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00:15what's good Knicks fans the regular season is over your boy Dexter Henry back on another edition
00:20of New York got game yes we are on to the playoffs well play in first but we know who
00:26the Knicks are going to play they have played 82 games well the Knicks actually played 83 games
00:30this season because we got to remember they were NBA Cup champions but they will be playing
00:34the Atlanta Hawks in the first round many of us thought they would be playing the Toronto Raptors
00:38that was not to be it'll be New York versus the ATL in the first round but what we're going
00:43to do
00:43on this episode now that we're finished with the regular season is we're going to look at what's
00:48really true about the New York Knicks what do we learn from the 2025-2026 season do we still have
00:54more questions as the Knicks head in the playoffs what questions did they answer what questions
00:58did they not answer so you know how it goes when we want to get to the truth we are
01:03going to talk
01:03to my guy Gerard Hector contributor to True Hoop he is always going to give you the truth whether you
01:10like it or not because some of y'all might not like the truth that might be talked about with
01:13the New York Knicks it's my guy Gerard Hector joining me now for the first time I think this season
01:18but Gerard what's going on my guy how you doing I'm good my brother feeling good feeling good
01:22the playoffs are here well as you said play in first uh yes funny the regular season I felt like
01:27kind of went by a little quick this year I don't know maybe it didn't to some people but it
01:30felt
01:31like it to me you know what everything seems to go by quicker as you get older I'm not calling
01:36you
01:36I am old so that's fine but that is the truth yeah I feel like the right I feel like
01:41sometimes I
01:42turn around despite you and I both do this and we create content and in this journalistic space
01:47around basketball and we're like yo it just felt like October and now it's April and we're talking
01:53about playoff basketball so yeah man it it goes quick but look the Knicks Gerard they finished with
02:0053 wins NBA cup champs so yo y'all got y'all chip this season you you you have a
02:05trophy you want
02:06I'm I'm just saying I'm just saying you want a trophy I'm just saying you want a trophy
02:09you out here trolling the people you see now now I I do want to say and I say this
02:15um there's a
02:16couple of guys who come on the show with me and we are all soccer fans football fans real football
02:22fans and we understand the value of having multiple trophies and while I'm joking on you I think I've
02:27said this I think Knicks fans should take some pride in being NBA cup champions why not there's no
02:32shame the Knicks now have a chance to go for a double as they would call it in European soccer
02:37look
02:37LeBron when they because the Lakers won the first NBA cup don't act like Bron didn't want to win
02:43that he did because he wanted to be the first one of those guys of that group to be like
02:47yeah I want
02:48it first like it matters yes I understand it's not the NBA finals but it is still a trophy you
02:55won
02:55and mind you correct me if I'm not wrong see as I'm getting old I forgot who I believe they
03:00beat
03:00the Spurs in that championship in that championship game the Spurs were the number two seed in the
03:05Western Conference you could argue the second or third best team in the league like no man that's
03:10legit I listen I agree with you but again and we're both not saying that it is the Larry O
03:18'Brien
03:18trophy but it does mean something and the Knicks have a chance to get a double and what a year
03:22would
03:23it be Knicks fans if they were able to raise two trophies in one year something no NBA team has
03:28done
03:28before that might be pretty dope just saying just saying all right but the next day they went 53
03:34games that's a that's a very good year okay listen there are fan bases that would kill for 53 wins
03:42okay literally kill you know you know who would have killed for 53 wins about six or seven years
03:47ago Knicks fans you see you see for 53 wins about that time but they got 53 wins right Gerard
03:55they
03:55captured a three seed what's the real truth about this team are they a contender or are they just a
04:02really good regular season story I'm gonna start with the truth right off the top what's the real
04:05truth is of course they're a contender they are exactly what their record says they are right
04:09quote Bill Parcells you are what your record says you are 53 and 20 whatever the the math is on
04:15that
04:15right they are a number seven in adjusted net rating fifth in adjusted offensive rating and
04:2110th in adjusted defensive rating Dexter by all those metrics that is a contending team because
04:27any team that wins a championship has to be top 10 in offense and defense all the whole the Knicks
04:32are
04:32now as we know the playoffs are all about matchups right it's gonna be about who they play and all
04:36of
04:36that but this is a squad that as constituted I mean they went to conference finals last year
04:44it would not be surprised if they got back there again this year yeah I don't think that would be
04:50a surprise um with that with this team at all right now so okay you got them in contender status
04:54because some people still want to question that but I'm with you I think they're a contender for
04:58the championship but when you look at this team Gerard compared to last year what is actually evolved
05:06and and I know because evolution is such a big part of the story right and then but but with
05:11that being
05:11said with me asking that about what has evolved what concerns have quietly followed them into the
05:18playoffs because it's not a perfect team by any means yeah so it's a two-part question what's
05:22evolved and what concerns have followed them into the playoffs by my eye test Dexter nothing has
05:26really changed or evolved from this team right to me they are still too heavily reliant on Brunson now
05:32that's the gift and the curse right where everybody talks about double-edged swords two sides of the
05:36same coin all those those phrases you know what they mean right your biggest strength is also your
05:40greatest weakness right of course if I have Jalen Brunson I'm going to lean on him heavily because
05:44he's one of the elite offensive players in all of basketball right that makes sense do they rely
05:49too much on him I still sometimes think yes right is there not enough diversity uh in the offense
05:55sometimes that is still an issue however this is a squad that now collective cat only uh last season
06:02and now this season but as a collective they've gone through this now the last three seasons they
06:06know who they are in the postseason so nothing has evolved for me so much from from the squad they
06:12still rely too much on Brunson I'd like to see more cat Brunson interplay like we saw towards the end
06:17of
06:17the season I think that's going to be crucial and we'll talk more about that later um but they're
06:22tested and they're committed to what they do Dex they know who they are they know how they're going
06:25to get their offense when it matters most and that matters and here's the thing the last two seasons
06:30their bugaboo has been the Pacers that's who's knocked them out of the playoffs well they ain't got to
06:34worry about the Pacers this year right because they ain't in it so listen and I'm sorry like
06:39people love to look at things like in this sort of like oh you know memory is a funny thing
06:44when we
06:45think it back over to oh yeah they were the best team from start to finish I'm like nah it
06:49ain't how
06:49it went like go back and look right you need things to break your way you need favorable matchups
06:54that's where all that shenanigans are going on today right because people are playing with who they do
06:58and don't want to face in the playoffs because that matters right like of course you want an easier
07:03road to get to the finals now it ain't gonna be that easy ain't no wizards right ain't no nets
07:09in
07:10in the postseason right you ain't getting a beat up on the jazz none of these terrible teams all right
07:14but if your choice is to play the hornets or I don't know somebody else you're like yeah maybe
07:22I'll skip on the hornets right they look a little frisky right now I get it yeah matchups
07:27matchups matter I do I'll say this I and I think I'd asked Monica McNutt this when I had her
07:33on the
07:34show a couple weeks ago which was about the over-reliance on Brunson um and maybe the offense
07:39being a little too heliocentric I think that'll lead me to to where I wanted to go next with you
07:43because one of the things that has looked better for the Knicks down the stretch is the two-man game
07:48between Brunson and Cat um particularly how they've been playing the pick and roll which
07:52maybe Mike Brown was like hey I'm not gonna show these cards this early I'm going to wait a little
07:57bit which smart coaches generally do um that's been a major talking point among the fan base
08:02Gerard is this and I'm when I say this I mean the Brunson Cat two-man game is that a
08:09true playoff
08:10level foundation or do you think it's something that defenses can scheme out over a series even though
08:16most defenses around the league haven't really seen that much of it I think you know a lot of
08:20this question comes from I think not too long ago there was some like body language being read from
08:25Cat on the bench and whatever and like and you know people lose their mind about that stuff I do
08:30want to say this like guys the NBA season is long man 82 games sometimes dudes just aren't vibing for
08:36what it happens like think about where you work sometimes you don't want to see your co-workers like
08:40it just is what it is these guys spend all season with these people on the road it's a lot
08:46and sometimes you know you're just in a mood and you don't want to mess with nobody doesn't mean
08:50that it's a harbinger for disaster or doom um but do I think the cat and and Brunson pick and
08:56roll
08:56or two-man game is effective I do and I think it's still a work in progress right this is
09:00year two of
09:01it right we saw it last year it went to the postseason by the way you did get to the
09:04conference
09:04finals remember right I think they'll be even better this year because you have those reference points
09:09to go back to and yeah there is something to be said about Mike Brown and not wanting to give
09:13away
09:14all your cards right you want to be able to have something else you can pull out of the bag
09:18to show
09:19teams that don't give them a time to scout and plan now these are the best coaches in the world
09:24and you
09:24know video departments and all that so it ain't gonna take people long to be like okay this is what
09:28they're running here's here's our defense here's our plan to stop it but ultimately right there is a
09:32counter for everything and a plan to stop everything whether you stop it or whether the offense
09:37executes is literally about who executes better right like that I just really is what and sometimes that
09:42don't even matter because these are the greatest basketball players in the world sometimes just
09:46great offense like cats gonna hit a shot sometimes brussels gonna hit a shot sometimes you can play
09:50perfect defense it don't matter they're gonna hit right like but it's not about individually isolated
09:55moments it's about over the course of the entire playoffs do you win those matchups more than you
10:00lose them right that's what it's about that's what it comes down to I'm glad you said the part about
10:04I can't stand the body language police I just talked about this on a recent episode
10:08without I get it because it's because it's like oh and look sometimes you're like yes you would
10:14prefer your dudes not to be screaming at each other or like of course but it's also competition
10:20and dudes are heated and also man maybe you want to fight with your partner at home or whatever like
10:25you ain't in the mood to be here no one's like whatever the situation may be you you know me
10:30because
10:30you and I have talked about this many times even off camera and off air and it was the point
10:35I was
10:35making in that episode with Brian which is that you made it here too it's like sometimes you don't
10:39like people you work with and it happens at the moment not all the time sometimes you go through
10:42stretches and as you're bringing up here it's just real life stuff that could be going on that could
10:47impact these guys I never got the sense they didn't like each other it was just as you kind of
10:51put it
10:52part of the process of what was going on here throughout a very long season long man this is what's
10:59gonna happen it's a long season so with all that being said right and you're right if you're the
11:03Knicks and you've got this two-man game going with Brunson that looks better Brunson and Cat excuse
11:08me that looks better than it did at the beginning of the season or better than it did last season
11:12we also talked about how you have concerns about the offense particularly being maybe a little bit
11:18too heliocentric how much do you trust the Knicks half-court offense when as you and I know the
11:24playoffs are a different beast the game slows down everybody's game planning these are the best
11:30defenses how much do you trust the Knicks offense half-court offense in particular when the game
11:34slows down in the playoffs I mean oddly enough again this is that same thing double-edged swords
11:39two sides of the same coin I trust it a lot because you have Jalen Brunson and Cat like so
11:43in the half
11:44court you're going listen that combination you have two of the most elite offensive players in all of
11:50basketball okay Jalen Brunson is a pick and roll savant okay um Cat may as well be as he is
11:58self-proclaimed
11:58and he may not be lying the best shooting big man of all time I want to be clear big
12:02man not tall
12:03person but big man right so they're gonna score right and they're gonna score often um what what
12:11I want to know is over the course of the entire postseason how much variation is there going to be
12:18in the ways in which they score and to your point about earlier will there be guys that scheme them
12:23out
12:23that sort of thing but they're elite man they're excellent Brunson's an excellent shot maker shot
12:28creator I said about Cat and his shooting and you know what Dex the Knicks also have smart off-ball
12:33players right Bridges OG Hart those guys cut and move well off the ball and Hart's having his best
12:39three-point shooting year of his career shooting 41 percent like yo man like if you're doing that like
12:45you'll be fine like so I still have to say the Knicks will be fine in most half-court sets
12:51the
12:52situation again is series Dexter as you know the playoffs are long but a playoff series is a small
13:00sample size right and so if you have two bad shooting nights yo man that can mean you can be
13:06you down oh two right now you now it's a problem right because now you got to win four of
13:10the next
13:11five which you know Matt says that's generally not going to happen right like so it so these are the
13:18things you're worried about right when you're talking about the playoffs so you just also talked
13:23about the the other players and maybe the answer to this question I'm gonna ask you could be Cat but
13:27it could be somebody else but we talked about this team very reliant on Jalen Brunson um and as you
13:34said
13:35that is not always a bad thing that can be a good thing so who is the most important secondary
13:43offensive creator on this team and do the Knicks actually have enough secondary shot creation
13:49to win in the postseason so it's funny right because I think when you think of secondary
13:53you can think of shot creation I think most fans most people think about another Brunson type of
13:58player right a lead ball handler or secondary ball handler like initiate the pick and roll and the
14:04Knicks don't really have that right it's kind of like a committee sort of thing but that person who's
14:09that secondary shot creator is Cat and it's Cat because he has the ability Dexter as you know to be
14:17a dominant force where you're like yo we have to send doubles at this dude because he is a beast
14:22now
14:23I think you with Cat is you're like I wish he would do that more consistently but when he does
14:28it and
14:28he's in that mode Dex you've seen it we saw it in last year's playoffs he had 35 and 14
14:33I think in that
14:34first game of the conference finals even though they lost like you're like yo we gotta send help
14:38that way because I can't check this dude one-on-one double comes swing swing I talked about
14:44heart I talked about uh OG I talked about bridges all these guys like can they cut me off the
14:49ball
14:49right so it's not necessarily Cat maybe initiating as a lead ball handler but ooh double comes all you're
14:54trying to do in basketball as you know this Dex is to create numerical mismatches on other parts of
14:59the floor right strong side ooh doubles coming what does that mean weak side with a numerical advantage
15:04swing swing somebody's open right like that's what you want right the ball has energy the ball
15:10moves faster than people can move that's what you want right can that happen Cat knows the double's
15:14coming quick can his players move into spots where he can see them quick pass quick pass we've got an
15:19open layup we got an open three in the corner those kinds of things so yes I think Cat has
15:23to be your
15:24important secondary creator in that he forces teams to send help at him yeah that he will be
15:31important he's been a huge topic of conversation on the show for the last couple weeks he's been
15:34highly efficient you gotta give him credit he's been highly efficient he's been playing well
15:38to end the season for the Knicks so he's gonna have to be the guy and you're right we saw
15:41flashes of
15:42that from him in the playoffs is particularly if he plays within the flow of the offense that that
15:47could be good now defensively the other part of the ball sometimes I don't think it's talked about
15:51enough among uh after game around around the six teams half the game right you gotta talk you gotta
15:56talk about defense this team has shown flashes I want to say of elite defense and we know they've
16:03been better since January when they had that terrible two and nine stretch the defense has been better
16:08as you noted they finished top 10 in defense um and in offense but what does it look like for
16:13the
16:13defense when it's right and do you believe in the stronger late season defense that we saw from this
16:20next team I mean I think the defensive ceiling is what it was in the season which is 10th right
16:26I
16:26don't know this idea that they have sort of another gear to get to defensively what I think matters
16:31for them Dexter is point of attack defense right and so this is this is the problem with Brunson and
16:37relying on him too much offensively because when he has to carry so much of a load offensively in the
16:41pick and roll it's not that he's a bad defender per se he's small but he's exhausted and not early
16:47in
16:47the playoffs but late let's say that second round series against let's say it's Boston it's going
16:51game six game seven right like how much energy does he have to give the requisite energy at the point
16:58of attack right and cat can cat stay big the thing about cat is he needs to be smart and
17:04a lot of his
17:04defense stuff is overblown he actually was a a pretty decent defender net positive this year uh for the
17:09next you're huge just be big right move your feet and don't commit stupid fouls right like yes yes as
17:17my podcast partner true David Thorpe says rule number one don't foul right don't foul like yeah
17:22don't do that don't foul right like so I think and you know can you hide Brunson when teams start
17:30to
17:30look to him to target right pre-switch and do stuff like that and I think again Mike Brown the
17:34coach is
17:34smart enough to figure that stuff out that's what I'm thinking for the next but I do think
17:38defensively there is a ceiling for me their switch their gear in the playoffs is going to be offense
17:44that's going to be the thing where I'm like oh if they have a day where like they're hitting for
17:48instance 15 threes or more I'm like well they're probably gonna win that game right like so that
17:53that to me the the ceiling for them is their office I think their defense is pretty much going
17:58to be capped out at a certain level but I think offensively they have some heights they can get to
18:03so it's funny because I was going to ask you about not necessarily if they have a
18:08another gear because I might be inclined to agree with you right like they're about what you saw them
18:15in the regular season now they got into that metric that puts you in that championship contention level
18:20of defense right and we even saw the Denver Nuggets win a couple of years ago now granted I understand
18:26best player in the world Nicola Jokic but they got to be a top 11 defense right they weren't world
18:31beaters on defense and they played better defense from the second half of the season on which got
18:36them rolling to where they were playing competent let's just say that competent defense um do the
18:42Knicks have a true defensive gear or a competent defensive gear that they can hit in a seven game
18:48series or do you look at that as still a question no no again that top 10 defense that's the
18:52gear
18:52right that that that is the baseline I think the question is can they play that consistently right
18:57and again this is why it goes back to see the thing about basketball unlike other sports because
19:02players play both sides unlike in football and other sports like that the offense bleeds into the defense
19:08so much right and the ability when you make shots on the other end guys are it's it's defense is
19:15so much
19:15more and it shouldn't be this way right but that's just human nature right like it's so much easier to
19:19to to you know to lack of a better phrase to nut up right and and guard when you're when
19:25your shots
19:26are falling it's when the shots are not falling and things aren't going well like oh man don't want
19:30to run through the screen hard don't want to those kind of things start to wane a little bit when
19:35you're not making shots right but yes their their defense is there again it's 10th overall I think
19:41it's more than good enough to get them to conference finals but as I said before their offense to me
19:46Dexter that is this that is the gear they were the number four team in terms of three-point shooting
19:50percentage in the league this year and I believe the stat was when they made 15 or more threes they're
19:56like 32 and 8 or 31 and 7 something like that right so to me that's their magic number there
20:03are some
20:03games where they're making 15 or more threes those should be games they win it's funny in the games
20:10when if they and there's going to be a game or two or three or whatever may come in the
20:14playoffs
20:14where they don't hit them 15 threes how they're able to generate offense or get stops which is
20:19just as important yes is going to be very telling and their ability to have a chance to win that
20:24game
20:24or not because can you win some of those games when everything isn't going the way you need it to
20:28right that's the mark of a championship teams yes right yes and that's the thing about when you look
20:35at a team like OKC for instance right it don't matter shots are falling or not you know what their
20:41identity is they're going to cause turnovers they're going to it's going they're going to
20:45fight because eventually they'll come back around and so you know do the Knicks have that requisite
20:51ability to stay the course despite shots not falling it's hard right think about it you go six seven
20:57eight possessions in a row and the ball's not again in the postseason where the possessions matter
21:02more right and your margins are thin again you're not playing the wizards you're not playing the nets
21:07okay you're playing legit nba teams now who are trying to win also then you're like oh man like
21:13it's it's and it's just pressure right everything tightens up just that that top button gets a little
21:19bit like all right like you know you you you feel it you feel it yeah man no no no
21:24shade out there
21:25to the wizards and nets fans who might be watching this no no no shade but you know your team
21:29ain't
21:30trying to win let's i mean your team was your team was trying to win i mean you know who
21:34you are
21:34you you understand who you are um when you look at this team right a word that gets thrown out
21:40what
21:40i'm sure you'll hear come up you guys will talk about on true x factor that's the thing we like
21:45to talk about in playoff series who's the biggest x factor on this roster the guy that swings the
21:49series if he plays well who's that guy for you on the knicks so i'm going to kind of kind
21:56of cop
21:56out and go with the easy one with josh hart and i say it because again career year from three
22:0241
22:02can i push back on that for a second i'm not sure that's an easy one because okay but i'm
22:10gonna let
22:10you finish just because there's been so much variance with his game career year shooting the
22:16ball right but the thing about him drive i know you know this is the willingness to shoot yeah which
22:22is the big thing with him he sometimes can get in the stretches where he's not as willing to shoot
22:27if he is willing to shoot i do i don't disagree with your answer i just don't i just want
22:31to give
22:32you props i don't think that's necessarily the easy way i appreciate that he it is because i don't
22:39think it's in his nature right because everything he does all the other things next week he makes
22:44winning basketball plays constantly and that's what you need those late offensive rebound tipman's to
22:50say again in the playoffs the margins are thin it is a possession battle you are trading possessions
22:56for points and hart giving you those extra possessions to get that tip in or that extra kick
23:02out those things are huge in close games again may not be in round one although we'll talk about that
23:07in a minute and that celtic series potentially in round two or in the conference finals like those
23:12things are going to matter so yes his willingness to hey if they're gonna sag off being a half court
23:17step up and shoot that thing with confidence again to force the other teams to not say hey man we
23:22can't do that sag off thing now we have to come up and press him oh great come up and
23:26press me now
23:27because now that means cat now single posted jalen brunson over here we can do different things so
23:32heart to me matters the other person i'm going to throw out there i know you only told me one
23:35but
23:36the second now go ahead is mikhail bridges and i to my eyes dexter he has not been consistent this
23:44season it's just oh no no you are you are not wrong there up and down and i'm like bro
23:49like what is
23:50your deal like i like it's just this kind of like like oh mikhail feeling it today other days was
23:55like
23:55oh he's not feeling it what is he doing out there right and so i think if he can find
24:01consistency
24:01that would be a big thing and i don't mean 20 points a game i just mean you know man
24:07you get
24:08three open threes a game can you hit two of those like you know what i mean like stuff like
24:14that you
24:14know i'm saying like i it it's just i i i just want a level of consistency from him and
24:21i and what i
24:22worry about with him dexter is you know everybody applauds him and i do as well the man has not
24:28missed a game in his entire nba career yep that is another 82 game season he's correct that is
24:33something to applaud however that takes its toll at some point dexter like energy isn't finite it runs
24:43out okay and so for a guy like him and he like when he gets on the court he he
24:48takes it easy that
24:49dude plays hard and he guards like he only has so much juice in the tank and so i wonder
24:55if a lot of
24:56that is starting to catch up to him not so much an injury but his inability to stay consistent is
25:00because he's just tired needs to take like six months off you know from basketball i wonder that
25:06with him because it's funny i felt like he would have been the easy answer and i think it might
25:09be a
25:10lot of people's x-factor answer to that question uh because of what you said about how inconsistent
25:15he's been or how he's disappeared in games at times now that could also be energy related energy is
25:21now finite uh as you said there could be some of that too so it's interesting i like the josh
25:26hard
25:27answer i think his ability how he plays how defenses play him and how he attacks them when they play
25:33him
25:34is everything for the knicks particularly on offense i completely agree it's not just shooting right it's
25:40it's okay you said a couple threes they come out and run at you you drive by right that's why
25:43i said
25:44attack yep that's why that's why i use the word attack right because it's the choice it's will you let
25:49the three fly if you're open if they press up on you are you gonna put the ball on the
25:53floor and
25:53attack you just want him to be you know i know this word can be used thrown around a little
25:59too much
25:59aggressive or aggression aggressive decisive decisive i like that there we go decisive decisive that's the
26:05word i like not aggressive decisive i love that word for him i think if he's decisive i think that's
26:12huge for him in in in the playoff now look at the end of the season we saw it in
26:16the recent game
26:17against boston last week he was decisive in that game sure it was played well it was one of his
26:22best games i thought he played the season it wasn't i know people gonna say well dex he hit five
26:25threes in that game it was more than that the first half of that game it's really a tale of
26:29two halves
26:29he wasn't as decisive gerard he was hesitant in the second half he was more decisive he made his
26:35good reads when they threw guys at him he drove to the basket he set other guys up and when
26:40he was
26:40open he took the shot i know that sounds simple but it it's so key for the knicks part of
26:45the thing i think
26:45fans need to understand dexter is that certain players are wired certain ways josh hart is the
26:51ultimate team guy in the way that he plays and so he's not wired to jack up shots and right
26:59because
27:00in his brain that is not team ball right i am not helping the team by doing that and so
27:05what he has
27:07to do is sort of fight against that nature of like that's not it's like no no you are actually
27:11helping
27:11the team because if they are sagging off you what they are telling you is we don't respect your
27:16offensive game so in order to help the team i have to be decisive now so that forces them to
27:21respect my
27:22offensive game so now that everybody else can do what they got to do right and that's a you know
27:27drew holiday like players like of that ilk right who dominate because the thing about basketball is
27:32everyone loves the guy who just wants the ball all the time when throw up shots right because that's
27:36what because that's what everybody imagined themselves to be right when you're in the driveway you don't
27:40pretend that you're mikhail bridges right you pretend you're jill and brunson everybody wants
27:43to jack the ball and take up shots because that's all the fun stuff right that's the guy who gets
27:47all
27:47the girls or the dudes whatever your flavor is right that that's the thing but right these guys are
27:53like i'm not wired in that manner that's not how i've got to do all these other things but it's
27:57like
27:58hey man if they know you're not going to do that thing they're going to play you to not do
28:02that so
28:02you have to say oh you think i won't okay let me show you i will do it and now
28:07that forces you to do
28:08something different and now that gets everybody involved right so it's it's just a a different way
28:11that these guys are they're just not they're not wired in that way that's not how their brains
28:14operate when it comes to basketball no it's different right different personalities matter
28:19than how they execute but i love that word decisive for josh hart i think that's a word i'll be
28:23looking
28:23to use a lot with him through this playoff run a couple more things with my guy gerard hector
28:28of true hoop here with me on new york guy game gerard i've been really really wanting to talk to
28:35you
28:36about this because people who are fans of the show will know the first time you came on the show
28:42with me in studio one of your truths about the knicks back then i think this was during the 20
28:4923 24 season yeah not i want to i want to if i'm if i'm correct you were somebody and
28:55i do not want
28:56to say gerard is minutes police because he was not that i just you know but gerard was somebody who
29:02taught and we would have a lot of conversation about this across the nba you have to manage
29:08the minutes of your guys you cannot burn out your guys through a regular season um we talked about
29:14the slot with the former coach tom thibodeau and then the knicks changed their coach and they've had
29:18mike brown so my question to you is what do you think about the job mike brown did in year
29:23one what
29:23has he proven to you in year one with this group and what do you think because he's ultimately going
29:28to be judged about about this because he was brought in for a guy who got the team to the
29:33conference finals two wins away from the nba finals yeah i've said it this year everybody else has said
29:37it he's going to be judging what he is going to do in the playoffs so what is he proving
29:41to you in
29:41this group in the regular season and then what does he still have to show you in the playoffs well
29:46you
29:46know he didn't prove anything to me he doesn't have to prove anything to me because he's he's a good
29:50basketball coach you're gonna prove shit to me who am i right like you you don't gotta prove
29:54nothing to me mike brown um the thing is uh it as you mentioned it will be about the postseason
30:01that's how fans and the media and everybody will judge him is how the next two in the postseason now
30:06of course that is a little bit unfair because again it's about matchups it's about a variety of
30:11different things go into it what i will say minutes have been down for your top guys which has been
30:17good
30:17um right they're still playing but they're not logging 38 39 right like the minutes totals are down
30:24which is a good thing um what i want to know is in the postseason one of the things that
30:30ios
30:31criticized tips for was his intransigence right and his inability to be pragmatic um he had a philosophy
30:39of how things were going to go and you have to just do it harder and better than the other
30:43team
30:43and that's what's going to get you over the top and okay sometimes that's true other times hey man
30:49you got to be more pragmatic and if something ain't working you have to go go to something else
30:54so i want to know it during his time on the bench in golden state next to steve kerr and
30:59i don't want
30:59to make it seem like you know kerr was the guru that like knew everything but how much did he
31:04soak up
31:05from his time in golden state from a staff that is known to been to a certain extent although you
31:10know of late they've gotten a little bit more sort of you know repetitive and stuck on their ways
31:14of one try different things and innovate right so if someone on the bench comes to him during and
31:20during the playoffs and says coach i know it's small sample size but this lineup is looking good
31:25and if that lineup and that data says that's something you should go with but it goes against
31:30what his gut is telling him right is he willing to be brave enough to make that call right in
31:36a
31:36series where we got to shake something up and do something different that's what i'm going to be
31:40looking to see does he make those subtle tweaks and subtle changes are you willing to go
31:44against type go against your gut because something this data is telling you you know what this might
31:49be something that works right how much pragmatism do you have versus being dogmatic and like now this
31:54is just how we're going to roll with things so for me that's been the thing i've liked about how
32:00he's
32:01managed and i'm being very clear here the regular season however will you be that malleable in the
32:07postseason that is the question for me right i'd like to see that my gut says to me he will
32:15i think
32:17i think i think he will and i hope i hope i think you i don't have to say this
32:24about you because i know
32:24how you think about basketball and i think about basketball i hope for the knicks fans out there
32:31it's a breath of fresh air but that leads me to my next question because there's always two sides of
32:37this you and i feel you and i very much about the pragmatism and the malleability some people are
32:44more about the rigidity okay now i'm not saying that you shouldn't have a base standard of what your
32:53rotation is of course not what i'm saying so i want to ask you gerard we know there's going to
32:58be a
32:59base standard for the rotation it's going to be an eight nine man rotation mike brown this year has
33:03generally played nine and a half that's generally been his thing he likes to go with maybe a guy that
33:09plays four or five minutes in the first half steals some minutes for a guy so he's technically going 10
33:15but it's really nine and a half okay so you got your starters you got brunson bridges heart og and
33:23cat
33:24coming off the bench i think this will be your next four and we saw this over the last couple
33:28of games you got mitchell robinson landry shammon bride deuce mcbride right those are your three
33:35that i think you're going with and jordan clarkson has now gotten time i i had those are my nine
33:41i have
33:41right here okay so those are the nine you have but before we get to the malleability part who could
33:46come in and be nine and a half and maybe 10 or anything like that how do you feel about
33:52that nine
33:52and do you think that nine is optimized for playoff basketball you get into some trouble when you get
33:59towards eight and nine right and it's because of size limitations well yes i thought you might say
34:07that yes of one of those limitations being yes right one of them being size the other limitation being
34:12when you do go with your only size being mitchell robinson you are essentially playing four on five
34:19offense right because unless it's a lob at the rim and all that like what is mitchell going to do
34:26offensively not offensive rebounds all that but he is not a threat to do anything offensively unless
34:31he's right next to the rim so there is that but if you decide to go small we're going to
34:36shoot
34:36you're going to get pounded on the glass now talked about josh hart og's out there you got guys who
34:41can rebound and that we have to be more of a collective and a team thing so it's again dexter's
34:47about
34:47for anything you know people love to think that championships are won by individuals right and
34:52it's got to be a collective man the sum has got to be greater than the individual parts right and
34:57so
34:57when you run those lineups out where they are smaller and you don't go with mitchell robinson
35:01and you decide to go for more offense more threes more shooting as a collective you got a gang rebound
35:06right everybody's got a crash you got it right make sure you know your defensive assignments all those
35:10things that are cliche and we say ad nauseum right um but yes when you get to eight and nine
35:16you have limitations right and you know for jordan clarkson i know he's a he's a fan favorite
35:22from so many but dexter he has the ability to potentially win you a game because he can go
35:28nuclear but my god can he also cost you a game right and in the playoffs losing one game that
35:36matters right it's ain't the regular season where you're like all right you lost on tuesday night cool
35:41that's one down right again you have to win four out of seven you take away one okay we only
35:48have
35:48six now to get four right you see it's your math isn't working in your favor so how much do
35:53you want
35:53to depend on a guy like that who's too jekyll and hyde for me some of you younger people may
35:57not know
35:57what jekyll and hyde is but you should look that up um you know like he's a little too jekyll
36:01and hyde for
36:02me he's been better towards the end of the season he was out of rotation he reinvented his game i
36:09like
36:09he's been giving a little bit more effort in defense i'm with you and that i think he could
36:13win them a playoff game there's i think there's a game to be won which it's going to be seen
36:17him
36:17go nuclear so i know he could do that my question is in that game where he doesn't go nuclear
36:21what is
36:22he or he's the opposite of going nuclear right like he's he's on a he's on a uh two of
36:27ten
36:28and he's a sieve on defense that's a problem again that's a problem this isn't a regular season
36:35game where you're like all right whatever no no no no no like we in those
36:39minutes we were outscored by 10 now we're going to lose the game right like you like
36:45you i like the eight to nine man rotation okay so here's where we combine the last two things
36:51we just talked about my thing gerard is how much is mike brown when it is necessary because
37:01he's just something he sees in the game the data is called upon like you're looking at the
37:05data and what you've seen and whatever sample size and you're trusting that or just sometimes
37:10your gut you're just like hey man right here we need some more size mohammedia war is a rookie who
37:16we gave some minutes to this year we've seen him come up in some good spots he's got some length
37:21he's
37:21got a you know i know you're a guy you like players are six eight and up and he give
37:26you a
37:26little bit of shooting i know that's your guy you know right but you might need that if you're the
37:32knicks because when we talk about that even though you said we feel good about this mitchell robinson
37:36jolly size he's limited on offense like you said the other good coaches might also hack him joe
37:42missoula well we know this right what's he shooting the 60 percent from free throw line
37:46here mitchell robinson shooting 60 percent is he a 60 fans could only wish oh they could only wish
37:52under 50 yes sir he was oh i'm gonna double check on what on what he finished that um i
37:59don't know
37:59why i got 60 in my head i thought for some reason you know what i probably was watching a
38:02stretch
38:02where like he was making some and i was like oh there was a stretch when he was making some
38:05but i
38:05could tell you for sure he did not reach 60 i just want to make sure i get the right
38:09number
38:10um for people in what in what he finished with but he did not finish at 60 60 gerard nicks
38:19fans
38:19would die for 60 um from mitchell robinson right now he actually shot he shot 40 from free throw
38:28line this year 40.8 god and listen okay you see you said it right there smart coaches joe missoula
38:35will one yo joe missoula will do that in the first quarter yes you've seen this movie before
38:40because this is the playoffs and possessions matter joe's got guys that he can happily
38:48run up their six fouls because he's like it because we right we have a bunch of guys that we
38:52can play
38:53and do all this whatever right like cool you get mitch to the line that's freebie points for you
38:59four out of ten which which means there's gonna be plenty of trips where he gets two he gonna miss
39:04them both right like it's just how it's gonna go and again if the game is tight again people have
39:12to think about points later in the game mattering more than points early in the game you know man at
39:16the end it all adds up the same two points in the first quarter worth the same as two points
39:20in the
39:21fourth all right it all counts the same towards your total so all those missed free throws
39:28but that's but that's the point where you're talking about the pragmatism and the malleability
39:33that we were talking about because those are the points to me gerard that matter what are if that
39:39situation happens what you just said first quarter second quarter whatever you want to say if that
39:43happens what's mike brown going to do there because now you're killing the offensive value of nicks you
39:49just talked about how you think their offensive ceiling to the point you said that's the truth about them
39:53the offensive ceiling can get higher well now you're that's less points per possession did you
39:58have a chance of getting yep every time you go down the court that is also you talked about too
40:04i
40:05want to just bring that i'm bringing it back you talked about how defense the offense excuse me
40:08sometimes can't impact the defense so now you're going down the court guys are not getting touches
40:13guys are not getting your rhythm you're not even running any sets because joe mazula is ready to say
40:18i'm going to pull this guy off the bench and have him you know hack a mitch because he's willing
40:24to
40:24use those six fouls now what's what's mike brown's counter for that listen i'm not saying that mike
40:29brown hasn't thought about this i'm sure he has it's a good coach i'm sure him and his staff have
40:34all right you're gonna go to mo de aurora then get a little smaller stretch things out force the
40:39celtics to make another move again i'm not saying this to rag on tibbs and you weren't doing this
40:44either but if we're keeping it a buck people this is not what we saw from tips we didn't see
40:51those
40:51counters till it was too late no you didn't see the line right landry sham but against the pacers
40:54till it was too late yeah you gotta you gotta be willing to make those moves earlier much earlier
40:58the only thing too yes that matters here dex is cat's gotta stay out of foul trouble like that like
41:04right like that's also a big piece of this right well that's that's big in how you use your rotation
41:08i agree right because he gets in the foul trouble and you know he's still sometimes prone to get
41:12those stupid fouls and you're like what are you doing right and and now you picked up two
41:17fouls in the first quarter and we're like bro like come on man like that can't happen can't happen in
41:23playoffs i agree with you okay okay a couple more things because let's move on to playoffs we know
41:27we're going to play in round one they are going to play the atlanta hawks uh my question for you
41:34is this a favorable matchup for the knicks or do you look at this matchup against the atlanta hawks
41:39is a sneaky problem what do you say i think they should win it um i do think the raptors
41:44probably
41:44would have been an easier time i think the hawks will present a certain level of challenge for them
41:50um i i know that they should beat the hawks recently um if i'm not mistaken um
41:57but look nikhil alexander walker is an excellent player look the hawks have been playing decent ball
42:03right um so and they're going to be excited to be to be in the playoffs like uh if i'm
42:10the if i'm the
42:10knicks i'm i'm coming in the game sharp let's put it that way right i'm not i'm not messing around
42:16like and the hawks can guard as well like they they they finished the year well uh defensively so
42:21if i'm the knicks um i am making sure i'm showing up with i'm taking the hawks seriously i'm not
42:28just
42:28you know a guaranteed win but they they should advance that they should be if this takes more
42:33than five games i'd be surprised okay go okay knicks at least in five i would be inclined to
42:40agree i think i haven't officially made my pick but i think that's probably what it's going to be
42:44i respect the hawks i think they played tougher i think they have a good defense i will dive into
42:48the film later this week we will have a plenty of time to do that um i think they played
42:54a good game
42:54against the knicks that was last monday you were talking about the win they had knicks i thought it was
42:58one of the knicks best road wins of the year actually um costs are good they're not gonna i
43:02think the raptors would have been an easier matchup i don't know how you feel about this gerard but
43:07sometimes i'm like maybe you a first round series where somebody pushes you just a little bit i
43:12thought that was good for the knicks last year against the pistons yeah is that i think sometimes
43:16fans want the easy matchup it's a fine matchup for the knicks yeah but you do want to get pushed
43:21a
43:21little bit sometimes i think you want to be sharp right and i think the hawks will force the knicks
43:25to be
43:25sharp but when they execute at their best they are a better team and they will beat they will beat
43:30atlanta and i think going into what their second round matchup would be which i believe would be
43:35the celtics assuming the celtics uh when they're when their series correct you know and i know the
43:41fans will be like we own the celtics i'm like okay oh that's that's a bit that's a bit much
43:46it's a bit
43:46much listen you know y'all nick fans be out here talking on these internet streets
43:50um i i would just say caution um and you know so i think you want to be sharp heading
44:00into that
44:00celtic series because whether the knicks win it or not i think that series is going long
44:05right i think it's going six or seven so and with tatum back and brown played well this year and
44:11we
44:12you know what the celtics are right so uh yes and they'll have still they'll feel some kind of way
44:18about being knocked out by them last year you know there's no bad it's bad blood all the things
44:23that we know so point being is that that's going to be a barn burner strap up right and so
44:28i think
44:29the hawks are a good way to get themselves ready uh for the for the celtics i'm inclined to agree
44:35with you with you on that one okay last thing for me here gerard what do you think since you
44:40are the
44:40guy from true hoop what's got to be true for the knicks to make a deep run and what's the
44:45one thing
44:46that you also think could derail the knicks from making a deep run and by deep run i want to
44:52be
44:52clear i keep clarifying this very clear what deep run means yes deep running to the second round
44:57people it's conference finals or later that is deep run i just want to be very clear on what that
45:03is so
45:03gerard what's got to be true for them to make a deep run and what's the one thing that could
45:07derail
45:07it all from them making a deep run where maybe they lose in the second round i mean they they
45:12went to
45:12the conference finals last year so i again as i said to start the show that's where if they get
45:18back there again that should not be surprising anybody it's about health dexter honestly injury
45:22is unable to derail them so that's what they need to not happen they need to they need to have
45:27injury
45:27luck in their favor right on both sides meaning they avoid injury luck and wouldn't hurt them if
45:33their if their opponent had some bad injury luck newsflash it happened to you last year against the
45:38celtics now nick fans gonna holler at me like oh we're gonna beat them anyway maybe you were
45:43maybe point is it didn't hurt that they lost their best player or second best player however you want
45:48to argue who jason tatum is um so yeah i think injuries are the biggest thing and i think that
45:53getting to the conference finals i don't think will be easy because again i think that boston series
45:58will be tough for them but they should be able to get back there and then dexter the conference finals
46:04against the pistons you know it assuming they get there if they get there assuming the pistons get
46:09there i think that would be a very interesting series from a number of reasons one the pistons
46:16pushed y'all last year to six and they were playoff neophytes and i don't know about you but when
46:27i
46:27watched those pistons knicks games this year the pistons showed up to those games with some attitude
46:32like oh man f these dudes all right like and the next the next to showed up with no fight
46:38which was
46:38disappointing and they had a level of bully ball to them and listen think about being young is you
46:45fully you know what and you don't know any better and you don't know better and listen i'm just gonna
46:52say this many people would favor the knicks to win that series i will just say if the bright lights
46:59do not bother the pistons i would not be surprised if they beat the knicks because there is a level
47:08of
47:10want to that they have and there is a level of shot making that they're that they have particularly
47:17behind cade cunningham i just there's a lot to like about this team that's all i'm saying i'm not
47:22saying i'm not predicting the pistons are going to win the nba championship none of that right shit
47:25they may lose in the second round for all i know all i'm saying is a pistons knicks series may
47:30not
47:31be the walkover that knicks fans think it would be i don't think it will be a walkover here's what
47:37i
47:37but i love a term that you use there i think you know what i think that series comes down
47:40to
47:41two words you said want to yeah because i think that this year in the regular season the pistons showed
47:51all the want to all that they were mad that the knicks bumped them out the playoffs jalen brunson
47:56crossing up a sore thompson jay and him in game six all that good stuff the knicks got swept 3
48:02-0 and
48:03it wasn't in the season regular season and this wasn't like oh man they lost one game by four they
48:08lost another by eight and another by 12. got spanked no they got spanked the pistons came and and what
48:13i
48:14didn't like if somebody covers the team there was no pushback yeah there was no fight back i didn't
48:21see that now the playoffs are a different game for sure to your point there's experience and the
48:27lights would get a little bit brighter in the conference finals the place the pistons have been
48:30haven't been and the knicks have been and all good stuff but here's what i'm saying at the end of
48:34the
48:34day if that happens and they get there and i'll remember this and we'll have gerard back on
48:38if that happens and it's if the knicks are going to win that series it's going to be about their
48:44want to yeah to get back for what that team did to them in the regular season yeah that is
48:49going to
48:49be a gut check moment for even them where's your pride wait like an old mob deep song where your
48:54heart at that's that's what that's what we're looking at right where your heart at and that's
49:00what that's going to be about but you know what that's good for that makes a great playoff basketball
49:04oh yeah that's what you want that's what we want and it will also depend on what was the round
49:11like
49:11before for the knicks getting to the conference finals did they have to go through seven to get
49:16to the south right yeah these are the things right so it's all and so let's say they do all
49:22that
49:23and if somehow somebody other than okc or denver get out of the west then i think you have to
49:32favor
49:32the knicks to win the championship this is that this is this i want to let people know gerard is
49:38my good friend we hang out and talk all for this this is maybe i'm not saying you're saying this
49:43this is as optimistic as i've heard about gerard with the knicks yeah maybe ever as long as i've
49:48known him so listen i'm a truth teller and again you're that's this squad is forged in the fire right
49:55this is year three for this crew together cat again only year two in the postseason for him but
50:01um you know four of the last five years they made the playoffs two years in a row the conference
50:06semis conference finals last year like they are battle tested again but what i worry about is what
50:12we talked about earlier in the show are they too over a line on jalen can he hold up the
50:17entire
50:17postseason do you work it enough cat right can the other guys get enough shots to make it matter
50:22josh hart is he decisive like all will tip will tips will mike brown be malleable enough to do what
50:27needs to be done right these are the things right that again and will they have some luck break their
50:33way and will they be able to take advantage of that luck last thing i'll say dex is yeah go
50:37ahead
50:37people don't think about luck at all when it comes to winning and that's a mistake because luck plays
50:46an integral part in every team winning a championship now listen to what i'm saying fans i don't
50:52people don't like nuance don't like to understand i'm not saying teams are lucky when they win i'm
50:57saying that things break in their favor and they then take advantage of the breaks that go in their
51:03favor right you have to be good enough for it to matter we talked about the wizards and the nets
51:07they can have all the luck in the world they still stink okay it don't matter they still stink you
51:13have
51:13to be good enough for the luck to actually matter and take advantage of it and if things break right
51:19this team is good enough i believe to take advantage of it i think that's fair i think that's
51:24some good truth i think it's a way to look at this knicks 2025 2026 season where they stand going
51:29to
51:29the playoffs you know we have to give you all the truth what's going on that's my guy gerard hector
51:34check him out with true they do a great job covering basketball they don't give you the truth there's no
51:38lies here that's not what we're supposed to do in journalism we're supposed to bring the truth
51:42to the light and that's that's what we're trying to do here uh gerard i don't know about you
51:46i'm just happy that the playoffs are here i know that is a lot of long nights of basketball watching
51:51for us not that we are complaining because i'm not doing that blessed to be able to watch the
51:55basketball and then talk about it we'll see how far the knicks go knicks will have a very interesting
52:00matchup against the hawks we've got a lot more coming up later this week on new york got game around
52:04that but that isn't my guy gerard hector again as i said check him out again on true hoop i'm
52:09dexter
52:10henry we'll catch you next time on another edition of new york got game peace
52:17and thanks for watching new york got game boom shakalaka
52:21you
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