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00:00Welcome back to another edition of New York Got Game. At the midway point of the season,
00:20the Knicks, they aren't just losing games, they're losing clarity. The results, they're obvious.
00:24Eight losses in their last ten. It's a team searching for answers on both ends of the floor
00:30right now. But the bigger question is why? Is this a stretch driven by injuries and timing,
00:35or is this the moment where real flaws in execution, roster balance, and defensive
00:40consistency are being exposed? So on this episode of New York Got Game, we're going to break it all
00:45down from two angles with two different guests. First, we're going to look at how this season
00:50is turned, what feels fixable, and also how the fan base should be processing this moment right
00:56now. Then we're going to go to the tape, try to strip away narrative and see what the film
01:00actually says about coaching, defense, and whether this team's issues are schematic,
01:06situational, or structural. This isn't about panic, it's about perspective. I'm going to try to do
01:11that here. So let's get right into it. So the Knicks, they're in the middle of their toughest
01:15stretch of the season and maybe the toughest stretch since the 2022-2023 season. Eight losses,
01:21as I mentioned, in the last ten games. It's a team that feels stuck somewhere between a contender
01:26and concern. Some people are really concerned right now. So what's really going on here? Is this
01:31just a midseason slump made worse by injuries, or are we seeing deeper issues that cannot be ignored
01:37as the deadline approaches? So to help diagnose the Knicks downward spiral that we've been watching
01:42this month, I'm joined by a first-time guest on New York Got Game. Her name is Brittany Rosas.
01:47She is from the Knick of Time show. Joins me now, repping the Boogie Down Bronx. Brittany,
01:52what's going on? How you doing? Oh, thank you, first of all, for having me. It's a really cool
01:57opportunity. I'm excited. I need to vent lately, so this is really cool. I'm excited. Let's talk
02:02about it, please, because a lot's been going on. I know a lot of people, you know, feel this or that
02:07way, but let's get into it. Well, okay. Well, this is good. Just to let you know, you're in a safe
02:11space. You can vent. You can let it out. We're going to keep the plan. We want to keep it real
02:16here. We're not lying to the people. We're going to keep it real. We're going to have a good
02:19conversation about it. So let's start with this, because when you step back from the individual
02:25losses we've seen this month, what do you think this recent losing streak that we've seen, or
02:29stretch, I should say, eight out of ten, what do you think that tells us about who the Knicks are
02:34right now as a team? And then also, part two for me on that is, as a fan, how have you been feeling
02:39about what you've seen from this team since the calendar turned to 2026?
02:44This stretch has told me lately, we're still a good team. We're not a complete team.
02:50This slump has not been a collapse for me. That's why I'm not, as a fan, too, like, panicked
02:55yet. However, it's been a reality check. And the reality is, right now, we do not have an
02:59identity. When we replaced guys like Randall and Dante and I Heart to bring in a guy like
03:05Carr-Anthony Towns, the identity became more soft, because that's whatever the angle is
03:10when it comes to Carr-Anthony Towns. And when you have a guy like that, who is one of the
03:13main focuses to your team, it's easy to give that narrative and put into it when you go
03:17through stretches like this. Like, see? You see your main guy. He's soft. He can't do
03:20this. He can't do that. And when you have other guys who replace the Dantes and I Heart
03:25and Mikel and OG, who are very, they're not very vocal. And then you have JB, who's a
03:30silent assassin. He's not a guy who talks too much. He doesn't say too much. If he is going
03:34to do it, he's going to do it on the court. So we don't have anybody who's very vocal,
03:37not only off the court, but on the court, who's going to put it in, aside from JB, to
03:41tell us that we're not soft. We're actually mentally cool. And it seems like every time
03:44this team goes through tough times, we struggle. And that is hard for people to take us seriously
03:50during this time. So as a fan, that's what I, I'm a little bit frustrated because I take
03:55this team very seriously. When we put this team together, I thought this was a contender.
03:59We've been fans for a long time. Whether we like the Mellow and we like those teams,
04:03those teams, if you're being completely honest, we're not contending teams. This team actually,
04:08from top to bottom, you start to see, we have a big man, we have defenders, we have a superstar.
04:13What can possibly go wrong? And right now, January, everything has gone wrong. So it's hard to see
04:18how the beginning where we came in and have such high hopes to have that go. And I think it mainly
04:23just starts with the mentality. I just think it's still a good team, but something's missing.
04:28So, Brittany, everything has gone wrong. It's gone wrong so quickly. It was all good just a month
04:33ago. It was really all good just a month ago. And now, I feel what you're saying from a lot of
04:39the fan base. Yes, the fan base takes it seriously, but they're very frustrated with where this team
04:45is right now. And we'll get into more into CAD and softness and all this other stuff. And I think
04:51there's an affinity for the fan base for the team that we saw two years ago, the 2023, 2024 team,
04:56right? That team played with a lot of grit, a lot of toughness. I think that's something
05:00as New Yorkers, we understand around basketball. And it just doesn't feel like that right now.
05:05So at this point, Brittany, what you've seen since the calendar turned to 2026, does this
05:11feel more like a temporary slump tied to circumstances? Or are we seeing signs of a deeper structural problem
05:17here with the Knicks?
05:18It's a temporary slump to me. I think if we, it's hard outside from a couple teams. Everybody
05:28has gone through their slumps this season, whether it be for a week or so, whether it be
05:32a full month. And we did hit that. But as you guys remember, when we started off the season,
05:37we did go through something. And when we went through something, we bounced back. So I'm actually
05:40looking for that moment again, if we bounce back. If we do not, that's when the concerns will
05:45be a little bit higher for me. Right now, it's hard for me to say because, yes, our backs are
05:49against the wall. But content matters. We dealt with some injuries. We dealt with major injuries
05:52on that. We're not just losing the end of the bench, guys. We're using key pieces in our rotation
05:56and bench players. And then we're losing superstars. We had Towns out for a few games.
06:01We had Jalen Brunson out for a few games. We had the heart of our team and literally Josh Hart out.
06:06Miles McBride and Shamit, who are key factors to our rotation. So it's not that to worry some yet
06:13because it has been a very long time since we played with a full roster. So content does
06:18matter. So I try not to get too in-depth because injuries. Injuries is a major thing. And I know
06:22there are some teams, shout out to the Denver Nuggets, by the way, for figuring out despite
06:26having, you know, Jamal Murray, some games, and Nikola Djokic. But that's a contender. That's a team
06:32who recently has won. That's a team with a multiple-time MVP. And we do not have that luxury just yet.
06:37So if we want to do get to that position, we do have to figure it out. And I'm looking for us to do that.
06:42And I'm not going to count this out just yet. However, if February does come and we're still
06:46in this position, losing more games than winning, I will hit the red button and I will begin to panic.
06:51But I'm not going to panic just yet because another thing, a part of the content that matters
06:56is we're actually playing some good teams, some hot teams. I know the records might not show for
07:00some of them, but the Suns were coming in hot. Sacramento was coming in hot. Even though we got
07:04the win against the Clippers, they were coming in hot. And then on top of that, the other teams that we
07:08played at the top of their standings and their conferences. So not only are we playing good
07:14teams while injured and down, we are also dealing with a new coach who's trying to figure out lineups.
07:20I don't know if a lot of guys have been paying attention. We haven't had a starting lineup that
07:23has been the lineup. Like we had the luxury over the last few years with Tom Thibodeau. We knew who
07:28was coming out and playing those games, whether they were going to be. We knew who was going to be
07:32coming off the bench. It's kind of hard. There's some times where we start DOR. We start Miles
07:36McBride. We start Clarkson even. We had the double big lineup at some point. And that's kind of hard
07:42to have a team get into a groove when the rotation isn't set amongst injuries. And then on top of that,
07:48we're playing some teams that are ready to win or trying to win just as much as we are.
07:52So I think it's a great point you mentioned there, right? Context matters in all of this. And
07:57sometimes that gets lost. I'm glad to hear you're not pushing the panic button yet. I'm glad to hear that
08:01because if you look on social media, sometimes some people have already pushed a panic button.
08:06I know you've seen that. You mentioned Jalen Brunson earlier though, Brittany, right?
08:10He's missed the last three games basically after rolling his ankle against the Kings. So three
08:14games, Knicks haven't had him. They've lost three in a row. How much of the offensive stagnation that
08:19we've seen, because we just saw on Saturday, only 99 points against the Suns. How much of that is
08:23tied to the Knicks, how heavily they rely on Jalen Brunson to create everything late in games. And then when
08:30they don't have them, offense just doesn't look the same.
08:34Well, first I want to tell my boy JB, if you're coming, can you get those, those, those Kobe's
08:38in it? They go up to the knees. Like we got to switch those sneakers, man. The ankle injuries
08:44are frustrating or get those braces that Curry wears. We got to get something going with that
08:48because the ankle injury is frustrating. However, Jalen Brunson is the New York Knicks. So anytime he
08:53goes down, it's, it's impossible to ignore. Um, he might have his, this, uh, his issue
09:01defensively, but like you said, we've been struggling offensively. And if you check the
09:06last few games, that's why I'm not panicking yet. We've been in them. We've played tough.
09:10We've showed some effort, which has been a problem throughout the years for us throughout
09:14the beginning of the thing. Sue, we're always like, it's cool. We lose all that, but we're
09:17not showing effort. We've shown effort these games, but we don't have a closer. And I think
09:20that was the biggest reason for last night's loss. Of course, there was nobody to close
09:24the game out. When we were looking down the stretch, we were looking at Clarkson. We're
09:27looking for miles and cool. If they would have hit the shots, it would have been amazing,
09:29but they're not guaranteed. Typically when you're looking for the end of the game, I'm
09:33looking for Jalen Brunson and then the NBA and not even just being a New York Knicks
09:37fan. I, that's a guy that I would pick outside of being a fan. He's one of the top five
09:41players right now that I would pick to close out a game because you know, nine out of
09:4510 times, maybe eight out of 10 times that ball is going in and the game is could
09:49come back. So Jalen Brunson is a guy that's going to disrupt your defense and
09:54that's going to allow other people to get into a groove on the court. And I think
09:57without him being there to disrupt defenses and bring, bring not only closing, but
10:02bring his efficiency throughout the game, it's giving guys like Towns and
10:05McKellen Oji a hard time as well, because they have, they're, they're the first
10:09option at this point now. And typically that, that's not what they've been
10:12throughout their career. You have to have Jalen Brunson on the court to then
10:16create opportunities for other plays like that. So when Jalen Brunson is
10:19out, I, I always say no captain, how can the ship keep going? And it's hard
10:24right now. It's hard to now move the boat without him. He's, but he's human and
10:30he's dealing with injuries and he might have some games. So again, and if we
10:33want to get back into a groove, we have to figure out no excuses. Yes. Jalen
10:37Brunson is out, but who's going to step up? And I think that's, that's where I'm
10:42more concerned is when Jalen Brunson is out or when he might have an off game,
10:45who's going to do that. But I haven't heard, I don't know if you've heard, he's
10:50not out for the season. He will be back. So as long as he'll be back, we're good.
10:55We're good, baby. We're going to keep rocking and rolling. And we're going to
10:58get the offense back because Jalen Brunson is the New York Knicks' offense. And I
11:01don't have any problem with that. The only problem is when he's gone, which is why
11:05right now it's hard. But when you have such a key person like that, it is hard to, to
11:10even think straight, like who's going to do what, where, when, why, how, because
11:15he's such a big part of the New York Knicks. I think that's a lot of why fans
11:20have been getting frustrated though, right? Brittany is, is that when he's out, you
11:24want to see somebody else step up and do it. And, you know, I'm just going to go
11:27to the recent game against the Suns. You know, you're looking for that from
11:30Mikel Bridges. He only has 15 points. Cat had a, I'll say a typical cat game,
11:35right? He gave you the double, double. I know you got no six, seven there, but gave
11:39you the, gave you the, gave you the, gave you the, the double, double, right? But
11:43he had the five fouls. And so you just feel like his presence doesn't feel right
11:46there on the court. We'll get to Cat in a second. Don't worry. People were going
11:49to get to Cat. I'm sure Brittany had some stuff to say with that too. But the
11:53other thing on Saturday night, Brittany, was we also saw the Knicks without
11:56Josh Hart against the Suns, you know, as well as Jalen Brunson. So we know this
12:01Knicks team, very top heavy on talent. Do you think they can survive a stretch and
12:06win games right now without two of their top seven players? Cause that's
12:09what they had to deal with last night. And when you've got two of your top
12:12seven players out, it's going to impact you in some way. So do you think they
12:16can win games? If Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson, you know, whether it's Jalen
12:19Brunson, OGN and OB, whatever combination of those top seven, can they win games
12:24if two of their top seven players aren't there?
12:29You said keep it real, right?
12:30Please do. Please.
12:33No. The thing is, that's why I don't want Knicks fans to panic too much. I don't
12:37know many teams who can. Again, outside of the Denver Nuggets, I don't know any
12:42team that if you're missing your top player and then a key piece in your
12:49starting lineup, I don't know many teams that would survive during that. And with
12:52us, they're not just any old body. It's not just, oh, it's Jalen Brunson.
12:56It's Josh Hart. Josh Hart brings so much versatility to our lineups, brings
13:04rebounding, he brings passing. And shockingly, he has brought defense. And when
13:07you guys remember when we were winning, it was the Josh Hart lineup where we got
13:12to the Eastern Conference Finals. It was Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson in those
13:15lineups. So it's hard for me to think that we can get very far without those
13:19guys. I think the reason for the slump right now is because they're simply
13:23missing. And we have not have them implemented in our offense and even in
13:28our defense. Yeah, no, and Hunter said right about that. Listen, you're right.
13:31It's going to be hard for any team to win with two of their top seven guys in
13:34their rotation. Maybe, you said the Nuggets, we've seen them do it without
13:38Jokic. Maybe the Thunder, but even then, you're asking a whole lot.
13:45That's just really, really asking a lot. Now, I know you saw this because this week
13:49on social media, Carl Anthony Towns, man, fans were giving it to him. A lot of
13:56criticism. He's felt the ire of fans throughout the season. You know, it's
14:00been rough. Look, he's had, this is not deniable, he's had a down year shooting
14:04the ball. We know this about Cat. But where are you right now on Cat and either
14:10his impact or if you want to call it lack of impact, Brittany, on this team, where
14:14are you with Cat right now? Because the fan base, they seem real frustrated with
14:18this man. Well, first, I want to say, Dexter, it hasn't been this week. I think
14:23since he entered New York City, he has gotten a lot of slack. And anytime we are
14:29failing, he is the scapegoat. If it wasn't Tom Thibodeau, it was Carl Anthony
14:33Towns. I've been seeing that since he's very rare, since he's been here. It's very
14:38rare that I have seen him being praised. So it's no shock to me that, again, when
14:44we're going through something very difficult, he's the reason that everybody
14:47feels that we're not being successful. And respectfully so. He is, a lot of people
14:53like to look at the contracts when players play like this. I believe he makes
14:56about 50, 55 million dollars. You're paying somebody that you want them to show
15:00up. You're not going to pay a guy, a chef, 55 million, and you're getting
15:04Chef Borardee canned out the can. You want some caviar. You want some steak. You want
15:08something nice and fresh. So I completely understand. However, I can't count
15:14Towns out just yet. Carl Anthony Towns is who he is simply because of who he is and how
15:20he's played. He's still somebody who can rebound, who can pass very well. And even
15:24though he's shooting, he does spaces to court for you. I don't know many guys that if you
15:28shipped Carl out, you can replace him. And when we mention some names, and we'll get
15:32into some of those names. Yeah, those names are nice, but they're still not Carl Anthony
15:35Towns. And it's hard for me to just count him out just yet because there has been many
15:40times where he has shut us up. It'd be nice for him to keep us shut and not remind us why
15:46we do say the things that we say. But I can't count him out just yet. Again, he hasn't
15:53been in an offense where he's implemented very well. Mike Brown said it himself. He's going
15:57to be one of the last people that are going to be able to play in his offense. And again,
16:02we're only in January. I know it's been some games. We've played about 40 games. Half
16:06the season has been played now, and we're still trying to understand. But it's not like
16:09he had a terrible season from start to finish. There have been stretches where he has shown
16:13us to remind us he is still capable and still somebody that we can rely on. In some cases,
16:18it's just hard when we need it so much throughout this year. We've needed it because JB has gone
16:24down so many times. We've needed it because we've had a lot of injuries in Shamit and Miles.
16:29But he was someone that a lot of people, again, content matters. He came into the season
16:33injured, and he still played. He still went through that. So we don't really know how much
16:37that probably went into his game at some point. It never seemed like he was fully healthy until
16:42recently. So to me, it's hard to watch him sometimes because of the paycheck. Again,
16:50you're paying somebody that one. You want them to show up and play as such. But he's not a guy
16:54that I could count out just yet. I want to give him the rest of the season. And I think we discussed
17:00that prior to getting to this show, and I always talk about it with my KOT fan. Shout out to them
17:04over there. He's going to be with us the rest of the season. And if he does not, and how he plays
17:12the rest of the season, and most importantly, the playoffs, will then determine how I feel about
17:16Kat. But he showed up for me last playoffs. It might not have been as much. The Pacers season,
17:20he wet the bed. But he is why we beat Detroit. He is why we beat, I believe, who we played in the
17:26second round. Boston. He did show up for Boston, excuse me. So you can't count people out. To me,
17:34that's what it matters. I could really care less what a guy does during the regular season as long
17:37as we get to the playoffs. And we're still in the playoff hunt. So as long as we stay in the
17:41playoff hunt and we get to the playoffs and he shows up then, then I can count him out. But he had
17:45big shoes to fill. When he replaced Randall, he replaced Dante, he replaced I-Heart. Those were
17:51beloved Knicks fans. I mean, Knicks players. So for him to come in and try to do the things that
17:57he's done in just a year and a half is asking a lot for the Knicks fans. So I just saw him give
18:01him a little, just a little bit more grace. I know it's hard to do so, but just give him a little bit
18:06more grace because we had those guys for some time and they were able to play in rosters and structures
18:12where they've been for a long time. This guy already went through a coaching change and not only a
18:16coaching change, but he's dealing with multiple injuries. So not only to himself, but to his
18:21roster. So I'm going to give him a little bit more time, but I'm not going to pretend that I'm not
18:27frustrated with him. Right. No, I have always, and I do understand currently the Knicks fans frustrations
18:33with him. I do think you gave good context though. When you look at last season, big games in the
18:38playoffs, huge games against Detroit, some incredible shot making. He had one game against him in the
18:44Pacers series where he had a big fourth quarter and helped bring the Knicks back. I believe that
18:47was in game four, but it's just been so inconsistent for him. Right. Like you said, it's, it's, it's
18:52up and it's up and down with him. And that's the thing. I think that's frustrating for the Knick fan
18:57with Carl T. Towns. But look, makes $54 million, which you talked about this season. And yeah, I know.
19:06And I get it when you're paying $54 million and fans who, I just want to be clear, fans who pay their
19:11hard earned money and come to the garden. I get it. I was at the garden against the sons and fans
19:16were born and rightfully so they didn't like what they saw out there. I think the fans have every
19:21right to boo. But I get it. You want a little bit more out of him. I think everybody, including
19:26yourself, Brittany, you understand. We know he's not a true number one, but you'd like to see him
19:31give a little bit more in the times where JB isn't there, where other guys can step up. You'd like
19:36to see it and you just want, you know, he's got it in because you've seen it. We've seen it. It's not
19:40like we've all kind of say, ah, you know what? It's not there anymore. We've seen it. So
19:45I think that's the thing that's, that's a little frustrating. I think one of the other
19:48things though, Brittany, that we've seen in this mid-season swoon is the bench. The bench
19:54has not been good at all this month. There's been some talks about the Knicks improving
20:00the bench at the deadline. So I wanted to go with you. I wanted to go over some players
20:03with you as potential trade options. I got three people for you. The first one I thought
20:08about, I want to know how you think they could fit in with this Knicks team. Now
20:12the first one, Knicks fans are going to be excited about because this will be
20:15bringing a New Yorker back home. I think a lot of how you feel about this, I see you
20:22clapping for a lot of it, how you feel about it will depend on how you feel either
20:26A, about Tyler Colek or B, about adding this person to the backcourt. This is Jose
20:31Alvarado, back-of-point guard for the Pelicans, right? A lot of Knicks fans have been
20:35talking about him. How do you feel about Jose Alvarado? Is this a guy you think the
20:40Knicks should go get? Do you think he fits with this Knicks team?
20:44Well, first I want to say a big thing, content matters. It's hard to judge the
20:53bench when a lot of the bench is forced to start. A lot of these guys had to be put
20:58into the starting lineup. So when you're now taking Miles and Clarkson into the
21:02starting lineup at some point, where is your scoring going to come off the bench from
21:06Mitch Robinson? Yabu Selly, who has been struggling? Shamit, who's coming back from
21:10an injury? That's kind of hard to ask for somebody when we need that. And then, again,
21:15like I stated earlier, we've seen so many different lineups this year. So who is our
21:20bench? When most of the times, most of them are starting. So I do, again, want to have
21:25people understand that until we have a fully healthy roster, that's something that's going
21:32to be always up and down for us right now. The bench, who is the bench? We don't know.
21:38At some point, we felt like Josh Hart should have been coming off the bench, but then he
21:41got implemented back into the starting lineup. Then we have Mitch Robinson sometimes, who
21:45does, we did see the double bake at some point. We have a rookie starting in Diora, who should
21:49be, you know, getting some minutes at some point instead of starting. So I do want to say
21:54that we're going to see struggles when there hasn't been a clear rotation. So I did want
22:02to start there. But a guy like Jose would definitely clarify that for somebody like me. Not only
22:07is he a vet, but he's a defensive presence. There's been a time, one of the lineups that
22:11do work is when Jalen Bruns is on the court with who? Miles McBride. I think that would
22:15be the same situation with the Jose Alvarado, which is why if we did have to get rid of Tyler
22:21Colick, it wouldn't be personal. I love the kid. I think he has a lot of heart.
22:24I think he has a lot of potential. But as a hungry, desperate Knicks fan, I'm not worried
22:29about the future. I'm worried about right now. And it's been very rare that we had an
22:32opportunity like we have right now to win a championship. It hasn't. I know we like to
22:38be fans at the end of the day and say, we're going to win a championship. We have a team.
22:42But how many times has that been actually realistic in the last 10, 15 years? I think
22:46only the last two or three years it's been realistic. And this is the most time we can actually
22:50say it and be serious about it with the injuries to Tatum and Tyrese Halliburton. And it's crazy
22:55because the Celtics are still playing well. But yeah, we can still get in there and call
22:59me crazy. But I don't think a healthy roster, anybody in the East could beat us in seven
23:04games. I don't see it. But it's hard to see that when you got guys coming in where Tyler
23:11at some point went crazy. And then right now, he's then back to playing a little bit.
23:17You know, I don't think you would get that from Jose. Jose knows his role and he plays
23:23it well, which is why he still has a job today in the NBA. And most importantly, the reason
23:27why Jose would be a perfect fit for us because he would give us an identity. This is someone
23:31who's known to be tough, rugged, defensive, a defensive guy. And that's something that I
23:36stated earlier, which is why we're in a slump right now. We don't have an identity.
23:40So it'd be nice to bring someone in who knows who they are. And of course, I think that he
23:45would bring the energy of Madison Square Garden because again, like you stated, he's from the
23:49city. And I don't know how many people who wouldn't want to put a jersey on from the hometown
23:53that they're from and represent their city and not only represent it, but actually contend
23:57for a title. And I think a guy like that would bring something very, very desperate that we
24:01need. And not only in just his defense and his versatility, but most importantly, his
24:07identity. Yeah. Jose Alvarado could be a really good fit. I know a lot of Knicks fans would
24:11like to see him, would be interesting fit. There's some concerns. He's a smaller guard.
24:15Knicks already have a couple with Deuce, with Brunson, only six foot, but good point of attack.
24:21Defender can be a pest. You know, you could see a lot of energy that he could bring there.
24:25Okay. So that's a guy you'd be interested in. I'm going to ask you about another person from
24:28the Pelicans as a trade candidate. Sadiq Bae also played at Villanova. You know, got a couple
24:34of Knicks from Nova on the roster. Do you think Sadiq Bae is a good fit for this Knicks roster?
24:42First of all, did you see Sadiq Bae versus us? Hey, you know, he had a nice little,
24:46he had a nice little interview versus us recently. So that definitely built me up more to want to play
24:54like him, especially if we could swap him out for, I don't know too much about how the contract
24:59works. Shout out to my guy, Fritz at KOT, because he always helps me with that. But if we could flip
25:03a Yabu and a Dadic and get a guy like Sadiq Bae, hey, hey, if you could still keep Miles and Clarkson
25:11and have him come off the bench with guys like that, I would take that in a heartbeat. There
25:15wouldn't be anything that I would consider or anything like that. I would give Tyler Kulik for him.
25:20I would give Yabu Selly. I would give Dadic for him because not only does he bring defense,
25:25he brings the three ball, something that we're struggling with tremendously. So I like the
25:29Jose for the defensive purposes. I like Sadiq Bae for the defensive purposes. And on top of that,
25:33they're doing things that we need right now. He is another guy that when you play him, he's rugged.
25:38He's tough. He's not a guy who shies away from any controversy or anything like that. He's been a
25:43solid person everywhere. He's been throughout his stint in the NBA. And I like his three ball. Again,
25:49we shoot a lot of three balls. So to have a guy come in and if we could get him at a crazy value,
25:55I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.
25:57Listen, I like the trade you mentioned there. If it would be Yabu Selly, who's not been good.
26:03We can all acknowledge that. And Dottie, maybe you have to throw in some second round picks. I don't
26:08know exactly what the cost would be. Yeah, I would do that deal. And what I'm hearing from you,
26:15it's funny because we just talked about the two Pelicans guys, right, Brittany? If you get a guy
26:19like an Alvarado, you get a guy like a Sadiq Bae, you've mentioned a word I heard you say a couple
26:24of times now, toughness, right? And so it feels, and again, as a native New York guy, you too,
26:31we understand this. Fans like players that bring that edge, that energy. And maybe it feels like a
26:37little bit, this team is missing a little bit of that, that could be used off the bench. Those are
26:41two guys that could bring it. Now I'm going to bring up the last person I'm going to bring up
26:45to you is another native New Yorker. So there's a little bit of a theme here. This was presented
26:50to me by my guest last week, Mensah Smith from Knicks Film School. He brought this up. I did not
26:54think about this, so I want to give Mensah the credit. Justin Champagny, who played at my alma
26:58mater, University of Pittsburgh, he's a wing with the Wizards. I think he's a pretty interesting fit.
27:03Might not cost the Knicks a lot. Would you want to add him to this Knicks squad?
27:07It's crazy because that's actually who I think with, because Sadiq Bey, I think I would be,
27:13I'm throwing a little bit of a lob there where if we could get him for Yabu and I don't know if
27:18they would kind of get that because I don't see the need for the Pelicans for needing those guys
27:22right now. But I think that would work for a Wizards team. And we could get a guy who's like,
27:29I would say like a little bit of a lesser version of Sadiq Bey. He's not as great as Sadiq Bey,
27:35but he does the things that Sadiq Bey does. Most importantly, he shoots three ball. He plays
27:39defense well. I'm not going to pretend that I know too much about his mentalness,
27:44but he's a guy that I just often see when I do see him, him and his brother, shout out to them.
27:49They're shooting the ball well and they're playing defense. And that's something that we're
27:52struggling with. So he's a guy that I would definitely consider because I don't think that
27:57they would be asking much for him. And to flip a guy who's not doing much for us now,
28:02to get a guy who could come in and immediately impact the team, I wouldn't hesitate to do that.
28:07All right. Justin Champagny. Okay. So three for three. I gave you three players. You would go
28:11for them. If we get all three, I don't know. If they could pull that off, Brittany, that would be
28:17a whole revamping of the bench that I wouldn't have seen coming. That'd be a whole way. Hey,
28:22I think if you think you're two pieces, you know, can they get a backup guard? Again,
28:27this all depends how they feel about Kolek and you definitely brought it up. Kolek had a good
28:32stretch. He has not been good in about the last two and a half, three weeks. He's, you know,
28:36maybe had one really good game in that. So we'll see how they feel about that. I think that's where
28:41they want to upgrade. And can they get somebody that can play the role they thought they would
28:45get out of Yabusele, which has not, it just hasn't worked out. We can call it what it is. It hasn't
28:49worked out for the Knicks. All right. A couple more things for you. If we just look strictly internally,
28:54Brittany, so no trades. What's the single biggest adjustment that you believe could stabilize this
29:01team right now with everything they've been going through this midseason swoon? What's the single
29:05biggest adjustment internally that can help this team right now? Well, first, I wish life was a
29:11little bit like 2K where I could turn the injury sliders off. Because that'd be my main thing. I'd love
29:16for everybody to just be simply healthy. But without trades, realistic speaking, honestly, I would say
29:21they would have to be a voice. We can't have guys who pick and choose when they decide to say
29:27anything. Again, I'm a huge Mikkel Bridges fan, as many know. But there was a time period where he
29:31was vocal. And I'm not seeing how he isn't now. This is a time where you need to be. You can't pick
29:35and choose. I think that that's the locker room has to change the attitude. We discussed this
29:40yesterday on KLT. When you're not held accountable, the bad habits are going to keep rolling. And I don't
29:45think that anybody is holding anybody accountable. We're quick to say, it's Carl Towns, get him out
29:50of here. And if he leaves, if somebody comes right in, the problems are immediately going to be fixed.
29:54That's not how it works. In order to win a championship, you need a team. And it's going
29:58to take more than one or two guys to be moved, let alone brought in. So I'm glad that you stated
30:02roster changes. If it didn't happen, what can it be? It has to be each and every player holding
30:09themselves accountable. What can I do better individually for this team? And if I think everybody
30:13does that, we could start to win some games again. Because despite, yes, Jalen Brunson being
30:21out, Josh Hart being out, I don't think this is one of the worst teams in the NBA with still
30:26the roster that we have. We still have a Carl Anthony Towns, who's still an all-star despite
30:30the play. We still have two guys who play both ends of the court in McKell and OG. How are
30:37we still losing games like this is a little bit questionable. And I think a lot of it, we keep
30:41keep using the word, is toughness. Shout out to the alums that we came across. By the way,
30:46I was embarrassed that we lost in front of them yesterday. But shout out to them. But
30:50why do we love those guys? They were tough. They were gritty. Even though a lot of those
30:55records that we saw, those guys were losing records. They were tough and they were gritty.
31:00And they were guys that despite how the record may have went, how the games would go, they
31:04left a heart on the court. And I have yet to see that this season. So I think there has
31:08to be a time where this team realizes, what is it going to take? And the difference between
31:13contenders and playoff teams, because right now we're just a playoff team. We're not contenders
31:16anymore. But I wouldn't count us out and say, we're not a playoff team. We're still a playoff
31:20team. But the difference between contenders and playoff team, yes, you need talent. Yes,
31:25you need a star. Yes, you need good coaching. But you need to have the will to win. If you see
31:30a lot of those Laker teams where people question, how did Kobe Bryant win with this team? When
31:34you see a lot of that, when you see that Cavs team where you question, how would LeBron
31:37win with that team? They won because they had a leader who was vocal and held their team
31:43accountable with guys around them who had the will and the want to win. And I don't see
31:48that right now. So I think the biggest thing is just having these players dig deep, deep,
31:53very deep, and ask themselves, what can I do better? And it also has to start with Mike
31:58Brown with not being so nice in these post-game interviews. Just being straight raw like we're
32:05being here. You got to just say, we suck right now. I need to do better. You, you, you, and
32:11you need to do better. Again, being a mom, unless I hold my kids accountable, they're going to
32:16run a mock-up in here. But as soon as I tell them this, that, that, all of a sudden, they're
32:20stiff. They're like soldiers. They know what to do. So I think that that's the biggest thing.
32:24We need to just hold someone more accountable and stop being such nice guys.
32:27All right. I like the A word there. Accountability. Needs some accountability. No, I'm with you
32:33on that. And I think one of the things I liked about your answer there is you put so much
32:36of the focus on the players. I always like to say players have agency, right? They're
32:40the ones that have, that got to go out in the court. They have to execute. They have
32:44to do all this. This has to happen. Now, Brittany, last thing, because you said something
32:48really interesting there in your answer. You said, we are no longer contenders.
32:53Contenders. Playoff team, no longer contenders. I don't think you would have said that after
32:59the Knicks won the NBA Cup. That feels like 20 years ago, even though it was a little over
33:04a month ago, right? But despite the doom and gloom, and I know you are not hitting the panic
33:09button, so I'm not talking directly to you, but I will ask you this. The doom and gloom that's
33:13around this team this month, do you still believe that the Knicks, even though you don't
33:18have them in contender status, can get to the NBA Finals this season? Are you still
33:22a believer? Put me on the spot there. But if I had to answer honestly, I have to see
33:32this team at full health. I have to see Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart back in order to say
33:36absolutely. I'm still on the fence about it, but I don't want to contradict myself because
33:43again, I believe at full health, there is not a team in the East that can beat us in
33:47seven games. I do not believe that. And that's what we need. We need to get past three East
33:52teams. I'm not worried about the West right now. We have to get past three East teams to
33:55get to that point. And I don't believe there is a single team, despite how well they have
34:00been playing, that can beat us in seven games with a healthy Jalen Brunson, a healthy heart,
34:04shaman and miles fully at health. I don't believe so. So until I see that, I'm on the fence a little
34:12bit, but I believe that as full health, I'm sticking with it. That is my word. I do not
34:18believe that there is a team in the East that could beat us in seven games, fully healthy
34:21changes are all certain. All right. There you go. Brittany saying it with her chest, but needs
34:26to see some more needs to see the Knicks a little bit healthy. Look, it's been a rough month for the
34:30Knicks. I'm glad you're not pushing the panic button. A lot of people out there are some people
34:34are going to watch and say, Brittany wasn't mad enough. I need to see her. I need to see her
34:39push the panic button. It's a long season. You know what the Pacers made it to the finals
34:44last year. Do you know what their record was after 41 games last year? Exactly. It was
34:49good. Remind them. Remind them. It was 22 and 19. 22 and 19, Brittany, after 41 games last
34:55year, and they made it to NBA finals. All I'm saying is I'm not saying you shouldn't be
34:59concerned. I'm not saying you shouldn't feel some kind of way. Not what I'm saying. I'm just
35:04saying it's a long season. Got to let some things play out. Is this a good stretch?
35:09For the Knicks? Absolutely not. Brittany's not panicking. I'm not going to panic. Please,
35:14everybody, go follow Brittany. Check her out on the Knick of Time show with the great
35:18K.O.T. crew. Shout out to the K.O.T. crew. Brittany, I appreciate you coming through the
35:23first time here on New York Got Game. I'm definitely going to have to have you back. You got to come
35:27back again and do it again. I appreciate you so much. Yes, when we get on this winning streak,
35:32you definitely got to bring it back so I can say, told you so, told you so. You know what?
35:35You're right about that, too. Got to bring you back when the vibes are good. Can't always have you
35:38when the vibes are bad. Got to have you back on the show when the vibes are good. But thank you,
35:42sister. I appreciate you so much. We'll do it again, okay? Thank you so much. Have a good day.
35:48So the Knicks struggles that we talked about sparked a lot of noise around this team,
35:52right? From questions about coaching to concerns about toughness to real doubts about their defensive
35:58identity. All fair questions. But narratives don't win or lose games. The film does. So what does
36:04the tape actually say about what's going wrong right now with the Knickerbockers? So we're going
36:09to try to cut through the discourse and break this down possession by possession, or at least somewhat,
36:13not exactly that, but somewhat like that. So to do that, I'll be joined by Benjamin Ritholtz of
36:17Knicks Film School, one of my favorites to talk basketball with, especially the Knicks. Benji,
36:22what's going on, man? How you doing? I'm doing great, Dex. It's very exciting for me to get on and talk
36:27with you. I feel like we think the game in a similar way. It's always a pleasure to hang out and talk some hoops.
36:32No, we do. I feel like we're guys who don't jump out the window. We try to be a little even keeled.
36:37We try to do that. But Benji, I saw this after the Suns lost. I saw this a lot of talk on social
36:45media. And I'm not saying that's the best place to get your information, but this is where the fans
36:49are. And so there's a growing notion around this team that Mike Brown is getting outcoached night
36:55to night. When you watch the films, closely somebody like you who does that, do you see schematic
37:00issues with Mike Brown and his coaching, or is that narrative overstated in your eyes?
37:07I wouldn't say he's getting outcoached night to night. I think there are fair criticisms to
37:13Levy at Brown. I think most specifically is his, you know, whether he's instilled any real defensive
37:20identity in this team, I think is a fair question to ask. Whether the scheme has worked is a fair
37:27question to ask because, you know, the one thing that he's really done since he came in
37:31here was focus on shifting and playing extra help in the gaps and taking away driving lanes.
37:36And what that's really resulted in is just consistently poor three-point defense. This
37:41team gives up a ton of threes and they have all year and they give up a really good, a really
37:46high accuracy of threes from the opponent. So that has put them in a bind defensively and
37:50it's probably the main reason that they haven't really reached the average league average
37:55defensively. And that has continued to slip over the last few weeks. So, you know, I think
37:59he's a good coach. He's done, he's done a lot of things well. I think the offense has evolved
38:03and is a good modern offense. I think they needed that on this team, but I think the defensive
38:07questions are fair. And I think in terms of the schematics, at least, I think that's the
38:13largest and the fairest criticism you could, you could put on Brown.
38:15Yeah. See, I think that's fair. And I guess a follow-up to that, Benji, is if you want
38:20to criticize the defense, which does not look good, we can just call it what it is. It
38:24looks terrible, right? It's well below league average now. It's been ranked 29th in defensive
38:28rating in the month of January. Do you think Brown will be willing to change his schemes?
38:34Is this time for him to change his defensive schemes? Or is he riding this and saying, this
38:39is more in the personnel that I have that maybe doesn't, well, now I'm thinking about
38:42it, doesn't either fit the scheme, so maybe he has to change it. Or is it
38:45just the personnel issue? How do you view that? Do you think Brown should change schemes
38:49a little bit here in terms of defense?
38:52Yeah, I think he's got to adjust a little bit. I think he probably has to get a little
38:55more switchable. I think he's got to let Towns switch a little bit more and stay out
38:59of his drop coverage. And I think he needs to relax the rules in terms of their defensive
39:05shifts. And what I mean by that is, like, any time a guy's handling the ball, even if the
39:11defender on him, before they're in any closeouts, before they're, he has both guys on both sides
39:15shifting into elbows and boxes, which leaves the three-point line very vulnerable. And
39:20the second there's a drive, he's having guys collapse in, and they're strong side corner
39:24shooters, good shooters. They're leaving Grayson Allen in the corner to handle a Ryan Dunn
39:28drive on McHale Bridges. It just doesn't make any sense. So the emphasis on protecting the
39:33rim is nice in theory. But what it's giving up in terms of three-point line is just really
39:39it's making it very hard for the Knicks to get to string together stops and to stay, you
39:44know, within a game, those threes can just be backbreaking. We've seen so many quarters
39:49where a team comes out and makes five out of six threes. And that's kind of where the
39:51game is won or lost. So I think the Knicks need to switch schemes a little bit, be a little
39:55more flexible around the shifts. And look, they've tried to mix in zone. I think they
40:00can mix in more of it. It hasn't been very good, frankly. And I think they could work
40:04on the zone to make it better. But, you know, a combination of all of those things, to tweak
40:09things a little bit, I think would go a long way.
40:11Yeah, it would go a long way. And that's a great point. You mentioned about the threes
40:13being the backbreaker. We saw that on Saturday night against the Suns. The Knicks had a 16-0
40:18run in the third quarter. But then what got the Suns back in it to take the lead before
40:21the end of the third? Three-pointers. They gave up a bunch of threes in a row. And you saw
40:24that three-point defense was not good at all. So another narrative around this team, and
40:29I'm sure you've seen this too, Benji, across social media, is that this Knicks team is soft.
40:35So what, if anything, that you've seen shows up on film that could actually feed into that
40:42perception? You know, and do you believe the Knicks are a soft team?
40:48That's a pretty, it's an aggressive word, soft. I don't think they're a soft team. And I always
40:53go back to not so long ago, when the Knicks defeated the Heat. And I think the best coach
41:00of the modern era, probably, and Eric Spolstra, got up in a post-game conference and said,
41:06this team, like, just has an incredible will to win. He went on for about three minutes about
41:12how this Knicks team, you just have to put them away, or they're coming back, and they're
41:15coming back, and they're relentlessly always trying to win. That hasn't disappeared in the
41:21last two weeks. I don't believe it has. I don't believe this team is soft in that way. They
41:25are, they have a tremendous competitive spirit. I, that, that, I won't go that far. I will,
41:31I think when fans are talking about that, and where I think there's a little bit of a fair
41:36critique of the team's kind of ethos, is they're not a very physical team.
41:41And I, when I say that, I mean, at the point of attack defensively, they're not physical at all.
41:47And, and increasingly in this league, we're seeing teams that just, they basically unleash like two
41:52or three perimeter dogs on defense that'll just hound you up the court. The Knicks just don't
41:57have that. I mean, Deuce McBride is the closest thing they have. And Bridges and Ananobi, as talented
42:02defensively as they are, that's not really the type of defense they play. They're more passing lane
42:06kind of, kind of thieves and they get it. And then they can disrupt things that way. But in terms of
42:11like aggressive physical on ball defense, McBride is the closest thing they have. And they don't
42:16really have much after that. I think that's one thing. That's a real fair critique. The second thing
42:20is, I don't want to focus on one player, but I think it's fair to criticize Mikael Bridges for
42:26frankly, just never initiating contact, especially on offense. And this is a player who, you know,
42:31I want to talk about everything they gave up for him, but he'll go literal 10 game stretches of
42:35shooting zero to two or three free throws. And for a guy who's six, eight with the arms that he
42:40has, it's just inexcusable that he never gets to the line. He's just not a guy who's, who's,
42:45who's willing right now to go up to the rim strong and force contact. And the Knicks,
42:50especially when Jalen Brunson sits, they need someone to get into the paint and make plays out
42:54of there. And Bridges just isn't willing. I don't, I think he's able, I just don't think he's really
42:59willing stylistically at this point in his career, for whatever reason to mix it up down there.
43:04And I do think that's a fair criticism. Yeah. And I think both the things you mentioned,
43:07I think the Bridges point is a problem. I've been critical of it since last year. I thought he was
43:12doing a bit better job in the beginning of the season. Yeah, he was right. Benji, I did. I
43:17went watching the film. The free throw rate was much higher in the first 10, 12, because I'm
43:22monitoring it just like you Dex, because it was something that stood out so much. And by the way,
43:25in the playoffs, he amped it up a little bit too. And I, I think there's, there's a calculation.
43:29This is a guy who plays every night, literally plays every night and he plays big minutes.
43:35And I do think there's some calculation in his head about how he wants to play to kind of sustain
43:39and maintain his health, which is fair, but there needs to be a little bit more of a balance. Like
43:44he, he has to be able to amp it up in certain situations when the Knicks clearly need it.
43:48And I just, yeah, he's kind of gone back. He's reverted now to this very, um, it's smooth. And
43:54he's like, he's had some big games. Now he's not playing well. He's actually having a very
43:57nice year. It's just like that part of the game, I think is, is a problem for this team right now.
44:02I agree. Not getting to the line, fading away in a lot of shots, even when he gets deep into the
44:06paint, uh, is, is a little bit frustrating. The other point I just wanted to mention,
44:10I thought it was a good one by you. And I think fans should note this. I would like us to evolve
44:15in our basketball discussions. There's a difference between not being physical and being soft. I do not
44:21generally like to call NBA players soft. I do not like to do that to athletes, especially when I haven't
44:25played the game, at least on that level, right? Physicality, something I could see if it's not
44:29being brought, not going to call guys soft. Yeah. And I mean, this team to be, to me, this team has
44:35proven this core has proven too much already in terms of the competitive spirit to win. And they've
44:40pulled out some amazing games and even series. Yep. Um, and, and to say that there's a soft, right?
44:46No, it's the same team. And you don't do that when you don't beat the Boston Celtics as a soft
44:50team. You just don't, it was, it's, it's not, I don't think that's the right word for it. But
44:55you know, as we talked about there, I think there are fair points to make, you know, in respect to
44:59their physicality on a night to night basis. I want to get back to the defense real quick
45:02here, Benji, because when you're looking at film and I was doing this a couple of weeks
45:07ago with my guy, Brian Fonseca, where you, where does the film point to in terms of, you
45:12know, defense is the point of attack defense, which you just mentioned that the Knicks don't
45:15have a lot of players that can do that, except for maybe Deuce McBride. And he, we know he's
45:19undersized at six to, is it rotations? Is it communication? Is it overall effort? As
45:24some fans have critiqued, is it a combination of all where does the, what, when you're looking
45:29at the film, what does the point to first is, Hey, these are the issues on defense.
45:33I think, I mean, it is definitely a combination of all those things and it always is. Right.
45:37But if I point to a couple of things, one is I still don't feel like the Knicks know what
45:43they're doing on every screen and roll, um, defensively. And I don't think they're
45:47communicating properly. And it's especially true when Carl Anthony Towns is involved in the action
45:51and that goes back to last year. And because it goes back to last year, um, my sense is that it's
45:56not a coaching thing as much as it's a Carl Anthony Towns thing. So I actually think Kat's had a pretty
46:01good year defensively in some ways. He's done some really good things. Obviously the defensive
46:05rebounding is spectacular and should not be over, over under rated. Like it's an important part of
46:10defense to get the board, but on a night to night basis, I don't think the Knicks know what
46:15Carl Anthony Towns is doing on a pick and roll and teams attack him in that action. And I think
46:19the communication just needs to be a lot better. There's still three, four, five instances every
46:23game where the point of attack defender is looking at Towns, like, where were you? What happened?
46:28And that, you know, that, that, that comes out to a lot of points per game and they need to,
46:31they need to fix that somehow. Uh, and the other thing I'd point to is I think they're,
46:36they're just a rotation short a lot. Um, and even when they're scrambling and you could point
46:42to a bunch of instances in the Phoenix game and it's like, they'll get to one rotation,
46:46we'll get to two rotations and then one more swing to the corner and there's just nobody.
46:50And I, I, you can call that effort. You can call that, um, also communication, like in terms of who
46:56is the guy that's supposed to be rotating. And sometimes there's confusion there, but they need
47:00to be able to close possessions. And especially now in the NBA, that's 24 seconds. You have to be
47:05locked in and able to finish a possession with the last rotation and close out and then a rebound.
47:10And I think even the rebound is kind of, kind of fallen off a little bit over the last two weeks,
47:14which is something they excelled at early. They're not really finishing defensive possession. So I
47:17point to the communication and pick and roll and then finishing possessions with the last rotation
47:21and a rebound. Makes have to clean that up. Got to get better. We talked about the defense not
47:25good this month here in January. Now, Benji, I know you like to talk about this too. I know you guys
47:31talk about a Knicks film school. I talk about the same players have agency, something I like to say.
47:37They are not robots out there on the court. But when you look at this team, are you seeing
47:42consistent defensive breakdowns that look coaching related? Or are these more player execution
47:49failures? Because I think there's been a, at least somewhat of a talk to say, okay, we're going to
47:54blame everything that's going on defense to coach Brown. And I'm not saying he's blameless,
47:58not the point I'm making here, but do you look at it more when you watch the film that,
48:03hey, this is more on the players. They've got to clean this up. Some of it is scheme as we talked
48:07about earlier, but is this more on the players here? Yeah. We talked about the schematic part
48:11already. And, but of course there's, there's plenty of breakdowns on, on the personnel side of
48:16things. And it starts with, and this shouldn't, this shouldn't go unnoticed either. They have their
48:23best two offensive players are, are sub average defenders to bad defenders. And that already starts
48:30with the challenge. And I thought Tibbs got unfairly criticized at times for the defense
48:33when you're just, it's going to be hard to build a great defense when Brunson is playing 35 and
48:38Towns is playing 35. It's hard. Those two guys are going to struggle at times. Brunson's had a
48:43really particularly bad defensive year this year. And teams are finding even more creative ways to
48:49hunt him. As offenses evolve in this league, it gets even harder to hide Brunson because it used to
48:54be that you could hide him on a corner shooter who just stood there. Teams don't just hide a corner
48:58shooter anymore and just keep them there. They're, they're screening actions. They're moving side to
49:02side. They're crisscrossing. Like offenses have evolved to the point where it is hard to hide a
49:07bad defender. And I think Brunson's really struggled to navigate all those actions this season. So it
49:12does start just with like, you have some personnel issues that no coach could just fix. Now we talked
49:18about what Brown could maybe do a little bit better to switch up some schemes, to take away some
49:24three-pointers. I think that stuff is true. And then I, you know, I don't think Bridges and
49:28Adenobe have been consistently great defensively over this stretch. I thought Adenobe started the
49:32year exceptionally well. They're obviously asking so much of these two guys to cover up a lot of the,
49:37of the weak points we just discussed. And it's not an easy job, but they need OG to be all of that.
49:43And there have been some times recently where he hasn't gotten back on defense. You know,
49:46we've talked about, you know, a lot of people have talked about Towns complaining about getting back
49:49and not getting back. OG's had several instances over the last three games where he hasn't gotten
49:53back on D after complaining about a call. He's got to be a defense first guy for this team. He has to
49:58embrace that role and be there every single night, you know, in the Pistons game, Cade Cunningham took
50:03it to him one-on-one, no screens, no switches. Can't, he can't have that. Like OG needs to be that guy
50:09on the defensive end who can take away a best player on the floor. So schematic issues we talked
50:14about, personnel issues we talked about, and then even your defenders who are not personnel issues,
50:18they need to be better on a night-to-night basis and embrace being the defensive stoppers
50:22they can be. Everybody's got to be better for the Knicks to get to where they want to be
50:26defensively. Last thing for me here, Benji, I'm going to base this purely on the film,
50:30not narrative. We'll take you stripping that away, just purely on the film. Does this look like a team
50:35that can be fixed internally or one that needs outside help to change the trajectory right now?
50:42I think they're going to, we just thought, I think they're going to be fine. Like, I know this stretch
50:47has been like particularly horrifying for fans, fairly. This is not something we've dealt with.
50:54And look, when the coaching change was made, Dex, the eye of the front office was not on the
51:01regular season. Like, the idea was we're investing in a bit more of an open coach. James Dolan just
51:07said in an interview, a bit more collaborative coach who will take the regular season a little bit
51:13less like life and death and try to experiment a little bit and plan for the playoffs.
51:18And some of this is just the cost of that change. And the fan base has to kind of recognize this was
51:23built into this change. Like, Tibbs, for all the criticism he got, was going to squeeze every win
51:30out of a roster in the regular season. And the choice of an office actually made was we don't want to do
51:35that anymore. And so we're experimenting a little bit. And we're resting guys who might have played
51:39under Tibbs when they have a tweaked ankle. And we're playing younger guys minutes who aren't
51:43always successful just to see what they have and see if they can be a piece later on. Like,
51:48these are all things that are going to cost you some regular season wins. And we've definitely
51:51seen some of that. And they're going to play less minutes. The best players are going to play less
51:54minutes, which also impacts winning. And this is all part of a larger plan. Now, it can't all fall
52:00apart. I think the brown cat relationship, there's clearly something going on there that needs to be
52:05fixed. Like, that's a real thing that needs to be fixed. But if they can iron that part out,
52:08I have a lot of confidence in this infrastructure and this team there. They have a lot of talent.
52:13I like the way the offense is played all year long. I still think there's places to grow there.
52:17But it's a good or an excellent, not just a good, an excellent offense. You got to get healthy.
52:21Brunson's got to come back. I think this team, just as built right now, is still a top three team
52:27in the East and can go to the finals. I believe that strongly, even with this stretch. Can they add a
52:32piece at the deadline that can help? Absolutely. Yabaselli's been a big disappointment. If you can
52:36somehow replace his minutes with somebody who can give you some positive bench play,
52:40sure. But even if they don't, I think this team's going to come out of this. I have a lot of
52:45confidence. Hopefully, it doesn't take until the All-Star break to get some rest and refresh.
52:50I think they can get going here. The schedule's going to lighten up a little bit. I still have
52:53a lot of confidence in this team.
52:54I do too, Benji. Sky's not falling. Teams go through bad stretches. It happens. It's a long
53:02season. It's a long season. Are there critiques like we've done here in this conversation? Sure,
53:08there are. But it's a long season. We'll see how the Knicks do through the rest of the season.
53:12Like you said, hopefully they get out of this funk sooner rather than later. That is Benjamin
53:16Ritholtz. Check him out. Knicks Film School does a fantastic job breaking down film, always
53:21bringing some good perspective and nuance. Benji, I appreciate you, man. Thanks for joining
53:25me here on New York Out Game.
53:28Thank you, Dex. Thanks for having me. Let's do it again after a 10-2 run. What do you say?
53:31Yeah, you know, T, this is what I was saying with my last guest, Brittany, as well, too.
53:35Got to make sure I get you back when things are good. We got to talk when things are going
53:38well, not just when it's, you know, 2-8. We got to do it through that time. I got you.
53:42Next time, I'll get you when the vibes are good. I got you, my friend. Thank you.
53:46Always a pleasure. Looking forward to it, man.
53:47Well, we know it's been a rough month for the Knicks, but now a new week starts and they
53:53get things really quickly going on Monday when they will host the Mavericks at the Garden
53:58on MLK Day. Then they've got the Nets at the Garden on Wednesday, then traveling down I-95
54:03to battle the Sixers on Saturday. So, feels like it should be a pretty big week for the Knicks.
54:10Look, you don't want to make too much of a week or any games or must-wins or anything of
54:15that nature. It's January. Like I said, it's a long season, but the Knicks do need to get
54:21right. They do need to get healthy. I'm with the agreement of my two guests today that said
54:25they think they will turn things around. I think they will. There's no reason to jump
54:29out the window. I think this is a time where sometimes we have to pump the brakes. It's
54:33a time easily to place blame and, you know, run to words like, hey, the coach is getting
54:39out-coached here and different stuff. Do things need to change? Yes. Do we hope the change comes
54:45and comes soon? Yes, too. But definitely don't have to jump out the window. This is a talented
54:51team. There's a good team in there. I understand the vibes were good a month ago coming off the
54:56NBA Cup, but this team didn't just forget overnight how to become a good team. Now, things are long
55:03seasons. Have I seen teams collapse before? Yeah. Mets fans who watch the show, you know what it was
55:09like in 2025. Things started good and then it wasn't, right? We've seen that happen before, too.
55:13But I think this team is a basketball team to fight the togetherness we saw during and before that NBA
55:19Cup run. That's still there. And I don't think that's going away anytime soon. The key with the
55:25Knicks, I think, is always going to be, will they be healthy? Will they be playing their best
55:30basketball come the spring? That is the key. That's when this team is going to be judged.
55:35That's what Mike Brown is going to be judged. And then we'll also see what kind of changes they make
55:39over the next couple of weeks as we approach the trade deadline. But there's a lot to talk about
55:44and there's a lot to question, whether it's players like Carlton Towns, like Mikel Bridges,
55:49you know, talking about the coaching. I understand why all the questions are there. We'll continue to
55:52talk about it here on New York Got Game. But I do think it's fair to have the conversations where we can
55:57look at things with context. Try to put things in perspective a bit before we all hit that panic
56:04button. No need to do that just yet. Special thanks to my guests, Brittany Rosas of the Knick
56:09of Time Show, Benji Ritholtz of Knicks Film School. Appreciate both of them for hopping on.
56:15We will have more coming your way this week. We'll have another episode later in this week.
56:20Found the Knicks. I will be at the next couple of games at the Garden. Those should be fun.
56:24We should have some reaction after the Sixers game on Saturday. So big week in terms of Knicks
56:29content. Please stay tuned to us here at New York Got Game. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe
56:34button on the New York Post Sports YouTube channel. Appreciate everybody involved working with the
56:39show. Producer Erica Block, editor Eddie Guerrero, production assistants Tommy Cohen, Jessica Thiessen,
56:46and the crew. Appreciate everybody for working on the show. That's going to do it for this edition
56:51of New York Got Game. We'll catch you next time. Enjoy the Knicks.
56:56And thanks for watching New York Got Game. Boop shakalaka.