Caller (8:30)

It's.

Don LaGreca (8:30)

It's the general manager's fault. It's never the players fault. There's never any accountability when it comes to the players because they're making the big contracts. They make the rules. You see it in the NBA. I don't want to play here. You're gone. I want to play there. I go there because that's the way it is in the 21st century of sports. Now they bent over backwards for you. Now go out there and perform. Now go out there and win. No more excuses. You got your guy. So I don't care that it didn't move the needle. We'll take your calls at 1-800-919-3776. I'm sure people are going to complain about it, but right now it's on the players and we're going to take your calls throughout this show all summer into the season. Let's see you got your guy. Go out there and play. Go out there and win. The Eastern Conference might not be paved in gold, but it doesn't have any divots, doesn't have any landmines. You should be able to get there. You if you want. And if you don't, it's on you. Let's hear what Mike Brown had to say. Talked about joining the Knicks.

Mike Brown (9:35)

You talk about a historic franchise. Madison Square Garden, it's iconic. Our fans, they're the most knowledgeable and passionate probably in all of sports. There's a lot of work to be done. We have an outstanding roster. What they did in the playoffs shows their potential. I've had great conversations with all of them of our players, and I'm looking forward to growing positive, strong relationships with all of them over time, let's do it.

Don LaGreca (10:03)

Let's have it, because that's what it's going to be about these players. All right. We talked about the expectations, a brutal amount of expectations, similar to what Aaron Boone went through, and he took over the team in oh, eight or, excuse me, in 18 over Girardi when he went to the third round of the playoffs. And Lee Championship Series game seven against the Astros. Mike, how are you going to handle all these high expectations?

Mike Brown (10:25)

Nobody has any bigger expectations, first of all, than I do. My expectations are high. This is the Knicks. I talked about Madison Square Garden being iconic. I love and embrace the expectations that come along with it. So I'm looking forward to it.

Don LaGreca (10:40)

Malt, forget about how iconic the building is, how passionate the fans are. It's time. It's their time to go out and do it, because there's going to be a level of expectations. I'm actually taking the pressure off of Brown a little bit because I think it's on the players. They got their guy. Go out there and take care of it. But you know how it ends up working. At the end of the day, the criticism will end up being on him. This is interesting. Do you see ways the starting five can improve defensively again?

Mike Brown (11:16)

I thought what the group did, this pasture in the playoffs, it just shows their potential, and not just defensively, but offensively, too. And so I'm looking forward to putting a plan in place and working with those guys on both ends of the floor. I love their length, I love their versatility. And so implementing something or my vision is very exciting for me, and hopefully it is for everybody else, because I think the ceiling is high on both ends for the group.

Don LaGreca (11:44)

And what I talked about before, his thoughts, and he thought that Tibbs did a good job.

Mike Brown (11:49)

You know, like I said, you know, I thought Tom Thibodeau did a great job and the guys did a fantastic job last year. But I'm looking forward. We got, you know, we just added two new additions to the team that are going to bring a lot of versatility to how we're going to play. I just can't wait to get on the court and start implementing things that we want to do offensively to help us grow and take it to another level. But, you know, we still got some time before we do that now.

Don LaGreca (12:23)

I don't get caught up in what a coach has to say about the previous coach, what a player has to say about the previous regime, because the one thing I learned when I was working with the Jets. And I was told this by many people that you'll coach up the new player, the new draft pick, the new coach, the new general manager. You'll coach them up. Not to make comparisons with the previous regime. Now, Mike Brown was complimentary of the jobs that Tibbs did, but ultimately he's going to say now it's time to move on to the present because you don't like to make comparisons because there will be comparisons. So you don't want to have to add to them because this team is held to a standard and the standard is final four. Take the next step. That's what you're expected to do. That's what happens in sports. You learn from losing and then you take your baggage to the next step. Is he the guy to do it? Are these players the guy to do it? We're going to find out. 1-800-919-3776. As I mentioned, Allen Hahn is on his way to the studio after going to the facility, getting a chance to talk to Mike Brown. We're going to play that interview coming up a little bit later on this hour. So Alan is in transit. He's going to be here, so he'll be a part of the show for sure. But let's hear from you. 1-800-919-3776. We start off today with David and Elizabeth. You're on. Don Hunter Rosenberg. What's up, David?

Caller (13:45)

What's going on? Don, first and foremost, man, congratulations, man. You definitely deserve it. I know you're not big on taking your flowers, but I just want to give them to you.

Don LaGreca (13:53)

I appreciate that, David. It was a quite a day yesterday. It was a lot of fun.

Caller (13:56)

Yes, sir. From one Jersey guy to another man. So happy for you, brother. Yes. As far as our Knicks, like I was just telling Anthony, as long as his staff comes to do what they're supposed to do and they, you know, maximize the talents and, you know, maximize everything that we have with our players, I believe we'll be okay because, you know, he's kind of an offensive mind guy. He's kind of leaned away from being defensive. So we'll see what happens there. As far as Brunson's dad being on the on the staff, I have no issue with it. As long as, you know, there's no favoritism or he's making some of the other fellows feel uncomfortable. As long as he's not doing that, I'm really excited about it and I hope Leon Rose could pull a couple of hats off a couple of rabbits off the hat and, you know, surprise us with maybe a LeBron trade or something, something in that nature. And if we don't, I'm happy with the additions we have. And, you know, we're just going to see where this goes, man. We'll give it to All Star break and we'll see how he pans out.

Don LaGreca (14:49)

Well, I thought. Thank you, David. One thing I never thought I would say in all the years I've been doing this gig with the Knicks is saying I have faith in the management. You should have faith in Leon Rose. Even if you disagreed with the firing of Tibbs, you have to like how he's built this roster. You have to like the moves that he's made, the drafts that he's made. I think he's been given the benefit of the doubt, maybe for the first time in decades with the New York Knicks. So as far as improving this roster, you have to feel good about it, and you have to feel good about who he hired and who he brought in. So I think that there has to be a level of calm around this team based on how that Leon Rose is at the helm. But there's always going to be an X factor, and Manny in Manhattan is going to bring up that X Factor. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, Manny?

Caller (15:42)

Hey, how you doing, Don?

Don LaGreca (15:43)

Good, man.

Caller (15:45)

All right. Congrats to you, man. I hear. I heard the good news today. Thank you. I. Oh, you're welcome. I just. I just think that as long as that invisible hand of Dolan is behind the scenes pulling strings, he's the owner, and I give him his due respect. But as long as you have someone behind the scenes nitpicking and doing things that maybe isn't cold sure isn't all that good. I don't think the Knicks can ever win a championship.

Don LaGreca (16:14)

No. Give me a. Give me an example of why. I know they haven't won since he's taken over his owner, but what is your main concern with Jim Dolan?

Caller (16:22)

So my concern is that this team does good. I mean, maybe not off the. From the start, they get off running, but in the middle of the season, they hit a little bump. And he may. The coach may make it through the year, but I'm afraid I'm looking down the line, two years down the line where maybe they don't have a stellar year. And here comes that invisible hand that says, you know what? We need a new coach, we need change, and here we go again. But that's what scares me.

Don LaGreca (16:53)

But but this. I feel like I'm a Dolan apologist, and I'm really not. I just look at it like everybody else. Can't win with Jim Dolan. Nobody wants to play here. Well, once the Knicks started winning, this became a destination. This. There's not a problem them landing free agents now. There's not a problem with them being able to build a roster now. So all you had to do is start winning games, becoming relevant again, and now that excuse is now out the door. Well, Dolan medals. We've never heard any evidence that Dolan meddled in the tips firing. What we did hear was that they got together after the season was over and that players seem to express their concern about Tibbs moving forward. So should an owner be stubborn and force the players to play under a coach that they don't like? Or does he have to look at it and say, I think I have to make a move? He ate $30 million to let Tibbs go. You think he did that out of ego, to show you how controlling he is? If that's the case, then why didn't Jim Dolan go public and say, I'm the one that fired Tibbs? He never did that. When you look at the jets and Woody Johnson. Woody Johnson took credit for the solid firing. He said, I wanted to see a change. I wanted to create a spark. Why? Because Woody's an egomaniac that wanted the credit for firing Saleh. It didn't work, but, you know, if it did, he would have taken his flowers. He wanted to show you he was in control and that he was the one that fired him. So if Dolan did it out of ego, if he ate the $30 million to show you that I'm the man, I'm the boss, why didn't he ever take credit for it? Why is it still a mystery who pulled the trigger? Some say it was Rose. Some say it was the players. Some say it was Dolan. The story changes every five minutes. But the one thing that doesn't change is there was a meeting and players were involved. And you've heard players say they weren't happy with their minutes, they weren't happy with the use of the benchmark, and now the coach is gone. So why is Jim Dolan the one that be blamed? Oh, this team will never win. But yet they beat Boston, and they came within two games of beating Indiana, a Pacer team that almost beat the Thunder. And maybe the reason they lost to the Pacer wasn't had anything to do with the fact that we Underrated. The Pacers, we thought that it was going to be smooth sailing to the final. Didn't respect the Pacers and they smacked us. But all of this Dolan hate, I just think it's lazy. I think it's lazy. Does he, does he control things? Sure he does. When he fired JD and Gordon, it was him. There was never any confusion about that. But here people want to say Dolan did it, but nobody has any evidence. The evidence suggests that, that it's all about the players not wanting to play for him. And I ask you, if you're the owner of a team and your star players don't want to play for the coach, what would you do? Force them? Or would you say, you know what, I got to bring in another coach again. I'm not going to give Dolan credit for eating the $30 million. He's a billionaire. But he did it and never took credit for it. So why are we killing him? 1-800-919-3776 Tyrone in Woodbridge, you're on. Don Hanna, Rosenberg.

Caller (20:21)

First of all, Don, I want to congratulate you on your gig with the Devils. As a Jersey guy, you deserve it. First of all, 67 year old Nick Fan, okay? Remember listening to Marv talk about Willis coming out the tunnel? So I've got, I've got orange and blue blood in the, in the ground, okay? The screener told me I shouldn't talk about dibs. They could have gone Van Gundy, they could have gone Mark Jackson. Nothing against Brown, but he doesn't move the needle. And when you let the players, the inmates run the asylum, that is just. It's not going to work. I'm a Knicks fan, but this team better win the championship or I'm going to be calling shows and killing the tip. The dib haters every week. They better win the chance.

Don LaGreca (21:19)

And I think you should blame the players because I do think they had the say and to defend them. Tyrone, in a certain extent is that you see the way things are in the 21st century now. You see the way the Yankees run things, how the Mets run things. The players have a say, you know, Jalen Brunson and I don't know if Jalen Brunson was the guy that asked for Tibbs to go, but obviously he didn't defend Tibbs. But the guy took a discount to stay here. He's going to have a say, you know, Aaron Judge making $40 million a year, they're going to have a say, you know, they may not have the plate, general manager on their desk, but they're going to have a say. That's the way things are now. And if you get a bunch of players who say, I think we can do better, what's Dolan supposed to do? What's Leon Rose supposed to do?

Caller (22:03)

But players play and coaches coach. I know that's forgotten more about basketball than those knuckleheads.

Don LaGreca (22:10)

That's the perfect world. That's the perfect world. But this has been going on forever. Has a Mark Messier gotten people fired? Hasn't Magic Johnson got people fired? When you invest as much money as you do in players, in some cases 40, 50, $60 million a year, they're going to have a say. And you're going to have to keep them happy. How much does the average coach make compared to the average player? Even in a cap sport? These guys make a fortune, man. So I'd like it to be old school. Managers manage, coaches coach, players play. But that's not how it works anymore. There's that fine line of how you deal with things, and unfortunately, that's the way of the 21st century.

Alan Hahn (23:02)

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Don LaGreca (24:03)

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Peter Rosenberg (24:58)

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

Alan Hahn (25:01)

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

Peter Rosenberg (25:03)

Catch this show on demand whenever you want.

Don LaGreca (25:05)

Just some.

Peter Rosenberg (25:06)

Subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

Don LaGreca (25:11)

Mike Brown officially introduced as the Knicks head coach today and our very own Alan Hahn had a chance to talk with him at the facility. So here is Alan Hahn's interview with the new head coach of the Knicks, Mike Brown.

Peter Rosenberg (25:25)

Well, Mike, on behalf of MSG Networks, let me be the first to say welcome. Now that you are here, I wanted to ask you just first and foremost, if there was one thing that made you most eager about pursuing this job, if there is one, what would that be?

Mike Brown (25:40)

Well, there are plenty, but obviously I'll throw one out is the roster. I'm excited about the roster. You know, it's, it's outstanding and you see just a ton of potential within it.

Peter Rosenberg (25:52)

Well, speaking of the roster and the potential in it, you have two stars on a two all stars in Jalen Brunson and Company Towns. What is the potential of that duo?

Mike Brown (26:01)

The sky's the limit. Two really, really good players. They both won at a high level. They know exactly what it takes to get there. And I think the relationship and partnership that we're going to have together can get us over the hump.

Peter Rosenberg (26:16)

Every coach has his own philosophy. What would fans be looking forward to this season when it comes to style.

Mike Brown (26:22)

Of play offensively, I think a lot of people know we did it in Sacramento. I, I, I just like, I like to play fast and so we're going to try to play fast and make sure that the floor is spaced the right way. And then defensively we want to have a sense of physicality without fouling. We want people to feel us and we want the fans to know that we're going to give multiple efforts on that end of the floor.

Peter Rosenberg (26:44)

That's interesting because like you were known early on as a defensive coach, but that Sacramento team had a historic offense. So what, what has changed with you when it comes to offense? Certainly you still are a defensive guy.

Mike Brown (26:57)

Nothing. I mean, we're going to still Put the same amount of time on that end of the floor as we do offensively. We think both ends are important. And, you know, with the length of this team, I'm looking forward to implementing some of the things that we've done in the past.

Peter Rosenberg (27:10)

Well, you say length, so they say in this league, no wings, no rings. You've got plenty of wings here on this team. Mikhail, British Bridges, obviously, og Anunoby, Josh Hart. How do you plan on utilizing these wings?

Mike Brown (27:21)

Well, first of all, because I want to give my man Leon a shout out. Leon, I'm giving you a shout out for making sure that we do have some length and we have wings. But, you know, those guys, they're versatile. That's what I like about them. They all want to win, they all play hard, and with the versatility that they bring to the table, it's going to give us a lot of options on that end of the floor.

Peter Rosenberg (27:42)

This roster is a little bit different from last year, mainly because of two additions in Clarkson and Yabaselli. What do you. What do you feel they bring to this team?

Mike Brown (27:50)

You know, again, the versatility that Leon keeps adding to this team is unbelievable. You know, Jordan, the things that he can do, especially offensively. He's a veteran guy. I know he's hungry to win, but he can score at all three levels. And you, you know, you're excited with that coming to the table. He also a better playmaker than giving credit, and I'm looking forward to seeing some of that, too, because I'm a huge guy when it comes to touching the paint and looking to spray that basketball to get your teammates easy shots. So Jordan's going to be great. And then Gershon, an unbelievable young man. His size, his versatility, he could play the four, the five, maybe some three, who knows? But he's one at a high level, too. And his maturity, the experiences that that he's gone through in his career, just adds to the hunger of him wanting to do well in New York. So I'm looking forward to it.

Peter Rosenberg (28:40)

Doing well in New York comes with expectations. Of course. You're a guy that's had plenty of expectations as a head coach before you coach LeBron James. That's expectations. You coach Kobe Bryant and you're in LA with the Lakers expectations. So how do you handle expectations like they are now here in New York, coming off a team that has won 50 games the last two years and reached the Eastern Conference finals last year?

Mike Brown (29:01)

Well, first and foremost, I don't think anybody's expectations out there are Higher than mine. You know, I put a lot of pressure on myself because that's what I'm in it for. I love it. I love the expectations. I'm. I'm here to embrace the expectations, and I'm looking forward to getting it done.

Peter Rosenberg (29:17)

So you've been coaching 20 years as a head coach. You. You've. That. We go back that. Back that far. When it comes to the beginning for you, was there something early in your career as a coach that might have been a weakness that you've worked on over the times that you've been a head coach that now you might consider a strength?

Mike Brown (29:32)

Well, you know, I like the fact that you said I was coaching 20 years and makes me sound like I'm. I'm a mature, experienced coach. But the reality of it is I'm 37 years old and I'm mighty young. So don't put my age out there.

Peter Rosenberg (29:45)

You know, we can Google this.

Mike Brown (29:48)

Okay, you're right. You're right.

Don LaGreca (29:49)

You know what?

Caller (29:50)

You.

Mike Brown (29:51)

My whole thing is if you don't evolve in life, you're going to get left behind. And so I've learned a lot of different things on my path or journey to where I'm at right now. I mean, I could. I could sit here and probably talk to you all day about those things. You know, one of the things looking back is I. I know as a younger guy, I feel like I'm detailed now. I was extremely detailed back then, but, you know, I was going to make sure that we hit every note that I had down. And now it's more about feel for me than executing what I put down. That's probably the biggest thing, if there is one thing. But that's not the only thing.

Peter Rosenberg (30:30)

Yeah, well, for a lot of people, usually every evolution is the most important thing about being a great coach. Now, you had great success in Cleveland, despite the fact that you coach Wally Zerbiak. Wally Zerbiak is back in the studio right now. Can you give us a scouting report on his defense? On what his defense. He does defend, doesn't he?

Don LaGreca (30:52)

Who?

Peter Rosenberg (30:52)

Wally?

Caller (30:53)

Oh.

Mike Brown (30:56)

Well, the biggest thing I saw him do defensively, I never forget when we signed him and I or when we were thinking about signing him, I was walking around the offices, you know, and all the ladies thought he was extremely attractive. And I think he was dating his wife at the time or he was married. So excuse me if I got that wrong, but, you know, he's putting up the forearm shiver to all the ladies. And that was probably about the only Defense. I said no, I'm joking.

Peter Rosenberg (31:23)

Wally.

Mike Brown (31:23)

I take that. But Wally, Wally's great competitor, great size, toughness. Does that sound good?

Peter Rosenberg (31:31)

Yeah, that works. Okay. Yeah.

Mike Brown (31:33)

So that's the Scott report.

Peter Rosenberg (31:35)

Well, thank you very much. Much good luck. And you'll be tired of me pretty soon. All the best, Mike.

Mike Brown (31:39)

I appreciate you.

Don LaGreca (31:40)

What a great job by Alan Hahn. Oh, there's Alan standing right next to me. So compliment.

Peter Rosenberg (31:46)

Good. Do it, do it. I did the.

Don LaGreca (31:48)

No, no, you didn't. Because when you're doing a one on one interview and the person that you're interviewing tells a joke, you can't leave them hanging. You want the interview to go well. When you're in a scrum of 50 other people and a guy tells a joke, you don't have to be the one laughing. It's not a straightforward interview. Like that was, it was pretty funny.

Peter Rosenberg (32:03)

He was trying to pretend like he was younger than he was because I, it called, called them out for being a 20 year coach.

Don LaGreca (32:08)

Way more personality than what you get in the press conference.

Peter Rosenberg (32:11)

Right?

Don LaGreca (32:12)

I mean a press conference. It's almost like he's talking to players.

Peter Rosenberg (32:14)

Well, he's very. He is, he's ocd. Like he's. So Brian Windhorse told this story about Mike, Mike Brown that I actually thought about bringing it to. This wasn't like a casual conversation. This was very much, if you saw it on msg, it's a stand up, stick mic thing. So for me, like, hopefully I'll get a chance to sit down and, and do more of a casual conversation. Maybe even on this show would be great. But I thought about telling the story to him or I asked him about it, but he's like an OCD kind of guy in this sense. Early on in his coaching career. We don't know if he still does it. We'll find out soon. He brought an iron with him on the road.

Don LaGreca (32:53)

Okay.

Peter Rosenberg (32:54)

And in the locker room, like when he'd get ready. Now coaches don't wear suits anymore, but when they did, back when he started as a coach, he would iron his shirt and it was sort of like a way to sort of get focused.

Don LaGreca (33:06)

Okay.

Peter Rosenberg (33:07)

So he's a very like detail oriented, locked in kind of kind of guy. When it comes to a game plan, which you heard in one of the answers, he's changed his ways to a point where it used to be this is my game plan, we're sticking to it and we have to stick to it no matter what he said. Now I've really evolved in. I'll Adjust as the game is happening and see, okay, let's deviate from this. Let's try something else. So he's learned that. But when he's at the podium, like what he was today, I was listening on my way downtown from the training center, and you could hear that he was very structured and very deliberate with his messaging. Whereas in our conversation, he was a little more casual, a little more comfortable, sort of just telling it like it is. And I was able to take him off the path. You know, this wasn't scripted. This was sort of as he said things, I thought of the next thing to ask. So, you know, yeah, there's personality. I really enjoyed dealing with Tom Thibodeau, but Tom wasn't a guy that you could yuck it up with, not at least on camera. Off camera, yes. On camera, no. So, you know, like this, this. This is a different personality, but a lot of the same. A lot of the same points that he was making about the team and what he wants. It's sort of the same thing. You're going to make you feel this. Defensively, we. Without fouling. That was a Tom Thibodeau thing. Defense without fouling. Right. But the offense part, I think, is what Nick fans might raise their eyebrows. The Sacramento Kings had a historic offense two years ago, and he was planning on implementing a lot of the same things. But he feels privately like we didn't say this in the interview, but I know he feels this about this team. You heard him talk about the wings and he thanked Leon. That was the biggest pet peeve in Sacramento. They didn't have any wings, they did not have any length on the perimeter. He thinks that this offense with these players could be even better than they. Than he had in Sacramento. So that's going to be very interesting to see what they do offensively. There's so many options that they could have with all the different pieces they've.

Don LaGreca (35:02)

Got now, sticking with the theme of anybody but tips and that the players had a large say in this, that they needed to change, they needed to do better. You just explained from a basketball standpoint, you're kind of bringing in the same coach, same philosophy. So what makes Brown easier to play for, for a player than Tibbs?

Peter Rosenberg (35:25)

New voice might start there. I know that sounds like a cop out, but sometimes that's what it is. The approach sometimes, like a fresh set of eyes. Right. Like we'll look at a thing differently. Mike Brown and I have said this about Tibbs. If I'm gonna find fault with Tom Thibodeau the one thing that I probably would go to over anything else is I don't. I think as each year went by, he less and less involved. His assistants didn't lean on anyone. It was all like, he was very control freak about the team. I think Mike Brown will delegate. He'll have people that are, you're doing this for me, you're doing that for me.

Don LaGreca (36:06)

Do we have any idea who those coaches will be?

Peter Rosenberg (36:08)

I think a lot of the coaching staff is gonna. I saw a lot of familiar faces.

Don LaGreca (36:11)

Okay.

Peter Rosenberg (36:11)

So I don't know about everybody now. And I don't know. He's. Every coach brings his own guy in too. So I'm sure there's going to be.

Don LaGreca (36:17)

At least one new guy, right?

Peter Rosenberg (36:18)

1. But it does sound like a lot of the group. Like the guy who's coaching the summer league, Jordan Brink, he's the. He was the video coordinator. He's the guy. The reason why their reviews were one of the best in the league. Every time they did a coach's challenge, the Knicks were one of the best in the league at the coach's challenge.

Don LaGreca (36:33)

That is such an underrated part of sports right now.

Peter Rosenberg (36:36)

Yeah.

Don LaGreca (36:37)

Is having that replay coordinate. Because hockey's got it too. Where you kind of know, all right. When they, when they challenge it offside, it's probably offside because now it comes with a penalty. The NBA doesn't have that yet. But no, there are times losing a timeout is very valuable, but it's not like a two minute power play that you get for being wrong. But those got to be on top of it real quick.

Peter Rosenberg (36:58)

Yeah.

Don LaGreca (36:58)

So Jordan, Very, very underrated.

Peter Rosenberg (37:01)

I think he's going to coach the summer league. By the way, the guy before Jordan Brink is a guy named Scott King. He left last year to become the G League coach for the Spurs. He won coach of the year. And now with Mitch Johnson now taking over for Popovich. Mitch Johnson brought him from the G League. He's a front row assistant coach on the Spurs. Like, that's boom, quick. So the Knicks have had really good young assistants that they brought through, but Brink is a good one. So him. Rick Brunson, I think Mo Cheeks, I think you're going to see those guys. I think, you know, like Mark Bryant worked with Cat. I think you'll see him. So they, you know, like, I think you'll see a lot of the same group. And for him to lean on guys is going to be important. And I also think he's. This is going to sound strange, but One of the complaints that I heard the players say is that they didn't feel like they practiced enough. Isn't that weirdo coach team.

Don LaGreca (37:57)

That is interesting.

Peter Rosenberg (37:58)

They didn't put, they didn't spend enough time on the court. It was a lot of film and, and his thinking was, and he's right, he wants guys to rest. I'm going to play a lot in a game, but the next day we're not going to run around. I'm not going to make you run. Only the guys who don't play run. And I think for the starters it's sort of like, hey, but we still got to go through some stuff. And I think Mike Brown, one of the knocks on him was that early in his career he coached, he practiced too much. And so I think, you know, you'll get sort of that in between now where they'll spend more time on the ground.

Don LaGreca (38:25)

Clearly, I think the pressure's now on the players. They got a coach that they want to play for and now it's time to take advantage of this wide open Eastern Conference. Tons of calls to get to 1-800-919-3776. Talk about a Tuesday at 4:30. We're out at 6 because the Mets are in Baltimore to take on the O's for a 6:35 start. Don Hanna Rosenberg here on ESPN New York.

Alan Hahn (38:46)

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Don LaGreca (39:51)

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Peter Rosenberg (41:22)

Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.

Alan Hahn (41:26)

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

Peter Rosenberg (41:27)

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast. Hey everybody, get ready to swing big at the ESPN New York Tee It Up Golf Challenge is presented by Jake's 58 Casino Hotel. It's all happening, happening Monday, July 21st at Colonial Springs Golf Club, Farmingdale, New York. That's on Long Island. The teams are going to battle it out for amazing prizes. Bragging rights, of course. So lock in your force from now on. The ESP New York app, which of course you have, right? And if you don't get it, you can join people like me and Don Lagreca and Chris Carlin and Rick DiPietro and Dave Rothenberg, Bart Scott, plus special guests like Larry Johnson, John Starks, Justin Tuck, and of course, more. All proceeds support the Garden of Dreams foundation. It's the ESPN New York Tee It Up Golf Challenge, presented by Jake's 58 Casino Hotel and it's brought to you by London jewelers Verizon and Infinity. For more details, find the teed up tile on the ESP New York app that you have on your phone by now. Since I already told you 20 seconds ago to get it. So just get it.

Don LaGreca (42:30)

Do it. Come on, let's get to the calls. 1-800-919-3776. Let's start it off with William and Hackensack. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, William?

Caller (42:41)

Hey, Don Juan Greco. Congratulations, my brother.

Don LaGreca (42:44)

Yeah, thank you, man. It means a lot. It does.

Caller (42:48)

Yeah. Me and my friends, we had. We had a party once we heard, because we. We're Devil fans, and we've been. We've been saying that for the longest. You need to be the voice. You need to be the voice.

Don LaGreca (42:56)

Thank you. Right.

Peter Rosenberg (42:57)

And really.

Caller (43:00)

How are you? How are you? Great interview.

Peter Rosenberg (43:02)

Thank you. I'm good. It was a mad dash from Westchester, from Tarrytown, all the way down here to soho. So it was. It was an experience. But we got here a little late. But we got here.

Caller (43:13)

Sounds good. I want to talk about the Tib spiring real quick.

Peter Rosenberg (43:16)

Yeah.

Caller (43:17)

And I want to give you guys, you know, just an example. Not an example, but you'll see what I'm saying.

Don LaGreca (43:24)

Okay.

Caller (43:24)

Say, for example, you had a company and you had, like, 30 people working for you. And those 30 people came in and told you, either you get rid of him or the production is going to go down. And so I think that's what happened with Ted. I really do. I really do. Thanks for tickets. Thanks for taking my call, and much love.

Don LaGreca (43:47)

I appreciate it. I mean, listen, do I think it was all right, us or them?

Peter Rosenberg (43:51)

No, I think.

Don LaGreca (43:52)

I don't think it was going to be a walkout, but I think they made it clear. I think it's time for a change.

Peter Rosenberg (43:57)

As I said, I think the sense from, like, again, put yourself in management situation, you just had your interviews, which.

Don LaGreca (44:03)

Every team does, but they never did. Right. The Knicks didn't do it that way. They did. I thought when they had the exit media. No, no. Involving the player was. Was not something that they did traditionally.

Peter Rosenberg (44:17)

Oh, they've. They've done. Every team does it. It's not. It's not as formal. I think this might have been a little more formal because the owner did sit in on them.

Don LaGreca (44:24)

Okay. Maybe that was just having Dolan involved.

Peter Rosenberg (44:26)

That's. That's what. That's what I had heard. But what I. What I'm led to believe is that the sense from everybody was the more you heard from players talking about the coaching and what would you have changed? What went wrong? What did you not like? All those things that you always ask at the end of the season. Look, exit interviews happen all the time, and they always go the same way. What do you like? What do you don't like? What can we do better? What do you want more to yourself? And then we tell you, all right, this is what we want out of you. So it's a two way street. That's how these go. And I guess collectively, the more you heard this kind of sense of frustration or whatever it is with coaching, if you're upper management, are you saying to yourself, well, this players sound like they've really kind of reaching a boiling point with the coaching. If we go into next season and this kid and we start off and you're like 11 and 17 or 11 and 18, and we got to make a coaching change in December, what are we doing now? We're in the middle of a season. Who knows if we can get the coach we want? Now you're transitioning the middle of a season. So the sense was, if we feel like it's coming, why don't we just rip the band aid off now? And that's kind of what. What it came. How it all came about. It's still stunning, but that. That's the sense. It's sort of like this. There was an inevitability that maybe was still down the road, but it was close enough to feel like if we get stuck in the middle of next season and we can't throw away a season.

Don LaGreca (45:48)

No, there's a window here, right?

Peter Rosenberg (45:50)

So.

Don LaGreca (45:51)

And every game's gonna be important.

Peter Rosenberg (45:52)

That's what it feels like.

Don LaGreca (45:53)

You're gonna want that one seed, home court, all those things. Let's go to Dennis. He's a New Orleans draw on espn. New York. What's up? Dennis?

Peter Rosenberg (46:02)

Denny, Hello.

Don LaGreca (46:04)

Going once, going twice, three times a lady. Let's go to Evan in D.C. you're on ESPN New York.

Caller (46:13)

Hey, fellas. How we doing today?

Don LaGreca (46:15)

Good, good.

Caller (46:16)

Thanks for taking my call. Don, congratulations. Well deserved.

Don LaGreca (46:20)

Thank you so much. I appreciate it, man.

Caller (46:23)

Yeah, of course. I'm sorry about that, but. So the thing I wanted to say was I think these three teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Yankees, and the Cowboys, all have, like, this PR thing going on that they need to fix. They all, like, give these. Everything's fine, everything's good. When we can clearly see that, you know, there's mental mistakes, all these errors. It happens year on year on year. And I think everyone. Everyone is sick of it. So, like, don't hire a company PR to where it looks like, oh, if a company's going down or not doing as well as they should. The most of the public doesn't know, but we can clearly see that these teams are struggling with these same errors over and over and over again. Stop giving us those same answers. Like y' all said yesterday, I don't even listen to those games. It's ridiculous. So I just want to hear Yalls thoughts on that, man. And thanks for everything y' all do.

Don LaGreca (47:16)

I, I, I. It's, it's different. You. You brought up those three teams. I think there are three distinct differences. I don't know if the Leafs and the Cowboys have a mission statement to win a championship the way the Yankees do, but there is that immense popularity and scrutiny among all three of those teams that they share in common. And that's why. And I think you throw the Knicks in there, too, in the sense of. Is that they can't make a move. They can't do anything without it being dissected under a microscope. A lot of teams can kind of fly under the radar with different things. These teams can't. Everybody's paying attention to what they do. And I think that makes the job that much harder because, yeah, a lot of coaches lose their job under the same circumstances. Tibbs lost his. Yeah, but it's not in New York. It's not for a team that hasn't won since 1973. There's a lot of perfect storm that works into this being a much bigger story than the average firing. So let's go to James in Rockville Center. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, James?

Caller (48:21)

Hey, Donnie. First and foremost, want to congratulate you. Lifelong dream. And very happy for you, man. Keep. Keep crushing it. You're doing great.

Don LaGreca (48:30)

Thank you. I appreciate that, man.

Caller (48:33)

Wanted to bring up something regarding the Knicks. I know Allen has been pretty Vol. Vocal about assisting coaches. I'm pretty lukewarm on Brown, but wanted to find out what's going on with Yamamoto. I feel like he was hyped up as the next, you know, Miami coach, and now I feel like I hear nothing about him. It's Yamamoto, the assistant coach from the Knicks.

Peter Rosenberg (48:59)

Dice.

Caller (49:01)

Dice.

Don LaGreca (49:01)

Oh.

Peter Rosenberg (49:04)

I have not heard if he's part of this group going forward or not. I think they were still a lot of the assistants were waiting to hear of what Mike Brown wanted to do going forward. So I think this week all that stuff gets kind of settled. But I think highly of Dice. I think he's a terrific coach. He's a diligent worker. He's somebody that was very close to Tom Thibodeau. So that's also something to think about, is, you know, when you're. When you're. When you're associated to one coach, you know, that's sort of sometimes going forward, you feel like, all right, wherever this coach goes, he'll go too. But I think for Dice, he's put a lot of years in. I think he's. He's a great worker. I enjoyed interviewing him, and I do not know what his status is as of right now.

Don LaGreca (49:51)

All right, Dennis in New Orleans is back. What do you got, man?

Caller (49:55)

Hey, so, yeah, sorry about the last part, but so I just want to congratulate you on your new. Your new job at the Devil's Play by Play Guy on television.

Don LaGreca (50:07)

Thank you, buddy.

Caller (50:09)

Yeah, And I was thinking, like, so whenever you come on ESPN New York Up, I think they should play In Excess, the Devil Inside. The Devil Inside Another. Okay, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna do any copyright stuff, but. And I think it should be. I think it should be you and Alan doing a duet.

Peter Rosenberg (50:30)

I like that.

Don LaGreca (50:31)

Yeah. I tell you what, for the holiday party, let's do that. I would rather do Running with the Devil.

Peter Rosenberg (50:36)

Oh, hey, hey.

Caller (50:37)

The holiday party's like, I'm New Orleans, man. I was like, so I was like, oh, God, I can't go up there. But I saw all the footage. Those dollar signs, the hundred dollar bill outfit you had on. I think you were more rich than. Than Rick. No. Wow.

Don LaGreca (50:52)

No, that's. Wow. It would take a much different outfit to represent Rick money. Yeah. And you. Listen, they got good weed in New Orleans. Let's go to Debo in the Bronx.

Peter Rosenberg (51:05)

You're on ESPN New York, guy. Are you not a Big In Excess?

Don LaGreca (51:07)

No, I like it Excess, but I'd rather run it with the Devil. Running with the Devil's a better song, isn't it? You know what's up, Debo?

Caller (51:16)

Yeah. What's going on, everybody? First, I want to congratulate you, Don Juan lagrange record, man. Yo, that's big. The fact that you was able to get that coaching job or the announcer job. I am, technically, I'm a Rangers fan, but they're getting a gem by getting you, and that's big. Well, thank you, but I actually want to speak about basketball. Do it, Alan Han.

Peter Rosenberg (51:42)

Yes, sir.

Caller (51:43)

Yo, you the man. The fans love you, you know? I mean, you like the voice of the fans, so everything that you say, anything that you do, the fans are with you 100%.

Peter Rosenberg (51:54)

I wish that was true. I wish that was true. But I appreciate you saying it.

Caller (52:00)

The fans, me speaking to a lot of my friends. I just want to know this. I'm a little nervous. Sorry.

Don LaGreca (52:13)

Don't be nervous. We're just two guys talking sports with you.

Peter Rosenberg (52:16)

Oh, good.

Caller (52:18)

All right. The fact that he left money on the table and that he's now currently. You know, he could have been home sitting there, you know, just collecting the check, but he decided not to. You know, he wanted this job. And, you know, I mean, like, I'm a believer that Leon Rose is doing what he needs to do. Like, as a Knicks fan, I haven't seen this much winning in the last four years. Then I've been in 20 years.

Peter Rosenberg (52:45)

Yes.

Caller (52:46)

You know, I mean, so the fact that he wants to be here, I think the fans should just give him a break, you know, Give. Give him a break and give him some time in order to see exactly what he's gonna do.

Peter Rosenberg (52:56)

Well, you know, give him a chance.

Caller (52:58)

To succeed or fail. But at the end of the day, you know, I mean, I believe in Leon Rose. I think. I think Leon Rose is making a right. He making all the right moves in the last four years, and. And whatever he says right now, as a fan, I'm gonna sit back and I'm gonna. I'm gonna run with it. But I just want to know. I guess the question that I had that I've been speaking with some of my friends with. He left money on the table. That money that he dead. That he left on the table. Brown. He's not collecting that anymore. He's going to forfeit that now, even though he's getting new money for this.

Peter Rosenberg (53:30)

Yeah.

Caller (53:30)

He's getting more, though, right?

Peter Rosenberg (53:32)

Yeah, he's getting more. See, it's offset. Usually it's supposed to offset. So he had. He was. He signed an extension that took him through the 26, 27. I think it's like $8.5 million with the Kings, Right. That was last year. He did that. Then he got. He was fired early this season. And so he was going to get that money, but reports say that he's going to get upwards of 10 a year with the Knicks. So I think it kind of just eliminates what the Kings would have to owe him, because usually what they do is it's an offset. So if you get. If you get less than that, you get whatever the remaining. Is that team now. I think the King's now off the hook. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. I just want to know. It's good. 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.