00:00How about Mitchell Robinson? He had surgery earlier this week on a broken right pinky.
00:09He plans to play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. His back page for the New York Post, perfect.
00:17Because I'm sure that's like many Knicks fans, I was swearing and cursing up a storm
00:23when we saw the news that our guy Mitchell Robinson broke his pinky on his right hand.
00:33Mitch, please. He needs to absolutely play in Game 1.
00:39Now, a couple of things here, and obviously we start swearing,
00:44and the Knicks, other than OG Ananobi, and that turned out to be great, right?
00:50Because they didn't play him. They were smart with it. You know, that Friday and Sunday,
00:54Game 3 and 4 of the Phillies series, and then OG had a clean bill of health,
00:58wasn't even on the injury report for the Cleveland series.
01:01Four games, phenomenal, played like OG Ananobi, didn't seem remotely injured in any way, shape, or form.
01:06The Knicks injuries throughout this postseason, clean.
01:11I mean, that's, and you need sometimes a little luck on the injury front in order to win a championship,
01:18right?
01:18Mitchell Robinson not being there would be a huge problem, and it's a huge problem in general, right?
01:27Because I think Mitchell Robinson is a dog. He's so tough. He's so physical.
01:32Great defensive player. Great rebounder. Great veteran presence. Great leadership.
01:38And he blocks shots, alters shots.
01:41Also, just for the sake of conversation and accuracy, you know, Mitchell Robinson is so valuable in general,
01:49but we really haven't seen, maybe you'd have to go back to Game 2 of the Phillies series,
01:54but we haven't seen that Carl Anthony Towns, what the hell are you doing, foul trouble game.
02:01It's been a minute now.
02:02I mean, go back to the regular season. A lot of examples. Early in Atlanta, a lot of examples.
02:06So, you always want to make sure that Mitchell Robinson is available for that, right?
02:12You also want to make sure, again, we're talking about a winning ball player,
02:16matchup-wise against OKC, when they have Hartenstein and they have Chet in the lineup,
02:22you know, Mike Brown might go to the two bigs playing together, just like he did brilliantly, I might add,
02:28in the first quarter of Game 4 against Cleveland, going up against Allen and going up against Mobley.
02:34So, Mitchell Robinson being out there and being healthy is huge.
02:40Now, you look at what Mitch has done in the postseason, sometimes stats lie.
02:46These stats speak to it, right?
02:4814 minutes of gold per game, you know, five points per game, six rebounds a game, and he blocks a
02:54shot a game.
02:55That's who Mitchell Robinson is. That's what he does.
02:59And you need him out there.
03:01Now, Mitchell Robinson can't shoot free throws anyway.
03:06It's why the Hackamitch strategy is so omnipresent.
03:09So, can Mitch play with a cast on his pinky?
03:14Yes.
03:15Am I worried about his offense?
03:17No, he's not an offensive threat anyway.
03:20I think he's going to come down to pain threshold, and over the course of a series,
03:25is he going to exacerbate the injury?
03:28Is this something where if he plays game one, can he go game two?
03:32Can you get Mitchell Robinson out there for seven games?
03:35So, obviously, you see the news about the pinky, and you swear.
03:40I think with the latest development, it's certainly more positive than negative.
03:47When I saw the multiple reports this morning that he had the surgery already.
03:54Like, it's not like he's getting surgery.
03:56Had it earlier in the week.
03:57So, the Knicks, smartly, they didn't have to file an injury report, kept this under wraps,
04:01which is terrific.
04:03So, Mitch got the surgery, which means he's already ahead.
04:07Now, regular season is a, you know, three-week injury.
04:10It's not the regular season.
04:12He's in the NBA Finals.
04:13Mitchell Robinson has been through a hell and back as the longest-standing member of the Knicks,
04:18you know, in terms of the dog days and the bad days and, you know, the chaotic days.
04:22He was almost put into a thousand different trades.
04:25He was almost in the Donovan Mitchell deal, right?
04:27So, for Mitchell Robinson, you know he's going to be out there.
04:30You know he wants to be out there.
04:31You know how much he wants to win.
04:33He's a free agent at the end of the year.
04:35And so, attaboy, get him next year.
04:37So, listen, this is not news that you want if you're the Knicks or a Knicks fan.
04:43I feel like it could be a million times worse.
04:47I was not happy last night.
04:50This morning, right now, I'm stressing the positive.
04:54I mean, I think Mitchell Robinson could help the team if he chops off both pinkies
04:59because he's still going to play defense.
05:01He's still going to be able to rebound the basketball.
05:03He's still going to alter shots.
05:05He's still an energizer bunny and a great leader for this team.
05:08So, as long as he's out there for the entirety of the NBA Finals, Mitch, please, we need you, baby.
05:18The New York Knicks absolutely need Mitchell Robinson for all of those aforementioned reasons.
05:24And, look, obviously, Mitchell Robinson and the Knicks are waiting to see who they're ultimately going to play.
05:30And there's one message at the end of the day that the Knicks are all about.
05:35They're not done yet.
05:37I want you to feast your eyes on this.
05:40Kat and OG and their Instagram posts yesterday, both saying, and it's not a coincidence in my opinion,
05:47four more.
05:48It's all business at practice as they await their opponent.
05:52Here's Mikel Bridges.
05:54A lot of questions, a lot of talk about how great we are, you know, how great we've been, you
05:59know, how that doesn't matter.
06:00We just got to worry about being ourselves and just stay locked in and, you know, go win.
06:04When there's negative things being said about you, it's important to ignore them.
06:10When there are positive things about you, you know, it's easy to be able to read them and feel good.
06:14But you can't do one and not the other.
06:19And so just block out as best you can.
06:20The biggest thing that I think should help us is knowing that as a group, the last time we went
06:27through this, you know,
06:30we started off a little slow in that game.
06:33And, you know, we can't afford to do that again.
06:38That is amazing.
06:41That is exactly what you want to hear if you're a fan of the Knicks.
06:46Because it's always easy to sit here and say, well, they've already reached their goal, right?
06:53And the New York Knicks had to make the finals because of what happened with Tom Thibodeau.
06:58It's important to go back there.
06:59I also think that if you listen to those quotes, if you listen to Karl-Anthony Towns talk about how
07:08there was no partying after they won the Eastern Conference,
07:13they were able to soak up the moments, they did it for 24 hours, and then as a group, the
07:19entire group,
07:20Mike Brown, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and company, bam, instantly on to the next.
07:26This team is so locked in.
07:29And I'm not going to sit here and say, oh, the season's a failure if they don't win a championship.
07:35But now, forget about the whole the expectations post-Tom Thibodeau.
07:42The expectation is the Knicks win a title.
07:45Everyone can see it.
07:47Everyone can feel it.
07:48You watch the Western Conference Finals.
07:51We're talking about these lopsided games.
07:53There are injuries.
07:55There's bad basketball.
07:57The New York Knicks enter the NBA Finals as the best team left.
08:02The New York Knicks are absolutely locked in to winning a chip.
08:08The New York Knicks will not get embarrassed in the NBA Finals.
08:12My expectation, watching them play on this 11-game heater with the best point-per-game differential
08:18in the history of the NBA playoffs going into the NBA Finals, my expectation is they're winning
08:23a championship for the first time in my lifetime.
08:25And I feel even more convinced about that listening to those sound bites, what Bridges and Katz and
08:32Brunson and obviously what Coach Mike Brown had to say.
08:36No one's having a parade for just making the Finals.
08:39Nobody is partying like it's 1999.
08:43That team didn't win a championship.
08:45And remember, in 1999, Patrick Ewing was injured, and that team was dead on arrival.
08:49That was an eighth seed.
08:50They played great.
08:51It was a shortened season.
08:52The whole thing was weird.
08:53When you take a look at this team right now, and yeah, there's smiles on the faces.
08:59But look at Brunson.
09:01Brunson is locked in.
09:03I can't wait to see him fully smile after the Knicks win a championship.
09:08By the way, this is the first time in the history of the NBA there will be a team playing
09:17against three consecutive foes that went to a seventh game.
09:22Think about that for a second.
09:23The Knicks played against Philadelphia.
09:26Knicks played against Cleveland.
09:28And the Knicks are going to play against the Western Conference winner.
09:31We have a game seven coming up on Saturday night.
09:34That means, and Mike Brown hit this home, and they learned from going from Philly to Cleveland.
09:41Obviously, in that fourth quarter in game one, they had incredibly fresh legs, which was terrific.
09:47They are practicing with a point and a purpose.
09:50They understand that they need to start hot, either in San Antonio or OKC.
09:58They understand that, you know, there are going to be people who just don't believe in them.
10:02You know, Knicks fans can say, bing, bong, until the cows come home.
10:07We're all excited.
10:08But the job's not close to being finished.
10:11I'm not going to call it a failure if they don't win.
10:15But the bar has been raised.
10:18And there's a great, unbelievable, locked-in, internal focus with that group where you listen
10:26to those quotes.
10:27The New York Knicks will not celebrate anything other than a championship.
10:33Even if you go back to the dopey NBA Cup, they didn't raise a banner.
10:38Eastern Conference Finals, they're not going nuts.
10:41They are locked in.
10:43OG had that great post on Instagram.
10:46Cat had the great post on Instagram.
10:48It's not about, you know, they're going out and, you know, going to great restaurants in
10:53New York City.
10:54Four more.
10:55That's it.
10:56It's a singular focus.
10:58Job isn't finished.
10:59Media and fans can say, great, you need to make the finals.
11:02Things have changed.
11:03And you're watching OKC, they're injured and they're vulnerable.
11:06You're watching San Antonio, you're saying, hey, respect the hell out of MB.
11:10And if for some reason, if the Spurs win Game 7 and Victor Wimbanyama has to, you know,
11:14go to the NBA Finals off that, everyone and their mother is going to be picking San Antonio
11:19to win.
11:20Bring them on.
11:21Bring them on.
11:22You have to play the Knicks.
11:23You have to play the hottest team in the history of the NBA postseason.
11:28The Knicks know the job isn't done.
11:31That's why we, as the media, fans, can raise the bar here for this team.
11:38Because you can see it.
11:40You can feel it.
11:42You can visualize it.
11:43Because of the way they're acting, the New York Knicks are absolutely going to win a championship.
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