3:51
I know you guys going to be asking me this, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you right now. I got the Knicks in six. I think the Knicks have been the best team uh in the playoffs. And I know people going to say, "Well, they played this team, this team, cuz the two best teams were out west." I said, "Yeah, uh that's true." I said, "But the Knicks ain't been squeaking by nobody. I mean, they taking less money, Freddy." He happens to be a thousand% right. Again, the Winman and Allen Han and Jay Will, we'll start with you. the point has been made, but maybe not strongly enough. Um, it is one thing to say that the West was the stronger conference this year. It has been the
superior conference for a reasonably significant period of time in the NBA, but that does not mean that teams from the East have not won. And no team has ever done in any 11ame stretch at any point in any season in the 80year history what the Knicks have done in 11 consecutive playoff games. Their scoring margin is unprecedented. So, you can't go in any hotter than they are. Jay, how do you see it as it begins tomorrow night in game one? Look, Reie, I think I always like to set the tone and I think when a team comes off an emotional game seven win and we've been rusting, a lot of people will talk about, hey, you have to dust the rust off. Like they've gone through this process
before. They did it with Cleveland. And I think for the Knicks, it's all about how the tone is going to be set. And I think getting one on the road, especially game one, I think it's it's pivotal just because I think that gives momentum. And look, they can miss shots, but the way you come out and you set the tone in game one after a team has gone through an emotional seven game series where you've had multiple days to rest where we're talking about running them into the ground, giving them different looks and different reads. I think game one is going to be pivotal for Knicks to get off to the right start.
Win man, I think a lot of people have commented to me about the reaction the Spurs had to winning that series in Oklahoma City. Of course, it was a monumental win for them winning at the Champions home floor into game seven. And they're such a young group and the emotion that we saw. Some wonder that you contrast that with the Knicks who were so business-like after they finished off what was a ridiculously easy sweep of Cleveland. Do you read anything into that as far as the mindsets of these teams as we head into game one? No, I don't care about any of it. I'm much more interested in the fact that I saw all kinds of Spurs step up in their first game sevens, especially on the road. And I saw all their role players
delivering in the fourth quarter of a game seven on the road. I thought that was way more indicative of way they can play. And look, no matter what his emotion is, you're going to have to deal with Victor Webyama. And that is the number one issue for the Knicks to deal with. And I'm sure it's been something that they've been crunching trying to figure out. Stopping him. You're not defeating him. Whole think we're losing Webby. I mean Wendy. So, let's put him on hold for just a minute there. I hope the Knicks don't lose WBY. We'll see if Wendy uh can get his signal set up here and I'll come over to you.
I know what he's talking about certainly is the matchup here, right? And a lot of questions about what the Knicks are going to do against Wanyama. And I like the point that he made about the players that stepped up in their first game seven because you don't talk enough about those four guards that they have that they can rotate in, how tough they're going to be. And Stefan Castle just comes off a series where he had to deal with Shay Gilggas Alexander for seven games. Now he's got to deal with Jaylen Brunson. Both guards, both scorers, but both of them play very different. If he doesn't have a migraine by the end of all this, like it'd be really be remarkable because he goes from the frying pan
right into the fire when it comes to having to guard a guy like Brunson. How about Brunson? Let's talk about him, Jay. We talked about Webyama earlier in the hour. Let's talk about Brunson here. What do you see as his role in this series and how do the Spurs stop him? He's going to have to make the right read after the right read all the time. I mean, the when Allan was talking about SGA, their game plan on SGA was you funnel him into help. Now, remember like Chad wasn't making shots from the outside, right? Isaiah Hartstein wasn't making shots from the outside, right?
But this is where I go back earlier about Josh Hart. Josh Hart is going to be a free screener. So, look for Josh Hart to be involved in picking roles with a guy like Jaylen Brunson so he can turn that corner and then Josh Hart can pick out, can make reads and Jaylen Brunson get into the mid-range game. It's going to force Victor Wimbeyama to play up. And the more you can force him to play up, that takes him away from being a pillar in the middle of the lane, which opens up the fluidity and the continuity for the Knicks offense. Like, that's going to be one of the most important things of this series, keeping Victor Wimyama out of the paint, which opens up all the continuity so the
Knicks can actually run their sets and get clean looks. Randy, how about Jaylen Brunson in this series? Look, the Spurs are number one going to try to keep him off the foul line. Very similar to what they did with Shay Gildus Alexander. Some games were good, some games were not. Brunson is actually averaging more free throws per game in the playoffs than the regular season, even though he's got the ball a little bit less because of Carl Town's playing more in that role. And the other thing is I know what you're saying, Jay. They're not going to guard Josh Hart. And Josh Hart can embarrass them a little bit because he did it to the to
the Cavs, but he's only shooting 30% from three in this series. So my belief is Webyama will start on Hart will sit there on the corner of that lane and step into it to try to deny Brunson getting in there. And from a New York, let them do that. That's exactly what you want them to do. Let them do that. And Hart's had one big three-point shooting game in each series to make them pay. He's going to have one or at least maybe one or two in the finals. We'll see if he's able to do it and make them adjust and come out and get them. Uh from a New York City talk show host standpoint, and that's what you do. Um, what's at stake for Jaylen Brunson here?
What can he become if he leads this team to a title? Look, look, very obviously here though. But this is a legacy situation, legacy moment for Jaylen Brunson on many levels, but in New York alone, not just the Knicks in their franchise history and not just in the NBA, but for New York sports for a by the way, people don't realize this, the last in the last 15 years, the four major sports is not a champion. They have not won a championship in this city since the Giants won the Super Bowl in 2011. That's how long it's been. So to end that kind of a drought, which we've never seen in New York, and to do it with a team that hasn't won in 53 years, would put him on a level that he will be exalted for the rest of
his life. More importantly, I also think it locks in Hall of Fame for him. He's a two-time NCAA champion. He is a player of the year in college. And then when now when you bring it to this point where you get an NBA championship as well, he's in the hall. It's a lock. That's an I hadn't thought about that. I was thinking more about it from a local regional standpoint, but that's an interesting one as well. There's so many story line. What a spectacular final.
