00:00Jose Alvarado has a chance to become the Garden's next beloved native son.
00:04That's the headline to our New York Post sports columnist, Mike Vaccaro's recent column.
00:09Alvarado is Brooklyn's very own and makes his Knicks debut at MSG tonight.
00:14Mike joins us.
00:15Mike, you took us to school.
00:17You went old school with the column.
00:19I appreciate it.
00:21I learned a lot.
00:22So let's get straight up into this.
00:24Brooklyn native Carl Braun was the first New York native to play for the Knicks.
00:29There have been many others across the years.
00:32Stephon Marbury, Bernard King, Richie Guerin.
00:35The list goes on and on.
00:36So who are some of your most memorable homegrown Knicks?
00:41Well, my most memorable one was Bernard King because he's the guy that I grew up with when I was in high school and was going to a lot of Knicks games.
00:48I mean, he was from Fort Hamilton High School and he was here ever so briefly.
00:53But when he was here, he was ever been as good a player in the NBA as there was.
00:58And that was a time that included, you know, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and Julius Irving.
01:02So he's the guy that I always think about.
01:06But there are so many others.
01:08Richie Guerin is one of the great Knicks of all time, too.
01:11Him and Bernard probably both deserve to have their banners up at the Garden.
01:15Hopefully that would happen at some point.
01:17I think the one that people probably the most popular of all was Anthony Mason, you know, from Springfield Gardens.
01:23And, you know, he became an essential member of some beloved Knicks teams in the 90s.
01:28And people loved him not only for his talent, but also for his grit and his toughness.
01:34And I think that's also a part of what makes Alvarado such a potentially popular player for Knicks fans, New Yorkers, and really anybody who likes basketball.
01:44But he's one of ours.
01:45So we'll just keep him in the New York basketball family.
01:47So you think it's every New York City-born Hooper's dream to play for the Knicks?
01:53Because I grew up in Virginia, and I didn't root for it, nor did I want to play for the Commanders growing up.
01:57Sure.
01:59Well, I think it's as much the Garden as it is the Knicks because of the venue and because of just how important that is.
02:08You see players from other teams who make a point of getting extra healthy when they're playing the Knicks in the Garden, especially if they only come in one time a year.
02:16It matters a lot to basketball players.
02:17The Garden does.
02:19I do think that for certain â look, I mean, I think the guys who grew up Knicks fans, obviously it's a huge thing if you become a Knicks fan.
02:25Once you become a pro, you're less â I think you're less important about those kind of things.
02:30You know, you play for who you play for and who will pay you.
02:33But, yeah, I do think there's a certain element, you know, and it's been that way, you know, really going back to the beginning.
02:41You know, Carl Braun didn't grow up a Knicks fan only because there wasn't a Knicks team when he grew up.
02:46But, you know, from there, I just bet everybody else has talked about, you know, how important being a Knick was because they came from the city,
02:54whether it was Dean Memminger, whether it was Stephon Marbury, you know, any of these guys.
02:58There's a lot of pressure to play in this city.
03:01So, do the homegrown players get special treatment when they do play for the franchise, or do they get even more pressure added to them?
03:11It's like, what if some of the guys told you about their playing experience here?
03:16Yeah, well, Dean Memminger, and I talked about this in the column also, Brandon, I mean, he was â he went to Brother Rice High School.
03:21I mean, he was New York through and through.
03:23Played a lot of college games in the Garden when he was at Marquette.
03:26And he really was a very impactful player with the Knicks early in his career.
03:31But he talked about how, you know, when times are good, it feels like you literally know everybody in the garden by name who's chanting your name.
03:37But when times are bad, you know, it's almost like with anything else.
03:40You know, people like to distance themselves from somebody who's not the hottest guy in the room.
03:45And that didn't help his performance, he didn't think.
03:48So, it is a double-edged sword.
03:50But I think mostly people want to try and embrace it, and they want to try and maximize it.
03:55All right, let's get back to Alvarado.
03:56We only have a one-game sample size with him in a Knicks uniform.
04:00But, I mean, his debut against the Celtics, everybody can agree, it was nothing short of impressive.
04:07What stands out to you most about this kid?
04:10Like, does he play with the New York style of basketball?
04:15There's no question about that part of it.
04:17Look, I mean, he played well the other day, but I think what people really were taken by right away, and they should have been, was his feistiness.
04:23And the fact that, look, I mean, he tossed up an air ball, and the Celtics bench started to get on him.
04:28And his very next time down the floor, he stripped Jalen Brown clean and got a layup out of it.
04:32And, you know, that's kind of what it's all about, isn't it?
04:35I mean, there's a little bit of swagger to the New York basketball way of life.
04:39There's a little bit of trash talk involved.
04:41There's also a lot of deliverance.
04:43And that's what we got out of Alvarado's first game for sure.
04:46And, look, I mean, if he can channel that for the next 30 games and into the playoffs, I think you're going to have the makings of a really nice story here.
04:55Well, he's not Jalen Brunson.
04:57It's not like they traded for him to be, like, the guy.
05:01He is a guy.
05:02Do you think there's too much hype surrounding him?
05:06No, because, look, I mean, he comes in here clearly as a backup.
05:09I mean, he's, you know, if there is a stretch of games where he's playing 35 or 40 minutes a game, it's because something went wrong.
05:16He's a guy that you can rely on.
05:19You know, for the most part, what you want is a guy that you don't have to worry about the 12 or 13 minutes a game that Brunson's not playing, you know, due to his regular rest.
05:26And certainly you can feel that way about him just one game in.
05:29And it's clear he's going to be equal to that task.
05:32But there will be times when he's playing with Brunson, too.
05:34I think Mike Brown wants to play him about 22 minutes a game.
05:37And, you know what, if he can give you 22 solid minutes every night, that's just going to make things better for the Knicks.
05:42He makes them better defensively.
05:43He makes them better in terms of getting the ball sprayed around, which is a popular phrase for Mike Brown.
05:49He likes to spray the ball.
05:51Really, he's exactly what they needed.
05:52I mean, you know, if you could have asked me what the dream list was before the deadline, I would have said a backup point guard.
05:58And maybe another big.
06:00And, you know, they didn't get the other big.
06:02But I think this was the more important addition because it really does allow the Knicks to play a lot more like how they want to play.
06:09And Alvarado is responsible for that so far.
06:11And you're right.
06:12I mean, you know, it's silly to get carried away one game into it.
06:15But that was about as impressive as an opening act as you could ask from any player, but especially one from New York who wants to display what he's all about.
06:23And I think we saw that the other night.
06:25So when he checks into the game for the first time tonight, what's the energy going to be like at the guard?
06:32I think it's going to be an overwhelming ovation because you know what?
06:37You don't get a lot of guys who just show up at the Knicks games without knowing about what's going on.
06:41They know who Jose Alvarado is.
06:44They know where he came from.
06:45They know where he grew up.
06:48They know who he is.
06:49And they're going to greet him appropriately.
06:51Look, it's not going to be Patrick Ewing coming back to the garden for the first time, okay?
06:55But it's going to be a pretty loud, rousing ovation, I would imagine, because that's just the way New York basketball fans are.
07:01Mike, great column.
07:03Thanks for joining us today.
07:05Thanks, Brandon.
07:05Great talking to you.
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