D (1:16)

We can do a lot better than that.

C (1:18)

A proud partner of the New York.

D (1:20)

Knicks next season opener, everybody.

C (1:23)

Good times Cruise.

A (1:24)

He won't let me do this.

D (1:26)

We got one woo. I don't do better than one woo. But, you know, these are my people.

B (1:31)

But maybe they're basing it off the Knicks quotes the last week.

C (1:34)

The reason we want them to woo is so we can get sponsors. If you can't read the sponsors, then there's no woo.

D (1:38)

I'm sorry. I'm fired up. It's season open. I know. You're the first day of school. I'm wearing a tie. Yeah, he's got a haircut.

B (1:44)

Look at him. He literally looks like it's his first day of school.

D (1:46)

I'm very excited.

C (1:47)

So we're live here at Stout. 33rd Street. Swing by. Brought to you by Sun Cruiser, a proud partner of the New York Knicks. Ready to let the good times cruise. Then you need Sun Cruiser vodka iced tea. Don't forget that. Made with real iced tea. Real vodka, no bubbles. It's one wildly refreshing drink. And there's so much hype around this Knicks team. Thanks for coming out. Games at 7. So it's a little earlier than usual and Allen's all hyped up. He's going to be there for all the pregame festivities. Monica McNutt's going to be swinging by. Going to talk. We're going to talk to Tim Legler. Bernard King. Part of this Pat O Keef is going to be a Part of it as well.

D (2:28)

John Starks.

C (2:29)

John Starks.

D (2:30)

Starks coming through.

C (2:31)

He's going to, he's going to take a Kia right to the front door.

D (2:33)

He's going to take a Kia through the front door. He's going to dunk on everybody in the building.

C (2:37)

That's right. Right on you.

D (2:38)

Yeah.

B (2:38)

And by the way, I'm already 10 and giving you those good, that good hardwood as I did last night. Hardwood. Pick one or no. That's right.

D (2:47)

You brought the hardwood last night.

B (2:48)

I sure did. Golden State minus one and a half money, baby. Free money.

D (2:54)

They were giving it away. Who didn't see that coming?

B (2:57)

I know. No LeBron opening night in LA.

C (2:59)

Come on.

B (3:00)

I, I took in the, the first ever NBC Peacock vehicle. What you think either of you spend any time.

D (3:05)

Yep.

B (3:06)

Listen, they had some hiccups early on. My, my, I mean just like audio wise, literally the first segment they full on lost audio, which is never what you're looking for in the debut one.

C (3:15)

Not what you want.

B (3:16)

But the logo, the, the John Tesh, the voiceover, the beginning, the NBA showtime is brought to you by. All of that hit big time.

D (3:26)

Felt big.

B (3:26)

And I was just telling Don before we went on the air, I think early on, my prediction for first star I've seen that could jump out of the new NBC crop of people is Tracy McGrady. I was very, very impressed with T. Mac.

D (3:39)

Very, very good insight and he has the ability to talk like someone who has done it.

B (3:46)

Like talks.

D (3:47)

And he's very good at that. And he's not afraid like he, he's not worried about making friends. Like those are the types of guys you're looking for. He's very good. I thought three man boots are not easy and Reggie Miller sometimes is a hard listen, especially in New York. Yeah, I like, I thought, yeah, I thought Jamal Crawford with Reggie made Reggie palpable. I, I, it made it a good broadcast because Jamal's really good at getting the best out of you as he's an analyst, but he's getting the best out of you. So. Yeah.

B (4:15)

And then that was, that was Tariko too. And that's Rico.

A (4:17)

Solid.

D (4:18)

All solid. I want to know though, can I dress like Carmelo Anthony did? Because that looked so comfortable. Everybody else got suits and like Vince Carter and Trace McGrady are matching, which was awesome. Yeah. But I looked at mellow and I'm like, this guy's wearing athleisure.

B (4:34)

I I'm, why can't we all wear athleisure?

D (4:36)

We're Talking to Keyshawn Johnson used to always say, go ahead and drop. He used to always say to me, why do you wear a tie? You're talking about sports.

B (4:43)

I know. Such athlete talk. By the way, though, prediction Carmelo will be wearing a suit before December.

D (4:50)

You think so?

C (4:51)

Oh, wow.

D (4:52)

He won't.

B (4:52)

Because they're not going to change up. Like, they've made the commitment. You can tell they're wearing the suit.

C (4:57)

Yeah. They're in.

B (4:57)

And Carmelo's going to look at the tape back and be like, it just looks a little funky. I, trust me, I, of all people know, let me look at me right now, I'll be the casual guy. Then you look back and you go.

D (5:07)

Shouldn'T have been the casual, casual guy. I should have. Yeah. You know what? I've always said this. You can never overdress. You could always underdress.

C (5:15)

It's so true.

D (5:15)

But you can never overdress. But I still looked at Carmelo and I thought, he's the most comfortable guy there.

C (5:21)

Yeah.

D (5:22)

The way he was, he seemed very, very comfortable. But it was a good broadcast. It was good. Yeah. That first game was insanely good. Very.

B (5:30)

And also very really fun to see two teams who could be involved late in the season going hard in game one.

D (5:37)

You mean like tonight's matchup? Well, Knicks in the Cavs.

B (5:40)

Well, you'll have one team will be full and the other team will have some semblance of what that team will be at some point and they will play a game. Will it be like that? Will it go to overtime? I don't know, but we're going to find out.

C (5:52)

And I get that it's one of 82 and I get that we've got a new coach here that's probably going to err on the side of maybe managing the roster a little bit more than Tibbs did.

D (6:03)

Oh, yeah.

C (6:04)

But there's still something about the first game of a big time hype season. And the second the Knicks were eliminated against Indiana, people were anticipating this year, especially after Halliburton went down. It was all right. Halliburton's gone. Indiana now is going to take a step back. We've already beaten the Celtics. Now they don't have Tatum. So there are so many expectations around this team and I think the Nick fan should embrace it now, even if it's not necessarily going to be right away what you expect. Because you're banged up. You already got no heart. You already got no Mitch. We'll find out what's happening with Cat he was listed as questionable, but feeling is that maybe he'll get a chance to play, but probably not be a hundred percent.

D (6:46)

Questionable isn't out. That's all I'll say so.

C (6:49)

Right, Exactly. And it was doubtful and it's heading in the right direction because now it's questionable. So you feel like that he'll be out there, even though it might not be 100%. So I know you can look at it logically and say, oh, it's just one of a 82 if you don't win, it's not that big of a deal. But I do think getting off to a good start, kind of living up to the hype that you want to win, you want to get off to that good start. You don't want to have to all of a sudden start apologizing for a loss. Especially against the Cavaliers team you did not beat last year.

D (7:16)

Not at all. So they've won. I think they've won three in a row at the Garden.

C (7:21)

Yeah.

D (7:21)

So they're getting comfortable in your building, too.

C (7:24)

So this may be a team with a new coach, with a new system, with some of the players banged up, that might be very average through the first month of the season. But the first appearance. Right. You don't get a second chance at a first impression. And with all of the hype surrounding this team. And part of it is not even their fault. Part of it's that New York really didn't give us much. Yankees out early. Mets had an embarrassing end to their season. Football typical. Going nowhere in the middle of October. So we've been anticipating the start of the season, and I think it's going to eventually result into some captivating television into May and possibly June. But I do think game one of a long season is important when there's this much hype.

D (8:04)

Let me update everybody because there has been a lot of chatter, all right. On social media about availabilities of certain players with the Knicks first, I'll start with the Cavaliers. The latest injury report also has them dealing with injuries as well. Darius Garland is already out, so he's still recovering from offseason surgery. He's not playing tonight. That's a key piece of their backcourt missing. Max Stru is gonna be out for a while. He's a key starter for them as well. And DeAndre Hunter, who's been a nick killer, who is really good off the bench for them, who probably would be pressed to start. He's listed as questionable because he's got a right knee contusion teams for doing this to start the season. It's just the way it's going to be. They are going to start the season. They're going to. They're going to be careful with. If you have a little bit of an injury, they don't want it to become a bigger one. So the Cavs have two starters out and pro and possibly a third piece of their rotation out. All right, The Knicks, as we already knew, Josh Hart's dealing with back spasms since the first preseason game, so he's listed as out, although it does sound like he's close as he continues to do work off the court. He might end up practicing at some point this week. Right. So there's one Mitchell Robinson. This is the one that's got everybody talking, not just. Not just here, but around the league. Is there. Is there, like a wrestling intro happening?

C (9:21)

Hallowed Be Thy Name by Maiden, which was one of the songs that I played on Ozzy's Boneyard.

D (9:26)

I was waiting for a wrestler to.

B (9:27)

Just come walking, by the way. That would have been sick. I. I didn't know.

C (9:29)

Who's that?

D (9:30)

I thought you had something set up. I'm like, what?

B (9:31)

Hold the phone. Peter Rosenberg's music.

D (9:36)

Anyways, so Mitchell Robinson's been a big part of the conversation. Can you imagine missing game one of a season due to load management? Because that's what that. That's what this is. It's left ankle injury management. That ankle has been surgically repaired twice. Right. And they're being very cautious with him. He looked phenomenal. Not good. Phenomenal in the preseason when he played. Played first half of three games, looked unreal. And then suddenly we haven't seen him since.

B (10:06)

You love it.

D (10:06)

Listen, he's not the best player on the team, but he could be the most important. That makes any sense, right? I mean, obviously, Jalen Brunson's the most important. Carl Anthony Towns second most important. But when it comes to the linchpin, maybe it's better than saying most important. He's the linchpin to this whole thing working. And game one, he's already being managed for something that they're saying is not an injury, but yet he's not playing in the first game of the season. Now, Carney Town, some people are speculating on social media might not play tonight. He's listed as questionable, like Don said. And if I know Carl Anthony Towns, which I got to know him for the past year, he wants to play. So we'll see if he gets in the lineup tonight.

C (10:50)

So explain to me, the logic of load management before you've even started the.

D (10:56)

Season, it's hard to.

C (10:57)

All right. Because you know. Do you take a look at their schedule? Right. They open up tonight.

D (11:02)

Yep.

C (11:02)

Against the Cavaliers.

D (11:04)

On msg.

C (11:05)

On msg. Also on national television. Right.

B (11:08)

You know, it's coming after first game.

C (11:09)

Of the season, tons of expectations around the team. You can't have him out there for game one. I mean, a game two is not going to hit the same as tonight. Right. I get the load management. I get the. Playing 82 games is not the objective anymore. All right. That you want him healthy and ready to go, but it's not like he's not going to play the first month of the season. He's going to play games. Why tonight? Is it the matchup? Is there something particular about the Cavaliers that could put him in harm's way? Why tonight? When you're home, there's hype. People are excited about the start of the season. Your next game Friday, going to be Sunday.

D (11:45)

Friday, Sunday, Friday, Tuesday.

C (11:48)

All right, so I get it. So you're playing every other day, right. You're playing Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday. Then you got a little bit of a break playing the next Friday when you go out to Chicago, that's the end of the three game road trip. So I, I am not asking him to play every game. All right. But when you've got the first two at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, you know what? Rest in Miami, you know, rest in Milwaukee. I don't know why tonight. Can you. Is there any reason?

D (12:16)

No, it's. It's what they're saying, because from what I understand, it's not like he hurt himself or sustained a bigger injury, which, by the way, that's the part I was most worried about. You get two surgeries on the same foot. Eventually you're like, okay, this is getting fragile. And so that was my first concern, is, did he re. Injure this thing? But all indications are no, he did not re. Injure anything. But I think what they want to do. I know what they want to do. And we've talked about this. Did we not say, like, if I, if I gave you 50 games for Mitchell Robinson and he's healthy for the playoffs, would you sign up for it?

C (12:54)

Yes.

D (12:55)

Everybody'd sign up for that. Right. We see how important he was defensively, rebound wise, all that stuff. So if you don't believe, as a franchise and as medical staff, when you look at his MRIs and you look at, you know, the history of his foot and the way he plays. And you say there's no way that foot's getting through a full season. All right, this thing has got to, we've got to almost pick and choose games each month and like, okay, play this cluster and then you got to.

B (13:21)

Sit for a while.

D (13:21)

Then play this cluster and sit for a while and do it as if what the Sixers were trying to do with Joel Embiid, just so when we get to April, we know, okay, now we just, we, we take off the governor and you go, I get it, I get it.

C (13:33)

That there's only.

D (13:34)

I kind of feel like that's certain amount of game logical reason for this. Although why game one?

C (13:39)

Yeah, why game.

A (13:39)

That's all that.

B (13:41)

Because it still doesn't justify that you would think. And this is the thing that always bothers me about the subject of time, time off and starting, etc. You're telling me he can't have a pretty rested day where they don't have to put him on the report and he comes out and plays a little bit?

D (13:56)

Peter, he hasn't played in two in a game in two weeks. Two weeks. His third preseason game. They played two more since then.

C (14:02)

He didn't play.

B (14:02)

And nothing else has happened that we know.

D (14:04)

Just, just, just, I mean, practice, they've, all they've done is practice.

B (14:07)

So I just, I just don't see why you can't at least start him. Just so we start with some momentum. We don't have to have the feel of unavailable. It's a bad feeling.

C (14:16)

The, the only thing I can think of, Mike Brown's trying to set a tone, right? We all, we're all hyped up about what the Knicks can be and they, and I think it's going to be a special season. Even though it may not be a 60 win season. Maybe it cost them the 1 seed, but I think they'd be playing special. I don't see anybody that's better than them, at least on the surface right now. Although nobody had The Cavaliers the 1 seed last year. Right now nobody at Indiana going to the NBA Finals. So there may be a surprise this year, but right now, on paper, this is the best team in the Eastern Conference. So forget what it looks like. I think that's what it's going to be at the end of the day. All right, so I get the management aspect of it, but is Mike Brown setting a tone to say, hey, this is the way we're going to handle it? Game one, opening night is no different than any of the other 81 games we're going to play, and we're going to manage it that way, and we're going to set the tone that there is no it's special tonight, or this one hits different, or this one's on national television, or this one's at home, or this is a game against a team we didn't beat all of last year, or this is a rematch of the Eastern Conference final. Maybe just setting the tone to say, this is how we're going to do it. He's going to play his 50 games. He'll play them when I want him to play. And why not? Let's set the tone right away because I'm not messing around with this game being any different than any other that we're going to play this year.

D (15:32)

It's as if, as fans, and I understand this because I've heard from a lot of them over the last week. It's. You want to send a message. It's. It. There's something about going into a season like this and why it reminds me so much of 93, 94, when Michael Michael Jordan left the league and you felt like, okay, the, the. The hurdle's out of the way, like, the guy you can't get past is gone. The road is open now. And there was this sense of send a message right out of the gate. Let. Let, like, put the league on notice. And that's what I think a lot of fans wanted and want out of this start to the season is. You lost in the conference finals with a team that felt like, man, they really had a lot there, but maybe there was some things missing. They added some pieces. They made a dramatic coaching change. And now I think if you're a fan, you want that. Yeah, put the league on notice. Send a message. And the team's telling you, no, we're going to do that in April. We're not looking to do it. Like, you're not winning a championship in October.

B (16:35)

And by the way, they are, and I respect it. But it doesn't feel good.

D (16:38)

But it doesn't feel. That's what I'm saying.

B (16:41)

Start tomorrow.

D (16:42)

Just give me a. Thank you.

B (16:42)

You start tomorrow.

D (16:43)

Just give me open tonight. Start tomorrow.

B (16:45)

Honestly, unless someone has a severed leg, let them be in the lineup and you come out and whatever set the tone for the season.

D (16:53)

Yeah, that's.

B (16:55)

But they are setting it.

C (16:55)

Yeah, you're at Miami on Sunday.

D (16:57)

I think they are.

C (16:58)

All right, you're at Chicago next Friday. You know, I always. I don't know. It Just feels like they play Chicago all the time.

D (17:04)

It's great.

C (17:04)

They got back to back games against Chicago at the end of October, early November.

D (17:08)

Yep.

C (17:09)

But is that what we're looking at in sports? Because we. We called. We called him that guy. Sirianni was that guy. Not even realizing that they were raising the banner because it's all about football. I don't even focus on that. So is that just kind of like. Yeah, the Knicks are going to make a big deal out of it, and they're going to have the blue carpet and all the fans are going to be hyped up. First game of Madison Square Garden. Because there's something special about opening night, opening day, first game of a great season. Everybody was fired up about that. But it just seems like in professional sports now, regular season, we got bigger fish to fry, man. Don't worry. Let everybody else have their fun reindeer games. You know, this is no different than the other game. I don't like it. From a fan perspective, it's not fun. But that's kind of where sports are. We thought Sirianni was that guy for not knowing the banner race.

A (17:54)

He probably didn't even know or care.

C (17:55)

It's like, oh, that was last year. This is this year. Let the fans have fun with the. With the towel they're going to put up for our championship. We're focused on a game.

A (18:02)

You know what I mean?

D (18:03)

What are you, Manfred? Piece of tin? Well, it's not a towel. It's a banner.

B (18:07)

Yeah.

C (18:07)

That's forever. It's the batteries forever.

A (18:09)

I'm more.

C (18:10)

I am more directing it towards my hatred of the eagle.

D (18:12)

I think.

C (18:13)

I think Peter can climb. Thank you very much. Fine. Yeah. But. But don't you see? Aren't we going there now? Is that what we're looking at?

D (18:20)

It feels like what. What they're. Everybody's trying to teach you is it's not how you start, it's how you finish. But the cap, because the Cavaliers were like 20 and one to start last season. Had they finished getting out of second round.

C (18:32)

But it got him a one seed.

D (18:33)

Doesn't matter. Ran out of gas. I ran out of gas.

C (18:36)

I understand.

D (18:36)

Nothing in the tank. True. Lost in the second round.

C (18:38)

But you said yourself you thought it was important for the Knicks to get the one.

D (18:42)

I feel it was for the. For home court advantage. That building is different. We experienced it last year.

C (18:49)

Sure did.

D (18:49)

Like that Game 6 last year. The Celtics have a chance in that game. That game was over before they tipped the ball.

B (18:54)

Although the year before they had game seven at home, but.

C (18:57)

And also.

D (18:58)

But game seven at home. Be fair. Banged up team.

C (19:00)

There were, there were a lot of bad losses in the Garden. Last year's playoffs, too.

D (19:03)

Yes. So, but, but the hype that you get in that building, the deeper you go in the playoffs, it's different. And that's why for this team, that was, Was to me, important. But this team is telling you not as much. It's not as important as being fully healthy. So we can have that fully operational Death Star that can finally end a drought that's gone over 50 years.

C (19:27)

I know, but you're really, Are you really upending everything by just saying, let's at least treat opening night special? We're not in Cleveland. No, you could, you know, I, I, it's weird.

D (19:39)

Now. Who's to say they can't win today?

C (19:40)

No, no, it's not.

D (19:42)

What if they. So if they can win tonight and win Friday night, what's the, like, who cares? I mean, that's what they got to do. It just puts more pressure on the other guys to make sure you get a dub. Like get wins to get through this. So we're not going. Oh, my God. They started the season four because Mitchell Robinson.

C (19:57)

I'm mad because it was the one thing that I really loved about the Knicks. They were anti NBA. They didn't load, manage. They made every game seem like it was gay.

D (20:07)

All right, but that's the topic.

C (20:09)

I enjoyed that.

D (20:09)

This is a new era, clearly.

B (20:11)

Well, but hold on. Day one, the Mitch part. Let's remove Mitch because remember, he missed all of last year and every version of the Knicks. He might not be playing tonight. That's just the way he is. That's how it has been since he's been here.

D (20:23)

That's fair.

B (20:24)

So it's really about Josh Hart that you, that you go. That's a topic button.

C (20:27)

But that's not management. He's hurt. But he's hurt. But I'm saying.

B (20:30)

And now Cat. And now so, so Cat is really the one. If you, if, if tonight, in addition to Josh Hart and Mitch, Cat is also standing around in athleisure wear. That's when you really feel like, oh, man, we're not, we're not even really here. But, but he's the one, to me, that goes over.

C (20:46)

Why do you think Cat's climbing the ladder? I think Cat wants to play. That's another aspect of this. Does Mitch have to say, say, coach, it's opening night. I get, I get. I'm gonna. You gotta Be careful with me. I haven't played in two weeks. It's opening night. I'm a major piece of this team. We're gonna have introductions. The place is going to be going nut.

A (21:06)

Well, that's the thing. All right.

D (21:07)

You know, Friday, even if I can only give you 10 minutes. Let me get out there for 10 minutes.

B (21:12)

You know, by the way, even if he bear. Even if he doesn't play, why does he have to be a dnp? Why can't he or no, let him be a dnp, not an out. He doesn't have to be out.

D (21:22)

No, that. That would get weirder. What if he was dressed but he didn't play? That's weird. Like, not what. Like having him play the first four minutes of the game. Take him out and then don't put him back in and then just say injury management. That's different than having him not play at all.

B (21:37)

Sure.

D (21:37)

But again, they have a purpose for this. Their medical staff, by the way, won the whatever medical team of the year type thing in the NBA last year because they were remarkably healthy last year despite the fact that they didn't have Robinson and they lost Brunson for a stretch of time.

C (21:51)

Right.

D (21:51)

They were.

B (21:52)

Despite the fact they had a head coach who, if you ask a lot of people, was trying to kill all the players on the team.

D (21:57)

The after effects.

C (21:58)

Oh, that's what you wonder about. Oh, I got to tell you right now. I didn't even think about this till just now. All of those anti tib guys that he wears the team out, they must be loving Mike Brown. They get that, right?

B (22:10)

Oh, he's.

C (22:10)

We're load managing maybe.

D (22:12)

Yeah.

B (22:12)

Before the season even started.

C (22:14)

Was killing our guys.

B (22:15)

He was ruining.

C (22:16)

Oh, they must be loving.

B (22:17)

I want my favorite players to not play. That's how I like my guys.

C (22:22)

So there is a little feeling of like, wake me up in April and.

D (22:26)

I don't like that. Oh, God, this is a Yankee thing all over again. This is the Yankee thing all over again. Nothing matters until we get to April. Are the Knicks really in that Yankee verse right now? Where the regular season. Yeah, been there, done the 50 wins. Yeah, whatever. It's like 90 wins for the Yankees. Yeah, yeah, 90 wins. Whatever. No, they're clearly what you do in October. Just like it's, you know, let me see what you're doing in April. Is it the same thing?

B (22:47)

No, I don't think it's that. I think it's much more strategic and it's more. Mike Brown knows this is a war of attrition. I need this team to be in a certain place when it's time, so we're going to be strong with it. But I still don't like it. This message is sponsored by Better Help Better Help therapists have helped over 5 million people worldwide on their mental health journeys. Moments of therapy like the right question, safe space to cry, or a small win can change lives. This World Mental Health Day, we're celebrating the therapists who've helped millions of people take a step. If you're ready to find the right therapist for you, BetterHelp can help you start that journey. Our listeners get 10% off their first month just call 250 and say the keyword timeout. That's keyword timeout. After calling 250.

D (23:33)

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A (24:01)

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D (24:31)

Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.

B (24:34)

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

D (24:36)

Catch the show on demand whenever you want.

A (24:38)

Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

C (24:43)

There are a lot of reasons why people buying Ramsey Mazda is their selection, it's their customer service and it's their Savings. Release. New 2025 Mazda CX5 2.5s select for 229 for 36 months. Start shopping now at Ramsey Mazda.com choose wisely. Choose Ramsey Mazda. Call 833-853-2970 for details. Vin S 059-5731 MSRP 31,009 150 Security Deposit and 103125 One of the best things about the NBA season is we get to talk on a regular basis with Tim Legler and he joins us here on Opening night on Don on and Rosenberg. How are you Tim? Happy opening night gentlemen.

A (25:23)

What is what's happening man? What's happening? I'm excited to be in your town Legs.

D (25:28)

This is great. Like so Tim Legler has like, first of all, done something at ESPN that people have been begging for.

C (25:35)

Okay.

D (25:35)

And it's not just to put him on the big show with the three man booth with Mike Breen. Like, that's. That's something that looked like it was an obvious thing to do. And it's a great. I can't. I'm looking forward to it. Although Legs not listening tonight. Sorry, I'll be a little busy. But he has brought the telestrator back in a way that we haven't seen with NBA coverage.

B (25:55)

Really?

D (25:56)

He is a wizard with this thing. It's unreal. The czar of the telestrator. Remember that Marv had for Portello? I think we have a new czar. You got to see his sit downs with coaches and he's doing telestrators. Legs, you gotta admit that that's probably the most fun you have when you get to pull that thing out.

C (26:13)

Whoa.

D (26:13)

Yep. And start diagram. I did pause.

B (26:18)

I know his nickname is Legs, but chill out.

A (26:22)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, when you get a chance to sit down and. And like get in the minds of these coaches and try to explain to people and give them a little bit of insight into what goes into that's they're trying to create, you know, what goes on in a play that you might not be looking at with your naked eye as a fan. And we're going to try to break down it in a way so now you understand the next time you watch it kind of what they're trying to accomplish with different sets and who's where on the floor. That's like the best part of the job, man. I've always kind of viewed the game, I think, through a coach's lens. So it gives me an opportunity to do that with those guys. It was fantastic. I sat down with almost every head coach. I think we only missed a couple out of the 30. And these are going to. They're like short formats on social right now of the film work. But there's like longer interviews with these guys I did that talks about their backgrounds, their influences, their teams this year, their teams last year, all that stuff are in longer format on NBA tv. They're putting those together and lumping them together for longer shows, which has been great too.

D (27:26)

You're an NFL guy. I know you love to watch your commanders. But you follow the NFL stuff and we see it so much in the NFL. How much of that was an influence on you, saying, I want to bring this to NBA coverage?

A (27:37)

Well, there's no doubt. Listen over the years, I've. I always was the guy that kind of. They'd hand the iPad too. And you do some touch screens. I do it on Van Pelt after the games. People saw a lot of that. I would do some on like get up in the Morning shows. But then I'd be sitting at home and I'd watch my buddy Dan Orlofsky up there and they had all these like, better toys and I'm like, wait a second, these NFL guys get all these incredible gadgets, man. So he and I would text each other, you know, back and forth, having some fun with that. And so, yeah, they've. They're trying to constantly push the envelope and try to get more technology behind it. Now we don't quite have yet. I am hoping that we're going to be building toward it throughout the season where I can do something. Some of that stuff during the game, courtside in live action would be phenomenal. And it's obviously much tighter. You've got much smaller windows than you would in studio, so it's not the easiest thing to pull off. But I think it's something now with myself being there, they really want to try to utilize and I think they're going to be constantly pushing us toward that place where, hey, man, at some point, hopefully sooner than later, you could be watching a game and instead of just talking about it in a replay, I can actually kind of walk you through it the same way I do when I get an iPad to do a touchscreen.

B (28:52)

So legs, I looked up at the TV yesterday. We were doing the show and I saw you talking to Kerr. Warriors go out Yesterday, get a 10 point win in LA. Obviously we're going to get to some Knicks stuff with you too. But since we are celebrating the start of the whole NBA season, what do you expect from the warriors this year? Is this another year where they could really kind of make a run of it? Because I have to imagine, we all know the window is closing on this iconic team. Is there a chance they really could make a play for it this year?

A (29:19)

Yeah, you know, I think they're back in it and I think I'd put them in the same category with Denver in this regard. You got, you have these two, you know, generational players, Steph Curry and Nikola Jokic, two of the greatest of all time. And you always wonder, you know, you know, Jokic got his one ring, obviously Curry's won four, but you wonder, will you be able to hit the reset button to a great enough degree while these guys are still at the top of their game to make another run at it. And you really don't know. I think Golden State and Denver have both done that with what they've done in the offseason. And I think for Golden State, it was fairly quiet. Al Horford's in a massive acquisition. I think he's going to really be an important player for them. But they've got Jimmy Butler for an entire year. Steph Curry looks incredibly energized. They got the Kaminga situation, at least for now, kind of sorted out. He played very well last week night. Their depth is stronger than it's been. They, they have added a veteran piece in Al Horford who's a connector, and they've still got Curry at the top of his game. I think Golden State is back in the mix to potentially contend in the Western Conference now. What does that mean? It's all relative to Oklahoma City, honestly. You say, you say, can they be the last team standing against Oklahoma City? That's really what we're talking about. And I think they put themselves on the short list of teams that can do that.

C (30:40)

We're talking to Tim Legler as we get ready for Knicks in Cavs tonight 630 coverage here on ESPN New York. We open the show with this and we get that Mitchell Robinson has to be protected and that load management now entered the Knicks sphere with Mike Brown. But opening night, Tim, I understand the regular season doesn't hit the way it used to and they've got bigger fists to fry come April, May and possibly June. But shouldn't opening night be special and have him load management another game?

A (31:06)

Yeah, no, I totally agree with the load management concepts for opening night. I mean, because you basically can handle training camp any way you want to with the guy. So, you know, to have him like ready to go and fresh overnight, you would think that would be the case. I just. Listen, I think there's going to be an overabundance of caution for a couple reasons. One, the importance of Mitchell Robinson to this team. And we saw it even in the postseason last year in limited minutes like what this guy is capable of doing and changing games with his offensive rebounding, with his ability to protect the rim. He's such a massive difference maker for the Knicks. So that's one reason. The other is all of the attention that the Knicks have gotten over the last few years about guys breaking down and not being available when you need them and not being deep enough. So I think Mike Brown is probably in the organization, are probably going to, err, on the side of caution all year with these guys and try to utilize the depth as much as they can and preserve. That's going to be the goal, I think for a guy like Mitchell Robinson. So he's upright and ready to go on April 15th. I think that's going to be the ultimate goal for them. Now having said all that, I totally agree with you. It's surprising the approach would be load management opening night. I totally agree with you on that.

D (32:21)

Legs. This was the top three offense last season. A high efficiency offense for most of the season. Back to back 50 wins. They make a coaching change. Mike Brown comes in and sometimes you would say, well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But Mike Brown wants to fix it and he's all about up tempo. He wants to play faster. He thinks he can get even more out of this offense. What are you expecting from that point of view?

A (32:43)

Yeah, look, you know, they had a very highly ranked offense a year ago. I think what this is about with Mike Brown and all the narrative around the pace, you hear that word a lot. You hear playing up tempo. You hear, I think the ball changing sides of the floor, touching more guys, hands on a given possession. I think all of that stuff's going to be important when you get to the playoffs because it's one thing to have a dynamic offense and look at the metrics. And by all accounts, the Knicks had one in the regular season. That's different than winning three straight rounds and getting to the finals against the team that can adjust to you every night. A team that can prepare for you and when they're going to blitz you. And if you're a ball dominant team with a lot of your offense generation coming out of the point guard spot with that much time of possession for one player, it's a lot easier for a team in the postseason when they're preparing for you game after game and making adjustment after adjustment to limit that offensive efficiency. And now what do you do? How are you going to figure out a way to counter that? And can, can a ball move enough at that point where guys are comfortable going and making plays? I think Mike Brown wants Jalen Brunson to have to work less in the course of a game so it doesn't look as arduous and as grinding as it does some nights when he's got the ball as much as he does. I really think that's the main tweak we're talking about. You're still going to rely on Brunson and Towns and two man game and all that you have to. Those guys are that good at it. I just think he'd like to see him dominate the ball a little bit less so that they're more prepared in the postseason when the ball is taken out of his hands a little bit more. Because you're playing only against one team, the New York Knicks, and you're figuring out a way to just decrease their efficiency a little bit. I think that's what this is about. I'm as curious as anybody to see what that looks like in the regular season and how different I think, if any, it is for Jalen Brunson because I do think there's a little bit more there that you can get if you approach it the way I just described.

C (34:42)

Who's the biggest threat to stop the Knicks from going to the Finals?

A (34:46)

It's definitely the Cavs, the two teams playing tonight. So I look at the east this way. There's two known commodities when they're healthy and both of these teams are banged up start of the year. Josh Hart's a little bit banged up. Mitchell Robinson we talked about. And then the Cavs. No different. Gary Scarlet, no Max Struse. So both teams aren't at full strength. You're not going to see that tonight. But these are the two known commodities in the Eastern Conference. I expect these two teams to be one and two in the regular season standings at barring some sort of major injury to one of these teams and in the Cavs case, they might even be deep enough to withstand that. These are the two teams and then you've got that next group, right? And now you. To me, I label them this way, the X factor teams, those are Philly and Milwaukee because they've got Giannis, they've got Embiid. If Bead can stay healthy and play X number games, Paul George. Philadelphia has enough talent to make this very interesting. Milwaukee still has Giannis Antetokounmpo last I look. So those are like the X factor teams then you and Atlanta I would put in that category because they've got a mixture of vets and young guys and they've made strides. A lot of people maybe higher on them than I am going into the year. And then you've got Detroit and Orlando. Those are the two teams that are young, they defend, they've added offense, getting Jade N. Ivey back, adding Desmond Bain in Orlando. Those teams are look like they're going to take a big step forward, take a big bite out of the east this year. And then I Think the other two teams you'd mentioned we, Indiana, Boston, dealing with injuries still going to be tough but clearly have taken a step back. That's kind of how I lay out the East. But the, the two teams at the top clearly the Cavs and the Knicks.

B (36:20)

Who's more likely to sort of surprise and be a pain in the ass for lack of a better word between the Celtics and the Pacers.

A (36:28)

I would say, I would say probably Indiana because I think Indiana look Terry Saliburton is the engine for them but I think there's a lot of nights tyres Halliburton played like a quieter game.

C (36:40)

Yep.

A (36:41)

And they still were, they still would find a way to win those games and they still have Pascal Siakam, they've got Nemhardt now that's going to take on a bigger role handling the ball. I think some of the other guys that were banged up last year, now they get back. Isaiah Jackson comes back into the fold. Matheran is going to be healthy to start the year. I just think people think that, you know, no Halliburton, well there goes their offense. I just disagree. They're used to winning, they're used to finding ways to win and I think for the most part they have guys that can do the best they can to replicate what Halliburton brings to the table for Boston. I just think that's going to be tough the way that they play, not only not having Tatum to create better looking freeze which is the shot they love to take. You're also talking about Drew Holiday, Al Horford of Christoph Sporzingis like not there. So this is a much different Celtics team. So I would probably say Indiana would look closer to what they were a year ago then Boston.

C (37:37)

Now Tim, if you were to rank the NBA teams going into the season, how deep on your list would you go before you hit the Knicks?

A (37:47)

Well, I'm kind of on the record of saying I think whoever comes out of the west is going to be favored to win the whole thing no matter who comes out of the East. So that means that either it's Oklahoma City going for a repeat, if someone's good enough to knock them off, then that's the team you're going to expect to win the title. Whether that's Denver or Houston or Golden State if they can get there. You know Minnesota has been to the last two conference finals. Maybe it's them. If somebody's able to get through okc, that's the team that's going to be favorite. So you'd probably go four deep in the west at least before you would start talking about the Eastern Conference team. So I would say, you know, next, five, six, somewhere in there is probably where you'd rank them in the overall NBA hierarchy because all of those teams at the top of the west got better. You can make an argument they're all better. And that's pretty incredible statement when you consider how tough the west was last year.

D (38:44)

Yeah, it's what you want to do is get through the east without too much wear and tear because you expect it to be less of an arduous road than it would be in the West. So for you, what again, you had a great career as a player. You were one of the great sharpshooters in the history of the game. But you love the game a lot. The fact that you now are on the A team on espn. You're calling the game tonight at the Garden. You, Richard Jefferson and sitting next to the hall of Famer Mike Breen. I know this is special for you. What does it mean for you tonight just going into this game and into this call?

A (39:16)

Well, first, I'm just unbelievably blessed and excited to be sitting next to Mike Breen and Richard Jefferson to do this. First of all, I mean Mike Breen is the, is a legend, one of the greatest play by play guys in any sport, any team sport that's ever lived. And now I'm sitting right next to him, getting ready to take this on. And then Richard, who has been now with us for a while, was on this exact same seat a year ago. He and I have a great relationship. We're building chemistry all the time, spending more time together. I'm just blessed and honored to be there. But I think what, it's what it is for me, man, it's 20, this is my 25th year of ES at ESPN and it's, it's pounding the rock every day with your preparation and with your, your content and your delivery and just trying to always be very consistent in delivering like all these years. So now you feel like, hey man, certain things kind of aligned and you feel validated in a lot of ways, man. You feel validated that a lot of people seem to like my style and what I'm bringing to it and I'm going to do my part to not screw this up. And hopefully we make a, we make a great team and we're going to grow throughout the year, man. We're going to get better each and every night out. The more reps we get together, no.

C (40:27)

You'Re going to be amazing.

D (40:27)

Now, three buttons down, though, that's what.

C (40:30)

That my question was going to be. It's opening night. So Richard Jefferson say there are six, seven buttons on his shirt. How many does he actually button?

A (40:40)

Well, for a game, he goes to the top, he changes it up on.

B (40:44)

The game, on tv, it's there. When he's at a desk, though, what.

C (40:48)

Does that tell you?

B (40:48)

It's unreal.

A (40:50)

Well, there's no question. If he and I were doing like all NBA Today together all year, I would have to be in the gym working on my pecs, because then you got to go in shirtless some days. No, it's crazy to try to compete.

B (41:01)

Yeah.

A (41:02)

So far it.

B (41:03)

It goes from being a shirt to being a scoop neck blouse. Let's be honest. It's.

D (41:08)

It's.

B (41:08)

We've never seen anything like this before. Now, legs, before we go, we talked.

C (41:12)

NBA, Huge career achievement.

D (41:14)

Here we go.

B (41:14)

Let's talk about what truly matters.

C (41:16)

Oh, no.

B (41:17)

How close are we to saying, let's just rest number five. And not really pursue this year? Like, I'm. I'm at the point now where if they get blown out by Kansas City on Monday. Do you. Do you keep trotting this kid out week after week, like in earnest, trying to go for it? Because I'm concerned.

A (41:37)

I'm sick of my stomach over the whole situation because I just. Every single time now that he gets hit, I'm holding my breath, wondering if he's going to get up. This is the third injury. Third injury he's had in a year and a half to miss time. Now, I would say this. I'm not really go that far because they're different stylistically. But the bottom line is this. He gets hit too much for a guy that's built the way he's built. He just can't sustain it with. With how slightly built he is. And so here we go. And of course, the idiot. I saw the schedule come out this year, and I targeted, you know what? Two iconic road games this year on our schedule.

B (42:17)

Green Bay and Kansas City.

D (42:18)

Huh?

A (42:19)

That's right. Lambeau was weak, but that was too early in the year. It was like the Thursday right after we one, and I was midweek. It just wasn't good for me. So I'm like, you know what? I'm going to Kansas City, so I will be there on Monday night.

B (42:32)

Oh, I respect this.

C (42:34)

All right.

D (42:35)

And I'm hoping.

A (42:35)

I'm hoping Van Pelt will be there. My boy Scott will be there. They're doing the pregame show from there and and I hope they take it easy on me because I'm going out there and I kind of feel like I'm headed to a bloodbath with our defense the way they look. No Jaden Daniels. This could be and we first of all, we typically don't play well on national TV night on night games. So I don't my expectations are low. You know, I'm all in though. I love I'll give you one I'll.

B (43:01)

Give you one last thought before they kill me for us talking about this for too long. One last thing. I'll say this Sneaky prediction if McLaurin and Debo play and it might be even more important than having Jaden because if they have Jaden and no receivers we have no chance. I'll take my chances with Mariota if he at least has the full complement of weapons. But have a good time. I'll be thinking about you my friend. Good luck. God bless.

A (43:23)

Appreciate it and 100% agree with you by the way, about the receiver point. We got to get those guys back on the field. Mariota can can do a serviceable job.

C (43:30)

All right, Tim, good luck tonight.

A (43:33)

Thank you. Appreciate you guys.

C (43:36)

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D (45:08)

Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.

B (45:12)

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

D (45:13)

Catch the show on demand whenever you want.

A (45:15)

Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

B (45:21)

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C (46:17)

I know exactly what you're talking about. We're hyped up about the Knicks and I know it's a basketball day, but I wanted to just take this moment. We got the phone lines open at 1-800-919-3776. How hyped are you about the season? How disappointed are you that it seems like they are not as hyped as you are, unfortunately, with the load management. But we just found out word that you know Larry Brooks is stepping away from the New York Post at his coverage of the Rangers because he's fighting through an illness. So we wish him nothing but the best. He's a Hall of Famer. He's always been great to me in my career. I give the New York Post a tremendous amount of credit. There's a lot of companies that are kind of tapping out of covering teams and the expense of it all. But Larry and and Molly Walker for the New York Post, they're at every game. They work their tail off to get the information out there and we haven't seen Larry at the Garden or on the road at all. He always scaled Back the road in recent years anyway, but to not see him around is kind of tough. And we just got word that he's. He has stepped away officially, and hopefully he'll be back soon. But I know you know Larry very well, very well. I do, of course. So we're going to wish him nothing but the best.

D (47:18)

I. I consider him a mentor of mine. When I started, I mean, again in covering the NHL, he was one of the first people I kind of looked at and said, okay, this. This guy does it right, and followed him along. And he's been one of these guys that I always like a standard. He sets a standard because, you know, he's aggressive, but he's fair. He is a historian of the league. He does his homework like. There was so much about Larry Brooks that I looked up to as a young sports writer, and I stayed in touch with him even after leaving the NHL coverage, moved over to the NBA, I would still check in. And he was always kind enough to check in with me. Even after I left, you know, the newspaper business and got into broadcasting. I reached out to him earlier just to give him, you know, give him my thoughts and, and support. And, you know, he sent back because he's. He's a tough guy. He sent back a very positive message about how I'll be back. You know, it might be a minute, but I'll be back. And just want to send positive vibes his way because hockey's not the same in New York without him covering it.

C (48:16)

Of course, he worked for the Devils. He was working for the Devils when eating of the donut, fat boy. The whole Don Koharsky thing, There's actually footage of that happening where you see a young Larry Brooks there. And then of course, did color with Chris Moore on radio for years. And he was also killing it.

D (48:32)

He was the one that asked Mark Messier before Game 6. Right. The Devils about the game and using the will win as the back page. That's right from the quote that was.

C (48:44)

Larry's guarantees of all time. So legs brought up, you know, Orlando, Detroit as possible threats. I just wonder if with Tatum and Halliburton out and Milwaukee going through their troubles with health. Same thing with Cleveland. Do an upstart team like the Pistons who got exposure last year in the postseason, the Magic, do they become the Knicks from last year and treat the regular season different and try to take advantage of this and go, you know what? We're going to go out and we're going to try to take advantage and see if we can finish a little higher and give ourselves a better chance in the postseason. Or do they just have a like mind of everybody else?

D (49:19)

It sounds good, but I think everybody the Knicks were the only team that played that way last year. They were the only team that just showed up every night. And our five starters are going the Knicks went 55 games into the season before they had two starters out of the lineup. Like they just played their first 11 games, same starting five. Like they just, they, they played every night. They showed up every night. Back to backs. They played everybody. It just was a mindset. It was different. The rest of the league doesn't do this. Orlando has gone through so many injuries over the last couple of seasons with their young players, including Jalen Suggs, who's going to probably miss the start of the season, and he's a big piece of what they do defensively at the point of attack. So I can't see Orlando grinding their players just so they can set it. And Detroit, Kate Cunningham was a guy who missed a whole season with injury. They're not going to run him into the ground either. I just think this is a mentality of the NBA that in New York with Tom Thibodeau they didn't embrace. But with Mike Brown here, and Mike Brown spent a lot of time in Golden State as an assistant, I think he has picked up a lot of the the trends of the league and they don't value the regular season the way Tom Thibodeau lived game to game. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

B (50:33)

I don't want to know how the.

D (50:34)

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.