Historical Context of Knicks Dominance

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For me, that's breaking down SGA film whenever I want and then talking about it into a microphone To learn how to put AI to work for people, visit serviceN. com O the Zach Low show Did that just happen Do we all witness that and Mas to Sore Garden Was that a dream The New York Kicks fififty three years after their last championship overcame a twenty nine point deficit to win game four and come within one win of their first title in those fifty three years. What a scene Ian Begley was there too with me We talk about everything from the game, the scene, the post game scene. The post game interviews OG An Anobbe with two iconic plays in the span of like five seconds of basketball time and two minutes of real time. Deer and Fox What in the world were you thinking ctor Webyama Where were you in the second half three or fourteen he was somewhere How did the Kicks do this? Jayen Brunson came alive. OGN andobbe just on the heater of a lifetime How did the Kicks figure out the spurs defense? Do the spurs have any hope Going back to San Antonio, can they recover from one of the all time gut punch losses in the history of sports, basically. Yeah, in the history of sports. I'll say it We talk about all that. talk about the Nicks and how this playoff run is basically completely anomalous in the history of the NBA. I don't even know how to contextualize this team Finals MVP's a little premature, but we talk about it anyway Both of us are hungover on vibes and no sleep from A magical night at a Madon Square Garden, a night to spurs are going to regret forever. I expect the Spurs to come out and make the Nicks earn it in San Antonio. and if they get back to MSG, o my God is game six going to be tenens. All of that coming up on the Z Low show with ineley So Oh my God Ian Begley is here from SNY And we just saw the damnedest thing we might ever see in our NBA lives, The New York Kicks Starcrross, cursed. Uncursed One wentin away from their first title in fifty three years afterfter the craziest comeback in the history of the NBA playoffs The spurs blow a twenty nine point lead in the second half OGN and Oi becomes a go in New York City with a block on the Aaron Fox The Nicks are down one in the waning seconds. All Dereren Fox has to do is hold the ball and instead he tries to quick shoot a lay upp for reasons nobody will ever understand The second all time brainfart turnover that has happened to the sppurs in this series, a series where the total score is Nix plus eight. A four games, the other one was the Wempy turnover in game two Who knows what Daron Fox was thinking? Bill Simmons even texted me. Do you think he forgot what the score was and thought it was tied? Anything's possible And then out of the timeout inbound to Brunson. Weby has switched on him. They're not guarding OG who's the inbounder. And when Wendby got on to jail in Brunson, I thought, okay, like I can live if I'm the Spurs. I know Weemby's big, but he's not go very he's more mobile. And they send a double anyway. The best defensive player in the planet is on a guy who's an all time great offensive player that he's a foot Taller than basically even more a foot and a half They send the double. OG reads it Rises up for the game winning tip. Absolutely iconic. The New York Kicks, Ian Begley who have had fair share of iconic shots. in their history The most iconic shots in New York Knicks history are shots that have happened to them are things that have happened at their expense in that building And now they have a moment that is all their own that will go down if they ride this out and finish it as I think the greatest most iconic offensive play shot whatever in the history of the Kicks And then the spurs inbound the ball and I'll tell you in Begley, I was standing and watching. I didn't even realize Kat tipped the inboundnce pass and he tipped it. the clock ran out. just absolute Bedlam What are you going to remember from this game for the rest of your life? whether it's a play, it's a scene, it's a vibe, like we were there. privilege to be there. It's our fucking job to be at that game. Are you kidding me Right What are you always going to remember You know, So much on the court' going to stand out, but just for me, I don't know. this is this is a little maybe strange to the common viewer, but I'm at I'm at the garden for every game and always, always, always there are fans after the game. who want to take pictures with the court behind them, who want to kind of mill around and soak it in And the ussers' jobs are to get everybody out of there. So you know, five, ten minutes after the game They're getting everybody out. Hey, you gott to go. It's time to leave, no more. And so they're breaking up whatever kind of party there is in the stands after a game. There was not that last night, Zach as you know because tenen minutes, twenty minutes, twenty five minutes, a half hour after that game The court was filled with fans. The stands were filled with fans. The garden was playing Don't stop believing. They were playing some Frank Sinatra. everyverybody's singing along It's a big party. And the security guards were not telling anyone to leave. and it was just kind of emblematic of how special that moment was and how much people are going to kind of grasp ono that moment and talk about it for years to come. It's just one of those things that struck me because especially at Madison Square Garden Security guards have a job to do and it's a specific job to do, tough jobs to do I think even they were caught up in the moment and just let everybody hang out and yeah, just a special, special night That's exactly what my answer would be. MSG turned into a karaoke bar for thirty minutes after the game. Almost nobody left. E song that played, everyone was singing along And when they weren't singing, they were just chanting, o G, o g, o g. And as I finally left to go down to the press room so I'm going down the escalators with all the fans That OG chant is happening. All the fans are going up and down the escalat is chanting that. Then they start singing like these the soccer song that's usually O O Ole, but OG, oG OG OG. And then on the walk back from the garden, somewhere around twenty eighth and seventh. I don't know what I couldn't even tell what was in the middle of the road, but about five hundred fans had commandeered that intersection and were climbing on lamp posts and climbing on things It was just a party Good on the Kicks for letting the karaoke party happen. Yeah. An absolutely unforgettable scene I don't think I've ever heard the Garden louder than it was when OG tipped that ball in Um, and just I mean, you And think about how the day started, Ian I lost count of how many press releases got into my inbox about whether there was going to be a watch party or not. And whose fault it was I lost count of how many clips I saw of James Dolan on WFAN saying various inflammatory things. And then commits two fs in sixty five seconds. I thought both of them were shaky calls. I didn't love either of them. We can litigate them if you want. the NBA has to be breathing a giant sigh of relief that the officiating is not the number one story afterfter that game I thought both were shaky calls If you if you called it quote unquote correctly a hundred times out of one hundred, I think he probably ends up with one foul, not to like one ends up being a no call. I hated the proximate foul where we can go back and relitigate something that may or may not have even affected the thing that we're challenging the foul on Webinyama that becomes a fell on cat great challenge by disispse, you have that You have even at the end of the game Dereren Fox turnover and Darin Fox had a terrible second half. The Spurs had a terrible second half. when Benyama had a terrible second half three of fourteen stopped rolling to the rim as much stopp forcing the action as much Darren Fox commits a turnover with the Nick down one And Josh Hart streaks out and everyone is on their feet and here they're going to get over the hump. And here they're going to take the lead and Josh Hart hears some footsteps, gets caught between a layup and a dunk and somehow blows that layu up And that's going to be the defining play of Josh Hart's career for better or worse. And then when Benyama comes down and gets fouled and misses two free throws. And then the game goes on from there. just an absolutely U Chaotic finish and I don't even know I don't even know where to go. Wh Where do you want to go at the end of the game Well let me just start with where you started because, you know, Jim Dolan Um He was, you know, on a streak of such positive PR. and then You know, you got divisive with the last the two games at the garden And I was just thinking as they're down twenty seven and then twenty nine and even twenty in the fourth quarter Just the narratives around what it was going to be around here we go again U James Dolan the Nicks, they owing to at home with everything that was going on I just I could see that coming a mile away. And obviously, no one's talking about that now. They're talking about OGN and Obi, They're talking about the Nicks being one win away. So that that stuck out to me from the beginning of the day. And then, you know, you talk about Josh Hart, man, I don't know if you were in there after the game act. U, but she It's usually kind of smiley joking around, especially after a win And he was that. He was he was light after the game, but He talked about OG and and Oi and he said, I have to give a special shout out to OG andobi because he saved essentially his basketball life with that play, with the play that he made. And when he said that He was dead serious. Like the look on his face. It was almost like he was emotional because He knows the city. He knows the league, he knows how m things get digested and that would have been something that You couldn't live down. It would have been a Charles Smith situation if the Kicks had lost that game and then gone on to lose the series. That's it That's again You bring up you bring up Charles Smith, right And it's what I said before like the Nicks have big playoff moments. Willis Reed coming out the lockerom makes a jump around one leg. Ewings putit back against Indiana Starks is dunk. even more recently, Brunson shot to close out the pistons, Dein Cenzo' bang against the Sixers. But so many of the Nicks iconic moments are things that have befallen them And there were like four different things that could have fit that category in this game, including hardart missing that layu And then I don't even like eventually they take the lead Brunson hits a floater to put them up by one. Castle gets fouled after Josh Hart misses a box out. I he missed the box out so much on yet another fox miss as he was concerned with Wembinyama more than Castle. like he kind of he kind of sandwiched Wembenyama who's obviously the biggest offensive rebounding flat, but it left Castle naked Castle makes both three of those again And I was walking back to your point right before Josh went into the into the press area. I was walking back toward that area and he was like in that little doorway up the stairs waiting to go in and he saw me and I know Josh a little bit and he made ie kinds. He' like Hey, what's up And we I shook his hand and we talked a little bit for a minute. And he was like shell shocked. He was not like celebrating. He looked like a little bit out of it Um So and then I was I saw the comments and I wasn't surprised that that he said that because he's look He's an all time beloved Nick already. just the way he plays is so Fans gravitate to it, but those are moments that can define your career. And unfortunately, Darren Fox suffered one that will define his careers absolutely inexplicable. But please go on talk about Josh and the aftermath of the game Yeah just he was it was an emotional moment it seemed like for him and because he knows he knows what would have stuck with him and how that love that he feels deservedably so from Nick fans and how he's held in such a high regard You know, that would have been decimated fairly or not by that moment by the missed layup and the box out, you want to throw that one in there, the missed box out it was just a really bad sequence. And and yeah, that just that just really stuck with me. And then Zach. You know Spurs they just kept shooting threes and I'm I'm sitting next to Vince Goodwill, ESPN and we're scratching our heads. We keep saying, you don't need to shoot that shot running offense and I just wonder I wonder what you think because Winyama, he gets the flagrant, right? And then he becomes one flagrantay from a suspension flagrant that he almost could have had in the previous game that when they when they ruled that he didn't get an upgrade, which I guess he just can do anything and not get upgraded after the fact like he didn't get fined even for decapitating Naz Reid And that became relevant because he finally they call him for another proper flagrant when he elbowed Carl Anity toowns in the jaw And immediately I was like, wait a second, that means you would be suspended for game five if he had been upgraded to a flagrant the previous game. I think that math is right, cororrect? Yes. Yeah, that's correct. And also it meant that he was a flagrant away from getting suspended, even even not even not going back to game three with the retroactive. call. So Did that change the way? he played because it seemed like he was a little bit less aggressive, less rolling to the rim. The spurs weren't going to him. Did you sense that that changed anything for him? It seems to change something for the team to me. So I saw that Bill on his live pod last night called it the greatest slash worst choke in the history of the NBA playoffs And it was a strange choke job and it was And like look, any that takes nothing away from the Nicks. Let's be clear. like theick Jayen Brunson and OGan and Oi, by the way, one of the stats of the series. The Kicks have one hundred and two points in the fourth quarter in this series through four games Annaobie and Brunson have seventy two of those one hundred and two points. like they're just the whole entire offense in the fourth quarter. And when you have a twenty nine point lead in the second half and the other team comes back and wins, it's both. It's the other team plays sensationally well play smart basketball started to find some ways to poke again at the semi zone, whatever the spurs are doing with oneinyama Um And it's also the spurs just collapse. and T to your point about Weenby He started rolling to the rim less often and less aggressively for sure. notot all the time. There are some hard rolls in there, but I don't think it's a coincidence that two of Fox's four turnovers, all of which were horrendous in the second half. All four of his turnovers were in the second half passes where he expected Wbanyyama to be somewhere on the role that he wasn't and he ended up just passing it to the Kicks and that that combined with all the thes and I rewatched the second half last night and just noted likeike seven or eight Horrible quick threes that I thought this hse took Wait, wit, like Dyl h for Yk Dylan Harper, you don't need to be taking a step back three in isolation with twelve on the shotcock. Julian Champani, you don't need to be pulling up for a contested three in transition with nineteen on the shotcock and a twenty five point lead. not open contestant. just terrible shots. The play where it became a red the flag went from red to Scarlet to me with like four and fifty five left in the game Fox is dribbling air out of the ball And when becomes to set a screen for him And I'm sitting it's right below me where I am in the Hyundai Chase whatever bridge up there And I see Darren Fox tell Victor Wbanyyama to go away. I don't want to pick from you. I want to pick from somebody else. And at that moment, I'm like Oh my go He's waving away The seeven five monster. who's been unstoppable rolling to the rim for chunks of the series. What is he going to do He calls up Champagne. because Champnei has Brunson on him. And that's stering Fox being like, I got this. I'm the vet I got this Wemby, you go away. And as he's doing that, I'm like, I can't believe he has the audacity to wakeictor Wemby Ia away OG gets through OG, by the way, on top of all this is guarding Fox for most of the fourth quarter. get's through the screen and Fox takes a contested step back to just terrible, terrible process by the spurs. throughout that entire time. and I do wonder Quick turn around Tons of minutes. fatigue factor, mental fatigue, physical fatigue, all the banging around theyre doing, did that contribute to Wey kind of fading out. I think you finished what nine. I think he was three or fourteen from the floor in the fourth quarter nine of twenty five. the game. But you know what it reminded me of another Nick game actually. The first two Nick Celtics games, particularly game one last year when the Celtics just let giantly let the Kicks walk them down bit by bit by bit and kept taking threes. And what I said after that game was these teams who get big leads like this. I know it's in your DNA to shoot a lot of threes.s not as much for the spurs as it is for the Missoua Ball Celtics. When you have a big lead like that The only way you can lose is by piling up zeros on your possessions. L the upside of getting a three versus a two or even a one from a free throw is outweighed by the downside of it getting a zero. Just go to the rim getet fouled three or four extra times and you have enough of a cushion to win this game terrible process by the Surs and the Nicks made him pay for it. I was like you, I was like watching these threees. rememember that one possession where Foxmiss to three and then Wendby took two straight threes on offensive rebounds and it's like, what are we doing? man? come on. Yeah. And the crazy thing too Zach is The spurs were in the bonus. I don't I it was more than four minutes left in the game. I don't know if it was five or six, but they were in the boat. They had the Nicks excuse me, the Nicks committed five fls, I think five or six minutes left to go in the game. So if San Antonio goes to the basket or even if they drive aggressively draw anything, they're going to the line. And I think Carl Anthony Towns Maybe I'm wrong. I thought he had five at some point in the fourth And that's another, you know, reason to go attack the Rim. and they just didn't and I don't know Like how much of that is on Mitch Johnson? I don't know where you put the blame Dar and Fox takes takes a lion's share of it But I wanted to point out here because I know it hit you when it was happening, the Jose Alvarado substitution nine minutes and change to go in the fourth. I mean, the thinking on Mike Brown from Mike Brown on that And then the execution from Alvarado, a guy who They traded for him They liked them a lot. But he was out of the rotation for stretches of late in the regular season. It looked like he was going to be on the outside looking into the playoff rotation And here he is quarter in the middle of a historic comeback and playing a significant role in the comeback I'm so glad you brought him up and I'm switching to my third coffee of the morning because it's that kind of morning. Alvarado was sensational off the bench for the second time in four games in the series help swing a game Um In the second half, Like Robinson and McBride have been their two most important bench players for the season And both of them have been more or less invisible in the series And I thought Mitchell Robinson finally started to get into the series a little bit in the third quarter when Kat got another fall and he had to play more. He got a lob dunk. He missed a couple ofb dunks and it makes you wonder He was shaking his hand at one point. if that injury is hurting him But the Brunson Robinson pick and roll also got Brunson with shooting all around. It got Brunson going a little bit. And so finally You know, we went into the series talking about like worst case scenarios for the Kicks Cat foul trouble, Robinson injury. holy shit. does this become a huck porty sohan, arere we stealing minutes within an Oiate center? All of that came to be. It was a disaster and then it stabilized Yeah. And Robinson kind of played his way into the series a little bit And then McBride has not But Jose Alvarado kind of became the Duce McBride substitute and why I thought he was so good in this game was Burrs are doing this funky zone with Webinyama where he's not really guarding anybody. Sometimes he's guarding cat, sometimes he's guarding nobody, sometimes he's guarding an area And it's requiring the Ns to sort of puzzle out. How do we want to bring him into the action? How do we want to attack him? How do we want to move off the ball as we're doing that And that's where Alvarado's IQ both on and off the ball just really shine. He had He he made that crazy layup where he fake spun and got to the rim. he relocated for a couple threes, but he cut to the The Kicks have been really good Anadobe in particular at as the sppurs are figuring out their rotations and where when Benyama is and what corner he's closest to and the Kicks get into their action sending guys right down the slot as cutters right to the rim. Anonobia has been the best at this, but Alvarado did it too to just make Surs have to account for another guy at the basket at the right moment to make Wbinyama be like, oh wait a second, somebody's here. I can't go out there. And they've gotten a lot of corner threes out of action. By the way, one of the other stats in the series The Kicks led the league this year o nine percent of their shot attempts for a quarter threes. seeveneen point five percent of their shots in this series have been corner threes and they're shooting forty five percent on corner threes.' it's about they built with this kind of intention and we'll talk more about that, but you're dead right on Alvarado. And what a story, man. A New Yorker A Nicks fan a fan favorite, a pest and like you said Is he going to be in the rotation? Is he out the rotation? Is he breakaking in case of emergency? Well, he was in game one when Brunson went out with an injury briefly And he's just up for it, man. It's a fantastic story It is it is and again, like I don't want to say he was counted out, but he I don't want to say played his way out of the rotation because that's too harsh. But whatever it was, Mike Brown really went away from him in a major way in the regular season. Staying ready and being present and that's what These guys have talked about a lot during that thirteen game winning streak and there's generally Um, they always talk about, you know It's zero zero, whatever the series is, it's zero zero in their heads. And it sounds like a cliche, right? But then You go to last night and they're down twenty seven at the half and after the game we're asking them about, you know, what do you talk about in the locker room and, you know, what's the messaging Albberarado said his thing was let's just play the right way. Let's play hard because you know, whatever we do in the second half here w to lose it could carry over into game five. Carl Anthony Towns was talking about They have the experience on these comebacks. You reference the Boston games, he said in that halftime locker room and I didn't I didn'tar him say that. That's interesting. Yeah. And Jayen Brunson said, you know, just hit singles, hit singles, hit singles and it's not going to happen all at once, but, you know, done this before. And look, all that stuff sounds hokey to us guys who have heard these cliches and heard these stories from teams, you know, across the league But it seems like the Kicks truly have embraced that, have embraced the idea that they can come back because they've done it before And they know that Psession by possession, chipping away, chipping away And so it wass just interesting to hear the messaging that in that halftime locker room considering everything that was at stake. and considering how the game played out. Jyen Brunson's like, let's justit singles, hit singles. They're going to whiff. likeike we were calllying on the relying on them to like whiff whiff whiff. We'll hit singles. OG and and Obe was like, how about I just hit grand Slam home runs? Forget forget singles. I'll hit grand Slam homeome runs.. I left the crowd was phenomenal. like good They were they were waiting. It was such a much better crowd than game three. They were down twenty nine There were they were they were deflated, but they were also just waing they never booed. They never like never got too quiet And they were just waiting for give us a reason to get back like they're chanting let's go Nicks down twenty seven trying to lift up the players and they're just waiting. to get back in the game. and by the time it got to fifteen And it didn't get it didn't take that long to get it down to fifteen Plenty of time left in the game Cowd is already rabid by that time. and you got the sense like this is one thousand percent in play. It became in play like by the time it got to nineteen eighteen you're like, oh my God there's eighteen minutes left in the game. This is completely in play. I've seen this team do crazy things before I thought the crowd was great. And to your point about how the Surs were game five This feels unrecoverable for San Antonio in the moment, right? And did you see Wenbenyama's postgame presser last night? I wasn't in there no. You had to go to the nextick stuff Mhm He said the right things about how we can go one of two ways here. We can fall apart or we can come together and get stronger out of this J looking at him in the room It did not look like someone who had a ton of faith that they would take the way he wants them to take. He said he did, but he looked visibly shaken in that press conference as you would expect How can you not think the moment zooming out I said this after game three The power of home court advantage is that If the Spurs came here and got a split and they did They have game five at home and a chance to win a home game. just win a home game and force the Ks to come back here afterfter this delirious win and suddenly face the pressure of We have to win this game or we're going to another road game in game seven like the spurs Disaster to lose the first two at home, particularly game two the way they did Power of home court and five and seven at home is the split keeps you alive They are alive The Kicks have to be careful to and and I expect the Kicks to play well and not have any kind of letdown or any kind of casualness to them But I do worry that the circumstances of this this game They're less alive than they would be if they just had lost like a normal five point game. I mean, that is that's beyond a gut punch and I will say this, like if you ask me how I think game five is going to go, I think D Nicks will win pick the Nixon seven. I think that that loss is such a bad loss that I don't know how the spurs recover. but over and over both of these teams in different circumstances, like the spurs responding from losses The Kicks with a giant layoff, right? The Surs responding from devastating losses. They come out and they play well and they play close games I don't think this firstse team doesn't strike me as a We're going to let go of the rope and collapse kind of team even after a game like that. I do think the Nix to win game five, but I think it'll be a good game. I think both teams will play well Yeah. I do think it' be a good game and I think you know, Wemin Yama, I mean, everyone was great on San Antonio in the first half, but he was Really, really good just around the basket the way he was finishing shots and the way he was moving It just looked like it was going to be a special NBA moment for him early in his career Um, And so I would assume that he can pick up there Game five Um Nicks obviously have played well on the road. I don't think that that crowd is going to bother them But San Antonio is not going to liay down They're not. They young guys have a lot of pride and confidence in their ability. And for a while there obviously game for the first half. it just looked like They were so loose, like young and loose in a way that maybe a veteran team wouldn't be realizing the magnitude of the moment and they were just firing on all cylinders. So I think you have every reason to believe that they mayaybe cannot get back to there operating at that level But there's a middle ground between the second half and the first half that I'm sure they'll be able to find and they'll make things tough for the next U in game five, but decck you hit on the crowd and I just want to say that Yeah, that game three crowd, I think they were taken out of the game. And they didn't really they did not try to rally the Nicks in that and in that second half, but It was so different in game four because they were just they wanted a reason explode. They wanted a reason to cheer. and as you said, they believe they believe in this team. They believe that it's possible down twenty nine. They really truly believe it. It wasn't just like, hey, let's get it to twelve and have some fun. The crowd is like Who the fuck knows with this team Exactly, exxactly. And you said it, but they were down like twenty four and the place was a lot And so I think that's a That is a sign of belief because You know I just sometimes I look at Jalen Brunson's shooting numbers in any game not necessarary playoff game And if they're a little off, and I think to myself Man, if Julius Randall had that line, he would be getting boooed out of the gym This fan base has a face Thumbs down thumbs down, baby. Yeah, thumbs down that that's that they've earned And so there's a faith and a confidence and the compet it's competency of this group And I think that's what the fan base kind of has latched ono here in a way that you didn't see. even Carmel L Anthony, if you had some of the shooting lines that Brunson has had U he would have gotten booed vociferously and Brunson, they just he just earned the confidence of this fan base To your point about the sppurs We'll see what their poise level is, their youth and all that Castle didn't play a great game. five thousand only play twenty six minutes. I didn't think he was bad. I didn't shoot well from the field, but like you put that guy at the line in a big situation. puts them up by one again making clutch free throws. Champanne one of seven from three missed a couple of open ones in the fourth quarter. like that's going to happen. He's not that young anyway. quietly eighteen point six of nine shooting. Dylan Harper just outstanding off the bench and is and it we'll get to this later, but is already creating some big picture questions for this team and for Dar and Fox right right off the bat with his his place. So the young guys, you know, I more or less did their job. I think just the Kicks played great Lemby is the other young guy who did not do his job in the second half and Fox at a total Meltdown. Let's take a break and we're going to talk about my friends and neighbors co star, OGN and Ooi The Zach Low show is brought to you by Fandl. It all come down to this. Who do you think will be wearing the ring at the end of the NBA fininals? Make your call with Fandl Right now, new customers can hit the court with three hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets guaranteed after betting five dollars for seven straight days Fandool is the best place to bet all your favorite players during the finals, bet on their baskets and boards or build the same game parleay for a chance at a bigger payout. Just visit fandool dot com slash low to get started twenty one over in select states, eighteen are over in DC., Kentucky, Wyoming The first online real money wager only a minimum five dollars wager required for seven consecutive days bonus issued is non withdrawable bonus bets, which you fiire seven days after a seat gambling problem a one eight hundred gambler Call one, eight, seven eight nine, seven seven, seven seven or visit ccPg dot org slash chat in Connecticut This episode is brought to you by New Eera If the two thousands were your favorite era of basketball, new era has something for you. The NBA Hwood Classics two thousands collection featuring unforgettable team logos from teams like the Washington Wizards, Philadelphia seventy Sters, Atlanta Hawks and the Golden State Warriors. And these caps are available in a wide range of fitted and adjustable styles. The wararriors. rememember the we believe Warriors with the Blue wararrior guy. That was cool. He's not around anymore, but you could still have him. seventy sixers, That's the Iverson era. That's the black jerseys. They brought those back. You can have them now in these hats Ready to support your favorite two thousands era team, visit new era d. com slash ringer to shop now and use the one time code Ringer for twenty percent off your first order Okay, today's finals MVP discussion is presented by State Farm on the court, especially in the finals. you can't expect everything to go as planned from upsets to buzzer beaters, uncertainty is just part of the game And life's no different. unexpected things happen. That's why State Farm is there with the assist, But more on that later for now. I'm here to assist you with the NBA playoffs. someomeone who needs no assist is OGN and Oi What a what a playoffs for OG and andobi He's averaging twenty one points Six rebounds Here's this playoff shooting splits This is for the whole playoffs, not this series. twenty one points a game fifty eight percent shooting fifty one percent on threes. four percent on Tues. in the finals He is averaging twenty four points a game on fifty eight percent shooting fifty seven percent on threes And despite averaging five and a half points less And Jalen Brunson Three it and change assists less Th Jail and Brunson And Jelen Brunson having big moments in games one and two in San Antonio I think the finals MVP right now would be OGN and Obe with a bullet. U and he represents so much about how this team is built. They targeted him specifically for and gave away traded away RJ. Baradon Eanuel quickly two first round picks that they really liked and were proud of. Um You know, look, Like The trade that some people some people, you can find the takes. And we all have wrong takes, including me saying that the Wolves won the Carl Anthony Towns trade. We're going to erase that from the internet. It didn't happen. Nobody said that You can find people who said Amanduel Quickly was the best player in that trade I've vociferrouously disagreed And they targeted OGN and OBi for his size in his three point shooting starting there And the size in particular really matters because You know, the whole Becky Hammond thing, right? L Like Jayen Brun, you can't win a title with a six foot nothing guy as your best player I think I told you this earlier this week. I went back and watched some of those clips onn the day after she said that she was on NBA today rehashing her doubling down And who's on the show? M. I forgot that I had been on the show. And I had this take where I was like, look, I don't think any of these things are absolute. right? I said, I think Chris Paul could have won a title as the best player. Isaiah Thomas did win a title as the best player. I think certainly if you had your pick of like super stars at the superstar grocery store, you would pick a taller guy to be your best player, but you don't get to pick that. You got him in free agency in one of the all time greatade free agency signings Then you build the team around him. You don't get Donovan Mitchell for whatever reason, right? The trade falls apart. He goes somewhere else. you worry about the small guard, small guard thing. What you do is surround him with ss everywhere to protect him, to protect Kat in the end And those three gigantic wings Hart who's not that gigantic, but plays like eight feet taller than he is Hanobbe and Bridges Bridges game but he's been fed in the playoffs since the Hawk series And Annai They're just, it's a perfectly constructed two thirty four around a small point guard in every possible way. Bridges in OG, A plus defenders and good shooters Oji, a great shooter now. Heart. just does all the other stuff and is the secondary playmaker that Bridges frankly has not been in this series. He had glimpses of it here and there in the playoffs and particularly in the Philly series in the Cleveland series, not this series I mean That OGN and Oi trade was a almost a challenge trade. We think he's just the perfect guy for this particular team and we're willing to give up these two guys to get him And It's just impossible to overstate how amazing he's been in the whole playoffs. I don't I don't even know what else to say. He literally can't play better than this You can't And and Zach, I don't know. we probably got into this the time, but You know, they resign him to that big deal And It wasn't as simple as we traded for you. Obviously, you know, we're going to make you a big offer and you're going to come back. There was You know, moments there in that free agency where it was touch and go, the next felt like it was touch and go U, you know, the Sixers were right there and the Kicks had to be more aggressive with what they were offering and they did that And obviously it's worked out perfectly for them, but it's just interesting how many things have to fall right into place for you to have this kind of success to be at this level, but then andob's been fantastic And certainly if the Kicks win the finals unless anything way out of the ordinary happens. He will be the finals MVP and he has earned it with his play And the shooting I want to know and don I don't know if you know, Zach. you brought up the the corner threees, the shooting percentage. I would love to know what he's shooting from the corners because he's hit like late clock threes from the corners. He's just been unbelievable. And then you know, the defense is what you expect from him night in and night out and You know, if he doesn't block that fox shot We're speaking differently about Daron Fox, obviously, and the game goes much differently. So block probably gets overlooked, but it's just it typifies his effort and his skill on the defensive end and it's something that's really propelled the Nick defense from a very bad place they were in in the middle of the year to very strong defense. Zach. I want to give you credit real quick because You came on my show, the put backack, which is on S andY and everyone should watch the put backack. It's outstanding on S andY likeike if the Mets are playing bad, just queue up to put backack and watch you in talk about the Kicks Well, especially when Zack is on because Zach You said to me, it was in March, the next was struggling I was kind of stuck in the The depths of Nicks Twitter where everybody was saying like this team's done. I'm done with the team, blow it up I was right there with everybody because I'm a cynic, but you came on a show and you said, whoa whoa, whoa, whoa whoa Relax. This is a good team. This is a talented team. This is a team that people should have faith in and you had faith what no one else did. and here we are today with them on the precipice of winning a title. Do you remember what you were seeing then that allowed you to see what could be here when all lotowed people couldn't. So I was guilty of I had a weird relationship with this season's Nicks. I've talked about it a lot. I picked them to make the finals and they would they would have times when they would find it. And it is the blender, the vibe, the ball movement, the defense And then times particularly in January when they went two and nine in eleven game stretch and the pistons whaxed them twice and all that. where they just kind of lost it. And in that January stretch, that's when I said, I think I think Um, I think the Wolves won the town straight because his salary is so big and it doesn't look like it's happening. What I said was the Kicks could win the title and this could end up being an all time stupid take by me. And it looks like that's what's going to happen. But despite that and toowns was so much of the focus on the of the criticism at that time, right? There was all this reporting like are they actually going to trade toowns? Like is that back on the table Despite that, I just kept coming back to Like who am I picking in the east over this team as raggedy as they were in that stretch and then they picked it up theirir defense started to trend. and what I talked about in March with you, and if you go back and watch my live show Um from from Brooklyn around that same time Paul's show was like a pep talk to Nicks fans who were like so down in the dumpside. I was like who are you taking over this team? Like Boston. Boston's the only one that I would be scared of U'm They had rediscovered a little bit of that verb with the ball Towns had gotten out of it their defense was trending. I think at that time. they were like one of three teams with top seven offense, top seven defense. I'm like I know it's been The losses are loud, right? The someome of the losses were really loud U But the trend lines were there and that Spurs game ironically in March when they destroyed the Spurs at MSG. That was kind of a proof of concept game again to me. But he, I don't want to talk about like fine. It's been a weird season for the Nicks but here they are An anobi I don't know what he' shooting on corner Threes. I do know that he leads the entire NBA and true shooting percentage for the playoffs. So whatever it is, it's extremely high And he even had a self created like pick and roll step backack three last night. Yeah. And no, Zach, just quickly on hand like There was There's always been the Rublinkings out there when he was in Toronto that he wanted this bigger offensive role. He thought he could do more. He wanted to do more And he's doing it, but it's not as if he's doing it while kind while pounding the ball into the floor or, you know, doing it outside of the floow of this Nick offense, but he's doing it. and he's showing he's validating those feelings if they were real in Toronto, I think they were They were you that he was right Ive talked to him when he was in Toronto. He was one of my, you know, how many seasons ago? I don't know But I used to do this column for a certain website called my five or six M intriguing players for the season. And he was one one year and I interviewed him and I talked about like I don't think it's a stressch to say he has all star potential in the NBA if he did a little bit more. And he just flatly in the way he flatly says like Yeahah I think so. I agree. So he envisioned that kind of stuff for himself and they've needed him in the series because Duce has disappeared. Landriry' shooting has dried up a little bit to the last couple of games. Kats been in foul trouble now two games in a row But I want to talk about like Seven threes in this game Just an astounding shooting performance And I think The Ns As that game went on kind of figured out what the SpurRs are trying to do defensively with Wembinyama. and they kind of rediscovered some of the stuff that worked in the first two games And I just I find it very interesting what what the Sirs are doing because they have they can put them on cat. And when they do that when he's scard and catch straight man to man the Nick go right into Brunson cat pickking roll, which is what they should do. pop cat out for threes, make the defense start to rotate. their cutting around that has been pristine They could put him on heart straight up. which the It was a little bit exaggerated the degree to which they did that in game in game three and they did not do it much in game four. He just basically guarded an area. And you guarded like a corner slash baseline area And in games three and four, you can see the nextick sort of figuring out, okay, how do we want to attack that? And L There are possessions where heart would start in the corner. That's the ideal scenario for San Antonio's semi WB zone is heart in the corner And then heart and Anatobi would switch places. Heart would go up to the wing. and An andobbe would go to the corner And that moment It's such a delicious little basketball moment because in that moment not whenby and the sppurs have a decision to make. Is he guarding heart or is he guarding the baseline? Because if he guards hardart, he goes with heart up out of the pain And Hart's going to set up a allall screen for Brunson And he's going to be in the action. Now because it's Josh Hart, he can hang back play drop defense. say go ahead, shoot pick and pop threerees, Josh Hart, but you are away from the pain And the sppurs have chosen over and over again in the last two games. He's just going to guard the area. And if there's a good shooter there, so be it. There's a good shooter there And what the Nix have started to do is Car everyone else out of that side of the floor so that he has no choice when that corner guy comes up to set a screen for Brunson to follow him be in the pick and roll. And like the Brunson three that got them to within one at the end of the game wasas that exact action. I think it ended being Alvarado that he was on They switched it and he hit his step backack three over Wbenyama to pull him within one We're doing it The Kicks just have kind of and then there were like There were some breakdowns, I thought, where the Kicks with their cutting and their movement kind of confused the spurs a little bit and N and Oi got open for a couple of corner to Threes. I thought Harper played a couple of rotations and these are hardare rotations to make. like this is a complex defense for young young guys to make And OG made them pay every single time. And I just I said it after game three I'm surprised he's not just guarding hardart straight up more And I understand why he's not But it does make the defense a little simpler for the Spurs when he is. And that's why Cats foul trouble was such a big part of this game becausecause when Robinson is in or Huuckport is in, he can just play the defense becomes simpler. I'm just going to guard the rim running center. everyveryone else play normal defense That's why cat shooting is such a huge variable because it takes the spurs out of their sort of comfort, man demand defense. B by the way, Kat, did you look at his plus minus numbers I didn't, but in the fourth quarter, he was tremendous For what what was it plus minus? Well, for I don't know yesterday, it was plus something a lot. For the series He is Plus forty eight and the Nicks are minus forty when he's on the bench. Oh wow. And it's because of how he warps them into this strange defense that I think It's just my gut I think they're being a little too cute with it and could put him on heart a little bit more And there's a thin line between sowing confusion in the other team, which is what they're trying to do by being unpredictable and moving them around And confusing yourself a little bit. And I thought the sppurs sort of veered a little bit. Now the reason they don't want him on heart is he gets up into open space and And there', I don't know if you remember this. There's one place where he's on heart And heart becomes Draymond Green. likeike they posted cat Weby ignores heart to help on Cats post up. And they go into a golden state style split action where Brunson comes off a hard screen and walks into an open three and he misses it. That's what they're afraid of. Credit to Nick, puzzle solving this just enough, cat spacing and ability to offensive rebound against small guys is a huge part of it Um It doesn't matter if OG and Obbe doesn't go absolutely bananas from three in this series It's remarkable. Zack. I have another stack question for you and I shened my looking at my phone. I was actually trying to figure it out. You're allowed His numbers since your friends and neighbors aired with you and him Since it touched the screen, I mean, I think that's part of the rise here. You gott to give yourself some credit. Nix have lost one game. Yeahay, Dan Hausen. I'm talking to you, Dan Hausen. you don't get all the credit. Okay. The producers of your friends and neighbors get some of the credit. and so do I because you know, there's a lot of buzz about our acting Is there's scripts are coming in. Is there like a twins remake that we can do? Who knows I think part of it, he got he grew confidence seeing himself on the screen with you and that's elevated his game. So did I didid I imbue him with that confidence? I don't know. That's for other people to say, Ian We're not even talking about Jalen Brunson who You know percentage been below the standard. he's set for himself, particularly the first three games, but last night, he was the engine, part of the engine the next back to within striking distance and then As she always does He hit a few big shots late got them to within one or two points And it gets overshadowed by Anenobbe and we understand why, but Brontson played a big role in getting them back to U within striking distance and then back to where in a position where they could win the game And the shooting was much better in the second half and the decision making I thought was very good in the second half. and They're obviously not there without them Lets Let's take a break and talk a little bit more about Jalen Brunson after this. And that was today's finals MPP segment. It was presented by State Farm. 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Three turnovers, a number of big shots late after a lot of scrutiny of his over dribbling, I think in game three What happened? what went right? he did he just make Jalen Brunson more like They're just jailing Buntson shots and they're hard shots and sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't. Was this just like they just went in more I mean, I think what from what I saw, he was getting to the spots that he has operated with success in and whether it was the mid range in rhythm or You know, he found seams, driving seams and he's able to finish whenever you give him an inch of daylight and he had a few drives, multiple drives in that second half where he did finish tough tough shots at the rim, but that's just where his talent takes him and takes the next. And so I don't know if it if it was anything different from Brunson's perspective from his approach U But I think in that fourth quarter, you know, we talked about Alvarado. Allowing Bruntson to be off the ball. at's a call And Alvarado kind of being that secondary ball handler as a a pressure relief for Brunson and the Nicks. I think that's where you could point to something and say, hey, this was different and maybe this is what got Brunson going or what helped him help keep him going in that second half. I don't want to belabor the point, but just Mike Brown's thought process in bringing Alvarado in partart of it was getting Brunson off the ball and not forcing him to u, you know, have to fight the spurs tooth and nail for every inch when he's bringing the ball up or you know, fighting off the ball. So I think that was part of it. if you want to point to something that was different It's an interesting point that applies to the other end too because There was a play in game three where the Spurs used Castle as an off ball cutter. He curled really hard around a fox pick in the corner. simimilar to the corner stuff they run for Weemby that they ran a lot more of last night And he cut with such force they kicked him the ball. He kicked it back to Fox for an open three that missed. But it just made me think like there's so much castle on the ball in this series. less so last night because of the foul trouble. And it makes sense because if you run Castle Wbinyama picking rolls and I thought the sppurs were smart sort of mixing up the structure of their pick and rolls. More of them just with Weemby is the only screener last night and shooting around and you put your two worst three point shooters in the pick and roll with all their best shooters around them. It makes sense But then you have Darren Fox who's a point guard. And Dylan Harper who just is like so ready for all of this And you start to imagine a world in which like, could they put Castle off the ball a little bit more The Fox thing Look, man He hasn't had a great playoffs. He's probably injured. Last night was a catastrophe that will be one of the defining moments of his career and of sppurs franchise history period if they lose this series I was out to lunch with an agent two days ago We said What do you think, when do you think they start talking about Do we have to trade Fox to open up the offense for Harper And all year, I've said, I think this is a perfect situation for Fox like be the veteran mentor. Don't overtax any of these point guards They're in the finals. Obviously it's worked But I did my answer and this is two days ago to this guy was Looking at his contract, which is four years, fifty five million do a pop and doesn't even start tntill next season. I think Harper in particular has reached the point of like If some team actually called me with a palatable offer for Fox I'd have to at least start thinking about it now to get ahead of it. I don't think they're going to do that. I don't think that call is coming really And ironically, one of the teams that's desperate for a point guard is the kings or that don't think that's happening. By the way, how about Mike Brown having to watch Dar and Fox blow the game last night? That's an interesting kings's little a little emotional emotionally fraught And the kings are obviously picking at a point in the draft where there's a lot of point cards, I do think you'd have to listen to a palatable offer and get ahead of it a little bit becausecause it's you could frame it in two ways. Number one, U It's obviously worked with the three point cards. they' three wins away from the NBA title U number two Have you already kind of gotten out of fox, what you hoped to get out of him, which is Vveeran mentor for young guys first test of the playoffs like we're in the finals I think you'd have to think about it. And then we went back and forth on like, who's the team that would trade for him And I don't know who the team is, but the one thing I did say was If Janis gets traded And I think Jonis is getting traded. I think I think the tooth space is all the way out of the tube And he gets traded to a team like Miami U or just say like Brooklyn made a crazy play for honest. I don't think that's going to happen, but let's say they did. Let's basically a team trades for him and they don't have quite enough still on their team to be like we're a tier one contender. We just traded all these that's what you want. We trade all our picks and young guys for Fanas. You want to be a contender, but we're not Fox a guy that could be the next guy in the door for that kind of team. like get him on the cheat. He's still a really good player. He made the all star team this year. We're a little bit desperate because we just are pot committed to honest. I just say I don't think that's going to happen. I think the sppurs if they lose this series A just gonna let this rest But I do think like Per has been so good And it's such like a central casting lead guard in the NBA have to figure out he and Castle fit together. I don't worry about that at all. I love Steph Castle. I'd love to have them on my team I don't know, man. like it it's going to be interesting because this has been a not great playoffs for him and last night was catastrophically bad. I mean, a couple of things Zach come to mind Is it Is it overly simplistic just to say The rolls comes off the bench, fewer notes But then you're paying a bench guy fifty five million dollars a year for the next four years. Right. But if you're going to trade him and not get the value that you would deem as, you know, equitable or palatable Maybe that's something to try. But the other thing that you bring up is fascinating because You know, there are teams that are right there that We'll need point cards. I mean, Minnesota is the obvious one U Houston has Fansfleet coming back, but I wonder if they explore the point guard market there And so even without that Ghanish trade Um It's true contenders who are going to be looking for a play card now Kyri Irveving I think will be, you know among the point guards that these teams call about Jamaran. I don't I think more of a reclamation project. I don't think a team that's ready to win. Um would take him on. I mean, I've heard the market is was has been tepid. h for Morant And you know, people look at Sacramento, but I think Sacramento is confident that they they could get a really good guard in this draft. And so the Maran thing is different. But yeah, I just wonder thoseose kinds of teams that you mention without even the honest trade. If you miss out on one of the guys that you like, do pivot to Fox. but You know, I don't know. I don't have my finger on the pulse San Antonio. But I just wonder if it would be early for them. they think it would have be too early to make a drastic move like that? I'm saying right now if I'm Brian Wright and you bring me a decent offer, like we got to at least have a meeting about it because the contract is not going to age well. I don't think, you know, I'm disappointed in' playing the playoffs, but again, he's playing with some kind of high ankle spraing or whatever Um It's a good point about Morant is another one of like by low. we can we can add him to our team one whether it's Yonest not Yonis is like because I think he's going to get traded to U But the honest thing, I think it's happening. like the teams are operating as if it's happening. aggents are operating as if it's happening. like they're looking at Milwaukee as a rebuilding team. They're looking at Milwaukee as a team that might have another first round pick in the lottery and like scheduling their draft workouts around it. Like everyone is just operating and getting the vibe of like This is going to happen. O like teams that other agents have told me like teams that are in the Yanister be like ' acting as if they might not have their first round pick in the draft because they're going to trade it like anyway, I don't want to talk too much about that Brunson Yeah, man. he sticks with it. I mean, that's what that's the defining feature of the Kicks. They're just a professional basketball team. They stick with it. they play their game They haven't played like a bad game in quite a long time. And boy, oh boy Did they stick with the last night? What did we missed from last night and going into a team whatever five I mean, we we hit cash U, we hit Jose I mean, we shouldhould we hit the fous more did they talk about the fouls in the post game the cat Fouls because that I mean that Look, you can sit here and say like, I think the Nicks end up shooting where free throws, the fous or even whatever Th cat is so definitional to how they play and the structure of how they play against O Binyama. Th three fouls and it's the one where he kind of There's some contact with Fox on a drive on the first play of the game where he juts out his stomach a little bit, but Fox juts into him hands up That's a foul There's the proroximate foul where he gets called for hooking Weemby after Wenby was initially called for a foul I didn't love that only because The reason he hooks Weemby is because Weemby is hugging him. likeike Weemby initiates the arm under arm structure. Yeah. And then there's the push offff on Cornet for a rebound, which U is probably a foul, but on the other hand, like it wasn't a gratuitous like arms extended push off. L that that that is it I think like that should net out at one and a half fls. But did they talk about it all or were they just like forget we won the game. Yeah, it was more so the lder. It really it didn't come up and obviously Nicks lose if the Nicks had lost that game The narrative in New York would be about the officials and the conspiracy theories and yeah, that's where the attention would be because of those towns fowls early on. I mean I took a walk to meet a friend at halftime in the concourse after chehecking in on the the Wu Tang halftime performance. with in on that there I think are plus thirty. since Wu Tang has been on the court performing a hheft timee, but anyway Like a couple few people stopp me and they're like, Down twenty seven And it's not all the ref's fault but those cab valves stuck out to everybody who is watching the game. So that would have been the narrative here locally had they lost the game. Um I thought the reps I was joking like I think they're going to need to get Trump's motorcade back here to get these reps out of the arena because this is going to be ugly. Look is Tony Brothers If he reps the game in New York, I do in in a half serious way worry about that because You know, everybody was screaming about him in game two And the officiating has been a storyline here. and I think that you know, I'm the last one to lookook at officiating. I think it's kind of something that, you know, if you're emotionally looking at a game, it's something that's you're going to get drawn to. But I think even myself, people are talking about it it just seems like because have been more, much more to the Spurs benefit than the Kicks and I don't know what are your thoughts generally on the officiating in the series? I think it's been A little bit overblown, but probably like fifty five, forty five, you know, spurs have gotten a little bit. And the catfowls like We've seen Kat get in foul trouble a lot. Normally they're just bad fouls. like like obvious fouls these were not those and and I I didn't love any of the three calls to be honest. Um, Okay, I've been waiting to do this When they won game two I did my post game pod And I said what I think it was their thirteenth consecutive win And I said This is one of the most magical things in the history of sports that I've ever seen any sport, not just basketball Most people agreed. Some people said I was being hyperbolic. I don't think it's hyperbolic. like and I tried to find out like thirteen games in a row with a net rating of like twenty in those games is just crazy and magical And It got me thinking like, is there even a comp for this team Let's and we're now three games. Three wins into the finals. It's time to at least like we can at least talk about it Um And by comp, I mean, the Nicks were a third seed. fififty three win team Good team. Not great like what probably great ish, but like, you know, run of the mill fifty three win team They are now fifteen and three in the playoffs with a net rating of plus sixteen and an average margin of victory of plus fifteen and a half So they went from run of the mill good to Just this is a Jordan Bowles Durant Curry Warriors level Blitzkrieg through the playoffs I think that's basically completely anomalous in the history of the NBA So here I did some deep dives. Are you ready This is simple basketball reference stuff. I'll go back and do it better later, but this is what I have for now I searched for every team who won the title four or fewer losses on their way to the title and a margin of victory of ten or more per game Okay, so like Dominant playoff runs, there's probably teams that had five, six losses that could fit but that's my criteria. I just thought itd be fun. Here are the teams The twenty seventeen wararriors. They went sixteen to one in the playoffs sixty seven and fifteen in the regular season The two thousand one Lakers, that would be the comp teeen and one in the playoffs sixty six wins in the regular season with actually a worse regular season point differential than the Nicks The difference is they had won the championship the previous year and had Kobe and Shaack and everybody knew what they were The nineteen ninety six Bulls, seventy two and ten in the regular season. you may remember that team fifteen at three of the playoff The nineteen ninety one Bowls, sixty one and twenty one in the regular season. fififteen and two in the playoffs then nineteen eighty seven Los Angeles Lakers sixty five and seventeen in the regular season, fifteen and three in the playoffs The nineteen eighty six Boston Celtics sixty seven and fifteen in the regular season teen and three in the playoffs The nineteen eighty five Los Angeles Lakers sixty two and twenty ve teeen it four in the playoffs. That's the whole list. That's the list the Kicks are on right now in terms of playoff dominance It's the greatest teams in the history of the sport Teams that w sixty, sixty five, seventy reggular season games. The NX one hundred and fifty three just makes absolutely no sense. Then I did another search. Are you ready, Mr. Begley? Please keep it coming I did a search for it. Let's see This is regular season winning percentage less than two thirds because you have to account for lockouts. So like that's about where the Nicks were winning percentage wise. So I'm searching for pretty good teams won the finals U and had a margin victory of in the regular season, seven or less because that's about where the Kicks were. So won the finals, run of the mill regular season team Um Here are the teams two thousand four pistons. fififty four wins sixteen and seven in the playoffs. the dominant playoff run is not quite there. interestnteresting comp for a number of reasons. This may be the best comp of all The twenty twenty three nuggets fifty three and twenty nine in the regular season sixteen and four in the playoffs with a plus eight point differential Again, the Nixar plus sixteen. likeike it's double that twenty twenty two warriors, fifty three and twenty nine in the regular season sixteen and six in the playoffs plus five, like not close to what the Kicks are doing in the playoffs. two thousand six heat fifty two and thirty in the regular season, sixteen at seven in the playoffs plus four. Not close to what the Nicks are doing in the playoffs. I promise I'm done already. Now we're getting into what I call the Simmon zone nineteen seventy nine Sonics fifty two and thirty twelve and five in the playoffs plus two and a half. notot close to what the Kicks are doing nineteen seventy seven blazers. forty nine and thirty three in the regular season fourteen and five in the playoffs pretty dominant plus four point seven, not close to what the Nicks are doing. Obviously the three and all that margins can be bigger now nineteen ninety five roockets, the repeat team forty seven and thirty five in the regular season. They trade for Drexler halfway through. fififteen and seven in the playoffs plus three, notot close to what the Nicks are doing. two more twenty twenty one bucks. forty two and twenty six in a seventy two game season sixteen and seven in the playoffs plus five, not a super dominant playoff run, but interesting comp. nineteen seventy eight bullets forty four and thirty eight, the worst record, I think to ever win the title. teen and seven in the playoffs plus four None of these So these are like the pretty the good to great regular season teams who end up winning the title. None of them The nuggets are the closest ones. with a sixteen and four plus eight I just think this is like I've never seen anything like this. There's no match upp really between It's just unbelievable what's happened. L they went from fifty three and twenty nine to fifteen and three plus fifteen and a half. And like, yeah, sure, the fifty nine point winner or whatever against the Hawks is they blew the shit out of everybody, not in the finals But that's I think it's totally anomalous. It's crazy. And it also happens after they got down to one to Atlanta, bothoth losses, by the way, coming by one point. So close games And then they make the shift to towns as the hub And that's not the only thing, the only reason things changed in a drastic way. It's part of it But yeah, the gulf between the regular season performance and the post season performance I don't think there's a comp for that, Zach. I really don't. And you could look at it also like two ways with the East, you could say. Well, the E is so bad U maybe in a normal year, the next regular season isn't a fifty three win season. Maybe it's even like a forty nine, forty eight, forty seven win season. taking taking plus injuries toy players etera, etcera Right. and where you could say like the playoff numbers are a product partially of a weak east. I could see that either way, but bottom line is it's happening and it happened to me. U Once I saw it James Dolan and Stefan Marbury sitting next to each other. I believe it was game six in Atlanta when the Kicks went absolutely crazy. Once I saw those two sitting next to each other celebrating Nick dominance I just thought anything is on the table because it ended so ugly. withith Marburt in New York, with Dollan in the middle of it You know, with those two together, it just told me anything is possible here with this Nick team, if those two can unite over this group Look When I picked Nixon seven I just it was corny. I said, I think something magical has happened to the Ns I still think that That said plus eight A four games. I expect this person to regroup and make the Kicks earn this. And if the Surs win game five Game sixix is going to be pressure packed at MSG like nothing that's come yet U So TBD on that Just a couple of other final notes. I thought the Kicks were really forceful in game four pushing the pace, which I think is important for them because it gets them into the blender and just sort of organically gets the ball moving H. Um I like when towns attacks smaller guys from the elbow when Weemby is playing that zone and the one the one possession that I saw was Carter Bryant was on him and he drove. And yeah, wheny came over to help and Kat had to kick out at the rim, but it got the blender going and OGN and Obi hit a corner three out of it. Those are two of the things I would look for game five, but One went away, man. one went away from history One one away from a party like no other in New York City. Oh whether there are press releases about where the party can be or not TVD. But I expect Dpurse to come out and make a ear it and make it tough But I do expect the Nicks to close it out one way or another. But boy, if they get it to six That atmosphere is going to be pretty post Celebratory and tense at the same time, don't you think Super, super tense. and you know, I don't want to be a Debbie downowner today, but just because it was a M's reference, I found it interesting. There was a media member. We were talking about the OG moment and kind of how where it ranked and how iconic it was in New York sports moments. You had the David Tyree catch, you had Bill Buckner m and it would be right up there, but the Nicks have to win for it to be right up there and in the chance that they do lose, the media members said, Hey It's like the Ny Chavez catch for the Mets in that CS where he makes an unbelievable catch, but they still lose that game to the Cardinals and you don't really remember it the same way. So OG, that moment mayaybe would get that treatment if the Nicks fall party, but I don't think they will. I think there's too much going on their side to close this thing I'm with you. I think somehow some way They figure out how to get that final win and then it's going to be Bedlam in New York Well, thanks for ending the podcast by bring up Mets's Payne. Ian It's really nice of you. comoming off two straight horrible losses to the St. Louis Cardinals. We'll do a Met's corner once the finals is over. Ian Bglo, you're going to San Antonio, correct? Yes Enjoy. I am staying home because I am Bill's postgame Saturday live Netflix podcast guest. So I will miss that game. I'll be a game six if there is a game six Ian, thank you. You're the best. Thank you to Billy, Jonathan and Mike on production. Again, I'll be with Bill on Saturday and then we'll sort of TBD it after that depending on the results of the game. and thanks to you all of course for listening to Andor watching Zachlow S showow. We'll see you next time twenty one over and President select states for Kansas in affilation with Kansas Star Casino or eighteen and over in Presididenton in DC, Kentucky, Wyoming, gambling problem. Call one eight hundred gambler or one eight hundred My reset. Call one eight eighty eight seven hundred eighty nine seven seven seven seven or visit ccpG dot org slash chat in Connecticut or isisit MD gamblinghelp dot orga in Maryland. Hope is here Gambling Helpline mA dot org or call eight hundred three two seven five zero five zero for twenty four seven support in Massachusetts or call one eight seven seven eight hope N Y or text hope NY in New York for Louisiana, callall one eight seven seven seven seven zero, seven eight six seven