00:00The trade deadline, the all-star break, that's in the books.
00:03It's last week's news.
00:04Now we get to the fun.
00:06The Knicks stretch run begins tonight against the Pistons at the Garden.
00:10So let's talk Knicks after the break with Alex Jotaros, the Knicks Fan TV.
00:14Alex, what's going on, my man?
00:16We took a well-needed break.
00:17Everybody's back from Cancun.
00:19Everybody's healthy.
00:21Let's get straight into this thing because the Knicks are sitting at 35-20 after the break
00:26with the East, number one seed, the Detroit Pistons coming to take over the Garden again tonight.
00:31I need you to fill in the blank on this one.
00:33If the Knicks haven't changed blank, then they're going to get run out of the gym again, and why?
00:42If the Knicks haven't changed defensively, they're going to get run out of the gym
00:46because, well, this Pistons team is just physical.
00:49With Cade Cunningham leading the way, you know he's able to get into the middle of the paint
00:53and then spray out to his shooters and just continue to back down guys.
00:57I mean, we saw what he did against Mikael Bridges.
00:59He's just able to score anywhere he wants on the floor.
01:01But even in all the matchups, Brandon, it was just his ability to get into the paint
01:06and find his guys on the perimeter and just cause chaos.
01:09And so while they're shuffling around the defense, you know, because of Cade's ability
01:13just to attack so well, it's going to cause a frenzy for the Knicks.
01:16So they got to stay, you know, in position, guard the perimeter, and protect the paint
01:21and make sure that Cade doesn't get to his spots and give him some resistance.
01:24So since the Pistons have pretty much BTA'd the Knicks pretty much all throughout the season
01:29and they run the East right now, is this a must-win game for the vibes and standings
01:35or is it a statement game?
01:38That's a good question.
01:39You know, I think it's not necessarily a must-win game.
01:42I mean, I would just like to see this team just be competitive in these matches, Brandon.
01:47I mean, as you mentioned, they got BTA'd the last two games.
01:50And I would just like to see some fight.
01:52Now, I think from a gamesmanship standpoint, you don't want to show everything.
01:57I mean, both these teams haven't been completely healthy when they've matched up.
02:01We haven't seen Duren for the Detroit Pistons.
02:03We didn't have Josh Hart in the first matchup.
02:05We didn't have OG and Kat in the second matchup.
02:07But I still think that both of these teams are just trying to, you know, have something
02:11tucked away.
02:12So I don't think we're going to get a full, you know, idea of what a potential Knicks-Piston
02:16series could look like.
02:18However, I do want to see this team be competitive.
02:21Now, of course, winning would just raise the amp, just amp everybody up in the Knicks fan
02:25base.
02:26I want to see them win, but I want to see them compete more than anything else to see
02:31that there's not that wide of a gap between the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons.
02:35Yeah, I think people should know.
02:36If you don't know this right now, the Pistons are six games above the Knicks in the Eastern
02:40Conference.
02:41And the point differentials of 31 and 38 are the two largest losses for the Knicks this
02:47season.
02:47They actually, they only scored 90 and 80 points in those two games.
02:52Those are the lowest in the season.
02:53So this is, I must win and statement win, all of it.
02:57All I do is win, win, win, whatever type of win they can get.
03:01They just need that tonight, especially at the Garden.
03:04Let's talk about a move that they made before the break.
03:07They had added 22-year-old, 6'8", 4'0", Jeremy Sohan before the break.
03:11He's a former starter for the Spurs, brings defense to this team.
03:15He's had, what, almost a week to kind of get caught up to speed.
03:19So what do you think his minutes and his role is going to look like?
03:22And do you think there's a pressure on his Knicks debut since Alvarado absolutely balled
03:27out in his in Boston?
03:29I don't think there's a pressure on Jeremy Sohan and his Knicks debut to ball out in
03:35the same aspect as Jose Alvarado.
03:37Alvarado has more of an offensive game.
03:39Sohan doesn't really have much of like a deep bag, as the kids would say.
03:44Nevertheless, you do want to see him make an impact defensively.
03:47That is what he brings to this team.
03:48I mean, looking at his game and his time in San Antonio, this is a guy who really works
03:53well in chaos.
03:54Actually, I'm quite impressed with his post moves after getting bored to just using his
03:58you know, his wingspan, his height just to attack.
04:01Nevertheless, I think defensively is where he has to make his mark.
04:04And I think minutes wise, it's going to be interesting.
04:07You have Muhammad Diawara who started to impress, you know, just being out there.
04:11I mean, for a rookie from a second rounder, you know, he's giving you some offense.
04:15Think about what he did against Boston when, you know, four for four from the field, two
04:18for two from downtown guys, but give you some consistent offense, knocking down threes at
04:22a consistent rate, his wingspan, versatility, his height.
04:25I mean, you have Knicks fans in the fan base, believing that this guy could be
04:28another Pascal Siakam, that being Muhammad Diawar.
04:31So, you know, there would be some overlap between him and potentially Sohan competing
04:35for minutes.
04:36Look, and I like the idea of adding more talent to this team just to create competition.
04:42You don't want guys to get too comfortable.
04:43But I think for Sohan and the minutes that he gets, I think initially it's going to be,
04:47you know, somewhere between the 10-15 minute range, just providing some solid defense for
04:52a team that surely needs it.
04:54So we'll see what he does tonight against Detroit.
04:57I'm not expecting him to get like 20 some odd minutes.
04:59I'm not expecting him to be a mainstay.
05:01But if he does become one, it's because he's playing very well.
05:03They keep adding talent.
05:05They keep adding depth to the bench.
05:07We actually have an article that's up on the NewYorkPost.com slash sports about the Knicks
05:11rotation is about to look very different.
05:14What's that rotation going to look like to you?
05:18You know, so let's work from like who we know are going to be in the mainstays in this
05:22rotation, right?
05:23So we know the starting five.
05:24We know the two that would come off the bench.
05:26If McBride was healthy, he would be in that seven.
05:29Alvarado should be included.
05:30So since we have no idea where McBride is, if he's going to be ready for the postseason,
05:35how he recovers after the surgery, you know, he's projected to be out for like, what, six
05:40to eight weeks.
05:40So let's just remove Deuce, put Alvarado in that seven spot.
05:44There's your seven guys right there.
05:45Moving forward.
05:46Now you got to think of who are the other guys?
05:49Would it be a Muhammad Dior?
05:51I think Landry Schammett has made a very good case adding that wing depth, especially his
05:55shooting.
05:56I love his aggression.
05:57I love his energy that he brings off the bench.
05:59So I think Schammett would be a guy that's eight guys right there.
06:03And then now you're looking at Sohan and you look at Diora, even Tyler Kolick.
06:07I think all those guys could be players that get good rotational minutes based on the matchup.
06:13But I think as of right now, you should be able to lock in guys like Brunson, obviously,
06:17Cat, OG, Hart, Bridges, Mitch, Alvarado, and I think Landry Schammett.
06:22I think that's your eight right there.
06:23And then everyone else kind of falls in based on the matchup.
06:26All right, Alex, I'm going to throw you an oop here because we got four months between
06:29now and the end of the NBA finals.
06:3127 games remaining in the regular season.
06:34And the Knicks are sitting at that three seed that focus on Mike Brown and how far he can
06:39take this team is growing bigger and bigger by the hour.
06:42Final thoughts coming out of the all-star break.
06:44And now that we're stepping into crunch time.
06:49You know, I was looking at the schedule this morning and yesterday, and I was looking at
06:54how tough it is going to be for the Knicks going throughout the month of March because
06:58they're going to have nine road games out of the 15 or 16 that they got.
07:03Now, granted, one will be the Brooklyn Nets.
07:05So if you want to say, hey, there's really eight games that they got to travel for.
07:09They're going to have a West Coast trip where they got to go out to Denver, L.A., so forth
07:13like that.
07:14It's going to be a gruel.
07:15It's going to be a grueling March towards the end of the season, man, getting into April.
07:19So I'm looking for this team just to maintain where they are right now, whether it be second
07:24or third.
07:25Ideally, you get second, so that way you have a little bit of an easier path to get
07:30to the Eastern Conference Finals, to the NBA Finals, mainly the Eastern Conference Finals
07:34because you don't want to count anything out against anybody who's going to be in your
07:37path.
07:38But I would look for this team to really compete to try to get that second seed.
07:42Does it really matter if it's second or third?
07:43No.
07:44But I think for the New York Knicks and, you know, what they're trying to accomplish this
07:48season, you want to have an easier path regardless.
07:50So for Mike Brown, it's just, is this team playing their best basketball?
07:58Is this team playing their best basketball as they move towards April, as they're getting
08:03ready for the postseason?
08:04That's what we got to measure at this point.
08:06And obviously that should come with wins, but this team should be clicking on all cylinders.
08:11We shouldn't have really any hiccups.
08:13It should be really fine tuning at this point.
08:15As you mentioned, we got 27 games.
08:16This is a quarter of the season left, Brandon.
08:18You know, this team, I know that they've implemented a new system under Mike Brown, but we should
08:22really be seeing close to the final product as the Knicks gear up for this postseason run.
08:27Translation, brace yourselves for the longest 27-game stretch in the history of Knicks basketball.
08:35Alex, appreciate you hopping on, man.
08:36We got four more months to have fun.
08:40Appreciate you, Brandon, as always.
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