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00:15welcome back to another edition of new york got game your boy dexter henry here we are waiting to
00:20see who the knicks will play in the nba finals will it be the oklahoma city thunder will it be
00:25the san antonio spurs that is the question we're going to try to answer today and joining me
00:29to talk about that it's a guy whose work i love he does a lot of great content around film
00:35breakdown
00:36around the knicks and the nba it's my guy shacks nba joining me now shacks what's going on man how
00:41you doing i'm doing well um it's not every day like you get like the finals appearance so
00:52pretty cool yeah not every day you get a finals appearance it is it is pretty cool and it's a
00:58good time um where the knicks are right now shacks let me start with this with you because the knicks
01:04they're going to their first nba final since 99 when you step back and you look at this run what
01:09do you think has been the biggest difference between this year's team and then previous
01:14knicks playoff teams that fell short what's been the biggest difference for you
01:19i think um the player makeup mostly because i think acquiring guys like mccall bridges um og and
01:27and obi um carl anthony towns like significantly uh raised their ceiling i think especially like
01:33the cat trade it got them like a center that can space the floor and so now you're able to
01:38play like
01:39a little bit more five out basketball which is um has proven to be very good in a playoff atmosphere
01:45so you see how they have like a um the offense is much better um and than in previous seasons
01:53with
01:54julius randall i think also having the other wings like og and mikhail as mentioned before like
02:00they're like great complimentary pieces um compared to like an rj barrett um
02:07uh even though emmanuel quickly was really good like he wasn't a wing
02:13yeah it you know i think when people hear you say that it's not shade to those other players right
02:18is the knicks had to level up in some way with the talent and they've done that through the the
02:24team building right um and i think even when you looked at the talent of this group a lot of
02:30people
02:30thought the knicks they they could contend this year i think that was a thought from a lot of people
02:34hey the knicks could contend this year but i don't think anybody maybe it was you maybe you
02:38looked at the numbers very few people predicted a dominant run here for the knicks like that we've
02:43seen through the east how much of this feels like what you were talking about because you just
02:47mentioned some other players the result of elite team building versus a team simply getting hot at
02:53the right time which one do you think it is well i think i don't think anyone expected like 11
03:01in a
03:01row wait no no you're in the play but um i think you expected this group to be like really
03:08good
03:09because they were expected to be title contenders to begin the year i i did not expect this so some
03:15of it is also like getting extremely hot but um also they've been my phone has like maximized most
03:23of the team from the defensive standpoint and offensive standpoint so there's like so many ways
03:29to win now compared to like previous seasons yeah no there's no doubt about that you know you just
03:35said something because a lot of people are going to say this okay they got hot at the right time
03:39are you ever concerned with the fact that they've won 11 straight now they're going to the finals
03:44that the i'm air quoting this the hotness can run out right they can not be on the heater in
03:50the
03:50way that we've seen them do you think that changes at all or it's about hey if you build these
03:55good
03:55habits and you have this consistent play this can carry over to the finals yeah i i strongly believe
04:01um that um that they're that they're just simply a really good team even though like we've seen like
04:07really hot shot making i think you have the players to do to do that shot making with right
04:13there's like a lot of talk about um their shot making is like extraordinary right but right also
04:22because of it's also because of the talent they have too that they're able to make those shots at
04:27such a high high rate yeah no doubt about that let let's let's talk about the western conference
04:33finals matchup because we're recording this before game six uh between the oklahoma city thunder and
04:37san antonio spurs which team do you think is the more favorable nba finals matchup for the knicks right
04:42now would you go thunder or would you go spurs i'd say like um i'd say the spurs like 100
04:48like no doubt
04:49about it in my mind if you want to give it like a reasons why i think yeah i think
04:54okc has more wing
04:55depth like alex caruso i think lou dork's really good case and wallace i mean he's got long arms you
05:02may as
05:02well count him as a wing might as well yeah um jaylon williams even though i think jaylon
05:09williams will play in a potential series against them so you could add him to the mix but the spurs
05:15like you have the three guards and castle on the asshole and on derrick harper and little four guards
05:22with derrick um dieron fox but i don't think dylan harper you said derrick harper throwback nick
05:26throwback nick there that's right dylan harper so you don't have the exact amount of like wing
05:34depth defensively even though the spurs are a really good defensive team i think their point
05:38of attack defense is extremely good i think when they're defending cat right so a lot of teams want
05:45to want to cross match with putting their big on josh hart i think i think that the spurs just
05:52like the size to put on cat a little bit so that's interesting because i do think the spurs
05:59are the better matchup so i'm with you on this and i've thought about the cross match stuff right
06:04like are you gonna are you gonna put wendy on josh hart they you know um what are you gonna
06:09do when
06:10you go to the bench with different with different lineups there they don't have the size it's a good
06:15point one thing i like shacks is the knicks i think to your point they've got the guards the
06:21spurs do but the knicks have the wings i think to throw at those guards and slow them down and
06:26i
06:26think that's something i like in that matchup where and this will kind of go to my next question
06:30because to okc to just bring it back to them if the knicks face okc they're up three two at
06:36the
06:36time of us recording this what would worry you the most about that is it sga shot creation is it
06:42their defensive versatility because that's the first thing you mentioned right all the wings that
06:45can throw at them is it their pace and transition because they can't get out and get those buckets
06:50or simply just i mean if we want to simplify is it just the depth that they can throw at
06:54the knicks
06:55is that which one of those things worries you the most when it comes to okc
07:01it'd have to be a mix of like defensive versatility and also sga's shot creation too right
07:07i think like we touched on the uh the defensive side a little bit yeah um and they want to
07:14generate
07:14turnovers they want to like get on transition um for sga i think attacking brunson is like a little
07:21bit more different than say like a dj fox or a stefan castle attacking jalen brunson like i think i
07:28think
07:28those are like completely different levels um even um jalen williams like jalen williams if you put
07:35jalen williams on the spurs he'd be their lead creator so just having having sga and jalen williams
07:41like possibly attacking brunson would be um a little bit more difficult for them yeah it's in size
07:49size matters there right they just have an embarrassment of riches with the size and the
07:53shot creation there now let's go back to the spurs here on the flip side if the knicks end up
07:58playing
07:58the spurs what part of san antonio's roster or style makes them dangerous despite i think the
08:04thing that everyone will look at with them is like their youth right like they haven't been here before
08:08they haven't got this far what what do you look about them that's like okay this will be dangerous
08:12for the knicks i think some somewhat uh victor and banyama a little bit and also stopping their
08:22driving from a castle and fox and um harper i think fox is a little bit labored right now though
08:31so i think that's the knicks favor yeah i wonder i wonder how much that works in the knicks favor
08:38there look vick played trying to trying to handle vick could be a problem do you think just to follow
08:46up on that do you think the knicks have enough size that they can throw at vick especially with
08:50someone like mitchell robinson do you think they have enough size and when you look at how they
08:54match up this this year and i think about the last game at the garden in early february the knicks
08:59had him i'm not in check but they had him pretty much under control um kell bridges had a big
09:04game
09:04in that one i think at five steals 25 points um but when you think about victor and banyama and
09:09him being the future face of the league do you like how the knicks could potentially defend him
09:14if they see him yes um i think they have a lot of versatility even more than like the thunder
09:20to be honest because of og and i think i think sticking og og on him would work too if
09:28you want
09:28to take away like some of the actions with him but i also think that playing him with a center
09:33is
09:33really helpful as we see in like the thunder series right now they're using hardenstein to
09:38defend them earlier they tried like alex caruso and when he was like posting him up like crazy
09:45yeah so this is still this is still a really good defender and he can take on like a cat
09:50matchup but
09:51when banyama was like he's just he was really good at using his size that time yeah he was yeah
09:57he was
09:58it's been interesting how to use hardenstein against sorry i didn't mean to cut you off but it's
10:01interesting how they've been using hardenstein against him in the series yeah yeah so i was just
10:06gonna say how like days have switched it to hardenstein and now i feel like he can't like post up
10:11the
10:11same or he can't like get into iso drives the same as um when he had a caruso yeah and
10:18then the nicks
10:18say the nicks do have size you got cat you got mitch um even if you want to throw huck
10:2340 i doubt he
10:24gets in there for some minutes against him but you never know okay so matchup wise shacks
10:30which nick do you think becomes the biggest x factor depending on whether they face the spurs or the
10:36thunder or or is it or either one would it still be the same guy who do you think could
10:40be the x factor
10:41in either of those series i think it's the wins by far like um bridges and and it will be
10:48i think
10:49bridges a little bit more in both in both series mostly because i think you could have the scoring
10:55um and the san antonio series a little bit better because of um san jones drop coverage i think playing
11:03that um just unlocks his mid-range game a little bit more on the ball if you want um i
11:08also think
11:10against okc that it's important that he shoots well like it's important that bridges and og should
11:16go from the outside um how they've been shooting for um this playoff run so i think those those
11:23things are those things are would be the x factors film i like that there's a there's a really good
11:30example of this of a game where like both things were just completely going on against okc i believe
11:35was like last season and um to me that was like the biggest x the biggest x factor of that
11:42game
11:43you got to be too i assume you're talking about the i think it was the early january matchup they
11:49played last season um the knicks the knicks lost that one i think i don't remember a single digit
11:53they lost that one but they played really good for three quarters like they looked really good
11:58um everybody looked good the wings the wings are good so wing stop has to be wing stop for you
12:03if they're going to in either of these series they're gonna this is going to be very important
12:08yeah i also throw in josh hart obviously i think josh hart's just got to shoot well
12:13oh yeah yeah he's got to shacks he's got to yeah
12:19yeah he's got to because you know what he you know for me and i'm glad you mentioned him
12:23every time i've been on shows or i've been asked this whole playoff run they'd be like well who's
12:28your x factor and i'm always like josh hart yeah i know let me let me ask you this since
12:32you
12:32mentioned him how much of that for you is about not just the shot making shacks but the other thing
12:37i've been kind of harping on is he also just still has to be aggressive right in terms of is
12:42are you
12:43going to drive the ball if they are going to put a center on you in the cross matching that
12:46you still
12:47have to attack how much of that still matters for you in the way josh hart plays in the next
12:51series
12:52yeah um a lot um i'm actually made a recent article um today that um showed them uh attacking
13:00the cross match with like um josh hart setting like a bunch of off screens um i think that's
13:06another way to attack it as well um so you can do that you can do a handoff stuff like
13:12the dream on
13:13green um run up and pitch it to like mccill bridges one of the shooters like shannon mcbride
13:20so it's just his activity is extremely important i like that word connectivity gotta have different
13:27ways that you're trying to attack um those matchups now look a lot of time checks you've
13:32heard this through the and i'm sure you've done it in looking at the film and you're writing on
13:36your sub stack a lot of talk has been about offense but for me for me personally the most
13:42surprising development for the knicks this whole playoff run has been the defense and how connected
13:47they've been how much credit do you think mike brown deserves for turning this group into the
13:52defensive force that we've seen during the playoffs because i don't think they're here without the
13:55defense playing at the level that they are yep for sure um it also carries over to the offense right
14:01so you get into like transition opportunities a lot i think the starters have played um like
14:06exceptional defense to where the cross matches and like hindering them in the half court all the time
14:12so they're getting out in transition and scoring more that way um on the point about like uh mike
14:19brown's changes i think mike brown and his staff we have to include right so he's looking at um
14:26different stuff from brennan o'connor um dan ehrman has a voice now i mean maybe he had one before
14:32but
14:33he definitely got one yeah so he's hey mike brown i'm glad you said that because mike brown has been
14:40the one to constantly bring up his staff um you know and he the word i always keep talking about
14:46that he's used is collaborative right jacks and he's really been that and that staff has been
14:50instrumental in the turning defense around could you maybe talk a little bit to how challenging it is
14:57to do that to improve the defense to where it was if we even go back to january when they
15:02had that
15:02two and nine stretch to see where they are now defensively like what stands out to you the
15:07most about where they are now defensively
15:12i think i think you'll always have like a few rough patches when you're like changing stuff
15:17so it's not always going to be perfect um throughout the entire process of it but um the changes that
15:23i
15:23like the most is that it's just like um getting higher on ball screen specifically with cat i think
15:29cats more comfortable when he's high up even have even like had a quote on last season he said that
15:36he liked getting higher up on screens to use his length he uses like god-given abilities instead of
15:43like being on a drop coverage all the time yeah he hated drop coverage i think i think he's like
15:49paying
15:50more attention to like it allows him to just focus on on the defensive side a little bit more
15:58yeah i think that's i think that's been huge for them um and cat yeah we looked at cat last
16:03year in
16:03drop coverage and a lot of times you remember we saw og and they'll be telling him like get up
16:06get up
16:07get up and drop coverage he just wasn't comfortable playing there in the way he's looked playing higher
16:11up this year so i think you're absolutely right right about that but look the other thing is we've
16:16talked all year long about if you go back to the offensive side jalen brunson's greatness right
16:21shacks but this playoff run feels different for me at least because he no longer it looks this way
16:26he no longer has to do everything by himself we saw the knicks run the offense to cat as the
16:31hub
16:31how important for you has the evolution of the knicks i don't want to just talk about cat but the
16:36entire supporting cast to jalen brunson how important has that been in this finals run
16:45so i think most of it i think it's really important right um i think when you talk about like
16:52the cat
16:52club stuff it's just it's also not just about cat it's about like the other players like how og and
16:57nobody's going to cause a mismatch if you're going to screen a small one of them like the actions with
17:03um brunson and him like teams aren't really going to switch those they don't generally want to switch
17:10a a not so great defender on brunson and they don't really want to switch like
17:15a little maybe might be like a shorter but stockier defender on odian and noby so teams might not be
17:21comfortable with that as we saw with the sixes and the hawks series so that that counts as like
17:26using your entire team um i think that bridges also really has been really good with his cutting
17:34ability off of it um so that's opened up a little bit more um brown wins a lot of the
17:41motion offense
17:42to begin the year and i thought they just got off to like a really great start because of it
17:45so going back to it um it was really important i thought yeah it really has been and one of
17:53the
17:53things i've seen too i've noticed you talked about the transition buckets and you saw it a lot against
17:56cleveland um one of the things that mike brown wanted was the wings to get out quickly down the
18:02court into the corners you saw so much of that um against cleveland and how they've been able to
18:06take advantage of that so that's been really good and i think that's got the wings engaged offensively
18:10and it's interesting because you said there's such a huge key coming up in the next series to which i
18:15would agree let's talk about the mental side of this run this 11 straight wins how impressed have
18:23you been with the way this team has handled the pressure the expectations we all know what they
18:27were coming to this season it was finals or bust you know and then playing here in new york during
18:33a
18:33historic run you know because i think we can look at all the x's and o's we can look at
18:37the films but
18:38the mental side of it like have you been impressed with how they've handled all of it during this run
18:42dude it's like unbelievable like i love the mentality of zero zero every game they me that's like very
18:50impressive and they've um also backed it up with wins right um i also think part of it is like
18:56playing
18:57together for the second time season so the chemistry builds um it's built up um a lot since last season
19:07um i don't think part of it has been like getting getting the rest period i think mentally that
19:13helps you um mentally that helps you as well as like physically when you're when you've gotten the
19:19rest you've gotten because of the um sweeps a lot of people are going to hear that and say
19:25ah they had nine days between the philly series and the cav series and now they're going to get another
19:31nine days between the cav series and the nba finals i am a believer rest is i'd rather have
19:38the rest than the rust you can shake off rust you can shake it off in a couple quarters you
19:42can't
19:42shake off fatigue uh it is my thing you so you think the rest is good for the dicks again
19:46here in the
19:47finals yeah it's definitely because it's just a little bit less stressful for them like imagine going
19:54until game six today where um okc and the spurs are today so you have a little bit of a
20:01break yeah
20:02that little bit of a break is really good last thing for me here shacks today just that right now
20:07i know how you feel in the moment do you think the knicks are going to win the nba championship
20:12and if so
20:13what's the single biggest reason why you believe this knicks team can finish the job here in 2026
20:21so i i do believe that they can win it i think they can beat anyone right now i don't
20:26i don't mean
20:27that sound cocky or anything you think the thunder are a really good team and will give them like a
20:32really good battle they're uh defending champions and um they give them a lot of um different looks
20:40that they well they've seen it in the playlist but sga is just a little bit different and they're
20:46i think that's a little bit different but um yeah i think the knicks have a have like a really
20:51good
20:51shot of winning um the single biggest reason why it would have to be like the offense for me
20:58i think putting the five on hard is like i think that i think that's all the team that's all
21:04the
21:04teams have left right now um and if the knicks figure that out which they did against cleveland
21:11um it can like push them forward completely oh what i find interesting you said there too is i
21:18remember at the beginning of this playoff run i had my guy right at the end of the regular season
21:21i had my guy gerard hector on and he talked about that he said dex i think if this team
21:26their offense
21:27is really clicking as much as i'm impressed with the defense if their offense really gets going
21:31he's like the knicks can do what they need to do and the offense has been absolutely fantastic
21:35um right now all right you're giving the knicks a good shot to win the championship that's what
21:40the fans want to hear i know they're excited about that i think they have a legit shot to do
21:44this as
21:44well too we'll see who they play will it be the thunder will it be the spurs we'll be watching
21:49to
21:49see that that is my guy shacks check him out check out his sub stack uh it does a great
21:54job covering
21:55the nba breaking down film all the analysis one of the best out there shacks i appreciate you coming
22:00through with me on new york got game thank you my guy yep thank you for having me anytime all
22:06right
22:06everybody more stuff coming your way your boy dex sammy signing off we'll catch you next time
22:10another edition of new york got game and thanks for watching new york got game boom shakalaka
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