00:00That's a wrap.
00:01Knicks come to life in the final five minutes to take down Toronto.
00:05You guys see the back page.
00:06You all saw the win last night.
00:08Now let's talk about how hot the Knicks have been heading into the second leg
00:13of their back-to-back against the Thunder tonight.
00:16Alex Jotaros, Knicks Fan TV, waking up with us early again
00:20to talk some Knicks basketball.
00:22Thanks for hopping on with this, man.
00:23I hate saying the word statement.
00:25You know I'm always saying statement wins, statement wins.
00:27But it was a statement on defense up in the sixth.
00:30They closed the game out with a 16-2 run,
00:33and they completely locked it down on defense in crunch time.
00:37So what does it say about this team identity right now,
00:40especially down the stretch of games?
00:42And do you think they finally found their identity on the defensive side
00:46of the basketball under Mike Brown?
00:48You know, I think for the identity of this team, Brandon,
00:52we heard earlier in the season from Eric Spolster
00:53that the New York Knicks are a never-die team.
00:55Now, a lot of that credibility went out the window throughout that month of January
00:59and then also getting waxed by the Detroit Pistons three times.
01:02But look, when you see how this team was resilient last night
01:06when, you know, the offense wasn't totally smooth,
01:10yeah, we saw that they were able to put up a lot of points.
01:12But if you watched that game last night,
01:13there was a lot of gears grinding as they were able to win that one, right?
01:17You saw the Torontos got to a good lead,
01:19and then the Knicks were able to, like, muster up enough energy
01:22off of some really good plays of everybody last night and get that win.
01:27But the one thing that stuck out to me is the defense.
01:29And I think, to your point, yes,
01:30the defense has gotten better as the season has progressed.
01:33Look, when you get Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns
01:36giving you the effort that they've been giving you
01:38throughout these last couple of weeks, man,
01:40where, you know, let's talk about Towns.
01:42He is moving his feet, keeping his hands up.
01:44He's not getting the ticky-tacky fouls
01:45that we're accustomed to him getting on a night-to-night basis.
01:49He's been very disciplined.
01:50When you're seeing him, and then on top of Jalen Brunson,
01:52who's been navigating screens, continuing to hustle,
01:55like, these guys are doing a good job
01:57just setting the tone for the team.
01:59And these are your top two guys.
02:00They're known for their offense.
02:01So when you see your top two guys
02:03who are known for their offense playing at a high level,
02:05or not necessarily at the highest level,
02:07but just contributing defensively,
02:10then the rest of the team is going to follow suit,
02:12and then everyone's just going to be lockstep in.
02:14And then knowing that everyone should be buying into the same thing.
02:16And then the identity,
02:17I think it's slowly coming back to being that never-die team.
02:20I mean, last night,
02:21you think about the run that the Toronto Raptors
02:24not only started,
02:25but think about that third and fourth quarter
02:27where they were getting enough energy to come back
02:29and brought it down to a two-point game.
02:31But then New York, based on their defense,
02:34whether it's Josh Hart, you talk about OG,
02:35talk about Cat,
02:37like, all these guys make critical stops.
02:38And that's the type of effort you want to see
02:41from a championship-caliber team
02:42that no matter what the course of the game is,
02:45if stuff's not going your way,
02:46you're able to at least play defense.
02:48Defense can consistently travel
02:49just because it's based on a lot of energy.
02:52Offense can come and go.
02:53So great job by the Knicks, man.
02:55They're starting to build back that cred
02:56where they're a never-die team.
02:57I had to go back to what you were saying about Cat,
03:00you know, because he definitely deserves his flowers.
03:02Everybody always jumps on him.
03:04Like, Mike Tyson's got that famous quote
03:05where he says, like,
03:06everybody's got to play until they get punched in the face.
03:09It's almost been reversed for Cat.
03:11It's like he started playing better
03:13on the defensive side of the basketball
03:15once he got hit in the eye.
03:17And, you know, the fan base was like,
03:18oh, he's one of us now
03:20because, you know,
03:21he had that Paul Pierce-type moment.
03:22He's just been,
03:23he's kind of been consistent
03:24on the defensive side of the basketball.
03:26So got to give Cat his flowers
03:28for, you know, kind of buying in
03:30to the whole, you know, Mike Brown system.
03:33When we talk about the contributions
03:35that they got up and down the roster,
03:38it just shows how deep this team can be.
03:41Brunson Towns, OG, the bench,
03:43they all cooked last night.
03:45So you feel like this bench
03:46and this supporting cast is showing that
03:48they are deep enough,
03:50strong enough for an NBA Finals run.
03:53Yeah, I think we got a deep enough team.
03:55You know, last season was the whole,
03:57do you have enough guys to make a deep run?
03:59And obviously, Tom Thibodeau likes to rely
04:00on his top seven, eight guys.
04:02When you look at this roster right now, Brandon,
04:04I mean, outside of the normal five
04:06that we see on a night-to-night basis,
04:08whether it's Brunson Hart, OG, Bridges, Cat,
04:11like, and then you think about the bench
04:13with Alvarado, who's now replaced,
04:15Deuce McBride,
04:16and then you got Mitchell Robinson.
04:17That's seven guys right there.
04:18You also got Landry Shaman.
04:19You got Muhammad D'Owara,
04:20who's contributing.
04:21And then you can go even further into the bench
04:22if you need somebody like Tyra Kolick,
04:24if you need someone like Jordan Clarkson.
04:26I know he's been on ice for a little bit,
04:27but don't think he won't get hot in a second, man,
04:30and be a contributor.
04:31He was a contributor earlier this season,
04:33just in a little bit of a funk right now.
04:34This team's got a lot of depth.
04:35And then you got Jeremy Sohan,
04:37who, well, we know offensively
04:39is not going to be great,
04:40but he can give you some good spurts,
04:42situational minutes defensively.
04:44This team has enough, man,
04:45to make a postseason run.
04:47And as we've seen from the past,
04:48it's based on having that depth.
04:50I mean, look at last year's two teams, Brandon.
04:52It was the Oklahoma City Thunder
04:54and the Indiana Pacers,
04:56teams that are known for going 9-10 deep.
04:59Now the Knicks have 9-10 and then some.
05:01And so in that post,
05:03for this postseason run,
05:04everybody should be fresh.
05:05And that's the biggest thing for this team, man,
05:08just utilizing the depth.
05:09And if you get Deuce McBride back
05:10for the end of the season,
05:12they're going to be great.
05:13And look, the numbers are saying that right now.
05:15Now, the Knicks are 7th defensively right now,
05:17according to DefensiveRating at NBA.com.
05:19The Knicks are 7th through all their games.
05:21So what does that tell you
05:22that they got enough energy
05:23when they were in the basement
05:24earlier this season?
05:26You make some good acquisitions,
05:27they've already stepped up.
05:28Offensively, we know where this team is.
05:30This team is number three right now.
05:31So top 10 offensively, defensively,
05:34not only that, top five in both categories.
05:36This team's got enough depth right now
05:38and they're showing it on the court.
05:40They are because, what,
05:41that's 40 wins on the season?
05:42That's four straight seasons
05:44with at least 40-plus wins
05:46for the first time in three decades.
05:49Now I know why Knicks fans,
05:51this generation of Knicks fans
05:52is walking around all bougie
05:54because you guys have three
05:55back-to-back-to-back years
05:57with 40-plus.
05:59All those fours,
06:00that's angel numbers right there.
06:01So they got their second leg
06:02of the back-to-back versus the Thunder tonight.
06:05They're 2-10 against OKC
06:07in their last 12.
06:08Well, the Knicks have an opportunity
06:11to show you, the fan base,
06:14and the rest of the league
06:16what tonight.
06:17If they beat the Thunder tonight,
06:19then it really shows where they stand
06:20in this league, man.
06:22And look, I know everyone last year
06:24was talking about,
06:24oh, you didn't beat the Thunder,
06:26you didn't beat the Celtics,
06:26you didn't beat the Cavs.
06:28And now this year,
06:28the only team that's done that to us
06:31is the Pistons.
06:31And that's OK.
06:32That's fine.
06:33As we saw last year,
06:34that it doesn't matter what,
06:36you know,
06:37if you can beat the team
06:38during the regular season,
06:39it only matters in the postseason, right?
06:41Celtics gave them that work
06:42all last year.
06:43Next thing you know,
06:43they're the ones being eliminated.
06:45So, look,
06:46I think the regular season is important.
06:48It shows you
06:51what the team is capable of
06:53and showing you
06:53if they're consistent enough
06:54to give you
06:56a good postseason run.
06:58As of this year,
06:59the Knicks have only really had troubles
07:00with the Pistons.
07:01So, if they can come out
07:03and compete against the Thunder tonight,
07:05that tells you that
07:06they're at the top of the NBA right now
07:07and competing.
07:09And hopefully, you know,
07:10SGA,
07:11Isaiah Hartenstein,
07:12Jalen Williams play tonight.
07:13They probably will.
07:14They didn't play last night
07:15against Chicago.
07:16And if these guys play tonight
07:18against a, you know,
07:20mostly healthy Knicks team,
07:21I know Mitchell Robinson
07:22probably won't be out there.
07:23But,
07:24you're going to get a good,
07:25you're going to get a good performance,
07:27you're going to get a good,
07:28not necessarily performance,
07:29but you're going to get a good understanding
07:30where this team fits
07:31in the NBA.
07:33And, you know,
07:33there's levels to it.
07:34Are you, like,
07:34in the Tier 1,
07:35the Tier 2?
07:36They win tonight, man.
07:38They're going to be in Tier 1
07:39because they've beaten the Spurs
07:40who are second in the West.
07:41We know that they've got problems
07:42with the Pistons,
07:43but they've beaten everybody else
07:44in the East.
07:45Can they beat the Thunder?
07:46And then now solidify
07:47that they're a Tier 1 team, man,
07:49that we should really be
07:50looking seriously at this team
07:51being a championship title team.
07:53Big one.
07:54At the Garden tonight,
07:55Alex, I have my coffee,
07:57talk to Nick's win with you.
07:58All is right in the world today,
08:00especially in the city.
08:01Appreciate you hopping over
08:02this this morning, man.
08:04Appreciate you, my man,
08:05as always.
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