How Good Can The Knicks Be After The Break? | New York Got Game

How Good Can The Knicks Be After The Break? | New York Got Game

Welcome to New York gut game another week another edition of New York got game so much going on with New York basketball this past week the Brooklyn Nets they made headlines on Monday when they fired head coach Jac vaugh and named Kevin Ali interim head coach now the major question surrounding

The Brooklyn franchise is Will general manager Shawn Marx get the chance to hire his fourth coach head coach that is in eight seasons while never reaching the e Conference Finals yet we shall see as far as the Knicks go Julius Randle let it be known that while he is trying

To return to the squad he is not ruled out season ending shoulder surgery speaking of the Knicks we’re going to talk more about the team that plays at Madison Square Garden this week and we’re going to do it with the crew who is killing it when it comes to Nick’s

Content creation let’s get right to it the Knicks are heating up the nickers are back on the court following the All-Star break and have played two games health is a major concern around the Knicks as they are now in the home stretch of the NBA season we’re going to talk some Nicks

Hoops on this episode and we’re going to do it with two of the best content creators they are involved with morning Brew Sports and you can watch them on the Nick’s morning Brew show my guys Phil Porto Hector what’s up guys how yall doing chilling chilling man how you

Feeling Dex I’m feeling good I’m feeling good glad to have both of you here Hector you’ve been up here before Phil known you for a bit but this is your first time yeah it feels surreal I feel like I’ve known you but only through like a screen only through like a camera

Lens and so the guys were teasing me that they’re all vets and I’m the rookie so I’m hoping not to drop the ball today my guy I I doubt that you will drop the ball you’re a rookie but you were a season content creator around the Knicks

We know that love the guys and what they do at Nicks morning Sports and we’re here to talk some Nicks basketball here of course so guys the nickers they played two games since the All-Star break got the win at Philly last Thursday and then fall into the Celtics

Big match up on Saturday night what did you make of their play coming out of the break Phil I’m going start with you since you are the rookie we’re going to put you through the rookie process what did you make of their play coming out

The break you know in that first game it said a lot to me that we have Fighters you know because we’re missing a lot of guys you know but we saw the grit that they came out with even with Jaylen Brunson having a mediocre efficiency

When it came to shooting he still put up numbers was able to contribute assist wise but he just wasn’t doing great like everyone was talking about the shots that he was missing our shots that he makes in his sleep so it was a game for him offensively but you had guys

Continue to step up and that was beautiful to watch and you were hoping to kind of see that go into last night’s game you know we’re all gathered at blury Stone ready to have this great watch party and then all of a sudden for two and a half quarters of basketball it

Looks pretty and then starts to look a little bit ugly so it showed that we’re close but without our guys the way that this roster is built we have to be healthy to compete with the Boston Celtic typ teams because there are levels to this thing and I believe we’re

At that level when we’re healthy but without those guys especially OG and Randall we’re just not going to be able to compete with teams like Boston no fair points there hect I got to ask you that to build on that is that how you felt to coming especially after the

Celtics game and what you saw in Philadelphia that as Phil just said levels to this I think some people looked at the Celtics games as possibly being a measuring stick I’m not sure if it was cuz they weren’t healthy but what was your takeaways coming out was it

Disappointment or kind of like we’re just not healthy we’re not there yet to piggyback of what Phil said yes it was a disappointment like you said a measuring stick to go against the Bost and Celtics but as the optimistic Nick fan of course we wanted to go in there and beat the

Celtics But when reality sets in after two periods when we got into that third quarter you can see you know the bosson Celtics they were outclassing us without Julius Randle without ogan anobi and without Mitchell Robinson but the Silver Lining is for the first two quarters you

Saw our guys fight and battle with the Boston Celtics so it gives you some light for when those guys when we do get them back healthy we could get the ball rolling now to the point against Philadelphia yes Jaylen Brunson like Phil said was struggling nine times out

Of 10 if jayen Brunson has seven assists is shooting less than 30% from the field Nick fans we could say that’s a loss but to see everybody else rally behind Jaylen Brunson big assist numbers as well precious Chua has been playing Amazing yes Philadelphia is dealing with

Their injuries but we stepped up against them Boston Celtics not that much but it still gives you some hope going forward yeah got to give you hope the Vib still good and I think a lot of fans can feel like The Vibes are still good hect I

Want to ask you about this because so much into the conversation heading into the break about the Nick aakers as you guys just mentioned was their health right Julius Randall said last week that he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of season ending shoulder surgery on a separated right shoulder are you

Concerned that Randall could not return this year because that would change a lot for the Knicks if he does not how can what’s the concern level after you heard those comments from him saying that he would not rule out the possibility of season ending surgery very concerned anytime you hear the word

Surgery and an injury around the month of February because nine times out of 10 you could rule that play out for the rest of the season but when it comes to Julius Randle you guys seen the footage that’s been leaking on social media you see him throwing up some shots with his

Trainer in the background and you saw him yesterday against the Celtics before the game getting some shots up so that’s a good sign yes we want Julius Rand to avoid surgery whatever it is whether it’s in the season or in the off season hopefully when he does come back he

Doesn’t rush things and aggravate the V injury and then it’s not just something he have to deal with in the immediate but something that will trickle down and would affect next season and for the rest of his career that is so much of the concern I was talking about this

Earlier too is that the concern is when he comes back guys because he’s such a physical player as you guys know is that how confident will he be when he gets back on the court but this all ties in the health and Phil this one for you

Because when you look at the health situation the Knicks did get some players back following Allstar break right Isaiah hardenstein Dante venzo Bo banovich and in that game against Philly we saw multiple players beside Jaylen Bron as you mentioned he to contribute in that win are you impressed with the

Depth of this team particularly when you look at guys like Precious AA yeah who was really stepped up and Performing well with increased minutes is it the depth here that gives you the confidence about what the Knicks could do Beyond this stretch run of the regular season

Yeah you know one thing that we talked about is that this front office is doing things a little bit different you know like coming from the let’s get these two stars or three stars and build around them you know and like put everything into that basket we’ve kind of went a

Different route where it’s let’s kind of see what these players become here like you look at jayen Brunson he became who he is in a Nick uniform Julius Randle became who he is in a Nick uniform you know and now you’re starting to see that with guys like Precious aoua the best

Games that we’re seeing in his career are just over these last few weeks as a New York Nick and you know we had people that were Raptors fans telling us like he’s a bum good luck with that you know and like we were like yo slow down give

This guy a chance see what he does you know even part of Nick’s fandom was ready to toss him after like two games but he’s been such a staple so for me having these guys actually healthy makes us one of the strongest teams from top

To bottom but we need them to be healthy because Dante dienzo is having his best basketball as well Isaiah hartenstein so these injuries have been concerning but they’ve also allowed us to see what these players are because it’s put us in positions to now see that Isaiah

Hartenstein could be one of the best starting centers in the NBA right now Dante divon chenzo went from being a bench player to a star stud like most improved player kind of candidate so for me it’s incredible to see the depth of our team and instead of us being like oh

We don’t have anybody which is what we had before the trade deadline we were like our bench is horrible to now go holy crap when these guys go back and they’re actually part of our bench instead of starting we’re going to be lethal from top to bottom until that

Point Phil I think something that people sometimes maybe don’t talk about a lot around Sports is well what what is that experience of these guys getting minutes whether it’s Dante getting thrust into the starting lineup precious Chua now in the starting lineup getting this experience how does that b well for when

They move back to the bench and you may have another injury or they have to be thrust in the situation now they’ve got that experience so I think Knicks fans can be excited about that got this question for you both because right now the Knicks they’re in the fourth spot in

The East how important is it in your eyes that the team finishes second or third in the conference to likely avoid the Celtics because we know what kind of Beast they are right now how important is it that they get a top three seed to avoid the Celtics at least to the

Conference Finals Phil go with you first yeah you know you got to respect what they’re doing in Boston like they are through and through the best team in the NBA right now like you look at their record you look at what they’re able to do even when they’ve had certain players

Out for certain games they’ve been able to figure it out they are the kind of team that you want to play to prove something but not that early in the playoffs you know it’s like one of those things it’s like unless it’s like a Rocky movie you’re not trying to fight

Clubber Lang first you know like you’re trying to wait till a little bit later let clubber get beat up a little bit and then meet him in the ring so for me I do not want to see them first round I definitely want to see them in the

Eastern Conference Finals I think that would be the perfect story as an old school Nick fan that always loved that rivalry um but I think it’s still too soon especially with our guys being injured we need some time for them to gel and having that in the first round

Of the playoffs would be super super important so that when we do face Boston we’re at least fully on one you know Accord and we’re able to fully work together as a team and give us our best chances against them are you feeling the same way you want that top three seed

I’m right there with Phil right but you know Phil said shout out to the Celtics shout out to the Celtic fans because they are you know the top dog that are in the Eastern Conference even though some of you guys outside of the garden was showing you True Colors last night

I’m keep that to myself but um to Phil’s point I see what Phil’s talking about when it comes to securing that spot so we could catch Boston later on i’ rather us get healthy I don’t want our guys to come back early trying to to me the

Health is more important like I said I don’t want us to get back trying to secure that spot and then our guys get our guys somebody gets hurt trying to get into the postseason whether it’s the first second or third round I feel when our guys are completely healthy we have

Our 12 guys Tom tibo’s nin to 10 man rotation we could beat the Boston Celtics when healthy so that’s why I I think it’s more important for us to get healthy and not rush things back trying to secure a early seed I think for a lot

Of Knicks fans that is the major concern right there Health now you heard Hector Hector set it a little bit with his chest we could beat the Boston Celtics we’re going to get to that later about what we think the Knicks could do but Hector let me ask you this because MVP

Chance for Jaylen Brunson they are getting louder oh yeah they are we are hearing them on the road folks is jayen Brunson a legit MVP candidate and I bring this question up because I was talking with Jared Greenberg the other day about it and he felt like we got to

Start putting him in the conversation I said you know what I think you might be right about that are you with that are you feeling that Jaylen Brunson should at least be in the discussion for some votes for MVP we’re not saying he in the top three or something but should he be

Somewhere five six somewhere around there as a Nick fan 100% right but you know if I was to take my phandom glasses off set them to the side take a step back if you look at those words MVP and what they stand for most valuable player you take Jaylen Brunson away for this

Away from this team we’re not even a playing uh we’re not even trying to even compete for a playing spot that’s just how I feel so Jaylen Brunson when you look at the top seeds in the East and the West he has the most value to his

Team you take J Jon to Tatum away from the Boston Celtics they still have Jaylen Brown they still have Derek white they still have KP you look at the western conference right you take Anthony Edwards away from the Minnesota timber WS they still have car Anthony

Towns they still have Rudy goar to me Jaylen Brunson means the most to his team than any of the players that I just mentioned right now so when you look at the words Most Valuable Player Jaylen Brunson definitely fits that category as the most valuable player he won’t win it

But he definitely deserves some votes n there’s no doubt his value is immense to the Knicks right now now Phil I’m going to talk to you about another award all right okay Nick fans you guys know this next morning VW fans we see him in the chat we know what they’re doing fans

Have been up and down over the years with Tom Tibido now this season might be tip’s best coaching job might be there’s a fair argument for it where do you think he belongs in the coach of the year conversation so I’ll say first that I’m one of those people that’s been up

And down with tibs um and it’s not because I have a problem with him but because I think with everything player coaches everything you have to go on a that moment scenario what’s happening in those moments and there’s many things that I’ve been like if tibs would just

Do this and then he started to do them this year so it was just like there’s no tomatoes that I can really throw right now you know so it went from I got tons of tomatoes to I’m running out of tomatoes um but I don’t think I can put

Him in that category for coach of the year um I think I would put put him in that like five to seven you know seed of you know best coaches out there because of things that we’re talking about right now in that Pistons game you saw him do

Things you’ve never done Pressa chatua with four guards like that’s not a tibs lineup but it was successful and he ran with it but then yesterday you see things like miles McBride getting extremely hot he gets pulled brick Burks gets put back on there and Burks is just

Chucking him up and not helping us win whatsoever but tibs went with his guy that he’s comfortable with as opposed to what was happening in the game so there’s the you know things that you got to give credit for but also the things that you have to critique and so if you

Look at the coaches that are there what’s going on in Boston is insane you have to give credit to their coaching staff you know look at the Timberwolves they were nothing last year and everyone was like this isn’t going to work now they’re number one you know in the west

Then you look at OKC they had a great young core now they’re adding some vets like Gordon Hayward finding ways for him to fit in and then you got to look at the Cavaliers they went from having two guys that are very crucial to their starting lineup get injured and they

Thrived up until the second seed you know like so those are four coaches that you have to go okay they’re actually competing for that comp right there’s some good competition there coach of the year no there’s no doubt about that but tibs I think we’ll say done a really good coach

Job especially with the with the had this one for both of you um cuz we’ve been talking about health pretty much throughout this I think that’s a big concern for a lot of Knicks fans right now with all the injuries that they’re having which player do you believe is

Most integral to returning to the lineup and being healthy before the started playoffs some people might say oan anobi some people might say Julius Randle some people might say Mitchell Robinson it’s really of those three which one do you think is most integral to this team coming back and being healthy Hector you

First for me and this is where Phil and I we kind of differ we was having this conversation so when I saw it in the email that you sent us I was like oh this is perfect this is a great combo for me I think it’s Julius Randle when

You see how the offense works with both Jaylen Brunson and Julius Randle this year when it comes to catch and shoot opportunities on the three-point when it comes to the three-point line Jaylen Brunson is 45 46% from from that area 27% of that was because of Julius Randle

Right so when Julius Randle is not out there on the court the double teams the triple teams are more easy for the teams to throw on to Jaylen Brunson they don’t have to worry about that many people yeah Dante is going to knock down a three but he doesn’t have a commanding

Presence the same way that Julius Randle does to OG credit phenomenal defense top defense when you look at that month of J January I mean January when OG was in the lineup top defense for the Knicks but the offense clicks when J uh Jaylen and Julius Randle are working on 100

Cylinders so you got Julius Randle as the most important player to come back now you guys kind of let me know Phil we know that disagree with this who do you think is the most important player that needs to come back for the Knicks healthy yeah you know so this is hard

Because in my opinion this is Julius randle’s best season like the way that he was playing after he came back from that like hiccup of a start of a season was the best B basketball I’ve seen like he stopped doing a lot of things that we were frustrated with we saw him actually

Figuring out how to play his role now that it is more you know centered around jayen Brunson he was able to find his footing and how he can contribute without having to shoot threes and do this and do that and it was just great basketball however if you look at that

Boston game MH it wasn’t necessarily that we couldn’t find ways to score as much as it was that we couldn’t find ways to stop Boston from scoring and that’s the problem you look at how many points Boston had in the paint yesterday and it’s ridiculous so for me it’s OG

And an Obi because if you look if OG was there last night and he was able to either lock down KP or Jason Tatum and precious was then able to be the secondary Elite Defender it would have stopped a lot of their scoring and would

Have kept us closer in that game after a while our defense just couldn’t handle what they were able to do in the SEC uh first half we were second half they just got the best of us so if you look at January after that trade where it looked

Like oh crap we’re in trouble Julius randle’s gone but no OG was able to keep us afloat and we had the longest win win streak we’ve had the offense started moving a lot smoother you know with him in the lineup he was able to contribute offensively and defensively and that’s

Why I think it’s OG because I think it gives us what we need on both ends of the court and you saw the defensive numbers the defensive rating for the Knicks since the OG trade be so good guys it was it was so good and so strong

And you saw the impact he had on them defensively but two things can be true like both of you guys could be be right on this like that is that is possible okay last thing for me folks it is time to jump out of the window I don’t know

If these guys want to or not but this is a question that people want to know some people have already been jumping out the window you know you guys have seen this here’s a question guys MH if the Knicks are fully healthy because we’ve been talking about health all through this on

The show this spring heading into the playoffs how deep of a postseason run can this team actually make which one of you are going to jump out the window and say they’re going to win the NBA championship one of you guys are going to do do it or not I’m not you don’t

Have to I’m not forcing anybody window I will straight up say it because I’m one of the ones that tends to be a little critical um but what I will say is if Randall and OG come back just Randall and OG yet alone if Mitch comes back I

Truly believe that this could be our year and the reason I say that is because with this trade we’re seeing things that don’t really work with Burks and bojan you know like but we’re seeing things do work and the reason they aren’t working is because they’re playing out of their position they’re

Playing out of why they were brought here Josh Hart has good games and they would be great games that people would consider if they were off the bench but as a starter you don’t get the credit of that being a great game because you’re

One of our five that we need to be you know total production but you bring our guys back and you take those guys back to the bench I don’t know any bench that can compete with that bench like I just don’t there’s no team in my opinion that

Is that deep that they have to play full four quarters of basketball with their starters and their role players as what the New York Knicks have so I will say it I am jumping out the window if we get those guys back I do believe we can contend for the NBA Championship he

Jumped out the window folks okay we got one now Mr Hector Bo champ listen are you jumping out the window too I want to jump out the window I’m right there with you shout out to my guy Al Centron because we was talking about not touching the money and never touching

The money I never want to do that right but it’s kind of hard to not do that when you see how good this Team rocks especially in that month of January when everybody’s healthy and we’re just playing the style of defense that Nick fans from the 90 were used to we’re used

To those Patrick yearing uh 90s that 90 era Knicks playing that hard no defense but for me it’s all going to come down I have a fanfiction I was saying fanfiction for me ni Timberwolves NBA Finals Tom Tibido gets to go against the organization that threw him to the curb

Into NBA Purgatory so for me a fanfiction matchup would be the Knicks and the timber wvs but like I said I don’t like to touch the money so I’m very I’m I’m keep be very optimistic until we get to the postseason I’m touch the money Isaiah hartenstein blocked

Rudy Gober right at The Rim so if that’s what we got I’m touching all the money you took the fiction and went super far you like all right we’re just going to uh get make this a whole story book ending before before the comment section comes from me key word in that sentence

Was fiction okay you guys know fiction fair enough and the key word that Phil also mentions Phil says I think they can contend he went there so I feel like you you kind of jumped out the window you jump out the window a little bit I got a

Parachute you got you got parachute can’t just be jumping can’t be jumping wife and kids got to go home there you go you got to go home hey guys great to have you here to talk about the Knicks on New York God game I got to have you

Guys again I appreciate you coming through let everybody know Hector Bo champ Phil Porto check them out Nicks morning Brew the guys with morning Brew Sports they do such a fantastic job you guys are going to come back right we’re going to you know definitely of course

Be back all right we’re definitely going to do it again we will see how the Knicks do through the rest of the season check those guys out we see these guys next time when they come on the show yes sir the Knicks are heating up the Knicks continue their four game

Home stand this week hosting the Pistons pelicans and warriors to close it out the Nets they will wrap up their five game road trip with games at the Grizzlies and the magic before returning home for two games with the Hawks that does it for this episode of New York got

Game thank you to my guest from Nick morning Brew Hector Bo champ and Phil Porto also thank you to my producer Brian wasowski editor kathern Cooper and director Zack Tabb I’m D Henry see you next time on New York got game and thanks for watching New York Got Game boom Shak hey hey

Knicks Morning Brew hosts Phil Porto and Hector Beauchamp join Dexter Henry to discuss the Knicks play following the All-Star Break, the need for the team to get as healthy as possible and whether or not they are legit contenders for an NBA title.

01:59 Evaluating the Knicks Post All-Star Break
04:47 Julius Randle
06:10 Depth As A Strength For New York
08:34 Can the Knicks Grab A Top 3 Seed?
10:57 Jalen Brunson
12:33 Tom Thibodeau
14:57 Most Important Knick to Return to the Lineup
18:37 How Good Are the Knicks if Healthy?

Catch up on all episodes of New York Got Game https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL21wVx89S3lyaaGfOGOngi08dowvDZPlw

#newyorkknicks #juliusrandle #jalenbrunson

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