00:00ESPN's and former Nick Amon Shepard joins us right here at Shootaround.
00:04Get us ready, man.
00:05What are these guys going through?
00:07Give us some game one action.
00:09What can we expect from this series between the Cavs and the Knicks?
00:12Well, I think we can expect, honestly, this first game is going to be big
00:17because the Knicks have been sitting at home.
00:20They either come out of this ready to play or they might come out a little sluggish.
00:24If they come out sluggish, I think they could have one of two outcomes.
00:27Okay, let's go.
00:28Either the Cavs can come in here and steal one, the first game.
00:32I don't think game two will be available for them.
00:36But if they can come steal game one, I think this could be a long series.
00:41But I think that if the Knicks can come out and handle business to show that they've been wrestling
00:46but they've been wanting to play, I think Knicks can take care of this quick.
00:50I mean, having played two days ago, are you worried the Cavs can be a little sluggish on their start?
00:57I don't know.
00:57No, I think that I've seen both sides of that tale.
01:00I've seen and been on a team where we come out sluggish because we put a little bit too much
01:07emotion
01:07and too much passion.
01:08You're coming off a game, you get one day of rest, and you had to switch cities.
01:12So I've been in that situation.
01:14But I also have been in a situation where the other team is waiting, and now they're not rolling how
01:20we are.
01:21They're not confident in their play calling and just the communication, having their juices flowing, so to speak.
01:28I think it's easier to go off of your last game being a couple days ago than sitting at home
01:33and feeling like,
01:34man, because we're so well-rested, we should fare well.
01:36The Knicks were able to make adjustments against C.J. McCullough.
01:40They completely shut down Tyrese Maxey.
01:43Donovan Mitchell is another beast.
01:46How do you contain him?
01:47How do you stop him?
01:49How do they have some success against Donovan Mitchell, not only game one, but through the course of this series?
01:54Well, I think it's a trend for the NBA to kind of know Donovan Mitchell is a rhythm guy, but
02:02he's also a volume shooter.
02:04So if you can keep Donovan Mitchell true to his name as far as being a volume guy, and then
02:11limit all his easy ones.
02:12Don't give him the easy transitions.
02:15Always contested threes.
02:16If you can stay in front of him and do those things and keep him away from that sweet move
02:19he'd do.
02:20Absolutely.
02:20That little take it over your head move.
02:22If you can keep him away from those things and force him to search for his own offense, I think
02:28it can help your team a lot.
02:29But when Donovan Mitchell gets rolling, I think it opens so many different things for the Cavs and then loosens
02:36up James Harden's workload.
02:38And then you have to deal with kind of a double-edged sword with them.
02:41I think that the Knicks' focus should be that even if Donovan Mitchell can start getting rolling, I think, for
02:53the Knicks, it should feel like, hey, we know you're going to score.
02:56We know it might come in flurries, but we're going to take the punch and understand that at the end,
03:01it's tough for you to score against a set defense.
03:03Yeah, James Harden's got a lot of disrespect the last couple years of his career.
03:09He's kind of caught on fire throughout the course of that Detroit Pistons series.
03:14Donovan Mitchell, Batman has his Robin.
03:16How can he hurt in terms of James Harden?
03:18How can he hurt the Knicks?
03:20Well, James Harden is one of those guys that counts by three.
03:23If he gets going, he also makes sure that if you stick your hand in the cookie jar, he gets
03:29a foul called on you.
03:30People don't think about it much, but though we complain about guys that search for fouls, that's actually a skill,
03:36being able to get fouled.
03:37Because when you're able to get fouled, you can create matchup problems.
03:41You can change lineups.
03:42Anytime there's a big out there, being able to run and attack a big's hip and get him one or
03:47two fouls softens their defense at the rim.
03:49Softens their ability to rotate, softens their ability to deal with a ball screen, which is how James Harden usually
03:54predominantly scores on an opponent.
03:57So knowing these things, I just look for James to be smart.
04:02And if I'm the Knicks, I want to look at it and say, hey, keep my hand out the cookie
04:07jar.
04:07Keep it out.
04:08We don't have time for James Harden to be on the free throw line, and we definitely don't want him
04:12shooting from the three-point line.
04:13You want James Harden shooting a mid-range jumper, which he's capable of, but he's played by three for so
04:18long.
04:19It's been a three-hour layup.
04:20I think he's kind of lost that art of the mid-range, and that's what they need to hang their
04:23hat on.
04:24A lot of unnecessary calories in the cookie jar that the Knicks can't afford.
04:29Last but not least, man, I mean, we talked about Donovan Mitchell, James Harden.
04:32Let's keep it.
04:33Go back to the Knicks side of things.
04:35Carl Anthony Towns, OG Ananobi, Mikael Bridges.
04:39Who's going to, which one of those three guys will be the X-Factor and impact this series most of
04:43the Knicks?
04:44It's Carl Anthony Towns.
04:44Yeah, and you still run the offense through him.
04:47If Carl Anthony Towns continues to get that ball in that blast stash and continue to get that ball in
04:51the 21-pistol action on the side,
04:53but continues to make sure that he lets each cut happen, he lets each screen happen, and then surveys until
04:59the very end,
05:00I think he can hit that late pass and really give them an advantage.
05:03Are you a prediction guy, Knicks or Kevin?
05:05I really just won a great series.
05:07I've played with both organizations.
05:09Both organizations have been great to me.
05:12You know, the Knicks have the home court advantage.
05:14I'm thinking that this might be the next year to deal with that home court advantage.
05:19I've seen crazy things happen, but I'm not going to pick a side.
05:22I just want to see great basketball.
05:24Shout out to the Cavs and the Knicks for taking me on in.
05:27True politician right there.
05:29The next mayor of Cleveland or New York.
05:31Hey, Sean, I appreciate your time, man.
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