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00:00Do the Knicks have enough to stop the alien? It's Jalen Brunson versus Wemby in the 1999
00:06finals rematch. So of course we got to get the vibes of Knick Nation with Alex Chitaros of Knicks
00:12Fan TV. This is your Super Bowl my friend. You and this city have been waiting for this for so
00:20long
00:21and if they win like Prince says you're going to party like it's 1999. But let's go straight in.
00:28I don't know why I started off with this. What's up my guy? Let's get straight into this thing man.
00:33With Mitchell Robbins' pinky all messed up, jacked up, however you want to call it. How do you think
00:39that's going to impact him with this entire Wemby matchup? Look it all depends if he's able to rebound
00:47the ball clearly because look defensively he should be fine. I mean Mitch is not going to be a guy
00:52who
00:52you're going to rely on to score heavily. He will put that rim pressure on as a rim runner but
00:57when
00:57you're thinking about what he needs to do on the offensive glass or defensive glass he just needs
01:02to be able to secure that rebound man. We got to stop the possessions from the San Antonio Spurs from
01:06getting those second chance opportunities while creating our second chance opportunities for
01:09ourselves. So it's going to be very important man to see if he can go out there and just be
01:13who he is
01:13naturally. If he's not then well you got to rely on Ariel Huckporty maybe some Jeremy Sohan minutes
01:19but hopefully Mitch is strong and ready to go for this one. It could still grab that basketball clearly
01:23once it comes off the glass. Who else do you think that Mike Brown's going to throw at Wemby
01:27to at least try and neutralize this guy? Look it's going to be Carl Anthony Towns who I see get
01:32some
01:33of those minutes and it's going to be OG Ananobi. It's going to be by committee to stop to slow
01:37down
01:37not stop but to slow down Victor Webinyama. Look he's a star in his own right very impressive for his
01:43third season in the NBA that he's led his team to the NBA finals taking down the reigning champ
01:48in the Oklahoma City Thunder. So you're not going to stop him. We know he's he makes an impact
01:53defensively and offensively. So the best you can do is to just try to slow him down and I think
01:58you're just going to get a lot of different looks. It's going to be OG. It's going to be
02:03Carl Anthony Towns. It's going to be Mitchell Robinson. I see those as the three guys that are
02:07really going to be the mainstays trying to slow Webinyama down and that's going to be it man.
02:12And then look I think with I think with OG that's just kind of underrated is that he has a
02:18strength
02:18and the base to kind of put push guys off the block and I think we saw that even in
02:24the NBA Cup
02:25where utilizing his strength he's able to push when be out from his spots and make him a little bit
02:30more uncomfortable and you know put up a tough shot. So I expect OG to be kind of like that
02:35secret
02:36weapon in this in this case from a global standpoint like we're getting Wimby thrown in our face and like
02:42you said this third year he's been able to slay a dragon already at OKC and get San Antonio back
02:48into this moment. But I feel like outside of New York there's still a lot of people doubting Jalen
02:55Brunson. Is this Jalen Brunson's NBA Finals to take to earn some well-needed respect?
03:03Absolutely. Absolutely. Look Brunson has been doubted his entire basketball career right and he's shown
03:11along the way that he can win at all those levels. High school, college, now he's in the in the
03:16pros
03:16right and just looking at his journey from being drafted second round pick right second round pick
03:22for the Dallas Mavericks. They'd even offer him a legitimate contract extension and he wanted to be
03:27in Dallas man. They wanted to take that gamble going into the offseason and now you're seeing what
03:31he's able to do leading his own team and we kind of got a glimpse of that when he took
03:36he helped take
03:37down the Utah Jazz when Luka Doncic was missing games right. He was part of the reason why the
03:41Mavs were able to get to that Western Conference Finals and have the opportunity to compete against
03:45that Golden State Warriors team that would ultimately go on and win that championship that season.
03:49So he's he showed what he's capable of doing there and then every single season in New York he's just
03:55continued to level up since he's got here right. And so look the first two seasons he was here
04:00second round appearances you know would lose. Then the last these back two years right to his
04:05career as a New York Knick. Eastern Conference Finals won it the fourth year. Now he's in the
04:09NBA Finals. This is his stage man. This is the opportunity to show who he is and why he should
04:14earn that respect in the NBA and I'm looking forward to it man. Throughout the towards the end of the
04:20season and all throughout the playoffs we saw that that cat Jalen Brunson two-man game. We saw the
04:26offense run through cat. We've seen the offense run through Jalen Brunson. They only really had to
04:32take on a a bad need Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey and then uh what's uh Donovan Mitchell and James
04:41Harden in the Eastern Conference Finals. But now they got Wimby and Stephon Castle. These two are a
04:47different beast as they say. You feel like this is the hardest duo matchup these two have faced all
04:54season. Yeah this will be the toughest matchup for sure. We're talking about the NBA Finals right. So
04:59we're getting the best of both teams from each conference to both conferences. So Spurs have
05:03earned the right to be here. Knicks have earned the right to be here. And this will be a challenge
05:07man. We're talking about a very young Spurs team that likes to get out and run. And while the Knicks
05:11are number one in fast break points in this postseason run Spurs are right there right behind
05:16them as a team who likes to get out there and run. It's we're talking about uh slim margins. It's
05:20only by
05:20a 0.4 difference. I think if I remember correctly it's 17.6 for the Knicks and 17.2 for
05:25the Spurs
05:26when we're talking about fast break points scored. So between those two teams man this is going to be
05:31very tough for the Knicks. You know they've shown that they've struggled against young athletic teams.
05:35Well you got that right now in the San Antonio Spurs. And look you had that in the Atlanta Hawks
05:41but
05:41they didn't really have a guy who could initiate the offense. They didn't really have like that guy with
05:45so much gravity as Victor Webinyama. Stephon Castle as you mentioned. We got to talk about
05:50uh look look you got Darren Fox who's on that side too. He's another guy that you got to pay
05:54attention to as well. And you got Dylan Harper as well who's been a phenom as a rookie man. He's
05:59acting like he's a five-year vet out there. So there's a plethora of guards and wings on this
06:04Spurs team that can give the Knicks trouble. But I think the Knicks are very well equipped for it.
06:08And this is going to be definitely the toughest challenge that they've faced so far.
06:11Out of Fox and Harper who's the biggest x factor for the Spurs this series? And who would you say
06:17is
06:18the x factor for the Knicks? Biggest x factor for the Spurs um is Dylan Harper. I would say Justin
06:24Champagny too just because of his three-point shooting. But if you're gonna give me Fox and
06:28Harper I'm gonna go with uh Harper just because as I said man this guy's looking like a five-year
06:33vet
06:33out of all the guys that I see that could consistently create his own shot within the
06:37paint and just get to where he wants to in the paint. Dylan Harper has that that ball control man.
06:42Not the same as uh Jalen Brunson but in that same vein where he can keep the dribble alive
06:48and just use his physicality and his shiftiness to get to his spots around the court and put up a
06:52mid-range jumper or just get to the cup. So Dylan Harper for sure is the guy that I'm looking
06:57at as
06:58the x factor for this team. But don't sweep on Justin Champagny uh because I mean sorry Julian
07:03Champagny. Think about his brother Julian Champagny. You cannot sweep on him just because the three-point
07:09shooting has come around for him. He was so critical in that game seven in that third quarter
07:14knocking shots down and we can't forget where you hit a record on New Year's Eve 11 threes against
07:20the New York Knicks in that comeback victory. So they're gonna have to make sure to slow him down.
07:24The x factor for the New York Knicks Brandon it's Carl Anthony Towns. Look what we don't really know
07:29the the status of Mitchell Robinson right now. We're still waiting for clearance. The expectation is
07:33for him to be available for game one of the NBA finals. But I'm looking at Carl Anthony Towns as
07:39the main factor in this one. If he can stay composed, if he can stay out of foul trouble,
07:44if he could continue to be that hub for the New York Knicks to lead this offense or be one
07:48of the
07:48factors to lead this offense and finding guys cutting off ball, knocking down his shots from
07:53downtown, attacking the rim, putting the pressure against Webinyam or whoever they decide to put on
07:57him to to try to slow him down. As long as he's able to stay composed, stay out of foul
08:02trouble and
08:03continue that high-level effort defense that we've seen from him this postseason run,
08:07I think the Knicks are gonna be in a great spot. You guys at Knicks Fan TV, you guys understand
08:13the
08:13fan base. You know the pulse of the fan base in the city. It's been since 1999 that these guys
08:20have
08:21been in this moment. There are fans that you guys you guys talk to throughout the city and for Knicks
08:27Fan TV, they had braces on back then the last time the Knicks were in this moment. We were talking
08:33iPads
08:33and iPad Nanos and all those things, LimeWire, Napster. That's how you got your music back in
08:42the day, not this iTunes stuff. It's been a long time, Alex, is what I'm trying to say. Give us
08:48the
08:49buzz around the city and Knicks Nation. Is there more confidence going into this finals or is there
08:55more of an anxiousness going into this finals? It's a blend of both, Brandon. It's a blend of
09:02both. There is certainly confidence. There's anxiousness. Look, the Knicks have not played
09:06since Monday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, right? They haven't played since Memorial Day
09:11itself. So there's some anxiousness in saying, hey, we haven't seen some Knicks basketball where
09:15people are jonesing out here to go see the Knicks go compete against the San Antonio Spurs,
09:20but there is some confidence. You're seeing people saying Knicks in four, Knicks in five.
09:24As I said, Knicks in five, man, feeling very confident about this team.
09:27And as they should, I mean, Brandon, what team has looked this dominant in New York? I mean,
09:33we could probably look back at the Yankees and just seeing how they won some World Series,
09:36but truly like in dominant fashion. I mean, look, once they went down 2-1 against Atlanta,
09:42they knocked off three straight convincing wins by double digits. Then they took that effort against
09:48Philadelphia and swept them. Then they took that effort against Cleveland and swept them too.
09:53And in every single closeout game, they've dominated their opponent by putting up 30 plus
09:59points. You got to be confident in what we're seeing here, man. And at some point,
10:03the numbers are just backing it up. I mean, when you look at the advanced stats, the offensive rating,
10:08defensive rating, net rating, who's number one in all those categories? It's the New York Knicks.
10:13It's the New York Knicks that is in all those categories, man. They're doing unprecedented
10:18things right now on both ends of the court. So there's rightfully so for the fans to be very
10:23confident, man. And look, my DMs are being filled up. People who I talk to, man, they're just excited
10:28to see this NBA finals. They're very curious to see, can this Knicks team keep up that same level
10:33of energy against this young San Antonio Spurs team? And I think they can, man. And everybody in New
10:39York, everyone around the world is buzzing right now. And rightfully so.
10:42You said there's a confidence. Have you put in for PTO for the parade?
10:49Hey, man. Once there's, once the parade's happening, man, I, you're not going to be able
10:54to find me, man. I'm going to be off the grid. All right. I'm going to be off the grid.
10:58I'm
10:58going to be right there at the parade. I don't know if they're going to see me back at work,
11:01man. God knows what happens, man. When, if, when, and if the Knicks win this NBA finals,
11:07man, let me tell you that right now. You know how everyone's like, oh, the city's like Gotham,
11:11Batman himself, the justice league. Nobody could come out here and stop New Yorkers for
11:15what's about to happen. If the New York Knicks come back home with the Larry O'Brien. All
11:20right. So people be careful, man. You know, we also would have without in Philadelphia when
11:25the Eagles won, it's going to be 10 times worse than that. Telling you that right now.
11:28I'm working from home that day. Hey, Alex, appreciate you hopping on, man.
11:33Appreciate you as always, Brandon.
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