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- [00:00]
Ian Fitzsimmons
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- [01:06]
Don Hahn
A lot of virgins working in one room together. A lot can be accomplished.
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Alan Hahn
Han. I just got excited.
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Don Rosenberg
And Rosenberg, Alan just expressed theoretical arousal about the Dolly Parton puppet.
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Don Hahn
This isn't North Dakota. This is New York.
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Podcast Announcer
This is Don Hahn and Rosenberg.
- [01:23]
Don Hahn
The best threesome I've ever heard on
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Podcast Announcer
ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube.
- [01:30]
Don Hahn
Happy Tuesday, everybody. It's a Nick day.
- [01:33]
Tim Bontemps
Oh, yeah.
- [01:34]
Don Hahn
Game one, Eastern conference finals tonight as the Cavaliers come to town. We've already got a game done in the west as the spurs win in double overtime over the Thunder. We are live here at the Garden, and I'm gonna give you an example of juxtaposition. Oh, what is juxtaposition? What is it? It's when you get two polar opposite situations. Now, the last time we were here at The Plaza, Plaza 33 outside Madison Square Garden, we almost froze to death. We were actually worried about frostbite.
- [02:06]
Alan Hahn
He had actual frostbite.
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Don Hahn
Peter was flying back from Vegas, so he missed the show, but he was watching on YouTube and he would see that each segment I'd layer up more.
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Alan Hahn
Oh, I felt Don was the opposite of a strip club. Yeah, I was putting on clothes.
- [02:19]
Don Rosenberg
It felt like one of the great decisions in my life to travel. When I traveled, that was so bad. It was so miserable.
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Alan Hahn
Like, you know, Richard, when he says, take it off, take it all off. Don. It was, put it on. Put it all on.
- [02:32]
Don Hahn
Luckily, I had brought my coat and I had My gloves and my hat and we were just layering up because it was freezing cold. Well, exact opposite today it is hot scorcher. But you know what, it's worth it. It's so much fun. This is a great time of year as now we get to where the Knicks season actually begins. It begins tonight. Why do I say that? Well, I kind of hinted at it yesterday is that you let go of Tibbs because you couldn't get through this round. So the entire year Brown and the Knicks weren't really graded on the regular season compared to last year or the first two rounds compared to last year. It's alright. Now this is the hurdle that Mike Brown was brought here to jump and it begins tonight. And again things continue to break the Knicks way. Guys, as the spurs win last night, everything tells you that's going seven and they're going to be beating each other up for the next two weeks. That's you hope and you hope the Knicks can take care of business here as the spurs won just an electrifying game. I mean I caught it after the hockey but I was able to watch the last five minutes of regulation in both overtimes. And Wemby's just special, man. He is going to be a major problem for time to come. As good as, as good as Brunson is and as good as Cat can be and obviously we're seeing the latter stages. Some of the stars on the Cavaliers and, and, and as good as the Thunder are, Wemby's the best player left in the playoffs and he might end up being in the league.
- [04:00]
Don Rosenberg
He might already. He might already be the best player in the league.
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Alan Hahn
Yeah, he's in the conversation when I told you to. He's going to sit there and watch SGA get the MVP trophy before the game and then he's going to be out for blood. He's like that. I'm telling you. He's like.
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Don Hahn
And I, and I know it was double overtime, but the things he did in overtime, he finished with a double double and he had three.
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Alan Hahn
Just stepped into it.
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Don Hahn
It's just. That's not even the most impressive. He, he actually scares shooters into not shooting. Like, is there a stat for that? Like, it's not. He's not blocking shots. He's not defending. I think he is. It's just like, all right, you know what, I'm going to go over here. Right. Just shots deterred, right?
- [04:38]
Don Rosenberg
No, he should be right. He's so impactful in that way. He's so smooth offensively. He just He's a distraction constantly. You have to play for him every single possession. And then there has never been a player over seven feet who literally can just roll down the court and catch and shoot from 35ft. Even Dirk, first of all, wasn't as big as Wemby. And the confidence, the way he does it. Allen Durant, okay, Durant's a bit smaller still than Wemby. We've never seen a pure center like this who will pull up from 35ft.
- [05:15]
Alan Hahn
It looks different. That's the thing. Because you could take five centers of great centers from and put them all into like. That's the thing. Because Dirk's a seven footer who was a great shooter, but Dirk couldn't do some of the other stuff. He wasn't a great rebounder, wasn't great defender, all that stuff. No, right. Shaquille o' Neal's physical impact on the game was, you know, couldn't step out. Question. However, you know, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, like, you just get all these different players, put them all into one and that's what you're getting. That's why I said it last night. I tweeted last night, I said the league is not going to be the same ever again. It's never going to be the same because of what this. The confidence that he is starting to now show that he's starting to feel. No, it's.
- [05:55]
Don Hahn
But. But yet all that said, scary still took the double overtime to finish the Thunder. And that series is going to go long and still think the Thunder find a way to be able to get out of that series. But either way, that's what you got to look forward to with the take care business here. But back to the original point. The breaks continue to happen, but this, now it's on. Now it starts. We're halfway through. The Knicks proved last year they can get to here. Now they've got to prove they can go beyond here. And it's very eerily similar to last year because everybody thought it would be Boston and it ended up being Indiana. And the general feeling was, oh, we're going to take care of business. And you had a bad game one, you lose in six. You hope to learn from that because the same vibe you thought throughout the season that the third round would be Boston or it would be Detroit, now it ends up being Cleveland. The afterthought, the team that nobody was really thinking of for much of the year. But pay attention because they did something that you don't see done very often in the NBA. And that's, you know, win on the road in game seven and win it by the way that they wanted. And listen, there's some really good players on the team. So I think the Knicks are going to take care of business for sure, but a different team, different set of circumstances, and we'll see over the next couple of weeks or maybe shorter, hopefully whether they've got it in them to advance to the final for the first time in 26 years.
- [07:16]
Alan Hahn
What I liked is what I heard yesterday from the players. Josh Hart said it, Jalen Brunson said it, and it needed to be addressed and I'm glad it was. And that's simply. Remember what happened in game one last year and how that flipped the whole series. Like that was it. You lose that game and now you're chasing it. And it really seemed to set him on the heels. And let's not forget game one, they were up by double figures late in the fourth quarter. So Josh Hart said about what did you learn from your past experiences? And he just said, game is never over. Take nothing for granted. You have to keep the, you know, the pedal to the metal all the way through the tape every game. And they learned that from last year. Jalen Brunson said the same thing, that you take nothing for granted, that it has to be a full 48 and that's how you get a win. And you, you, you have to make sure that every win is so damn precious you can't give them away. That was the words that he used. And that tells you that they remember that this isn't something that, oh, that was last year. They don't try to play that off. They know because we are at the scene of the crime. Game one, conference finals in this building, that's legitimately where they were last year, where they look like they were in control, going to take game one, put it in their pocket and they looked like the better team. And from that point forward when, when Aaron Niesmith just couldn't miss a 3 and all of a sudden, and then that, that dopey bounce from. There's Halliburton. Next thing you know, you, you just were not recovering from that. That can't happen again. They know it. So nine days off or not, I expect urgency out of this Knicks team tonight because of that memory.
- [08:58]
Don Rosenberg
Yeah, it's, it's. You cannot seed away home court advantage especially. Listen, a hard fought loss would be brutal, but letting a game completely get away from you, that, you know, giving it away, that, that's the one that really.
- [09:12]
Alan Hahn
And here's why. I'll give you the first out of the day teams that win game one in the best of seven of the conference finals, okay? 108 and 28 for the series. So if you win game one, 108 and 28, you win the series.
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Don Rosenberg
That is a crazy stat.
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Alan Hahn
That's. It's hard to deny that. That's 80% of the time. So you go on to win the series. That's how quickly. Oh, it's just game one. Like Oklahoma City's gonna say it's just game one. No, it's game one at home. I'd like to know when you lose game one at home.
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Don Rosenberg
Now what's that?
- [09:45]
Alan Hahn
Now what's your record? Because that's got to be the hardest thing to chase. Now Oklahoma City's the defending champ. They're a great team. They'll figure it out. You think? But if you're the Knicks, this can't happen again. That makes tonight. It's not must win. But you know that feeling, the urgency of gotta get this win.
- [10:00]
Don Hahn
Yes. Peter. On top of that stat that Allen gave is the fact that they've never won a series.
- [10:05]
Alan Hahn
Yeah.
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Don Hahn
When the Knicks have lost game one at home.
- [10:07]
Alan Hahn
home.
- [10:08]
Don Hahn
So it just, the numbers don't lie. So it becomes a huge game. But the other topic of conversation, we're going to talk to a lot of people today. Coming up at 3:30, Tim Bontamps is going to join us. We're going to talk to Monica McNutt at 4:30. Monica McNutt. Excuse me. At 5, Marcus Camby at 4:30, Steve Novak's going to join us at 6:30. And a big topic of conversation is going to be the rest. Rest versus rust. But I know it's a different sport, but it comes from a champion. Because I was watching the hockey last night and a great win for the Canadians. That was an amazing overtime crushing defeat for Buffalo. But. So they're going to go on and take on the Carolina Hurricanes. And they were talking to Mark Messier, six time Stanley cup champion. Caroline's gonna have 11 days off before they take on Montreal on Thursday. And he's like, I don't care. He goes, any athlete, any situation, you'd rather take the time off than the short turnaround every single time this time of year. I know the rust. All right, maybe it'll affect you in the first period. Or for the Knicks, it might affect them in the first quarter. At some point you'll, you'll have to adjust. But they're always going to take. So you're going to hear a lot of conversation about that. And if they were to lose the game, I'm sure people will bring it up and say, you know what, maybe they were just, you know, rusty because they hadn't played a long time. Every single athlete on the planet will take the Knicks situation over the Cavalier situation every single time. And the other thing that Messier said is, and if you lose because of that, you weren't good enough to win in the first place.
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Alan Hahn
Strong. Remember Tim Legler said that to us yesterday, right? He said the same exact thing. You always will take the time off because the ability to have recovery in the middle of a playoff run, it's invaluable. If you think about it, the Knicks haven't really been on a playoff run. They've. They played a first round series, had four days off, played a second round series, now had nine days off. It's almost like they're just playing little segments of like little tournaments and it's not a grueling run. Like again, what Cleveland's gone through two game sevens. They've had to play already. So they might be battle tested, but they're also probably battle weary.
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Don Rosenberg
Oh, for sure.
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Alan Hahn
That's why the Pistons lost. They looked exhausted in that game seven at home.
- [12:14]
Don Rosenberg
And obviously the last thing you can do is get ahead of yourself here. But if I'm being completely objective and not thinking about this with the history of the Knicks, but just looking at what we've seen on paper in this playoff, there's a good chance the Knicks finish this series kind of quickly and end up sitting around again, you know, because OKC in San Antonio could happen. Listen, I think San Antonio ends up winning that series and I think we see sort of. And this is the scary part for the Knicks this season, the true national coming out party for Victor Wembayama. That's the scary part. Like you don't want to be the team that's just on the video. You're like, we were the first team to lose to Wemby out of the
- [12:46]
Alan Hahn
five that ended up well, remember?
- [12:48]
Don Rosenberg
But they're gonna battle in that series.
- [12:50]
Alan Hahn
The funny thing is not funny to Knicks fans. The last time the Knicks made the finals, it was the spurs and it was the beginning of the Duncan Robinson Popovich. That era started there. Five championships started in 99. Yeah, that was their, that was their beginning and the Knicks were there for that. Now again, I always contend that if Ewing was healthy, he was not. He didn't play in the finals. But if he was healthy, they would had a better chance. They would have matched up better. They had Camby, who we're going to talk to today. I'd love to get his thoughts on that. With Ewing, with, you know, LJ who was also a little bit compromised. If they were healthier, I think that would have been a better series. But that was the beginning of what became a Spurs dynasty that went on into the 2000.
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Don Rosenberg
And it reminds you with Ewing not being there, I mean these playoffs are war of attrition.
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Alan Hahn
Yes.
- [13:36]
Don Rosenberg
And ultimately you're only as good as your availability. And this Knicks team in particular are a group that if any one of those big three because we do now know who their big three are, you can argue about whether you consider it a true big three. And in the way that the NBA has made at least previously made that a thing.
- [13:53]
Alan Hahn
They have big threes anymore.
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Ian Fitzsimmons
Right.
- [13:55]
Don Rosenberg
As of five years ago. You can decide whether or not it's one of the. If it's that level. But we know who the three guys are on this team and I think all of us agree they only win a title with all three.
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Alan Hahn
Yeah.
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Don Rosenberg
So that availability is important.
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Alan Hahn
So the week off, that's why you
- [14:08]
Don Rosenberg
have to celebrate the week off.
- [14:09]
Alan Hahn
If you, if you, if you, if it means, you know, having a knockoff rust, you're doing it because Anunoby was able to heal up as much as he possibly can. Because you just.
- [14:18]
Don Rosenberg
He's not good now. If he's not good at this point, Alan, he wasn't getting.
- [14:21]
Alan Hahn
Well imagine if he had to play at 70% but he was, you know, I can go but it's, you know, I got to worry about it like who knows what happens then, right? Nothing could go at any moment. He gave it enough time for really get strong enough.
- [14:32]
Don Rosenberg
But the team is, the team is nine off OG's now.
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Don Hahn
What 12 off.
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Alan Hahn
Yeah. Yeah. So he's looking almost playing the last two games. So.
- [14:38]
Don Rosenberg
So that. That's as good as you could possibly.
- [14:40]
Alan Hahn
I agree. Yeah.
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Don Hahn
The other thing I thought because I'm a big like law of averages guy like at some point the worm turns here. As you saw, the Thunder had their eight game winning streak ended last night because they won the was actually nine.
- [14:50]
Alan Hahn
They won the last game of them or game seven.
- [14:53]
Don Hahn
Well that's true.
- [14:53]
Alan Hahn
Nice straight playoff game, right? Yeah.
- [14:55]
Don Hahn
And the Knicks right now riding their longest playoff winning stre franchise history at seven. And you were mentioning. Well you expect a short series. Well, I mean if they sweep that's 11.
- [15:04]
Alan Hahn
Oh, my God. Yeah.
- [15:05]
Don Hahn
No, if it's a gentleman's sweep, that's ten straight.
- [15:08]
Alan Hahn
Let's talk. Let's not talk that.
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Don Hahn
So you're gonna lose a game. Yeah, you're gonna lose a game.
- [15:14]
Alan Hahn
Shooting night or something.
- [15:15]
Don Hahn
When you lose, the game is important. And I. And even though 1:1, whether you lose the first game of the second game is still 1:1, at the end of
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Don Rosenberg
the day, you don't want to lose the first one.
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Don Hahn
The first one is different.
- [15:28]
Alan Hahn
Yep.
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Don Hahn
Especially for this team in this situation. And the first one is different.
- [15:33]
Don Rosenberg
And what's happened since the Knicks were last here? So that's game two against Philadelphia. What's happened since then is it went from excitement to an all out frenzy in the city. This, this, this. We are now on the precipice of this feeling really iconic. So this building is going to feel different than it's felt this entire time.
- [15:55]
Alan Hahn
There's a confidence. That's a good point. Because last year, if you remember that Celtics here, that game six felt like the coronation. Like that felt like the championship. Knocking off Boston, like doing what they did, winning it at home, clinching a series at home, like that, that felt like it. And then game one happened and it was almost like, oh, wait, there's more to do. And that's, you know, and it obviously went south fast. You had to chase that. This, There was not that sense.
- [16:20]
Don Hahn
Right.
- [16:20]
Alan Hahn
There was a sense of, no, there's more, there's more coming. Yeah, like this, this isn't it yet.
- [16:24]
Don Rosenberg
And then they go on.
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Alan Hahn
I find there to be like this almost. We're not anywhere near a crescendo. Right.
- [16:29]
Don Rosenberg
Well, and remember, in the time since this, this fan base has gotten to cheer this group, they went to Philadelphia and were just historically dominant. Well, that's like they deserve all the love coming back after what they did to go finish off Philly.
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Alan Hahn
Yeah.
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Don Rosenberg
So this, I already get the sense, even just from us being out here early and we've done a bunch of these here and just sort of the vibe this early in the day, you already get the sense this is a different kind of deal.
- [16:53]
Don Hahn
You always have the positive, Nick. Fans who always feel like it's going to be their year and it's going to come together. But those two games, Games 3 and 4 in Philadelphia, I think anybody that was on the fence, they all of a sudden hopped on to the positive side, like it was just too good to ignore. Now, we've talked about the importance of game one. Mike Brown talked about the importance of
- [17:14]
Mike Brown
tonight's game, he can honestly set the tone. But I think Cleveland lost in Game 1 to Detroit. So at the end of the day, you know, each game is its own separate entity. And, you know, you gotta try to be able to make adjustments after games to see if you can encounter anything that you're having problems with. And if you do, you may have a chance to come out on top. But for us, and I think it's no different for any team, you always want to hit first, second, third, and obviously, so trying to do that is going to be big. We've talked about it before with the starts of our games, and our guys, to their credit, have done a better job in the playoffs than what we did towards the end of the regular season.
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Don Hahn
He eventually got there.
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Alan Hahn
Yeah.
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Don Hahn
But the first instinct was, well, the Thunder lost last night in game one. He doesn't want to.
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Alan Hahn
But is it. Cleveland lost their first game, but that was on the road. It's just different when you're home.
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Don Hahn
But I just think it's different for the Knicks, all right, because of the history, because of what happened last year. Now, Mike Brown wasn't here last year.
- [18:16]
Tim Bontemps
No.
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Don Hahn
But he also has a job because of what happened last year. So if he doesn't know it, he should. Oh, he's understand the history, and I'm sure he's aware of it.
- [18:24]
Alan Hahn
They're all aware.
- [18:24]
Don Hahn
Any good coach, any good leader has to leave themselves some wiggle room, right? Like, if he comes out and says, dude, we got to win this. This a must win. And then you don't, then. Then you're in scramble mode. So he kind of started out like, hey, you know, Cavaliers lost their first game. Lost the first two, actually. You know, so you gave yourself someplace to go. But as he worked himself up through those 40 seconds of that quote, he got to where we want them to get to understand the importance of it. But you got to leave a little ledge, right. Just in case. Because then it's panic at the disco, Right. If you say there's a must win and you don't win, now, you're scrambling. So he did leave a little ledge to hang on in case it does go south.
- [19:03]
Alan Hahn
Yeah. It's all curiosity from this point forward, because, look, the competition gets better the deeper you go into playoffs. And the Cavs were always, like, we might have said this earlier this week, right? This was. This was what everybody anticipated would be the top two teams in the east when you started the season. They opened the season against each other. They played on Christmas Day.
- [19:24]
Don Hahn
Were the one seed.
- [19:25]
Alan Hahn
There's a reason why the NBA scheduled it that way.
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Don Hahn
Then it drifted.
- [19:29]
Alan Hahn
Well, of course, because you didn't know what you didn't know Detroit was going to take the leap that they took. And you didn't know Boston was going to stay in the fight the way they did after. They had a pretty bad start to the season. Two people forget. So originally this was supposed to be the two best teams in the East. So the fact that they come full circle and here they are, you know, to see who's the. Who's the team coming out of the east is. Is almost shock. Even though it's three versus four.
- [19:54]
Don Hahn
But look what happened. It shows you not only is the regular season sometimes like a joke, but things happen during the regular season. Like they were. They were the two big guns. And that was before the deal before makes the trade.
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Alan Hahn
They have to make a trade to actually put them in this position.
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Don Hahn
Right. So that's why so many things can happen between October and now. I.
- [20:12]
Tim Bontemps
You.
- [20:12]
Don Hahn
You live it. I live it. On the hockey side, it go. It's. It's so weird. It's hard to explain, Peter. It goes so fast, yet feels so long at the same time. What you mean the, the season. The season, like the devil season for me is a blur. I'm sure you look back at the Knicks season, it's a blur. But then you kind of. You take more of a deep breath and look at it and go, wow, that was October, man. That was a long ass time ago. And look at all the things that have happened, all the changes, all the different things that take place and trades that were made and guys that came back from injury and guys that got hurt. Like it's a long journey to get here. And it's just still so many other things that are going to happen between now and when they finally lift that trophy.
- [20:50]
Alan Hahn
It's sort of where we are with the Mets and Yankees.
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Don Rosenberg
Right?
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Alan Hahn
Like was last night not the perfect example of what I say about the value of the last channel button?
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Don Hahn
Oh yeah.
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Alan Hahn
Last night was a glorious night for cable TV sports.
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Don Hahn
And, and I think you.
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Alan Hahn
Because there was no streaming. Oh my God, all of it. The Met game was insane. And then of course, game seven. That, that, that game was through the, the comeback from the Sabres, the building going crazy, the late goal, all this stuff. And then overtime, overtime, Game seven. It's a must watch. You got to be on that. And then of course, what Wemby's doing in a game, one that just felt like a game of the ages. Like it just, I didn't think I watched a commercial. I swear to God, everybody.
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Don Hahn
There was always something else to check.
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Alan Hahn
And if one of those was on
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Don Hahn
a streaming, they were done. They go out because I'm not gonna, I know. Well, you hit the input and no, I'm not doing that too long. There was so much going on that you, there was always something I'd kind of forget to go check out and like, oh, that's right. I got to go check out the Yankees.
- [21:48]
Alan Hahn
Yeah.
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Don Hahn
Also for fraud alert Friday, if you can find it, MLB sent out a picture of Jazz after his swing from the home run.
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Alan Hahn
Okay.
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Don Hahn
Right. So he's at home plate.
- [21:59]
Alan Hahn
Yeah.
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Don Hahn
You see judge jump up in the dugout. All the fans are celebrating behind the Yankee dugout. There's a fan, arms raised, blue Jay jersey, Yankee hat. Oh, is that that the face of fraud?
- [22:13]
Alan Hahn
It really is.
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Don Rosenberg
It really.
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Don Hahn
I got to find it and show
- [22:16]
Alan Hahn
it to you that he had the hat like in his back pocket. He just threw it on like once he hit the.
- [22:20]
Don Hahn
I don't know. But listen, I guess he made his decision. He decided to celebrate the home run or maybe he had money on it. I don't know.
- [22:25]
Alan Hahn
Who knows?
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Don Hahn
But that was just a very, very strange. Just to show you the frauds that are out there. But I still had time, despite how busy I was to check out all of that. Now we got a huge show today, a lot of guests. We're here at Plaza 33 right outside Madison Square Garden. Swing by if you're going to the game, even if you're not, if you're in the area, check it out. It's going to be a lot of fun because at 4:30, Marcus Camby is going to be here. At 5:00', clock, Monica McNutt. At 6:30, Steve Novak. But coming up next, Tim BonTemps. He's from ESPN, of course, US and he's going to be joining us. He was great last week. He promised if the Knicks continued he'd join us. He is here live. He's busy, but he's here in the heat. We appreciate it. It's Don Hahn and Rosenberg just getting started on a hot Tuesday, a Nick Tuesday on ESPN New York.
- [23:10]
Bucked Up Advertiser
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Don Hahn
a million bucks the NFL schedule dropped
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- [24:53]
Podcast Announcer
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [24:57]
Don Rosenberg
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
- [24:58]
Podcast Announcer
Catch this show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
- [25:05]
Don Hahn
If you're watching us on YouTube, Calandras has come through again for Monica McNutt, an amazing cake in which a hand that can only be described as chiller theater, dunking a basketball into a net and completely obscuring Alan and our next guest. So hopefully the people at YouTube still will be able to recognize Tim's never looked better. It's a lot better for Tim Bontemp's Nice enough to join us. How are you, man? Thanks for coming out.
- [25:29]
Tim Bontemps
Drink beer, fellas.
- [25:30]
Don Hahn
I know you're busy and it's warm,
- [25:31]
Tim Bontemps
but you look like you're ready for it. This is great. I mean, I love, I love playoff games that I can walk commute to. I didn't walk. I rode the bike. But it's, it's always a great commute when you can just go down Broadway and be here at the Garden. It's Great.
- [25:44]
Don Hahn
Tough for you.
- [25:45]
Don Rosenberg
It's coming off the loss last night for me.
- [25:49]
Don Hahn
Are you a Sabres guy?
- [25:50]
Tim Bontemps
Oh, yes, Sabres. Sorry, I thought you meant the Thunder spurs game. I grew up. I grew up near Buffalo and so I am just always ready for pain. Yes, pain. As Don said during the break, Buffalo teams only know how to lose very painfully. So that was.
- [26:08]
Don Rosenberg
They really are the masters. We never seen anything like.
- [26:10]
Tim Bontemps
No, it's pretty incredible. Bills and Sabres both just a very, very long history of absolutely devastating and controversial losses. That one wasn't that controversial, but it was definitely a devastating, excruciating.
- [26:19]
Alan Hahn
It's very Knicks like. Although the last seven games haven't. No, I'm going to give you the opportunity as someone who picked the Sixers, if you want. Mea culpa, this would be the time. Well, I mean, with all of New
- [26:31]
Tim Bontemps
York listening, as I've said to lots of people, you guys know about how you commit to bits on the radio. I committed to a bit on the podcast and it blew up in my face, which was, what are you going to do? Well, I thought that the Sixers and Knicks were the co favorites after the first round to win the. To win the conference. And whoever won that series would be the heavy favorites in this series. And my co host on the Hoop Collective did not like that argument very much. So I doubled down on it and picked Sixers to win and it blew up in my face, which, you know, happens. I also thought Embiid would be like he was in the Celtic series for some portion of it. And when he showed up for game one and looked already banged up after hitting his knee at the end of Game seven, I was like, wow, I'm probably cooked.
- [27:08]
Alan Hahn
He has such a history of believing in him. Right.
- [27:10]
Tim Bontemps
I mean, you know, with that in mind, it is what it is with
- [27:12]
Alan Hahn
that in mind in this series.
- [27:13]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah.
- [27:14]
Alan Hahn
James Harden, despite his best efforts, the. The Cavs still won that Game seven on the road.
- [27:19]
Tim Bontemps
Yes.
- [27:20]
Alan Hahn
Do you. Do you look at him at all from a national perspective as one of the big stories of this conference finals? Because while Donovan Mitchell, it's his first time here, for Harden, it's like it just feels like his history has been just laden with playoff failures and playoff disappointments and no shows.
- [27:40]
Tim Bontemps
I mean, not really. Only because I think, you know, James Harden is 36 years old.
- [27:45]
Caller Dave
Right.
- [27:45]
Tim Bontemps
They didn't bring James Harden to the Cavs to be the guy who pushes them to the NBA Finals. Like, to me, this is about Donovan Mitchell, and I thought game seven was obviously the biggest game to this point of Donovan Mitchell's career, he was awesome in that game. He played the way they needed him to play in that game. However, other than the second half of game four, and I think he had 39 points in the second half to power them to a win at home, he didn't look like the Donovan Mitchell who was a borderline first team all NBA player the last few years in Cleveland. Right. So I think for the Cavs to win the series, Donovan Mitchell's got to play like that a lot. Like he did in game seven. And coming off a back to back seven game series against a team that is very well suited to guard both he and James Harden, I think that's going to be a real challenge. It's one of many reasons why I think the Knicks are going to win the series.
- [28:29]
Don Rosenberg
It's interesting and this is something that none of the four of us can truly answer or relate to because we're all sitting here for a reason. You do wonder though, with a guy like James Harden who clearly was aware of the direction of his career, there's no question about it. And now you mess around you, I'm going to go to Cleveland, finish these things out, keep collecting money and going to strip clubs, having a good time. Hold on, I'm in the conference finals. You wonder whether a gear could sort of click in when someone who's that all time great is that close to
- [28:58]
Alan Hahn
six teams felt that way.
- [29:00]
Tim Bontemps
Well, I mean, listen, James Harden is so, you know, if this game, if this series goes six or seven games, which it could, James Harden will have two or three really good games and he'll have three or four really bad games. Like if you look at the last few years, James Harden has basically done that every single series. He's had two or three awesome games, one or two okay games and two or three bad games every series. And he did that in the conference semifinals. He did it against Toronto in the first round. He did it last year with the Clippers, he did it with Philly before that. Like that is what James Harden's history is. So maybe he'll play great today, then he probably won't play great in the next game. Like he.
- [29:34]
Don Rosenberg
But him putting together a full series is basically not a thing that we've seen.
- [29:37]
Tim Bontemps
He's not going to do that. Like you just know that going in. But again, he's 36 years old. He's not supposed to to do that. He's supposed to give you a couple really good games. The thing, if they're going to Win the series. Donovan Mitchell has got to be the guy. The guy. And he wasn't the guy in really for large stretches of either of the last two rounds, which is why they were seven game slogs and why the Cavs are very close to getting eliminated. He's just against this Knicks team. He's got to be that level player. Like he's got to be playing the way Jalen Brunson always has seemed to play in the playoffs for them to have a chance.
- [30:06]
Don Hahn
Tim, we make a big deal out of game ones because this team has never won a series when they've lost game one at home. You remember what happened last year, similar circumstances, right? We're going to the finals, we're going to be able to beat the Pacers and then in miracle game one.
- [30:17]
Tim Bontemps
I don't know if it's quite similar, but the Pacers are playing that like it's similar in that the Pacers were not favored in the series, but the Pacers were coming in having smacked the Cavs, having smacked the Bucks. We're playing way, way better. Like this Cavs team is talented, they certainly could turn things around and play much better, but they're, they have not played anywhere near the level of that
- [30:37]
Don Hahn
team in this point. But it was the same in the sense that this is not who we expected to face. And it kind of looks like, all right, we're on our way. And then you lose game one. And because of the history, because we're so close to it, we feel like this is such a big game one. But from the outside looking in, is it as big?
- [30:56]
Tim Bontemps
Well, I mean, it's always good to win game one at home. You don't want to fall behind in the series, you know, and it certainly would put the Knicks, it would continue the Knicks momentum from the last round, which, I mean, you saw Oklahoma City last night, they were out of sorts, I think for most of the first half because they hadn't played in a long time and the spurs had wrapped up relatively recently and looked like the more locked in team, which is what you see a lot. So I could see the Knicks having a slow start in this game as they kind of get rev back up to playoff intensity. But to go back to what you said about this isn't who you expected to see. The irony of this matchup is this is what the conference finals was supposed to be in October, right? Like these were the co favorites coming into the season. And until the last seven games, the Knicks, while their record was good, did not really look like, they were a team that was certain to get this far, to put it mildly. And the Cavs, both all season and then in the first two rounds, have not looked like a team that was really going to get here and managed to do so. So it is interesting. Like, the Cavs are an extremely talented team, and if they lock in and play really well, like, they're more than capable of winning the series. But going off the evidence of the last month, the Knicks really should win this series and they should make the Finals. And it's why it's set up to be a very big disappointment if they don't.
- [32:10]
Alan Hahn
How realistic is what you've seen with the offense that the Knicks have gone? They were a top three offense in the regular season, but it didn't look like this at all. And yet they switched something in the middle of the playoffs. Is this, like. Are you convinced that. Oh, no, no. This is what you're going to see now the rest of the way. The numbers were just astronomical. They're shooting the efficiency, all that stuff. Is this who they are now, or is that a product of who they played?
- [32:38]
Tim Bontemps
I mean, I think it's more the la. I mean, it's more the former. Like, I mean, look, the Knicks are the. The Hawks and the Sixers are not as talented as the Cavs, but the Knicks also, like, I mean, in that game four, I mean, they went 12 for 13 to start the game four from three, right? They've just been molten hot from everywhere. And it is pretty unprecedented to see a team completely change its offensive style in the middle of the playoffs and then have the results that they have. Like, sometimes you'll see a team like Oklahoma City, for example, right? They're probably going to start small in Game two, but, like, you don't see a team tend to completely rip up what they do offensively in the middle of the postseason and have it, you know, completely change their season. But that's what the Knicks have done, doing this stuff with Carl Towns playing sort of as the hub and operating as a facilitator. And it's been remarkable to see how it's flipped things around. And, I mean, we'll see how it looks against the Cavs. Obviously, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are both very good defensive players. I think one of the real battlegrounds in the series is can Mitchell Robinson, who I think had 16 offensive rebounds in 36 minutes against the Cavs this season, continue to really pound these guys inside. He's had a lot of success doing that against these two in the past. But I mean, if Towns could continue to play like that and continue to be as good as he was the last seven games, it's one again, like the Knicks should be in the finals if that continues.
- [33:51]
Don Rosenberg
Is there a version of either of the next two series, assuming there are two, where the Knicks would get away from this version of the offense?
- [34:02]
Tim Bontemps
I mean, it's hard to say. I think if they do, I expect the Knicks to win the series and
- [34:08]
Don Rosenberg
I think playing the way they were playing.
- [34:10]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, I mean, I think so. I don't think they're going to change it and I think whoever they play in the finals is going to be a gargantuan challenge to beat. And I think they might have to change a lot of things depending on which matchup and they might have to change different things depending on which matchup. But those two teams, I think are clearly the two best teams in the league and it's going to be a real challenge for the Knicks to win that one. But yeah, I mean, I would say let's focus on Knicks winning these four games first and then worry about whoever they're playing in the other series.
- [34:35]
Don Hahn
Tim Bontemps joining us here on Don Han and Rosenberg. Take you up until 7 o'.
- [34:39]
Caller Dave
Clock.
- [34:39]
Don Hahn
Our coverage begins game one. The Cavaliers and the Knicks. Give me a player on each side that we're not talking enough about that you think could have a big impact in the next couple of weeks?
- [34:49]
Tim Bontemps
Well, I mean, OG and Anobi we have because we haven't talked about him at all. I mean, his injury I think is critical in terms of whether the Knicks can be a team that win another eight games. Right. Like I think the Knicks are favored to win four games. They're probably not to win eight just because I don't think anybody's favored to beat the other two teams. But for them to have a chance to do that, OG's got to play like he did the first, what I guess nine games of playoffs before he got hurt because he was the Knicks best player like that. That was the best stretch of his career he's ever had. So if he can be back healthy, it's probably should be playing tonight. We'll see if there's any restrictions on him, but he, his ability to both get to his spots and score on offense in ways he hasn't before and especially his defensive versatility. Like you saw a lot against Cleveland, Evan Mobley had the ball in his hands a lot. My guess is, you know, the Knicks do a lot of different ways My guess is he will guard Evan Mobley in this series, and if he does, Evan Mobley's not gonna be doing a lot of ball handling because OG can just rip them.
- [35:42]
Alan Hahn
I'm sorry.
- [35:42]
Caller Dave
No, no.
- [35:43]
Tim Bontemps
But that. I think his versatility, I think, allows the Knicks to do so many different things. And his health, I think, is absolutely massive. Not that that's a huge shock to them, having a chance to actually win this thing.
- [35:54]
Alan Hahn
Yeah, the record when he's in the lineup just tells you all you need to know on that one. What happened in Minnesota and what's happening here? Does it change the look of the town's trade either way?
- [36:09]
Tim Bontemps
In what respect?
- [36:09]
Alan Hahn
I'll think about what was said when Minnesota was eliminated and Nasri talking about moodiness and a lot of referencing that sounded very much directed at Randle. How he, Julius Randall did not play well at all in the playoffs and what Towns has become here, because I think it's a remarkable transformation of a player that a lot of people were very frustrated with and grumbled about. And now you're seeing a completely different approach and a different connection that he's got now with this fan base. Do you, though, again, from the outside, look at that trade any differently now, now that we have this much evidence?
- [36:47]
Tim Bontemps
I don't think so. I mean, I think it's a trade that worked for both teams. I mean, the Wolves had to shed some money. It wasn't going to be feasible for them to have the group they had going forward. I mean, look, they made the conference finals last year. If they were healthy, if Dante DiVincenzo is healthy, if Anthony Edwards is healthy, I think that could have been an even more competitive series than it was against Antonio. Like, I think they're in a fine spot. And look, the Knicks are obviously in a really good spot. Like, we'll see if they can win four more games and make the Finals. But, you know, Carl Towns and Jalen Brunson are playing better together than they ever have. Carl's had a phenomenal stretch these past couple of weeks doing stuff we haven't really seen him do before, and it certainly worked out for the Knicks. So I do think it's a rare trade where you can look at it objectively and say everybody came out pretty well in the end.
- [37:31]
Don Hahn
What did you take from that Thunder spurs game last night?
- [37:33]
Tim Bontemps
I mean, that was as good a game as you're ever going to see. I think it. You know, again, I'm not trying to be a downer for the Knicks fans ahead of this party. But like, you know, the challenge of beating either of those teams for anybody for the rest of this decade is going to be immense.
- [37:49]
Alan Hahn
For the rest of this decade, barring
- [37:51]
Tim Bontemps
injury, those two teams should be the class of the league for a while and look like. I think the Thunder are going to win the series. I think watching that game there was a lot and I picked them to win the series. I still think they will win it. There's a lot of stuff you could look at and say they could play better. Chad Holmgren was awful. Shakeless Alexander, by his standards, was awful. The Thunder, who have always been a phenomenal scoring team off of transition and getting turnovers, turning them into baskets, had five or six open, two on ones and just didn't score. Right. Like there was a ton of stuff that they could clean up in the game. That said, if this might just be the Thanos moment for Victor Wembanyama and if they win this series, I think they will win the finals and I mean, they could just dominate the league for a decade. Like Dylan Harper already, I think could be better arguably than de' Aaron Fox.
- [38:35]
Alan Hahn
He doesn't play like a rookie.
- [38:36]
Tim Bontemps
No, I mean, I mean, he doesn't.
- [38:37]
Alan Hahn
He has such a poise. It's incredible. Him and Castle. Castle, his, his. His emotional apathy when it comes to like anything that happens. You could have 10 turnovers, he could, he could dunk on you. His face never changed.
- [38:50]
Tim Bontemps
I mean, he's great. I mean, obviously he showed that at Connecticut. He's carried it over to the pros, but I mean, Dylan Harper last night as a rookie playing against one of the best defensive teams you'll ever see as a, as A group, had 24, 11, 6 and 7 steals with one turnover in 47 minutes. Like that is in all the time. Classic performance by a rookie who found out he was starting 45 minutes for the game.
- [39:09]
Don Rosenberg
And last night felt like collectively like the. All right, the warm ups are over. The troop, like it truly began. Well, I mean, you go. Everything else was cute.
- [39:16]
Tim Bontemps
You go from Cavs, Pistons, to then that game last night.
- [39:22]
Don Rosenberg
It's a game seven where like you. You would really need to add every bit of sauce to make it a sexy game seven. Then you jump to a game one that everybody universally wants to watch.
- [39:32]
Don Hahn
It's on. You know, this is why the coaching change was made by the Knicks last year. Now, now it's on. You're halfway. It begins tonight. Tim, enjoy it, man. Thanks for this.
- [39:39]
Tim Bontemps
Sure, guys.
- [39:40]
Don Hahn
Really appreciate it.
- [39:41]
Don Rosenberg
Thanks, Tim.
- [39:41]
Don Hahn
Montana does a great job covering the NBA for us here at ESPN. Come back with some calls at 1-800-919-3776. Marcus Camby here at 4:30, Monica McNutt at 5, Steve Novak at 6:30. Got a big show taking up until 7:00'. Clock. Then it's Pat O' Keefe and Nick's coverage right here. Don Ana Rosenberg, ESPN New York Evan Cohen here.
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- [42:04]
Podcast Announcer
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [42:08]
Don Rosenberg
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
- [42:09]
Podcast Announcer
Catch this show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
- [42:15]
Don Hahn
1-800-919-3776. Dave is in Elizabeth. You get it started here on Don on a Rosenberg. What do you got?
- [42:22]
Caller Dave
What up, fellas? What up? You know, Hollywood Han, Don Rosenberg. This what I want to say, man. As far as Nick, Felicia, I think we're going in confident tonight. I usually don't talk confident, and I'm not, you know, that guy. I don't pump off my chest, but I think everybody's focused. As far as the captain Cat OG got the days off. Hopefully, you know, he's nice and healthy to start off for this series. I'm going in with confidence, fellas. I think we're going to take care of business. And I think especially that, you know, since that comment that Brunson and some of the guys made that, you know, they kind of played around or they didn't take game one so serious last season well last year that they're going to take this game a lot more serious. So I think they're going to come out guns blazing, fellas, and that's what I want to see. And before you guys let me go, Hollywood Hunt, don't get mad at me, but we won that series over the weekend. It was very good. Next, let's continue doing it.
- [43:11]
Alan Hahn
Enjoy it.
- [43:12]
Don Hahn
Later, boys.
- [43:13]
Alan Hahn
Enjoy it. My daughter texted, called me this morning, Don, right, Emma. And she was just. She's like, I know you're busy with basketball. Did you happen to watch any baseball this weekend? Big Mets, fit. And I'm just like, no, I don't watch till October. She got so mad at me.
- [43:28]
Don Hahn
Well, and rightly so. And you're lying.
- [43:30]
Alan Hahn
I know, I know.
- [43:31]
Don Hahn
But it did bother you.
- [43:32]
Alan Hahn
Well, what am I supposed to say? So she just started going on about how this is the turning point and we're gonna. Thank you.
- [43:37]
Don Rosenberg
It is a good moment.
- [43:38]
Alan Hahn
And she was really trying to. Trying to get me going. And I just said, I don't really watch baseball till October. It's a nice feeling.
- [43:43]
Don Hahn
We'll see. We'll see if it's.
- [43:45]
Alan Hahn
I don't have to because I know my team's going to be there in October, whereas, you know, I know yours you have to watch now because you never know. But that's the best I could do.
- [43:52]
Don Hahn
You kind of know it's all I got.
- [43:54]
Alan Hahn
What else am I going to say?
- [43:55]
Don Rosenberg
No, I'm not allowed. I'm not standing for this entire conversation.
- [43:59]
Alan Hahn
Number one. Yeah.
- [44:00]
Don Rosenberg
Two weeks ago, they're in the World Series. A week later, now you're not so sure exactly what this Yankees team is. So let's not pretend.
- [44:06]
Alan Hahn
I would say I'm not sure what they are. I believe I said yesterday that I still very much believe this is a good team, that there are areas that you have to fix, and that's what the regular season shows you, is what are the areas that need to be fixed. And that's up to Brian Cashman to do, which every year he tries to do. He doesn't always accomplish it, but he knows what he needs to do. And by July, they'll find a third baseman. By July, we know what will. I mean, Volpe's kind of putting up a fight right now, but Caballero is your shortstop. What do you do with jazz? Jazz putting up a fight. Now all of a sudden, you know, then we all know the bullpen is always the area. Bednar made it interesting again last night. Yes, they did. Oh, my God. He really needs to calm down. But they. This is what Cashman does every July, and you expect that he'll find some pieces that try to make them whole. Good enough anyway to make a run.
- [44:54]
Don Rosenberg
Here's what I can't do.
- [44:55]
Alan Hahn
So I'll wait till all. I'll know more about this team once we get through all that.
- [44:58]
Don Rosenberg
Here's what. Here's what we can't do. We can't talk about baseball every day and yet then not give any credence when things ever actually happen. Because if we're going to make the rule, hey, it doesn't matter till September,
- [45:11]
Don Hahn
you know, I'm fine.
- [45:12]
Alan Hahn
That's not what I said. No, no, hear me out.
- [45:13]
Tim Bontemps
Hear me out.
- [45:14]
Don Rosenberg
Then I'm fine. And we just want to talk about baseball. But if you're going to draw me in and we're going to have to talk about every day, we're not going to ignore the fact that right now, sitting where the Mets are today versus three weeks ago. And I know, Don, I'll talk to you. Because Don has to ignore it because he's beaten and broken. He's dead inside. And he should be.
- [45:28]
Alan Hahn
He is.
- [45:29]
Don Hahn
But.
- [45:29]
Don Rosenberg
But for us, yeah, reasonable people, right. I'm not saying this team is on their way to a championship, but they are unquestionably, the Mets, they unquestionably have a different mojo they did not have
- [45:39]
Don Hahn
a few weeks ago.
- [45:40]
Don Rosenberg
And they did it again last night in a wacky game.
- [45:43]
Alan Hahn
Oh, my goodness.
- [45:44]
Don Rosenberg
They Easily could have lost. Instead, they score 10 runs in an extra.
- [45:48]
Alan Hahn
That always happens.
- [45:48]
Don Rosenberg
Which. Which has not happened over a hundred years.
- [45:50]
Alan Hahn
No, that never happens.
- [45:51]
Don Rosenberg
So, you know, it's a pretty cool, cool moment to have won this many series.
- [45:57]
Don Hahn
Get.
- [45:57]
Don Rosenberg
Get a series with the Yankees, turn around, get the first one in a divisional series against. In. In Washington. You got to feel pretty good.
- [46:02]
Alan Hahn
And maybe that just kind of has sparked something which is all you're looking for. I acknowledge all that. And no, I was having fun saying I don't really watch till October.
- [46:10]
Don Rosenberg
No, I'm actually. I'm actually more going at Don than you.
- [46:13]
Alan Hahn
Okay.
- [46:13]
Don Rosenberg
Because Don's response to this happening is
- [46:16]
Alan Hahn
no, every trends happen and you have to acknowledge them. And it's also areas that you say are a weakness could change. Again, look at Volpe. Volpe comes in and what's he been doing? Getting on base, Walks, hits. He's getting on base. And that's something. That's how you fight your way back into the lineup when everybody wanted to put. Put dirt on you. That's something now all of a sudden to watch. Those are the things. Like Bednar right now going through it. How does he get himself out of it? That's why it's. Every day does matter. But I don't overreact because there are. It's such a long season that trends happen. And you want to see the trends. Less of the negative trends and more of the positive.
- [46:53]
Don Hahn
Everybody put words in my mouth. Michael did it the other day on Friday. Oh, Don. You said they were dead. I never said they were dead. I'm just saying that I'm just sick and tired of having to rely on these runs. I made it very clear. And right now they're. They're doing it, they're feeling it. They're getting something going here. But I had an fan before they turned it around. I need. Do you need more? You're still five games under 500.
- [47:13]
Alan Hahn
You got to get to 500. You'll be better at 500.
- [47:15]
Don Hahn
That's how. Well, they have to play for a lot longer to be able to make up for the miserable start that they had. And so I'm not talking about playoffs. No.
- [47:23]
Alan Hahn
So 500 though.
- [47:25]
Don Rosenberg
Let's get there.
- [47:26]
Don Hahn
Let's get there. And there's still a lot of heavy lifting to do and again, be at
- [47:29]
Don Rosenberg
500 at the break and have a conversation.
- [47:31]
Don Hahn
Right. But could we get there first before all of a sudden we start? You know, it's foolish to say that they're dead. It's Also foolish to say everything's fine. They're going to be all right. They're going to be in the playoffs. That's foolish, too. Live in the now. It's a nice run. Need more because they had an awful start.
- [47:47]
Alan Hahn
This is Don doing the hope is a dangerous thing. Hope will drive a man insane.
- [47:51]
Don Hahn
No, this is me analyzing the situation.
- [47:53]
Alan Hahn
No, no. Give me hope.
- [47:54]
Don Hahn
No, I'm not playing. I'm just. I'm playing. The game of this team still, to me, is not very good. Right. And they're going to have to play a lot better for a lot longer for me to start to think that they're what they were supposed to be at the beginning of season. And even if they do sneak into the third wild card, this was built to be a team that was going to challenge the Braves and the Phillies and win the division and maybe win a championship. But real quick, I got a quick question.
- [48:17]
Alan Hahn
Yeah.
- [48:17]
Don Hahn
Because we're going to have to do a lot of baseball today, but we do have a second. And I just wonder, because you're a broadcaster. I'm a broadcaster, and so is Peter calling matches in wrestling. So last night we had a situation where Vivos, as an everyday player, is going to pitch in that extra inning game. But the rules are there's a certain amount. I forget exactly. Certain amount of runs you have to be up before you can have a positional player pitch. So they try to put VIVAC in the game. The umpires won't let him because it's not the scores. However, they did not realize, the umpires, that once you get the extra innings,
- [48:53]
Alan Hahn
all bets are off.
- [48:54]
Don Hahn
All bets are off. You can do it. The umpires did not know that.
- [48:57]
Tim Bontemps
Wow.
- [48:57]
Don Hahn
Now Gary and Keith jumped them and said, that's embarrassing. The umpires didn't know the rules. And I was looking at social media and some people were like getting on the broadcast saying, well, you didn't know the rule. I'm sorry. When I'm calling a Devil game, you're calling a Nick game. I'd like to think I know all the rules, but there are nuances. I always have the rulebook with me. I keep a rule book with me because there's always something that comes up you want to double check. But I'm sorry, they're paid to know the rules. If the umpires don't know the rules, then what are we doing?
- [49:28]
Alan Hahn
I'm starting their job.
- [49:29]
Don Hahn
You could get on key and Gary for maybe calling the umps embarrassing if you want to, but to me, I have no issue with that. Because I'm sorry, whether you're an official, a referee, an umpire, you've got to know the rules. You're the last line of demarcation, man. If you don't know the rules, what are we doing?
- [49:45]
Alan Hahn
It's literally your job.
- [49:47]
Don Hahn
Exactly.
- [49:47]
Alan Hahn
Force the rules.
- [49:49]
Don Hahn
So if you don't know the rule,
- [49:51]
Alan Hahn
that's a major problem.
- [49:52]
Don Hahn
Because if he doesn't know the rules, then it's like literally chaos.
- [49:56]
Alan Hahn
Yeah, literally. But if you're a broadcaster and you might have forgotten one or something like
- [50:00]
Don Hahn
that, it's a rule that's only been in existence, look at a couple of years.
- [50:03]
Alan Hahn
But yeah, again, umpire, this is what you're tested on, this is what you prepare for. This is literally your job is to know every single nuance of every single.
- [50:10]
Don Rosenberg
They should also have another rule that when you're at that point where you're going, we're down this many runs, we're going to a position player. The other option should be, you just
- [50:17]
Don Hahn
want to end it.
- [50:19]
Alan Hahn
How about we just call it? Can we call it?
- [50:20]
Don Rosenberg
Because once, once I'm bringing it.
- [50:22]
Don Hahn
So you want, you want losing teams to just say, we're going to tap out.
- [50:25]
Don Rosenberg
Yeah, we're bringing someone to pitch 45 miles an hour, just end the game. If I could get a pitch, you imagine if I, if I could get
- [50:32]
Alan Hahn
a base hit, what would be the thing? Like, do you, you know, like, do you take like a towel and just throw it on the field?
- [50:37]
Don Rosenberg
Yeah, that's it.
- [50:38]
Alan Hahn
Oh, there's the towel.
- [50:41]
Don Hahn
Let's say I'm not going to throw in the towel and I didn't have a towel. Where would I go to maybe buy a towel? I don't know.
- [50:47]
Alan Hahn
Well, there's a lot of places you can go to buy things and that is if I want to deliver to be Amazon now. But thing Right. If you need it delivered. But I'll tell you what, in New York, we know every block is a business. Every minute counts. So if you have a small business, you want to listen up, Amazon Hub Delivery lets you earn extra revenue from the business you already run. Stay with me. Trust me, you're going to love this. You and your staff can deliver packages right in your neighborhood on a schedule that works for you. So Brian and the crew at 165 Hardware and watching and Heights, they deliver during their stores afternoon downtime. The extra revenue from Amazon Hub Delivery helps their bottom line and delivering has given the business more visibility and connection to their community. And getting started, it is easy. No delivery experience, no long term contracts, and best of all, no startup costs. New York Local Businesses if you're ready to make your next move, go here. Visit Amazon.com hub delivery that's Amazon.com hub
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Don Hahn
delivery Marcus Camby at 4:30, Monica McNutt at 5, Steve Novak at 6:30 Don Han and Rosenberg outside the garden ESPN
- [51:56]
Podcast Announcer
New York thanks for listening to my Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.
- [52:01]
Don Rosenberg
I don't want to know how the
- [52:02]
Podcast Announcer
sausage is made, man.
- [52:03]
Alan Hahn
I just want to know it's good.
- [52:04]
Podcast Announcer
Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80. ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.
- [52:14]
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