NBA Finals Game Three: Big Vic Returns

hey what's up this is the sam d uh i was on the road for this episode so do not have all my usual imaging and things of that nature but we will to get it done live from a tropical hotel of a destination that is none of your business um but you already know what it is this is the the sam d podcast i go by the name of the sam d that is t-h-e-e-s-a-m-d subscribe and rate the podcast fast off that the less tell a friend if you're into the visual component of this podcast slash live stream. Check out the The Sam D YouTube channel. Link will be in the podcast description. If you're into my thoughts on tech, all things tech, cameras, lenses, audio gear, things of that nature, holla at the showfreetech YouTube channel. Link also in the podcast description. For all content, audio, and visual, hit up thesandd.com. And as always, the musical production is done by May 1st Music.

Support him at soundcloud.com slash May 1st Music. Game three was last night. at the Mecca. Everybody and their mama was in the building. Hov, Mr. Brooklyn, I'm bringing the Nets to Brooklyn. He found his way into 33rd and 8th Ave.

Sneaking into the Mecca. The Orange Man, Maga Mitch Rob's favorite guy. The Orange Man was in the building, falling asleep next to James Dolan. The Mecca was alive. The Mecca was electric. There was a lot of things to tap into. But I just want to get into, sometimes you question when you're doing content, when you're a podcaster, when you're a streamer, when you're just someone that's putting stuff on the internet and just letting the world dictate the response of it, right?

I've long coined the phrase, I'm your favorite podcaster's podcaster. And I want to give you the science behind that, right? You know, while I may not put up ridiculous numbers, crazy numbers, stats and all of that when it comes to podcasting, streaming and whatnot, I've long been of the notion of is not necessarily how many people are listening or watching to a certain degree, of course. But it's more important to me who is watching, listening to my content. you know throughout my career I have had opportunities snatched away or blocked because I don't have certain numbers there's been people that I know within the industry that are relatively high up that have been wanting to give me opportunities because they think I'm on that level but because their higher ups don't recognize my metrics as something valuable don't know who I am because I'm not viral those opportunities are taken away from me but I've always relaxed with the notion of, well, I care if certain people listen. This is a stream, a podcast, a YouTube channel for those who know ball, whether it's football, basketball, baseball, whatever it is, if it's sports related and you really know you're not a casual, my content is for you. But over the years, I've learned that certain people have been listening to my content, have been watching my content.

And that has made me feel good because again, And the numbers don't matter to a certain degree. For me, it's, oh, someone in that front office checked out the pod. Oh, that executive has listened, has tapped in. Okay. Okay. And then that was the motivation to keep going. So with all that being said, you can't tell me that after the stream, the last stream, we did have the game too.

Whether it was the, you watch on the live stream or you checked out the podcast. You can't tell me after that where I specifically said we need to stop calling Victor Webinyama Big Vic. And it's going to start calling him Tall Vic because he is not playing big because he is intimidated by Carl Anthony Towns and MAGA Mitchell Robinson. You can't tell me that someone from that Spurs front office, the training staff, strength and conditioning crew, someone from that organization did not watch and or check out the pot. You can't tell me that because. Tall Vic reverted back into Big Vic last night at the Mecca. So you can't tell me someone from that organization, that front office did not tap into the stream.

We had over 250 people and the numbers are growing with the VOD, the video on demand portion of it. And the podcast numbers did well as well. So you can't tell me someone from the organization did not tap in. And I now have learned not only do I have professional ties to the Spurs organization, I now even have familial ties to the Spurs organization. So that even confirms it even more to me that someone from the Spurs tapped in. I'm not saying Big Vic guess we're back to calling him Big Vic I'm not saying Big Vic tapped in but I think somebody I mean I called out all of them I called out the Spurs, I called out the front office I called out the luminaries, I called them all out called out Tim Duncan David Robinson, George Girvin I called them all out, Pop, all of them and now all of a sudden Tall Vic turns into Big Vic in just one swoop when he was out here trying to be Kevin Durant instead of being Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Nigerian freak. He now magically turned back into Big Vic where he is coming out first quarter getting touches, getting paint touches, getting lob touches.

Exactly what I was saying he wasn't doing, especially in game one, but even in game two. Magically that just happened, huh? Magically, right? All of a sudden, a Spurs organization that has Buku, Larry Obese, That has Hall of Famers up and down the front office. That has all types of high level, high IQ. Big Nasty, Carlos Williamson is on that coaching staff. Big Nasty tapped into the pod?

I'm not saying whether he did or didn't. I'm just saying there's enough NBA luminaries from top to bottom in that organization that they should have known better that Victor Webinyama needs to get paint touches. Me on this stream and this pod should not have to tell the Spurs front office and the whole staff, hey, maybe it'd be good if you get the tallest guy on the court, your best player, some paint touches. Even if he's not 100% comfortable getting the ball down there, he needs to get some paint touches. And lo and behold, what was it? Three of his first four buckets were dunks? Just a coincidence, right?

I'm sure. Just a coincidence. Just a coincidence. We will get to the chat. Steph, I see you. Accountability and bullying work. And that's what it was.

Webbing Yama needed to step up last night. Webbing Yama needed to make himself known and to get that presence going. And he was a presence down low. You're seven foot four, seven foot five on a good day. He should be doing that. It shouldn't take going down 2-0, going into a hostile environment in the Mecca. It shouldn't take Hove pulling up.

It shouldn't take the Orange Man pulling up. It shouldn't take all the Luminaries pulling up for Big Vic to realize, on this stage, I need to be uber aggressive. It shouldn't take this. It shouldn't take being down 2-0 for the Spurs guards, whether it was De'Aaron Fox, whether it was Stephon Castle. It shouldn't take being down 2-0 for them to realize, hey, maybe we should get Vic going early. And Castle talked about it in the postgame. Yeah, we wanted to make a concerted effort to get Wembing Yama involved early.

Why isn't that the credo every game? That should be the credo every game. He's supposed to be the best player in the world. He's supposed to be the future. He's supposed to be up next. And this series could allow him to be the present, to be the now. And it took three games for them to figure out?

Let's get Vic involved early? Let's stop making him tall, Vic. Let's turn him back into Big Vic? Absolutely maddening that it took being down 2-0, going on the road in game three. And they still, last night, almost tricked it off. They still down the stretch. It took huge bailout shots from Stephon Castle and from DMR Fox to save them again.

As much as everyone said, oh, but now we got a series. I'm like, yo, they were this close to being down 3-0. Where you could make the argument that there's a chance they really should be up 2-1. They were this close to almost tricking it off yet again and being down 3-0. And the Mecca being a absolute madhouse Friday night with everyone trying to bring brooms into the Mecca. We were this close to the Armageddon scenario where Knicks tape was going to celebrate their first Larry OB in 53 years with a sweep. And because Darren Fox hit the Jimmy, because Stefan Castle bailed out Wemby.

Wemby with an errant pass just flung it over there to him last minute with the shot clock running down with the clock running down and Castle nails the dagger. The Spurs has some New York ties. Castle not only with the UConn, so trash state, but also his pops, Far Rock legend. If you know, you know. Then we got Champagne who went to St. John's. There's a lot of New York energy from these guards on the Spurs.

and again they get out to an early lead in the first quarter. They establish themselves early and then only yet again to fall back in that second quarter. Something about that second quarter, usually when Wemby's off the floor. So those Luke Cornett minutes seem to be a problem, as you would expect when you take Wemby off and put him in. But something else happens. The execution doesn't seem to happen. The poise doesn't seem to exist.

Something happens in those second quarters when the starters, when we included, build up a lead. And then the role players come in, and then all of a sudden, these dudes forget how to play basketball, forget how to play the system. Hit the chat. Steph in there. Steph, watching last night, I realized Jordan Pouls before the punch would be a much better fit than De'Aaron Fox. ooh that's a good pull yeah Jordan Poole after the punch was never the same you know I think I still think Big Vic as we're back to calling him Big Vic at least until Friday night we'll see how Friday night goes if he reverts back to game one and game two then we're back to calling him Tall Vic after game four Big Vic's gonna need a point guard at some point and that's why unfortunately he had the tantalizing prospect of having a point fraud for that one year. And you saw what he looked like when he had a point guard who was only just trying to feed him and get him the rock.

Now, point fraud is gone. He has to get a more score first point guard in De'Aaron Fox, who while it was beneficial last night, they needed De'Aaron Fox to take that shot and make that shot last night. His game is more that than getting Big Vic involved. I think the Jordan Poole thing would be good to stretch the floor. But Jordan Poole would definitely not be passing the ball to Big Vic in any way, shape, or form as much as De'Aaron Fox. De'Aaron Fox has maybe, if I had to do a split in terms of point guard, De'Aaron Fox is probably a 70-30 point guard in terms of shooting to passing. Jordan Poole is about 95-5.

He is about 95-5 when it comes to passing the rock. But I think as we watch Big Vic's evolution, as we watch the Spurs continue to try to put pieces around Big Vic to get more appearances in the NBA finals and maybe get a Larry LB if they don't get it here. I think a point guard is going to have to be essential. Someone whose main job is going to be facilitate, facilitate, facilitate. It's Vic involved. You can even slide. I think Castle's good enough that you could slide him to the two.

And then you could put Dylan Harper at the three. Like, I don't think your backcourt needs to be Stefan Castle and Dylan Harper. I think those two guys can slide a spot. And then you go get a facilitator. And you still have Vassell, Champagne, whoever is going to be that fourth guy, that hybrid four. Like, the Knicks are out here with not really a real power forward. The Knicks are out here with a bunch of wings.

They got two, they have three small forwards that are playing shooting guard to power forward. Like, let's be clear. Jalen Bruns is a point guard only in name only. He's not a point guard, but he's 6'2 on a good day, on a really, really good day. So he's there. So he plays point. Your shooting guard is O.G.

Ananobi, whose natural position is the three. Then you have Mikael Bridges playing his natural position at three. They can have Josh Hart, who was an undersized power forward. Not like Charles Barkley, who was 6'4", but had the heft and the brawn to be a power forward. Josh Hart is just out there, you know, undersized as hell, but he somehow has the strength to be able to get down there and bang with the big. So, again, you don't even have a traditional lineup, even with the Knicks, and they're in the NBA Finals, and they're two wins away from getting an NBA championship. So you don't need to have Stephon Castle just because you drafted him as a point to be your actual point guard.

You could go and slide him off the ball and go bring in the actual point guard and let that cook up. Because we saw last night, Castle could knock down the three ball when he needs it. He's not the best shooter as of right now, but super early in his career. As he develops with Harper, that could be the two, three. And then you go find the guy that could be the four. And then we know you got Wimby at the five. Like, so I think this first thing could evolve if they, you know, roster construction is a huge thing in terms of figuring out what your system is and riding that out.

As you figure this out, it's going to take a lot to figure out what the pieces are going to be going forward. Oh, and I didn't even bring in all my fancy graphics. Hang on one second. Let me make sure my overlay is up. Let's go ahead and do that. I do all this work and post and pre for nothing. Let's make sure we got that going.

Boom. My bad. But the fact that the Spurs almost tricked it off is the most troubling thing to me. Each game, they've been able to establish that they can go up on the Knicks by at least double digits, right? That should give them enough confidence to know that they could beat the Knicks. Unfortunately, they keep doing things in these games, whether it's late in the second quarter or late in the fourth quarter, where it just reminds you this is the second youngest team to ever make the NBA Finals. and while there's something you can say for being young and dumb and not knowing any better, so then that allows you to be able to take advantage of certain things, one thing that has kept showing up is that when they get pressured, when the possessions are intensified, when the pressure is magnified, they show a tendency to sometimes trick it off.

And I don't know if that's purely just youth. Stephon Castle is not a facilitating point guard. He likes to get his shot off, right? I don't know if in the end of these games, he realizes when Vic has an advantage. There were multiple times down the stretch where Vic was on switches again. This is a reoccurring theme throughout each one of these recaps I've been doing. There has been multiple opportunities where Vic is being guarded by little dudes.

And yes, even though OG and Anobi is 6'7", 6'8", He is a little dude compared to someone that is seven foot five. There were multiple times where he was being guarded by OG and they did not get the ball to him. And I just don't understand why. And it almost cost them as much as there's a sigh of relief. If you're a Spurs fan, a sight of relief. If you're Adam Silver. You still have to have the reservation of, yo, man, they were almost down 3-0.

As much as Mike Brown is complaining about the refs and complaining about the free throw disparity in the postgame, how much of a vet move is that? This man is channeling his inner Pat Rowley. He's channeling his inner Phil Jackson where I lose. I'm going to blame the refs. It ain't me. It ain't the fact that for the third game in a row in the NBA finals, my team came out flat in the first quarter. It can't be me.

It has to be the refs. It has to be the officials. Even though Scott Foster wasn't there last night, can I find a way to blame Scott Foster? This is where, when you realize what is happening, when it comes to transition, when it comes to evolution, when it comes to maneuvering the capabilities of what is possible, you really have to examine how the game is played and how it's broken down. The Spurs late in shot clock, those three still go up in bunches with no regard for human life. OK, those threes come in bunches in a major way and it is maddening to watch it. And it doesn't even always come late in the shot clock.

Sometimes it's with like 15 seconds left. It's just when the when the possession gets bogged down with whatever set they're trying to run isn't running efficiently or effectively. They panic. And that's why you have a point guard who can calm things down. Castle kind of has it in him. Then that watching him at times, it's like, I see it in you. I see you trying to calm the team down.

Like, yo, I got it. I got it. Like he tried to calm big Vic down during game two, but big Vic was the moment was too bright. He got into his Jared Allen bag and he threw the ball away. But Stefan Castle has it in him, but I just, I don't believe it yet. I don't believe in it yet. I need to see way more of it for me to co-sign and really be tapping in on his ability as a facilitating point guard.

Not just a point guard, a scoring guard, a combo guard, hybrid guard, whatever you want to call it, but as an actual point guard. But there were times where the offense was bogged down, the set wasn't working, and they just would panic and chuck a three up. Playing hot potato, passing rock around, whoever has the next best available shot, just shoot it. And while that works in November, while that may work in February, while that may even work in April, this is June. Larry OB is on the line. You cannot do that. You cannot play with your food like that.

The Spurs play with their food way too much. Hit the chat. Steph, Jaron Jackson, Triple J could be a piece for the Spurs to go after. There's no real big playing alongside Wemby, and I think having someone of this caliber allows Wemby to be more of a free safety on the defense. I like that. I like Triple J. He's definitely going to need somebody.

Building that roster is going to be so important going forward. Building that roster is going to be extremely vital going forward because you can't just depend on him alone, right? There's a reason why they made sure to go get Castle, to go get Harper, and to hit on those draft picks and make sure they go make the deal to go get De'Aaron Fox. and sign him to the max bag. There's a reason why they went and got all those guys, right? I think, though, to bring him, like, you don't, I mean, Triple J, I mean, it's, if you could find someone like him, yes. I even think you could go a traditional route and go get just a regular size four, like an Isaiah Stewart type of dude.

I'm not saying Isaiah Stewart specifically, but a dude like that. Or even low key, Jalen Duren, his price is coming down because of his performance at playoffs. If the Spurs can go out there and lowball him and get him under market value, put him at the four again. Or even look the transition. Wemby could do this Anthony Davis style if he wants. He can go be a four if he wants to. Let Jalen Duren take the punishment.

Let Jalen Duren have to guard the likes of Cat. and then he can do the free safety thing I think Steph even from the four like so there's a lot of ways the Spurs could play with this and make it dangerous and lethal depending on the roster construction if you're looking at this from a Knicks POV you have to consider the fact that you could have went up 3-0 you could have stole another one you stole game one you I want to say you stole game two but I think that was more the Spurs then the Spurs choked. The Knicks took advantage. You stole game one. You took advantage of the Spurs choking in game two. And you almost were able to steal another one in game three. Jalen Brunson is your point guard.

And Jalen Brunson is out here taking damn near 30 shots a night. And while it worked in San Antonio, I think more so that was the Spurs' fault and not the Knicks' prowess. It came to rue them last night. Carl Anthony Towns cannot take 10 shots. in the NBA Finals game, and he's your second best player. And I use best with the quotations because we know he's actually their best player, but Jalen Brunson's their most important player. Carl Anthony Towns should not be taking only 10 shots.

After looking the way he looked, and we were ready to give him the MVP trophy. We were ready to call Cat MVP. Barkley's been talking about in the postgame. A lot of people are tapping into the notion of Carl Anthony Towns has reached that level where now if the Knicks do pull this off, he should be Finals MVP. And last night could even strengthen his case low-key, even in a loss, because you can make the case. Hey, look, when Carl Anthony Towns isn't cooking, the Knicks don't win. Because Jalen Brunson, he got his numbers last night.

His numbers were no different than any other night. And yet, and still, the Knicks found a way to lose at the crib with a Rockets arena that was ready to go up 3-0 and ready to be ready with those brooms on Friday. Carl Anthony Towns cannot take 10 shots and while I'm not saying they need to do the same thing like the Spurs did with Wembe where they need to get him involved early the few times Carl Anthony Towns got the rock he was uber passive they blitzed him a couple times he tried to swing out of it that's not the dude we saw when they were in San Antonio the dude we saw in San Antonio was putting his head down and his shoulder down and being aggressive getting to the rack doing that at game three. Don't know why. He probably wasn't in rhythm because he probably didn't get a lot of early touches, but something happened with Cat to where 10 shots was not a thing. 10 shots was too little of a thing for him. There should never be a scenario where he only gets 10 shots.

He's too good. You don't do what you did to go get him and absorb the contract that he has to be in a game where you could go up 3-0 and effectively secure a Larry OB. because even if you go up 3-0, you could play with your food one or two times and lose a game or two and then still bring it back to the career of game six and finish the deal. You had a chance to effectively win a championship last night and call in Anthony Towns, who is your most talented player, your best player, only got 10 shots. That is extremely problematic. And it just highlights again why Jalen Brunson is not a point guard. He's just a short scoring guard.

But Big Vic returned. And you just saw the difference it makes. And that's why it's like, well, why don't y'all know? Why don't y'all realize y'all need to do this every game? Everybody's shots, shot opportunities were easier, were more open. Harper was able to dive to the rim and be able to get to the rim easier. When Vic is out there establishing the paint early.

Stephon Kassler had freedom to move. Darren Fox, even though he had a rough shooting night, his ability to get into the paint, drive and kick and move the ball around. That's the key. Driving and kicking. Again, this basketball thing, all sports are not that difficult. We just make it more difficult with the analysis paralysis that we do. Basketball is predicated on if you have shooters, you need to be able to move the ball to free them up to get shots.

someone has to sacrifice themselves and either be the target in terms of I am Big Vic. I'm seven five. I can get the ball in the paint or a touch near the paint and the defense is going to collapse towards me. That opens up opportunities for my teammates. It's then on me to begin the process of getting rid of the ball and the ball being swung to one of my now two or maybe even three. Sometimes open teammates. Someone has to be that sacrifice.

Someone has to take that L. And what we're witnessing is that now when you get Big Vic involved early, the defense is going to collapse because they have to, unless they're going to leave whoever's guarding Vic on an island. Now that to me would be a sneaky adjustment if the Knicks were willing to do it. As good as Wemby looked last night with a 30 ball, I'm of the mentality of I want to see if Vic could go for 50. I saw him up one on one the entire game. Don't send nobody. Dare Big Vic to be Big Vic for 48 minutes.

That's the adjustment I would make if I'm Mike Brown. Instead of complaining about the referees and trying to get your Pat Raleigh on, instead of trying to get your Phil Jackson on, how about you just ISO up on Big Vic? Just like it was, I mean, it's easy to ISO up on Big Vic when he's out there taking jumpers like in game two. he's out there taking 18 19 foot jumpers with the game on the line it's easy to iso up on him there no when he gets those paint touches when he's getting those lobs off let me see you stay one on one when he's killing you with that if you want to stay home on everybody else and you don't want castle to get going you don't want Vassell to get going you don't want Dylan Harper to keep driving into the teeth of your defense then let me see you iso up on big vic the whole night if Mike Brown wants to get into his coaching bag you showed me you got a trick up your sleeve by pulling out the Pat Riley Phil Jackson move of blaming the reps you got that in your bag cool let me see if you got this in your bag ISO up on Big Vic dare him to put up a 50 ball to tie this series up I'm staying home on everybody we're not collapsing the defense he's 7-5 we're not collapsing the defense he get those lobs off all night you get them lobs all night but we are not leaving Harper. We are not leaving Castle. We are not leaving Vassell. Steph in the chat.

Has OG been the most consistent Nick in the last two rounds? Yes. I mean, he's their best shooter. He's their best shooter. I mean, Landry Schamann has gotten hot over the last two rounds but in terms of their most consistent shooter, it's been OG. He is their shooting guard which is a wild thing to say when you could look at his Toronto numbers and you can make the case that the boy can't shoot. But he has made such a marketed improvement over the last few years, especially since becoming a Knick, where it's like, oh, no, OG.

Like when they draw a place for a three. They use Brunson as a decoy, but they're trying to get the ball to OG. Like they'll settle for Jalen Brunson taking the three. But in terms of makeable threes, like confidence in making this three, it's OG for sure. So yeah, OG is definitely the guy right now in terms of he's the shooting guard. He's the most consistent shooter. He's arguably their best shooter.

That's who he is. Let me see if I can get to the box score here. I think this is the Spurs box score. Did they pull over the Knicks box score? Give me a second. here appreciate y'all for pulling up we're trying to figure this thing out on the fly so if things look a little bit janky we're not at the crib we don't have the usual setup but we're trying to make it work we're trying to make it happen so let me see we can pull this up let's see if the next thing pulls up should be a screenshot of the knicks yep there we go and then i will bring myself in that way okay all right so as you see here this is the next box score as you see on that left side of the screen you're looking at the shot attempts Jalen Brunson with 25 shots okay this man is taking way too many shots when you look at and what OG was able to do OG with 13 shots but it's efficient 3 of 7 from 3 and again I don't just read the box score I'm using the box score to interpret my thoughts to confirm with what I saw in the game. So this is what usually you don't get this from people that are in sports media.

People in sports media, they will just go line by line, read this box score to you, watch a couple of highlight packages on the internet, and then pretend like they watched all of the game. But everything I've been saying had nothing to do with this box score, but everything I've been saying, you can now correlated to the box score and it confirms yes, the CMD did watch the game last night. So, Brunson's out here with 25 shots. OG and Inobi with 13. As you see there, Cat only with 10. 0 for 2 from 3 for Cat. 3 of 7.

47, 43 percent, excuse me, for OG and Inobi. Brunson had his best shooting game from 3 by far this whole series, but overall 11 of 25. Of 25. Role play is supposed to go crazy at home. You had a good game from Josh Hart. You had a great game for Jordan Clarkson off the bench. Who was dusted off after not playing at all.

In game one or two. So the Knicks are in a position where. What's the adjustment right? Is there an offensive adjustment? Sure let's get Cat involved. But how is that going to happen? Well that requires Jalen Brunson to not take as many shots.

Or. If you're a Knick fan. Are you willing to not get 13 shots from OG or 10 shots from Josh Hart so you could get some more shots for Carl Anthony Townsend? You could probably say, well, easily, well, take some shots away from Josh Hart. But then you remember Josh Hart kept them in the game with those threes. He had four threes. He had four threes.

Three of those threes were in the first half, I believe. And those threes helped get them the lead going into the half. So if you take those threes away, you're probably getting blown out at the crib by the Spurs in the first half. Now, you've shown that you can come back from that, clearly, especially after game one. But are you willing to take that chance? Are you willing to sacrifice Josh Hart's threes or the combination of Josh Hart feeling like he could take a shot? And then O.J.

Anobi, who is clearly your best shooter, just to get Carl Anthony Townsend shots. what Bridges didn't score until the late third quarter I'm gonna get this box uh Bridges here yeah Mikael Bridges did not score until he only took five shots the whole night so Bridges who saved you in game two saved you in game two by running with the bench mob and leading the bench mob and help spurring the run to cut the lead in the second half no excuse me to keep the lead and extend the lead in game two in pivotal minutes in the second quarter of game two. Now he takes a backseat. He only gets five shots up. And now you're looking at a scenario where Carl Anthony Towns only takes ten shots. The shot delineation needs to be adjusted if you're the Knicks. It has to be adjusted because you're playing with your food now.

And Barkley said in the postgame the pressure's on the Knicks. I think the pressure was on the Knicks last night. Because again, these games have been close. As much as both teams have been up multiple times at double digits throughout these three games. These games have all been close in the end. So there's no large margin of error. I was on here saying that the Knicks are the better team.

Nothing that I saw last night dissuades me from that. But I'm not going to sit here and ignore the results of the fact that all three of these games have been close. all three of these games have had huge momentum swings all these games have had pivotal moments where either someone stepped up or someone fucked up and if you're a Spurs fan you could legitimately say we should be up at least 2-1 they should have gotten one of those games at the crib and then last night I go more of they should have took game two I think number one game one was just a complete disaster so I throw that one out you lost that one you deserve to lose that one game two the comedy of errors from their best player Victor Webbingama who then was tall Vic but is now back to being big Vic they should have won game two now you go on the road hostile environment all the stuff and then you'll be able to go ahead and get it done on the road I would be furious I'm like, we should be up 2-1. We should be halfway to Larry LB, not the Knicks. We should be halfway to celebrating and having a parade, not the Knicks. A lot going on there. Absolutely a lot going on there.

I think ultimately, if we're really trying to navigate what the adjustment should be, the Knicks are going to try to stop the lobs. Now, if they're going to try to stop the lobs, that means the guards are going to have to now take floaters and runners or hit the middies crazy. If I'm Darren Fox, you're salivating. If it's Stephon Castle, you're salivating. I still want Big Vic to be aggressive, even though the Knicks are going to try to fight like hell and bump him and scratch him and throw him on the floor. I still want him to push through all of that Don't fall for the Mike Brown trap Mike Brown is setting the trap By talking about the officials Let me see if I can find that screen Did I pull into Mike Brown? Let's see Mike Brown's pulling the trick He ain't slick And the trick is You talk about the refs You put the pressure on the refs To call the game What you feel is more even And then in the next game, usually there's a swing in terms of what what's the foul disparity for other teams.

There is usually a swing. We could go the other way. I'll pull up a cat graphic instead. Just so we can hammer home, keep hammering home the point of cat is out here not getting the touches he should be. Give me a sec. Let's pull that up. Is that going to work for me?

there it is and then we go over that and then we bring that alright so you see it here in games 1 and 2 Cap was giving you 20 he's giving you 20 shooting over 55% from the floor 3 of 7 from 3 hitting the glass crazy 13 boards he's giving you 20 and 13 through the first two games and four dimes on top of that. So even the times he was blitzed or pressured, he's moving the ball, kicking the ball out. Complete stark difference last night. Complete stark difference last night. And that, you can spin this the other way, quite honestly, because you can say, hey, when you're on the road, you need your best players to play at their apex because your others, your role players are normally not going to be top tier. on the road. So you need your stars to play more like stars on the road than at home.

You can get that line off. And there is some factual statistical data that kind of correlates with that. Stars are more needed or more impactful when they play at their apex on the road as opposed to home. So you could say, hey, it's cool. Cat, you can... I'm not saying he's taking a back seat on purpose. but you can make the notion of hey don't worry about it because we had Josh Hart step up we had Jordan Clarkson step up the points that Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson gave you kind of offset what Cat didn't give you you can sell me that however you're now in a spot where you can either go up 3-1 or go back to San Antonio tied at two As much as I feel as though Carl Anthony Towns can go be a bully in game five in San Antonio with the series tied at two and get it done.

Why would you even risk that? Just let him be a bully in game four where you could go up three one and maybe even close this thing out in game five in San Antonio. Why would you even risk that? Why would you assume that you're going to get another Jordan Clarkson game? Or another Josh Hart from three game? And maybe that happens, or maybe it's Shamit. Maybe it's Deuce.

Maybe Bridges gives you another game two performance. Any of those things could happen, but what I know should happen is call Anthony Towns being a bully. Because not only does it affect the team offensively, but then you're impacting Wemby defensively. As Steph mentioned in the chat of allowing Wemby to be a free safety, Wemby can't be a free safety if Kat's cooking. We witnessed that. And it wore Wemby out. After going a full seven games with OKC, And then jumping right into hosting the NBA Finals and all the pressure that comes with that.

Knowing that the spotlight is on you. You were, you've been bred for this moment. You have been earmarked for this moment. Ever since your first growth spurt. You've been earmarked for that moment. Game 1, NBA Finals in your home gym. You're D-Poi.

You're soon to be MVP. You're the future face of the league. if not the current face of the league, all eyes are on you, as they've always been since that first growth spurt. And Carl Anthony Towns was bullying that man and bullied that man. It made him question himself and put him in pressurized situations where he had brain farts. Someone that believes in meditation, someone that believes in yoga, someone that hangs out with Buddhist monks and nuns. So he's all about solitude and centering oneself.

And a man from New Jersey who has been questioned with his physical prowess and his physicality was able to bully the man who hangs out with monks and nuns. Why would you just wait for that to happen in game five when you can force the issue and push for that to happen in game four? So. I'm not going to sit here and try to be, you know, reading a crystal ball or all of that stuff, but I would be stunned if we get a repeat performance from calling the Anthony Towns in game four, as we saw last night in game three. I would be absolutely stunned. I think they're going to try to force feed him in much in the same way. dispersed it with Big Vic.

All right, let's see if we can pull up another slide. We're figuring it out. We're on the road. We're figuring it out. They come off that, and then we'll take that away, and we'll go back to the main screen. Okay, let me pull up this other stuff. So look, I appreciate y'all in the chat.

I appreciate y'all tapping. If you haven't, let that like button hit that like button. Appreciate that. If you haven't, hit the subscribe button. We're growing this community. Except 780 strong, I think. As I started this.

So, you know, trying to get it going, trying to get it popping, trying to build something here. 1K is the next goal. So I need to get a thousand folks in here and see where we go from there. Let me see. Let's pull up the Wemby stats, right? Or no, second half stats. We'll go second half stats.

All right. I'm going to go away for a sec. Check one, two. and then boom. So if we talk about what happened in that second half, that's just either. The Knicks were rolling. 64 points, almost 60% from the floor, 8 of 17 from 3.

That's just under 50%. You see the feed throw attempts and this is what Mike Brown got into, right? 14 feed throw attempts in the first half, only 8 in the second. And I believe the Spurs made 24 free throws in the second half. Right? And even points to the paint. Again, to the point of trying to get Cat involved.

Even Maga, Mitch Robb. Somebody in that paint. Brunson was the most active in the paint. Brunson and OG were the most active in the paint. Josh Hart was focused on the outside. Jordan Clarkson focused on the outside. He didn't get that much from Bridges.

So the paint was not explored. Now Wemby, again, you're going into the paint against someone who is 7'5". that's going to thwart many of an opponent, right? So am I surprised that the points of the paint diminished greatly in the second half? No, that's the way it should be. If Wemby's doing his job as Depoy, that's what's supposed to happen. But Mike Brown is more concerned about free throw attempts.

And we've talked this entire series about how physical it is. The commentators have done a good job highlighting it. I think at times they've overblown some things. You can talk about missed calls. There's missed calls in every game. There is missed calls in every game and every sport being officiated across the world. So to sit here and now try to highlight a discrepancy for the Knicks in an isolated game to me is madness.

Because I could do the same if I'm going to talk about game two. Game two, Castle had some strong takes to the rim and got no calls. I didn't see the Spurs brain trust crowing after that game so Mike Brown's trying to get it off channeling his inner Pat Rowley his inner Phil Jackson I don't think it's going to work or let me rephrase that I don't want it to work unfortunately that strategy usually does work where the refs swallow the whistle for whoever team it was lobbied publicly against that they were being in favor for. So do not be stunned or surprised if the Spurs do not get a good whistle Friday night in the Mecca. Don't be surprised if Jalen Brunson has 10 feet throws in the first half. Because they have to, because insinuating that the refs are not in your favor is insinuating that the referees who are supposed to be neutral are showing favoritism. And this league, which has had literally have had referees on the take.

They cannot have a scenario where their referees are being called out in that in the deciding games for their highest prize available. That the referees are biased, that the referees are on the take, that the referees are not doing a good job. So the reps are going to try to counter balance that. By trying to show that they're not biased towards the Spurs, but now they're going to have to give some calls to the Knicks so that things balance out in the eyes of the public. It's an old trick is a trick that should not still be working in 2026. But here we are. Maybe they prove me wrong.

Maybe they prove me wrong in game four and don't show any biases towards the Knicks and give them any favoritism. But Mike Brown knows exactly what he was doing. He's going to take that fine and eat that fine. No problem. Because if he's able to steer this team towards a championship, it's worth every penny. That fine will be worth every single penny. All right, let's see what else we got here.

We got a bunch of stuff, man. Trying to give y'all some flavor. Even when I'm on the road, I'm trying to cook y'all up some flavor. Let's see. did I put the Wemby up already? I think I put the Wemby up already but let me see let me make sure big Wemby graphic coming in hotel Wi-Fi there it is so when you try to navigate what Vic was able to pull off last night this is the Pantheon right? 30, 5 and 5 age 22 or younger and this is where you really have to consider what we're witnessing is the fact of this man at this age is already putting on these types of performances at 22 22 years in 155 days he's able to put up numbers that we haven't seen since the likes of kobe and magic and those are guards by the way and that's what makes it insane seven foot four seven foot five on a good day and last the day so we're going to say 7 foot 5.

7 foot 5 and you're putting up 5 dimes. 5 dimes at 7'5". At the age of 22. This is supposed to be his coronation. Now the Knicks may ultimately ruin it and get their first Larry OB in 53 years. But you can see it. If he plays like he did last night, the Knicks should not be able to beat them.

should not now they may ultimately do beat them but they should not be able to beat the Spurs when Big Vic plays like Big Vic when he reverts to Tall Vic yeah the Knicks can win this series they can steal games on the road they can squeak it out when there's some frailties and fallacies within the Spurs execution yes but when Big Vic is out here giving you five and five. He's supposed to be getting coordinated. This was to be his first chip, his finals MVP. This was supposed to be a carbon copy of what Tim Duncan and David Robinson did all the years ago with David Robinson was on his way out. Tip Duncan was on his way in and the baton was being passed, not only from best per player on the team, but the baton of, Oh, he's next up. That baton was hoisted upon Tim Duncan when he got that first championship in 99. Now, here we are 27 years later and the Spurs are in the same position.

They have a guy who was supposed to be coronated as the next guy up. Now, Tim Duncan didn't play with his food and he was in a paint with his. And he's got some of the same dexterity, flexibility, footwork that Vic does. But Duncan lived on the block. Now you have Big Vic, Wemby, Victor Webinyama, who clearly has influences from Harden, influences from Kevin Durant. So his game is a little different. But at the end of the day, you're the tallest man on the court.

Arguably the best player on the court. You should be in that paint. When you get 10 foot 5, you should not be 30 feet away from the basket half the time. There is no reason. It's inexcusable. To be that tall and be that far away from the rim, the majority of the game. I know the physics and the analytics could tell you a lot of things, but I don't speak analytics.

They're only beneficial when they try to inform me of what I'm missing. Analytics cannot tell me that being seven foot five means you should be 30 feet away from the basket. I don't care what metric you give me. I will never believe that. I will never co-sign that. but what I do know is is that when Big Vic plays like Big Vic this Spurs team is good enough for this year to sneak in and get a Larry Obey and whether they get it predicates on game four so many things to keep an eye on one is Big Vic, Big Vic early in game four or does he revert to Tall Vic two do we get Big Cat does Carl Anthony Towns get the touches and if he gets those touches who's sacrificing shots three did Mike Brown's Jedi mind trick work did him saying that the Knicks got no whistles allow the Knicks to get all the whistles early in game four and four which of the stars that the Spurs are predicating their game on because again if I'm telling you that stars matter more on the road than at home Spurs on the road right so they got a big Vic performance and they got a De'Aaron Fox performance even though the stat line will not show it he made the shot that mattered you got him for that moment you're paying him max bread for that moment and he delivered and you could argue like Kenny Smith did in the post game that he should have been one taking a shot at the end of game two instead of Big Vic is it going to be De'Aaron Fox is it going to be Stephon Castle again bailing out Big Vic is it going to be Dylan Harper continuing to be a menace diving to the rim or will it be somebody else Keldon Johnson gave you something Vassell has been consistent who's going to be the second and third guy for the Spurs Friday night unless the Knicks do the unthinkable like I mentioned of just playing Vic straight up and daring him to drop a 50 ball then we might be able to get a new nope this fan might be able to get a new graphic who's the youngest player to drop a 50 ball in the NBA Finals do the Knicks switch up their defensive assignments the defensive strategy when it comes to Big Vic if you keep doing drop coverage and you keep collapsing off the screen and roll you're now daring the guards to make the floater to make the runner will those guards take it or will they still just try to force feed Big Vic on the lobs I'm here for both I think you should mix it up and do both I think Darren Fox should be able to get his floater and his runner game popping. Castle the same.

And even Harper. But you cannot stop throwing the lobs to Big Vic. He's 7'5". He was giving those long-ass arms for a reason. Take advantage of it. Hit Steph in the chat. Can Wemmy's greatness overcome the young-mindedness and immaturity we tend to see from the Spurs.

I think game four would tell us that. I think game four would tell us that answer, Steph, and I think it's a good question. I think ultimately that's the battle we're seeing. We're seeing the battle of clearly we see what Wemby can do. If he's given the right opportunity, when he's being fed the ball correctly, we know how he can execute. We've also seen him himself fail, so it's not just the guys around him failing, but also Wemby himself. The fact that Stefan Castle was telling him, slow down.

We got it. And Wemby, his brain's working so fast because he's trying to process so many things. That's my version of it. He gave you the blurry stuff. It was blurry. I don't know. He gave you that in the postgame.

I think he's trying to process because, again, he's been bred for these moments. He's been trained and under severe scrutiny and pressure for his entire life for this series right here. His brain is trying to process what to do, what to do, what to do. Then he had a brain fart. Sometimes you can think so fast, your brain just says, nope, and flatlines. And he did the dumb thing of throwing the ball at Jalen Brunson, steals it, and then he compounds it by doing the foul. So it's not only just rebounding from the Spurs lack of experience and lack of maturity and lack of late game execution, but it's also Wemby himself understanding the moment, not only for himself, but for his entire team.

When he threw that ball to Stephon Castle, he talked smooth in the post, like, oh, yeah, you know, I trust him. I know he can make that. And while he may believe that, he was also trying to make sure I can't make another mistake. like that was a real bailout where last minute I'm going to go off for the shot oh catch right there here Stefan you take the shot that was a bailout that's not a play design but again Castle was ready catch and shoot bang I'm not depending on that to happen in game 4 and that's where to me You need to be able to execute that. You need to be able to get by Cat in that moment. But again, when you're the youngest guy to do all these things, Magic Johnson had mistakes early in his career on big stages. Kobe, we know what happened in Utah.

All those air balls. You're going to make mistakes when you're that young at this stage. But I think it's going to be something we need to pay attention to. There's so many things for game four. so many adjustments, so many things we got to look forward to. All right, let's see. How are we looking on time?

I think we're doing pretty good on time. I appreciate those that are in here. That like button is looking a little bit lonely. If you are in this chat, just go ahead and do your boy a favor and hit the like button. Ultimately, when it comes down to game four, we're going to pay attention to a bunch of things, right? The things I mentioned. But also, Jalen Brunson, the efficiency.

Stephon Castle's giving him problems. We can all admit that, right? Stephon Castle's giving him problems with physicality. He's right there. He's in his grill. He's playing him physical. That's another reason why Mike Brown's complaining the way that he is.

Are we going to get a moment? Let me take down the Wemby stuff. Give me a sec. Boom, boom. Are we going to get a moment where we get good Brunson? we've gotten bail out Brunson we've gotten clutch Brunson are we going to get a game in this series where we're going to get full vintage Jalen Brunson because by the numbers last night was his best game from a shooting percentage wise from a shooting game perspective that was his best game and you can watch that game and say he had a good game but I think you're lying to yourself if you're a Knicks fan when you're trying to take apart his game I talked about the right elbow he got to the right elbow again last night I just don't understand you know when the game is close when the ball is in his hands he's heading to that right elbow and yet again the Spurs allow him to get to the right elbow I just I just don't understand I don't understand getting Brunson off to Schneid in terms of having a vintage Brunson game I think would be huge if ever there's going to be a game for that it has to be game four right at the crib he seemed to play better in pressurized situations so if that's the case I mean go up 3-1 or go back to San Antonio 2-2 and it kind of ruins the fact that you stole two games in San Antonio that's pressure that's real pressure And I think Wemby has that. I think Wemby, I think Brunson, excuse me, I think he has it in him.

The problem is. At the expense of who? If it's taking him 30 shots to get 30 points or last night, 25 shots to get 30 points, somebody's not getting shots. There's only so many possessions. If you're going to try to make it so Jalen Brunson can get 30 shots and Cat gets his 15-20 and OG gets his 15, his 10-15 and Bridges gets his 10, then you need way more possessions, which means you have to play a lot faster. And that does not fit Jalen Brunson's game. The reason why Jalen Brunson did not work in Dallas is because he is a ball hog just as much, if not more, than Luka Doncic.

Both of them are on that Harden wave. I've called Luka Doncic, Slovenian Harden for ever since he got into the league. And Jalen Brunson has a lot of that in him. Dribble, dribble, dribble. Jab, step. Hold the ball. Give me a screen.

That one didn't work. Come back. Give me another screen. That one didn't work. Let me swing it. All right, swing it back. Let me get a third screen.

That's what Jalen Brunson does. None of that is up-tempo. None of that is easy offense, early offense. It's all milk the clock. Set everything up. So, I don't know. I think for the Knicks to win a championship, they're going to need at least one vintage Brunson game.

I mean, obviously, they won't care. Four wins is four wins. You get a Larry LB. It doesn't matter if he has a bad series. But I think if you're trying to really take advantage and go a 3-1, and have three opportunities to close it out, you want to make sure Jalen Brunson is at his apex. And right now, whether it's the pressure, which I don't think it's that, if it's Stephon Castle, who's playing a part of it, the referees not giving them every single bailout, like some of those calls last night, see, that's what's maddening, and then we'll probably tail this thing down and wrap up. Mike Brown can't talk about the refs and the fact that he thinks they swallowed their whistle and the fact that the Spurs got so many more free throws, especially in the second half as opposed to the Knicks and had the graphic up earlier.

When Jalen Brunson got two huge bailout calls in the fourth quarter, huge where he's initiating the contact. He's not giving the Spurs player a chance to get into a defensive stance, but because of who he is, the reputation he has built up and his tendency or his penchant for drawing these fouls. He's able to throw himself into people and draw contact. You can't tell me about the refs. You can't tell me about bailout calls. You can't tell me about discrepancies when you have one of the most foul hunting guards in the league on your team. It sounds good in a postgame to say, well, I just I just don't know why we didn't get so many calls.

My guys are getting hit four or five times. How many times you think Wemby was hit last night? How many times you think Dylan Harper has been hit on all those drives to the rim through those through the first three games? You don't see them complaining. Well, not not like you anyway. what does a vintage Brunson game look like well efficient 20 to 25 shots 7 threes attempted not made attempted 6-7 assists 2-3 turnovers If he's shooting, it's closer to last night. Last night, from a number perspective, is roundabout a vintage performance.

But we know he missed some shots that he normally makes. I pulled up his shot chart. I'm not able to share my screen because I'm on the road. I did take a screenshot of his shot chart. And if you look at his shot chart, he missed a lot of bunnies in the paint. Let me see if I can find it here. Give me a sec.

Okay. The hotel Wi-Fi might be my enemy right now. All right. So if you're watching this, if you're still watching this and the stream is just doing whatever, then what you should see is the Jalen Brunson shot chart. The Jalen Brunson shot chart, if you look at it, it is extremely within. A lot of his shots were in the paint. as you see here I don't have the ability to zoom in and do my normal thing with it but we should be back I think my stream my stream is it's getting laggy it's getting buggy bear with me but this is why you tap in on the audio side for the podcast and I will have the full video uninterrupted up on this channel later in the day YouTube's doing some stuff right now because everything on my end says I'm cleaning them and I'm good and even the Wi-Fi signal is strong right now.

So the Jalen Brunson shot chart. So you see it here. There's a lot of reds and a lot of reds are within the paint. Being within that paint area and seeing that red, all that red, those red X's. That to me is where vintage Jalen Brunson makes a lot of those. A lot of those reds turn into greens. We get a vintage Jalen Brunson.

So it's not necessarily the amount of shots. It's where he's taking his shots and where he's executing those shots. and that to me is where vintage Jalen Brunson to Steps Point comes in at. So what does a vintage Jalen Brunson game look like? It looks like a game where these shots in the paint are going in and these weren't bad shots. These were just misses. These are just straight up misses and this is where you get into the notion of was it just a bad shooting night?

Even though statistically he shot in the 40s which is around his average And from three, he shot really well. Best three-point shooting game of these finals so far. So is it just that? Did he just miss some shots? Maybe. But a vintage Jalen Brunson game, those red X's down below the circle, the dotted circle, he's making those. He's making those.

And you see how much he's in the paint. Like, they're rushing him off the line. They're closing out hard on him. So he has to take it to the rim and get it off. So that's what a vintage Jalen Brunson game looks like. He's getting to the rack and he's finishing or he's getting into the lane into that floater or to that little middie that that point fraud that the little mid range game. We can get on the screen and you have your defender on your back hip.

And you're either forcing the foul from behind or you get in that little floater runner game. That move has been copied by all the guards, all the small undersized guards in the league. That's been a thing now. So he is the latest one to really maximize that. When he's getting those to drop, it opens up his three ball. But until he gets those to drop, the three ball is not going to be open. They're just going to keep running him off the line and daring him to make that shot.

so I appreciate those who have stuck around for some of that wifi stuff I don't know what happened there it still seems to be bugging out over here but tapping on the video side on the video on demand side I will have the full unmessed up version of this stream over there that's why I record and live stream because I don't just depend on the wifi if the wifi messes up, then I have to record that I can always go to and tap into. So I don't know if even the comments are still coming through, but yeah. We'll go ahead and give the Wi-Fi a break here at the moment. Although if you're still here and you're still hearing my voice, let me know in the chat. I will give you a little bit here or I'll let the stream try to figure itself out. If you're still here, tap in. Let me know.

So I could keep going for a little bit. But as I see more and more people are coming into the stream, so I don't want to just end the stream while more people are trying to tap in. So I'm going to give them a give the stream a little bit time to figure itself out. alright yeah stream is a little buggy alright well we'll be at the crib for the game 4 recap game 4 is Friday night I'll be back at the crib by then although I mean look if it means the Spurs are tied up 2-2 I'll stay out the country if I need to stay out the country so the Spurs can tie this thing up at 2 I can extend the vacay out but either way most likely I'll be at the crib so Saturday we'll be back to the normal setup we'll do the stream Saturday morning with the game being Friday night I'm traveling Friday night so I'll be able to watch the game either on the plane or fresh as I walk in the door from getting off the plane. But we'll be ready for Saturday morning. We'll have the normal complement of cameras and sharing the screen and all that type of stuff. So we'll be more ready on Friday, on Saturday, excuse me, after Friday night's game four.

But so appreciative of those that be able to tap in. Staff appreciate you for being active in the chat. Salute to those who have tapped in. If you haven't hit the like button, I again, implore you to hit that like button already on the back end. Going to be heading out here and going to give you all the screen and graphics and all that fly stuff on the way out. But I go by the name of the Sam D. This has been the 2026 NBA Finals Edition.

Game three recap edition of not only Timeline T on the video side, on the YouTube side, but of also on the audio only side of the D Sam D podcast. So I go by the name of the Sam D. I will catch y'all Saturday morning after game four. All right. Y'all be safe. You know what it is. Appreciate y'all for listening.

This has been the The Sam D Podcast. I go by the name of The Sam D. If you have not tapped into the YouTube channel, the subscribe link for both my sports media, well, sports and sports media channel, and my camera, tech, audio, computers, whatever, all things tech channel is also in the podcast description. Please tap in. We're trying to build both of those communities at the same damn time. You know what it is? So, for The Sam D Podcast, I go by the name of The Sam D.

I will see y'all and hear from y'all after game four. Spurs fought back. Thank God.