Hour 1: UConn Stuns Duke, Knicks Lose

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg

Hour 1: UConn Stuns Duke, Knicks Lose

Date: March 30, 2026
Hosts: Alan Hahn, Don La Greca, Peter Rosenberg
Podcast: ESPN New York

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Episode Overview

This episode opens with Alan and Don discussing moving, balancing work and family, and Rosenberg’s plans to attend WWE’s Monday Night Raw. Quickly, the show pivots to an impassioned and detailed discussion of UConn’s stunning March Madness victory over Duke, breaking down the dramatic finish, coaching decisions, and classic tournament moments. The conversation moves to St. John’s elimination and Rick Pitino’s legacy and roster-building challenges in modern college basketball. The hosts rank all-time NCAA buzzer beaters. Listener calls follow, shifting focus to frustrations with the Knicks’ loss to Oklahoma City, the team’s inability to maximize Karl-Anthony Towns, and NBA strategies around “foul-baiting.” The show’s signature blend of humor, New York attitude, and insightful basketball takes drives the conversation.

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Main Topics & Discussion Points

1. Life Updates and Show Intro (01:00–03:40)

• Don and Alan joke about “mental health days,” moving stress, and working multiple jobs. Don mentions being a “husband in training” and balancing marital ups and downs during a stressful move.
• Rosenberg describes the obligation he feels to attend WWE shows in New York as part of his persona and career. His commitment to both work and family comes through:
  • “There are certain times when you just gotta suck it up and know that nothing you do is going to be right that day and not fight it.” (01:32, Don)
• Plans for Passover are mentioned as the guys try to just “get to Thursday” and survive the week.

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2. UConn’s Upset Over Duke: Anatomy of a Classic (03:51–15:45)

The Game Breakdown

• Hahn and La Greca break down UConn’s “March magic” comeback, emphasizing their steady, gritty climb back from a double-digit deficit and Duke’s late-game collapse.
  • “It wasn’t the shot. The shot was the culmination of March magic. It was the slow, steady, chop wood, carry water…” (04:05, Alan)
  • “The two classics in this tournament so far: Kentucky in the first round and this.” (04:46, Don)

Key Moments & Analysis

• UConn’s refusal to “let go of the rope,” Hurley’s culture, and what Duke’s endgame casualness revealed about their youthful roster.
• Discussion of the significance of not calling a timeout, with Hurley trusting his players in the final seconds.
  • “How about again, Hurley not calling timeout…he’s like, no, let it happen. That he just trusted his guys and his guys, they were mentally locked in.” (11:38, Alan)

Play-By-Play and Radio Calls

• The hosts play both UConn and Duke radio calls of the game-winning shot, relishing the contrasting emotions and commentaries.
  • “[UConn Radio]…Mullins gets it…caravan to Mullins long range three…Oh, it went in. Mullins delivers. Bedlam. Bedlam here.” (09:31, Radio call)
  • “[Duke Radio]…It’s Mullins up top for the win. Oh, he hit it. With 3/10 of a second to go…” (10:20, Radio call)

All-Time March Madness Shots

• The moment is compared to Chris Jenkins’ Villanova shot, Christian Laettner’s Kentucky buzzer beater, and other iconic moments. Nostalgia and the “stakes” involved are debated.
  • “You don't make a shot like that for nothing.” (18:54, Don)
  • “How about again, like I said, Hurley not calling timeout...” (11:38, Alan)

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3. St. John’s Loss & Rick Pitino Debate (15:43–18:50)

• Analyzing St. John’s struggles against a simple defensive zone and questioning coaching decisions — why the team’s best shooter sat for long stretches.
  • “With all the great things that Pitino has done…that felt like a coaching failure Friday.” (14:48, Alan)
• Broader discussion about the modern college basketball landscape — the role of boosters/NIL, recruiting talent, and Pitino’s championship potential moving forward:
  • “I don’t know that he’s putting together teams that have that next [level].” (15:43, Don)
  • Alan argues it’s resource/booster driven more than style and notes Pitino’s record of deep tournament runs.

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4. All-Time NCAA Buzzer Beaters (18:50–22:11)

• “Where does Mullins’ shot rank?”
  • Hahn and Don quickly list, debate, and compare legendary tourney finishes—Laettner vs. Jenkins vs. Suggs vs. the Drews—framing how context and circumstance shape the legend of a buzzer beater.
  • “All you need…is a shot that wins one shining moment.” (19:39, Don)

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5. Drop Madness & Show Humor (22:11–26:28)

• The annual “Drop Madness” bracket is in full swing; Don excitedly runs through some matchups and inside jokes about the show’s recurring soundbites ("You're a filth bag", "I'm going to do it in my pants", etc.).
  • “You have to go onto our Twitter…you go to DHR on espn and you vote in each one.” (24:01, Don)
• Banter over show-related awards and commercials, including Rosenberg’s “championship belt” and how he’s still never had it properly framed.

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6. Listener Calls: UConn Ecstasy, Drop Madness, Knicks Frustrations (26:28–41:00)

UConn Fan Calls In (27:37–29:02)

• Griffin from Connecticut calls elated about UConn’s double championship prospects and the Mullins moment:
  • “I screamed so loud, I’m surprised you guys couldn’t hear me from your house.” (28:40, Griffin)

Knicks & Karl-Anthony Towns Critique (36:33–49:24)

• Kevin from Plainfield voices frustration about the Knicks misusing Karl-Anthony Towns — not feeding him enough, especially against OKC’s smaller defenders.
  • “We are not going to win a championship if we do not get Karl Anthony Towns the ball.” (37:05, Kevin)
• Alan confirms that coaches are asked about these issues but notes Towns constantly claims he’s still “figuring out” his role.
  • “I’m still trying to figure out where I can impact our team and winning the most. There’s like seven games left in the season.” (44:41, Alan quoting Towns)
• Don and Alan lament the team’s inability to use Towns’ size mismatch, questioning coaching and player agency:
  • “How could you possibly have the audacity to think you could beat a team like the Thunder…if you can’t figure out how to get him to dominate?” (47:49, Alan)

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7. NBA Foul-Baiting and Superstar Officiating (49:24–52:15)

• Discussing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s “superstar” whistle and the art of drawing fouls (including relevant stat: in two games, SGA had 28+ FTA, <10% 3PT shooting, all in <70 mins).
  • “Like the foul-baiting and all that stuff…and the…how much of it is just him being good at it though?” (51:10, Don)
• Don and Alan relate it to James Harden, Jalen Brunson, and even Sidney Crosby’s NHL days, framing it as “using the rules to your advantage.”
  • “You can’t call it as illegal… to make the rules work for you is what great players do.” (51:33, Don)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On UConn’s cultural toughness:
  • “That’s coaching, that’s Hurley, that’s their culture.” (04:51, Alan)
• On the Mullins shot:
  • “I said to Alan, that is one of the greatest sounding swishes in the history of recorded basketball.” (07:51, Don)
• On coaching philosophies:
  • “How many times do we see in college basketball? There’s a turnover, coach, let’s slow it all down…and Hurley’s like, no, let it happen.” (11:38, Alan)
• On Duke’s collapse:
  • “What could go wrong went wrong for Duke, and everything that could go right went right for UConn in that moment.” (13:23, Alan)
• On Pitino’s college basketball challenge:
  • “Places like Duke, Kentucky…they got more [big time boosters]. They got three or four Micropolis.” (16:15, Alan)
• On current Knicks issues:
  • “He took…Cat took nine shots. That’s not enough shots.” (46:53, Don)
• On foul manipulation in the NBA:
  • “You have to…manipulating the rules, but it’s just understanding them and how to use them to your advantage. Again, it’s something James Harden did all the time.” (52:02, Alan)

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Timestamps by Segment

• Mentions of mental health days, moving anecdotes: 01:00–03:40
• UConn vs. Duke, game breakdown: 03:51–15:45
• St. John’s and Pitino discussion: 15:43–18:50
• NCAA buzzer beaters ranking: 18:50–22:11
• Drop Madness & internal show jokes: 22:11–26:28
• Listener calls: UConn, Drops, Knicks: 26:28–41:00
• Knicks and Towns’ fit: 41:00–49:24
• NBA foul-baiting and superstar officiating: 49:24–52:15

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Podcast Tone & Style

• Language & Vibe: New York-centric, self-deprecating, quick-witted, blending honest X’s and O’s analysis with humor and pop culture.
• Show dynamics: Frequent teasing and personal anecdotes; audience engagement through “Drop Madness” and open, spirited calls.
• Unique feature: Genuine emotional highs—whether for a March Madness buzzer-beater or the comedic misadventures of moving—set alongside sharp sports talk.

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Summary

This lively hour blends real-life messiness (moving, marriage, work-life chaos) with high-energy, insightful analysis of UConn’s iconic March Madness upset, deep dives on Duke’s late collapse, and St. John’s missed coaching opportunities. Through play-by-play breakdowns, listener calls, and humor, the hosts celebrate instant-classic sports moments, scrutinize New York coaching, rank historical buzzer-beaters, and tackle the nuances of NBA officiating—all while keeping their trademark camaraderie and New York edge. The show is a must-listen for anyone who wants both analysis and a sense of belonging to the city’s sports culture.

Transcript

[Alan Hahn]

The world moves fast. Your workday even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create, and summarize so you can cut through clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn [e-mail] M365 copilot Don, give me

[Don LaGreca]

a piece of wood. I'll eat it.

[Alan Hahn]

Han, Peter's most used sweat is at a buffet. And Rosenberg.

[Don LaGreca]

I'll be honest, the one thing I miss about having an office is the taste of Steve Hart's nuts. This isn't North Dakota. This is New York.

[Alan Hahn]

This is Don, Han, and Rosenberg.

[Don LaGreca]

The best threesome I've ever heard on

[Alan Hahn]

ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube. Oh, as somebody would say, like you dream about 301 in the big city. As. As Don Legreco would say, he is not here today. Mental health day. We all deserve one.

[Don LaGreca]

God bless.

[Alan Hahn]

He gets one. You Peter.

[Don LaGreca]

I'm in the office.

[Alan Hahn]

Probably could use one, too.

[Don LaGreca]

What's the opposite of a mental health day?

[Alan Hahn]

A day? Yeah, just a. Just go to work.

[Don LaGreca]

But like, I'm hated by all today.

[Alan Hahn]

We're moving right now, so it's just another day. It's a day that ends in. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Don LaGreca]

I'm learning today's a good husbanding day.

[Alan Hahn]

Like just husbanding. Yeah, like learning husbandry.

[Don LaGreca]

Even now, after a grand total of, let's see, six the first time. This is year three the second time. I've done like nine years of marriage, something like that, but many more years of relationship. You think I'd know. There are certain times when you just gotta suck it up and know that nothing you do is going to be right that day and not fight it. And I'm trying my best to not fight it. Now we're in the middle of the move and I worked both jobs today. In the morning show, we also had a guest. The great Rhea Ripley came on it came in after our show. So we did that after the show. Then I ran home.

[Alan Hahn]

Dropped. Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

Did some. I did while I was home. I brought stuff to the new house, came back, picked up food for the movers. Like, just did my best to be active and helpful and then left again. And I'm here now, of course. And I. And I am going to Monday Night Raw tonight after the show, which probably isn't.

[Alan Hahn]

How's that going to sit?

[Don LaGreca]

I mean, I don't think she has Any interest in seeing me? So, like, you know what I mean? Like, what am I going to do?

[Alan Hahn]

So you're staying away. Absence makes the heart grow fond.

[Don LaGreca]

And it's an important, you know, listen, showing. It's a. It's. I feel like when WWE is in town at this stage, I don't usually get tickets. I did tonight. I don't usually. My. My podcast co host, that guy Greg wanted to go, so I got us tickets. He's coming in from Philly, but I just go because I feel like if they're in New York, I want them to know Peter. Peter's always showing up at those shows. I'm always there.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, you got to be there.

[Don LaGreca]

I'm a part timer, so, like, that's. I might, you know, I only show up at pay per views, so they only see me once a month. So when they come to New York, you're always going to see me.

[Alan Hahn]

If they're in your city, you should just be there.

[Don LaGreca]

Got to be there.

[Alan Hahn]

So not the whole thing to say the whole time, but just show face and then move on.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah. Everyone sees it up. So I'm going to do my. Do my now. Hopefully Natalie. I think Natalie views it that way. She doesn't seem mad that I'm doing it. She sees it as like part of the. Part of the job. It is, but she hates my guys. I mean, I'm going to be honest. Let's. We just got to get to Wednesday.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

And then Wednesday's Passover. I'm off Wednesday. I'm doing Passover family stuff, so really got to get to Thursday.

[Alan Hahn]

Let's get to Thursday. Okay.

[Don LaGreca]

Let's get to them. We'll survive.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, how about we get through Monday, first?

[Don LaGreca]

Monday.

[Alan Hahn]

Monday to you and me.

[Don LaGreca]

Hey, listen, I'll tell you what. Duke didn't make it to Monday.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, that. That's. Again, that's what you know. And Dan Hurley said this. It's like that The March magic thing is when you. You only. You only recognize it, like, when you see it. It's not something that you can anticipate. It's not something you can, like, see from a distance. It just all of a sudden appears. And it wasn't the shot. The shot was the culmination of March magic. It was the slow, steady, chop wood, carry water that UConn did to Duke in that second half that turned what felt like a game that was going away from Yukon. Couldn't make a three. Couldn't make a shot. Struggled mightily. But I'll tell You what, man? Like, this is. What you love about college basketball, especially the tournament, is you just get a game like that. And we've had a few of them, really. 2.

[Don LaGreca]

The two Classics in this tournament right so far. The Kentucky in the first round and this. These are the two classics.

[Alan Hahn]

And it's the grit part of it that you watch the team that looks like they're down and out, but they will not let go of the rope. And that. That was Yukon. That's coaching, that's Hurley. That's. That's their culture. And that's what I loved about that second half, because, you know, look, there's a lot going on, as we know yesterday. And so when you see A team down 17 early in the second half, you know, you're like, all right, let me just check in somewhere else, and I'll keep an eye on the score. It's down 11, 8 to go, and you're thinking, I just don't think UConn's going to have enough firepower to, you know, to. To win this game. But you keep checking in, and then when you get to single digits, and that was a slow drip. That wasn't a big run. Slow drip got you there. But that's. Now you're. You're like, okay, something's going on here. I'm watching this. Duke's been known to blow leads. That's been their weakness. They only had two weaknesses, but they were both blown big leads. And so your thinking is, can this happen? Even the missed free throws by UConn, you're thinking like, you don't want. You're not getting it. That's probably. That's it. All they got to do is inbound the ball, and you got to foul them like the game's over. And do you realize that and how Duke couldn't. I felt like Duke was so casual down the stretch and that they were put in a pressure situation and their age showed.

[Don LaGreca]

It's crazy, because Friday night, late in the game, when the saint. When it started getting away from St.

[Alan Hahn]

John's oh, God, that's amazing.

[Don LaGreca]

And you're looking at. You're looking at the offense Lane. I'm going. They're just offensively not there. This is once the game, once the score.

[Alan Hahn]

They had one kid that was making threes.

[Don LaGreca]

Once that score started getting, like, normal, because it was obviously a good defensive half, the first half for St. John's once Duke started scoring, I'm like, they can't trade baskets with Duke all night. That's not how this Stops. It's either you grind it to a halt and make it ugly. That's how you win. But late in that game, when they're down, like, you know, five with a minute to go, and it. Because of things that, like, happened last night, that's why you watch the final minute of a Friday night and go, are we going to get magic? And of course, in the end, St. John's did not have the magic. Duke advances. But last night, I walked away from the game. I had as I'm moving today, so a lot going. We did all these trips back and forth yesterday, and then at night, I have family in town because we have a serious family thing going on. And there was a family dinner I had to go to. So I saw the score on the TV as I walk out. I went, well, I missed nothing. And. And really, for what I'd really. I have enjoyed this tournament so much more than I expected. And. And the only thing I felt was, well, it was great until the Elite 8, and then the Elite 8 was really boring. Like, really not a lot on. On Saturday or Sunday. Like, it wasn't a great set of games. Um, and. And Duke's blowing out UConn. Bye. And then I'm sitting at dinner, and I just start getting texts that say, duke sucks. This is why Duke sucks. Duke sucks. And I'm like, oh, something crazy must have happened. And that is.

[Alan Hahn]

Crazy happened.

[Don LaGreca]

I said to Alan, that is one of the greatest sounding swishes in the history of recorded basketball.

[Alan Hahn]

Mullins had a perfect form, and that was from the first S. In Madness. He took that shot from there.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

It's range like, that was very similar to. And it wasn't the exact same play, of course, but we're talking about distance, momentum of the Chris Jenkins shot for Villanova when they beat North North Carolina. They beat that year.

[Don LaGreca]

Wait, which one?

[Alan Hahn]

Virginia.

[Don LaGreca]

Which one?

[Alan Hahn]

When Villanova won at the buzzer, was that. It was a shot that was hit.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, yeah. They mean the one the truest buzzer beat. It was Virginia.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

That's like, the truest buzzer because, remember,

[Alan Hahn]

Hunter hit the corner three, and you're thinking, oh, my God, the game's over. There's no time left. And then Archie Diacono comes up the court, and they do the slingshot play. And then Jenks is bang, and it's at the buzzer. Like, that's insane. And it was almost the same place. And this kid. And again, give. Give the kid credit.

[Don LaGreca]

You want to hear it?

[Alan Hahn]

Over five, over four, over Four from three until he knocks that one down. Shoots it from the. From the first s. It's perfect. And he in his brain, he was like, I first saw 10 seconds on the clock, then I saw this seconds on the clock. He in his head, he was already processing the moment. That's incredible for a friend also.

[Don LaGreca]

I love. It's such a great lesson. I love that he gave up the rock and then he got it back. Yeah, he gave it up. Had confidence, got it right. He's like.

[Alan Hahn]

He's making shots. Let me give it to him. And that dude's like, nope, you.

[Don LaGreca]

Let's hear what it sounded like ON this is UConn Radio. Turn me up my drops, please.

[Alan Hahn]

Now I head to Kaden. Boozer and a steal. Mullins gets it. It's caravan to Mullins long range three.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, it went in. Mullins delivers. Bedlam. Bedlam here.

[Alan Hahn]

They're going to go to the mon to review it.

[Don LaGreca]

Absolute bedlam is mullins through a 45 footer. That was a legreca Howard Dean esque.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, was that the great Mike Crispino?

[Caller/Guest]

That's right.

[Alan Hahn]

That crispy.

[Don LaGreca]

That's. That's crispy to you.

[Alan Hahn]

That's our guy. Crispy.

[Don LaGreca]

That's all right. Crispy with a big call there.

[Alan Hahn]

Big moment.

[Don LaGreca]

It's interesting. They shouts to Yukon radio. Great call, but they did not have the rim mic. Dwell, you didn't get the swish there.

[Alan Hahn]

Swish. The tv, the TV mics.

[Don LaGreca]

TV was.

[Alan Hahn]

Do we have. Is that I hear.

[Don LaGreca]

What I have is Duke radio. You want to hear Duke radio?

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, boy. Of course you do.

[Don LaGreca]

Give me my Duke radio call.

[Caller/Guest]

Get it in.

[Don LaGreca]

They do for Boozer. Bobbled it back for Saar. Needs to get rid of it. Does for Kaden. 7 seconds. Try to throw it ahead. Deflected, stolen by Connecticut. Two seconds. It's Mullins up top for the win. Oh, he hit it. With 3/10 of a second to go, Malachi Smith ran off the bench. That should be a technical, but with 3/10 of a second to go, Connecticut has the lead, 72. He just tried to say Malachi Smith ran off the bench. That should be a technical. They're not calling the technical on the celebration.

[Alan Hahn]

Malachi wasn't in the game.

[Don LaGreca]

Is it. He just run on the floor either way not guys, that's. That. That wasn't happening.

[Alan Hahn]

But how about when he goes. It goes in. Yeah. So unceremonious.

[Don LaGreca]

Completely. No.

[Alan Hahn]

So I understand why. But yeah, we'll have to. I guess we can't play the CBS call.

[Don LaGreca]

I want to hear the cbs.

[Alan Hahn]

No. Well, what if we isolate the switch? No words.

[Don LaGreca]

Swish.

[Alan Hahn]

No. Just a swish. No.

[Don LaGreca]

No. You don't know.

[Alan Hahn]

It's. Own the sound. They own the swish.

[Don LaGreca]

They own swish.

[Alan Hahn]

Now.

[Don LaGreca]

I'll pay the fine in a few days. We can steal the switch.

[Alan Hahn]

It's a tenth of a second. How much can they. Can they find us?

[Don LaGreca]

No, I'm not going to be the

[Alan Hahn]

one to figure it out. I'm going to play on my phone.

[Don LaGreca]

Do whatever you want.

[Alan Hahn]

Because you're right. It's the purest sound theory.

[Don LaGreca]

Purist.

[Alan Hahn]

It's the.

[Don LaGreca]

It's unbelievable.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. No, it's.

[Don LaGreca]

I got to watch it again and I got to see.

[Alan Hahn]

But it's one of those. Again, like I said, it's one of those moments. How about again, Hurley not calling timeout. How many times do we see in college basketball? There's a turnover, Coach. Let's slow it all down. Let's drop a play. He's like, no, let it happen.

[Don LaGreca]

Like, I love the fact that his guys.

[Alan Hahn]

That he just trusted his guys and his guys, they were mentally locked in. I mean, you're losing the game. You're losing the game. You miss a free throw, everything's going wrong, and yet you get the ball and no one panics. No one has to suddenly get their head right. They were all locked in. They never let go.

[Don LaGreca]

So I just pulled it up. I am yet to have watched the final two minutes. I've just got to play.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

So I'm now watching it. Duke's up 72, 69, 22 seconds left, and UConn has the ball.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Don LaGreca]

So I'm getting. So they ended up shooting free throws here.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes. Made one. Missed one or missed one. Made one.

[Don LaGreca]

Which is why we get the inbound.

[Alan Hahn]

That's right.

[Don LaGreca]

Now, at what point, by the way, do you imagine. And there's the foul. At what point do you imagine they were going to foul after trying to steal the inbound? Were they not? I guess they were going to let him get to. Because weren't they still going to try to foul if they didn't

[Alan Hahn]

going to

[Don LaGreca]

foul at that point?

[Alan Hahn]

Right. But there was no. They couldn't because I guess Cam Boozer got it inbound.

[Don LaGreca]

Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

Nobody came. When somebody came to him, he gave it to the inbounder, who then passed it to. To. To Kaden Boomer Boozer. I can't believe that he's the one that then, rather than go ahead and foul me, did, like a bit of A panic. I got two guys wide open down the floor. If I just throw this over the top, the game's over. Like, that's one of those. Just throw it into the ceiling, throw it straight up in the air, and

[Don LaGreca]

you miss the first one, you're like, brutal. The game's basically over.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what it felt like.

[Don LaGreca]

10 full seconds on the inbounds.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Yeah. Again, what could go wrong went wrong for Duke, and everything that could go right went right for UConn in that moment. But to get to that moment, other things had to happen before that, which is a testament to UConn and their guys just not letting go. It says a lot about them and the makeup that they have as a team. And you know what? All of us that were whining about the fact that St. John's got a 5 seed and UConn got the 2 seed, even though St. John's beat him twice, including a Big east championship, now you kind of look at it and go, well, maybe UConn was a true two seat. Maybe that's. That was correct. There's something different about that team because St. John's on Friday, while they did battle defensively, they couldn't. They couldn't solve a zone. This is the part, you know, with all the great things that Pitino has done with that program, that felt like a coaching failure Friday. And why I say this is not because Rick Pitino's not a great coach. It's because his team was facing a zone and they couldn't figure it out. It completely stifled them. It's a zone, man. Like it. We're not talking about some intricate offense that you've never seen before. It was simply a zone. Zubi kept going to the free throw line, trying to make, like, float. He couldn't make floaters. It was just a bad look. And the kid, pray, who knocked? He was 4 for 4 from 3. He's the reason why they were able to build the big lead that they had. All of a sudden, he's on the bench, never gets back up. Like, I don't understand it. He does. He leaves his only guy that's got three point success in this game leaves him on the bench. And the kid sat in the first seat, like. And you saw the look on his face at timeouts. Guys are jumping up, high five. And he just got up. You could see it in his look. The look in this kid's face was, I should be out there helping my team. And I'm sitting here. And rather than stay down the Bench. It was the players, then there was the coaching staff. And then there was one more seat. He sat in that seat, first one. As if he was waiting for Pitino to turn around and go get in the game. My, my feeling, I'm telling you that that part he, you know, you gotta question, why didn't that kid get back into the playing zone?

[Don LaGreca]

Do you think it's possible that. And I really do sort of marvel at what Patino has done and does. Do you think it's possible that at this stage, Rick Patino, until basically as long as he has breath in his lungs, can get your program to be much better than it was and win a couple of rounds and be competitive in the tournament? But I don't know that he's putting together teams that have that next. Like that can go in a couple more.

[Alan Hahn]

No, here's why that's a different story. Because first of all, he got Providence to a Final Four. He obviously he's got.

[Don LaGreca]

He's a while ago.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, but I'm saying he got four programs to a final.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, we talked about it.

[Alan Hahn]

It's an insane three, three to a Final Four, right. And he won a national championship, right, with Louisville. Now I know they took it away from him, but he still won it. But what we're talking about now in today's college basketball world, Mike Rapoli has been a big part of supporting St. John's basketball and making sure that there's money there to get good players. Problem is he's one guy. Places like Duke, Kentucky and all the SEC schools, Michigan, they got more. They got like three or four Micropolis, right.

[Don LaGreca]

Who are willing to blow their hard earned money on getting don't care their alma mater basketball player.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what it's about. That's what I'm trying to do at lsu. I'm trying to get somebody. We have a lot of really rich alums. I'm trying to get somebody to be a micro poly for liu.

[Don LaGreca]

So.

[Alan Hahn]

Come on.

[Don LaGreca]

So that you think that's the bigger issue than the style of play? Like the fact that maybe his style of play just wouldn't lead to a championship.

[Alan Hahn]

His style of play is exactly how you win a championship. Hard nose defense. It like get after it. Defenders, tough kids.

[Don LaGreca]

It's just the players aren't talented quite so much.

[Alan Hahn]

It's just the offense, right? It's like Peter, it was a zone. It was a zone. It wasn't anything intricate. It was just simply we're going to bet they can't make threes because St. John's not a strong three point shooting team. They've had good games where they make threes, but when they don't, it's a disaster. And that they bet on themselves to take the pain away. The whole game changed when they went to zone and they struggled. And so it's, you know, getting better players is always the. The challenge. And that's what he's got to do. But I still. It's still okay to, you know, question a couple of things without being disrespectful, of course, to Rick Pitino, but there is a reason. Like what's that kid doing on the bench? He was 4 for 4 from 3 point range. Let him miss one first before you decide. I'm not going to play him. You needed somebody to be a zone buster, so that, that's what happened there. But St. John's never let go of the rope. They just didn't have enough. UConn had more, and maybe that's why they got. They did get that two seed. Now, the question, of course, is how far can they go? I mean, the matchup, Michigan and Arizona, everybody's saying in the final four, they're saying that's the championship game because those are the two best teams left and that the Illinois, UConn game is sort of like, you know, who. Who gets the play to lose to whoever's going to win the other matchup. I would take that personal. Like, you've got a little bit of that magic happening right now if you're a Yukon.

[Don LaGreca]

Absolutely. I mean, I'll. Coming off of this.

[Alan Hahn]

Come on.

[Don LaGreca]

And also, you don't make a shot

[Alan Hahn]

like that for nothing.

[Don LaGreca]

We. I might have to jump into top five action. I might have to jump in the top five.

[Alan Hahn]

What do you mean?

[Don LaGreca]

This makes me want to rank.

[Alan Hahn]

Graney did it today. He did.

[Don LaGreca]

Damn it. The greatest buzzer beaters of all time.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, the latent one was his number one, of course. Leitner against Kentucky. The.

[Don LaGreca]

It's hard to beat that one.

[Alan Hahn]

The Grant Hill that was also to go to the final four.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

So the Chris Jenkins one for Villanova was winning the whole damn thing. I argue that. I said they just made a three to take the lead. Like, they just made a shot that should have, like, gutted you, and instead you come up the floor, run a play you've run in practice all the time. Slingshot.

[Don LaGreca]

Nail it.

[Alan Hahn]

Archie to Jenkins. Jenkins 3. Bang. Done. All good. Let's go home.

[Don LaGreca]

And it's over for the tournament.

[Alan Hahn]

That's it. One shining moment plays Right after that goes down.

[Don LaGreca]

It is the.

[Alan Hahn]

How is that not number one?

[Don LaGreca]

It's nostalgia, really. No, no, that's what I'm saying. You're correct. Greeny is basing on nostalgia.

[Alan Hahn]

And Seth Greenberg also said it's nostalgia, though, that it's what that shot meant. The iconic teenager.

[Don LaGreca]

Right. Like, that was seriously. Like, I was 8 or I was. I was 12. They were like 22.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it's.

[Don LaGreca]

It's. But when you really think about it, and I will say the Leitner being perfect from the floor, he didn't miss a shot. That's a.

[Caller/Guest]

That's.

[Don LaGreca]

That's a sexy piece to add to it.

[Alan Hahn]

But Grant Hill with the pass before

[Don LaGreca]

the tournament at the buzzer for the tournament for it all down, too.

[Alan Hahn]

Was.

[Don LaGreca]

Was. Was Villanova down after the bucket or was tied? I think it was tied after the bucket.

[Alan Hahn]

Are you sure?

[Don LaGreca]

We need to look. I think it was tied and then Villanova won it with the game winner.

[Alan Hahn]

I thought Hunter hit the corner because

[Don LaGreca]

that would be the determining factor because the. Duke was down one. Duke was down one. Needed the two, right?

[Alan Hahn]

Yes.

[Don LaGreca]

If that's the case, that's always the better buzzer beater.

[Alan Hahn]

Fair point.

[Don LaGreca]

That's why this was so money.

[Alan Hahn]

You went from losing, hit the three you could have lost if you missed versus going over.

[Don LaGreca]

I just wish the point three had run off the clock as it went through the net. It was a tie game for Villanova. That's got to give it to Lane.

[Caller/Guest]

Right?

[Alan Hahn]

I see that one. Now there's also Jalen Suggs beating UCLA in the Final Four on a buzzer beater. Three jumped up on the scores table. That whole thing for Gonzaga, like that was a pretty big. Pretty big shot there, right? I think Mario Chalmers over Memphis. Kansas. Yeah, Kansas over Memphis. Yep.

[Don LaGreca]

But how far you want to go back? Because that you and I talked about it. That Nadav Hennifel passed to Tate George at the buzzer was a absolute classic from like 88. It was in the first round. But, you know, the year after Maryland won the tournament and the following year, they were down two. Drew Nicholas running down the court, hit a three at the buzzer. And of course, there's Homer Drew calling up for his son, Bryce Drew.

[Alan Hahn]

It was Bryce Drew, right, who hit that shot. That was the big upset for Valpo.

[Don LaGreca]

And that was a designed masterpiece.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes.

[Don LaGreca]

I mean, one of the most beautifully designed buzzer beetles you'll ever see. But that was the first round.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, exactly. So those are some that are on the table. One that I wouldn't count was the. The famous, of course, NC State, where Lorenzo Charles. It was sort of the, you know, the putback. It was. It was. It was like a catch and dunk off a shot that.

[Don LaGreca]

Nah, it's a great play, but it's.

[Alan Hahn]

It's iconic. It won a championship, but. Yeah, so there's a lot that we can kick around, but, you know, it's iconic. What is.

[Don LaGreca]

You know, it's tremendous. What is drop men.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, yes, it is.

[Don LaGreca]

And I have. I have a hunch we're going to bounce right back today with proper voting, as we should. Is this the Elite eight, Anthony?

[Alan Hahn]

No, we're still looking for the rest of the sweet 16.

[Don LaGreca]

This is the last of the sweet 16 to get to the elite eight. Here we go. I'm gonna call him out. You guys play the drops. We start out in the flub region. I think Allen has a very tough matchup. The three seed is in action up against the 11.

[Alan Hahn]

You think Jarrett Jeter would have allowed this?

[Don LaGreca]

Who's Jarek Jeter?

[Alan Hahn]

Jarek. Jarek Jeter versus Harbaugh.

[Don LaGreca]

Tough in the flub region today. Now the funny region. Hell of a matchup. The three seed. You're a filth bag. You're a sex star. Filth bag. Up against the 11.

[Alan Hahn]

If he was that bad.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, man. Southern Allen in action.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Don LaGreca]

Well, now we go to the troubling region. And the troubling region doing what it does. The troubling region is troubling, folks. The 11 seed before

[Alan Hahn]

that is troubling.

[Don LaGreca]

Up against the 14.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm going to do it in my pants.

[Don LaGreca]

So you really have just troubling all over the place there.

[Alan Hahn]

It's troubling everywhere.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, and a huge matchup. The matchup of the day. Here is your. This is your 723cbs vehicle. And I know Zach Zauber.

[Caller/Guest]

He was the crew chief. He's a Brooklyn guy, used to call games at the Jewish settlement on Eastern Parkway up against. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Alan Hahn]

Two of our favorites.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, it's a big Spike Griffin matchup. That's a hello, friends in the Nether region. That is a hello friends vehicle. And go vote right now. Here's the deal. You have to go onto our Twitter or X page, whatever you call it. You go on there. You go to DHR on espn and you vote in each one. All right? Please do that right now so we can get proper winners and send them off to the Elite 8. Amazon Hub Delivery wants to partner with your business. Help your business. Help your neighbors discover a new stream of income for your business. When you partner with Amazon Hub Delivery, you and your team will deliver Amazon packages to customers in your neighborhood on a schedule that works for you and you'll be paid for every package you deliver. Getting started is easy. There's no doubt delivery experience required. No long term contracts and you receive weekly direct deposits.

[Caller/Guest]

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[Don LaGreca]

Gain exposure for your business. Apply today at Amazon.com hubdelivery that's Amazon.com hubdelivery know a local business that would make a great partner?

[Alan Hahn]

A local coffee shop owner, florist, automotive shop, dry cleaner, you name it.

[Don LaGreca]

Refer a business today and earn 500 when they successfully join the program. Visit Amazon.com hubdelivery to learn more or refer a partner. That's Amazon.com hubdelivery now looking for hub partners in your area?

[Alan Hahn]

I like things my way. My coffee, my schedule and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo pre filled syringe, which contains fgartegamon Alpha and Hyaluronidase qvfc. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit vivgartmyway.com that's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T myway.com and talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo brought to you by Argenics. Quick time out.

[Don LaGreca]

Some breakfast intel you want to know about. Kodiak Frozen Power Waffles and flapjacks are built for busy mornings and heat it, eat it and you're out the door. No long prep, no complicated game plan. They're packed with 12 to 14 grams of protein per serving, a good source of fiber and crafted with 100% whole grains, not refined white flour. So you're getting something that actually fuels you and there's depth on the roster. Buttermilk and vanilla blueberry chocolate chip. Even gluten free options. Breakfast that delivers Snack that delivers. Find Kodiak frozen waffles and flapjacks in the frozen aisle at your local grocery store. They're the ones with the bear on the box.

[Alan Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don, Han and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don LaGreca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Alan Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. All right, let's get some calls going here. 893-776. There's a lot happening over the weekend. Again, everybody's now playing, so there's a lot to watch. Of course, the baseball just getting started. Yankees were impressive, especially the pitching to start. Now we'll figure out is it the pitching or the Giants not as good as we thought. That new manager is just taking heat already. Mets had a great Saturday. Not so great finish on Sunday, but plenty more to get to on the baseball side of things. And of course, March Madness, the UConn win, epic, iconic, all of it happening yesterday. And the Knicks in Oklahoma City last night get a loss as well. So lots more to get to with you. We got calls at 800 now at 93776. And why not? UConn's biggest fan that we know, Griffin in Connecticut. Griff, you've got. You got a chance to win two national titles in the same year with the men's and women's team. Where are you right now?

[Caller/Guest]

I'm on cloud nine. The girls I knew were going to get there because I believe we have what it takes. We've been dominant all year, but the guys, on the other hand, it looked like we were out, but just to fight that we had and the will to come all the way back. I almost feel like being down in that situation that we were in most of all year, the game in its province. We were down, but we never gave up. The game against Marquette, we lost, but we were down, but we never gave up. So I feel like maybe you can ask Malachi when you have him on. I feel like maybe being down in those games earlier this year helped us in this game where we're like, you know what? We have this. We just got to fight back slowly. And we can do this because we've done this all year. And I feel like that maybe helped us because Duke wasn't in that situation for most of the year. We've been in that situation. So I must feel like that helped us. And having someone like Caravan that's been in the situation all of his career, and he's an icon up here, and I feel like it's just amazing to see what him hitting a big shot and then Mullins. Oh, my God. Oh, for four, all game or for five? I don't remember. And he just skeeved it up. And I screamed so loud. I'm surprised you guys couldn't hear me from your house. That's how exciting. And what. I was so pumped up. I couldn't believe what happened.

[Don LaGreca]

Congrats, my friend. We're happy for you. Now, how do you feel about your big matchup today in the tournament?

[Caller/Guest]

What, Peter? Spike has a really good drop, so I think. I think Spike might pull that one.

[Alan Hahn]

No question.

[Caller/Guest]

He's a really good drop.

[Don LaGreca]

What did you think? What did you think about what happened with what? Peter up against the Marco drop and Don tipping the scales the way he did.

[Caller/Guest]

We know we. I. I love Don. I love Don. But we know once Don says something like that, Marco is going to get more favorited because people know Marco cares. Your daughter has no clue. Is not even. Not even two years old.

[Don LaGreca]

That's right.

[Caller/Guest]

So she had no clue. Marco knew. So I love Don. I'm not trying to burn any dealings with Don, but, you know, once he did that, they're like, oh, we gotta do a favor to. To Marco, because Marco will be upset. Maya will not be upset, because Maya doesn't really care. No, no, no, no, no, no.

[Don LaGreca]

Thank you for saying what needed to be said. That is Don James. Yeah, Ladon James.

[Alan Hahn]

We know what Ladon James did happen last week. Griff, enjoy this. Thanks for the call, as always. Speaking of drop Madness, Drake in Poughkeepsie wants to chime in on that. Go ahead, Drake.

[Caller/Guest]

Yeah, guys, well, no, Drop Madness is the best thing this show does, but I deleted Twitter over a decade ago. Right on the. Putting the voting of your most treasured pieces of artwork on Twitter. It's as if the Great Dipperstein finally framed your 247 championship. And you're like, oh, my goodness, I want to go see it. Where's the display? And he says, you're gonna love it. It's in the decrepit cabbage on the Brooklyn Bridge. You're not going. You're not going to check it out? I'm sorry.

[Don LaGreca]

I didn't understand most of what you said.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, what he basically said is he doesn't have Twitter anymore. He can't vote. Okay. He feels like that was a mistake

[Caller/Guest]

because it's like hanging the Mona Lisa outhouse in Far Rockaway.

[Alan Hahn]

There it is.

[Don LaGreca]

The Mona Lisa abandoned house in Far Rockaway. I like flipping the. Flipping it like that. The Michael Kism. Thank you. I appreciate that. But, yeah, Drake went on a run there of doing some really great, like, inside baseball show stuff, and I heard him reference my 247 that Dipperstein never had framed for me. So this guy's obviously a true rosebud.

[Alan Hahn]

Wait a second. Hang on. You don't have a framed photo of you winning?

[Don LaGreca]

No, not only that, I bought the title. I have the title before they stopped, like Selling it. I. I have a replica of the title.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Don LaGreca]

And my manager, who I, you know, supposed to care about me, supposed to said, don't do anything. I'm gonna get it taken care of.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Don LaGreca]

Never did it. It's been five. We're going on five years.

[Alan Hahn]

Five years.

[Don LaGreca]

This is the five year anniversary.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't know. Hate to break it to you.

[Don LaGreca]

He doesn't care about me.

[Alan Hahn]

No, it's not gonna happen now.

[Don LaGreca]

It's over.

[Alan Hahn]

I gotta make you done waiting. He told you don't do anything.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Do something.

[Don LaGreca]

I need to find a framer who's good because it needs to be like the titles framed and then there's the picture next to it. Like that moment. The pictures. The whole thing. That's the whole thing. And there's a fantastic photograph. Oh, yeah. WWE has the. There's an official. Great photo of. I can't remember. I think the best photo might have been a screenshot from the moment. Not one of their official photos. But I also took. I went backstage and went to their photo people. I took official photos with the title when I was champion too. So I have those too.

[Alan Hahn]

What do we do?

[Don LaGreca]

I know. How is that not. Because this goes back to the move situation. We don't have. We don't have the house to have all the stuff. We don't have it.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

And I. And. And the frustrating part is I don't know when it's gonna happen. And like, I'm starting to be like, I'm 46. I kind of want the place. Like I got. We're not guaranteed to be on this earth forever. And my whole life I've been like, one day I'll have a place. I'll have all my records. I'll have all my stuff. I'll have. And we're sort of. I don't know. And my. I love. I found this wonderful woman who gave me this wonderful child. And this wonderful woman really wants to stay in New York. And I. Unless I become worth like $30 million, I just don't know whether I can pull off the kind of place that I'd have to pull off in New York to do it.

[Alan Hahn]

I'd still want to have it.

[Don LaGreca]

I know what you're saying.

[Alan Hahn]

I know.

[Don LaGreca]

Even if it's not in the right place yet. I know. I think it's. I think. Can you check for them? Check me. Check for that. Anthony, can you check that for me? I believe I won the 24 championship at the end of January in 2021. Which would make this the five year. This year is the five year anniversary, which is, by the way, back to Alan's philosophy. Covid, just the time didn't happen.

[Alan Hahn]

I told you.

[Don LaGreca]

It just. It's just insane. That can't be five years.

[Alan Hahn]

60 seconds is now 30 seconds. Well, I know that's the case because that's when I started on K and you. The first day of K, Andrew yelled at Don about the Eagles throwing the game that cost the Giants the chance at.

[Don LaGreca]

I know it already. You don't have to yell at me.

[Alan Hahn]

And R. Truth went into your hotel room.

[Don LaGreca]

That's your first day.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, yeah, my first day. Boot hit the ground running. You wanted a Roy Rumble. Yeah. That was January 31, 2021.

[Don LaGreca]

2021. So this is the five year anniversary as we live and breathe in the year of our Lord. So wow, what a day for you, Anthony, because that day was crazy. We had to do the taping with WWE and. Yes. Earlier, right?

[Alan Hahn]

Yes. No, we didn't. That was live. I don't know what you're talking about.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, yeah. I mean, it was live because.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes. Was there live when it happened.

[Don LaGreca]

That was so much work. I can't even believe I got Michael on board with it. I'm surprised. Michael at some point. And yes was like, you know what? Enough with the phony baloney wrestling. I'm not doing. I'm so shocked. He didn't give up because it required us. Like, we had to do the thing where I'm losing the title to R Truth. But we had to, like, set it up in a way that it would work on the radio. So it required some.

[Alan Hahn]

I recall the moment.

[Don LaGreca]

Yes, it required some work.

[Alan Hahn]

People had to be invested.

[Don LaGreca]

Invested. And so we somehow got it done. I'm just. I'm thankful that Michael didn't pull up. It's not low, it's loud. But he didn't. He let us. He let us play our game.

[Alan Hahn]

He didn't. Well, actually you at all. He just played along, which is what a good teammate.

[Don LaGreca]

That's what a good teammate does.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what it's about.

[Don LaGreca]

And when Michael. With Michael, you get good teammate. He does the thing he's supposed to do. He then just complains about it to you for the rest of your life or insults you about it.

[Alan Hahn]

He had to be a part of it.

[Don LaGreca]

But no, in that case, he was actually pretty into it. I think he had a lot of fun with that.

[Alan Hahn]

Why wouldn't you?

[Don LaGreca]

You know, some people. Some people. I don't even know this. There have been afternoon drive sports tacos in the city who take themselves rather seriously. I don't know if you're aware.

[Alan Hahn]

No idea.

[Don LaGreca]

Meanwhile, Michael K with one of the great commercials of all time, enjoyed seeing it this weekend. Also saw. I haven't seen yours yet. I saw a fantastic Monica McNutt Gotham app commercial this weekend.

[Alan Hahn]

Mine allegedly ran during the Devils game yesterday.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, they're putting you on the.

[Alan Hahn]

I saw it on the Rangers. You saw it on the Rangers?

[Don LaGreca]

They're only. They're only running Allen's on hockey games.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I only get hockey.

[Don LaGreca]

I saw Monica's. I saw Monica's during a Nick game. I think Alan gets run during the hockey. You know what? That's where I'll see it.

[Alan Hahn]

At least I'm in the rotation.

[Don LaGreca]

There you go.

[Alan Hahn]

That's all you can ask for.

[Don LaGreca]

But it was a very cool looking spot. The Monica one, like, looked. It looked big time.

[Alan Hahn]

They. They got her on the court.

[Don LaGreca]

She's walking on the court, then she sits down and I can't do any

[Alan Hahn]

of that stuff because I'm. I'm wasting time with you guys before games. You know what I mean? Yeah, they had to. They had to get me to do mine after the pregame show.

[Don LaGreca]

That's not right.

[Alan Hahn]

In the studio the other night.

[Don LaGreca]

No, it doesn't hit the same.

[Alan Hahn]

It doesn't.

[Don LaGreca]

That's why they.

[Alan Hahn]

But we did what we could.

[Don LaGreca]

That's why they're gonna put you on the oat show. Those commercials were on the oat show.

[Alan Hahn]

Like I said, as long as I'm in the rotation.

[Don LaGreca]

All you need, baby. Along with the checklist.

[Alan Hahn]

Let's go to Kevin in Plainfield. Hey, Kevin.

[Caller/Guest]

Hey, guys. How you doing? Alan, it's a pleasure to talk with you. You are my inspiration when it comes to the Knicks, man. I just want you to know that

[Alan Hahn]

I appreciate it. Although I would hope you'd aim higher for inspiration. Like, you know, Jalen Brunson, he's pretty good.

[Caller/Guest]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, let me. Let me rephrase that. As a Knicks fan. You are. You speak for us. That's what I'll say. That. Let's just say that.

[Alan Hahn]

I like that. Yeah.

[Caller/Guest]

Okay. Okay. Yeah. Jalen Brunson. Yeah, he's my. He's my number one and everything, but I had some. A lot of thoughts, but the main thought that I have with this team is we are not going to win a championship if we do not get Karl Anthony Towns the ball. There are so many. There were so many times last night that we could have Gotten it to him and he could have, you know, taking advantage of, you know, the, the matchups.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. They're putting small players on them and.

[Caller/Guest]

Okay, so now I'm going to ask you this, Alan. Two questions. Fold. Number one, with beat writers, whether it's the Knicks or whoever. Do you speak writers have the authority to ask coaches anything?

[Alan Hahn]

Of course.

[Caller/Guest]

Off the bat.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Caller/Guest]

Okay. Okay. So me as a beat writer, if I was for the Knicks, I would ask Mike Brown, why aren't you emphasizing giving the ball to Carl Anthony Towns? Because this is a dude. This is a guy. He. He. Yes. He doesn't have the. The. The voice or the willpower. Now, I won't say willpower. The voice to be like a, you know, a Patrick Ewing or Shaquille or all these other guys, you know, to do demanding the ball. We know that when you think that's the coach's job to make sure to, you know, as your number two player, to make sure that he's involved as much as he can. Because obviously, obviously, what the plan that Mike Brown is doing now, you know, through all this year, it works to an extent, but it hasn't worked when it's involving Carl Anthony Towns. And last night, I'm sorry, other than Hartenstein, I don't think there's anyone on that Oklahoma City Thunder team that can handle Carl Anthony Towns down low or even, you know, as, you know, one of the best big men to shoot at shooting. I don't think there's anyone on that Oklahoma City team that can handle him. And it's just frustrating. We could, honestly, we could have won that game. We were in that game until the last few minutes, you know, a few minutes of the fourth quarter, and we just gave it up because we didn't go. Because we went away from, you know, going, you know, going to Towns. And it seems like it's a recurring theme. So that is my. My. I guess silicon, whatever you want to call it. That is my. My. My biggest frustration.

[Alan Hahn]

This is your biggest frustration throughout the whole.

[Caller/Guest]

Yes, throughout the whole.

[Alan Hahn]

I get it.

[Caller/Guest]

No, the whole year.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Caller/Guest]

And it's wrong. So again, I'm going to ask, why can't beat reporters ask Mike Brown that question?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, I'll tell you what, Kevin. It's a good question. I will answer it. On the other side, Clinton Yates here. Game day brings the excitement.

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[Don LaGreca]

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[Don LaGreca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Alan Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. All right, so the question from the caller before was in regards to Carl Anthony Towns and his frustration with not just Towns's inconsistency in the offense. We saw. First half, he didn't. Wasn't even part of the game. First half in Charlotte wasn't even part of the game. Like a lot of things that happen, he'll have a good, good game, but then he can get lost easily in other games. And the caller asked, like, don't the beat writers ask questions? Yes, they do. In fact, I remember Mike Brown being asked about Towns and how to get him more involved. And Brown has talked about things we're asking of him in the first half of the season. Brown kept saying, he's got to learn what we want from him. What we're asking from him. It's. He's got the biggest challenge because when he plays the five, he's got to do this. When he plays the four, he's got to learn this. Like, he just. He kept saying that it was a process that he had to learn and all. Towns keep saying. In fact, he said it last night. That's the part that got me last night on the. On the NBC broadcast, he said that. I literally just had it here.

[Don LaGreca]

Now, of course, he said it in an interview.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. He was talking with the sideline reporter again. It's all right here.

[Don LaGreca]

Go ahead.

[Alan Hahn]

On my phone. Yeah. And now it's gone.

[Don LaGreca]

Come on, man, do better.

[Alan Hahn]

I try to do better, for God's sake. So it was Zora Stevenson, who's the sideline reporter. Okay. And it was before the game, and, you know, she was asking about him and his role in the offense. And since All Star break, his numbers are good and are things really starting to come around? He said, I'm still trying to figure out where I could impact our team and winning the most. There's like seven games left in the season. Peter still trying to figure it out. That's alarming. But Mike Brown has said we've changed things for him to make him more comfortable. We've taken some things away that he wasn't comfortable doing. We've put him back into spots where he was comfortable. Like, they've essentially scrapped what they were planning on doing and just said, okay, we'll just play it the way you want. To play. And yet there's still a disconnect. So the questions are being asked. I don't know if anybody likes the answers. Nobody likes the results. And I think this is part of the reason why. A nick team that certainly has enough talent, I think, to be a contender, and the stats and their record tell you that they're up there with the best teams in the league. But when you see them on that stage, like, do they look like they can go to a gear? Like OKC can? Do they look like they can go to a gear. I mean, they've done well against Boston earlier in the season, but there's gears that these other teams go to. And the Knicks, like, last night, were hanging in because they were being scrappy and they were just gritty, but you just felt like in any moment, OKC is just going to go on a little mini run, game over. And that's what. That's what Shea did. He just all of a sudden just had a couple of buckets, and you just knew, all right, well, that's it.

[Don LaGreca]

Game's over now. Now.

[Alan Hahn]

And towns, like, Brunson had 30. Like, he. Brunson was Brunson. But you don't win at that level with one dude. You gotta have two. You gotta have a supporting cast, but you gotta have that other guy that. When the defense is focused on Brunson, that other guy goes one on one and destroys people. And he's. He just hasn't had that this year. And something's missing. Something's not connecting. And it could be what holds them back from reaching the finals, reaching the conference finals.

[Don LaGreca]

He took. Cat. Took nine shots.

[Alan Hahn]

That's not enough.

[Don LaGreca]

It's not enough shots.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, how many in the second half? Because I don't think he took more than one or two in the first half.

[Don LaGreca]

The.

[Alan Hahn]

The.

[Don LaGreca]

The second most, as far as shot output goes.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

Brunson took 22. The next most was Bridges with 11, who shot well. Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

Early on, Bridges was very good.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, he was 6 for 11.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

And Alvarado shot the ball 10 times.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, he actually.

[Don LaGreca]

But Cat's 5 for 9 now.

[Alan Hahn]

But how about this?

[Don LaGreca]

Can you give me 10 for 18?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, he had 17 rebounds, right? 18. 17 rebounds, yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

18.

[Alan Hahn]

18. So he did that. It's not that the guy's not trying or checked out. No, it's just when he's got Caruso on him, who's 6, 5, and he's 7ft, and there's no. You just can't get on the ball. I don't Understand it. Like, I don't understand it.

[Don LaGreca]

It is very hard to pinball people. And it's. And to your point, it's not an effort issue. It's not like he's not locked in. It's hard to kind of figure out,

[Alan Hahn]

man, I, it, it, like I said, it is the biggest question about this team and the biggest concern I have about what they can be going forward. Because how do you win at that level? How could you possibly have the audacity to think you could beat a team like the Thunder in a seven game series if you can't figure out how to get him to dominate? Because yes, Chet's good and Hartenstein's good. They're not him. Like, they're not him when he's going. And that's Mike Brown to figure out somehow, some way. But it sounds like he's trying everything, including scrapping everything and finding what do you want to. Where do you want the ball? Where do you like the ball? What do you want? Like, how do you want to do it? Okay, we'll do, we'll do it your way. We'll make you happy. And it's still night in and night out. Not happening against Charlotte. He took, I think in the first half, he barely touched the ball against Charlotte and their offense was struggling against Charlotte. And then when he finally started getting the ball, they have nobody big enough to deal with him, but it was, it wasn't enough. So when you ask the question, that's the answer. It's. They have tried everything this year, but he just never seems comfortable and never seems happy. And all he keeps saying was, I'm just trying to figure out what I need to do to help this team win. I'm just trying to figure it out. I'm just trying to figure it out. We've got less than 10 games to go, less than two weeks to go in the season. It's getting late to figure it out. Mike Brown last night on the loss in okc.

[Don LaGreca]

They have a system. They do a great job exploiting it the right way in their favor. And so I take my hat off to them. But you can't help them out. And we help them out. I know a handful of times I'm thinking, I mean, I vividly see a few plays where he drives and we just stick our hands in because we're not ready to play and, or we think we're going to get a steal instead of just making them take a tough shot. But obviously if you go on the road and you get, you know, Hammered from the free throw line 38 to 17. That's more than double. They had one player low take as many free throws as us. And so if you get hammered on that, you got to be really good in other areas.

[Alan Hahn]

That one player alone that Mike Brown's talking about is Shea, Gilgas, Alexander. He had 17 or 16 free throw attempts, the Knicks had 17. And Mike went into the game talking about the way Shea manipulates defenses to draw fouls and how they have to be careful with it. I thought Josh Hart played his ass off trying to slow him down and not foul. They had him. He was shooting poorly. He had a bad shooting night. But it's amazing that again in winning time, he knew exactly what to do. He drew some fouls and then he started getting his points from the free throw line. And the Knicks got more and more frustrated. And Mike Brown got a tech. His only other tech this season was also against the Thunder, the last time you saw them. But how about this? He's the first player. This is sga. The first player in NBA history to record the following numbers in a two game spin. 28 or more free throw attempts shooting under 10%, three pointers and on 12, 12 plus attempts and played under 70 minutes. 28 free throw attempts.

[Don LaGreca]

That's an insane number.

[Alan Hahn]

Like the foul baiting and all that stuff and the.

[Don LaGreca]

How much of it is just him being good at it though.

[Alan Hahn]

He's just good.

[Don LaGreca]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

James Harden did this stuff too. You had to just be careful. He shows you the ball. It's like a magic trick.

[Don LaGreca]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Now you see it, now you don't. But when he shows you the ball and you think swipe and then he just turns his hand. Now you hit his wrist. Free throw. He drives to the basket and it's like driving to the chest. Make you backpedal, get you off your. Get you. And then you just run right over.

[Don LaGreca]

And people can get mad about it. And you have every right to say it's not your cup of tea. But you can't call it is illegal that that's playing within the rules. To make the rules work for you is what great players do. The level to which they do it. You know. Listen, so I used to always hear this about Sid.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

Sid drew a lot of penalties as a young player with the Penguins, of course.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Don LaGreca]

And he got protected a lot. Of course.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Don LaGreca]

And people can hate on it all they want. It's, it's. You have to be better.

[Alan Hahn]

You have to manipulating the rules, but it's just understanding them. And how to use them to your advantage. Again, it's something James Harden did all the time. Jalen Brunson was accused of this as well.

[Don LaGreca]

That's a great point.

[Alan Hahn]

Right?

[Don LaGreca]

You really can't get mad if you're a Knicks fan.

[Alan Hahn]

But if this is the reality and you know what you're playing and you know what you're dealing with, there's something the Knicks struggle to do that is also a bit of a frustration with them. And it came out last night. Again, we'll discuss that. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don LaGreca]

I don't want to know how the

[Alan Hahn]

sausage is made, but I just want to know. It's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter

[Don LaGreca]

Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8

[Alan Hahn]

80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers from 30 for 30 podcasts.

[Caller/Guest]

Did you say someone got shot?

[Don LaGreca]

Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami,

[Alan Hahn]

gunned down the key to this case. It's Brian.

[Don LaGreca]

An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody.

[Alan Hahn]

This might be a hit. You want the truth?

[Don LaGreca]

They just want a conviction.

[Alan Hahn]

Being placed under arrest. We had a killer amongst us.

[Don LaGreca]

Murder at the U. Listen now.