. There's too much money in it. Everybody does it because TikTok is what accelerates you across the world, right? Right. So an X is good because you could sit in there and listen and they could say all the updates, you know, that AJ Brown is going to New England from Philadelphia, and you already know if you follow the X feed that, you know, that saves Philadelphia $50 million. And not that we're going to talk about football, we're not. And that not right now, anyway. And that they gave up a first round next year and a like a third round or second round the year after. So, I mean, nothing secret. And anything that is secret, you're never going to find out about anymore. So it's not a assassination, isn't it? The best way to keep a secret is to make up a conspiracy theory about it. And people will talk about it, and 50% of the people won't believe you, and 50% of the people will believe you. So that's how it's done now today. Yeah, that works. It's not bad. Um, you want to start with the Knicks? We we could, although I I figured you guys wanted to talk about it being the 14-year anniversary of the Johan No Hitter. I mean, I know the Knicks thing is kind of important, but you know. 14 years ago, Johan Santana. Anyway, moving on. That's how uh Yeah, let's talk about I mean it's probably the biggest thing that happened in New York since like I don't know. So here we go. If you try to make it a I know well, I I would love to say I tried to make it easier for for you, but I'm actually making it easier for us because you're gonna go through the players. So I have a list. Okay. I can you believe and my vision's so bad. All right. Um you can't see it, you have to uh there's a way, there's a way to change the layout. Yeah, no, you got uh Alvarado, go ahead. Yeah, uh um you want me to just focus in on a few guys? Yeah, tell me who you want to talk about. That's the list. I can't see it because it's not only small to me, it's backwards. Yeah. So I can't read it all. You're small to me. But I mean, I know most of the uh you know, you know, like I say, I mean, would you like me to speak in depth on Tyler Collock and his four points a game? Because I feel like No, I want you to talk about what you want to talk about. Or do you want to start with the Spurs?

How The Spurs Took Down OKC

7:22

Well, the Spurs are interesting. Okay, first of all, the weird part about this, Judge, is I really thought, you know, until there was about four minutes left in game seven, man, what are we gonna say about Oklahoma City that hadn't been said? Like I kept thinking, you know, this is gonna be really interesting talking about the Oklahoma City and Knicks. It didn't really occur to me until I think right around Luke Coronet with six minutes left with that block, which is one of the one of the greatest offensive plays I've seen in a big-time NBA game by Luke Coronet, you know, like from Vanderbilt, who, you know, exactly like guy who gets like about 10 minutes a night and just had an incredible block. And then all of a sudden, I'm like, I should pay a little more attention to the Spurs. I might have watched them this year, but in my head, Oklahoma City was just a better team. They were a deeper team. They were, you know, I mean, they were fabulous, you know. The idea that the Spurs weren't gonna beat them didn't seem real to me for a long time. So I'm, you know, like, like if I I got a whole bunch on OKC, which doesn't do you any good. But it watching those two games, the the final two games of the series, the Spurs were incredible. I mean, I had I had made the same mistake that I think most people are making about the Spurs, which is that, you know, it's Victor Wembiana and a bunch of other guys. And what I That's not true. No, like, you know, when I watch him, especially in game seven, there are so many guys who contribute on that team in really important ways. And Wembiana is a brilliant player. He has the ability. Uh we can talk a little bit about what he does in high pick and rolls, but it's just remarkable. But he is the sort of player who, you know, he can be the action, but he didn't have a huge game in game seven. Julian Champagny had a big game. He had six threes, you know. Like, I mean, you know, Darren. But you're talking about offense, talking about defense too. He did have a big game. He was huge on defense. And and he's the first, actually, he was defensive player of the year. He's the first unanimous defensive player of the year, youngest guy ever to win the award. You know, I mean, he is, you know, blocking almost four, having almost four blocks a game. You know, you know how many times he's failed out this season? None. None. None. I know. Uh twice in his career. You know, and I said that to somebody, and they were like, you know, do you know who never fouled out once in his career? I didn't know this. Will you go? Will Chamberlain. See, I you you you must have been like, like, we must be mind-melding or something right now, Judge. I just know uh there's some crap I know. I just don't know where it is. It's in there somewhere. And you say it soon as you say, I knew as soon as you brought that out and I knew that he hadn't fallen out, fallen out, and you would think Will Chamberlain would have how physical and whatever and dominant he was, you would think that he fouled out a load of times, and meanwhile, none. That's still it's just incredible. Even to have fouled out twice in his career at this point, it's just incredible. But he's like a foul magnet. I mean, everybody has to play so tough against him and hard and physical that he's gonna draw fouls more than he I would imagine gives him out. Well, I'm just gonna hit one Chamberlain back before I get to Wembayana because I think there's there's some definite parallels there. You know, they didn't start keeping the stat for how many block shots per game a player had in the NBA until 1973-74 officially. So they had to go back unofficially and see what games they had of Chamberlain. Chamberlain, in the 112 games they have, Chamberlain averaged 8.8 blocks and never fouled out. You know, it went beyond it as a great defender, but like, you know, like one season of not fouling out and blocking almost four shots a game blows me away. Chamberlain did that for his whole career. But you have to remember, too, Chamberlain was seven foot two. Yes, two or four. Seven foot two? Yeah, two. I'm sorry. Was he even that tall? Yes, he was. I mean, he looked he looked pretty tall to me. I I you know, from a distance And everybody else wasn't as tall as they are now. So he was really dominant. And and and it works the same with Kareem. Only Kareem was ridiculous. And then sky hooked, that would that would kill you. Kareem won a Milwaukee, it won a won a title in Milwaukee. You know what I mean? It was like it was Kareem and like Junior Bridgeman, and they won a title. Um, so but you know, going back to how good a defensive player Wembiana is, I mean, he really is a transcendent player on defense. You know, game one of the series, he came out had 44-21, and he had one of those games where it was like, yeah, I'm here, you know, like I'm the guy. Okay. But what was interesting in that series, he had a great game six. Game seven, it it was, it was, you know, it was a brilliant play. I mean, it was an absolutely brilliantly offensive scheme. He only scored 20 points. And what they did in most of not probably two third of the possessions was they run the same high pick and roll play. And, you know, for me, best playing basketball is high pick and roll. Big guy comes up, sets, sets pick, rolls to the basket, defender has to switch and either follow shooter or follow the, you know, somebody has to follow the big guy, blah, blah, blah. You end up with mismatch problems, everything like that. What was fascinating in that game is that they must have scored eight or nine baskets where Wembiana went up for high pick and roll, and you think they're gonna throw the dunk down to him, and someone steps out and hits a three, or someone drives the basket. And the Wembiana was almost used, was almost used as a distraction for long stretches of that game. And, you know, that really opened my eyes to the fact that the roster around him is fantastic. Stefan Castle was a great player at UConn. I didn't think he had progressed to the level he played at in the OKC series, but I mean, he he did a fantastic job on Shea Gilgius Alexander. The odd part of the series was OKC's strength strength was depth, right? You figured the Spurs were going to be all about going to One Biana, but in game seven, they were just they just kept going to Shea. They kept throwing the ball in the Shea, and they had double coverage. He's popping it out there. Meanwhile, Chet Holmgren, who was supposed to be uh third team all NBA, Chet Holmgren, did you guys catch his shooting line? 33 minutes, two shots. In 30 minutes? 33 minutes. You know, that's right. I had heard that. Chen was forcing it, and it was weird. Oklahoma City has been great at distributing the ball all year, but they really got sucked into the game that I was accusing San Antonio of playing early in the series, which is being overly overly reliant on Wimbiana. The guys around him stepped up and made big shots. Harper's kid, you know, Ron Harper's son. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're that old. Ron Harper's son is out there. You know, Dylan Harper hit a huge three, didn't think he had it in him. Darren Fox is a great player. Um, you know, they just get a lot out of everybody. Like I say, having Coronette come off and give him 10 good minutes off the bench on defense. They're a tough team. And that series really had to be Oklahoma City, granted, they had a major injury, but Oklahoma City was a fantastic team. I wouldn't be surprised if they won it next year. Um, had Malbert penciled in to win it this year, but the Spurs played an immaculate series. They did everything they could with Miana to move him around. And he just he got better and better as the series went on. He got teammates involved. And the Knicks are the Knicks could have a problem with this team. Castle did a great job on why not? Everyone else says. Yeah, I mean, you know, SGA, you know, I mean, Castle really earned for me. I realize Castle was big time in what in the job of you know, SGA. SGA was 41% from the field. It's like this second shooting performance he had in every series, right? So you have you know, you have Castle locking up against Brunson. Now, Brunson lit him up in the regular season, but Castle's gotten better. It's Castle's third year in the league. And not and not for anything. First of all, the Knicks played differently in the regular season. Yes. So uh by the way, Keith, Angela says hello. My God. Angela, I love you. How are you? Angela, we all say hello to you. We appreciate that you watch us every week. Hi, mom. And and uh we we know that uh you're the only one on most days. So that I'm kidding. And a lot of Keith lovers out there. You got uh Joe who says hello to you, Keith. Hey Joe, what's up? I don't uh I know a few Joes, so but I don't know. I know. I I'm not gonna tell you who he is. And uh he uh he read some interesting things about you, Keith. But what is anyway no, I'm not telling you. And uh let's stay focused.

Knicks Balance Versus Spurs Depth

16:18

So the uh what's interesting is people are saying, you know, the the Knicks beat him twice. The Knicks the Knicks beat him twice during the regular season. Yeah, I don't think either team is the same team right now that they were in the regular season. Right. First of all, the Knicks play totally different, and and you'll find if you really look at the box scores and spend some time looking at it, you will see during these playoffs that Nick's strength is that everybody's playing, right? It's not though uh Joe said I should tell you his last name that I will in a minute, that the um you know, you think that you know Brunts is playing really the guy carrying everything. Yes, in the fourth quarter he's definitely been doing that when they're behind or whatever happens. But the reality is that it's pretty evenly spread against all the players, which is unusual. Yeah, right? Usually there's the in in most recent years, if you you could say 20, you can even say in the LeBron year if you want, that they needed that big player and a secondary big player to carry the team. But all of a sudden the Knicks have kind of broke that mold, and even though they have a killer player in him, you know, the scoring's gone across the board. Like all all ships rise, as as Justin always says, all boats rise. And but you know, if you look at the Spurs, even though they have those big players or the biggest player, that you'll see the scoring is also spread in that same kind of way across the team. And they got six guys who average over 13 points per game. And again, Wembiana, you know, he draws so much defense. I mean, he's gonna draw a double or he's gonna draw a real good defender. Um, you'll get mismatches, stuff like that. Defenses will have to change around. A lot of those guys get looks because there's so much focus on Wembiana, and the Knicks are gonna have to do that, they're gonna have to shut him down. Um, but the Knicks, like in terms of the performance they've gotten out of guys, I mean, seemed like about three weeks ago, uh, Bridges looked like he was done. And he's been he's been shooting about 60% from the field since the middle of the Hawks series. People were talking about benching him, everything like that. He has been fantastic. OG and Anube's been like, I always mess that name up. I hope I got it right. I apologize if I don't him. But he's, you know, he's been like the most efficient scorer in the league in the playoffs so far. I mean, he's been fantastic. Carl Anthony Towns is a hard guy for a lot of people, but I'm going to argue that Carl Anthony Towns to me, if the Knicks are gonna win, it could be a key could be the key for kind of a strange reason. The number of, okay, so late game, obviously they go to Bronson, right? But there's a second option that's fascinating for the Knicks, that they have Carl Anthony Towns, who is, you know, likes to play around the perimeter, but is the absolute beast in the paint. Seven foot, built, anything like that, get him the ball down low. You basically got to foul him. Well, if you foul him, here's what gets interesting. He's like, he's an 86% free throw shooter. He's one of the best shooting free throw shooting big men in the history of the game. So late, if you have to make a decision, you got him with the ball in the paint, you know, like Shaquille O'Neal would get the ball in the paint, foul him, obviously, right? Most big men you'd foul. You can't do that to him. He's a 90% free throw shooter in the playoffs in his career. So he's a guy who late in the game, let's say Brunson doesn't get a look. You jam the ball in down to Carl Anthony Towns once or twice. And you know, again, one Bianca's a fabulous defender, and if one beyond is on him, you know, he may not get fouled. But you know, the point is like you have two kind of distinctive ways that the Knicks can win close games. And that's rare. I mean, usually you got one thing you can go to. The fact that the Knicks have two, you gotta figure, you know, if it goes seven, five of the games can be real close. Probably two of those games are gonna be games that are decided by Carl Anthony Towns making free throws or or Jalen Bronson hitting shots, you know, down the stretch, right? So if me, they got they got a game or two in there that they can win that way. If they do that, I think they win the series. Um anyway, but yeah, yeah, I as you were saying, the Knicks are very well balanced. Everybody is playing well right now. Hart has games where he looks fantastic. He's not always great, but he's always consistently solid. Um, they're just a tough team. Mitchell Robinson is, you know, he was working out. He's supposed, I mean, you know, they think he's gonna play for game one. He'll be back in the series. Defensively, he's a really key component to what they do. They defended the Spurs particularly well the last time they played against him, and he was a dominant player on that end of the floor in that game. So, you know, if if he's back, you know, this I I I I'm I'm a Nixon seven guy.

Towns And Brunson In Crunch Time

21:13

I think it's you know, I think I'm feeling it, you know. It's it's uh I gotta it's funny because I'm a Nixon six guy. That would be cool too. I'm actually gonna get up to New York the day of game seven. So like I guess I have to wear the black hat. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You always uh you're Spurs. You see, he's giving us some story. Listen to this story. I'm not gonna just yes he'd agree with you. He's he he told me that he picked the Spurs a long time ago and he was looking through it back to the. Three weeks ago, I said they were in the window. That's all I thought. Hold on, hold on. So he the Spurs were again and he's looking through for the thing. So he can play it when we're when we're on. But you know, it doesn't seem to exist that that. That prediction doesn't look you know, it's sometimes we're we're you know it's there. Solution of Granger sometimes in our, you know, I kind of remember the same to be honest. We've been on the Spurs. I have not been on the Spurs bandwagon. I am way late on the Spurs this time. I just did not think this was the I I thought this was gonna happen. I just didn't think this was gonna happen now. You know, I mean, like this run is they're way ahead of schedule. And not to mention, they got, you know, they got a ton of young players. They got their starting five back next year. I mean, that's that's a you know, were they to win it this year? Knicks also have their starting five back next year, but we're gonna be able to do that. Joe th Joe Joe th agrees with me, Nick's in six, so he can't be too bad of a guy, whoever he is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Almost everybody named Joe I like. There's a few uh there's a few Joe's I don't text you. I texted you who he was. I texted you who he was. Oh, that guy. Now don't say it out loud because we're trying, you know, 50 bucks. 50,000 people are gonna see this, so let's not uh throw him under the bus here. He's gonna break my kneec. It's it's it's it's a problem. He's starting taunting me, is what he's doing. Anyway, that's interesting. Uh I underst listen, am I surprised if the Spurs win? But I don't think it's gonna be like all day Spurs. What has to happen though, and we you know, we're aware, is that what happen what has to happen is the they can't let happen in game one of the last series happen in game one in this series, because they're not first of all, the coach is not gonna make the same mistakes. Yeah. And you know, how that coach, you know, is still existing, I don't know. I think he wasn't fired on the court. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry, everybody that knows nothing about basketball said this guy should be fired. Uh other than, you know, we give him a a lecture about how to um how to use timeouts. Or to use them anyway. Yeah, I mean, unbelievable. And and whatever. And it just seems to make the same mistakes all the time. Yeah, they're not gonna run into that with the Spurs. The Spurs are incredibly well coached. Again, their game plan against Oklahoma City. If you uh you watch that game seven, and it was just like a masterclass. It was like every possession they had gamed out didn't make any, you know, you know, again, they had the lead the whole game. OKC would make a run. There's a little point where they took the lead, but they really, really had answers every time OKC made an adjustment. I mean, they're very well coached. Both teams are. I mean, this is gonna be one of those, you know, sort of chess match finals where you have two truly well-coached basketball teams against each other that have, you know, again, varying strengths. I mean, the thing that I'm not sure about in this series is there's there's there's sort of a dynamic that that I think we'll probably be defining, but I don't know which way is the fact that the Spurs have had to claw their way here, right? The Spurs are playing seven game series. They just came back from 3-2 down, clawed their way past the team that won a championship last year. One of the, I mean, Wembiana, who like never looks emotional. I mean, I I believe he is a cyborg. Um, and he is like, you know, he's like the terminator, but like as a seven foot five basket. And he read 180 books last year, too, just in case you were curious about what he does when he's not scoring 25 a game. So he's, you know, he I I I where am I going with that? I don't know. Anyway, um, what was I talking about? Oh yeah. Um, so you gotta screw him, they gotta be dead tired, right? So either they could be coming in with a ton of momentum, and the Knicks are coming off of what, you know, they've won 11 straight. They haven't really versus Rust. Yeah, and it's like, I mean, this could go a lot of ways. I would think that if the series goes on, though, the Knicks are the Knicks benefit, right? Like if we go to a game six or a game seven, the legs on the Spurs have to be bad at some point, right? I mean, also they're a young team, they got nobody on that roster with any playoff experience except Luke Coronet, or I think he was on he was in the playoffs. But like these guys aren't guys who have been in the playoffs on deep runs. The Knicks, I mean, you know, kind of have. Um, but you know, and you got OG who got a championship up with the Raptors, right? So you you got a team that has a little more experience. Um, I like this series more and more as it goes on for the Knicks, but early, if San Antonio can get a game or two early, that changes the whole dynamic. It keeps the momentum going. So that resting just in a early money, from what I understand, the early money was on the Knicks. And now that San Antonio won, it's kind of shifted a little. But the money's gonna be on the Knicks because the Knicks are the only bet. Because there's no, there's no way it's close enough. It's a New York market. It's gonna drive the it's gonna drive the game. But it's it's close enough game where you wouldn't be surprised if either team won, right? And the payoff is with the Knicks numbers. You're gonna get the bigger numbers. You bet Knicks and six. I don't know what it is off the top of my head, but it's but it's a pretty good number for your money. Well, because San Antonio's the favorite. Yeah. The series number last year, and I still think The West was the favorite before this the the last series even started. Right. Yeah. And I heard I heard the mad dog say right when I was driving home uh before, say the Eastern Conference has it teams are so much worse than the Western Conference that when they play each other, the Western Conference team's gonna blow them away. You know, I mean, I I I I think the Knicks are the Knicks are right now playing the best basketball they've played all year. The West is better than the East. It's deeper than the East, certainly. I mean, I don't think that's I don't think that's the Knicks believe in themselves. Right. Therefore, like it's not like that's where this all started, right?

Momentum, Rest, And Finals Pressure

28:12

You know, we the Knicks won that NBA Cup midseason thing. Right. So I don't put any, I don't invest anything into that. However, the Knicks took a lot of heat for celebrating that the way they did, but you come to find out that everybody gets paid when you win that. Not just the players, but the assistants and probably the you know, the ball boy and the trainers and whatever. Everybody gets a piece. And I think the Knicks celebrated that because they were happy that they were able to do it for those guys. Because these this group really does love one another. They are a together unit. You know, we talked about them being lunch pail guys and hard workers, Villanova guys, grinders, Villanova, but they really are, you know, cool, down-to-earth, just uh, you know, men about men. And they were like that when they played for Villanova. Yeah. And it transcends into their into their style of play here in New York. And they weren't celebrating winning anything, they were celebrating what they did for their franchise. And that endears them to this fan base and everybody else in the building. So, yes, now they have to take the next step. This is what what it's you know, this means something rather than them taking the heat for it. Back, you know, what was it how three months ago? I don't even remember when that was. Yeah, I see. I didn't have a problem with that. I was like, We kind of laugh at how the NBA I like the tournament. I mean, it's you know, it seems like last season it's so long ago. Yeah, but it means something to more than just the players, and the players are vested in it for the rest of the people, not just the guys in the locker room, but the coaches, the assistants, the trainers, the ball boy. That's a galvanized unit from top to bottom. And as much as I love to rip the NBA for all their gimmicks, and as much as I as much as I love to rip James Dolan, he's kind of taking a back seat here, with the one exception maybe. And this unit is not just playing together, they're playing for each other. Yeah, I mean, you know, I I I can bang, I've been banging on James Dolan for 20 years, but I gotta be honest, this is a really well put together roster. And the coaching move I thought this year was brilliant. I mean, like Well, that's that's Wes, right? Wes is the one who put this roster together. Really, I mean, you know, Dolan, like, I mean, again, there's a lot of reasons not to like James Dolan, but I mean, like, this team has really come together and I think they're built very well. You know, you guys are in New York, so you don't, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but like most people outside of New York absolutely hate New York teams. I found this out in Atlanta. I was just wonder why. Well, I couldn't believe it, right? But you know, the interesting thing about this Knicks team is like, even if you're even if you're rooting against everything New York, they're a hard team not to like. They're not like Jalen Brunson. Brunson was a great guy. Very, but yeah, completely underdrafted. You know, you know, everybody was saying this guy, this guy's not gonna be a great pro. You kept hearing all these arguments, like he was like uh the Tim Tebow of college basketball. Great college player, but won't translate to the pros. And he's become a star caliber player, and he is that guy. And the guys around him, I mean, it's not that they're not big ego guys, they like to play together, they play hard. Do you see? I don't know if you guys, if you saw the footage of when Josh Hart got picked up by the Knicks, like Jalen Brunson is in the airport and he sees it come up and he's like jumping around like a little kid, you know. These guys really like each other, they're a likable team, and the Knicks haven't won a title in 56 years, right? Like, you know, again, it's not you know, I I I know I know you know, like when I get the Yankees haven't won in a while. But I mean, you know, the Yankees have won like 27 of them, so it's like eh, Yankees get a title, whatever. But I remember being in New York in 92 when the Rangers won, and they hadn't won since 1940, and it was like 94. With 94, yeah, sorry. Oh god, my brain is shot. Yeah, I was gonna say that's when that's when uh that's when I was in the car with OJ and we never mind. Uh long story. Um, but uh, but no, you know, but like, you know, so 94. I mean, I you know, I I mean I went down to that parade. I don't like the Rangers. I was cheering for the Islanders. I they weren't even playing. I was cheering for Vancouver in that series, for God's sakes. But I went down to that parade, and I mean, seeing the city lit up like that and everybody just going nuts was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had around sports. New York is a basketball town that doesn't want to admit it's a basketball town. I mean, it's bit, you know, it's it's there's no title either team since 1970. So, you know, like for this to happen in New York is really if it happens this year, it's gonna be a really big deal. And it's the right guys. I mean, it's like, how can you not like this roster? So I I think normally you get the, you know, like anti-New York hate coming in. I don't think you get that here. I think you get a lot of people who really would like to see them do it. And the Spurs are also really fun, you know. I think the rest of the country still hates New York. Yeah, well, you that's gonna be it's not a knock on these guys, these players. It's just the rest of the country hates us. If there is a chance New York would become a likable team in any situation, any scenario, this would be it, though, because they really are. They are a cool team, man. Brunson is Brunson is probably my favorite superstar in basketball in years because he's a launch, he is a launch pad guy. You said before, he's a launch pal guy. He just comes out, plays hard, makes plays when he needs to. Just a great basketball player. So, you know. I'm hoping I'll be up there, that man. I'll be up there with game seven. I'm gonna be up there when they win. I'm it's gonna be crazy. I'm gonna be running through the streets, you know, getting arrested in Grand Central. That's right, you're gonna be here running around, huh? So you know what? You know what some of the some of the things

Brunson’s Place In Knicks History

33:56

I heard today. So I you know, now you see this list, you see this list, and I don't have it in front of me of the the ten greatest Knicks of all time, right? That was great. And and and you get Frasier, you get Willis Reed. To put anybody before Clyde Fraser, I shake my head. That's all I could say. Willis Reed, well, let's go with it. He was a great player, but you're forgetting about all everybody else. You know, DeBusher was a great player, um, great rebounder. Uh Bill Bradley, you know Dollar Bill. Yeah, Dollar Bill Dollar Bill Bradley was my former senator from New Jersey. I'll tell you a little funny story about him. So, you know, me, I'm this I was going to school and studying, and uh and he had made given the speech about freedom and about something that happened, and I had been studying, you know, in in school about law and society and the changes laws make and how society changes with the laws and laws change with society. And he said something and I wrote him a letter and said, you know, you know, we have to really remember that in 1776, you know, also Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations. And and that so that at that time it was survival of the fittest, pretty much, and and that and talked about the forming of the Constitution and all those things all at the same time, and gave him this real letter. And he wrote me a really nice letter back, very short and sweet. And then I went and looked him up and realized that he was a road scholar in history of that era, and and and I'm saying to myself, who the hell am I? A couple of years of you know, read a couple of books of writing a letter. He's like, Who's this dumb kid? Not knowing that I wasn't a kid at the time, but because I went to school late in life. But anyway, he was at least since I was a constituent, I guess, he was at least nice to me when he ran, you know, and plus he went to Princeton. He's got to respect that a little bit. You know, you actually knowing the year wealth of the city. I really did it. It was really, I really well thought out, great letter, uh, and and uh wasted on somebody smarter than me. But anyway, at least then. But you know, my own. But having said that, it's a great team, but back to what we were talking about is that you know, the conversation, you know, Bernard King, he was a great player. He's my favorite dick of all time. He was him and his brother used to live in the town where I lived. And my friend worked at the local nursery and did all the nursery work in his house. And he my friend was huge. My friend Ross, we used to c we used to call him the late late the late great Ross. And of course, he died very young after shortly after we started calling him that, strangely enough. He was gigantic, Ross. Gigantic. And so that you know, they liked him and he did all the shrubberies, and they were very nice guys to him. Very nice guys to Ross. And um I always remembered that about them, that they were they were nice to others. And and I and I and I think that says a lot about and except in these huge houses that overlook the lake there in Franken Lakes, where I grew up. But anyway, great player, but you know, they were talking about where our new star falls in that group. And you know, they were talking about um Yeah, they were talking about Brunson, but they were talking about Carmelo. Oh my god, his name just zipped out of my head. Orlando Blackman. No, no, don't go uh no, the go a little f uh uh the center center. Uh the big guy, uh Patrick Ewing. Patrick Ewing. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So they were talking about Ewing and where he fits in on that list, and and you know, the answer became and and the mad dog said this actually. He said, well, he goes, Brumson wins, he goes ahead of Ewing because he won a championship. I mean it's how is he not already ahead of him? It's well, and I love Patrick, don't get me wrong. Ewing, though, but like when Ewing came to the Knicks, the Knicks were a mess, right? I mean, you know, the whole the whole buildup into the 90s, I mean, that was on the back of Patrick Ewing, and he really was one of the greatest. I mean, um to me, I think he was the greatest college player I ever saw. I think he was one of the best. I mean, he's in the conversation at least. Not he's not that team out of great stuff. And that was a good that was a great time to be a team like that, right? Never to win a title was in the 90s. Right. And and you had you had them, you had St. John's head, the bird-like character. What's his name? Mullen, yeah. You had Mullen. You know what I'm talking about? Chris Mullen, yeah. Chris Mullen, who was one of my favorite players because he reminded me of Larry Bird. He never had that same heart, but he was he was like everybody else. He had a great shot, and he, and they, you know, they said he was slow, and he was a gym rat. Yeah. So, you know, he he had some issues, but part of the greatest Final Four I think I ever saw, because they had it was St. John's against Georgetown. And I remember driving past the Empire Steeple, and the Empire State Building was built up, was it was red. Georgetown beat him up, and then Memphis, who was supposed to blow out Villanova, didn't blow out Villanova, and you know, Villanova won that, and then upset, you know, Georgetown, what I think was the greatest college game ever played. But Ewing came out of that, and that Knicks, the Knicks were kind of like, you know, they were dodgy for a while. I mean, you know, you had some get some get Bernard King scoring points and Michael Ray Richardson, but you didn't, they really weren't a good team, and they hadn't been for a while. So the real resurgence into the 90s was all around Ewing. I think if Ewing had won a title, it's easier to make the argument that he's the greatest play Knick of all time. I I like the Frasier argument. I because I grew up watching Ewing and watched a lot more Ewing than than you know than Frazier or you know, Russell, not Russell, Russell on the brain, the Frasier Reed. I, you know, obviously I'm partial to Ewing, but Ewing was he was a transcendent player. I mean, it it just the lack of a title really hurts him. But I think I put Ewing ahead of him, but like, yeah, the second Brunson hits the game-winning shot in game seven or you know, puts up 42, you know, like at that, I mean carries the team on his back in the fourth quarter to win a game. I it it's there we are. I mean, this is the this is the setup for it. And he's you know, he he loves moments like this. Remember, he was a Villanova as a freshman, and he was the best player on the floor in a national championship. You know, this guy just he just loves these moments. And so I wouldn't put him ahead of Ewing yet, but I would say that yeah, he wins. I put him ahead of Ewing. I'm not sure I can put him ahead of Frazier. I mean, Frazier in a game seven, 36 and uh what 36 and 17. So, you know, it's like in the Willis Reed game. So, you know So is he ahead of Carmelo? Oh yeah, yes, I put him ahead of Carmelo. I mean, Carmelo is he he's ahead of Houston then, too. Oh, yes, definitely. Yes. I would put Spring Errell. How about Errol Monroe? That's tough. That's a that's a great question. Um, I am gonna put I mean you can argue that Errol Monroe wasn't with him for their whole career, right? Yeah, that's so that's part of it. That that yeah, tremendous, absolutely iconic player, but you know, Ewing was You can also argue that Brunson's not a Hall of Famer yet because he hasn't done it enough. Yeah. And also, you know, he started with Dallas, so it's not like he's been in Nick his whole career. So I I don't know though, but Brunson has been really the re-emergence of this team has been centered on Brunson. And I feel like if he can bring a title after 56 years, you know, I mean, this isn't like they got one like, you know, five years. They're blowing teams out. I mean, he hasn't even played in the fourth quarter in like two weeks. I know it. I I it was like he's kudos to him. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I, you know, I'm not knocking him. I'm just saying they've they've been blowing teams out last 11 games to the degree where he's gonna have fresh legs under him, regardless of the rest that they got. You know, he's gonna, you know, his stamina will be a factor. I think I don't think he's he's not gonna be ready to play. I think he will be ready to play. Where these other guys have been getting knocked around and playing through the fourth quarter of most of their games, he should have fresh legs. Yeah. He might, this might be his ascension into the dude, right? Because that's been what everybody's been saying for four or five years. The Knicks don't have a dude. The Knicks don't have a dude. Wemby obviously is the dude, but do they have the team, right? The Knicks have the team, the way they've been playing anyway, in these playoffs. They're they're deep, everybody's contributing, and you're wanting to see his ascension into the role of not only just becoming the champion, he's the dude. And I know that you know, Draymond Green doubled down today. Uh Becky Hammond's quotes that you know the Knicks don't have have that. The Knicks don't have a decent, they don't, they don't have enough. They're not, it's the East. You know, so everybody knows the West is going to dominate. And I disagree. Not that I I I am arguing that they're the same kind of caliber players. But I heard Shaq talking about when he was playing with Kobe, and he Said they butted head to head until they reach the decision or the agreement, I should say, that Shaq will play the f be them do dude, be the man the first three quarters, and Kobe could take it home in the fourth. Yeah. Yeah. Which is we seem see that with the Knicks. Which is interesting because it was what, Robert Ory and Derek Fisher that hit the biggest shots and the latest. I mean, you know, it it's it's the the there, I mean, I, you know, Brunson is like I say, Brunson in a big spot is gonna be really exciting. I mean, you know, it's possible he doesn't rise to the occasion, but the guy, every single time there's a moment like this, he seems to step up. And I don't see that changing. Well, I have to tell you, I think he gets a pass if he doesn't rise to the occasion. You know what I think about him that I'm because he rose to the occasion now. He has. What separates him from everybody else right now, for the most part, excluding Wemby, right? Chris Paul was talking about this on the uh McAfee podcast uh show the other day. They were talking about how guys attack the basket to draw fouls and the way they do it. And Chris Paul is talking about covering the basketball and getting to the basket. Some guys don't know how to finish. And he mentioned, I think it was Chauncey Billups and James Harden, who they just throw the ball up in the air, right? And it just looks so awkward and ridiculous. And half the time you're like, how is that a foul on the defensive player? This guy is out of control. You know, he's not attacking the basket, uh the basket to score. Yeah. Now their game is to put the ball out and get these slap on the arm fouls so they can get to the free throw line. Yeah. That's what separates a killer from just another guy, right? And that's where Brunson is right now. When Brunson goes to the hole, he attacks the basket to score. If he gets fouled, he gets fouled. He's not going to the basket, drawing the foul first. He's going to score. And you could tell by the way he plays and how he attacks the basket, he's under control and he's hardcore. He puts his nose down. Yes, he's a lunch pail, he's a grinder, he's he's he's he's not yet the assassin that you want to see hit that shot. He can, and he has. I'm not saying he can't. What I'm saying is he's gonna score. You don't have to worry about, and if he can't make it to the hoop, he's a great facilitator. Yeah, he's doing everything right. In my opinion, he's ascending into that role of the dude, right? This would be winning a championship would be his coronation. And I think they're in that window right now. Yeah. I agree. I think that's a great, great explanation of where they are. I was thinking about your point about flopping earlier in the week and how much it impacts the game. And I think, you know, I was wondering about that because I was I thought it was a great point. And we were texting back and forth in thread about this, and and I was thinking about like how much does flopping actually affect the game? I will say that the playoffs, they've, you know, they've really let the players be more physical this year than any year I can remember. That Oklahoma City series against the Spurs was a bloodbath, man. Like, like that was the, you know, like I felt I felt moments where it felt like the old, you know, Bad Boys Pistons teams just knocking team, just knocking San Antonio around. But the thing about San Antonio is they were able to finish against a team that was more physical than them. And I didn't think they had that in them. So, you know, again, like I think it cuts both ways. I think the Knicks have that in them. That is bread and that is what they are, right? But I think San Antonio got a yeah, got a component of that too. You know, I mean, I really do. I think they're they're a tough team because anybody else with the the I mean, Oklahoma City was just sending waves at them. Wembiana had like, you know, handprints all over him when he was leaving the court, he got beat up the whole series, and he just kept coming and coming and coming. So the Spurs team's tougher than I really thought. And so I think I think this is probably gonna be a very physical series. The way they call the Oklahoma City series was, you know, like really surprising. Like there's a lot they didn't call. I think you're gonna see that. I think you're probably gonna see them let it be a little more physical in this series. And if they do, right, it's gonna be a great. It's gonna be a great series either way. I don't think this is gonna be a sweep. I don't think this is like a, you know, I mean everybody last year thought uh the Pacers were gonna get swept and everything like that. I, you know, I didn't I didn't buy that, but this year in particular, I think this feels like a long series. This feels like team, this feels like a series where both teams can win at least two games, right? Like I would be very as as as as the Knicks have been running through sweeping teams, they haven't played anybody like San Antonio yet. And I just don't think they can run them out of the building in the same way. You know, again, we'll see. I'd love to see it, but I think this is gonna be a great NBA final series. This is gonna be like, you know, I mean, the the gold standard in the last few decades probably was the 3-1 Cleveland Cavaliers, the Golden State final. This could be in that category where it's just, you know, you have two or three games that are decided by, you know, great plays late and just really some amazing stuff happened. And this feels like it, it really has the essence of what could be a great series. Yeah. Hopefully that's the Knicks were 18 and 12 in the regular season against the West. So, and they've been playing incredible on the road. Yeah. I mean, I you know, on paper, like I said, if it was anybody else but the Knicks, you would think it's a foregone conclusion that they're gonna win this series. And be I say that because as Knicks fans and living here, everybody who's a Knicks fan expects them to win a championship because it's New York. Whereas now, it's it's kind of like wow, this team is really that good. They didn't just stumble into the finals because somebody hit a running jumper from from 12 feet. They've been dominating the whole way there. They didn't have to go to game seven. They haven't left a win by this game, they haven't lost in two weeks, three weeks. Jesus. So, you know, where they're at right now, you should feel pretty confident if you if if you're a Knicks fan, because they're playing that way. There's nothing not to be confident about. Yeah. But again, because it's the Knicks, I you know, I don't want to count chickens before they hash. They have to go earn it. And this this group of players is is that group. Yeah. They're gonna go earn it. They're gonna give you, if it's seven games, they're gonna give you your money's worth every night for the next two weeks. But as a long-term Knicks fan, I do remember Charles Smith under the basket and when he's just playing volleyball with himself as bulls were like yanking on his arm. I mean, that was just egregious. That team, and then John Stark's two for one million from the field in game seven. You know, like like the team has that, and the the younger thing. That's I think that's on the coach more than anything else. That I wasn't on, I mean, I know he was the one on the floor, but Riley was being stubborn and didn't want to switch out to Rolando Black Black Ben. I agree. Um the the this is you know, this is a team, even even the you know, the last time they said they saw the Spurs in the finals, a lot of people thought the Knicks were gonna win that series, and the Spurs just kind of beat them up, you know. And it's like, I mean, I want to believe in this Knicks team very much, but I was born in 1975, so I'm five years short of title. You know, I mean, I I I haven't seen a title in my lifetime for the New York Knicks, so I take nothing for granted. But if it happens, it's gonna be awesome. I'm gonna be just yeah off. So we'll next week we'll know we'll start to know where we're at. So we'll we'll follow up next week. So I'm gonna switch topics a little bit unless somebody else says anything else.

Remembering Raymond Berry’s Greatness

51:48

So I I would be remiss if I didn't mention this. Yeah. Oh wow, yeah. One of the passing, just one of the great wide receivers of all time. I you gotta say, you know, I listen, I know the big guys, you know, that everybody clings to. I bet you he's top five receiver in the history of the NFL. I mean, I I have his numbers, they're a little hard to read. So um, you know, uh we could put them up there. He also played in an era where if you went over the middle, you got absolutely clobbered. Yeah. He made that Johnny Unitis guy look really good. Yes. And that and and to me, Johnny Unitis is one of the best quarterbacks that ever lived. So, I mean, I I put him in, I know he hasn't, he was injured and they screwed him over. He got atrophy in his arm. It was really a horrible thing, and he was in much pain the rest of his life. He ended up suing the NFL. But I mean, you know what my dad used to say was the old story. When does Johnny Giannis take control of the game? The moment he steps off the bus. Yeah. So they were there, and Johnny Unitis was a machine at passing the ball and running plays. It was a different era, but Raymond Barry is a great, great, great, and he will be missed. And an underappreciated coach. I mean, he got a Patriots team to the Super Bowl that, I mean, like, okay, they got to be 46 for three, so it's hard to get real excited about. But that team belonged nowhere near the Super Bowl. I mean, Steve Grogan, Tony Eason, I mean, that just wasn't, they weren't a good team, but he managed to get them to the Super Bowl in a year where they didn't have a lot of talent. I mean, the Bears ran him out of the building, and so that's all anybody remembered. That run, you know, he was a very good coach. Uh great receiver, excellent coach, you know. Um old school receivers, like I have him up with Lance Bambi, Alworth, and a few other guys as like, you know, like all-time old receivers that were just fantastic. Barry was really a tremendous player, though, you know.

The Bears And Soldier Field Uncertainty

53:57

So I'm glad you brought up the Bears because as we were Justin and I were talking earlier today, the monsters of Midway are no longer Midway. They moved to Indiana? They moved to Indiana. Can you believe we're not gonna have football at Soldier Field? Yeah. Mayflower? I don't think they're really playing it in Indiana though. I don't think this story got enough press, to be honest with you. I mean, this is a uh icon of an American franchise. So I am going to if I can find it, I will bring it up. I have to make a couple changes here. And the new window. So, in fairness, though, if they're you don't call them in we don't call when the Jets and the Giants were playing in the Meadowlands, they weren't the New Jersey Jets and Giants, right? Like, you know, people used to be like, what was the one team that plays in New York? It's the Buffalo Bills. But like, you know, really they were New York teams. I mean, we're not gonna really start calling them the Indiana Bears, are we? Because I I I I don't know if I can do that. I don't think Chicago, the Chicago legislature just passed the bill without addressing the the budget. You haven't $55 billion budget and completely left out the Bears in Soldier Field. We finalized our evaluation of both Arlington Heights and Hammond. This is from the Bears, and remain on the late spring, early summer timeline that we have previously communicated. We will provide an update when we have a decision to share. That was from uh Chicago Bears today, actually, on the on the stadium, Bill. Yeah, Soldier Field, I mean, Soldier Field was a disaster in the eight. Is that Chong Land that a punt landed yet, by the way? I mean, uh it was like that place was a disaster 25, 30 years ago, so it's sort of right. This is they haven't put this is something that that that could explode because it's political. Pritzker, what does he say? Governor Pritzker is responsible, is a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars who has always wanted the Bears to remain in Illinois and been open to sense to a sensible deal. So the governor's office needs to carefully review this new bill that would recently make what that was recently made public overnight. That was in uh Pritzker released a statement, which is nothing but fodder, let's be honest. Okay. Yeah. If if one of these YouTubers or TikTokers goes there like they did in Minnesota or California, the Bears should get their new stadium tomorrow. But that's another story. And then uh the mayor of Arlington Heights, Jim Tanaglia, put out a statement saying the outcome was not what they had hoped for. So it it seems likely that the Bears are leaving Chicago at this point. Like, come down to Atlanta. I mean, it'd be nice to have a team that's won a title down here. We but listen, we blow up our stadium every three weeks, man. Like they've blown up our stadium. I thought that year they've nuked the Omni, Turner Field. Like they we just we burn through stadiums like it's going out of style. So, like, you know, the Georgia Dome. So, like, just move to Atlanta Bears. The Atlanta Bears, it'd be great. We we're definitely, I mean, we barely can support one team, why not two? And this and this league wants to expand, and they can't keep a team in Chicago. That's really, yeah, that's which is gonna help their effort to go global. And couldn't it couldn't for years couldn't get a team in LA and now has like 37. Um, you know, which is really odd. You know, it's like some some of that just doesn't make sense

Myles Garrett Trade And Giants Receivers

57:43

to me. So to talk a little bit about the crazy trades today, to me, they're crazy. Um I'm reading a a statement, I think it's from the owners or controllers of said trading, and this is from the Browns, right? Trading Miles Garrett was not, you know if you heard this, was not our intent, but it was the right move for us. I mean, is he kidding? So Miles Garrett wasn't their intent. Went to the Rams. So so like they were like, you know, they were just in Los Angeles and they just like sort of just like left Miles Garrett there, like, oh, we forgot him. What do we get back? Is it who also picked up uh cornerback, cornerback uh Trent McDuffie? Okay. I mean, how do they keep picking people up? I don't know. Miles Garrett on that they've entered Deacon Jones quote territory now with the with trading for Myles Garrett. Yeah. And when you get a player like that, you crush the city he left from. I mean, that's a huge loss, but the the Browns stink anyway. But now, you know, this is you take the city you're playing, you put it in a bag, and you beat on that bag with a baseball bat. Head flash. And when you sack the quarterback, it's like you cream a multitude of people. And that is what the right the Rams are gonna look like that every week for 17 weeks. The Rams won't just sack the quarterback. Now's the time because the quarterback doesn't have a lot of years left in him. He's at his prime, no question about it. But you know, he's not a spring chicken. This so this trade justifies their first round pick. I agree. Now the and the Giants signed Odell Beckham, Braxton Berrios, and and Juju Smith Schilster. Man, these are like all all time, like the all-time dude who was on a fantasy football team for like 50 years, and you got two guys on there who just like have made up fantasy rosters for like half a century now. So yeah, I mean, the Giants Giants are looking to go, uh, what's the word? I think experience, but old. I think the timing of the signing is a little suspect, but or they just apparently that was something that was gonna happen. It was not a very big secret that they were gonna bring Odell Beckham Jr. back. I don't know if he's gonna be their number one. Obviously, Malik Neighbors is the one. You hope that he comes back from his injury healthy 100%, because you know, let's face it, Odell Beckham is a lightning rod. And I don't think any one of those receivers is their one or their two. But they're gonna play a significant role, probably because the Giants just had they had no receiver help last year, especially after Malik Neighbors went down. So hopefully he can come in and and be kind of a guiding light and mentor to the to to Malik Neighbors, but this this group of receivers that they obviously Berrios being a special teams guy and veteran player and has plenty of experience. Uh it looks like they're just trying to help their quarterback because their run game is probably suspect at this point. So this is who they traded. They got linebacker Jared Verse Fries. They got a 227 first round pick, a 228 second round pick, and a 29 third round pick for Miles Garrett. I mean, you figure they will he was gonna get another big contract or something like that, so who knows what their plan was. It's so hard to NFL trades because the con the money coming back and forth never makes any sense to me. And like, you know, it never seems like anybody gets fair value in a trade. But yeah, adding Miles Garrett to the Rams is probably not the worst thing they've done. By the way, uh Malik neighbors, I think. It's like when they got Aaron Donald. It's kind of you know, they're they're gearing up to win a Super Bowl. I mean, they they for all intents and purposes, they should have gone to the Super Bowl last year. I mean, that stupid two-point play that changed whole field advantage for the NFC is what essentially allowed Seattle to go on the run that they that they had, not taking anything away from them, their Super Bowl champs. But up until that point, I think, you know, everybody thought the Rams would be the one seed and probably end up in the Super Bowl. So now they think they're trying to lock it down. Uh and they've done this before where they make trades and bring guys in and they get ready and gear up to go to a Super Bowl. And their coach is very smart and they do it without having to worry about draft picks panning out. They're not afraid to make moves like this to win a championship. You know, they've they've done it before, they're trying to do it again. And uh I think now, you know, if they straighten out their special teams, you know, their special team situation is is really what put them, you know. I mean, the two games they lost, they shouldn't have lost, right? But you know, the one against the Eagles, and I can't remember the other game that they lost, but special teams really hurt them. And that has to be addressed. You know, you'd figure maybe they'd get a guy like Barry Us. But I have confidence that they'll move on or move forward from that and write the ship. And they're probably at this point now, without question, the class of the NSC. And that is not knocking anybody else, but other teams have traded players away, like the Eagles. I know other teams got better, but some of them were pretty terrible. So, how good are they really? The Rams were good last year, they will be good again this year. If they're not number one, I'd be shocked. So, how about the Giants though? Like, do those do those, I mean somebody posted those receivers maybe. I mean, are they a playoff team? Some of the Steelers guys posted, it's official. The Browns have been eliminated from the playoffs. Yeah. That's hysterical. It's been rough. I mean, like they were upset when in Cleveland the year that they um that they they didn't have a team when the Browns left, and now everybody was so upset that they left, and now everybody's so set upset they came back. It was like we didn't really need an NFL team. We were fine. I hope that doesn't happen with with the Bears because I can't imagine the Bears moving to Indiana in the first place, but then to either have an expansion team or relocate another team to Chicago is gonna be pretty ugly. Well, they and they can't play in San Francisco, so it's like the Elkhart Bears, Crown Point Bears. I mean, what where do you go? Where does that go? I don't know. The Gary Bears. So uh, you know, just to get back to something from the beginning, I want food for thought. We

Harden’s Defense And Coaching Mistakes

1:04:38

could talk more about it next week, because uh we've been here, I'm sure people are getting sick of listening to us if there's anybody out there listening. There actually are more than more than usual. At least I believe more than usual live. So you know, we're talking about the future games for the Knicks. When you look back at the series, what do you gotta say about Harden? I mean, did he just say, I'm done, let me go home? I mean, he didn't hit a damn thing, he didn't carry anybody, he's not a leader, and I like Harden. I like Harden because I think he's got a lot of talent. But the knock against him seems to be the the knock that was was true. You know, I mean it just seems to be uh him not playing defense. Yeah, he's ball dominant, he doesn't play defense. That's that's it. So the offense can only harden, you know. He doesn't on defense, he looks like a weeble wobble. I I'm not gonna kill James Harden because after the coach's comments and the way they were trying to play the Knicks, this guy with his analytics, I just don't I'm not gonna kill James Harden. Because the coach is an idiot. The one I'll get hardened for and may get I, you know, he's not a good defensive player. You know, there are points, but you know, there are points late in the game where you got to have him on the floor because he can score. But like how he gets matched up in the most important possession of the game with Brunson. And I mean, the way he guarded Brunson, he might as well have had a mad at Orcape and just said, on, you know, like I really, I'm not sure because he had made the previous shot and he really made a great play. I'm wondering if he just let Harden just let him go by, thinking he had a better shot of making a shot, you know, at the end of the game or something like that. Because I mean, it was it was the most poorly defended play I've ever seen. It was on roller skates. It was it was Harden will go into It was the way they were defending the Knicks, and they just never catch up. Disaster. And that's on the and that's on the coach. They broke it down on the postgame. ESPN did a breakdown. I think it was Perkins, Shaq, and and Charles Barkley talked about it. They were just outclassed completely from top to bottom. Coaching playing. It's going to to you know to Brunson in that spot. And not only do you not get not only do you get him isolated on Harden, you get like no help side on it either. You know, it's like, okay. And the best is they knew they got so so they come back and win in overtime because the team collapses in overtime. Absolutely. They're down 20, what, 28 points or something they came back on and to tie it at the buzzer, which was unbelievable. And and and then the team is like, oh, I think they're going after Harden. Every one of the announcers, I think he's going after Harden. I think he's going after Harden. I think the folks then the coach says without blinking, they're like, Well, they're never gonna say that. You know, you don't know if we'll never know. And then the coach says, Yeah, we went right after Harden. Yep. I mean, it was pretty obvious. It was awful. It was definitely obvious. But they they kept getting hardened in these situations where he was exposed. And it was like, you know, can hide a guy like James Harden on a defensive possession. How he ends up guarding Jalen Brunson with the game on the line is still one of the most and how he completely didn't, you know, like he was just like, oh look, there's Shayland Brunson. I mean, it's like he was going to take his picture while he was going up there making the game what you know game time basket. You know, it was it was unreal. Um, so yeah, I don't, you know, James Harden is a Hall of Famer. He's a great player. I mean, he looks statistically, but he will be the day he walks into the Naismith Hall of Fame, he will be the worst defender in the Naismith Hall of Fame. I mean, I mean, he is a horrendous defender and always has been. It's not that he's gotten older and slow, he's just gotten old and slow and is still bad at defense. Um, and again, it's it's not, you know, again, in that spot, there are ways to hide players like Harden because of the value they provide on offense. The the fact that Harden was isolated so many times on Brunson down the stretch was mind-blowing. So they were dying. So I don't want to hash through the whole thing again, but there it is for this week.

Listener Topics, Next Week, And Goodbye

1:09:03

Uh, next week we'll be back with a midterm story about the NBA. And then when the finals are over, we're gonna do in case anybody wants to send us, you could you can find us in uh you can talk to us on X, you can talk to us on YouTube, you can you know reach out to me on Facebook, you can go to our website, which is Steve and Justin or Steve Steve and Justin. Stevejustin.com.com and I have an OnlyFans. And leave message and and and yeah, you can see the Rabbi on his OnlyFans site. It's it's my you know Rabbi porn thing. There there is a warning that comes out. You may go blind from watching this channel. But anyway, if you uh please give us our questions, we'll talk about it. But we're also gonna do a special edition when the finals are over, where we're gonna talk about our favorite sports movies of all time. Yes, and I will be up there actually in person and we'll be listening to Blind Lemon Jefferson records on your uh phonographs, man. I'm gonna close by quoting the great Curtis Blow. Late great, right? Curtis Blow? His daddy is. I'm gonna play the basketball has always been my thing. I like Magic Bird and Bernard King. That's true. And when it's all Magic was great. But they were the competitors beyond words. That's gonna be fun. Can we do that out in front of Richie Bell's store or what? I mean, I really do a podcast from the milk crates. The milk crates in front of Richie Bell's. We'll smell the movie. I'll give them produce. All right, I'm I'm gone. Thank you, everybody. Great job by all of you as always. I had a good time. We'll see you next week. Any questions or anything we'll answer? Please keep your cards and letters coming. Um, we're about to break 4,000 subscribers, which is amazing too. Please keep it going. We enjoyed doing this. I hope you do too. Bye.