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00:00It's Christmas week in New York. The lights are up. The garden is buzzing. The Knicks,
00:20they're right in the middle of another season with expectations and a ton of questions. So
00:25this week on New York Got Game, it's a very Knicksmas episode. What this team deserves
00:29credit for is what we're going to talk about, what still needs work, and what they need to carry
00:34into Christmas and beyond. So joining me this week on New York Got Game is Jeff Johnson of Knicks
00:41Film School. And if you're looking for box score reactions, he's not your guy. But if you want to
00:46understand what's actually happening on the floor, my guy Jeff, he's one of the best voices covering
00:50this team. Jeff is always going to keep it real. So in my opinion, he was the perfect person to help
00:55us break down what deserves praise with this Knicks team, what still needs work, and what
01:00really matters for the Knicks heading into Christmas. You see Jeff right there joining me
01:04now. Jeff, what's going on, man? How you doing? I'm good, man. I'm good. Happy holidays to you
01:09and yours. Thank you for having me on again, man. Love talking about this team. Love talking
01:13hoops. So I'm ready to rock. Yeah, man. I'm ready to rock. Listen, I thought it'd be fun
01:17to talk to you about trying to, you know, at least with the holiday season, put some things
01:21in perspective with the Knicks, right? So how we're going to do this is Jeff and I, we're going
01:25to have a conversation around things. We have some different segments here. We've got five
01:29different segments we're going to talk with. And the first one is going to be stocking stuffers.
01:33Okay. So to explain it to people, stocking stuffers are going to be underrated contributions
01:38that Knicks fans might be overlooking. Could be with the team. In general, it could be with
01:43different players. So it's just underrated contributions overall that Knicks fans might be
01:49overlooking right now. Now, here's the thing, Jeff. Every great Knicks season has contributions
01:54that, you know, doesn't always jump out off the box score. But when you look at this roster
01:58right now, either what or who feels like the biggest stocking stuffer that nobody's talking
02:06about enough right now? I'll say it's Deuce McBride. And if you're talking about him, you're
02:13still not talking enough about him. The team has been 16 and four with Deuce in the lineup.
02:20He's averaging almost 12 points on 44% shooting with six, a little more than six three-point
02:27attempts. So that's heavy volume where he's hitting a majority of his threes. He's found
02:32it from beyond the arc. On top of that, when you look at the advanced metrics, right, his
02:37offensive rating with the team when he's on the floor would be about four points better than
02:42the best offense in the league and be touching NBA historical offensive teams. The defense
02:48would be middle of the pack. I'd say more so top 10, middle of the top 10. So like top
02:54seven. And that's where the Knicks ideally would want to be if they're going to compete
02:59for a championship. And I think the fact that the Knicks have shown that they have more depth
03:04than more people expected them to have. It may be cool to kind of put him on the back burner
03:12and look at him as a nice to have, but I think he's essential games like the game against
03:16the heat games, like the games against the Sixers. When you're playing three games in four
03:20nights, you need somebody like that to put pressure on the point of attack, to be able
03:25to hit an open shot and to eat minutes and bring that stability. And he's somebody on one
03:31of the best contracts in the league right now too. So like I said, man, no matter how much
03:36gratitude you have for Miles McBride being on your team, it's not enough. He's somebody
03:42who's integral to their championship. You know what? I have to agree in terms of him being
03:47the best stocking stuffer. If you want to say, and I love that you brought up the recent couple
03:51of games against the heat. I know the Knicks won that game, but really the one against the
03:56Sixers. Now look, that was kind of a schedule loss in my opinion, when you look at that with
04:00the Knicks. But when you look at that game, we look at Maxie and Edgecombe and a lot of
04:05people are going to struggle with their speed. Man, they could have used Deuce McBride. And
04:09I was sitting there at the garden, Jeff, and I was like, they missed Deuce tonight. And you
04:13saw how integral he was to the team. So here's my follow up though, Jeff. You talk about him
04:18being your stocking stuffer and people are going to hear everything you just said. They are going
04:22to hear the advanced numbers and all the metrics and that stuff. And they're going to say,
04:25huh, okay, we see that. Should Deuce be starting? Should he be in the starting lineup? Is he
04:32part of the best Knicks lineup? I know a lot of Knicks fans and people, including myself,
04:36wanted to see him play more with the starters last year. Or do you look at it as he's so
04:40integral? It's not about who starts. He can be part of a lot of closing lineups. How do
04:44you look at Deuce and how Mike Brown should use him once he returns? I think it all depends
04:49on how you deploy their wing lineup. They got Hart, Ananobi, and Bridges, right? Those are
04:56their three main wings. So if you come at it from the perspective that, hey, you got somebody
05:01who can play solid defense, can hit an open three, is willing to take the threes, and you
05:06can have Hart come off the bench and relieve one of Bridges and Ananobi and keep that wing
05:12rotation healthy, then I'd say, all right. But then on the other end, I look at what Josh
05:18is doing with the starters now. And the main difference between last year and this year
05:23is a willingness to shoot and adjustments on offense that maximize what Josh can do.
05:29But more so, it is the willingness to shoot. Because before, when he wasn't willing to take
05:34those threes, when he wasn't really willing to stretch the defenses with the threat of his
05:41long-range shot, that's when they are able to put their centers on him or their big men
05:46and shrink the court. And it becomes mostly ineffective. The numbers right now are comparable
05:56between Deuce in the starting lineup versus Hart, which is a big testament to what Josh
06:02has done this season and how the rest of his OG starters have integrated him back and they've
06:08been able to coalesce as a unit. But I'd say right now, you keep it as is. You have Deuce
06:15coming off the bench. You also have somebody like Landry Shamit on his way back in another
06:20few weeks or so. So I think they'll have their depth locked up. And one thing that this head
06:26coach has been willing to do is he'll mix it up. He'll mix it up. You might have different
06:32starting lineups. You might have different situational and different lineups are going
06:36to play. So I'm not worried about Deuce not getting in with the starters or being put in
06:41certain lineups. With that worry gone, I think I'm good with the starters where they
06:45at.
06:45Yeah, I love what you said. With that worry gone. Knicks fans, you don't have to worry
06:49about that anymore. This coach is going to mix up things. No shade. When I'm shading the
06:52old coach, you're just saying, you know, you're going to see a little bit more.
06:55It is what it is, man.
06:56Yeah, and the facts are the facts, right? And we've seen the fruits of this labor in terms
07:00of mixing and matching different lineups for the Knicks. Okay, so I like that for you
07:04with Deuce as a stocking stuffer. I agree. I don't really feel like there's somebody else.
07:08I would put that. I'm sure some people will say Landry Schammett and what he did before
07:12he got hurt. That is fine.
07:13That's a good one. You know, that's a good one. I'm sure some people might say because
07:17of recent play, I don't think he's done enough, but Tyler Kolek could be a stocking stuffer.
07:22That is fine. Some people, I think he's a little bit too, gets too much credit. That's
07:26why I loved your point about him not getting enough credit in terms of Deuce. Some people
07:30may say Mitch as a stocking stuffer, but I like to pick a Deuce. Okay, we're going to move
07:35on to the next segment here that we're going to talk about in terms of this team and what
07:40we're looking at with the Knicks before Christmas. So coming up next, we talked about stocking
07:44stuffers. And onto the next one we have here, we're going to talk about naughty or nice.
07:50So we're going to play Santa for a little bit here. This is us looking at the team, making
07:55some evaluations thus far. So Jeff, let's play the role of Santa here. We're going to decide
07:59who's been naughty, who's been nice based on what we've seen so far, who's earned praise
08:04and also like what parts of this team are still on thin ice when you look at this team right
08:10now. So just tell me which one of these Knicks do you feel right now? Give me one who's been
08:15really nice. Somebody has been naughty.
08:19All right. If you're going to go to the nice list, let's start nice. I'll talk to you nice.
08:24All right. Start with the nice list. Fortunately, there's a lot of options. I'll say that first
08:31off. Fortunately, there's a lot of options, but bro, I'm a go with Jalen Brunson just recently
08:39dropped 47 points. His MSG career high, eight doms, six of 13 from the field. This dude is
08:47his scoring average is escalating game by game. And a wise man once said, everybody's better than
08:55Brunson until it's time to be better than Brunson. I think he's unequivocally an MVP candidate. I love
09:03the fact that Mike Brown has been advocating for him. And I think you have to bring it to the
09:08forefront and to the national audience. You saw what he did against the Spurs in the NBA cup final.
09:13Anytime he gets that national spotlight, he shows out and he shows his immense value to the squad.
09:23Even just starting off games, he has the second highest first quarter point average in the league
09:29other than Luka Doncic. Nico Harrison, what are you doing right now? Right? So them two are the top
09:35two first quarter scorers in the league. And how many times decks have we seen the Knicks start off slow
09:41and we say some version of, well, if Brunson wasn't there to drop X amount of points, this would be a
09:47double digit lead. That's a definition of value to me. That's a different, a definition of most valuable.
09:55And I think if, if we're stuffing the, if we're putting names on the nice side, Brunson's got to be
10:01the top of that. But like I said, there's a lot of options. No, you're right. Tons of options to choose
10:06from. And I feel, I like you putting Brunson because almost not just putting it nice. He's
10:10at the top of the nice list, right? We can't even, we can't even deny that at all. He's absolutely at
10:15the top of the nice list. And in some way he might be nicer than some people thought, right? We know
10:21this, we know, which is even crazy. Yeah, I know. Right. With a lot of people doubted Brunson. And
10:25now you're seeing, you talk about the 47, he just dropped on Miami that we just saw. We talked about
10:30the NBA cup performance in the final against San Antonio and what he did through the whole run
10:34there. Yeah. He's should, at least to me right now, being top five and MVP. I'm not saying he's
10:40the MVP of the league. I like you, like Mike Brown advocating for him. I still feel like he's
10:45disrespected. I still feel Jeff, like people say, Oh, well you can't win anything with a guard of his
10:52size. Well, at some point, some small guard was going to come along and win the way Isaiah Thomas did.
10:59Why can't it be Brunson? I'm yeah. I'm just saying, I mean, Hey, he's the shortest best player on a
11:07team to win an NBA cup. There's a start there. So that's a first in a, in a, in a futures of
11:16firsts. This is true. And some people are going to say to you, and I'm not trying to get you in
11:20trouble. They're going to be like, that's just the NBA cup, Mr. Johnson. That's fine. That doesn't
11:24matter. I'll be early on it because 10 years from now, those people will look stupid.
11:29Cause the NBA cup ain't going nowhere. Unless you got the five to pay Amazon for sponsoring that
11:34whole tournament. And then they take it away. You don't got that money. I don't got that money.
11:38They don't got that money to waste. So yeah, it's going to become basketball heritage, whether some
11:42commercial margins like it or not. Oh, well, it's going to have prestige be early on this one. Don't
11:49be late. Everything's a cash grab when it comes to sports. So if we're going to desecrate the NBA cup,
11:56you better desecrate the idea of a playoff. Yeah. Cause there shouldn't be a playoff. If you
12:01really think about it, the best team in the league plays every other team in the league. We really
12:06don't need to do this with a post season. If you want to go down that slippery slope, stick up your
12:11arms, stick out your arms and enjoy the ride. Otherwise bestow some, some prestige on that NBA cup.
12:18I agree. I agree. A hundred percent. Now it's funny. Cause I sent a message to a friend of the
12:23show, your friend at Nick's film school, Sean Hardy. We were talking about this today. And I think
12:29something the three of us have in common, not to sidetrack this on NBA cup, but I think there's
12:33something that all of us have in common. We all like English premier league football. We all watch
12:37it. You unfortunately root for a team I don't necessarily care for. And so does Sean, but y'all don't
12:42care for my team either. So that is that. But here's the thing. We all watch that. Nobody would ever say
12:47that winning the league doesn't matter the most. It does, but you'd love to see Chelsea
12:54win an FA cup. It's another trophy. It doesn't matter as much as league. I'd like to see Liverpool
12:59win one. Sean would love to see Tottenham win something. He was happy. They did that last
13:03year. Cause he hadn't seen that in quite some time, but, but we are never saying we're saying
13:08there's levels to this and you made a great point, right? The NBA cup. We know it's nice.
13:14I like it personally. Does it help the league make some more money and pay some of the, pay
13:18some of the TV providers and all that stuff? Sure. But you, the great point you made is
13:23that's the same reason we have playoffs in American sports. I just think people need to
13:27open their minds up a little bit. That sports doesn't have to be one way. And there's many
13:31different ways to enjoy things. And there's many different things you can win. And listen,
13:35playing good and it matters. Before we move on, before we get to the naughty part, I do want
13:39to say, I, I thought about who I would have on my naughty and nice list. And I thought
13:44the person I want to put is maybe I'm, I put him at the nice list. Cause I think he's
13:47the most valuable Nick right down. That's OG Ananobi. And I think we've seen his value
13:52Jeff since his return, man. He's been really good. He's best two way player. No, we didn't
13:56look good on Friday night against Philadelphia, but he bounced back nicely against the heat.
14:02He's been a menace on defense. He's changed the game. He held the Knicks down in that first
14:06half of the game against the Spurs and NBA cup championship. I mean, he's been tremendous
14:11when he's on. I mean, I think there's a legit case. He could be the Knicks second all-star.
14:15Did you have him on your nice list? Was he there for you too?
14:18Oh yeah. Him, him and Mikael Bridges were on the nice list. They're having career years
14:24along with Deuce. They're having career years by all accounts. Like Bridges right now is looking
14:31in as he is looking right now, like the future form that people thought that he was going to be
14:39a son's bridges on defense, Brooklyn bridges on offense. He's looking like that right now.
14:46And OG Ananobi is just a transformative player, man. When he's on the court, it's just different.
14:51We watched the most recent game against the heat. He woke up in the second half and it wasn't a
14:58coincidence that so did the Knicks and they started trying to pull away in that game. He
15:03started hitting shots. He was more active. He got a couple of blocks in the third quarter
15:06after having another offer in the first half. He just needed to rev up. He's like a Cadillac,
15:13right? From the eighties. Just after a while, you just got to rev the engine and let it run,
15:17especially in the cold weather months. God, let it run a little bit before it's on go. And he was on
15:22go. So yeah, man, like I said, a lot to choose from, but them two is definitely on my nice list
15:29as well. That's good. Hey, you know, you have a good team when there's a lot of people you can
15:32choose from on the nice list when it's not the other way can be bad. Now, sorry, we got to go
15:37to bad things. Naughty list. Who you got, Jeff? Well, look, man, it pains me to say it, but I think
15:44I'm going to have to put a piece of shabon in the stocking of Gershon Yabuselli, bro.
15:51He's just having a bad season. It's been what? 28 games. We're almost a third away into the season.
15:57He's shooting 30% from three on defense. I mean, he started to look better, but that was a low bar
16:03considering what he was doing the previous few games. He's shooting 30% from threes, letting
16:09players of all sizes and statures blow by him on defense. He didn't look like he was in shape,
16:16which was crazy considering that he was playing Eurobasket a few months prior to the season.
16:22So how you get into less shape, like that's a lot of vacation eaten between the end of Eurobasket
16:28and the beginning of trading camp. You feel me? So I had high hopes for him. I wanted him on the squad
16:34last year. I wanted them to pull a trade deadline move with the Sixers last year to get him for that
16:39stress run. And I was high on this signing because he was another big that could stretch the floor,
16:44hit threes. Majority of his shots came from either at the rim or from the three-point line. I get it
16:50that he may not be as much in rhythm because he's not getting those garbage time minutes that he was
16:55getting with the Sixers last year. But at the same time, you got to be a star in your role and you
16:59got to be ready. And the fact that Mike Brown, who's literally tried everything, ain't finding minutes
17:05for you? That's a sign, man. It's unfortunate, but I don't know if it can turn around. I don't know
17:12if he has the time to turn it around. And it's just really unfortunate that it hasn't worked out
17:18so far. Yeah, it hasn't worked out. You brought up the point that I was going to make. Listen,
17:23he was at the top of the naughty list. I'm not even sure there's anybody else on the naughty list.
17:27Do we have another name? Jeff, do you have another name for the naughty list? Because I'm not sure I have
17:32one. Man. See? That's what I'm saying. Not really. I'm trying to think. Nah, man. Honestly, no.
17:42I felt like this was an easy question, right? Like he's at the top of the naughty list. And what's
17:47crazy was the last part of what you just said, right? Which was he's not even getting playing
17:52time right now. We're recording this after the Miami game. He was a DMP CD. Let's just be clear.
18:00This is a Nick. I'm not. I like the signing. I was for the Yabusele signing. I thought it
18:05was a good signing. I thought the Knicks had themselves a good offseason. Sometimes things
18:09don't work out. We understand that, right? Sometimes things don't work out. But here's
18:13the thing. He didn't. He was a DMP CD against the Heat. Muhammad Diawara. Got minutes over
18:19him. I know it was four minutes, but he got minutes over him. That's not a good look. It's
18:24just, but here's what I also would like to say. Even though he's at the top of the naughty
18:29list, Jeff, this is going to go back to Mike Brown. This is where you got to give Mike Brown
18:33credit. If something isn't working out, it's not working out. Sometimes something's a sunk
18:39cost and you just got to keep it moving. And he's like, all right, I'm going to keep this
18:42moving. I'm going to get Muhammad Diawara some minutes. Maybe that bodes well for us later
18:46in the season. Who knows? You don't know. But he's been bad. There's nothing else you
18:54have to say. He's been bad.
18:56Bro, even I had to take my cape off, bro. Even I had to take my cape off.
19:00I want to know the point of when you said, hey, you know what? I can't do this anymore.
19:05Jeff Johnson's not going to be out here defending Yabu when he is not produced on the court.
19:09Like, fam, they was about to call me and you to play an Indy after that NBA cup.
19:17And he couldn't get run like that?
19:19No, he couldn't that day.
19:20Like, they had to come back from 16 points down. And I don't even think he got five
19:25minutes in that game. Muhammad Diawara started.
19:30That was telling to me.
19:31They sat three players. Bro, they sat three players. They sat three players. And he didn't.
19:38Like, yo, nah. No, I got to make sure. I got to make sure. Hold on.
19:42No, you're right. He didn't start.
19:44He got 11 minutes. He got 11 minutes in the game that they started three. They sat
19:49Mitch, Cat, and Hart. And there was no deuce. There was no shaming. He only got 11 minutes.
19:59Yep.
20:00When they literally needed a big.
20:02Ariel Hockporty.
20:02Both their bigs were out.
20:04Ariel Hockporty had more minutes than him. Trey Jemison, I believe, had more minutes than him.
20:08In that game. And Muhammad Diawara all had more minutes than him in that game, if I'm not mistaken.
20:12Bro, OG and Anobi's check engine light was coming on. And he played 33 minutes in that game.
20:19That's the nail. That was the nail. Whatever I had. And he hit a three in that game, too.
20:23And I was like, oh, oh, oh.
20:25It was early. It was early. It was early, too. I remember that. It was early in the game.
20:28Cooked me, bro. Cooked me, bro. Like, unfortunately, bro, it's a wrap.
20:32But that's where you got to give Mike Brown credit. Because, again, this is not me shading
20:37the previous coach. I'm just saying to be like, hey, this is our guy. We gave him the
20:41taxpayer TMLE. Mid-level exception. We're paying him five point whatever million dollars a year.
20:46We got to get this. No. No, we don't. We don't have to do it. We don't have to do it. We don't
20:52have to do it. We don't have to do it at all. All right. Naughty and nice. It wasn't really
20:57deep at all with the naughty list at all. All right, Jeff. Let's do this for the third
21:02segment of the Knicks Christmas wish list is what I'm going to do. So if the Knicks are,
21:09you know, writing their wish list right now, what's the most realistic? Realistic is the
21:15key word here, people. Realistic. What's the most realistic thing that they should be asking
21:19for right now? The reason I bring this question up is because it is trade season. So because
21:25we want to be realistic, what I decided to do was like, can we try to make this into tiers,
21:30right? All right. Here's the tiers. Must have tier. So like, they got to have this. Nice
21:37to have tiers. Like, ah, it'd be cool if they got this, but they don't really have to get
21:41this. And then the last tier I'm going to put, like, do not ask for. Unrealistic tier.
21:46Don't get it. Like, somebody being like, hey, can we get Luka Doncic? No.
21:48Nico Harrison is not running the Lakers. That's not going to happen. So that you don't want
21:52to ask for that. But if you, there's something the Knicks can get that's realistic in one
21:57of those tiers. What are you, what are you going for? What should they be trying to add
22:00to their Christmas wish list? So I think if we're going must have and nice to have for
22:07me, a must have is to be a top 10 defense. That's a must have to me. Because if you look
22:16at championship teams, with the exception of the recent Nuggets, you want to be, you
22:22want your offense to continue to be top three in the league. And you want to creep to within
22:27that top 10 or be percentage points off. So right now they're 14th in the league in defensive
22:34rating. And they're like eight tenths away from top 10. If Orlando, I believe is 114 and
22:41they're 114.8. So that's a virtual tie, right? That's a virtual tie. I think they want to
22:47get better on the defensive end, continue to play better on the perimeter, especially
22:53with three-point shots, the opponent's three-point shot. You want to get better there. You want
22:57to get better defending the paint. You want to hope that some of your players, and we starting
23:01to see that now with the different defensive schemes and where they're putting different
23:04players in order to maximize their defensive prowess or at least raise their defensive
23:10ceiling. You're getting that now. So I think the must have for them to be able to contend
23:16is to be at least a top 10 defense or percentage points away to where it's negligible. That's
23:26what you need if you're going to want to compete. Because we saw an example, once again, we just
23:30recently watched the Miami game. We saw the example of, hey, we're going to make the key
23:34plays down the stretch. And then if you're trying to go band for band with our offense,
23:39you're going to have to shake our hand and say, good game and go about your way. And that's
23:44exactly what happened. Yeah, we saw that. Okay. So I like that as a must have. And I predicted
23:50that this team could be a top eight to 10 defense this year. That was one of my bold predictions
23:53at the beginning of the year. Maybe it's not so bold because they are really close to that
23:58at this point right now. They're right there. As you said, you know, eight tenths
24:01of a point away. Do you have something that's a nice to have that, you know, okay, they get
24:05this on, they get this play on their roster or they do this thing. This will elevate their
24:08ceiling even a little bit. What's a nice to have? Because I like that must have with
24:12the defense. What's your nice to have gift? My nice to have is one more rotation
24:17player. And whether that's somebody. Come on, dog. That $5 million is looking like
24:25something that you're putting on eBay right now. You know, it is a sunk cost. They already
24:30paying it, but somebody else could pay the rest of that sunk cost. That's why you choose
24:33it in a trade, right? Like, so at this point you want to get one more player. And I think
24:39the nice to have aspect of it is the Knicks have to assess what they really need. What do
24:45they think they really need? Do you want backup insurance for Mitch and you get another backup
24:52big? Do you want another wing that can eat some minutes and really contribute? Do you
24:59believe in Kolick as a backup playmaker or do you want to get another point guard? We've
25:04heard the rumors about Alvarado, right? I've heard Sadiq Bey. I've heard all these other
25:10people. Whatever they feel is the biggest need to fortify in order to make this postseason
25:18run. It would be nice to have that. Yeah. No, I would agree with that. I wonder what
25:24those moves would be. And I wonder, the big question for me is backup point guard. Do
25:28you believe in what you've recently seen from Kolick? Do you think he can hold up enough?
25:31Is he a playoff performer? Can he give you 14 to 15 minutes in the playoffs? Help you spell
25:37Brunson? He looked good recently. I feel like I need to see a little bit more. So that's
25:42it. All right. What do you have to do not ask for? Is there any unrealistic wishlist thing
25:48that fans need to drop their expectations for? You can say Giannis if you want to. It's
25:52okay. Oh yeah. We'll say it. Say it. Say it two times. Say it three times. Say it four
25:57times. Say it for as much repetition as needed in order for it to take hold. Please stop asking
26:04for that, man. Please. It ain't happening. If it was going to happen, it's going to happen
26:10in the offseason. It's not going to happen during the season. And if you're a Knicks
26:15fan, I would ask you, why would you want it to happen now? Are you really watching these
26:20games or are you skimming through them? Do you see the team that's forming in front
26:25of you now? That's coming together. That doesn't even have all of its people, but is evolving
26:31and learning and is developing a team identity. This team hates to lose. They're super resilient.
26:37They kill you from all three levels of the court on offense. They are going to innovate
26:43and experiment and iterate and iterate and iterate and iterate until they find what's
26:49the optimal rotations for them, which is why we'll find out if Kolek is the one because
26:55he's going to get plenty of opportunities to show that he is. And if he's not, then they'll
27:00make a move. So I think if you see this team there right now, they're 20 and eight, I believe
27:08they're 20 and eight second place in the East. And they haven't even started playing their
27:12best ball yet with all the good that we've seen. They haven't played their best ball yet.
27:18And unless you want to root for the Milwaukee bucks in orange and blue, I don't think you want
27:24Giannis on the team in the way that he would need to come in. It would be a colossal blunder
27:30on the Knicks part. If they made that trade and had to gut the team the way they would need to gut
27:35the team in order to make that move happen. It would be a criminal injustice against this fan base
27:42who is stuck by their side and has watched a decade of competence unfold in front of them.
27:49I was banging the drum for Giannis two years ago, three years ago. I, you ask people who know me,
27:56I had a Giannis agenda. My agenda isn't fully gone, but it's a dream deferred for now because I couldn't
28:04imagine the team that I'm watching in front of me ball the way they're balling. So the way I'm feeling
28:11now, Hey, maybe you do another year in Milwaukee, get out of your player option and then come to the
28:16team as a free agent with all the assets. It's possible. If you really want to be on that team
28:21and make one more run, they'll have spots. You would, they're not going to deplete their roster
28:27for you, you know, and it all depends on what happens this season. That's huge. But what I'm
28:31saying is in season, it ain't happening. Yeah. The likelihood of it happening in season to me was
28:35always low, but you know how this works, Jeff, as we get closer to the trade deadline and Giannis hasn't
28:43made said anything definitive. It's only going to increase the talk. I kind of lean with you.
28:47I don't think they need to do this now. I'm not saying you don't revisit depending on, again,
28:51depending on what happens this season. I'm not saying you don't revisit this down the road,
28:55but I don't think you need to right now. I think the way it would have to go down in season one,
29:00I don't think the Knicks have enough for what the Bucs want. So that's the first part. And two,
29:04if you did, you would have to totally gut your team. And one thing we've learned,
29:10and you've brought up this word multiple times in this episode, depth. Depth is valuable today in
29:15the NBA, especially in the second apron ever. You need that. So we'll see. All right. I like your
29:20Knicks wish list. All right. Next segment. This is called the what the Knicks need to carry
29:25into Christmas for this section. We'll look at the core identity of the Knicks. So Jeff,
29:31when you strip everything down and you look at this, what's the one thing this Knicks team
29:35absolutely must carry into Christmas day and into the new year as we approach 2026 that has been
29:42working for them so far to carry this through? What's that one thing for you?
29:47I think it's the innovation, man. I think you continue to experiment. This regular season
29:54is about developing the winning habits, figuring out how your personnel can operate under a variety of
30:04circumstances. Who is best equipped to help you in certain scenarios? Who's your best starting five?
30:11Who's your best scoring five? Who's your best defensive five? What are the rotations that you
30:16need against a bigger team? What are the rotations that you need against a younger, more athletic team?
30:22When do you know when to sit some of your stars if they're ineffective? When do you know whether to
30:29give them a little bit more rope and let them play out of their funk? This is what we've been seeing
30:35throughout the course of the season. And I think they need to maintain that experimentation so that
30:41when the postseason arise, they will be ready for everything. Because it's one thing to say that
30:46you're the most prepared team, but you don't execute every type of scenario in the regular season.
30:53You can go through the tape, you can walk through practice and know of scenarios, but on the job
31:00training works way better than just simulating it in the film room. Like they have to put themselves
31:06in that position and they also have to see themselves either succeed or fail in those positions so that
31:11they're able to adjust accordingly. So if they're able to bring that innovation and this new resilience
31:17that they have, that they can come back, it's kind of a, a remnants of the 23, 24 Knicks that you knew
31:25they weren't going to get blown out. They were going to fight and fight and fight and be in it every game.
31:30And I was part of that reason because their main guys were going to play a majority of the game and
31:35they weren't trying to lose. Sure. But I think it's a mentality that you can permeate across the entire
31:41squad and have it take hold, have it sink in. And it goes from Jalen Brunson,
31:47to the two-way players on the bench, just refuse to lose and figure out what Knicks basketball is,
31:55which is, I think we're starting to see what it is. Low turnovers, high impact offense,
31:59clutch defense, and the ability and the versatility to beat you in a variety of ways.
32:07And they don't like to lose that. Take all of that into 2026 and beyond. Make that the DNA of
32:14the squad from this point forward. Yep. And that is the reason not to harp back on this,
32:20but this is the reason of what we saw the coaching change. And this is what everybody questioned in
32:25the off season. It was like, Oh, well, is Mike Brown a better coach at tips? Well, you're seeing
32:29the experimentation. You're seeing a coach use the regular season differently. Right. And I, you know,
32:35I think like a fair follow-up would have been for you, Jeff is like, and you kind of answered this,
32:39but it's like, well, what's the risk if they don't carry all the stuff that you just said into the
32:43new year and beyond? Well, the risk is that you're not prepared for the playoffs. Like you said,
32:48you're not getting to use your term. You're not getting that on the job training, right? That's
32:52the risk that's there. And sometimes just having something a little bit different has really
32:57shifted this team, you know, from, from where they were. It's just, everything feels different.
33:02I don't know how you feel about it, but everything feels different in a good way for this team,
33:06where you feel like they're to use the E word here. They're really evolving, right? I know it's
33:11early. We're recording this after 28 games. I get all that, but it just feels different. The way
33:16they're going about it. And for all the folks out there, which I do think this is a silly statement
33:20that says a regular season doesn't matter. No, it does. This is what you're supposed to use it for.
33:25This is the time to figure these things out so you can be ready for the playoffs. And for me personally,
33:30just watching it as somebody who loves basketball, I love seeing the way Mike Brown has approached
33:34this because it gives you hope that questions can be answered. As you said, can they find out what
33:40they have in Tyler Kolak? Couldn't they find out that, uh, maybe Gershaw and I was selling can turn
33:45things around. I wouldn't bet on that, but I don't know. You know what I'm saying? I don't know you,
33:49but, but you can at least trust Mike Brown is going to try to find out. So we'll see. All right.
33:55That brings us to our final segment. As we wrap here, we're going to call this the holiday takeaway.
34:01So here's my question, Jeff, by the time Knicks fans, maybe yourself opening some presents on
34:07Christmas morning, what's the biggest truth that they should understand about this team right now?
34:14What's your Knicks holiday takeaway that you have? What's the biggest truth that Knicks fans should
34:18understand about this team? The New York Knicks are a championship contender, and it is fine to say
34:26it. You will not spontaneously combust. An anvil won't drop on your head. You won't step on a crack
34:35and break your mom's back or whatever superstition you believe in. It will not come to pass. You have
34:42seen enough evidence, whether it's statistical, analytical, or anecdotal. You have seen the
34:49evidence. They are a contender. I'm bestowing prestige on the cup. They won a 30 team tournament
34:57and they beat one of the most rising up and coming teams in the league with a potential generational
35:04talent. And they were able to walk them down in the fourth quarter and outlast them.
35:10They don't fear anybody. And if you're a fan, neither should you, because you are starting
35:17to see the development of a final form of the team that you've been wishing for throughout
35:23the course of this process, throughout this entire process. This is what you've been hoping
35:28for. And they still got a long way to go. And that's fine because a lot of teams do. But
35:34for what you see right now in this moment, they are a contender. You don't need us to
35:40say it. You don't need national media to say it. It's a fact. They are a contender. And
35:48the rest of the league should be on notice.
35:51I love it. I love it. That's a fantastic Knicks holiday takeaway. I don't have anything
35:56to add for that. It's okay. It's okay. You can say the Knicks are contenders. Jeff told
36:02you will not spontaneously combust. Don't be scared. Don't be scared. Jeff said it
36:06with his chest. You can say it too. I'll say it. The New York Knicks are contenders
36:11for the 2026 NBA championship. Who knows? They might win the 2025 NBA cup and the 2026
36:18NBA championship. And maybe then Jeff, just maybe then some people will actually at that
36:23moment validate the NBA cup title. Maybe, maybe, maybe they'll be the first team to win the
36:29double. And for those of you who aren't, uh, familiar or, or sophisticated in the arts
36:34of, uh, world football, that's winning a tournament, a domestic tournament in your own country and
36:43the league tournament, the league title. So yeah, I'm re I'm ready, man. You don't understand
36:48the, the agendas that are about to get off. If they are able to pull off the double, Oh boy,
36:55you I'm telling you, Oh, let the Knicks win the title and the NBA cup. I bet you 2026. It's going
37:03to be, we need to win a cup. We need to do that. Now we should, we should have never let the Knicks
37:08win the cup. Right, right. Exactly. We should never let that happen. I could see, I could see that
37:13happening. Hey man, listen, I think if you're a Knicks fan at this point, time of us recording it
37:18is to be happy at where they are this holiday season, heading into Christmas. There's still a lot of
37:24basketball left to be played as Jeff and I talked about. There's still a lot left to be learned
37:28about this team. You know, the, we can learn the team will learn from themselves. So it's going to
37:32be pretty interesting. Everybody that is Jeff Johnson. Check them out with Knicks film school.
37:37Does a great job with my guy, Sean Hardy. He was hopefully not too bitter this weekend after
37:42his Tottenham football club, uh, fell, uh, check them out on Fridays. They do casual Fridays
37:48on Knicks film school. Fantastic. Please check the both of them out there, Jeff. I got to
37:52always appreciate you coming through on New York got game. I wish you a happy holiday,
37:57Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, all that good stuff to you and your family. Uh, be well, enjoy
38:02the holidays and hopefully the Knicks on Christmas also give the fans a good gift with a win over
38:07the Cavs. That'd be nice. Yeah. I mean, at this point I'm like, damn, should I hope for the
38:12Cavs winner Christmas? Cause they've been going through like, what is going on? You want to talk
38:16about embarrassing me. I've been talking about, yo, watch out for the Cavs. Watch out for the
38:19Cavs. Every time I turn around, they losing. I'm like, what's going on? So that might be a
38:25must win for them in December. That game might be a must win for them because I remember the
38:30narratives last year about the Knicks were all in whatever against the top three teams of the
38:34East or in the league or the top four teams in the league. Woo. They, they don't win that game on
38:40Christmas. Yeah. It's, it's going to get really dark early. It's going to get late early for them.
38:46Well, Hey, you don't have to be stressed this Christmas with those kinds of problems.
38:50You know, you don't, you don't, you don't have to deal with those kinds of problems,
38:53man. You could have a, uh, a nice relaxing Christmas and it'll be better if the Knicks
38:57had a win. That's, that's, that's, it'll be a merry next miss. I'm sure.
39:01Hopefully it is a merry next miss. Want to wish all the fans out there a merry next miss as well,
39:06too. That is Jeff Johnson. As I said, check him out on Knicks Film School. I'm Dexter Henry.
39:10We'll catch you next time on another edition of New York Got Game.
39:15And thanks for watching New York Got Game. Boom shakalaka.
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