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00:15welcome back to another edition of new york got game we are awaiting to see the start of the nba
00:21finals that will have the new york mix against an opponent from the western conference who we do
00:25not know yet however we know who will be calling the games for the nba finals and that is going
00:32to
00:32be my guest today i'm very excited to have a chance to talk and interview somebody who i admire
00:37very much from watching him listening to him for quite a long time he is the play-by-play voice
00:41of
00:42the new york knicks for the msc network also the lead play-by-play voice of the nba on espn
00:48joining
00:48me now the one and only mike breen mike how you doing sir i'm good pleasure to be on dexter
00:55thanks
00:55for having me no glad glad to have you glad to talk to you uh it's been a wild ride
01:00through the
01:00playoffs for these knicks and mike you know this very well because you called the last knicks nba
01:07finals run in 1999 and now 27 years later you're going to be calling another one i gotta ask you
01:13this let's just go back to cleveland game four on memorial day when the final buzzer sounded
01:19against the calves what was going through your mind personally as that final buzzer sounded knowing the
01:25knicks will be going to the finals well because of the way the game unfolded um you knew they were
01:31going to win from pretty much the mid third quarter on so you had time to prepare for it um
01:37but you know
01:38i just i felt good for for two different groups of people first off the team because been around them
01:45all year and you see the work they put in and it didn't come easy they had some real growing
01:51pains
01:51and for them to get to this point and play at this level at this time of year um you
01:57just felt
01:58great for them because you knew how much work they put in that's the coaching staff the front office and
02:03of course the players and then the other i mean i just have a soft spot in my heart for
02:08for the nick
02:08fans because i know what they've been through and there's been so many difficult years and even years
02:15where the team may have been really good like the last couple of years ended in disappointment so for
02:21this year become the first since 99 to to make the finals um i could see it throughout the playoffs
02:28and
02:28even during a regular season the joy that the uh that the fans have watching this team so i felt
02:35great
02:35for the nick fans because they are so so loyal as you know dexter oh yeah we we know that
02:41and and like
02:42like yourself you know i grew up rooting for this next team um grew up listening to you on the
02:48radio
02:48with clyde on wfan you know seven years old listening to you guys on the radio and you've
02:52been rooting for the knicks since about this years when you were about seven years old so about that
02:56same time um you've been rooting for the knicks does this run for you feel different because of
03:02what you just mentioned everything that the fan base has gone through in the past two plus decades
03:07and then you being around it seeing everything the franchise has gone through this this run feel
03:12different for you because of that yes because um there's been so many dark years yeah my first 10
03:20years as nick broadcaster they were basically a championship contender every year but since like
03:272002 i think i had a stat if i can remember it from 2002 to 2020 i think they won
03:34a total of of
03:36eight playoff games seven or eight playoff games and since jalen brunson's come on they've won 35
03:43um it's crazy how how many bad years there were so that's what makes this so special and then
03:51obviously today is so different than than the last time they made the finals because now you have social
03:55media and it just seems like you're seeing everybody's reaction um everywhere and i can't
04:02remember a nick team and again social media has something to do with it has electrified the city
04:07the way this team has but it's not just the success dexter it's the way they play and the way
04:13they carry
04:13themselves that's something that's something i'm getting to with this team and the and the way
04:18the way they play well we'll get to that in one second but just to stick with you right because
04:24and you and i were talking about this before we started recording
04:27and i someone myself now who does some play-by-play i think you think a lot about anything
04:33in broadcasting interviews you'll do big games you'll call those things are always in your mind
04:38are these next potentially seven games something that you dreamed about calling when you decided that
04:45you wanted to be a play-by-play broadcaster way back when you were a young nick fan is this
04:49something that you've always been thinking about uh i didn't dream i'd be calling a nick game in the
04:54finals on national television that those streams are they're they're too big i had no idea i mean
05:01i dreamt of being the nick radio uh play-by-play voice that's what i dreamed of when i was
05:05in college
05:06starting to to get into this uh so the thought of broadcasting a championship uh the way marv did
05:12back in 70 and 73 that that was the dream um and for me with doing the finals all these
05:19years
05:19it's i it's such a privilege and it's such an honor um but i always wanted to do
05:25the have the knicks in the finals one of these years and to have that happen that's a dream come
05:31true because it's again for the fans for the organization and i think for the nba too um you
05:38know whoever san antonio okc wins their fans are going to be crazed but i think the pure basketball fans
05:44really appreciate um what this team represents in terms of how they play the game how their approach
05:50to the game and again how they carry themselves so i i think it has potential regardless if it's
05:56the spurs or the thunder to be a really special nba finals i i would be inclined to agree with
06:01you
06:01there you said you you always wanted you know in your years of doing this on the national stage you
06:06wanted the knicks to be in there um obviously last year was that disappointing to you because you
06:13were doing the western conference finals last year mike you didn't get to do the eastern conference
06:16finals you did this year but then seeing what happened with the knicks right makes me think
06:19of game one the halliburton shot was that disappointing for you to know that the knicks
06:24could have got there and you could have been calling them the nba finals last year right it was close
06:28and
06:28i'll tell you a story i haven't said this much dexter but last year before the conference finals so
06:33we have the west and tnt has these kevin harlan the great kevin harlan who is a dear friend
06:39he's calling the knicks pacers and he calls me a couple of days before the series and he says you
06:45know what because you've been waiting uh almost three decades for the knicks to be in a conference
06:51final because it was the first and 25 um he goes i want you to call the games for tnt
06:57i'm going to go
06:57to my bosses i'm going to tell them that you should do it and i'll go do the the west
07:01uh for uh for espn
07:04and he was serious he was serious and he said he goes i know my bosses would love to have
07:09you you
07:09deserve it this is the this is the team you followed all this you deserve it and he goes and
07:14even if espn um doesn't want to use me and they want to use one of their announcers whether it
07:19was
07:19dave pash or mark jones he goes i'm fine i'll sit it out that's the kind of man kevin harlan
07:24is i was
07:25so touched by that and you know he said think about it overnight now we'll talk tomorrow so i thought
07:31about it overnight and he called again the next day like he this was not some gratuitous so i'll
07:36let me throw this offer out there he wanted to do that for a friend and uh we both decided
07:42it's
07:42probably not the right thing to do for our employers who've both been espn to me and tnt to him
07:48so so we didn't go through with it um but i was so touched the fact that he wanted to
07:53thought that
07:53thought that way um but again that's the kind of man that he is yeah and the reason i asked
07:59that mike
08:00is because i thought about it for you last year you know when even though you were calling the
08:04games on the other side it popped in my head i said man breen will get to call these these
08:08next
08:08games as they get to the finals they did it and obviously when it just happened the other day and
08:12you get to call the conference finals and get to see them go there and you know i saw your
08:16i saw your
08:17interview with monica mcnutter after the game and i just i saw monica the other day and we were
08:21talking you know i thought about how special it was but thanks for sharing that story that's a great
08:25story about kevin harley that's yeah it just tells you about but i do think that you know you think
08:31about game one which was one of the most deflating games in nick's history and it set the tone um
08:39for
08:39the rest of the series so if halliburton hits that shot and i'm doing a national game i'm gonna be
08:45screaming wild that tyrese halliburton hit this great shot you know the whole thing yeah and i know
08:51that nick fans would have been furious with me yes they would have but that's that's part of
08:56that's part of the job and you know if it's uh one banyama or if it's shea gilgers alexander
09:03hits a big shot that's you know that's i i have to uh to be unbiased and do it so
09:08i'm sure nick fans
09:09are going to be annoyed at certain calls but i'm sure um thunder or spurs fans are going to be
09:14annoyed but that's you know what dexter you know what i love about that it shows you how much
09:19the fans care they're so passionate yes that they think their team can do no wrong and they
09:24think if an announcer criticizes their team they're for the other side or if you even make a big call
09:30for that team um if you ask uh any of the announcers joe buck when he did the world series
09:35um and and or anybody that's done uh the hockey the every finals i've ever done one team thinks or
09:43one team's fans think i'm for the other team's fans and the other team's fans think i'm for the
09:47first team's fans right but that's because fans are so passionate and and to me that just shows
09:53they care so much i love that well i'll say this the fans better be honest because i've heard this
09:57all season and and particularly and i know you and i feel the same way about the local tv partners
10:04not
10:05having the first round games anymore right i i'm not a i'm not a fan of it i don't like
10:09it but fans
10:10are saying hey i miss hearing green and clyde um i missed them in the second round they they want
10:14now
10:14they get you in the finals but they have to understand the job you're a national broadcaster
10:19you have to play it down the middle you have to be excited for one to call you can't take
10:23sides here
10:24so yeah but they should i think everybody and i say this personally we're grateful to hear you call
10:28next games in the finals i know that's that's going to be fun now you mentioned game one against
10:34the pacers last year game one's against cleveland this year in the conference finals
10:40that was crazy where does that rank for you in the games that you've called because of just how
10:45frenetic that game was particularly the fourth quarter um it has to be up there i never ranked
10:50them but but that's one of the all-time greats for a couple of reasons number one it's one of
10:55the
10:55greatest uh comebacks in nba playoff history forget just nick's history and and to see a team
11:02basically they were done down 22 points with seven and a half to go some fans started to leave i
11:08have a
11:08friend of mine who actually told me the next day he admitted i left i left with eight minutes to
11:13go
11:14and and it's but you can't you know people have reasons for that but it's still it was such an
11:19an unbelievable comeback and that's one of the loudest i've heard the garden in uh in a long time
11:25and there are a lot of nights where the place is just you feel like the roof's going to come
11:28off
11:28uh so that was that was thrilling and uh to do it in a playoff setting especially to set the
11:35tone
11:36in game one and especially with what happened in game one the previous year against the pacers
11:41uh it was almost good karma for the nicks to to be able to do that yeah it really was
11:47i think one
11:48thing from that game that i'll always think about and i think a lot of people will think about you
11:51think about the landry shammon shot right i called it the reverse haliburton right because he got the
11:55bounce there but you almost you had the half bang i'll call it that on the sam merrill shot
12:03did that bother you at all as a broadcaster because i know we we never want to jump the call
12:08right and i don't want to say that you jumped the call but i liked it because people anticipate your
12:14bangs right and you kind of anticipated it too actually you you could say i jumped the call because
12:20i did um from our vantage point and and i felt i felt better after i saw the replay they
12:25did a a uh
12:26a zoom in half the basketball was under under the cylinder yeah so i was ready for for a big
12:33call and
12:34you know that happens i mean you get on top of it you want to make a clean crisp call
12:38that wasn't but
12:39um that's part of kind of the human emotion of of when you're watching it and and you know
12:45there are plenty of calls where i like there's a shot oh no you know it's just it's all part
12:50of
12:50the job i've said this many times um i i've never had a perfect game that i that i called
12:56i make mistakes
12:57every game uh but that one was was there was such emotion of it the knicks make this big comeback
13:03and
13:03if merrill hits the shot and then all of a sudden it's a comeback that goes for naught it's unbelievable
13:09and that the landry shannett shot um what i remember from that one is so the ball hits the room
13:15and
13:16goes up you could hear if you go back and listen to it you could hear the crowd go oh
13:20and then the
13:22next second it goes through and they explode moments like that are just you know as a broadcaster
13:27you live for and sometimes you nail the call and sometimes you you get a little premature on
13:32on the bang but it was it was so exciting and it it goes to show you dexter that um
13:38the fine line
13:39between winning and losing so if shamit shot one bounce doesn't go in or merrill shot one bounce does
13:46go in the whole series could be different and the narrative of the entire thing of the entire um
13:54whole playoffs could also change it's it's crazy how that happens now i i still think the next even if
13:59they lost game one they would have won the series but it just it's amazing how one shot going in
14:05or
14:05out can change so many different things yeah the the margins are that thin right in in the sport of
14:11basketball sports in general we'll have to say now look mike you've called some incredible basketball
14:16over the years right we could talk about finals olympics uh you've had great calls with all-time
14:22players that people will remember but when it comes to knicks playoff moments what's your favorite
14:28knicks playoff moment that you had the opportunity to call and why is it your favorite um i can't
14:34narrow it down there's a lot i know it's tough can you do you can give us a couple if
14:38you if you can
14:39or a couple that well the game the other night that the game won the comeback there wasn't one specific
14:45the shannon shot was certainly big but that's that's absolutely up there um last year jalen brunson
14:52shot in game six against detroit um you know was magnificent that was such a hard-fought series
14:59um and of course he was the one to win it uh the dante divincenzo shot against the sixers a
15:05couple
15:05of years ago in the first round um that was unbelievable then you go way back um the year
15:12when they went to the finals in 94 i was doing radio and patrick ewing when he got the tip
15:17in to beat the
15:17pacers and then he jumps up on the uh on the scores table and puts his big arms out as
15:23if to say i'm
15:23embracing 19 000 people right here uh that was also really really special um so those are amongst
15:30those i never liked to rank them uh yeah those those are all great great memories those are great
15:36ones i've heard i've heard all your did you call one that popped in my mind i don't think i
15:40believe
15:40i was watching this game on tv so i don't think i listen to you on the radio you were
15:43there you
15:44called the dunk in 93 john starks yeah oh yeah yeah that's that's one of the one of the great
15:50moments in next history i don't have to tell you that that was electrifying and when he when he
15:55dunked that you really thought they were going to win that year um because they they were playing so
16:00well although probably the best team was the 97 team i say this all the time i tell people this
16:07all
16:07the time either there was no doubt they were going to be beat chicago that year yep and then that
16:12ridiculous uh i mean it was a rule so you had to abide by it but to have guys who
16:17just kind of
16:18wandered off the the bench for a second didn't even get involved get it suspended and to have it go
16:24over
16:24two games um that was a hard one hard series they were in complete control of the series and again
16:30how
16:31about that like one play yep changes the narrative of what could have been the end to the next championship
16:37drought i'm glad to say that i've always talked about that 97 team i believe they won three out
16:42of four from the bulls that year they beat the bulls in the last game of the season i think
16:46john
16:46stark said a game winning three if i remember and they were rolling everything was good and then it
16:50wasn't but you're right the margins the margins of that then when you look at this next team right
16:56and and their run there's been some talk from some people not i don't think me or you would say
17:01this but some some are saying hey the knicks they've had an easy path here to the finals you've
17:07seen what championship teams have looked like somebody who's called the finals does the knicks
17:12does this next team in your eyes do they look like a championship team right now is that something you
17:16say absolutely um i hate that when people bring that up because you can only play who's in front of
17:21you right and if you go back over time there are plenty of championship teams that caught a break
17:27either through an injury or a team getting upset in the previous round that that happens but i i won't
17:32even get into discussing that because the team has to just play who's in front of them and move forward
17:38and the ironic thing dexter is that before the atlanta series there are a lot of people to pick the
17:44hawks
17:45yeah there was before the philly series there were people picking philly and there were people
17:50picking the cleveland calves so all of a sudden now after the knicks beat them while they're not
17:54they're not really you know that good that's it's ridiculous because you to me you can't criticize
18:00the team for advancing and not only advancing but dominating the way they have and say oh they had an
18:05easy they had a cakewalk now the either of the team they're going to play they're at a different level
18:10defensively than any team that we they faced in the playoffs there's no question about it but the knicks
18:16deserve to be there and they have they certainly regardless spurs or thunder they've got a shot i i would
18:24be
18:24inclined to agree with that as well now you've also been around some great knicks players over the
18:28years and some great leaders on this knicks team what makes jalen brunson different from some of the
18:34great knicks leaders you've seen your time around the team um he has this he has this quiet strength
18:41about him um he's never satisfied you know they always say you gotta you gotta after you have a bad
18:48game you gotta put it behind you well he does that but he also he has a great game he
18:53puts it behind
18:54him he stays in the now uh and you know when you look at the different things you want from
18:59a franchise
19:00player and from your leader is number one obviously um you want somebody who's who's clutch and who you
19:06can count on every single night you can do that with him then you have the work ethic and he
19:12has got
19:12just an incredible work ethic every day and all his teammates talk about it he's the best player yet
19:17he has the work ethic as much as any of them and another important thing that i think sometimes gun
19:22goes undiscussed is he's really coachable um if your best player is not on board with the coach
19:30and doesn't let the coach coach him and coach him hard um it's hard for it to to be that
19:36way jeff
19:37and gunny used to talk about that all the time with with pat uh patrick ewing in that patrick let
19:42him coach him and coach him hard now mike brown has a little help because he's got uh jalen's dad
19:47who's not afraid to coach him hard as well yeah um but that's important and for mike brown to come
19:53in
19:53after a team that had really good success the previous two years and the coach that gave them
19:59or helped them get that success is gone that was a risky risky move but mike brown to come in
20:04he needed
20:05his players um to to grow with him and he grew with them and if your best player is not
20:11on board
20:11it's not going to happen and i think that's an underrated part of of jalen and you could ask jay
20:16right you could ask anybody that's coached him um that they say he's extremely coachable and that's
20:22that's critical to be a leader yeah absolutely and you hear that from a lot of people who've been
20:26around jail and that's something we hear all the time i've mentioned before your conversation
20:32after game four against the calves with monica mcnutt our good friend and you said to her you
20:38had a conversation you talked with clyde your long-time broadcast partner um and he compared
20:43this team to the championship teams that he was on and when you said that my ears when you said
20:49that he
20:49said that my ears perked up about that what what does clyde told you that he sees in this next
20:55team
20:55about the way that they play to make the comparison and do you think the fan base they're also connecting
21:02this team with the similarities that might be to the 70 or 73 team do you think that connection is
21:07being made from the fans yeah well certainly the older fan base i would say right clyde's clyde in
21:12all the years i've worked on he's never said that before um but he sees you know it's all about
21:18sacrifice it's all about putting the team first um not caring who scores picking each other up uh and
21:25that's what he sees from them so that really blew me away but the you know you talked about jalen
21:30brunson's leadership the the comment that that i was really shocked at not shocked uh but surprised
21:37that clyde said it i agree with him but i was surprised he said it he compared jalen's leadership
21:42to willis reed there is no man who ever walked the earth that clyde revered more than willis reed
21:49and for him to say that about jalen brunson that's the first time i've ever heard him compare anybody
21:53in terms of leadership uh to the captain from from those championship teams uh now to uh to the
22:00current captain yeah no that that was a comment that definitely got my ears and eyebrows raised
22:05not in a bad way because i've talked to clyde about this and clyde always like you said talks
22:09glowingly about willis reed loves willis reed and his leadership and what he meant to those next
22:14teams now obviously you were around the last next team to make it this far in 1999 for the because
22:20we just talked about the older fans for the younger fans mike how does this next team if at all
22:25do they
22:25compare to the 99 squad are there any similarities or is this a completely different identity vibe
22:31around this next team no it's it's a little different um this team offensively is a juggernaut
22:37and there were really good offensive players on the 99 team but the 99 team was they were defensively
22:45they were that was their strength and that's that's what jeff van gundy preached so much
22:50uh but there this you know the similarity was is that they both didn't have great regular seasons now
22:56you might say hey it's the most wins the knicks have had in 13 years and that's true but it
23:01was an
23:01inconsistent year where they had stretches where you're scratching your head like wow they just don't
23:07look right and even later on in the season and i remember josh hart at one point he was saying
23:13how
23:13uh we're trending downwards this was after a loss uh to the rockets and he said we're not trending in
23:20the right direction that was late in the season yet they kept they kept working on it they kept
23:25fighting through going through the growing pains um and finally got there and that 99 team was the
23:30same way they they were struggling they had to win a lot of games down the stretch to get in
23:35and get
23:35that eighth spot um injuries were a part of that but it was still because it was the the shortened
23:40year
23:41it was there was worry like oh my goodness this team is they're not what we expected so there was
23:46some underachieving from both during a regular season but when it mattered most the character
23:51of the team and and the talent of the players are able to win out that's a great comp in
23:55the seasons
23:56and the inconsistencies we saw from both of those teams what's it been like for you kind of alluded to
24:01this a little bit before but what's it been like for you watching the city new york city react to
24:06this
24:06team right what's it been like for you to see that and two-part question if the knicks win it
24:11all
24:11will the people see a mike breen appearance on seventh avenue will you possibly go out there
24:17with the people we need to see mike with the people will that happen well uh it's funny was that
24:22i'm
24:22trying to think if it was game four or game three um in the last series uh no i had
24:29to be one either one
24:30or two obviously because they were on the road um no it was the cleveland was after one of the
24:35cleveland
24:35games it was about a good hour and a half uh after i left the arena and there was still
24:41a lot of people
24:42out there and i think it was fun and i love it and i mean you know the engagement with
24:48the fans is what
24:49makes the job so wonderful but it's scary out there going out there right afterwards i mean i saw what
24:56happened to jr smith and he's trying to do it so you have to be crazy you have to be
25:00a little careful
25:01but again it's just it's the passion of them uh to see how crazy they are uh how much they
25:07they love
25:08this team how much they care um it's it's why we love sports and i think a key dexter is
25:14the reason
25:15it's at this level is because how bad the knicks were for so long that there was a hunger i
25:20mean there
25:21were years where a season was considered successful if if the knicks got a good spot in the lottery
25:27there were two games two years where they won 17 games there were two years where they won 23 games
25:33so and the fans stayed with them i've told this so many times there's games when the team had been
25:41out of the playoff contention for several months and it's like the first week in april and they're out
25:47of it they no shot i mean they're 20 games under 500 and if there's two minutes to go in
25:51a one-point
25:52game the place sounds like it like it's a playoff game because the fans care so much and i just
25:58again
25:58i'm thrilled that they're rewarded for their loyalty and for their patience and going through those rough
26:04times uh the adversity that fans face that's what makes this year so much sweeter for them yeah i agree
26:10i think it makes it sweeter and i think we haven't seen this in the last couple of years we
26:15could say
26:15this but for folks like you and i grew up here and grew up as knicks fans the energy now
26:20reminds me
26:21of the 90s it reminds me growing up as a kid in the 90s and seeing the knicks gear everywhere
26:26and i have
26:27a 10 year old daughter she's all into this finals run and so it's it's it's really fun to see
26:33that
26:33energy but yeah maybe stay away from seventh avenue might be i don't we don't want you to have a
26:38situation like jr smith we don't we don't need that you talked about the head coach mike mike brown
26:44through the regular season and now just this whole journey what's impressed you the most
26:48about him through this the regular season and to where this team has gone with this dominant playoff
26:53run right you know we talk so much about great players uh who are humble their humility well this
27:00is what we need to talk about with this man what he's done first off he takes over with such
27:05pressure
27:06it really was finals or bust and he takes over for a coach who did a tremendous job
27:12so he's got to come in and take this team to the finals and he's a different type of coach
27:19both
27:19personally and what he wants to run so he comes in and the first thing he says on day one
27:25he says
27:25listen i don't have all the answers and i've got to learn about this team and it takes time to
27:30learn
27:31about this team so there might be some growing pains so in a season of expectations he tells that
27:36so he has a certain offense that he wants to run and he starts running it and it's different than
27:42what they've run before and some players there's a little pushback so what does he do he tweaks it
27:47he changes it he listens to the players and changes it a little bit and then with his defense during
27:52the
27:52course of the season he changed the defense he listened to his coaches assistant coaches and every time
27:57he listens to people and it's all about collaboration with him he said that from day one
28:02whenever somebody gives him a suggestion that works he doesn't take the credit he names them he's
28:08constantly naming his assistants he names the players who come in and and give him some thoughts
28:13and and try and change some things um and he's not afraid he's so secure himself that he's given all
28:20the credit out and whenever something didn't go wrong and they were in a rough patch or a player was
28:25in a
28:25rough patch his line was the same thing i need i i need to do a better job to help
28:31him or i needed
28:32to do a better job to help the team and uh not only is he taking a lot of advice
28:38and thoughts but he's
28:40also when he praises he spreads the praise around uh i'm so impressed with how he's handled that and i
28:47know for a fact because of that way the players have such respect for him and he's really grown to
28:54know that to know them and their strengths and weaknesses as individuals and as a team and um
28:59and they've really grown to understand where he's coming from it's it's been really fun to watch it
29:05grow grow because there were times during the season where he was i don't know if he was feeling the
29:09heat
29:10but he was getting the heat and he handled it he handled it perfectly i so you mentioned something
29:16that i really remembered i i thought about his introductory press conference and i was hosting
29:21a live stream after that and i remember i wrote down he said the word collaborative or collaboration
29:26some form of that he said 14 times and i was like that's interesting and then i watched how he
29:31managed the team through the season mike the roster the players guys like tyler kolik mo diawara
29:36getting minutes you mentioned the adjustments on the offense and defense and i just was so impressed
29:41with the way he handled that as you said through all the pressure i i think for a lot of
29:47people was
29:47like he has to get to the finals but i just think he needs more flowers right now and i'm
29:51glad you spoke
29:51on that because it was a tough spot for him to come in to and and do what he did
29:57and to use the term
29:59keep the ship afloat and he he did that and i think in today's nba you need more collaboration i
30:05do
30:05think that matters to some degree do you think that mattered in the fact of how the knicks how
30:11we're seeing them play right now the collaborative mindset that he had toward this roster is a
30:17byproduct of how they were able to start playing now that we've seen them get to the finals no
30:21question i mean when you look at it the first round after three games in the first round he basically
30:28changed the offense now not not a an enormous overhaul but it was a significant change to put
30:35carl anthony townsend as the playmaker as the hub on the offense to take some pressure off jalen brunson
30:40so he couldn't be doubled as much so he's not always having to do the iso ball as much we
30:46can tire him
30:46out and it's worked to perfection i mean in the middle of the playoffs to do that to change your
30:52offense like that and the fact and carl anthony towns was one of those who suggested some of it
30:57but because he had that open door policy of hey you guys got suggestions you come see me nobody's
31:04hesitant to go and give them their thoughts and he hasn't always agreed with it and he hasn't always
31:08done what was said but the players and the assistant coaches know when when they go to him with a
31:14suggestion he's really gonna listen to them and he's really gonna consider it yeah i think that matters
31:20so much a couple more things for you mike um because there's such a long drought between the
31:25last time the knicks won a championship 53 years i don't want not you don't have to rank it i
31:31ask you
31:31this also as a fellow mets fan you you and i both root for the new york mets and that's
31:36that's been
31:37interesting to this season i'll say i won't i won't get too deep into that but what where do you
31:43think
31:43this will be in terms of sports moments in new york sports history if the knicks win the
31:50championship this year and they end that 53 year drought i think it would be in the conversation of
31:56one of the great seasons in the history of new york sports not just nba in any sport uh for
32:02that
32:02for them to do that for end this long drought it was like the rangers in 94 that was so
32:07special uh
32:08where it all came together and again it you unified the city this is in that category and in some
32:16ways
32:16even more uh because you think of again the coaching changes the pressure going in of the
32:21ups and downs during a regular season um it would it would go down as one of the great seasons
32:26in the
32:26history of new york sports yeah it absolutely would now if that happens and you will be on the call
32:33and you told you told me before you didn't really start thinking about calling nick's games or calling
32:38the championship when you were starting this but have you thought about that final call at all if they
32:44ought to win the championship have you have you thought about that do you even practice that is
32:48that something you go over no it's true it's too early because every year you know you you want to
32:53you want to cap the when it when it all ends and and obviously the situations are all different sometimes
32:59you know the final game it's a four game sweep and it's a foregone conclusion who's going to win
33:04others it's a seven game series that might go down to the final minutes so a lot depends on
33:08on um you know how the the series ends and how it unfolds um as the series goes and you
33:16know once
33:16you get into two or three games then you start thinking about okay if if this team wins what's going
33:21to be kind of the theme of what i want to say if that team wins so i'll start thinking
33:25about that
33:25during the course of uh of the finals after a couple of games fair fair enough yeah you can't can't
33:30get
33:30ahead too early um i think last thing for me here mike you hit on this when you think about
33:37all the losses the rebuild years the disappointment that we've seen from the knicks and now this nba
33:45finals run just personally for you as somebody who grew up rooting for this team has now called many
33:51games for this team what would it mean to you personally if the knicks win it all and just also
33:58for you to be part of that broadcast if slash when they do what what would it mean to you
34:02personally
34:02just to see that well from from a from a new uh as a new yorker yeah and invested a
34:09lot of my life
34:10in rooting for whether it's the giants or the mets or the rangers or the knicks um it'd be so
34:17much it's
34:17such a wonderful thing for the city because it does it really brings people together um as a broadcaster
34:24again uh to be able to to be up get up close and and be able to um call that
34:31and see it happen right
34:32in front of my eyes it'd be i think it as an honor um but it always goes back to
34:38the amount of work
34:40that's put in it's it's really hard to win a championship um not only do you have to have talent
34:45you have to have luck things have to fall your way and sometimes that's not even enough you know as
34:51we
34:51said one ball bounces in one ball bounces out and it's amazing how that can change somebody's quote
34:57unquote legacy although i hate that word legacy while people are still playing um but it's just
35:03my favorite part of every season dexter is when when the championship is over when the finals game is
35:10decided every single one of those players and coaches they look like they're 10 years old on on
35:16christmas morning the the joy uh that they have and knowing that they'll have this bond now for the
35:22rest of their lives is it's very emotional to see um and the reason they have that is because it's
35:29so
35:29hard to do and the amount of sacrifice that goes into it from a standpoint of on the road away
35:35from your
35:35families even in the summer you know hours of hours of workout work on your shot work on your
35:41conditioning work on your strength um to see it come to fruition um that's the best part and
35:47whether it's the knicks which obviously would be special or whether it's the spurs of the thunder
35:51that that's always the thing i i can't believe that um when you see these players these great players who
35:57are you know make tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars they're like little kids
36:03because they see they've achieved achieved their dreams yeah it's all about the work and the journey
36:07we know how much it means to them and you know that applies to so much in life and mike
36:12first of
36:13all i gotta say i appreciate your time coming on here on new york got game and talking to me
36:17uh
36:17i haven't been at the garden in a while because i was rehabbing some achilles surgery but i will see
36:21you game three i will be i will be back in the building my first knicks game in a couple
36:25of months so
36:26i will be back i'll be glad to see you and i think all i say this for all the
36:30knicks fans and
36:30everybody in media i think it will be tremendous just to hear your voice uh with the knicks playing in
36:36the
36:37finals i think a lot of people are going to be looking forward to that so thank you dexter
36:41thank you i always appreciate your passion and love for basketball no always that'll that'll never
36:46go away that is the great mike breen you catch him with nba on espn lead play-by-play broadcaster
36:51also
36:51voice of the knicks on the msg networks i'm dexter henry asking to do it for this edition
36:56of new york got game we'll catch you next time all right well i hope you enjoyed my conversation with
37:02the legendary mike breen i enjoyed it a ton it was a hallmark moment for me in my career
37:06to interview somebody i've been listening to do play by play one of the legends since i was young
37:11watching the knicks so fantastic to have a conversation with mike and i'm very grateful
37:16for his time coming on here but i also wanted to let the people know the viewers know about some
37:21things we have going on with new york got game well some may know some may not know during the
37:27postseason we do these live watch alongs live watch parties myself and brian fonseca host them
37:32and you can come and watch the game with us interact with us while we watch the game we'll
37:36also have our post game show now with the knicks being in the nba finals we're going to do things
37:40just
37:41a little bit differently for the finals we're going to be doing this live in person and where we'll be
37:46doing it is at magic hour rooftop bar and lounge that is in manhattan 485 7th avenue we will be
37:54there
37:55for the first two games of the nba finals so if you want to come and see us in person
38:00you can do
38:01that you can pull up see us in person enjoy the good food the good drinks everybody we're having
38:05a good time be around other nick fans and engage in the conversation and watch us do the show live
38:11should be a fantastic time remember we're going to do this for the first two games of the nba finals
38:16we will see who the nicks play but that will be games one and two 485 7th avenue in manhattan
38:22at magic hour rooftop lounge and bar fantastic place to be and come and join it with us so exciting
38:29times we want to see y'all out there we see you guys all the time on youtube interacting with
38:34us
38:34loving the show sending us love come out rock with us in person and let's watch some knicks basketball
38:39for the first time in the nba finals in 27 years so remember magic hour rooftop bar and lounge first
38:45two games of the nba finals come join the new york got game live next watch party
38:51and thanks for watching new york got game boom shakalaka
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