Will Knicks TAKE DOWN Wemby's Spurs in NBA Cup Championship?

New York Post

Watch Will Knicks TAKE DOWN Wemby's Spurs in NBA Cup Championship? - New York Post on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00If the Knicks win the NBA Cup Final tonight in Vegas,

00:03do you hang the banner up at the Garden when they get back?

00:07They've got to obviously beat Wimby and the Spurs first,

00:10so let's talk NBA Cup action with Alex Chitaros, the Knicks Fan TV.

00:15Go, New York! Go, New York! Go! It's here.

00:18It's here. I've never been this hyped for an NBA Cup Final before, Alex.

00:22First, appreciate you hopping on with me.

00:24I know they've got to win it, but I'm going to get straight to it.

00:27If the Knicks win tonight, are you and the fan base cool with them

00:32hanging the Cup banner up at the Garden?

00:34Does winning tonight buy this team some sort of, I guess,

00:38credibility on their road to the NBA Finals, the real thing?

00:43Well, appreciate you having me on as always, my guy.

00:45But to answer your first question, first, it is league stated that you have to hang a banner.

00:51So regardless if you like it or not, you have to hang a banner.

00:55Number two, yeah, man, I'm cool with them hanging a banner.

00:57Enough with this, like, oh, it's watered down, this, that, and the third.

01:00Look, man, we started off three years ago where people were saying,

01:04oh, no one's going to be really interested in this.

01:06The players are going to be all about it.

01:08Three years in, we're seeing that Jalen Brunson and company are all about it.

01:13We're seeing that the Spurs are all about it.

01:15You know, every year that goes by where you have the NBA Cup,

01:19you're going to see it get even more and more intense.

01:21I mean, come on.

01:22LeBron won. He was thrown to have it.

01:24They hung a banner first year, too.

01:25So, of course, man, hang a banner.

01:28Who cares?

01:28Like, why are we getting so detailed on whether or not we should hang a banner or whatnot?

01:32You want a trophy?

01:33Go get the banner.

01:33Hang it up in the rafters, man.

01:35Do it, man.

01:35You're not going to get – there's not a lot of opportunities to hang banners.

01:38So why not add something that is new to the league in your arena?

01:42Now, to answer your second question, like, does it mean it's going to –

01:46they're a championship contender team?

01:48No, because as we saw in the years past, we saw, look, the Lakers won.

01:52They didn't make it to the NBA Finals.

01:54The Bucs won last year.

01:55They didn't make it to the NBA Finals.

01:57Winning this in-season tournament does not guarantee you that you're going to go to the NBA Finals

02:02or that you're truly a championship contender team.

02:05All those teams did make the postseason.

02:07So I think we can at least say that, that it does believe that you do have a good team

02:10and that you can – at bare minimum, should be making the postseason, okay?

02:14And we can even look at the competition, Lakers against Indiana.

02:17Both those teams made the postseason.

02:18Last year it was Bucs versus OKC.

02:20Both those teams made the postseason.

02:21So I believe that both these teams in this tournament will make the postseason,

02:26but it's not going to determine who's going to be the NBA, like, champion

02:30or if you get to the Finals.

02:32But I think what it does say is that you do have the capability of rising your game

02:36to games that matter the most under the brightest lights.

02:40So that's what I'll take away from this one.

02:41Big-time players make big-time plays under the brightest lights.

02:45Victor Wimbignano will more than likely be on restricted minutes again

02:48coming from that calf strain.

02:51But Wimbignano or Wimby versus Cat is a matchup that a lot of people are talking about.

02:57Do you feel like Cat needs to take this game over at some point

03:01in a championship-like or finals-like environment for the Knicks to win this game?

03:06Now, I don't think Cat needs to take this game over.

03:12I think the Knicks as a whole just need to play their game, which has been,

03:16hey, if someone's feeling it, just keep feeding them the rock,

03:18but look for your best shot opportunities.

03:20That's what they need to continue to do and walk in on defense.

03:23As we saw last game, as long as Cat plays his game

03:27and shows that he can be the highly efficient scorer that he's capable of being,

03:30which we've seen throughout his tenure in the league,

03:33that's all you need to do.

03:34And last game against the Magic in the semis, that's when he was at his best.

03:39He went 9 of 11 from the field, 2 of 4 from downtown, got you 29 points.

03:43The efficiency is what matters most.

03:45And I can't forget the 9 of 10 from the free throw line too.

03:48If he does all of that, I'm not saying he has to replicate it,

03:50but if he just gives you the efficiency, even if it's 20 points

03:54where you have to make Wimby guard you and work to guard you,

03:58then he's going to be an impactful player in this game regardless.

04:01So he doesn't need to take it over, as anyone says.

04:03Somebody's going to have a good game, that's for sure.

04:07But he doesn't need to be the one to take it over.

04:09He just has to be his efficient self and continue to play defense

04:12like he did against Orlando too.

04:14And the fact that both of these teams have come out

04:16and have said that this game means something to them,

04:21I feel like we're going to have ourselves a close game

04:24where it's going to be one of those,

04:27someone has to come up in the clutch type moments.

04:30Jalen Brunson, MVP-like year so far.

04:33Are you bracing yourself for a Captain Clutch type night from JB?

04:41Brendan, I feel like you always have to prepare yourself for a night for JB,

04:45for being Captain Clutch.

04:47And look, he was the clutch player last year.

04:49And look, when they brought in this award,

04:50the guy who he's going to be competing against on the other side

04:53is the other clutch player, De'Aaron Fox.

04:55So it is going to be a phenomenal matchup between both of these guys

04:59where you've got two clutch players,

05:00both guys who are electric in their own way,

05:03Fox using his speed, Brunson using his brute force.

05:06Both of these guys are going to be impactful tonight.

05:08But look, if you're asking me,

05:10should we be prepared for Jalen Brunson to go off

05:12in the last five minutes of the game

05:13because that's what New York needs in order to win this one,

05:16I would not be surprised whatsoever.

05:18Again, I think this one's going to be a great checkpoint

05:20for this team on their road to the NBA Finals.

05:23So fill in the blank, the Knicks win tonight if...

05:27If they control the offensive glass

05:31and if they stop the Spurs from getting out in transition.

05:34So both these teams are top 10 right now

05:37when it comes to points in the paint.

05:38And they're also top 10 when it comes to preventing their opponents

05:41from scoring in the paint.

05:43So this is where Rubber's going to meet the road.

05:44Who's going to be able to, you know,

05:46out battle each other in the hustle category.

05:48Now you got Mitchell Robinson,

05:49who is probably one of the top two offensive rebounders in the league.

05:52So I'm expecting him to have a good, impactful night.

05:54Of course, he's got to go against Wemby.

05:56They got Luke Cornett on that side.

05:57They got guys who are capable of grabbing boards as well.

06:00But that's one area where the Knicks have got to,

06:02you know, shine tonight.

06:03Wish they've done a good job on the season.

06:05Now the other one is preventing the Spurs

06:07from getting out in transition.

06:09This is a team that loves to get out and run.

06:11And if I'm not mistaken, I got my numbers right here.

06:13This is a team that is currently

06:15in the top 10 when it comes to scoring and fast break.

06:19So when you're looking for fast break opportunities,

06:21that's what the Spurs want to do.

06:23They're a young athletic team.

06:25You know, Knicks are not the most athletic team.

06:27They're not the fastest team either,

06:29but they know how to attack when opportunities arise.

06:32But for them, they're going to have to get back on defense

06:35and prevent guys from like Fox, Castle,

06:38everybody else from getting out in transition

06:40and just getting easy buckets.

06:41All right.

06:42Appreciate you, man.

06:43Can't wait for tonight's game, man.

06:45We got some championship-like basketball in December.

06:48And I'm okay with them raising the banner.

06:53Just don't have Jalen Brunson holding the trophy up

06:55like LeBron did a couple years ago.

06:59Credibility.

07:00You lose credibility for that, man.

07:03LeBron looked a little crazy with that one.

07:04But Alex, appreciate you hopping on, bro.

07:07Appreciate you, my man.

07:08Thank you for always having me on, Brandon.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended