NBA Finals Game Two: Is it Big Vic or Tall Vic?

El primero de mayo. For all content, audio, and visual, hit up thesamd.com. For the visual component of this podcast and my other sports and sports media thoughts and opinions, check out the At The Sam D YouTube channel. Subscribe link is in the description. For all my thoughts on all things tech, holla at the At Shill Free Tech YouTube channel. Link is also in the description. Musical production done by May 1st Music.

Support him at SoundCloud.com slash May 1st Music. Victor Webinyama. Big Vic. They want you to go out there and take it. They want you to take the mantle. Take it. LeBron's on his way out.

They wanted it to be Zion. They wanted it to be Ja. They thought it could be Wardell if he could hang on for a few more years. They thought maybe for a flash it could have been the Greek freak, the Nigerian freak, Yanis Antetokounmpo. They so badly need to pass that mantle to somebody. And you looked the part. You talked the part.

The name flows. The pedigree, the acumen, the yoga, the monks, the nuns. it was all built for it to be Big Vic's time. I talked about after game one how the last time the Knicks were in this spot 27 years ago, they faced the Spurs and another big man who was soon to become the best in the world in Tim Duncan. And that was another team, another Knicks team that was loaded in terms of talent. Yes, they were the eighth seed and they had to overcome a lot. But when you look at the guys on that roster from top to bottom, there were a lot of high-level players on that roster similar to today's Knick team.

When there's a lot of talent top to bottom, that's not something you could say by and large for the Knicks in my and your lifetime. Everything was set up for this to be a rinse and repeat of 27 years ago. And Big Vic had multiple opportunities to seize the moment, to take the baton, to stand atop of the podium and declare, I am not only next, I am now. and while everyone is going to jump over and bend over backwards for the way that he performed in the second half where he had what 20 plus 23 points 23 of his 29 in the second half and while everyone's going to focus on that I want to focus on why can't you start the game the way you finish you are supposed to be the guy. This whole league is predicated on the ascension of somebody. Now that LeBron is 40 plus. The league needs a guy.

The skies parted, the seas parted, and the Spurs were able to go get another one. From the Admiral to Duncan to now Big Vic sprinkling a little board man in between. But Big Vic was supposed to be the next one. And for yet the second game in a row, not only was he lethargic in the first half, not only was he passive in the first half, but he was bully balled in the first half. And there's a lot of conversation in regards to, well, it has to be the rite of passage. LeBron got swept up out of there by the Spurs his first time out. But that man had little to no help.

This ain't that. Jordan's faltered in the playoffs. He had squads. This ain't that. What Big Vic did last night in throwing the ball away And then having two ISO jumpers against Mitch Robb with a chance to win the game, that goes into another pantheon. A pantheon of superstars who have tricked off opportunities. What Big Vic did last night was akin to the tragic Johnson moment back in the day in the 80s.

when Magic had the chance to take the winning shot against the Celtics and just literally didn't take a shot and dribbled the clock out unbeknownst to him. Just had a complete brain fart a la J.R. Smith when LeBron is looking at him like, and J.R. just had that brain fart similar to that. Magic Johnson had one of those moments. We could talk about LeBron who, for whatever reason, The man who was a man child, the chosen one, the king, we are all witnesses, but somehow could not fathom the idea of posting up J.J. Barea against the Mavericks.

Brain fart for an entire series. Now we got to look at Big Vic in the sense of. One, you secured a rebound. You're looking up court. Stephon Castle is telling you to slow it down. And yet you still go and throw the ball when Castle is turning and his head is turned and he's heading up court. Now we can blame Castle for taking his eyes off the ball.

But we also, the ball is in the hands of the most important player in the entire sport and he throws the ball away. The fate of the league. I cannot oversell this enough. The fate of the league. As Wardell is cashing out and taking the China money. There's no youngins to step up and be next. The fate of the entire league is in the hands of a seven foot four, seven foot five on a good day.

French in French in. And he threw the ball away with a chance to add some real juice to this finals and take it to the Mecca to make it an even frenzier atmosphere for game three. Game three is going to be nuts regardless. But if the Frenchman does what he's supposed to do, does what the league wants him to do, does what Adam Silver is praying for him to do. We go into the Mecca Monday night and it's 1-1 and it is the most ridiculously lit atmospheres in a very long time. But yet he throws the ball away and then he double downs, compounds the mistake, fouls Brunson. Thankfully, Brunson only splits the fee throws.

And he gives Wemby redemption. Some could say that was the script that the NBA, you know, is known to do every once in a while. We can't have Brunson hit both. Let's set the moment up for Wemby to be able to still be the hero. So Brunson, go ahead and split those free throws. Don't hit both. And then we'll give Wemby a couple of chances to get this done and send us into game three.

And the ratings would be astronomical heading into game three, right? But that's not what happened. That is not what happened whatsoever. Your man's ISO's Mitch Rob about 18, 19 feet away from the basket and pulls a jumper. 18, 19 feet away, pulls a jumper on the left side. Then they get another chance. And they draw up a cute little play with a little flare screen, pick and roll.

Wemby pops out, pick and pop. Shout out to the old version of the podcast. A little pick and pop for Wemby. And Wemby stepped into the jumper. Again, about a good 15, 17 feet out. But you're 7'4", 7'5", on a good day. What the hell are you doing?

18 feet out in multiple potential game-winning, potential series-saving possessions. what's the point of being 7'4"? He keeps thinking he's Kevin Durant. And this may be the curse of Big Vic where he's too tall. There's a difference between big man and tall man. Big man, you think Shaq. You think Jokic.

You think Embiid. You even think now maybe even Carl Anthony Towns? Are we thinking? For the sake of this playoff run, we'll say yes. But then you have tall dudes. Kevin Durant is a tall dude. Rudy Gobert, tall dude.

He's not a big man. He's a tall dude. Zubach, big man. Jared Allen, tall man. Victor Webbing Yama over these first two games. It's starting to look more like Rudy Gobert with a three ball. And I say that with a straight face.

The way he has played over these first two games, he looks like Rudy Gobert with a three ball. Everyone doesn't have to go to the Hakeem Olajuwon thing to learn how to be in the post. OK, that should not be the prerequisite for every basketball player to learn how to play in the post is to go down there with the dream in H-Town and learn. It should not be that we have been told about the fundamentals of Big Vic for about five years. He's coming. He's coming. He's going to be crazy.

He's got everything he can do with all except being a paint, apparently. And again, I'm not asking him to be prime Shaq. I'm not asking him to even be prime Jokic. But you know, when Giannis made his ascension, we all saw what Giannis looked like when he first came to the league. He was bones, right? Skeletal. Then he had the transformation.

By hook or by crook, maybe just the fact that he was able to finally get three square meals every day. whatever way it came, whether it was anabolic, whether it was peptides, I don't know what it was. But for whatever way, Giannis went from being a beanpole to being jacked. If Big Vic doesn't get that type of transformation, I am afraid of what the ceiling is actually going to be. Because the ceiling is supposed to be through the roof. Unfortunately, if his body does not thicken up. If the muscles don't grow, if the creatine don't create.

It could be a slightly disappointing glass ceiling for Victor Webbing. And this could sound like hyperbole. But if you know me and you know the type of content I do, you know, I've been a little bit hesitant to just hand everything to Wemby. Let's just get the league is yours when we're here. Now, Adam Silver should be doing that because he is financially a benefactor of such. But I've been always a little hesitant because Giannis was supposed to take over and dominate the league. What can stop Giannis?

Who can stop Giannis? Well, apparently a lot of things. Everyone thought, oh, well, once Giannis figures it out, he's going to win the next three, four or five championships. Didn't happen. One chip. Jokic and his dominance people are putting him into top 10 of all time conversations with that squad that they had. Just one chip.

And the Spurs I think had a opportunity and yes we're using past tense already. The Spurs had a chance to be another one of those teams that sneaks in, grabs Larry OB. Because it's not guaranteed. You can't just guarantee that Victor Webinama is going to win a championship. You can't just guarantee me that. Because there were times when I was told Giannis was going to take over the league and win multiples. There was a time where they said Jokic is going to win multiples.

There was a time when, well no Wardell actually actually was able to do it. But take Kevin Durant. who clearly has influenced Big Vic's game. And maybe we need to stop calling him Big Vic, Tall Vic. He's no more Big Vic, Tall Vic. Kevin Durant has clearly influenced Tall Vic's game. And I'm seeing way too much of that in the NBA Finals.

But let's even take Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant is one of the most skilled basketball players to ever walk this earth. He is the prototype. He is the archetype of what the evolution of what a basketball player is today. And yet, and still, it took him to go and team up with Wardell and them for him to be able to get multiple Lario B's, to get a Lario B and then ultimately multiple Lario B's. And we still try to put some asterisks on that. Anthony Davis, one of the most skilled basketball players we have ever seen at earth.

And it took him to team up with LeBron to go get a Lario B. It is not easy to get a Larry OB. It is not guaranteed. It is not ordained no matter how many nuns they put in that arena in San Antonio. It is not ordained for tall Vic to get a ring. And not to say that the Knicks are food, but I'm having a hard time to believe that Carl Anthony Towns is so great on defense that Vic can't even attempt a post-up. Attempt.

Again, I'm not asking to be, you know, 2000 Shaq. I'm not asking for him to be Shaq, for Carl Anthony Towns to be Todd McCullough. I'm not asking for that. what I'm asking for is that in multiple possessions you can't be the one taking jump shots 15, 16, 17, 18 feet away from the rim when you're the tallest man on the court it defies physics and logic but y'all tell me we'll hit the chat we'll hit the chat a lot to catch up on salute to y'all in the chat being active I love it Patrick Spurs youth finally showed up yeah but but again I think they showed up even in the first half and in the first game first half of both games the youth has been there second half I think they actually trusted themselves a little bit more and were way more aggressive again Dylan Harper should be on the court Darren Fox play like the max player that he is being paid to be I think they were able to do a lot of things that looked really good. The problem is the things that plagued them in the first half put them in such a not not not necessarily a hole because not like they're getting blown out every night and they got to come back. What's happening is their rhythm is so erratic. There were times last night where it was like a carbon copy of game one in the first half.

They were taking threes that made no sense to me. They panic and just chuck threes up. And I don't understand it. Even when it's not even late in the shot clock, but definitely when it's late in the shot clock. But there are times when the ball isn't really moving and no one's really moving around. Whatever they're trying to do isn't working. And then someone just jacks up a three.

And I'm like, wait, what are you doing? Look for a matchup. And again, this goes back to point guard stuff. And De'Aaron Fox had a better game. And it was hard for him not to do better than what he did. especially in the fourth quarter of game one, but he played better, right? But it was more about him getting his shots because he's a score first guard that just happens to play point guard.

But therein lies a difference. There's no one on the floor. And Cass was supposed to be one of those. I don't see it. He's a really good player. He will be a good player. I just don't see it in terms of being a point guard.

He's a good guard. He'll be a good guard for Wemby. But unfortunately, he needs more PG skills or PG instincts to know I need to make sure we're taking advantage of all the mismatches for Vic. Because, again, in transitions multiple times, there were little dudes on on little on tall Vic and he didn't get him to rock. The offense was mad the last two minutes. No, the offense for both teams was bad. It was a lot of bad offense.

Look, Jalen Brunson got his shots, and it was very funny to watch it in real time, him get to that right elbow, which we talked about here after game one. I'm like, Jalen Brunson, all he's trying to do is get to that right elbow. And I'm sitting at work last night, and I'm like, Brunson's trying to get to the right elbow. When he hit that jumper over Wemby, I'm like, if I know thousands of miles away that Jalen Brunson is going to try to do anything he can to get to that right elbow to get a shot off, how come the Spurs don't? I don't understand it. Like they're playing his offhand. Like if how much tape, how much film?

Shit, just go back to game one. He's trying to get to it. And I know he's shifty. He's got moves. He's got moves on moves. I get it. I get it.

But you have to know he's trying to get to that right elbow. How do you? Greg Spurs crumbled in big moments. Look, take it off Spurs. Let's keep it a buck. Tall Vic. Tall Vic crumbled.

Patrick Refs was cool until the Mitchell Tech. I mean, there was a lot of, I was preparing for the Knicks tape narrative that the reps wanted the Spurs to tie the series up. Because there were definitely, some of those fouls on Cat were really ticky tacky. The Mitchell Tech, to Patrick's point, that was definitely a spot where it should have been a double Tech and not a single Tech. So I was preparing myself for the narrative of, oh, the refs were in on it. Adam Silver wanted it. And now again, it may be true.

I mean, Adam Silver does want this series to go long, and he wants Vic to come out on top because that's what's best for business. But I was preparing myself for the narrative of, oh, the refs stole one. The refs wanted to make sure that this series is tied up, yada, yada, yada. I was ready for it. Greg, Nick's offense stalled out bad, and they stopped moving the ball during the Spurs. Late Spurs found a way in the end to just do enough. I mean, ultimately, you have a closer.

You have a closer and right now the Spurs do not. Because their closer is supposed to also be their best player. And while the Knicks, I don't think Jalen Bruns is their best player. He's their most important player because of the system that they run, which is really no system. It's just give the ball to Jalen and get the hell out the way. But he's the most important part of that system. Their most important player is also their most clutch player in their closer.

Patrick, four shots in the first half is crazy for Wemby. And that kind of goes into my point. Two games in a row, you are passive. And you know I got the shot chart. You know I got the shot chart. Let me just go ahead. Let's go ahead and get it cracking.

You know I got the shot chart. Shot chart for Big Vic. Excuse me, Little Tall Vic. I may even start calling him Little Vic, but we'll be nice and call him Tall Vic. All right. So looking at the shot chart, right? Let's zoom in.

All right, looking at this shot chart. Now this looks way better than game one. This looks way better than game one. You can see way more work in the paint, which is all we were asking for. Look all this work in the paint for Big Vic. That's all we were asking for, right? Like all of this right here.

Let's see where we at here. All of this is what we were asking for. That's all we were asking for. Right. But we still got those threes. We still got those threes. And that's I get it.

But this to me is where he gets into his Kevin Durant bag. And I'm like, dog, you're not Katie. You are four inches on a good day, three inches, four inches on a good day, taller than Kevin Durant. And if we let Kevin Durant tell it, he's about five, six inches on a good day, taller than Kevin Durant. but this shot chart makes a lot of sense this if this would have been game one I think the Spurs get game one if this would have been his uh shot chart instead of that two for nine from three pointer disgusting shot chart that we saw in game one I think this series is 1-0 heading into last night for the Spurs. But again, if we go first quarter, first quarter, three shots. So that means, yes, in a whole entire second quarter in the NBA Finals, your best player, the future face of the league, the future best player in the world took one shot and that one shot was a three.

the future best player in the world the future face of the league took one shot for an entire quarter of basketball in a let's be real an elimination game of sorts a do or die game of sorts at the crib no foul trouble no injuries of NBA basketball at the highest level, all the yoga, all the Buddhist monks, all the chess he played in uptown Manhattan. An entire quarter of basketball, one shot. I don't know, man. You tell me. You tell me. Tall Vic. Tall Vic.

Now he went crazy in the second half. But why does it take that? Why does it take his team being down, what, 14 with about six minutes to go in the fourth quarter for you to have to galvanize your guys? Why does it take all of that? Why did all of that have to happen for you to stand up and say, yo, wake up? And maybe you should be asking yourself that. Why does it take you to get into the second half for you to wake up?

when you're supposed to be him. You're him, himothy. And yet, two straight games, you are lethargic, passive. You look doldrum, you look lost. And even in the postgame, you're telling people in the postgame that it was all a blur. You see it here. When we're going to last three possessions of the game, I'm still very blurry.

and that's the whole problem. I need to have more poise, more control over the game. This is the future face of the league saying this. I'm still very blurry. I don't know what that means. Did you get hit in the face and you couldn't see? What was blurry?

Is he trying to say it was all a blur? Is this the French-English translation thing? What was blurry? it was blurry when you try to pass the ball to Castle and you didn't realize he was already turning and facing upward up the court it was blurry then it was blurry when you had Mitch Robb on the ISO and all you did was pull a jumper and then given a second chance y'all just ran it back and did it again on the other side of the court it was blurry then what was blurry the chance to snatch the mantle, to snatch the baton, to calm Adam Silver's fears was there. And for three opportunities in a row, he spit the bit. I, it's, it is a fantastic comedy of errors. What we saw towards the end of that game last night, both sides, Brunson split in the pair of free throws.

That could have been a storyline. When B hits, it hits one of those jumpers. The narrative switches to all Brunson, Brunson choked the captain, the most important Nick on the roster. MVP chance in every road arena because Knicks tape travels. Splitting a pair of feet throws, allowing Wemby to win the game like whole narratives shifted last night. Entire reputations flipped because of what happened over those last three possessions last night. Tall Vic could have woken up this morning.

And realized his ascension that could have been the switch turning on. I'm like, okay, I am him. I am him, Hemothy. I am him. Buzzer beater. We're tied up 1-1. I'm going into enemy territory Monday and Wednesday, and I'm getting it done.

I'm going to put this city, this team, this organization, the country of France, Adam Silver and his investors. I'm putting them all on my back and I'm walking into the Mecca and I'm stealing a Larry OB. But instead, he threw the ball away, compounding it by Fallon Brunson. Then he missed two jumpers when he's the tallest man on the court against Mitch Robb on ISOs. Another really good game for Carl Anthony Towns, double-double, 21-13. Everyone's jumping on the way. Carl Anthony Towns for finals MVP.

I would hope that he gets it able to get this done. I don't think Brunson, even though Brunson's the headline guy, right? Brunson's the headline guy. We know this. But yeah, Carl Anthony Towns, his defense, or just let's call it what it is. Is Carl Anthony Towns intimidating Tall Vic? It's just the presence.

And can you imagine? I would love to someone go get Jimmy Butler, okay? Someone go get Jimmy Butler. And you know how they have these alternate broadcasts, alternate feeds. Get me Jimmy Butler cam. I want to go online, go on stream. Find me Jimmy Buckets because I would love to get the raw, fresh perspective of Jimmy Butler, who called out Carl Anthony Towns every which way when he was with the meniscus tearing taskmaster Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota.

I would love to get Jimmy Butler's thoughts on the apparent intimidation. By Carl Anthony Towns is presence. From tall Vic. Tall Vic clearly feels like he can't post up. Call Anthony Towns. He clearly feels he can't post up Mitch Robb. Now Mitch Robb, I can understand because Mitch Robb is a defensive player.

I understand that. Right. And maybe we need to start calling him Maga Mitch Robb if you know, you know. But we'll save that for another day. When that parade pops off in the King of the Heroes, we'll talk about Maga Mitch Robb. Although game three, his man's is pulled up. So maybe before then we'll get there.

I can understand Tall Vic being intimidated by Mitch Robb. I for the life of me can understand why Carl Anthony Towns has Tall Vic shook. it may be just the fact that he's tall Vic and not Big Vic maybe just that tall man instead of big man finesse skills instead of post skills a lot of the reputations in regards to Euro bigs have kind of shifted Dirk Nowitzki was the first one to kind of shift the narrative even though you know LeBron and Wade were making fun of uh Dirk and then Dirk you know was able to fight back and get that Larry OB and that kind of quieted a lot of the Euro big stuff for Dirk. And then you had Jokic and his ascension and the conversation around Jokic when he kept running off MVPs in terms of the Euro and the finesse and all that. And then he gets his Larry OB and then again that quiets some of the Euro stuff. You have bigs like Zubac who come into the league and can get down and dirty. A lot of that stuff has kind of quieted in terms of back in the day A Euro big was all finesse, no brawn, no strength, no size, no post game.

They just want to hang out by the three point line. They just want their their jump shots. Tall Vic is slowly running that narrative back about the Euros because we have we heard everything in regards to the skill set and the fundamentals and the acumen of Tall Vic. And yet during this playoff run, if it's not Chet Holmgren, that man ain't in the paint. If Chet ain't there, Vic not in the paint. And for the life of me, I can't figure out why, because Carl Anthony Towns is the same dude. Carl Anthony Towns is the same dude.

That when he tried to post up against the baller formerly known as Boogie, DeMarcus Cousins. DeMarcus Cousins had that look of, the hell is Cat trying to do? Post me up. Like, you're not imposing on the post. You're not impressive in the paint. You're a self-proclaimed best shooting big man in the history of the league. Even though Larry Bird was 6'10".

Be that as it may, Carl Anthony Towns is not imposing to anybody in the paint. except somehow tall, thick. How did we get here? How did we get here? Let me get the chat. Oh, yeah, long live Pick and Pop. The multi-nominated podcast, Black Sports Podcast of the Year, Pick and Pop Podcast.

Salute, long live it. Long live the DL too. If you know, you know. dudes out here seeing ghosts like Sam Darnold I mean look something's going on with Wemby when he sees Carl Anthony Towns or Maga Mitch Rob in the paint I'm not sure what it is maybe they're seeing ghosts tall Vic is seeing something Hawks joining the chat Wemby not strong enough he ain't got he ain't got no bricks in his back pocket I mean now no that's real like he needs to go whatever Giannis did and if you know whatever Giannis did to go from looking like how Wemby looks now when he came into the league to what he looks like now Wemby needs to be on that way and even though Wemby might have the body type of a Kevin Durant, of a Slim Reaper, we need to find something to put some muscle on him because if he's just going to keep, if he's going to stay this size, he'll never be a physical presence offensively. He just won't. He just won't because Giannis' game was always the game he has right now. It just wasn't effective because he was too damn skinny.

The brawn wasn't there. then he added the brawn and then he turned into the Nigerian freak then he turned into the MVP then he turned into a NBA champion tall Vic looks the part tall Vic speaks the part although I don't know what the hell the blurry stuff I don't know what the hell that is I don't know what the hell that is when it comes to all that stuff but when it comes to what Vic is supposed to be. This is supposed to be the face of Lee. This is supposed to be the next guy. We all can agree LeBron's on the way out. We can all agree Wardell, especially after cashed out with the China bag, opening up stores, he's cashed out. There's going to be a real issue here if Vic can't figure this out.

Adam Silver is on high alert. As much as the story of the Knicks winning is great for business, that's a short term play. The long term play is we hand this league over to tall Vic and we just watch how long the Frenchman can take it until the next guy presents himself. The Knicks winning is good for short term business. 53 years without a championship, 27 years since they've been to the finals. It's a whole thing. The cache of New York and the market and the celebs, all that stuff.

It's good for short term business if you're Adam Silver. Long term. If tall Vic doesn't find a way to turn into big Vic. This league is in trouble. Because like I said in the open, it was supposed to be Zion. Then it was supposed to be Ja. Then they were willing to let it be honest.

but willing to let it be Jokic. But if it ain't any of them, then who is it going to be? It's supposed to be Victor Webinyama. Three chances, four chances. You get the rebound. Castle is telling you, and I'll come off screen. Castle is telling you, slow it down.

you then start the head up court then whether it got blurry or you had a brain fart whatever it is the IQ that we were told you have the acumen that we were told you have you throw the ball to Castle even though Castle clearly is heading up court and his head is turned away from you you have the ball you're looking up court it ain't like he tried to throw a no look pass to him they both were on the same page. Castle is clearly turning the other way. And Tall Vic has the ball in his hands and he's looking up court and he's looking at Castle and still throws it. Then Brunson steals the ball and then you compound your earlier mistake by then fouling Brunson. You get the grace of the nuns. Brunson splits a pair. And then you get the ball on the left baseline on an ISO 18 feet away, right by right in front of the Knicks bench.

That jumpers, that's the best you got. And it ain't like he sized them up and went into his dribble package. It was just a straight hold it, hold it, jab jumper. It's like that's it. Is that Coach Pop fought back from a stroke for this? Tim Duncan, who would rather be swimming in the Virgin Islands, flew over for this? Iceman Girvin, who's too busy suing Kayla Williams over the nickname Iceman, he left his lawyer's office for this?

absolutely insane absolutely insane he's supposed to be the guy he's supposed to be the one and it ain't happening but we will try to give the knicks their grace right you can't say enough things about the others the others had another good game whether it was Shamit again played well. Mikael Bridges, that run, the run where it was just him and a bunch of bench dudes, and not only did they hold on to the lead, but then they extended it back out. Huge minutes for Mikael Bridges. Again, I think I had the tweet up here and went to it early, but yeah. Fuck them picks. And this is why you keep OG and Anobi and Mikael Bridges. This is why you have them in tandem.

Again, the comparison Chuck made in the postgame was these are like the Pistons that beat the Shaq, Kobe, GP, and a rapist mailman Lakers, right? And I see where he's going with it. I think this Knicks team, it's actually deeper than that Pistons team because you can make the direct comparison. Okay, Chauncey, Billups. Okay, we have Jalen Brunson. Okay, Rip Hamilton. Okay, we have, who am I going to give them that?

OG, I guess, is the better shooter. Sure, OG, right? You can go down the line. Tayshon Prince, then you have a Mikael Bridges, right? You know, call Anthony Towns, you have a Rasheed Wallace, right? And then Ben Wallace, I guess, Mitch Robb. Like, it's a weird comparison.

It's an easy comparison. But the sum of the parts of the Knicks, much like that team in 99 that faced, you know, Tim Duncan, they had a lot of dudes top to bottom. That roster was stacked. This Knicks roster is similar to that. But Mikael Bridges being out there to be with Deuce, to be out there with Shamit and still hold it down and extend the lead out. That's why he's here. That's why you give up all them picks.

Again, short term, short term. The Knicks will let me let me let me be objective. If the Knicks win this and close this out. Even if it's for this one year, even if the Knicks just win and this is one year where they get out and they snatch Larry OB and they, you know, exercise the demons of the last 53 years. It will be worth it to give up all those first round picks. Even if it's short term success, it will be worth it because there will be children. Children are going to be born with the understanding that the Knicks are champions, that the Knicks are not a losing franchise, that are not a laughingstock, that are not a poverty franchise.

That narrative gets all flipped with just one ring. Now, there will still be people like me holding it down, reminding you of those 53 years. Right. You know, I'm not going to just let that get evaporated. Right. But there will be a future generation that will only grow up to know, oh, the Knicks won a few years ago. Can you imagine that?

This is what we're on the cusp of. Children 10 years from now, 20 years from now, will say, oh, no, the Knicks just won, didn't they? Like the casuals will say, well, the Knicks were really good and they won, right? There are Knicks fans like Greg here in the chat that have never been able to have that. there are Knicks fans that I know in my family that are Knicks fans that I know in my group chats that have never been able to witness that. All that can be flipped. And that's why sometimes you got to say, yeah, fuck them picks.

It doesn't matter. If you can go out there and get a Larry OB, if you can build enough and have enough dudes. And this is why the meniscus tearing taskmaster Tom Thibodeau was so maddening. The fact that he would run his guys to the ground, the same five, six guys into the ground. Look at this box score. Got nine guys that played last night. Nine guys.

Nine guys got double-digit minutes. This ain't happening if it's the meniscus tearing taskmaster, Tom Thibodeau. And that's why the Knicks had to move on. And that's why the players themselves, low key or high key, were telling management, you need to move on. Hawks in the chat. Josh Hart does all the intangibles for the Knicks winning plays. Now, he's a glue guy.

And again, every team has a glue guy. You need a glue guy. He plays his part. He doesn't play outside of his game, right? is he a scorer? No. As you see here 0 for 4 0 for 2 from 3 like it was not a Josh Hart game and that's the point of having so many dudes on this roster is that you're not dependent on game 1 15 rebounds 4 steals and all that you're not dependent on that every single night.

Josh Hart could go out there and only play 18 minutes and be in foul trouble and only hit the glass and get you six boards and brick two threes and all four shots and you can still win. If this was last year, Josh Hart would have been playing 30-something minutes and you're not getting these shammit minutes. You're not getting these McBride minutes. And that's why the Meniscus Terran Taskmaster should never be hired again in the sport of basketball. And yes, the sport of basketball. Not just at the NBA level, in the sport of basketball. Greg, fuck them picks for real No, that's It makes sense It makes sense It absolutely makes sense I think this series is Obviously We'll know Monday I think this series is over I think this series is over and it's unfortunate because a lot of stories could have been built off this series going very deep you could have built up a lot of tension in terms of this series but now with this series potentially being over you have a real opportunity for the Knicks could win now let me be clear Is it the 2-3-2 format or did we go back to 2-2-1-1-1?

If it's 2-3-2, we have opportunity where the Knicks could win the championship at the crib. If the Knicks win the championship at the crib, there's not enough police. There's not enough National Guard. There's not enough ice. There's not enough militionist. There's not enough January 6 ex-convicts that can control the streets in New York. It will be an absolute madhouse.

Like the people in Philly were eating horseshit and tearing down light poles and things of this nature. I can't even begin to tell you what disaster awaits New York if their Knicks are able to pull this off at the crib. Mondani's not ready. He don't know. I mean, he might be out there like he I mean, he gonna be out there. Hulk saying oh they're back to the 2-2-1-1-1. That's unfortunate.

Oh if it was 2-3-2. Oh if it was 2-3 2. Because I think the Spurs are getting swept. I wholeheartedly don't think the Spurs are getting swept. So I don't know if we're going to get that moment. But I also don't know if the Spurs can even push this to 6, the way it is right now. yeah doing it at the crib obviously that'll be peak for the Knicks right winning it at the crib but it I mean but going in I mean it was like at least three to four thousand people in San Antonio last night for Knicks tape like the people going to travel that there's going to be contingent no matter where the Knicks would have went they even would have found a way to get to Oklahoma City but for the most doomsday Armageddon scenario it would have been phenomenal to have the Knicks win the chip at the crib Patrick Spurs not beating the Knicks in New York no it's going to be tough it's going to be tough Tall Vic had a chance though Tall Vic had a chance Patrick Tall Vic had a chance to really give you a moment he had a chance to really give you a moment and extend this series out it is clear that the Knicks are a deeper team and again off of some of the rotational minutes and how the minutes are being doled out I think they are a better coach team that to me now has become clear and yes it's only two games but if you know ball you know it when you see it Mike Brown is out coaching all the Spurs contingent because again the Spurs are out here right it's not just it's not just Mitch Johnson it's Mitch Johnson it's Pop up in the suite it's Tim Duncan it's Manu it's David Robinson it's all just like the Knicks have their luminaries and those luminaries travel the Spurs have their contingent in the tuck so you're not just beating Mitch Johnson You're beating Deva Robinson.

You're beating Tim Duncan. Mike Brown is out coaching all of them right now. Now, it also helps to have a deeper team. It also helps to have a more veteran-laced team. But this thing right here that the Knicks are on the verge of doing is taking advantage of, let's get as many talented dudes as possible. And let's just lock in. We tried it with the meniscus tearing taskmaster Tom Thibodeau.

Our players told us get this dude the fuck up out of here. We got him out of here. Fuck them pigs and fuck that coach. Right. We go get a coach who I won't say is necessarily more player friendly, but certainly is not the meniscus tearing taskmaster that Tom Thibodeau was and is. But Mike Brown can actually coach. He can actually draw up some sets.

And he also is smart enough to know that no matter what play I draw up, the best play might just be let Jalen Brunson get to the right elbow. Sometimes you just got to know that, too. Sometimes you got to understand no matter what cute inbounds plays, out of bounds plays I have in the top. Sometimes the best play is one for a flat or high screen and roll. Let Brunson get to a spot and I'll live and die with that result. That is where you have to understand of when to step up and be the coach and when to fall back and sometimes let your players do what they're supposed to do. And that was always the issue with the meniscus tearing taskmaster.

All he cared about was just letting his players do what they would do best. And when it came to running plays, calling sets, learning to control tempo, he had little to no feel for that. And Darren likes a difference. Anytime the Spurs were getting close, Mike Brown, timeout. Call it. Timeout. Nope.

Y'all bring asses over here. Y'all calm down and figure this out. At the end of the day, when you have a McHale Bridges, who was a number one option in Brooklyn, when you have a call Anthony Towns, who was a number one option in Minnesota. When you have O.G. and Anobi, who was maybe never the number one option in Toronto, but certainly top two and even top three on a championship winning team, by the way. You still have to know, A, Brunson's our guy. He could not play with Luka in Dallas.

It was never going to work. They both are ball hogs. They trick off. The Mavericks trick it off. They sell them off. Knicks get them for next to nothing. And then away they go.

Because the Knicks said you wanted the ball in Dallas, even with Luka. OK, cool. That was never going to work. That was never going to be a thing. But OK, we'll give you the ball here and go cook. And that's what Brunson did. I get the chat Spurs, Stefan and Harper landed crazy on their legs.

They played off off adrenaline. And I think but but that's what got them here. That's I think that's that's they have to play that health is Skelter style of basketball. That's to me that I think is when they're playing at the best. I wish they would do that even more. Like, I think that's where you you you separate in terms of tempo. We talked about after game one on the stream, tempo, pace, getting up and down.

And then the Knicks slowed the game down in the second half of game one. It made every single possession count. Every single possession was intensified and pressurized. You saw less of that last night. The Spurs were trying to get the up-tempo thing popping off. And then the Knicks played into that and started to play up-tempo as well. But because they have so many more talented dudes, more dudes than the Spurs, The Knicks could play either way.

As vets, you can always be more poised in the in the grand scheme of things when it comes to half court basketball, because the experience is your biggest teacher. And the Spurs don't have that. They have admitted along the way. Hey, man, we're young. Why not us? Like, yeah, we're we're here ahead of time. But yeah, why not?

Like, yeah, that's cool. But then there's caveats to that. And I think the caveat we saw is in half court, the execution is give the ball to Wemby. on the block. No, excuse me. Give the ball to Tall Vic on the baseline and let him figure it out. And the only thing he can figure out is just popping jumpers.

He's the tallest man on the court. Like, even if you can't, if Tall Vic has realized through two games, I can't dribble past Carl Anthony Towns or Maga Mitch Robb. Okay, cool. There's other ways to get the ball. There's other ways to like the few times in transition where he was able to crash and dive and all do all that stuff. You could do that. There's plays that are that should be designed.

Let me not assume there are plays that should be designed to get the ball to Wemby outside of baseline 18 feet out. And let's hope the jumper goes in because he's so tall. They can't block it. That shouldn't be the only prerequisite. Let's give it give the ball to Vic because even if it's a jumper, he's so damn tall. No one's going to alter his shot. And I like my chances of him picking and popping.

That to me doesn't make sense. He's seven four. Even if it's not a traditional post up, putting the hand up, begging for the rock, even if it's not that, can I get him at the free throw line in at least? free throw line and down? Does it have to be extended out 18, 19 feet in front of the Knicks bench? Can a high screen and roll involve a little bit more action than him and De'Aaron Fox? And then the way they slowly got into it with under 10 seconds left and the guys talked about it in the post game but it's simple basketball.

If you know, you know under 10 seconds to go. You want to try to give yourself as many opportunities to score the ball as possible. They inbound the ball. They do the little screen action. But it took long for them to set the screen up. They killed about three seconds, four seconds to set the screen up so that basically they want it to be where the absolute last shot was Wemby's shot. And while I understand the logic of what we don't want to give the Knicks a chance, You're down.

It doesn't matter. If you take the shot and you're quick, even if the Knicks get the rebound, you foul them. You're still going to have some time on the back end. It might not be a lot of time, but you still have some time on the back end. And we've seen some miraculous shots with only a couple seconds left. Hell, San Antonio knows all too well. Well, how many seconds was left on the clock when Derek Fisher hit that three in San Antonio?

Or how many shots was on the clock when Sean Elliott, Spurs legend, Pistons legend, hit that tippy-toe three. Like if any franchise should know, you have a chance with under two to three seconds. It should be them. But for them to do a slow developing screen and roll with under 10 seconds left, it was maddening to me. Like why y'all taking so long? outcoaching, more prepared, or the Spurs are being outcoached. The Spurs to me, whether it's through the youth, are showing me that they don't have the acumen that we thought they did.

And it's really just becoming anticlimactic at that point. I don't want it to be. I love basketball so much that I want a great NBA finals. But with what I am seeing, in game one, lethargic, tricked it off in the second half, showed no fight, no bite. Game two, they came out way more aggressive, pressuring the ball with Brunson and the guards up court. Love that. They played physical.

Love that. Second half again, they came out lackadaisical. Their best player was lackadaisical in the first half and had to yell and scream at them with six minutes left in the game for them to get right to close the gap. You want to blame that on youth? Cool. To me, I blame that on those guys are not going to be the guys. The assumed ascension of Wemby.

And I had this conversation at work even before the finals. I think it was during the Western Conference finals. I was talking with a Knick fan. And I was asking him, who do you want? Spurs or OKC or whatever. And he was like, I want the Spurs. I'm like, okay.

He's like, yeah, but I'm worried about Castle. I'm like, why are you worried about Castle? he's really good I was like yeah he's good I'm not down as good I was like but you shouldn't be worried about Castle like if you're concerned if you were a Nick fan heading into this series and your concern wasn't tall Vic but Stefan Castle then you don't know ball because I don't think whoever Wemby's eventual sidekick or his second option I don't think his second option is on this roster yet and that's why I think the whole notion of the Spurs you know ascending earlier than the league thought I think it rings true because this roster is not built to win a championship right now they're built to be very good right now they're built to be what you saw with you know KD, Russie in the beard back in the day they were okay see they're built like that they're on the way Ibaka although they're on the way but like even Esquad they got in there They got to the finals and then they were outclassed in the finals and then they were never able to get back. And it turns out that those three guys together were not the right group to win a Larry OB. And I'm under the impression that I see a lot of that in this first team. I don't know if Victor Webbingama's eventual second option, the guy that's going to help him get Larry OB's. I don't know if that guy's on this roster yet.

Dylan Harper looks really good. I like his game. He has the acumen. He looks the part. He certainly is the most aggressive out of all the youngins. Stephon Castle is really good. I just don't know if he's number two option on a champion good.

And I think we have seen examples of that over these first couple games. So that was my inclination. I was like, I don't know if you should be worried about Stephon Castle because if he's the second best player, then I don't think you need to worry about that. I think you're going to win a Larry OB because I don't think whoever Victor Webbingama's eventual sidekick is going to be. I don't think that person exists on this roster yet. Harper is better than Castle. Okay, that's cool, but it's Harper a number two on a champion.

Maybe, maybe in the future. Like if Harper Harper Harper being better than Castle to me is not saying much because Castle is. One, he's not a point guard. He's a guard. He's a combo guard that they're asking to play point. He's sharing time with De'Aaron Fox. They're doing the yo-yo thing now that Fox is trying to feel better enough to play more minutes because they need him to because Castle's not ready.

If Castle was ready, he would be starting and it wouldn't matter what De'Aaron Fox health is. Right. You're looking at Harper. Harper is really good in terms of his aggressiveness. He's not afraid to go into the paint. He's not afraid to drive. But I think that's because the Jimmy ain't there yet.

That's a nasty backcourt duo. I mean, look, on paper, if you're telling me. Two years from now, assuming they find a way to move on from De'Aaron Fox, you're telling me the first court is still Wemby, Castle, Harper. I don't think that's that's getting it done. I don't think that's getting it done at all, at all. Like if you're telling me. If tall Vic stays the way that he is and he doesn't go through that Giannis weightlifting program.

And Castle keeps progressing and Harper keeps progressing. That ain't enough to me. They'll still make deep playoff runs. They still may be able to get back to an occasional NBA finals. But in terms of the dominance of Wemby. People were talking about Wemby as if he was going to come into the league. And once he gets some guys, once he gets some help, he's going to run the league for the next decade.

After what you have witnessed, and I know talking to casuals is a, and I'm assuming people that are on this stream, we know both, right? But we also know that there's some casuals amongst us. The casuals will make you think, or the casuals were being led to believe that Wembe Nama was going to come into the league and the minute he gets some help, it was his league for as long as he wants it to be. After what you have witnessed over these first two games, Now, again, I know a lot of us watch ball and we know ball. So this is not our first time watching Wenbin Yama. This is our first time watching Wenbin Yama in a super high intensive stage. After what you have seen, do you think Wenbin Yama is going to be able to dominate the league for a decade plus like we were being led to believe when we kept hearing about this seven foot four Frenchman?

That's going to come into the league and dominate the league. They told us Yao Ming was going to do that. Did Yao Ming even get to a conference finals? Peak Yao Ming, I think he might have gotten to the second round. And that might have been because of T-Mac instead of Yao Ming. Although wait, T-Mac was notorious for not getting out the first round, right? So Yao Ming was supposed to come over here and dominate.

He was going to take the league over. Now, from a business perspective, he did. if you know you know but in regards to basketball wise and guess he was hurt he got hurt the feet were bad all that stuff but another guy another guy that was promised another takeover that was promised the china takeover the zion takeover the remixing that into the jaw takeover to then the brief the brief flirting of the nigerian freak yannis onto the kumpo takeover to now the Frenchman takeover. All these takeovers that were promised. Very few have actually been fulfilled. After what you have seen over these first two games, do you believe that we're going to get a Frenchman takeover? Because I've seen enough.

I don't think we are. He's going to be very good for a very long time. I don't know if the baton is ever going to be officially handed to him and he has it and takes it and runs with it. I don't see it. He might be in amongst the cluster of the group of guys that take over. Like when Jordan finally walked away. You had a cluster of guys who it was supposed to be, right?

Supposed to be Grant Hill, supposed to be Kobe, AI snuck in there. There's supposed to be a bunch of guys. Duncan was ascending. Like all those guys were in that bunch. It eventually, it eventually turned into a macrocosm of just everyone took a turn. Grant Hill had a brief turn, then he got hurt. Tim Duncan was, it wasn't sexy enough as a big man, as someone playing in San Antonio, but his dominance made us respect it.

Kobe had the flash and then, you know, him and Shaq, they finally started winning. Then that kind of just became the thing. AI snuck in there for that one year MVP, get to the finals, even win a game, step over Tyloo. It was all popping. Let me hit the chat so we can kind of regroup a little bit. I said I'm going to read this from my iPad because that shut down, too. Pull this back up.

I would argue it's harder to win today than it used to be. Well, look, the league is deeper. Players are bigger, stronger, faster, more fundamentally sound. Players are playing at more competitive levels of basketball at earlier ages. So, yes, it is more difficult to win today. So Giannis only getting one ring. We're talking about Jokic only getting one ring.

All these guys that were promised, all these guys that were thought to be guys that were going to step up and become the one, those guys were not able to fulfill the promise of dominating the league. Victor Webbingama, though, was promised, though. The savior, the phenom. I'm not going to, I mean, look, I've been on record saying I do think at times the draft lottery has been rigged. I do not think it's a coincidence that a Frenchman goes to the San Antonio Spurs when he has Monsieur Parque in the front office chilling. And he had the pedigree of David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and now the next one in Victor Webbingama. I don't think that's a coincidence.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the Chicago Bulls had the smallest chance of getting the number one pick, but somehow end up with the opportunity to draft Derrick Rose, a hometown kid. I don't think that's a coincidence. I don't think that the invention of the draft lottery itself gifted the New York Knicks Patrick Ewing. I don't think that's a coincidence. I don't think that it's a coincidence that when LeBron James is coming out, that the Cleveland Cavaliers get the number one overall pick. I don't think that's a coincidence, right? But being able to fulfill the promise that is bestowed upon you.

We have seen dynasties and dynasties are special. Dynasties take a lot in terms of what you have to do to accomplish all of that. It was hell for the Lakers to put a team that was not only good enough, but smart enough and coached well enough to be able to win off three straight. And then when he tried to play with the formula and try to get that fourth one by bringing in the rapist, Karl Malone and GP, who was old and washed, it didn't work. Like it takes a lot. You see what the Warriors did. They went they won 73 regular season games.

They went 73 and nine and then lied. Because at the end of the day, the other team had LeBron and Kyrie, and that was enough to beat just Wardell. and Klay and Iguodala and the habitual nut hitter. So then he had to go out there and go get KD and figure that out. And then when they had a chance to get their third, Klay and KD fall down and go boom and then the board man is able to sneak one and steal one off in Toronto. So many things have to break right to go get a Larry OB. We need to start changing the narrative of, well, this guy is going to come in and he's going to dominate and gets you X amount of rings.

There is no scenario where that is factual. Jordan was not thought to be a guy that could be the GOAT and get you six championships. That was not the... The thought was, he's going to be really good. No one was saying, this guy is going to be the greatest player of all time. When Magic came into the league, they were like, this guy is going to be really good. He went on to a team with Kareem.

He went onto a team with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And that team was not considered a favorite going into that season. So like the notion of this thing is promised. Yao Ming is going to come over from China and dominate the league. Didn't happen. Zion Williamson is going to take over the league and dominate. LeBron's going to pass him the torch.

Didn't happen. Oh, well, maybe it's Ja. Maybe Ja's going to be. No, we learn quick, fast, in a hurry. Didn't happen. Oh, but this Giannis thing, this story, they did sitcoms and biopics around Giannis. They squeezed every ounce of that story that they could, hoping that, all right, it's not going to be Zion.

It's not going to be Ja. Wardell's old. LeBron's getting old. Maybe it's the Nigerian freak. No. No. Okay, maybe this Jokic thing, but he don't give a fuck about ball.

He'd rather be at the crib. Jokic is probably having the time of his life right now that he's not playing basketball. So it can't be him. Who is it going to be? KD is too much of a mercurial human being. It can't be him. Who is it going to be?

Well, we need to be Vic. We need it to be Big Vic. And that is where everything goes wrong because I don't think Victor Webbingama is going to be that guy. He's going to be very good, very good for a long time. You can't be that skilled and that tall and not be that. But there's some Jared Allen in him. There's some Rudy Gobert in him.

it's apparent to me after a couple of games, watching him in this most intensely pressurized situation, there is something there that appears to be lacking for Big Vic. Excuse me, Tall Vic. From here on out, Tall Vic. All right. I still don't know what the hell happened there with the Wi-Fi. Not happy about that. All right.

So y'all tell me going into going into game three. And I appreciate y'all for pulling up on a Saturday. I appreciate those that are still here in the chat. If you haven't hit the like button, I would be very grateful and appreciative if you do do that for all the YouTube algorithm stuff. If you have not subscribed to this channel, I'd appreciate if you would do that as well. I do this after every NBA finals game, whether it's right after the game, if I'm not working or if I'm working, we do it like today. I was working last night, could not stream.

So first thing in the morning, get it cracking, you know. And oh, yeah. Did I lose my upper? Did I lose my upper? Yep. Lost my upper. Hang on.

Try to give you some production value, get some graphics in there. So. I would love to hear from you. What do the Spurs need to do to make this a series? What do the Spurs, what adjustments would you make? Is there a lineup change? Is there a rotation change?

Because clearly something has gone amissed. A team that can knock out the defending champs, albeit a hobbled defending champ because their second best player was unavailable for the majority of the series. What can the Spurs do? If you're the brain trust of Popovich, Duncan, and the rest of them, what are you trying to instill into the players? You can come back from 2-0. Now it was hard to do it in the NBA Finals. They had the graphic last night.

The last two times that the home team has lost the first two games of the finals, the other two teams were the Suns in 93. They extended the Bulls to six. And then it was the Orlando Magic who lost the first two games to Houston. And then they got swept. So off that sample size, it's not looking good for the Spurs. But if you were to brain trust the Spurs, what adjustments are you making? Scheme, philosophy, calling more plays.

I'm looking at the three-pointers. Way too many three-pointers. We'll jump into the screen for a little bit here. Way too many three-pointers for the Spurs. And it's not that they're taking them or the amount that they're taking. It's when and how they're taking them. They're just thrown up at times.

It's like they're taking heat check threes all the time. 11 of 29 38 percent. So that's that's above league average, right? But it's not about the amount. It's how they took him, where they took him, how much time was on the clock when they took him. That to me was the most problematic nature. you think this series is over uh yes i do think the series is over i do think the series is over i think last night was the last chance to make this a series i think victor webbing yama with all those opportunities the fact that he grabbed that rebound looked up court stefan castle telling them to slow it down.

Vic ignores that, continues to push the ball up court, then realizes, oh, let me pass the ball up court, get early offense. Stephon Castle's already had his head turned back the other way heading up court because he thinks Vic's going to bring the rock up. That to me is a problem. Then Brunson steals that errant pass from Victor Webbingama, and then he compounds it by fouling Jalen Brunson. He gets the grace of the nuns that Brunson only splits a pair of feet throws instead of knocking down both. Gives Vic multiple opportunities to ISO himself a chance to be the star, to be the anointed one, to be the chosen one, to be the one that the baton is being passed to. And the best they could come up with is two jumpers highly contested by Mitch Robb, by Maga Mitch Robb.

I don't know how, that's not what I would have drawn up. That's not what I would have wanted in the spot of my best players being ISOed against Mitch Robb and he's just pulling Jim Jimmies. Like 18 footers is not what I'm looking for from a tall Vic. But again, maybe that's why he's tall Vic and not big Vic. I have a weird feeling the Spurs could win the next two, especially game three. Well, I certainly hope so. Like, I want this to be a series.

I love basketball. I want this to be a series. Like, I want this to be at least a six-game series. I don't do the whole prediction stuff, but I was like, I don't think either one of these teams could get the other team out of here in like four or five, but shit, I mean, we could be on the brink. We most certainly could be on the brink, right? So I don't know. I don't know what you want from the Spurs right now.

Harrison Barnes did not play a lot. That was probably by design, even though I think he had a really good game one. He was one of the few guys that I think was not, was not, the lights were not too bright for him. They're going to have to figure something out. Because again, Champagne, if he's not hot, he doesn't do enough. He plays good defense, but he doesn't do enough of the other things to warrant 36 minutes. But then, who are you going to?

Because Kelton Johnson, again, I said in game one, the lights were too bright for sure for him. And he didn't get a lot of run. But he got a little bit more run in game two and he hit a he didn't hit three, but he hit a tough bucket. He started chirping like he was trying to get himself going, try to get himself like he was trying to turn up. That shit didn't work. If you're the Spurs, you have to lean on the fact that, all right, we got a good De'Aaron Fox game. But again, a good De'Aaron Fox game is 20 and five.

We got a good vector. We got a good tall Vic game. 29 and 9 and I think 22 or 23 of which was in the second half but again when we start looking at these shot charts where's the shot chart we'll go to the shot chart let's look at the Jalen Brunson one from game one that shot chart let's get there Jalen Brunson boom This was the Jalen Brunson shot chart in game one. All right. So let's let's let's go there. And now let's go to game two. Jalen Brunson shot chart to see if he was still able to get to his spots.

We know he was able to get to his spot late, which is always that right elbow, which is what we talked about on the stream in game one. All right. So is there any difference? Game one. Certainly a lot more green than red because he made more. Right. So besides that.

But it tells me what you're seeing on the screen. This is game one. This is game two. He was in the paint from the same POV. In the same paint, just like game one. In that paint, getting to the rim, getting to his spots. And you see the buckets here, right elbow.

This is all right elbow, middle end, right elbow. Even the threes. He's trying to get to the right side of the court. If you havenít figured anything out, heís trying to get to the right side of the court. Where does Jalen Brunson want the ball? He wants the ball on the right side of the floor. Where does Jalen Brunson want the ball?

He wants the ball on the right side of the floor. Okay? So it is maddening to me to see, and this is that last bucket late. No. Wait a minute. Is it this one? Yes, this one.

Sorry. I thought it was this one. No, it wasnít this one. It was this one. he wants the ball here whenever he wants it he wants it here right shot after shot fourth quarter it's literally the same spot this is the spot from game one this is the spot from game two it's the same spot where does Jalen Brunson want the ball when the clock is running down and the Knicks need him to get a bucket. Where is he going? He's going right here.

Because he's done it now two games in a row. Why don't the Spurs know this? If I could sit here on a stream and tell you that, why don't the Spurs and Popovich, the Spurs and Duncan, the Spurs and Robinson, the Spurs and Ginobili, the Spurs and Parker, and all the brain trust, why don't they know this? I'm just a dude on stream right the hell do I know although some of you know but the hell do I know just a dude with a mic and a camera is some equipment trying to stream looking at a website breaking down a shot chart what the hell do I know All right. It is a Saturday. This has been a really good stream. I appreciate all of y'all for pulling up, but on the way out, game three, what are you looking forward to?

Obviously, the atmosphere of the Mecca is going to be crazy. You know, a lot of eyes are going to be on the Mecca Monday night. 830. I should be able to stream after. I will not be home, but I will be on the road. I will be bringing my equipment with me, so I should be able to stream after the game. If not, then Tuesday morning you'll get a stream.

So if you haven't subscribed already, go ahead and do that. I see the numbers are growing on this side, and that's cool. That's very, very cool to see. So if you haven't joined the community, go ahead and do that by subscribing to the channel. Hit the like button if you haven't already. But game three, what are you looking forward to? What are you looking forward to?

Because I am a little bit disappointed that it looks like it's already over. I'm of the impression that it's already over. But I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that I'm going to give the Spurs the benefit of the doubt that they can get at least one of the next two. Then all eyes will be on game five. If the brooms are broken out at the Mecca. I'm going way more in on tall Vic than I did today. If you think I went in on Vic today.

Let him get swept. Let him get swept. You think I'm calling him Rudy Gobert with a three ball now. Let him get swept. you think I'm calling him Jared Allen with a three ball now let him get swept Patrick that's why the Knicks are sweeping Brunson is due for one yeah I mean that's the thing they're up 2-0 and Brunson hasn't given you a virtuoso Brunson performance even though he's been clutch in both wins right The Knicks aren't up 2-0 without Brunson, but you have not gotten that vintage Brunson game. But we also need to understand the quality of the opponents that the Knicks have played throughout this run, right? Like, they were down 2-1 to the Hawks.

The Hawks were not a good team, right? So the Knicks beat the team that they were supposed to in Atlanta. The Celtics tricked off game seven in their own arena. Couldn't take care of their business, couldn't finish their food. So we had to watch a undermanned Philadelphia 70s or a, yeah, undermanned a less talented Philadelphia 76er team get swept by these same Knicks. And as you see, Brunson went crazy. Because he should have.

He went crazy against the Hawks because he should have. He went crazy against the Sixers because he should have. Then the Detroit Pistons could not finish their food and tricked off game seven at the crib. And then we were forced to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers who all. The brights, the lights were too bright for not just Jared Allen, but Spider Mitchell and the beard. The lights were bright for all of them. And the Knicks went out there and took care of business as they should have.

Like if I if I would have told the Knicks. When the bracket was drawn out. You got to deal with the Hawks. The Sixers and the Cavaliers. I'm sure they all would have said oh we're going to the finals. But if now I say you got to go through the Hawks. The Celtics and then the Pistons like oh that's a tough run.

That's a tough road. That's a tough road. Even with Tatum coming back. It still would have been a tough road. but the Celtics couldn't even get past the Sixers and then the Pistons couldn't even beat the Cavaliers and here we are Patrick the Knicks have figured out the Spurs now that's why it's over here's the question though what have they figured out like I and I mean that genuinely like what have they what have they figured out because I'm really trying to sit here and think I don't think schematically they're doing anything crazy I don't think this the the Knicks are doing anything from a scheme standpoint from a game plan standpoint from a I think they're just a deeper better team they're more talented they're a better team they're a deeper team they're a veteran team you know when I repurposed after game one for the podcast, let's take a vets, take out the youngins. I think that's going to be, unfortunately, the model for this series. I think that's going to be the main point, the summary of this thing is the Knicks have Carl Anthony Towns.

And even though we have made fun of him over the years and deservedly so, even though he has been openly criticized, deservedly so over the years, this version of Carl Anthony Towns is better than this version of Tall Vic. And that's not something a lot of us saw, not only coming into the season, but damn sure not into this NBA finals. We thought they would go toe to toe. Like, all right, Cat gonna get his and Tall Vic gonna get his. But no, it's been Cat getting his and Vic at times trying to get his. And that's where I didn't see that coming. Am I surprised that Carl Anthony Towns is having a better series than Tall Vic?

No. Am I surprised that somehow, some way, Tall Vic is intimidated by Carl Anthony Towns? Yes. I am stunned by that. Absolutely stunned by that. All right. So is this series over?

Yes or no? For those at about 15 of y'all in here, from what I could see, one, hit that like button, appreciative. If you have a sub, go ahead and sub. Is this series over? Yes or no? Let me know. If you are watching this on stream, simple in the chat, is this series over?

Yes or no? We will do a summary of that. We'll take the results of that and then we'll wrap this up. Patrick, stopping the Spurs from getting a fast first quarter, i.e. Champagne. Okay, so I see that, right? So I think they made a considerable effort to close out harder and not letting the guys get threes and bunches, but they still kind of did.

That's the weird thing about it. As I was watching the game, I was like, this feels a lot like game one. Guys, guys on the Spurs were getting shots off. They were getting confident. They were whatever, at least in the first quarter. Then the second quarter happened to where Tolvik only took one shot the entire quarter. And then it just seemed like they were stuck in the malaise.

And that to me, it all comes back to. And I know people get tired of me talking about point guards and why point guards matter and what is a point guard and more effectively, what is not a point guard in today's NBA. having a point guard matters because the point guard controls the ebb and flow. The point guard knows who do I need to get a touch? Who do I need to get involved? Who needs to get going early? Two games in a row, Victor Webbing Yama has not been aggressive.

Okay. If I'm the point guard and of which I used to play point, right? You know, so I, and that's why it's maddening to me when I watch point guards, not do what you're supposed to do, do your job, right? it's turned into this evolution of a hybrid combo thing, which can exist, but let's not just throw out the other archetype of a pass-first facilitating point guard, but it is what it is. When you're playing point guard, you're supposed to know, okay, Vic's not aggressive enough to go get his shot off early, although when he sees Chet, he does it. Unless he sees Chet, he's chilling in the first quarter. All right, cool.

If I'm the point guard, my job is to make sure, hey, clear it out, one four flat, give it to Vic at the top, or screen and roll, let's get a switch, the small switch is on to the big, Wemby's being guarded by a small, throw the ball in the Vic, and let's get it cracking. Like, get some sort of action, flare screens, you know, pick and pops early in the game, not late in the game against Mitch Robb, early in the game to get him going if he needs that, cool. But the point guard is supposed to know where am I putting Vic? Like where am I getting the ball to Vic where he wants it? We all know he wants the ball at the elbow. Let's see. Did he even get many shots at the elbow in this game?

Let's go to the big Vic. Excuse me, the tall Vic. I got to get that in my head. I've been trying to make big Vic be a thing, but clearly he's just tall Vic. No shots at the elbow. I'll pull it off for y'all here. I can see it.

Let me go on this side. No shots at the elbow, really. Vic wants the ball over here. This is where he wants the ball, right? But it's not just to pull jump shots. It's to create some action. Rim run, right?

When he's doing stuff like this, it's to rim run. Again, he's 7'4", 7'5". Catch the ball here. Drive. Catch the ball here. Drive. Or you can jab step.

Fake the jab step. Create some space and then get into the pull up if you want to do that. Or pump fake. Get your guy up in the air. Draw a foul. There's so many things you could do once you get the ball in the spot you want it at. If you get the ball at the spot, drive to the rim.

You're 7-4. Make them make a play. Somebody was going to hack you. They're not going to let you get a free run to the rim. Again, drive it to the teeth of the defense. They might collapse on you, right? So let's say, let's say this, let's say the Knicks collapse into the defense, right?

They collapse here. That means a shooter is going to be open. So you create the space by driving into the middle, right? Make the defense collapse. Converge on you in the paint because they don't want you to get the shot off. That opens up all of this for your DM and Foxes, for your Harpers, for your Castle, for your Vassells. All those guys now have an easier opportunity to score the rock because you make a move and collapse the defense.

Because that's all the Knicks are doing. They're just collapsing the defense. They're not doing nothing crazy. They're not reinventing basketball. If Vic drives and gets into this paint, they're collapsing. That opens things up on the perimeter. It's basketball one-on-one.

And they were doing it at times, not with tall Vic, but with others, drive and kick, drive and kick. What was any different in the biggest spot of the game when you catch the ball and you got Mitch Rob in front of you and you could go baseline or you could go middle and try to collapse the defense. So you could go baseline and try to get a shot at the rim and get fouled probably in the process. Or you get the shot and you try to go into the middle of the floor, collapse the defense, and maybe even get fouled in the process. But that may open up opportunities for guys to take shots. Guys are not going to stay at home if Vic has the ball and he's heading towards the rim and he's 7'4". 7'5 on a good day.

They're not just going to let him get a free run to the rim. The defense is going to collapse, which opens up opportunities out here for the others. Again, I'm just a dude on stream and I can tell you that. Why don't the Spurs know that? Maddening. Absolutely maddening. Patrick, like you said, the Knicks just have a better team.

A better team and a deeper team. And a veteran team. The vet stuff matters. The OKC thing. Let's be real. As much as we assume OKC is going to be good enough to keep going back and Preston has amassed so many future lottery picks, that we just assume that OKC is going to be able to get back and win more championships. That might be a one-year thing.

Because OKC, even with Jalen Williams being hurt and missing most of the series, I could argue they still had a better team. but because Chet is intimidated by Vic, much like Vic is intimidated by Cat and Mitch Robb, that nulligates a huge factor. If your third option now has to be your second option because your second option is hurt, so it's Shea and now Chet as the one too, we saw what that looked like because before the ascension of Jalen Williams, Chet was the number two and OKC was not no threat like that. They were good, but with Chet as a number two, they weren't champion level good. They needed Jalen Williams to take that next step and surpass Chet as the two and move Chet to the three. That's when the whole OKC thing became, oh my God. They're really good.

But now when you're number three, can't beat the other team's number one, so much so that he forgets how to be aggressive, forgets his poise. Things were blurry for Chet Holmgren in the last year. Just like, you know, Big Vic's out here saying things are blurry for him. Things were blurry for Chet in the Western Conference Finals because he saw Tall Vic. So much like that was a thing, your number three option now is being forced into being the number two option because your number two is down. Your number one option still gets his and does what he does. He's a combo guard.

He's an MVP, back-to-back MVP. He's him. But he needs some help. So he's asking his number three to become the number two. But when your number three is intimidated because of the other team's number one, that's a piss-poor number two. So we're looking at a scenario right now where the Spurs number one is intimidated by the Knicks number two. Which allows the number one for the Knicks to just go off and do whatever he wants.

And the Spurs number two is. You got it, whoever, I don't know. I don't know who the Spurs number two is. I have no idea who the Spurs number two is. Which is why I was saying earlier, I don't know if the number two that's going to get a tall Vick a championship. is on this roster yet. I don't know.

Maybe it's Harper in a couple of years. Once he gets better, I don't know. But as of right now, I don't know if that guy's on this roster. So that's the game within the game type stuff. The Knicks are a better team, a deeper team. OKC should have been a better team, a deeper team because Chet was supposed to be another one of those guys that maybe not on the expectations of a tall Vic, but there was a lot of hype on Chet too. And it hasn't really come to be.

Like Chet was supposed to be one of those lottery picks. I was supposed to be one of the ones and he's a third option. That's not how that was supposed to go. So there's no guarantee that any of these teams are going to be able to keep coming back to the finals. There's no guarantee the OKC is just going to continue making the finals. But they snuck in and got that one. But because we believe in Presti, we believe in the fact that he's got a million lottery picks for the foreseeable future coming his way that he's going to figure something out.

But this is why I firmly believe they need to go get Giannis. They need to go get the Nigerian freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo. That's what OKC needs to do. If I can package some of those future lottery picks with Chet and go get Giannis, I would do that in a heartbeat if I'm Sam Presti. And there's a lot of notion that. Oh, he would never do that because that goes against his his his M.O. That goes against his whatever.

I'm like, dog, he had PG and flipped him for a shitload of picks in SGA. Did we forget that already? On paper, that didn't look like a steal. But now it does. If I could take Chet, who at best is a third option. and I could package that with some of those you know future lottery picks or swaps pick swaps all of that and go get Giannis and then I could have SGA Jalen Williams and Giannis why wouldn't I do that anyway I'll wrap this up it is a Saturday go outside and touch some grass I appreciate y'all for being here I go by the name of the Sam D This has been Timeline T on the video side, on the audio side. This has been the D70 podcast.

Again, if you have not tapped in already, hit the subscribe button, hit the like button on the way out. If you're watching this on the replay, I'll be active in the comment section for a little bit after this video gets posted and all that stuff. If you want to tap in over there, I'll be active over there. But I appreciate y'all. I appreciate y'all for pulling up. I appreciate y'all for being active in chat. We'll be here after game three, either right after the game or that next morning on that Tuesday.

So I will see you then. I'll go by the name of the Sam D. I appreciate every single one of y'all. Y'all have a good one. You know what it is. This has been the V Sandy podcast, a podcast that is talking about sports and sports media in addition to other things. Soon we will be talking those other things.

The brand is growing. The brand is evolving. Walk with me. Stay with me. This podcast is available on all major podcasts and platforms. Don't forget to subscribe and rate. Five stars, nothing less.

Tell a friend. If you're into the visual component, holler at the The Sam D YouTube channel. At The Sam D. That's T-H-E-E-S-A-M-D. For all my thoughts on tech, that channel is now up and running and is strong. At shill free tech on YouTube. Thank you again for listening to this episode.

I will catch you again on the next one. I go by the name of The Sam D. This has been The Sam D Podcast. I'm out.