00:00Back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals for the Knicks, but is this the year that they take it and go
00:06all the way, y'all?
00:07Let's take y'all back to school today.
00:09Jonathan Macri of the Knicks Film School joins us to talk about if this is the year the Knicks break
00:15the 53-year curse or drought, whatever word people want to use.
00:19Actually, I got something for you, JC.
00:22Back when the last time the Knicks won the championship, bell-bottoms were in style, and they seem to be
00:28back in style now.
00:29So let's just get back to them now.
00:32Back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearance.
00:35The Knicks go to the finals if...
00:40Well, first of all, I will wear bell-bottoms happily if they win the finals.
00:46I don't know about if they make it.
00:47They may have to win it to get me to put on a pair of those.
00:49I think they win it all if they keep doing what they're doing.
00:53And I understand that is a fairly loaded statement because part of what they're doing is shooting the lights out
01:00of the ball.
01:01They have, I think, currently nearly like a 60 effective field goal percentage for the playoffs.
01:06That would be higher than any team in the history of the NBA playoffs did.
01:11So I would expect that to come down.
01:13You know, I'm sure we'll talk a little bit about how important that shooting will be against certain opponents, perhaps
01:19who they will face out of the Western Conference.
01:21But they are playing as connected as any team in the league right now, certainly on the offensive end of
01:28the ball.
01:29And other than Oklahoma City, I'm really not sure that there is a team that is defending better than them.
01:35You could talk to me about Detroit a little bit, which, you know, maybe they'll see them in the next
01:40round.
01:40But especially given the Knicks personnel, you know, this idea that they have multiple spots that other teams can attack.
01:48That just hasn't been the reality for the second half of the Atlanta series.
01:51And then obviously this Philly series and Philly's, you know, give the Sixers credit.
01:55They came into that series being viewed as a dangerous offensive team and the Knicks completely shut off the water.
02:01So I see no reason why if they don't keep playing like this, they can't, for one, make the NBA
02:07finals and depending on who the opponent is, have a real shot of winning it all.
02:12All right, let's go back.
02:13Let's stay on the shooting because they shot a franchise record 25 threes and a 57 percent clip in game
02:20four of that Sixers series.
02:22They actually went from 27th to 12th in three-pointers attempted from last year to this year.
02:30If the Knicks continue to shoot like this, how dangerous are they to any opponent that's still left in the
02:37playoffs?
02:38Yeah, I mean, look, if they keep shooting like this and playing like this, I don't think it's a stretch
02:44to say that they should be favored to win it all.
02:47Now, again, if they keep shooting like this, that's doing a lot of heavy lifting here because it's a little
02:55bit silly to think that, like, you know, look at Carl Anthony Towns, look at OG Ananobi, look at Mikal
03:00Bridges.
03:00These guys are over the last, you know, several weeks in Mikal's case and really the entire playoffs in Katz's
03:08case and OG's case, they've never shot like this in their lives.
03:11So could this continue for another four weeks, five weeks, five and a half weeks, however long, you know, the
03:16season goes?
03:16I don't know.
03:18What I will say, though, is the big bad boogeyman that is Oklahoma City, the one way that you could
03:25beat OKC is you could knock down your threes.
03:27You could take the threes and you could hit the threes because even them, and we saw this last year
03:33when they played the Indiana Pacers in the finals, you can't take away everything.
03:37And the way the Knicks are moving the ball right now, the way they are putting pressure on defenses, they
03:43will get those threes because they just have a lot of very talented people.
03:48And if they get them and they keep hitting them at the clip that they're hitting them at now, I
03:52really just don't see anything that any team is going to be able to do to shut down their offense.
03:58This is a sports town where there are fan bases that will forget whatever adversity you went through in the
04:06regular season, if you show up and show out in the postseason.
04:11Has McHale Bridges shown his value in this playoffs, like all the draft picks that were traded?
04:17Is he worth it now, especially with OG out of the lineup?
04:22Well, the OG piece is interesting because, you know, McHale Bridges, you could say, going over the course of his
04:28whole career, his best ability is his availability.
04:31Obviously, he has never missed a game.
04:33And I do think that that was part of the calculation when they got him because OG Ananobi, for as
04:40wildly talented as he is, and we're seeing him play the best basketball of his life, injuries have always been
04:45part of his story.
04:46So to know that you have a guy in McHale Bridges who could step up and give you, you know,
04:51a reasonable facsimile of what OG Ananobi does is huge.
04:55But the thing, you know, I think more importantly with Bridges, when they got him, I think, did they probably
05:02expect a little bit more of the on-ball creation stuff that he showed in Brooklyn?
05:08Maybe, but that wasn't the primary reason that they went out and gave up what they gave up to get
05:12him.
05:13It was the fact that no matter who else was on the court, you know, what scheme that they were
05:18running, he was always going to be a guy that was a value add and someone that made everybody around
05:25him look better, made everybody's job easier, regardless of who he played with.
05:31And unfortunately, that hasn't always been the case with Bridges over the last two years.
05:35It certainly wasn't the case on the offensive end at the beginning of that Atlanta series and for much of
05:40this season.
05:41He has been doing that, you know, to such a level where you could look at him since game six
05:48of the Hawks series and legitimately say that this guy is the best role player in the league.
05:55Fans may hear that and say, well, hold on, five first round picks for a role player.
05:59This is what they wanted from him.
06:01This is what they needed from him.
06:02And if this is what they continue to get from him, you know, I'll say it again.
06:06I think this team could go all the way.
06:08Let's get back to the Eastern Conference finals of the Detroit-Cleveland series is tied up 2-2.
06:14Cade Cunningham looks like he could be a Knicks killer.
06:16But then Donovan Mitchell absolutely exploded in game four for that win to tie that series up.
06:22Who do you think is the better opponent for the Knicks in the conference finals?
06:28So let me give you the answer first and then I'll explain it.
06:31I think you go with the Cavs as the preferred opponent.
06:35If for no other reason than you get home court advantage against them
06:40and you have also shown the ability not only to beat them in the playoffs
06:46but really dominate them and kind of shake them to their core.
06:51Now, that series was three years ago.
06:54This is a different team.
06:56Obviously, they have James Harden.
06:57They have Max Struess, a guy who, you know,
07:00you could argue for all of their stars that they have on their roster.
07:04Max Struess has been the guy that has shown up most consistently in a big way in this Detroit series.
07:09You know, he's taking the Cade Cunningham assignment.
07:13The thing with Detroit is obviously they have handled the Knicks this year.
07:17They bring a level of physicality and toughness and relentlessness
07:21that they will make you look bad.
07:23They will make you it makes it look like you are beating yourself.
07:28But really, it's Detroit that is putting you in those positions,
07:32which is why I have the Cavs as the preferred matchup.
07:37Now, that said, for as underwhelming as the Cavs have been,
07:42number one, they really had the Knicks number last year,
07:44especially when the Knicks tried to defend them.
07:46They did not do a good job defending this Cleveland team during last regular season
07:49and even earlier this regular season.
07:52And then the other thing is I think the Cavs have a higher ceiling than the Pistons.
07:58So my answer is the Cavs, but I don't think that it is an open and shut case.
08:05And I think you could make an argument for both teams.
08:07I'm not trying to look ahead too much right now,
08:11but which Western Conference team do you feel like they match up best with in a potential finals?
08:19Well, of the teams that are still alive, I would just by default go with the Wolves.
08:25But let's take the Wolves out of it because obviously they're banged up
08:29and it's going to be tough for them to get past San Antonio, let alone Oklahoma City.
08:33I think you would say the better matchup is the Spurs just because the Knicks have
08:38taken on the Spurs three times this year.
08:39They won twice, including in the NBA Cup,
08:41and they probably should have won the third time for as dominant as Wembenyama is.
08:46And as much as he has ascended to a new level in this postseason,
08:52you know, flagrant elbows aside, I do think it is a pretty good match.
08:57Not a good matchup for the Knicks because I don't think they're a good matchup for anybody.
08:59But I think the Knicks match up with the Spurs as well as any team can match up with the
09:04Spurs.
09:05That is not to say that the Knicks could not beat the Thunder.
09:08And I know they are playing out of their minds.
09:11I know they have not lost a playoff game yet, starting out 8-0.
09:14I think some of that has to do with the level of competition that they have played.
09:18No offense to the Suns or this diminished version of the Lakers.
09:23But it'll come down again to hitting shots.
09:26I'll say this.
09:27The Knicks have played the Thunder really well in three of their last four matchups over the last two years.
09:34They have not won any of those matchups, but they have played them well.
09:37And I think they know how to compete with Oklahoma City.
09:43Whether they could actually take it all away, I think it's going to come down to not only making shots.
09:47But can they get the version of Carl Anthony Towns that we've seen over the first two rounds?
09:53Can they get some reasonable facsimile of that in that series?
09:58Again, we're not there yet.
09:59We've got a long way to go before we potentially get there.
10:02But it's already something that I've already been thinking about just because, you know,
10:06with the Knicks' level of play, they've earned that.
10:08I hope people don't look at us and be like, we've now cursed them by looking ahead to the finals.
10:13That's part of what we do in the media, y'all.
10:15It's part of what we do.
10:17J-Mac, appreciate you hopping on with us, my man.
10:20Always a pleasure.
10:21Let's keep it going for another month or so.
10:26Thanks, Paul.
10:28Thanks, Paul.
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