00:00Joining us now on the Rude Guest Hotline is Brian Geltzeiler from NBA Radio.
00:07You can follow him at bgeltmba.
00:09Brian, thank you for making time for us, brother.
00:11I'm curious what you think.
00:14Where are the Spurs at mentally?
00:19Stronger than I think people think.
00:21Listen, it was a horrible collapse.
00:24But I think the underlying message that I think the coaching staff,
00:28and I think Greg Popovich gets involved in this,
00:30especially now that they're back in San Antonio,
00:35I think the underlying message is that it was entirely avoidable.
00:39And, you know, the shot selection got fast and loose in the second half
00:43after a hot three-point shooting first half.
00:47Some of the discipline things and the IQ things were lacking.
00:51Obviously, we've highlighted, everybody's highlighted Fox's late-game mistake.
00:55But there were a lot of bad shots before that.
00:58They were also, you know, the castle out-of-bounds call ended up, you know,
01:02in the last two-minute report being something that the officials got wrong.
01:06Just a lot of things went against them.
01:08And, listen, if I'm Mitch Johnson, what I'm telling my team is we are down 3-1 in this series.
01:15We lost two of these games by one point where we had monumental mental errors
01:20to get the Knicks to a point where they could win the series.
01:23When Benyama's turnover in game two.
01:26And, obviously, Fox's decision to go for a layup with Ananobi on him
01:32instead of dribbling the ball out and avoiding Ananobi and killing Klokka go to her free-throw line.
01:37So, those two mistakes have really – it's been that thin a margin.
01:42Coming back home, I think the Spurs are going to feel good about being back home.
01:47And, I do think where you had the road team win the first three games of this series.
01:52And, we've seen this in the NBA playoffs repeatedly the last couple of years
01:56where the road teams tend to have an advantage early in a series.
02:00As you get later into a series, the home team tends to have a bigger advantage.
02:04And, I think we're kind of at that right now.
02:07And, again, I'd be surprised tonight, guys, if San Antonio doesn't win this game.
02:10I can see them winning this game.
02:12But, when I look at it, though, Brian, every game they were up.
02:16Every game they were up.
02:17And, in every game they made mistakes, like you said, the bad shots and all that stuff.
02:21So, I understand what you're saying about how those things happen.
02:25But, they happened for four games in a row.
02:28And, they happened to win one of them and they lost the other three.
02:30What makes us think they're going to just all of a sudden change in the next three games?
02:34Because, winning tonight is not what they're trying to do.
02:36Winning the whole series is what they're trying to do.
02:38And, I don't see them putting together three straight games.
02:41Because, I haven't seen the Knicks play their best basketball yet.
02:46No.
02:47And, listen, Brian, I don't think they're going to win the series either.
02:49And, again, that's why I say home court, I think, is going to be what kicks in here.
02:53And, I think the Knicks win this series in six.
02:55I think we're going to see the home team win the next two games.
02:57Because, to me, the Spurs mentally coming home is not going to be an issue here.
03:03And, you're right.
03:03They have made some mistakes and, certainly, you know, let the Knicks back into four different games they didn't have
03:10to let the Knicks back into.
03:11And, the Knicks haven't had one of these just on-fire shooting games yet that we saw them have earlier
03:17in the playoffs.
03:18And, I think that's actually going to come in game six.
03:20With all that said with the Spurs, one of the reasons I think you'll see them bounce back a little
03:24bit is I do think this is an inexperienced, immature, yet emotionally resilient team, if that makes sense.
03:32I keep going back to this, guys.
03:34And, I think everybody needs to kind of take a little bit of a bird's-eye view on all this.
03:40In the summer of 2024, in Paris, Victor Wembenyama's home country, he faced off in a gold medal game against
03:48a U.S. team with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry on it.
03:52And, he took a pretty average group of French players down to the last three minutes of that game and
04:00needed some Steph Curry incredible heroics to beat a stacked U.S. team for a gold medal.
04:07Victor Wembenyama in that game was intimidated by nothing.
04:10There was no atmosphere that got to him, none of it.
04:14And, this team takes their emotional cues from him.
04:16My point being is this.
04:18Yes, there's been some mistakes that have had a lot to do with inexperience.
04:23Listen, Fox is not an inexperienced player, but inexperienced on this stage.
04:27So, you've seen that set of mistakes.
04:28But, one thing I'll tell you about these Spurs, they're mentally tough, they're emotionally resilient, and I think you're going
04:34to see, again, a massive, massive effort out of them tonight.
04:37Where the Knicks, on the other hand, who also very mentally tough, very emotionally resilient, but they've gotten a little
04:43comfortable with slow starts.
04:44You know, two slow starts in a row in these two games at the Garden, they managed to be able
04:49to come back and win one of them.
04:51A slow start tonight, I think, buries them.
04:53I don't think they have a comeback in them tonight.
04:55At the Garden, sure, not here.
04:57Talking with Brian Geltziler here from NBA Radio.
05:00Check him out at BGeltzNBA, B-G-E-L-T-Z, NBA.
05:06What do you think of the growing conversation around Wembeny maybe being a dirty player?
05:14I think it's garbage, guys.
05:16I think he's a tough player that plays with an edge.
05:19I think it's a Knicks fan creative narrative that some Knicks media has gotten a hold of.
05:24When I hear somebody call Victor Wembenyama a dirty player, I believe that they're living their social media life in
05:31a Knicks echo chamber.
05:32That's how I look at it.
05:34This is not a dirty basketball player.
05:36This player, and pardon my French guys, he gets the crap kicked out of him.
05:40If you watch what Carl Towns is doing to him off the ball, and I'm not beating up on Towns.
05:44He's done a super job on Wembenyama in this series.
05:47But if you watch what Carl Towns does to him off the ball, there's going to be some frustration that
05:51kicks in.
05:52And for Wembenyama to be the player that he can be, having a nasty edge is a major asset in
05:59that.
05:59It does not make him a dirty player.
06:01Again, I just think that's Knicks fan narrative that the media has kind of gotten a hold of.
06:05I don't pay it a lot of credence or attention at all.
06:09It's going to be fascinating.
06:12I don't know how to phrase this, but watching Wembeny now, I have these periods where I get frustrated by
06:20him not going into the paint.
06:23And sometimes I get frustrated at the Spurs guards for not trying to run a pick-and-roll with him
06:26or something.
06:28How close to a finished product do we think Wembeny is?
06:32It's a great question.
06:34Let me say this, I get more frustrated with the latter than the former.
06:38Because I think part of what, I think Wembenyama would be happy to be inside a little bit more.
06:42I think when he goes inside too much, the Spurs perimeter players lose him.
06:47They forget that he's there.
06:48And frankly, it's unconscionable and inexcusable.
06:51And it's a massive reason why the Knicks got back in that game.
06:54They just didn't run enough stuff through Wembeny.
06:58As far as him being a finished product, he's very far away from being a finished product.
07:02And he's still going to be able to put some strength on him.
07:03He's, for a guy his size, he's incredibly athletic.
07:07And we've gotten a preview of who this guy is going to be in the next 10 years in the
07:12NBA defensively in these last two series.
07:15Because what we've seen is probably the two best mid-range players in the entire league.
07:20Shea Gildas Alexander and now Jalen Brunson, both have not had great series with Wembenyama there because they see a
07:27mid-range shadow.
07:28Wembenyama can help in the mid-range on them with being three steps off of them because he's that long.
07:35And I think what he is not even close to a finished product on both ends of the floor.
07:41Defensively, he's dominant now.
07:43I think one of the things and one of the developments you're going to have to see is the stamina
07:46portion to be able to be kicked up.
07:49The Spurs, and I give him credit because he's healthy this time of year.
07:52He's healthy.
07:52But I also think part of the problem with Wembenyama is he doesn't have the level of gas in the
07:59tank because they didn't push him enough.
08:01Again, it's a really, really delicate balance for San Antonio in having him rested and healthy and having him with
08:07the appropriate level of stamina to be able to play through these seven-game playoff wars, the one they went
08:13to at OKC.
08:14And again, I think this one's going at least six.
08:16So for that, they have to work on the stamina part a little bit more, and that's where I think
08:21we get the finished product.
08:22And this is a guy that may end up winning five championships for all said and done.
08:26Yeah, man.
08:27I mean, this Spurs team seems so loaded and built for the long haul.
08:31But, you know, that's what we said about OKC last year.
08:33Like, things can change fast.
08:34I think this Knicks team deserves so much credit.
08:38That game the other night is a game you'll remember where you were when you watched it for the rest
08:43of your life.
08:44And it's going to be pretty cool.
08:46So, you know, first time since 73 if the Knicks get to actually bring this thing home.
08:52You think it's Knicks and six, so Saturday, I guess that'd be what, Tuesday night at the Garden?
08:59Tuesday night at the Garden.
09:00And by the way, they better bring the National Guard there or what's happening in New York City after these
09:04games.
09:04Seriously, dude.
09:06Like, it's such a bad look for the city.
09:08And I know it's only a few people and there's so many great Knicks fans that have, you know, been
09:14through all this and stuck with this team or getting to appreciate this right now.
09:18And I couldn't be happier for them.
09:19I got a lot of them in my life and I couldn't be happier for them.
09:22But what's happening on the streets in New York is it's absolutely inexcusable, unconscionable.
09:27And I think they got I know they arrested 56 people on Wednesday night.
09:32That's short of what they need to be doing.
09:33And I'm not blaming the police.
09:35I think the police are kind of in over their heads here and need a little bit of help.
09:38I think they're undermanned.
09:39But that's kind of where it is.
09:41When it comes to the Knicks and how this team has played, it's been this incredible combination of discipline and
09:46unselfishness meeting at its peak.
09:48Plus, I'll tell you this about this Knick group.
09:50There's an understanding because of the veteran presence and the amount of wars these guys have all been through, although
09:56separately and together at times.
09:58You know, Towns made two conference finals with Minnesota before he was there with the Knicks.
10:04O.G. I don't know.
10:05We won a title with the Raptors.
10:06Mikael Bridges went to a final with the Suns.
10:09Jalen Brunson went to a conference final with the Mavericks.
10:11These guys have all been through this kind of stuff and they understand how special this opportunity is and how
10:18there's a pretty good chance they never have it again.
10:20And they're doing everything they can to take advantage of it.
10:23The urgency the Knicks play with in the fourth quarters of these games is something to be admired and it's
10:29a mentality.
10:30It's a between-the-ears thing, but it's also a collective thing in terms of these guys coming together.
10:35So it's a really, really special time for Knick basketball.
10:39This is really, and I look over the years, one of my favorite Knicks teams of all time with how
10:44these guys play together, the talent, how it was put together.
10:46It's really, it's a fun, fun story, the most fun story in sports we'll see this year.
10:51And I do think in the end, the Knicks finish this.
10:53I give this group all the credit in the world.
10:56Appreciate you, Brian.
10:57Great stuff as always.
10:59My pleasure, guys.
11:01We'll do it again soon.
11:01Enjoy the game tomorrow night.
11:03Thanks, buddy.
11:04That is Brian Geltzeiler from NBA Radio.
11:06Always tremendous, tremendous NBA content with Brian.
11:09We'll do it again soon.
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