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00:00Welcome back to another edition of New York Got Game. It's your boy Dexter Henry. We are six games
00:21into the NBA season for the New York Knicks. It's been a little up and down. Knicks have won three.
00:26They've lost three. Some people have been ready to jump off the ledge. Hopefully on this episode,
00:31we'll try to give you a pretty good assessment of where the Knicks are after six games. Again,
00:36just a small sample size into the season, but we've got a great guess. So let's get right into
00:40it. So the Knicks, they're back at home at the Garden after they kicked off a season-long seven
00:46game homestand on Sunday, but they did hit some early turbulence this year. After starting the
00:51year 2-0, they are now 3-3. So the major question on the minds of Knicks fans is this. Is this a
00:57small sample stumble or is this something more concerning? To answer that question and more,
01:03joining me to break it all down from Mike Brown's system to the bench rotation and defensive
01:08breakdowns is my guy, the great film guru, Benjamin Ritholtz from Knicks Film School.
01:13You guys know him as Benji and he joins me now. Benji, what's going on, man? How you doing?
01:16I'm doing great, Tex. It's always great to be with you and excited to talk about a team with
01:22a new look and some new ideas. Looking forward to it. Yeah, no, I'm excited to talk about this. Have
01:27a nuanced discussion about this. We're not going to jump out the window here. We're not going to do
01:32that here for this show. But Benji, here we are. We are six games in. As I said, Knicks,
01:38you have a record of three and three. What's been the biggest difference between the team that we
01:43saw open the season 2-0 and the team we've seen recently since then going 1-3?
01:51I don't think it's been such a drastic difference, to be honest with you. I think a lot of it has
01:56to do with shot making. You know, the team is shooting so many threes that you are a little bit
02:01subject to the variance of three-point shootings that you can go hot and you can go cold. I think
02:06had the shooting been a little bit more evenly dispersed through these games, I think you're
02:11probably looking at a 4-2 record and less panic. So I think, you know, it is a team adjusting
02:18to a new system. I think that's been clear through every single game and spurts of every
02:22game that you've watched. There are quarters where they look great. There are halves and
02:26quarters where they look like they're figuring it out. So I actually don't, I wouldn't say
02:31there's been a noticeable difference to me in terms of like the quality of play and the
02:36quality of the team from the 2-0 start to now. I think it's been generally a team just trying
02:42to find its way.
02:42Right. So I agree with you, right? And you and I were talking about a little bit of this
02:47before we decided to start recording, right? The process for me still looks good, right?
02:52Particularly on offense, which is what everybody generally likes to focus on. But still, you're
02:57going to have people that are going to call this a slow start. So let's say we call this
03:00a slow start at 3-3. Let's say we say that. It sounds to me like what you're saying is a lot
03:06of this slow start feels like a team that's just adjusting to my ground system versus,
03:12as some fans have put it, a deeper issue with the roster. You don't see it as a deeper issue
03:17with this roster, correct?
03:18No, it's a really good roster. It's a roster that's going to win a lot of regular season
03:22games. I don't think there's any doubt about that once they find their flow. I do think
03:26the depth is improved from last season, but that's not to say that the team doesn't have
03:31some flaws that it had last season and it still has this season. And the players within
03:34this roster that were here last year have many of the same flaws that they had last
03:39year that they have now. And it's not a perfect roster, but it's a very, very good one. I
03:44think it is a roster that is built to win. I think it can do that at a very high level,
03:50both in the regular season and in the playoffs. And it's just really a matter now of finding
03:54their rhythm. Mike Brown is playing with rotations. He's playing with lineups. He's playing
03:59with different bench configurations, nine-man rotation, 10. He went to an 11 in the first
04:04game. So it's all going to sort itself out here as Brown to his credit. And I think this is what
04:09people wanted out of this new coach in comparison to the last one, a little bit more experimentation
04:14in early, early season. Let's figure out what we have, what lineups work, what types of plays
04:18work, what defensive system works. He's playing around a little bit. That's not always going to
04:22translate immediately to wins. The goal is that it translates later in the season. The team
04:27solidifies an identity and now can go out and win some games when it really matters late.
04:31I agree with you 100%, but I know you've seen this too, Benji. You still got some Knicks fans
04:36saying, oh, I want tips back. We had somebody in our live show the other day said they want
04:40a refund on the coaching hire. I think they want tips back. But you're right. When you
04:44change things and it's new and I like the experimentation. This is the time. This is what
04:49the regular season is for when you have a roster as talented as they have to try to experiment
04:53and find things. So with all that being said, there are some Knicks fans, Benji, who are
04:58concerned after six games? Do you think fans should be concerned about this 500 start or
05:03are there foundational things that you've seen in the film that says the process is good?
05:09This is just some early season noise. Like let's see if this team can stick with what they're
05:14doing.
05:15Yeah, I think exactly right, Dex. I think there are foundational things and differences you're
05:19seeing that you would have wanted to see entering the season with this new system and this new
05:23coach. They are generating more threes and better threes than they did last year. Now you are subject
05:29to some variance when you shoot a lot of threes. I don't think anybody would question that this team
05:33needed to shoot more considering the quality of shooters that they have. Carl Towns three-point
05:38rate is way up. Jalen Brunson's three-point rate is way up. That's due to the increased pace,
05:43the increased ball movement. Jalen Brunson playing off the ball more, getting more catch and
05:47shoot opportunities. We're seeing Mikael Bridges as more of a playmaker, had nine assists tonight.
05:52Um, so that's obviously come to that. That's an idea that's kind of come to fruition that he needs
05:56to have the ball a little bit more to play make. So the pace is up. That's one thing that was
06:01promised. The three-point rate is up. That's another thing that was promised. The ball movement's
06:04better. The assist rate is up. That's a lot of good signs. The shots are going to start to go down
06:08because the quality of shooter on this team is very high. So yes, I think foundationally the process
06:14has looked good. There are quarters and halves where it's slowed down and they've gone away from what
06:19Mike Brown is trying to preach and maybe reverted back to habits that they're trying to break. But
06:24that's all part of the process. Foundationally, this is exactly the type of start you wanted to
06:28see from this offense. The principles are starting to manifest as the offense gets going.
06:34It does come down to shot making, right? Because the Knicks offense through the first five games
06:39were in the, you know, high 20s is where they were ranked in terms of offensive rating. And
06:44you will see where it is after Sunday night when we look at some of the data. But
06:48that's going to go up as they start to make shots. And you mentioned the P word that's been used all
06:53offseason long. That's pace, right? And I think there's a lot of things people think about pace
06:57a lot about the, you know, moving up fast up and down the court. But a lot of it has to do with ball
07:01movement, even in the half court. And Mike Brown's talked about this, Benji, right? He's talked about
07:05pace and ball movement being crucial for this team. When you, and you're watching the film here, when you look at the
07:10film, what are you seeing particularly, like specifically in the offense that you like about how it's flowing through
07:17Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns when they're on the floor? What do you like about what you're seeing thus far?
07:22I like the way they're interacting more frequently. And it's not simply through like a static pick and roll where
07:28defenses know how to handle that. They're probably going to switch that because they'll put their two best wing
07:32defenders on Brunson and Katz so that they can switch it. We saw with Tibbs, he had to almost go away from that action
07:38because of the easy switchability of it. And now you're not having your two best players interact.
07:43The whole purpose of Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns together on a team is that they should
07:46interact all the time offensively and make defenses make tough decisions. What you're seeing with this
07:51increased pace, whether it's a slot to slop flip where Brunson brings the ball up, we'll pitch it back
07:56to Towns. And that's an interaction that makes the defense make a decision without a static pick and roll.
08:02Or Brunson comes down the floor, dumps it to Kat at the elbow, and then runs off of him for either a DHL
08:08or a fake, a dribble handoff or a fake, and now Carl Anthony Towns is a driver. So it's less kind of
08:14static pick and roll between those two, but because of the pace that they're playing with,
08:17they're interacting early in a possession, making defenses make tough decisions, and then taking
08:22advantage. Both of them are such good drivers of the basketball. So I like what we're seeing in
08:27terms of the increased interaction between Towns and Brunson. And like more generally, just the
08:32increased pace off of rebounds, especially Towns outlet passes to Brunson, that's creating so many good
08:37threes in the open court. And then if the defense gets pushed down through that pace, it's a pitch
08:43back to Towns at the top of the key as a trailer. And we know how devastating he is in that position,
08:47whether it's shooting the three or a pump fake, and he's driving and he's getting two and probably
08:51an and one. Yeah, I've been loving that. And I don't mean this, the follow-up I'm going to have
08:56here to your points there, Benji, is any shade towards Tom Thibodeau. But when you're looking at this
09:01offense right now, and it has not been great, right, just because of the shot making, we haven't seen
09:05been great until Sunday night against the Bulls. But does this offense just, does it not feel just
09:11more modern to you? That's just simply how I could put it, but it just feels more modern.
09:17No, exactly right. It does feel modern. It's where the league is going. Look, the Knicks would go
09:23through games shooting 26, 27 threes in a game. And that's just the math starts to get really
09:29difficult. Now the Knicks did an amazing job. And like, this is not, Thibs did an amazing job with this
09:34team. I'm a firm believer that Thibs did a great job. I believe that he played a certain style that
09:40worked for this team for a long time, but I do think it kind of needed to enter the modern era.
09:45And that's what Mike Brown is doing. Now, what's yet to be seen is that when you play this style
09:50and you are running up and down like this, now you play a team like the Bulls, who on Friday night,
09:55just ran it back down the Knicks throats. And the Knicks weren't prepared to face that kind of pace.
10:00They're not used to playing that pace the way the Bulls are. So it is an adjustment defensively.
10:06You know, like everyone talks about pace on offense. When you play with pace on offense,
10:09you also have to play with pace on defense. We actually saw in the first quarter tonight,
10:13Mikael Bridges had to yell at his teammates, Hey, we're running up and down on offense,
10:16but if you don't get back, they're just going to get three when we get two, right? Like you end up
10:21losing that way. So there's a discipline you have to play with, even when you play with pace.
10:25And I think that's probably some of the reason Thibs didn't want to play that way.
10:28And it's up to the Knicks to reach that standard where, okay, we want to run up and down on
10:32offense. We better get back and make sure we're guarding teams that want to do the same thing to
10:36us. That's going to be a key in terms of like really turning this system into a positive one for
10:42this team. Yeah. I love that you talked about that in terms of pace on defense. I think that
10:45gets ignored quite often when we talk about basketball and there's two sides to the game here.
10:50I want to talk to you a little about the bench unit, Benji, because this was supposed to be a
10:55strength this season. They supposedly upgraded the bench, but so far they've struggled to generate
10:59points. And a little bit of me saying that is also rhythm, right? Because there's been some guys
11:04out, Mitchell Robinson, even though he's projected to start, has played limited minutes. And then
11:08Deuce McBride was out for a little bit. Gershon Yabaselli. What stands out to you right now about
11:14the second unit's play? Like, what do you think about it? They've definitely struggled offensively,
11:18but what catches your eye when you talk about the bench unit for the Knicks right now?
11:21Well, I'll tell you, like, you know, this conversation is different tonight than it would
11:26have been, you know, Friday night because they had their best game by far against the second game
11:32against the Bulls where Shamit, Clarkson, Brick Bride all put points on the board. Josh Hart had his
11:38best game of the season by a long shot. So it seems like hopefully they're coming into coming into
11:43their own as a unit. I think Brown is playing with a bunch of combinations too. Like Kolek started the
11:48season. I didn't love the idea of having him in a backcourt with Tyler Kolek and Jordan Clarkson
11:54together. That's a very small, defensively challenged lineup. Kolek, unfortunately, now
11:58has taken a backseat, but I like the look of Deuce McBride with Clarkson. Kind of the stout
12:03ball control guard who can shoot threes with Clarkson, who could be a little bit helter-skelter,
12:08but we know can generate buckets like he did tonight. And then, look, Yabaselli has been a
12:13disappointment. You got to be honest about it. He's been their worst rotation player,
12:16I think, by a long shot. His minutes are now getting cut, and it's going to be interesting
12:19to see. We had a lot of expectations for him as kind of a versatile four or five. I think
12:24he came into camp a little bit heavy. He has to work himself into shape now, unfortunately.
12:29So we're going to see how that works out. But I do think it's been a bit of an inconsistent
12:32who gets time and the lineups that they've been playing with. They're hopefully settling
12:36into that now. And tonight was a great step in the right direction with all these wings
12:40that can surround Brunson and Towns, kind of interchangeable wings coming in and out of the game,
12:44making shots, and playing good defense.
12:46Yeah, I'm glad you brought up Yabaselli, too, because I was going to ask you. I thought
12:50he looked, even when you watch him, I watch him play a little bit in your basket. He's
12:54looked a little bit heavier to start the season than he was. From your estimation, how long
13:02do you think it will take for him to get back into playing shape? Because getting into, and
13:07we're talking about basketball shape, to play NBA games, right? Not the same as practicing
13:11of that nature. But is this something where we could see, you know, towards the end of
13:16this month as we get past Thanksgiving, that he could be back in shape and looking a lot
13:20better like the player many of us expected him to be in this rotation?
13:24Yeah, I mean, they have a couple of long breaks in this season. It's kind of a schedule quirk.
13:29Like, they play tomorrow night and then Wednesday and then have another three days off. So I think
13:33to his benefit to, like, really get in the gym over the course of those days, what they have
13:37off, get in the gym, just run, man. Like, it's going to take a couple months probably to get where
13:43he needs to be. The good news is it's the beginning of the season. This is not the first
13:47player to come into camp out of shape, and it won't be the last. Guys can get there over the course
13:51of a year. And to the Knicks, you know, the benefit the Knicks have is if Mitch is around,
13:55they can play with Mitch and Cat at center. Even OG Ananobi occasionally, Huck Forty can provide
14:01some late bench depth if you need it. So it probably provides the luxury for Yavaselli to have the time
14:06to get into shape before he starts logging the regular minutes. The Knicks hope he can.
14:10But man, this is a guy who, like we saw in the Olympics, throw down over LeBron James. He's
14:14always been a big dude, but he can get off the floor. He hasn't looked like a guy who has any lift
14:19at all since he came to the Knicks. That's going to have to change. He cannot be effective as a ground
14:25bound 6'8 center. Even if he makes threes, that's not going to cut it. He can't stay in front of Kevin
14:30Herter on a drive. On Friday night, he got burned on a right-hand drive by Kevin Herter, who has
14:35no speed whatsoever. So he's going to have to get to a place where he can be a little bit switchable
14:39and can get some lift off the ground to be an effective NBA player. I do think it can happen
14:44over the course of a couple months. Yeah, definitely can. And the Knicks are going to need him,
14:48especially for what they hope to accomplish with him off the bench. So we'll see if that happens.
14:52Now, Benji, you talked about the defense and Mike Brown called out the defense of this team after
14:57the Bulls lost on Halloween. He also said he wanted to see this team play a full 48 minutes. We saw that
15:03on Sunday, at least close to it, maybe not a full 48, but it was somewhat close to it against the
15:08Bulls in the rematch on Sunday. So when you break down the tape, what defensive principles are the
15:13Knicks failing to execute consistently on defense? And I do say this with a caveat and have an asterisk
15:19because the Knicks are in the top 10 in terms of defensive rating. So they have played good
15:23defense in spurts, but you also have seen breakdowns at times that you saw in the first matchup against
15:29the Bulls, particularly in the last couple of minutes of that game in the first half. What are
15:33you seeing with them on defense that you like or don't like right now? So yeah, some of it is what
15:38we already talked about, Dex. Like when you play with pace, you don't get back and it's not just
15:43getting back one-on-one with your matchup. Most teams are tough in transition. You talk about
15:48Giannis Antetokounmpo, of course, with Milwaukee. You talk about Josh Giddey with Chicago. If you don't
15:53build a little bit of a wall, that means having multiple guys back to wall off a drive,
15:58you're going to give up a lot of points in transition. You know, a driver, Carl Anthony
16:02Towns goes to the rim. He's often behind the play. If everyone's not sprinting back to prevent
16:07the counterattack, as it were, you're in big trouble. And I just think the Knicks have to
16:12get used to, again, playing with pace and then getting back with pace. You have to be able to
16:15counter on defense as well. The other thing I would say is just like Friday night, Mikael Bridges
16:21got blown by like six times, straight point of attack. Like he just needs to be better.
16:25This was the case last year as well. I think Mikael's had a great year so far. He looks like
16:29a different player. But defensively, if the Knicks want to get where they want to go,
16:34Mikael Bridges needs to be a top wing defender. If he's getting blown by, by Pat Williams and by Josh
16:39Giddey, the Knicks can't guard well enough to win a lot of games. Like that is a really, he is an
16:44important defensive player for them. He needs to play up to his standard. Carl Anthony Towns at the five.
16:50Unfortunately, this is a constant problem. But like second quarter, even tonight, when the Bulls
16:55got back in the game, he's just a mess in the pick and roll. Doesn't know whether to switch,
16:59doesn't know when he's in drop, he's in a soft drop. So that's always an issue, but he's got to
17:04be better. I'm a little surprised Mike Brown hasn't experimented a little bit more with heavy
17:08switching. And we haven't played any zone yet. And I thought that's something he might bring,
17:12because he did play some zone with Sacramento. Maybe he's just slowly going to build up the system.
17:17Maybe this is just kind of his starting point. And we're going to see more as we go. But I do like
17:21about the defense and what I think has allowed them to be, as you said, in the top 10, OG Ananobi
17:26and Mikael Bridges off the ball are allowed to roam and make plays. I think they have a lot,
17:30they've been empowered to a, to a level they weren't under Tibbs to be aggressive, to take risks.
17:36And those guys can, when they're allowed to wreak havoc off the ball, can force a lot of turnovers.
17:40We're seeing OG make a lot of plays just like that. So I like the principle of allowing them a little
17:46more freedom. I just think the team needs to, again, find exactly what scheme they want to
17:50play and then make sure they're getting back and stopping ball. That's the first step to any good
17:54defense. Yeah. Got to stop the ball. Got to stop that point of attack too. You mentioned Mikael Bridges
17:58there. That's important. Now, when you talk about this Knicks team, you talk about defense and we
18:03know this, Benji, the Knicks two best players are also the weakest defenders in Jalen Brunson and
18:09Carlton Towns. So, and you talked about, you kind of just mentioned this in the last answer,
18:14like, you know, a lot of the limitations I will say that we've seen with Kat, right? Over time. And
18:20some of it annoys the fan base. It's maddening. I get all of that. But I guess when you're looking
18:26at this, these players in the system is what can both of those players, Kat and Brunson do better to
18:32help the team defensively? And do you believe that they can improve in Mike Brown's system over the
18:37course of the season? Do you think that's actually possible? I do. And part of it is,
18:43and this is something Mike Brown obviously believes in because he wanted to start the year this way,
18:47is playing Kat more at the four. So Mitchell Robinson allows you to do that. And I like how
18:54they've looked defensively in that alignment. It just solves a lot of problems. Kat is actually
18:59very capable. And it's something he showed in Minnesota with Rudy Gobert against good fours,
19:04against talented fours, quick fours. He can guard those guys one-on-one. When Kat really struggles
19:09is when he's put into kind of pick and roll actions as the five, trying to navigate and figure out what
19:13he needs to do, whether it's to switch or whether it's to stay home. He gets burned a lot in those
19:18scenarios. So look, playing at the four is going to help. I think Mike Brown's going to have to build
19:23out a little bit more of his defense. Can I hide him in zone? Can I blitz the ball a little bit more
19:27and allow him to just blitz? Ball gets out of the point guard's hand. Now he can retreat as opposed
19:33to having to guard in front in a drop defense, which is where he struggles. So I think there
19:37are ways to help Kat. I think Mike Brown will start to build all those out. As for Brunson,
19:42look, he's working hard out there. He always works hard out there. He's going to draw his share of
19:46offensive fouls. Those are helpful. The times that he struggles, and this is something that the Bucs did
19:52to him a lot, is if he's guarding, let's say, A.J. Green on the Bucs, that guy will screen for
19:57Giannis. Obviously, Brunson can't switch onto Giannis. That puts the Knicks in all sorts of
20:02problems. So nothing you can really do about that. Jalen Brunson is a six-foot guard. He's a limited
20:07defensive player. He has to keep working hard. He has to keep drawing his share of fouls. And then,
20:11look, you got to scheme around it. Again, whether that's playing a little bit more zone to help hide
20:15a guy. I think the Knicks should employ some zone defense. I'm surprised Brown hasn't done that yet.
20:20We'll see if it comes out at all. The other thing I want to say about Towns is his rebounding has
20:24been unbelievable. And there's no defensive possession without a defensive rebound at the
20:28end. So as limited as he is as a pick-and-roll defender, his rebounding makes up for some of it.
20:33And man, has his defensive rebounding this year been exceptionally good. So I do want to shout him
20:38out for that. No, he's been an elite defensive rebounder thus far this year. Numbers reflect that
20:42for sure there. So I know good answers about that with Cat and also Brunson. I want to talk to you
20:47specifically about a few players here, Benji, before we wrap. Because I want to start with
20:51Mitchell Robinson. You mentioned him just in the last question I asked you about Cat and Brunson.
20:55But how much has the center's load management approach, right, or the team's load management
21:00approach with him, we'll call it that, with his ankle injury, impacted the interior defense
21:05and rebounding structure? Because we know about Mike Brown wanting to go with the double big
21:10lineup. We know he wants to see more of Cat at the four. But we haven't seen much of that,
21:14right, except for the previous two games before us recording this. So how much of that has hurt
21:20the potential of how much better we can see the Knicks be on defense? I mean, there's no,
21:24there's no question. Mitchell Robinson is either their best or what? Well, he's probably their best
21:29defender. He might be second best, Mitch, he might be third best, but he's one of their best three
21:33defenders on the roster. I mean, simple as that. And as a rim protector, as a guy who forces turnovers
21:38with his huge arms, the guy can be a difference maker on that end. It's not just that he hasn't
21:44played every game. It's that we have, even with what we've seen of him, he is not near his peak
21:50right now. And that makes sense. Probably just not in perfect shape, isn't playing a ton of minutes,
21:54is managing his workload. So it's a tough thing. Like, I think they're right to be careful with him.
22:01Most important is that they have him down the stretch into the playoffs. So I get it. He's a guy that's
22:05never really played a full season healthy. So you have to just kind of understand that and then
22:09manage it accordingly. The difficulty is, can we get him at peak shape and playing with his best
22:16rhythm? Because he's not there right now. It's not even close. And like, you're seeing him miss
22:20dunks on offensive rebounds. You're seeing him foul guys that normally he would just, you know, stuff,
22:26right? Like he's just a step behind. That's the challenge. So it's going to be tough. Like,
22:31I understand the load management, but at the same time, when you're doing that, and now he's not
22:36the player he's supposed to be, well, what are you really accomplishing? It's a tough balance that
22:39the Knicks are going to have to try to strike. Yeah. They're going to have to try to figure that
22:42out. And it's when is he going to be at his peak, right? Where he's healthy and also in rhythm with
22:48the team. That's a tough thing to balance through the season. I think something to watch with the Knicks
22:52for sure. I also want to talk to you about Josh Hart, because he is, and there's a couple of things now
22:57here with, with, with Hart, because he told the post that he's not considering surgery and that
23:02he's still adjusting to his role. And then before Sunday's game against the Bulls, he told the
23:07athletic that he's got a nerve injury in his hand. Do you think not having surgery with Josh Hart has
23:13said he doesn't want to do, do you think that's the right move for him and the team? And what do you
23:18see on film about how he's faring in his new role off the bench under Mike Brown? I also say this with a
23:23caveat because Josh Hart was really struggling until Sunday's game against the Bulls. He had
23:28his best performance, all around performance, I would say of the season thus far. So maybe he is
23:32getting a little bit more comfortable with the hand injury. And I think it's somewhat of a concern
23:36with the nerve damage there. But what do you think about him not getting surgery? And what have you
23:41seen about how he is faring in the new role or think that he can fear as he gets more comfortable
23:45here under Mike Brown? Yeah, I hesitate to like comment on the surgery, but I don't know what that
23:52surgery looks like. I don't know how long he would be out for. I just know very little information
23:56about it. I'm going to take the trainer, training staff and him and his word that this is the right
24:01course of action. I'm just going to judge what I'm watching. And what I'm watching is a guy who
24:06has no clue where to be within the system yet, and maybe just started to find it a little bit
24:11tonight, but otherwise has just been totally lost. And again, it makes sense. This is a guy who
24:16didn't play a preseason game under a brand new coach with a brand new system. It's hard to just like
24:21plug in and figure out how to play a brand new style. Like that is just a hard thing. So it's,
24:27it would be silly to expect him to look like he plugs right in, especially because we know Josh
24:31Hart is a bit of a complicated piece in the fact that he's not really a shooter and he's a kind of
24:36a strange hybrid guard forward who doesn't shoot threes. So he has to find his role. What I do like
24:42is they're starting to use him more as a screener, especially when he plays with Kat or with
24:46Diabaselli who can stretch the floor. Let Josh Hart be the guy setting screens, rolling, staying in
24:51that dunker spot where his lack of shooting becomes less of a concern. Defenses can't play off to the
24:56same extent. I like that. And then look, a lot of Josh Hart's impact comes from the plays that are
25:02just like outside of the system. It's crashing a board and making a crazy offensive rebound.
25:07It's saving a ball from out of bounds out of nowhere and prolonging a possession. Like those stuff have
25:12nothing to do with the system. And until tonight, Josh Hart wasn't really making a lot of those
25:16plays. He made them tonight. That's when Josh Hart makes a big difference. So it's figuring out the
25:20system and then it's making the plays outside of the system. That's going to help Josh Hart along,
25:25assuming the hand is okay, which again, I'm going to assume this is the course of action that's
25:30necessary and that's best for him and for the team. And we'll see how it goes. We will see how it goes.
25:35Good start on Sunday night against the Bulls. Josh Hart with a strong game there. Last thing for me
25:40here, Benji, because let's just look ahead to the remainder of the seven game homestand
25:43where the Knicks, you know, they're home for seven games. You talked about, they have some gaps early
25:48on in their schedule. They have a chance to feast here a little bit, improve that record, maybe get
25:52people off the panic train just a little bit. But what's the one area on either end of the floor
25:57that has to turn around for the Knicks to settle in and find consistency? Because I think that's what
26:02everybody's looking for, right? At this point, how are they adjusting to this new system with Mike
26:06Brown and how do they find consistency? So for you, what's that one area on offense or defense
26:11has got to turn around for the Knicks here? Man, I mean, I think it's, I think it's a lot of what
26:16we talked about. I think it's stopping the ball. I think it's containing the basketball
26:19defensively and, and maintain able to, you have to be able to play with pace, but then defend with
26:25pace as well. If that, to me, if they can do that, I really believe that the offense is going to come
26:30around on its own. It's already succeeding to a large extent. The shots are going to start falling.
26:35Like, I just like what I've seen offensively, defensively. I know the numbers are there,
26:39but I don't know if the process has really been there. I do want to see them contain the ball a
26:42little bit more. I'd like to see them a little bit more diverse schematically, run some different
26:47coverages. Let's start building this out. And so that we're able to play in different ways with
26:51different lineups. They could start doing that over the course of the seven game homestand. I think
26:55they're going to rattle off some wins because I do think this was the start of a big offensive
26:59outburst for this team. Yeah, I think so. Listen, all the fans are hoping for that. The offense is,
27:04it's funny. I know it's, it's been in the twenties. I'm not as worried about that because
27:08the shots are going to fall. The defense, which I said, Benji, I thought this defense could be a
27:12top eight to 10 defense this year. That's kind of one of my bolder predictions, but I do want to
27:17see a little more diversity like you. I would like to see more, some more blitzing against some elite
27:21ball handlers. And yeah, a little bit of zone, I think could help too. So we'll, we'll see. Look,
27:26we've only watched film for six games. We've got a lot more film to watch with the Knicks. I know
27:31you'll be watching it with what you do with KFS. That is Benjamin Ritholtz. Check him out at
27:36Knicks Film School. Does a fantastic job there. Benji, I always appreciate you coming on New York
27:41Got Game to, you know, give us some insight and some, not just all positivity, but some nuance,
27:47some nuance to this, just some nuance. So, so everybody doesn't jump off the ledge. That's
27:51what we needed here. That's all. That's it. Some perspective. Dex, always a pleasure, man. Love
27:56coming on with you. Love, love talking and catching up. All the best, man. Thank you, my friend.
28:00Okay. So the Knicks will continue their seven game homestand this week. One down. They've got six
28:06more to go. Three coming up this week. They've got the Wizards coming in on Monday evening. Then
28:11they have the Timberwolves, Julius Randle, Dante DiVincenzo back in town on Wednesday evening. And
28:16then they have a little bit of a break till they play the Nets for the first time this season next
28:22Sunday. So very interesting. Now we've talked about this a lot of New York Got Game. We've talked
28:26about it on the live shows, the watch alongs, and some fans are not happy with what they've
28:30seen thus far this season through six games. But I do think everyone can just relax a little
28:36bit. Look, you can look back to last year. The Knicks got blown up by 30 points in their
28:40first game of the season against the Boston Celtics, and it was doom and gloom. They didn't
28:44play good against the Celtics during the season. They did not play good against the Cleveland
28:47Cavaliers, right? This team still ended up in the Eastern Conference Finals. You could
28:51even look at how they did in their first 11 games last year. They were five and six under
28:57500, and they still were able to make it work. It's a process. There's a new coach in Mike
29:02Brown, as we know. They're learning a new offense. They're learning his defensive principles.
29:06Some players are adjusting to new roles while trying to get healthy. That is Josh Hart and
29:11Mitchell Robinson, who we talked about earlier in this episode. So this is going to take time.
29:16I understand that sometimes the fans, particularly here in New York, do not have the patience,
29:20but there is continuity with this team. Their top seven players are returning. There are some
29:24new bench pieces that are still trying to get acclimated. I think everyone has to just breathe
29:29easy and let this team develop. There's a lot of talent on this Knicks team. I don't know how it's
29:35going to end up. None of us know how it's going to end up. They have the talent to make it to the NBA
29:39finals. Probably have enough talent to win it all. We'll see, but championships are not won in October
29:45or November. They're not won after six games. You have to try to enjoy the process and let this team
29:51get better as time goes on. Are there questions? Are there reasons for things defensively with
29:57certain players to be concerned about? Absolutely. But let's see how this all shakes up. Let's see
30:03what the process is like. And I don't think there's a really big need to worry about this Knicks team
30:09after six games. They're fine. We'll now have to watch and see if they get better. That's going to do it
30:14for this episode of New York Got Game. Got to thank all the people that make this show possible.
30:20Producer Erica Block, editor Eduardo Guerrero, production assistant Tommy Cohen, also technically
30:27directing Heather Bonsignore, and production assistant Jessica Thiesing. I'm Dexter Henry. We'll
30:32catch you next time on another edition of New York Got Game.
30:37And thanks for watching New York Got Game.
30:40Boob-shakalaka!
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