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00:00A Knicks fever, as strong as ever. From the fans, to the Pope, and even other New York City superstar
00:07athletes.
00:08All right, before we let you go, gotta mention, it looked like that home run celebration was a little bit
00:13of an ode to another team in town. Tell us about it.
00:17You know, we just gotta keep cheering for the Knicks, and let's go Knicks.
00:21Jalen Brunson and Juan Soto celebrating the same way.
00:25Hope we all go Knicks! Hope we all go Knicks! Hope we all go Knicks! Hope we all go Knicks!
00:30Hope we all go Knicks! Go Knicks! Yeah!
00:33It's their first!
00:37Yeah!
00:38Jalen Brunson, I love you!
00:44I mean, that's as great as it gets. I'm laughing, Monica McNutt is laughing, our guest today, of course, has
00:49a front row seat for this unbelievable Knicks run as the incredible,
00:53She is amazing on the radio, Knicks radio analyst. You see her, of course, all over ESPN, where she's fantastic
00:59as an NBA analyst, former Hooper herself,
01:01Georgetown Hoya, has a Syracuse Orange, not gonna hold that against her. The great Monica McNutt joins the show. Monica,
01:08how are ya?
01:09I'm good. Thanks for having me. What a great rollout to my appearance. I mean, Pope Leo, go Knicks! I
01:16love it!
01:16Doesn't get much better. And, listen, you're on the road with the team. You're obviously at the garden every single
01:23night. You're talking to people nonstop. You understand the energy better than anyone.
01:28How electric is this city with the Knicks run right now?
01:32Man, Adam, it is palpable, right? Like, you can feel it. You can see it. It involves every one of
01:40your senses because you certainly can hear it. I was literally hands full coming from the grocery store a few
01:46minutes ago, and I don't know that the guys recognized me until after the fact, but immediately they're like,
01:50Knicks in five! I'm like, okay, I feel good. Wait a minute, I think the finals will be a little
01:54bit more challenging than what we've seen in the past, but everybody wants to talk about it.
01:58And I admire it so much. I mean, the city and Knicks fans have been so kind to me. I've
02:03been here for five years now, but this fan base has been rolling through all of the highs and lows.
02:07Like, we laugh when folks call out the 17-win seasons, but that is really what this orange and blue
02:13community has had to roll through, and so the fans deserve it. They so, so deserve it. I'm so happy
02:18for all of them.
02:19Incredibly well said. Now, this 11-game winning streak in the playoffs, Monica, has been historic. The point-per-game
02:26differential, I mean, it's better than two of the best teams I've ever seen, the 2017 Warriors, the 2001 Lakers.
02:37So you're at every game. You're an analyst literally for every game. What have been the keys to this all
02:43-time domination?
02:45The efficiency, Adam. Like, it is unreal to watch. And granted, at our seats, we have all the stats in
02:53front of us. And I know Tyler and I, in game four in Cleveland, we're like, we're, it's a, we
02:59swept again.
03:00Like, it is just an unreal level of basketball. Because even if this team were to come back to earth
03:05a little bit, they still would be playing great ball. But what they're doing now is just otherworldly. And the
03:11only way that I could describe it after game three, when we were in Cleveland, it's very popular amongst the
03:16young people, Adam. I'm not sure if you're aware, was as a flow state.
03:18Like, things are just flowing for this group. They're playing, as Josh Hart said, they're playing the right way at
03:25the right time, at the highest level, if I could add to his quote.
03:29Well, and it's interesting. And I thought about this. I kind of want to pick your brain on it, right?
03:33And I know Mike Brown loves Landry Schammett, and I do too.
03:37But I feel like, other than Landry, no one's really overachieving. Like, this is what I expect. McKell Bridges is
03:45this kind of player. Carl Anthony Towns is this kind of player. OG Ananobi, this kind of player. Is that
03:52a fair take on my part?
03:54Yeah. And that's exactly what Josh Hart had to say, right? They're playing the right way at the right time.
03:59I also will say this, though, Adam, I got to give Mike Brown his credit.
04:03Because he came into New York. He's so jovial. He's so honest. He's an outstanding coach. But I remember early
04:09on thinking, ooh, welcome to New York. Sure, you're going to be collaborative. That sounds great. We'll see how this
04:14goes.
04:15But in that Atlanta series, it was the ability and the culture that he's built in terms of collaborating with
04:21his coaching staff, with his players, that really sort of turned things around.
04:25And as a former athlete, you all know, when you see the ball go in a few times, your confidence
04:30is up.
04:30And the style that emerged in that Atlanta series was one where everybody ate and they enjoyed it.
04:36And then the defense took a next level. And he gave a lot of credit to Darren Ehrman and Brennan
04:40O'Connell for that.
04:41And so they've been able to hold on to that throughout this whole season.
04:45I remember talking to Deuce McBride and asking him, what was it about the turn in that series that has
04:51propelled this team to play so well?
04:52And he was like, we realized that we couldn't play around anymore.
04:55Like, it was time for us to completely lock in. We didn't want to leave anything on the table.
05:00And that's exactly how they've played since then.
05:02Without question. It's great stuff. Now, you, you reference your time in New York.
05:06You've covered every single move that Jalen Brunson has made.
05:10And I just think the world of him, right?
05:13And, you know, when it comes to play, when it comes to leadership,
05:16when it comes to crunch time ability, how do you describe Monica?
05:21What makes him so special?
05:23Man, we did a piece. Is my second year Jalen's second year?
05:27I think I was a year before. I've been here a year longer than Jalen.
05:29So it was his second year, I believe.
05:31We did a piece where I had the opportunity to sit down with him and go through film.
05:35And I'll never forget this as long as I cover him, Adam.
05:38He basically was like, we're looking at these moves.
05:40And I'm like, what are you seeing? Da-da-da-da-da.
05:42He's like, I've never been the fastest. I've never been the strongest.
05:46I've never out-athleticized, if you can go along with that verb with me.
05:51So he's like, but I've always had to figure out how to beat my opponents.
05:54So I just play to my strengths.
05:56And he has been meticulous about finding his strength.
06:02But you look at who he is as a man, as a basketball player.
06:05His foundation is called Second Round Foundation.
06:07Like, at every stop, Adam, he has been one that has been doubted for whatever reason.
06:12But all he has done is won.
06:14And so there are some people among us who just have that winning gene.
06:18And I would describe Jalen Brunson as one of those guys.
06:21You nailed it. I totally agree.
06:23It's why I've compared him to Derek Jeter.
06:25I think he, and he's got to win, obviously, for that ultimate comparison.
06:28But he's got that Jeterian approach, and you see it night in, night out.
06:32Now, I couldn't wait to ask you this question.
06:34Because I have so much respect for Becky Hammond, and I think she's phenomenal.
06:39Like, not good and all-time basketball mind, what she's doing in the WNBA, what she did in the NBA.
06:45I mean, she's a legend.
06:47But I didn't understand what she said when she said it on ESPN.
06:50I didn't agree with it.
06:52And I didn't understand why she doubled down on it, that Jalen Brunson can't be the best player on a
06:58championship team.
06:58She's also not alone with that thought.
07:01But it's Becky Hammond, so that kind of caught my attention.
07:04What was your take on it?
07:06So, I remember when she said it.
07:08And honestly, Adam, historically, she was not wrong.
07:13Right.
07:13Right?
07:14Isaiah Thomas, Steph Curry.
07:15The list is very short.
07:16Right?
07:17But I remember her saying, and I was like, ooh, said that to the wrong fan base, my girl.
07:22And I, too, adore Becky Hammond.
07:24She's a Hall of Famer.
07:26I think in her most recent comment, she has just acknowledged that it's an occupational hazard.
07:30Right?
07:31At the time, that's what she believed.
07:32And to your point, there's still one more round to go for her to be ultimately proven wrong.
07:37But it is not solely her opinion.
07:39She picked the wrong fan base.
07:41And I will add, as a woman in this space, I think it's easy to pile on women in this
07:45space.
07:45Not everybody rolls off her credentials the way you did, Adam.
07:49But I think if she said it, if you listen to that whole quote in the double down, she said,
07:53if she proved, if he proves me wrong, then so be it.
07:55Right?
07:56But I get it.
07:57I have said some crazy things as an analyst, too.
07:58I think I said the Warriors will cook the year they went on to win a championship.
08:02Listen, we've all been there.
08:04And it was interesting, right?
08:05When it was Becky who said it, I'm like, I mean, every time she talks, I kind of pay attention
08:10a little bit more.
08:11This was what I was like, hmm.
08:13But we'll see what happens in the next round.
08:16I'll tell you something that bothers me.
08:17When people start talking about the Knicks and they're here because of the East, and
08:22look, the East this year has been, and I've used these words, right, wild, wacky, weak.
08:28But you don't get to choose that.
08:30And they're playing at that aforementioned all-time heater in the postseason.
08:34And it's not their fault the Celtics didn't live up to where they were supposed to go in
08:38the playoffs.
08:39Or the Pistons, for that matter, who I think matched up really well with the Knicks.
08:44And it's not like they're winning these series, you know, against Philly or against Cleveland
08:48in six or seven games.
08:51They're destroying them.
08:52So to me, Monica, I don't even understand that topic for conversation.
08:56When people bring that up, to me, it is the immediate non-starter.
08:59I'm walking away.
09:00The conversation's open.
09:01Because what are you talking about?
09:02You have to play the cards that you have been dealt.
09:05And to your point, they have emphatically.
09:07Now, if they ended up going to seven-game series with teams that folks wanted to talk about
09:11were play-in teams, then maybe I could have the conversation.
09:14But what do you want them to do, right?
09:16And Mike Greenberg did an excellent job yesterday on Get Up in his essay.
09:20But he went back and looked at the last three champions and the seeds that they have beaten.
09:25The seeding is in favor of the last team, most typically.
09:28Like, I don't think we've had a champion in the last three years that had to knock off
09:32a one or two because either they were one of those seeds or those seeds were already
09:37limited in some kind of way.
09:38So I don't care.
09:40I care about the score at the end of the game.
09:43And I think the immediate stop in that conversation is how this team has done it.
09:48They have left no doubt.
09:50They have done historic things.
09:5211 straight games, a 250-plus point differential.
09:56Like, what do you want?
09:57Them to protest playing because that's not the seed that they were supposed to play?
10:01Shut up.
10:02I'm totally with you.
10:04And listen, last year in the NFL, the Patriots were a fluke because you watch the game and
10:08you say, OK, I feel like even when they go to a championship situation, they're not
10:12going to be able to win.
10:13I feel totally differently now about the Knicks.
10:16And I have so much respect for OKC.
10:18Respect, obviously, San Antonio as well.
10:20Who do you think wins that series?
10:23Will the Knicks end up winning a championship?
10:26Who do you think the Knicks match up better against, the Thunder or the Spurs?
10:29I think they match up better against the Spurs.
10:32I think OKC is going to be the ultimate victor.
10:35I just don't know, and no pun intended, I don't know if the Spurs have it in them to
10:40win two straight.
10:41Frankly, I don't think either of these teams in this series have it in them to win two
10:44straight.
10:45I expect the Spurs to win tonight, and it's probably not going to be a particularly enjoyable
10:48game because that's what we've seen in the series.
10:50One team empties the clip in order to win the game in the next game.
10:54I don't know if it's strategic or intentional, but they look crazy.
10:57And so the Spurs, to me, are a better matchup based on what we've seen during the regular
11:02season and the NBA Emirates Cup and their youth.
11:05I think the Knicks have the advantage in terms of their veteran experience.
11:09OKC, though, to me, that's a team that is not whole.
11:11And I think the absences of Jalen Williams, we'll see what happens with A.J.
11:15Mitchell.
11:15Those are big losses.
11:16I don't think that they've looked as scary as they have in years past, particularly compared
11:20to the way that the Knicks have been playing.
11:22And another thing, Adam, because people want to get on this rust and rest thing.
11:26No team ever in the NBA would say, no, we would like to play a gruesome seven game series
11:32in order to match that which is happening for our opponent, as opposed to cleaning house
11:37in four games and having an opportunity to watch an opponent go through a gauntlet of
11:41a series.
11:42I do expect, though, the preparation going into the finals to look a little bit different,
11:46maybe ramping up the intensity leading into those few games so we can avoid the three and
11:53a half quarters of rust that we saw in the Eastern Conference Finals game one.
11:57100%.
11:57And then, fresh legs, to your point.
12:00So that's absolutely spot on.
12:02Tell us what MSG and the coverage has been unbelievable.
12:06What MSG has planned for the coverage of the finals?
12:09Oh, my gosh.
12:10So we've got hour-long shows leading into it.
12:12I'll be boots on the ground for our media day on June 2nd before we start action on June
12:173rd.
12:18You can see there all the different ways that we will be joining you.
12:21Our social media will be active.
12:23Bill Pido, Wally Zerbiak, Alan Hahn, Steve Novak, Alex Monaco, who's been viral out in
12:28the crowds with Knicks fans.
12:30Like, all of our teammates are boots on the ground.
12:33We're super, super excited to have guest alumni along with us, guest analysts.
12:37Like, we're in it.
12:39And I remember coming to the City, Adam, and telling my guys, like, it's going to turn,
12:42y'all.
12:43It's going to turn.
12:43It has turned, for sure.
12:46But those guys were in it through some of those dog years, and so they are as passionate
12:50as the fan bases.
12:51Monica, you're the best.
12:52Keep up the unbelievable work.
12:53We'll see you at Madison Square Garden.
12:55And listen, this has been an unbelievable ride.
12:58You're doing an unbelievable job on the radio, and we'll talk to you again real soon.
13:01Sounds good.
13:02Thanks for having me.
13:03Monica McNutz.
13:04But wait, there's more.
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