- 2 days ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome back to another edition of New York Got Game.
00:19The Knicks, they're at a crossroads.
00:20This West Coast trip that they're on for games isn't just about wins and losses.
00:25It's also about clarity.
00:26And right now, they've taken two out of their last three, and maybe, just maybe, they've
00:30started to steady themselves.
00:32Now, in recent weeks, we've seen the defense has slipped a bit, lineups have changed.
00:36Injuries, they're part of the story, as well as fatigue, but so is accountability.
00:41And this week, we're going to ask the question Knicks fans have been wrestling with.
00:44No more excuses here.
00:46What are the Knicks really right now?
00:49So, let's get into it.
00:51Let's talk about it.
00:51Joining me now for the first time on New York Got Game is someone who studies his team
00:57as closely as anyone.
00:58He's also a fellow Brooklynite, and he's an alum of the best middle school in the world,
01:03the great Phillip Escalon Middle School for the gifted and talented.
01:06The one and only Mensah Smith of Knicks Film School joins me now.
01:09Mensah, what's going on, my guy?
01:11How you doing?
01:12Hey, I'm doing great, man.
01:14Happy to be here with you guys for the first time.
01:16Just ready to talk some Knicks basketball and get into whatever else comes up.
01:19Yeah, no, good time to talk to you because it's been an interesting time for the Knicks
01:24this season.
01:25And Mensah, at this point in the season, we're 39 games in, especially heading into the final
01:30two games of this road trip where the Knicks are 1-1 after their win over the Trailblazers
01:34on Sunday.
01:35Do you feel like the Knicks are still discovering themselves, or are they just telling us actively
01:40who they really are right now?
01:43Well, I would hope they're not discovering themselves.
01:45This is a basketball team that's trying to win a championship, and you kind of have to know
01:48who you are.
01:49I think what we're seeing here is the New York Knicks are going through a period in their
01:54schedule where it's the dog days of January.
01:57They just won the NBA Cup coming off that high.
02:00They're going through the emotional highs and lows of the season, as well as having a
02:03really interesting schedule where, since after the NBA Cup, and this is going to be a theme
02:07here, after the NBA Cup, the New York Knicks have played on either one day of rest or on
02:14a back-to-back for 15 straight games now, so 14 or 15.
02:18But that's what we're really seeing, is we're seeing a fatigued basketball team, and we're
02:22watching them, I guess, find new elements of themselves, and as they're going through
02:26the fatigue, you know, it's kind of, you never rise to the occasion.
02:31You sink to the level of your training, and we're seeing the Knicks sink to their level.
02:34So they're probably rediscovering some new things about themselves, but I think this is
02:38a team that knows who they are.
02:39They're just going through a rough path in the schedule.
02:41All right, so going through a rough patch in the schedule, you heard Mensah right there
02:44mention the word fatigue.
02:46That's something we're going to come back to.
02:47I want to talk about that in a little bit more depth in a second, but one thing we have
02:51seen, Mensah, is we've seen the defensive drop for the Knicks, right?
02:55We've seen it drop off in recent weeks.
02:57When you look at the film, is the Knicks' defensive decline more about effort and execution, or is
03:04it exposing a roster that just isn't built to defend at a high level right now?
03:09Which one is it for you?
03:12So for me, I think the New York Knicks, they're getting one of the best seasons of Karl-Anthony
03:16Towns' career defensively as far as the impact metrics go.
03:19So when you have that, and you have guys like O.J.
03:21Ananobi and Mikal Bridges, who are the linchpin in your defense, and you're throwing a Mitchell
03:26Robinson in there, a Deuce McBride at the point of attack, and a good wing defender in Josh
03:30Hart, it's really about they're coming around Jalen Brunson, and right now we're seeing that
03:35they're 18th in defensive efficiency.
03:37And that's kind of where you want this Knicks team to be so long as the offense is working.
03:41Right now the offense is fourth in the NBA in terms of offensive efficiency.
03:45Those stats will probably update after tonight's game.
03:47But what we're seeing, I believe, is a team that has enough to defend.
03:51They have a good point of attack defender in Deuce McBride.
03:54They have Karl-Anthony Towns, who's giving you a really good defensive season.
03:58I know it doesn't look that way all the time because of the foolish fouls, but more often
04:03than not, he's not in the wrong position.
04:06And what we're seeing from him is another elite defensive rebounding season.
04:10One thing I love to tell people is that a defensive possession does not end until you
04:14get that rebound.
04:15So having a great defensive rebounder like Karl-Anthony Towns really does help.
04:18But what I believe we are seeing right now is this team is just, you're coming up.
04:23Fatigue isn't just, you know, you're tired and, you know, you're a step slow.
04:28Sometimes fatigue can be mental and sometimes you're not quite as locked in.
04:32I think that what we're seeing with the New York Knicks right now is a bit of that mental
04:36fatigue, which is bringing them down a bit.
04:38But I personally am hopeful because I think Deuce McBride's a great defender.
04:42I think the Knicks have two of the best wing defenders in the NBA in Macau Bridges and OG Ananobi.
04:47And when you're getting a season like Karl-Anthony Towns is giving you, you're really only covering
04:51for Jalen Brunson, who's the Knicks' worst defender in the starting lineup and one of
04:54the worst defenders in the NBA, if we're being completely honest.
04:57What we're seeing is when you're not necessarily having to cover for Karl-Anthony Towns because
05:02he's holding his own defensively and you have Mitchell Robinson coming in, you're getting
05:0548 minutes of good center minutes defensively.
05:08It's just, how can we cover for Jalen Brunson?
05:10And I think as the Knicks go through the season and a guy like Miles McBride gets more comfortable
05:18in his role and the Knicks continue to just gel and grow, the defense will fix itself.
05:23I think the New York Knicks have enough to defend at a championship level.
05:26So, Mansa, I just want to be clear.
05:28When we talk about defending at a championship level, you know, we haven't seen a team,
05:31you know, below 12th in defensive rating, right, win an NBA championship.
05:35Do you think this team has the ability to get into the top 12 by the end of the season
05:41or, dare I say, by the end of the season, play, you know, top 10-ish defense in the NBA?
05:47Do you think they have the talent to actually do that?
05:50Absolutely.
05:50I think they have the talent to lock in for sure.
05:52It just depends on how we deploy these lineups now because you're going to need, if Miles McBride,
05:59O.J. Ananobi, and McHale Bridges share the court, often if that is a popular three-man lineup
06:05for the New York Knicks, if they're on the floor a lot, you're going to have elite point
06:08of attack defense, you're probably going to have Carl Anthony Towns or Mitchell Robinson
06:11back there, and then you have, in my opinion, McHale Bridges in his best role, which is that
06:16off-ball support role, and then O.J. Ananobi as an agent of chaos being one of the best
06:20guys in stocks, deals, and blocks in the NBA.
06:23So, as long as you have those four guys, I'm sorry, as long as you have those three guys,
06:27Deuce McBride, McHale Bridges, and O.J. Ananobi playing enough minutes, the Knicks defense
06:31can rise. It's just we're seeing that where they're really being hurt right now, in my
06:36opinion, is Jalen Brunson. He is in the first percentile in defensive EPM. So, what that
06:42means is he's one of the five to ten worst defenders in the NBA who qualify for that stat.
06:47And when you have a guy who's leading your team in minutes in Jalen Brunson, not quite
06:50leading, but one of the minutes leaders, it's hard for a defense to recover. But once you
06:55take that out, it's really, when I say take that out, I don't necessarily mean once, you
07:00know, like, because he's a big part of what we do here. But once you take that into context
07:05and you look at what the rest of the team is able to do, I think the New York Knicks have
07:11enough defenders to get us into that top 12 or to at least play in the playoffs to lock
07:17up and play some really good defense.
07:18I do think you bring up a good point that hasn't been talked about enough. A lot of times
07:22when defense is talked about, you'll hear a lot that, hey, the Knicks are playing with
07:26two weak defenders in the starting lineup, Carlton Towns, Jalen Brunson. You just noted
07:30the struggles with Jalen Brunson. And we all, again, I want to be clear about what you're
07:33saying. What I'm saying, we all laud, we know what the captain does and what he brings
07:37offensively. We know all that. I think the thing you brought up that was really good is
07:41Carlton Towns has been pretty solid defensively pretty much since the first month of the season.
07:46You looked at it through that NBA cup run. He has not been part of the problem. Now, we know
07:51about the silly fouls. You mentioned that too. We know about the silly fouls with him
07:55and that can be problematic. But if the Knicks can get the effort they've been getting out
08:01of him on defense, it could be really good. One of the things I'm also going to mention
08:05now, Mention, that you talked about is the point of attack defense. And how much of the
08:12problem of what we've seen starts at the point of attack? How much of that can be solved?
08:16Would Deuce taking on a bigger role as we've seen lately, especially when Josh Hart was
08:21out? And do the Knicks currently have enough players that can actually stay in front of
08:25the ball that this is something you don't think you'll be worrying about with the Knicks
08:28coming towards the end of the regular season?
08:31So the unfortunate answer is no. The New York Knicks, in my opinion, have one good point
08:37of attack defender, and that is Deuce McBride. What we've seen from Macau Bridges in the past,
08:42like 2022, 2023, when he was in Phoenix, was he was one of the best point of attack defenders
08:46in the NBA, finishing as the runner up for defensive player of the year, specifically
08:51because of what he was able to do at the point of attack. But that is no longer who
08:55Macau Bridges is. So it's sort of like the Knicks have to get by when Deuce McBride is
09:02not on the court. And some guys in the NBA are just so good, it doesn't matter who is
09:07at the point of attack. Like we saw against Philadelphia, Tyrese Maxey was roasting whoever
09:11was in front of him. And Deuce McBride is no bad defender at the point of attack. He couldn't stop
09:16a guy like Tyrese Maxey. But luckily for the New York Knicks and luckily for just, yeah,
09:22the New York Knicks and the way they play the game. If you look at the best players and the guys
09:25that the Knicks will have to go through in terms of getting to an NBA championship, all those guys
09:30are 6'6 and above, which plays right into OG Ananobi and Macau Bridges' strength. As long as
09:36they're not guys that are 6'4 and below, which is more like a Tyrese Maxey, a Kyrie Irving,
09:40who's sidelined, a Ja Morant, who's not quite in the playoff picture right now. Guys like
09:45Cade Cunningham, guys like Jalen Brown, guys like Shea Gilgis, those guys you can trust
09:50an OG Ananobi and a Macau Bridges to get by on. Obviously these are some of the best
09:54players in the NBA, so you limit what they do, you don't stop it. But when it comes to
09:57the Knicks having a strength, it's not the point of attack. Their strength is going to
10:01be defensive rebounding, offensive rebounding, and then those wing defenders who create chaos
10:06in the passing lanes and just with their help side defense.
10:09Yeah, it definitely has not been the strength of the Knicks thus far this season in terms
10:13of the point of attack defense. I want to talk to you about Mitchell Robinson because
10:16you also talked about him being a key part of the Knicks defense, but there's still so
10:21much uncertainty with him in his future, not just in his contract, right? We know he's
10:25looking for an extension. Him and the Knicks have been a part on that. He could be a free
10:29agent coming up this summer, but then also you don't know what you're getting from him
10:34in terms of playing on the court, right? He's not playing in back-to-backs. We even saw a stretch
10:39towards the end of 2025 where he didn't play in a couple of games that weren't back-to-backs.
10:43How does his uncertain future complicate the Knicks thinking both defensively and then also
10:48structurally moving forward for what he can bring to his team? Because Mensah, you know
10:52this, he's incredibly valuable in what he brings to the team, but that uncertain future
10:56kind of complicates things a bit, doesn't it?
10:58Yeah. So with the Leon Rose era, it's kind of been, they've never quite taken a lame duck player,
11:05a player whose contract is set to expire, who matters to the team. They've never quite taken
11:10that past the NBA, past the trade deadline. They've always traded you. We've seen it with
11:14Emmanuel Quickly, who did not agree to an extension. He got traded. Julius Randle did not agree to an
11:19extension. He got traded. But I think what's different about this season, as opposed to those
11:23seasons prior, is the Knicks view themselves as a true blue contender. So it would make less sense
11:29for the Knicks to try to think about 2027, 2028, when in 2026, you have a chance to win a
11:34championship. Let Mitchell Robinson be Mitchell Robinson. He's maybe, he's a top three offensive
11:40rebounder in the game of basketball. All the top of my head, the only guy who I think can do better
11:43than him, like is Steven Adams. And that's really it. So I'm giving top three just to be, just to be
11:50generous, I could be forgetting a player or two. But when it comes to what Mitchell Robinson brings
11:54to the table as an offensive rebounder, if you were watching the game tonight against Portland,
11:58you would have seen that the last nine to 10 minutes of the game, Carl Anthony Towns did not
12:02play. They went with Mitchell Robinson for a great stretch of that, and then OG Ananobi to close.
12:07Mitchell Robinson is extremely valuable to what this team does. And if you're not going to get a
12:11better player, which is going to be really difficult considering his contract, the way they
12:14structured it is descending. So I think it's about 12, $13 million this year. If you're not going to get
12:19a better player, and chances are you're not, especially with what Mitchell Robinson brings,
12:23that unique offensive rebounding advantage, you don't find many players to bring that.
12:27I think that it's going to, they have to figure that out in the offseason. Right now you have to
12:32lock in, let Mitchell Robinson be Mitch, let him be your rim protector, let him affect the glass on the
12:38offensive rebounding, and then what they're doing to keep him engaged on the defensive side, because he
12:42has kind of been not his best on the defensive side as far as like what he's done through the season,
12:47through his career as a Nick, I should say. They're throwing him lobs now. They're getting
12:51him engaged on the offensive end to keep him up. So it's kind of like you need to load manage Mitch
12:56so that you get the best version of him, the version that we saw in 2023 against the Cleveland
13:01Cavaliers, where he can win a series for you by himself, or almost by himself on the offensive
13:05rebounding. You need to get that guy into the playoffs. So you keep him healthy, you limit his
13:10minutes, you figure that out, and then once you know that you have a healthy Mitchell Robinson,
13:14you unleash hell on the NBA come playoff time. All right, that's what Nick's and Nick's fans are
13:19hoping for. Mitchell Robinson can absolutely be healthy come playoff time. I want to talk to you
13:23about Deuce McBride, Mensah, because we've seen him, I mentioned this earlier, take on a larger role.
13:28We've seen him in the starting lineup when Josh Hart was out. What are you seeing with him that feels
13:33real and sustainable right now, or are there things about his game that you think maybe could get
13:40exposed with more minutes? Do you like what you're seeing out of Deuce? And do you think
13:44this is sustainable? What we've seen for him, I'd say, since he returned from injury?
13:49So I love what I'm seeing from Deuce McBride, and I absolutely do believe that it is sustainable.
13:54Shout out to my guy, Chris Persignanen over here at Nick's Film School and with a couple other
13:57platforms like Clutch Points and Locked On Nick's. He's pretty much everywhere these days. He's a great kid.
14:02He told us, I think he's reported this actually, that Deuce McBride, before he was really getting
14:08minutes with the New York Knicks. The Knicks, because they have one of the best statistical
14:14tracking data, like their data tracking system is some of the best, and they carry that over
14:19into their practice facility. Deuce McBride was one of the best shooters in practice for the New York
14:24Knicks. So we're seeing what he was practicing and what he was doing up in Westchester starting to
14:29come into fruition, as this is one of the 10 to 15 best shooters in the league this year.
14:33I love to see that from Deuce. He's earning his minutes, and then he's giving you a little bit of
14:36creation juice. Deuce McBride at his best kind of looks like Deuce Van Vliet out there, right?
14:40He's giving you that two-way basketball that we love to see, and I think that as the Knicks'
14:46primary point-of-attack defender, he's invaluable for what we do. We don't have to worry about the
14:51contract. We know it's one of the best in the game. Right now, we're talking about what Deuce
14:54brings to the court, and Deuce McBride is hitting four to five threes a night since he's come back
15:00from his injury. Didn't have that great a shooting night tonight against Portland, but he's been one of
15:05the most consistent shooters in the NBA, one of the best point-of-attack defenders, and he gives
15:09you a little secondary tertiary creation juice. He can shoot from the mid-range, so if you run him
15:13off the three-point line, it's not like he can't hit you with a step back and get to the mid-range
15:19and drive on you. It's not like he can't get to the rim because we've seen him dunk on people in
15:23the past. I think Deuce McBride, age 25 season, we're seeing a guy who's entering at the prime of
15:28his career, and it couldn't be a better time for the New York Knicks. I'm all in on Deuce McBride. I think
15:33he's one of the best players that we have, and he's a testament to the New York Knicks development
15:36system. Yeah, which sometimes doesn't get enough credit, and you know, one of the questions you're
15:40going to have now about Deuce McBride is, do you give an extension? Do you extend him? Still got
15:45another year left on that deal. You talked about how great he is. What do they do with that? That's
15:49going to be very interesting to watch with the Knicks going forward. Deuce has got a lot of minutes
15:54since when Josh Hart was out. Josh Hart returned against the Portland Trailblazers
15:58on Sunday. Josh Hart, he looked good offensively in that Knicks offense with 18 points in the
16:05contest. There's a lot of belief that his return could change the feel of this team and some of
16:10the struggles we've seen at the top of this year, but when you look at this and you look at the game
16:14on Sunday against the Blazers, what specifically does his return fix, and do you think his impact
16:19to this Knicks roster has been undervalued or properly valued? What do you say?
16:24So I think he's properly valued by the New York Knicks. Knicks fans, I try not to get into
16:31how we feel about it because we run hot and cold. One day we love a guy, next day we want
16:36him traded to Milwaukee. You know, that's just who we are. But as far as what he brings to the table,
16:42I think it's less about what he necessarily brings because while we do know that he is a key
16:48component and he is the Knicks full court offense pretty much by himself, the way he'll grab a rebound
16:53and go down, either get foul, find somebody in the three-point line, or just take it straight to the
16:57basket. We love what he does for us in the full court. What he also offers is you're giving minutes
17:02to an NBA wing as opposed to Kevin McCullough, who's a great story and I don't want to make it
17:08seem like I'm disparaging Kevin McCullough. He's just not quite ready to be a rotation player on
17:13an NBA contender. Just think about that sentence. Rotation player, NBA contender. You're talking
17:19about a guy who a team that is relying to win an NBA championship. Can a team, that team rely on
17:25you for 15 to 20 minutes? That's not quite Kevin McCullough Jr. Yet, maybe in year three, maybe in
17:30year four, but as of right now, it's not. The New York Knicks are getting, like when you have to go
17:35deeper in your bench, the quality of the play drops, right? So Kevin McCullough Jr., while I love
17:40him, he's not quite a guy that you want to see for more than five, eight minutes a night. A guy like
17:46Muhammad Diyawara, also a great story for the New York Knicks. 51st pick in the draft. We love him.
17:51Not quite ready to contend. So what Josh Hart brings is he gives you stability where while you
17:56may get a great game from Kevin McCullough Jr. one night, the other three games, you're not going to
18:01have that. That's what your veterans bring. They bring consistency. Josh Hart tonight also against
18:06the Portland Trailblazers. What we saw and what kind of gives me, I want to say confidence, is he played
18:13some really good defense on Denny Avdia. Defense that we haven't quite seen in intensity level
18:18that we have not quite seen from the New York Knicks so far because he's the one New York Knick
18:22who's been resting. The other guys have been playing every other night or in back-to-backs,
18:26right? So what Josh Hart represents, he represents energy. He represents a full-court basketball player
18:32and he's, look, he's getting them shots up and he's hitting them, which is really encouraging.
18:35We need a great three-point shooting season from Josh Hart. The Knicks really want to hit their
18:39zenith, right? But what he also represents is we're not talking about the 11th man, the 12th man,
18:45the 13th man, because once you start to start relying on that, as much as we don't like to
18:49talk about it, health is paramount in the NBA. So Josh Hart coming back, we're getting a little
18:53healthier. Getting healthy at the right time, I think, is more important than anything Josh Hart
18:58brings because while he may bring a really, really vital element to the Knicks, it's you want your best
19:03players out there at all times, especially in crunch time and Josh Hart being back, one of the Knicks'
19:08five to six best players on the team, that means the Knicks are going to get better basketball from
19:12better players, which is going to protect that roster, which is going to protect that record,
19:16I should say, and get us favorable matchups going into the playoffs. Yeah, no, and I think you,
19:21you know, I think you're right in him being properly valued and you saw how much value he has to the
19:25offense. You just saw how things even flowed a little bit easier with him just being able to
19:29create those easy transition buckets, his energy on the boards, and only at three rebounds
19:32against the Blazers, but we know what he can do there too as one of the best pound-for-pound
19:37rebounders in the NBA. So Mensah, something that you said earlier that kind of gets to where I
19:42wanted to go next because I've been talking to some fans when I'm at games, members of the media
19:48as well too, and I've heard the point that, hey, during this recent stretch, I'm talking about
19:51since the NBA Cup, the Knicks haven't been fully healthy for one. Fatigue has also been mentioned,
19:57another factor that you brought up. Talked about their recent stretch in the last 15 days or so.
20:02They're about to get two days off now, between now and Wednesday. But some people may say,
20:07ah, those are excuses, right? So I'm going to ask you this. At what point does we haven't been
20:13fully healthy or the Knicks are fatigued stop being context and start becoming an excuse for
20:18some of the struggles that we've seen from them over the past couple of weeks? Is there a point where,
20:23you know, it would have been a concern for you? I know they've won two out of the last three games
20:27coming into us having this conversation. Would there have been a point where you said, okay,
20:30I'm going to throw the fatigue, I'm going to throw the health out the window, and it would
20:34have been a concern? Or are you just saying, hey, no, this is a real part of the schedule.
20:38These are the dark days, and we could talk about it and, you know, have a real conversation
20:42that sometimes teams just go through this.
20:43Yeah. So I want to say, I want to make it very clear. There is never a time where that will be
20:51an excuse for the New York Knicks. You're a contender. You have to figure it out. And more
20:55importantly than anything else, you hired Mike Brown so that it wouldn't be an excuse. You hired
21:00Mike Brown because he was going to go deep into that rotation. And credit to him, we do see Tyler
21:05Kolek, Kevin McCuller, Muhammad Dior, guys that the New York Knicks found in the second round and later
21:09getting minutes for the team. But again, it's not an excuse for a team. It is always context,
21:16right? Because when you're talking about an NBA contender, right? These are guys who are thinking
21:21about May and June basketball. Sometimes you overlook the, you know, the dog days of the season. You
21:26overlook that deep winter stretch. And when you overlook that deep winter stretch, you don't
21:30quite have as much hunger in your belly because you've been to an Eastern Conference Finals last year.
21:35You've been to the Eastern Conference Semis. You're winning playoff round after playoff round.
21:39You're in a successful era. You're not quite worried about, okay, how are we going to seed up
21:44against this guy or that guy? So they overlook NBA players, and I'm not going to speak for them,
21:48but it does get to a place where you see the Oklahoma City Thunder lose to the Charlotte Hornets,
21:54right? You're seeing it happen across the NBA. It gives you context that, you know, the dog days of
21:58the season are a real thing. These guys are human beings, but it doesn't excuse the fact that you go out
22:03against Detroit and you don't show up on national television, right? These are things that we don't
22:07excuse, but we do have to understand is what I would say. You don't want to excuse it, but you
22:12do want to understand what's actually happening so that you can protect yourself emotionally from,
22:17you know, the ups and downs of a season. I don't want people crashing out over a 31 point loss to
22:22the Detroit Pistons when, if you ask yourself, if the Knicks match up against the Pistons in the
22:26playoffs, who are you taking? I'm putting my money on New York. I'm putting my money on New York,
22:30and I'm not thinking about it twice. So when you, I think what you have to do, what's most important
22:36is make sure that the basketball that you are watching, you have to ask yourself,
22:41are these problems that are emblematic of a New York Knicks team that will show up in a playoff run,
22:47or is this just, hey, the Knicks really didn't have it tonight. They've been playing back to backs
22:53on one, um, they've been playing on one day of rest for a month. Now, these guys aren't playing
22:58their best basketball. You're starting to see the variance, right? And when you're playing
23:02the type of basketball, the New York Knicks want to play, which they want to shoot a lot of threes,
23:06you're going to see some variance in the schedule. You're going to see some variance in the
23:09performances. What you want to do is you want to say, hey, are those rotations still tight as far
23:13as Mike Brown? Are the New York Knicks playing basketball that they can rely on? Are they running
23:17sets that get them easy baskets? Are they keeping themselves fresh? Are they keeping themselves
23:22healthy? And are they practicing things or they're trying experimenting with lineups that will be useful
23:27to them down the stretch of a season? So when it comes to, um, the New York Knicks and who they
23:33are, you don't want to get too bogged down in the, the middle, the middle of the schedule, right?
23:39You look at where they are and you want to make sure that they're keeping pace with the rest of
23:42the NBA, as far as the other contenders and that their record doesn't fall below. Um, they're not,
23:48you know, in a place where, Hey, you're, you're trending down fifth, six in the conference. You want to
23:51make sure that, you know, the downturns don't last too long and credit to the New York Knicks. They did
23:55pick themselves up off the mat and they won two of their last three games. And that's,
23:59what's most important is how was the team going to rebound to adversity? They're being faced with
24:03some advice with some adversity. How are they going to respond to that? Is this a team that's
24:07going to roll over? Are they going to have a soft underbelly or are they going to toughen up?
24:11They're going to get through it. And they're not going to make an excuse of a schedule that
24:14every other team in the NBA is dealing with. No, I think that was a great, great answer because I
24:20felt like after the Detroit game, and I know you saw this, there was a lot of people, not a lot of
24:25people. Let me take that back. There were some people, some fans that were, you know, they were
24:29ready to crash out. And that's what they were ready to crash. Oh, it's over. They've lost four
24:33games in a row. And listen, I heard Mike Brown talk about the adversity before the Detroit game
24:39and understood all that. And I agree. I think responding to adversity is important. And I think
24:44how the Knicks have responded to this, they won two out of the last three. They easily could have won
24:48the game in Phoenix if they made some shots. I thought they played some good defense in the fourth
24:51quarter of that one. But I think you make a good point. You have to look at everything
24:55in totality. You have to look at everything in context of where the Knicks are. So I'm
25:00glad to know you weren't crashing out about the Knicks after the Detroit loss where they
25:05lost four in a row. Because no matter how good your team is, and I'm so glad you brought
25:09up teams like the Thunder, the defending NBA champions, they're, I believe, what is it, six
25:15and seven in the last 13 games or whatever it may be? They've been playing 500 basketball.
25:19The Rockets have been going through a little bit of a struggle recently. You've seen this
25:23from teams. So the Knicks were going to have their turn. Now it's, you know, interesting
25:27to see what they do with it as they get healthier, as they're playing different rotations, all
25:31that good stuff. I appreciate your answer because I think all the context matters in terms of
25:35looking at where the Knicks are. But let's do this. A couple more things for you. When you
25:40zoom out from things right now, you look at this roster, right? And I saw you at a couple
25:47months ago at a Knicks Film School watch party, and we were talking about stuff they might
25:52need at the trade deadline. You and I were talking about that. But when you look at this
25:55roster, does it feel like it needs, you know, some sort of tweak? A specialist? Maybe something?
26:01I don't feel like you're going to be this drastic. Maybe something more drastic or uncomfortable
26:05at the trade deadline? What do you think this team might need if they're going to do something
26:10at the trade deadline?
26:10So I think the New York Knicks are going to get a guy like Landry Schmidt back, which
26:16will make us look a lot better. But to answer your question, I think the Knicks, if they
26:20can find opportunity to get a wing basketball player, I think there was a report by Mark
26:25Stein that the New York Knicks are putting Gershon Yabusele and Pakom Darie on the trade
26:31block, which is about $8.3 million in salary. So you're not necessarily going to get like
26:36an upper end wing. But if you can get some wing depth, because right now as the Knicks
26:40starting five is constructed with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikael Bridges, OG Ananobi and Carl
26:45Anthony Towns, you're playing all of your wings in the starting lineup, which gives you a bit
26:50of trouble with the rotation throughout the game. So if you can get a fourth wing, I like
26:55a guy like I think the Champagny brother in Washington, not the one in San Antonio. He's
27:02not going anywhere. But if you can get a guy like that, if you can get, yeah, none of the
27:07guys in maybe like a Sadiq Bay in New Orleans, if you can get a player like that, that can
27:12help you out with your rotation, just to add another body there. But as far as when I think
27:17about the New York Knicks, what they will need to win a championship, you need shot creation.
27:21You have that in Jalen Brunson. And then you don't necessarily have a secondary shot creator
27:27because your second best offensive basketball player is a big and you have to feed him.
27:31But you also have Mikael Bridges who shows you something. So you have shot creation and
27:35we've seen them. They've been tested, tried and true in the playoffs. They can win two
27:39playoff series. So you have enough shot creation. Do you have rebounding? You have, in my estimation,
27:44an elite defensive rebounder in Carl Anthony Towns, an elite offensive rebounder in Mitchell
27:48Robinson and one of the best pound for pound rebounders, as you said, in Josh Hart. You have
27:53rebounding. You can stop possessions. You have shot creation. Do you have defense? Yes. You have
27:57guys like Mikael Bridges and you have OG Ananobi who can get stops on anybody when you need them.
28:02They're some of the most clutch defenders in the NBA. I know we don't necessarily recognize that as a
28:07stat or as an ability, but OG Ananobi has shown to be nails this regular season. And we saw last year
28:13in the playoffs what Mikael Bridges did. So you have your defense. You have rebounding. You have shot
28:17creation. Do you have three-point shooting? You absolutely do. You have Carl Anthony Towns. You have
28:22Deuce McBride, one of the 10 to 15 best shooters in the NBA. You have Landry Schammett coming back.
28:27You have your, basically everybody but Mitchell Robinson can hit a three when you need it in your
28:33rotation. So if you ask me, the New York Knicks have everything that they need to go out there and
28:38win a championship this season. It's just, will they optimize it? Will they stay healthy? Will they get
28:43favorable matchups in the playoffs? But if the Knicks do not make a trade at the deadline, I do not think
28:49that changes their outlook. I think they still, they should still be favored as the teams who come
28:53out of the Eastern Conference. And depending on who they play, if they come out of the Eastern
28:57Conference into the NBA Finals, they should have a shot to beat anybody. So when we had spoke at
29:02that Knicks film school watch party, I remember you told me, you said, yeah, I think they need wing
29:07depth. And I found that to be very interesting at the time because when I talked to a lot of people,
29:11some people were like, hey, well, I think the Knicks need to get a backup point guard. That answer
29:15might have been solved with the way Tyler Cole has played. I know he's a DNP against the Blazers. And some
29:20other people will say, oh, they need a, they need another big just in case Mitch gets hurt or something
29:25of that nature. All of which I understand. I tend to agree with you. I think wing depth is where they
29:30need, because like you said, three of the wings are in starting lineup, especially if you start Josh Hart,
29:35it would be nice. Hadn't thought about Justin Champagny, guy who went to my alma mater, University of
29:40Pittsburgh would like to see him there. 24 years old, can play, can play a little D active. I can
29:47see that. That's a good name. Yeah. And he's, and he's playing on a team that does not want to win
29:51basketball games. So, Hey, come, come on down, come back to New York. I know he went to Bishop
29:56Lachlan, you know, I'm not too far from where I'm from in Bed-Stuy. I'm a guy who I'd love to see.
30:01I love to root for New Yorkers on basketball teams. I just think that it gives you a different grit.
30:07So I know a player that a lot of people like is Jose Alvarado. Well, I don't quite think we need a
30:12Jose Alvarado because like you said, Tyler Colick has shown up and do some bride play some of those
30:17minutes at the one. I would love to see a Puerto Rican kid from Brooklyn come to Madison Square Garden
30:22and really shake things up and really give us a little more gusto, you know? So I look, if you could
30:27get a native New Yorker, that makes sense. That would make me the most happy. But as far as what the
30:30Knicks need, I think what, as far as like, if they needed to make a trade, it would be for a wing.
30:35Absolutely. So Justin Champagne would be my favorite and a guy like Sadiq Bey who went to Villanova,
30:40right? So you could, you never, you can never go rogue into the Villanova grad with the New York
30:44Knicks, right? So those are two, those are my two names right there. Justin Champagne and Sadiq Bey.
30:49Yeah, no, I like, I like those two names. I'm going to keep an eye on that. Justin Champagne is in the
30:54locker room, Deuce Bridal, Pitt, West Virginia rivalry. And now I'll have to talk to those guys about
30:58that. That'll be, that'll be kind of interesting. Everybody knows what side I'm on. No, no,
31:02disrespect to Deuce, you know, you know, what side I'm on. Now, let me ask you one other thing,
31:06and this kind of ties into the last thing, Mensah, because, you know, we talked about the
31:09Knicks defensive issues and some of that could be tied to the fatigue and, you know, everything with
31:14the dog days of the schedule and all that, the little slip that we've seen them go from about 12th to
31:1818th in the, in the league in terms of defensive ratings. If they're serious about fixing those
31:24defensive issues, do you think that's something, maybe whether it's a trade for Sadiq Bey or Justin
31:29Champagne, do you think that's something with a trade like that, that can be achievable to fix
31:34that problem at the deadline? Or do you look at that as more of an off season issue? I guess not
31:39for you because you think this defense can get better by the end of the year, but do you think
31:42a trade for a wing, if we're just particularly talking about what you said you think the team
31:47should do, do you think that could help them shore up some of the defensive issues that we've seen?
31:52So when I look at the stats, because I try not to get too bogged down into, you know,
31:58what I feel and what I'm watching, because, you know, as an emotional fan, I'm going to key in on
32:02things that, you know, that the, the data trackers will not be, and they'll give us the entire
32:07picture here. So when I look at a guy like OG Ananobi, good defender, Josh Hart, good defender,
32:13good rebounder, Carl Anthony Towns, elite rebounder, having a good defensive season, OG Ananobi,
32:20Miles McBride, guys like that, you don't necessarily like, if you're making a trade at the deadline for
32:25the salary slots, and we have to keep that in context here, the salary slot, you're probably
32:30not going to get a better defender than any of the guys that I just named. The problem with the
32:35defense, if you ask me, is Jalen Brunson being a first percentile defender, and that is not
32:41something that you can fix unless Jalen Brunson decides to, you know, get more charges, be in
32:46position. What I find with Jalen Brunson is often he's a step late in his rotations, and that's how we end
32:51up giving up threes. One of the, that's one of the Knicks biggest ailments is just the amount of
32:55threes that they've been giving up. Like, like we were just talking about, um, the Champagny,
32:58Julian Champagny, he lit us up from three, right? Because we, we kept, you know, being late on the
33:03rotations there. And so basically what I'm trying to say is, I don't know if there is a trade that
33:09will help the Knicks necessarily become a better defensive team, because I like their defensive
33:14pieces. And like, if let's say you make a trade for a defensive, a wing, right? Is he going to be
33:21much better defensively than OG and Anobi and McHale Bridges? No. If let's say you make a trade
33:26for a defensive big, is he going to be a much better defender than Mitchell Robinson? Probably
33:31not. You make a trade for a backup point guard. Yeah, you can get better defensively than Tyler
33:35Kolek and Jalen Brunson. But the rest of the picture that we're talking about here with your wings
33:40and your, your front court players, which support Jalen Brunson, and that's, and this entire thing is
33:46built around him, right? If you get guys like that, essentially, you're not necessarily going
33:53to improve because you, in order to improve, you have to get like guys who are going to change the
33:57minutes played. So when it comes down to it, if you get a backup point guard who improves your
34:02defense in the regular season, how much value does that really have in the playoffs when a guy like
34:06Jalen Brunson is going to be logging 38 to 40 minutes a night, right? It's not necessarily a thing
34:11that I think they need as far as a defensive improvement. They just need to know that when
34:16it's crunch time, is Jalen Brunson going to be where he needs to be? And I found, and I was very
34:21encouraged with what Jalen Brunson did in the playoffs defensively, specifically against the
34:25Boston Celtics. And I think he really guarded up a wing or two. Like he, he played really good
34:31defense when they tried to isolate him on Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. And I think that is more
34:35important than anything that we're going to see in the regular season. If Jalen Brunson can go from
34:39being a first percentile defender and really ramp it up and be slightly below average, that's all
34:45the Knicks need defensively because everybody else will be where they need to be. That would be a huge
34:49improvement for him. And you're right. That's what would matter at the time when it comes to the
34:53postseason for Jalen Brunson there to improve that Knicks defense. Last thing for me, Metson,
34:58I kind of want to do this. We kind of touched on this a little earlier, but I do think you can
35:01put a nice final bow on this for me, because I think some of the times when I look at this
35:08as a sports journalist, I'm like, sometimes for fans, you know, and I always say like, I'm a fan
35:14too, like watch sports, love sports, all this stuff. Sometimes we have information very recently to
35:21not overreact. Right. And I saw some Knicks fans ready to jump out the window, ready to crash out
35:26when they had the four game losing streak. But I said to myself, huh, I remember last year when the
35:32Knicks, they couldn't beat Boston. They couldn't beat Cleveland. Right. Remember that? Oh, they're
35:380-4 against. 0-10 against the top whoever teams. Right. And everybody's, well, they're not going
35:44to do anything in the playoffs. That's what you heard from some people. They're not going to do
35:47anything in the playoffs. And then what happened? They went out, they beat Boston. Right. You saw that
35:53happen. Right. So what I want to do to close this out, I'm going to ask you this. When we look at the
35:58bottom line here, and we go back and look at this recent stretch of games and the rough
36:03start to 2026, the adversity that you talked about, Mensah, do you think that this will
36:09be the moment that fans realize that the Knicks were maybe closer to contending or true contender
36:14that they didn't realize? Or you think they'll be like, oh, it's closer to a hard truth and
36:19this team is maybe not as good as they, as that they thought the Knicks would be. What
36:24do you think that Knicks fans are going to look, are going to think when they look back
36:28at this moment to start 2026, this portion of the season and the adversity this team
36:33faced, how do you think they'll evaluate this when they look back at the stretch?
36:37So I think fans are going to do what they have always done. As soon as these guys come
36:41on the team, they're going to look at it as either the time that Carl Anthony Towns really
36:46locked in. And I think we're seeing that from him in the past in this recent stretch of
36:49games, we're seeing really good basketball from him. As far as the consistency, we're seeing
36:54more, we're not necessarily getting the peaks, but we're also not getting those valleys either.
36:57I think that's what the fans are going to look at. They're not going to question if Jalen
37:01Brunson was locked in. They're not necessarily going to question if O.J. and O.B. was there.
37:05They like to get on Macau Bridges too, because he was traded for five first round picks. But
37:08what it boils down to is, are fans, are fans going to see when they look back at this and
37:14where Carl Anthony Towns is playing? Because that, he had this one soundbite where they asked him
37:19about like the adjustment that he's been having. And I thought he answered honestly,
37:23but the body language wasn't the best where he said, you know, he leaned on his experience
37:28because he's never really had coaching consistency. So adjusting to what Mike Brown wants from him
37:34is also just something that he's just leaning on his experience with, just figuring out because
37:38he's had to deal with it so many different times. But what fans are going to see as far
37:42as are they closer to contention or are they closer to a hard truth? It's really going to be
37:48Carl Anthony Towns. Is this guy going to be consistent for us? Is Macau Bridges going to
37:54be consistent for us? Is this team going to find consistency? And all we're going to know is
37:59when we look back, like you said, in May and June and possibly July, did the Knicks in this January
38:06stretch find consistency? And I think that not having the breaks, not having, you know, long layoff,
38:12having a game every other day the way they have is giving them a chance to see who to see
38:17themselves at their worst. And if you can see yourself at your worst, and if you can honestly
38:21diagnose your issues and you can get a, you can get a fix going into the all-star break and really
38:27finishing out strong through the playoff, the end of the regular season, that playoff stretch
38:30between March and April, if they can figure that out, if they can get consistency, then again,
38:35it's not necessarily, in my opinion, a personnel thing. It's where is their, where's their mindset
38:41going into the playoffs? Are they going to finish strong or are they going to coast? If they coast,
38:46fans are going to say, Oh, I knew it. You know, they were closer to a harsh reality.
38:50We need the guy in Milwaukee. We need a trade, but if they find consistency,
38:54Knicks fans are going to ride with these guys. And I think that that's all it has to be.
38:57Let's find some consistency because the pieces are here. They have enough to get to an NBA finals
39:02and even win an NBA championship. All right. Let's see if they are able to do that. Look,
39:08we'll see. It's a long road. There's a lot to find out in the regular season. There's always going to
39:11be some adversity, some ups and downs, but the sky's not falling. You don't have to crash out yet.
39:17The Knicks have won two out of their last three games. There are two more games left on this road
39:22trip in which they are one and one right now. So we're interested in coming up for the New York
39:27Knicks. That is Mensah Smith. Check them out. Knicks film school. Also, Mensah, we got, we got it done
39:36two, two, two of the best from Philip Ascala middle school, you know, on the same show.
39:41Yes, sir. 383 in the house.
39:41383 in the house. Talking about the Knicks. Yes, sir.
39:44To whom much is given, much is required. You know, you know, if you know, you know. That's what I'll
39:49say. Mensah, big fan of your work. Glad we got to chop it up a couple months ago. And I told you
39:53we'd come on here and do it. So I'm glad you gave me some time to talk some Knicks, man. I appreciate
39:59you and we'll have to do it again soon.
40:00Yeah, man. Hopefully we do it before the Mets sign Kyle Tucker. The way that's been going.
40:06Well, that, well, that's, that's another topic from our other show straight out of Flushing and
40:11the Mets off season. That's it. The Mets fans, you want to talk about crashing out and going out
40:16the window. Oh, there is no window anymore. Oh, the window's gone. The window's gone. The walls are
40:22gone. The walls are burning down. It's just, it's madness over there. It's madness and nobody knows
40:27what's going to happen. At least in Knicks land. It's not for now. It's, it's not madness. And
40:32a man, I'm glad you are. Well, again, everybody check out Mensah, Knicks film school, the great
40:37work they do there. I'm Dexter Henry. That's going to do it for this edition of New York
40:41Got Game. We'll catch you next time.
40:44And thanks for watching New York Got Game.
40:47Boom shakalaka.
40:57Boom shakalaka.
40:58Boom shakalaka.
40:59Boom shakalaka.
41:00Boom shakalaka.
41:01Boom shakalaka.
41:02Boom shakalaka.
41:03Boom shakalaka.
41:04Boom shakalaka.
41:05Boom shakalaka.
41:06Boom shakalaka.
41:07Boom shakalaka.
41:08Boom shakalaka.
41:09Boom shakalaka.
41:10Boom shakalaka.
41:11Boom shakalaka.
41:12Boom shakalaka.
41:13Boom shakalaka.
41:14Boom shakalaka.
41:15Boom shakalaka.
41:16Boom shakalaka.
41:17Boom shakalaka.
41:18Boom shakalaka.
41:19Boom shakalaka.
41:20Boom shakalaka.
41:21Boom shakalaka.
41:22Boom shakalaka.
41:23Boom shakalaka.
Be the first to comment