Loading summary
Transcript85 lines
- [00:01]
Uber Eats Advertiser
It's time for basketball and Uber Eats is dropping deals on game day favorites to keep you locked in on the action. Like when you're craving a buzzer beater, but also Buffalo Wings or when an upset makes you want to ugly cry into a pizza. And right now Uber Eats has game day deals from Burger King, Buffalo Wild Wings, KFC and hundreds more local favorites so you can keep your eyes on the ball and your hands on a burger. Order now only on Uber Eats. Product availability varies by region. See app for details.
- [00:31]
Don Hahn
This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [00:35]
Rosenberg
That sounds like heaven to me.
- [00:36]
Don Hahn
Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.
- [00:44]
Rosenberg
602 in the big city. Last call crew 1-800-919-3776. Also the last time on this show that I'm going to tell you that it's time for the tournament update brought to you by Amazon Pickup. We're now in that window or down to just a couple of games. BYU's up 70 to 55 on VCU. There's under four minutes to play there and they're early in the second half. Gonzaga 58, Georgia 36. Everything else is final. Not a great first day of the tournament. Dan Houston won easily over SIU. Edwardsville 78 40. Auburn knocks off Alabama State 83 63. It was Wisconsin 85, Montana 66, Purdue 75, High Point 63. Creighton knocked off Louisville 80, 89 to 75. Really the only competitive game was McNeese with a 6967 win over Clemson. So you had the 125 upset there and had a really competitive two point game and of course, but that wasn't. What's that for how long?
- [01:43]
Dan
Right. Like that was a laugher.
- [01:45]
Rosenberg
That was a laugher until like the latter stages but the ended up being a two point game. St. John's is going to kick off the tournament at 9:45 tonight in Providence versus Iowa. That's the tournament update brought to you by Amazon Pickup. Amazon Pickup is a convenient and secure way to collect your Amazon packages from locations near you. So you know, usually we'll see what happens tonight but didn't get that buzzer beater. Didn't get that classic game at least so far in the first round of the tournament.
- [02:12]
Dan
Yeah, I think you got a couple of. Yeah, well I mean we'll see. But as far as like upset opportunities tonight, like live, you know, dogs if you will. You know people are looking at Yale to see if they could do it for a second straight year in a 4:13. Remember last year they knocked off Auburn in the first round. I don't think it happens this year. I think A and M is going to be able to outmuscle them a little bit. But I think Drake has a heck of a shot tonight to knock off Missouri. That's an 11 6. And then UC San Diego against Michigan. I know Michigan is kind of this like, unique, you know, they got a pair of seven footers. It's not so much a big man's game anymore. They just won the Big Ten tournament. I just got a hunch. Don't ask me why they're playing in Denver. The altitude. Watch UC San Diego in that one.
- [02:54]
Rosenberg
All right, you definitely follow it. You've been up on it big time throughout the year. So he's giving you some gems, either the bet on or at least be interested. It's a huge, huge night of sports and I don't think it's hyperbole when you consider you got the tournament. St. John's playing at 9:45 tonight. Nick's trying to get off the mat after what happened in San Antonio last night. Not a big game per se, but I think you'd kind of be interested in seeing how they respond after that in Charlotte. And we did get information that Brunson is out of the walking boot and shooting a little bit. So I guess he's getting closer to returning. So that's good news. Massive game for the Rangers against the Leaf, trying to bounce back after a disgusting effort against Calgary on Tuesday. And they're on the outside looking in for the playoffs and they're playing their 70th game, Montreal on the Islanders. They're playing just their 68th game. Montreal's got the eight seed right now, point ahead of the Rangers. And you're going to be rooting for the Islanders if you're a Ranger fan. But if the Islanders win, they would then if the Rangers were to lose, just be a point back of the range or two points back of the Rangers and they'd have two games in hand. So it's a huge game for the Islanders because if they win a regulation against Montreal, they would find themselves just a point out of a playoff spot that after trading Brock Nelson and it looked like they were waving the white flag. And you know, Columbus is playing tonight. They're. They're only a couple of points back of the Rangers. They three points out of a playoff spot, also with games in hand. That's the other thing that kills the Rangers, Dan, is that they've played more games than anybody else. Like I said, this is their 70th game tonight. Well, it looks like everybody else that they're chasing or being chased by have only played 68 counting tonight. So they're going to be sitting around watching while teams are going to be able to gain ground while they're idle. That's not good either. So.
- [04:41]
Dan
Right. It feels a little bit like the Rangers open the season in like Slovakia with like three or four games and like the rest of the league hasn't caught up yet, but it just, it hasn't been the case. And you know, we talked about the mail in the other night against Calgary and remember that was a Calgary team playing the tail end of a back to back. Toronto had a game last night and that was a tough it out win over Colorado. Granted it was at home, but you have a team coming into your building again that had to play last night.
- [05:05]
Rosenberg
And travel and it didn't hurt the Flames. We'll see if it hurts. Toronto, Toronto scene if they can't win the Atlantic Division, they're only a couple of points back of Florida. So tons of hockey to get into NBA. We've got everything happening with the NCAA tournament. Baseball is just a week away. It's great to be a sports fan. 1-800-919-3776 let's go to Dave in the Car. You're on ESPN New York.
- [05:30]
Dave
Hey guys, thanks for having me on. You know, let me just give you an idea and then I'll tell you the question that I have. I remember Belichick was one of those coaches who used to hide injuries and I'd tell you the complete truth about hurt players. And then recently a story came out about the jets quarterback who they tried to rush from rehab and hurt. That story didn't come out until the end of the football season. Okay, so keep that in mind. I'm watching the mix game. A friend of mine who loves basketball and he's actually been a big cat fan even when he was in Minnesota, he said it's more than just a finger with cat. He's lost some explosion. I don't know if it's his leg or I don't know if he's playing with a leg injury.
- [06:13]
Dan
We had a knee earlier, Dave, that he's got a knee that he's. Remember he missed a game or two because of it. So yeah, it's the hand, it's the knee. He's banged up.
- [06:23]
Dave
Here's what I'll say and you correct me if I'm wrong. If we find out the Cat, considering the minutes he's logging, has been playing on something, that's really a bum thing. And considering Brunson's out now and for some reason he goes down from that same injury, do you think, do you think Tibbs job will be in jeopardy if he's playing on something that he should have been resting on and it blows out on him?
- [06:48]
Dan
But, Dave, Dave, Dave, I love you, but think about what you're saying, okay? This is a team that, if you watch last night's game, all right? This team struggles for offense consistently when Brunson doesn't play. I told you last night, Cat was the only guy in the starting five that could score. The other dudes were 3 for 24 in the first half. I mean, normally we condemn players for not playing so much and for sitting out and missing time. Now you got a guy who goes out there and lays it all out on the line, really embodies what an all star is supposed to be, trying to pick up the slack for your team captain who's not there. And now we're going to sit here and say he shouldn't be playing. Everybody's banged up. You're 70 games into the season.
- [07:26]
Dave
But that's where it drew my attention. I was like, God, they lost this game. This guy played his heart out. I hope he didn't go all out. And now he spent. Is he, is, is he playing with something? I'm just curious because I just would hate to see something like that happen because they need both these guys to be on the court.
- [07:44]
Dan
But, but Dave, what, what do you again, like, what, what's the solution? Don't play, don't try hard? That's what it sounds like.
- [07:50]
Rosenberg
Well, no, no.
- [07:51]
Dan
So, like, all these games, they could have been losing then if, if Cat didn't play.
- [07:54]
Rosenberg
But I, I, I think what he's saying is that if, if there's something wrong with him, why are you letting him play if you're locked into the three, if there's something seriously wrong with him, that would be malpractice by Tibbs to be sending him out there when he should, he should be out. That's why I don't think there's anything serious. He might be nursing someone. I mean, most, most basketball players, once you start to get to like, late 60s, early 70 games played, you're probably going to be feeling something. And he said he's, he's had the barking knee, but the guy's gonna, if he's healthy enough to Play. He's gonna play. I don't think he's being pushed with an injury. We're not gonna find out later that he had, you know, a meniscus and he was playing on it. Because if that were the case, wouldn't it make sense to sit him?
- [08:36]
Dan
But he had 32 points last night. How hurt could he have been?
- [08:39]
Rosenberg
What was he.
- [08:39]
Dan
So your feet was 100. If this was game one, what was he gonna go for? 60.
- [08:42]
Rosenberg
But he was saying he seems to lack expl. I don't.
- [08:46]
Dan
When, when has he ever had explosion?
- [08:49]
Rosenberg
I, I, I don't think up and down the court.
- [08:52]
Dan
I mean, he's seven feet tall or.
- [08:54]
Rosenberg
I know he pushes these players.
- [08:55]
Dan
Usain Bolt.
- [08:56]
Rosenberg
I know he pushes these players, and they play a lot more minutes than other players on other teams do. But if there was something seriously wrong with him, where they are, this, this is the luxury you have. Right. That's why they can treat Robinson the way they have. You don't have to play him today, you know, Charlotte, but it's also, like, it would be awful if you lost the game, but you're kind of locked in, so take advantage of that fact.
- [09:18]
Dan
Well, the scary moment in the game last night, though, with Cat, when they were getting their butts kicked, I think it was late in the first half when they were down 20 something or whatever it was. He went up for a shot and then, like, you know, somebody swipes their hand down and it got him in the hand and remember, he's dealing with that thumb, right? And he immediately grabbed it and then went to the locker room. And I was like, oh, I don't know if he's coming back from that. And he came right back and he was back in the game like a few minutes later.
- [09:44]
Rosenberg
Yeah, I don't think there's any issue there, but Kevin from Great Neck thinks he should be handled differently down the stretch. You're on espn, New York. What's up, Kevin?
- [09:52]
Kevin
Hey, guys. Good evening. How are you?
- [09:54]
Rosenberg
Good, man.
- [09:55]
Kevin
You cook two points. One point is there's about 10, 12 games left. They're pretty much locked into three seed. Thibodeau keeps running these guys out there. 40 minutes a night, 35 minutes a night. Give the talent a night off. Give Josh Hardenite off. Give og. You just want these guys healthy going to the playoffs. They keep running them out there for no reason. These games are basically, at this point, meaningless. With Brunson out, the chemistry is not going to get better anyway. You might as well start resting. Some guys I know it's not the Tom Thibodeau DNA, but you got to start resting these guys.
- [10:32]
Rosenberg
But here's the thing, Kevin. What are we led to believe? You hear everybody say these players want to play, and then Bridges comes out and says he thinks he's playing too many minutes. Like, I don't know if everybody universally feels they're playing too much or too little. I don't think any player is having their arm twisted to go out there and play. Now, if you want to scale back their minutes, you know, if you're up 20 tonight in the fourth quarter, then I would just empty out the bench. But, you know, they just don't believe in load management. I think it's one of the most attractive things about the Knicks. They don't seem to mail these things in. They. They try to keep it real with all their players. So we could find a happy medium, right, Dan? I don't think these guys have to be sitting in suits watching the game, but I do think you want to be smart and in blowout games make sure you scale the minutes back a little bit. I think that's a good idea. But I don't know if just resting players. I don't think it's in Tibbs DNA. I don't think it's in these players DNA not to play.
- [11:28]
Dan
They're not going to do it. But you're locked in, Kev. I know you're locked in.
- [11:32]
Dave
But.
- [11:33]
Dan
But here's the problem, though. Like, this has only become because. Because we live in this era right now, you know, like back in the day. No, we never had conversation about all they should. City shouldn't play him. No, it's just because of this culture in the NBA with load management not playing guys. Remember last year, Knicks really weren't gunning for anything down the stretch other than the possibility of getting 50 wins.
- [11:53]
Rosenberg
Right?
- [11:53]
Dan
It's a nice round number. 50 wins. And they played the guys down the stretch. They played that last game of the season meaningless. It went into overtime. They needed to win it to get. To get the two seed. They got it. And then guys got injured in the playoffs. Not because they played hard down the stretch, because Joel Embiid took a cheap shot at Mitchell Robinson, because OG Anunoby turned an ankle or whatever the heck it was. His hamstring gave out running down the court. That's got nothing to do with playing hard down the stretch. It's just done now. It's a convenient excuse. And unfortunately with a coach like Tibbs, because this is how he approaches Things. And this still goes all the way back to his time with the Bulls because of when Derrick Rose got hurt. And this is something that's going to follow him until the day he's not coaching anymore in the NBA.
- [12:33]
Rosenberg
But, but will tell you, I mean, listen, 14 games over an 82 game schedule seems like it's not a lot, but there's still a lot of basketball left to be played. And when we say they're locked in, I'm saying they're locked in because I don't think they're going to lose that many games for Milwaukee to catch them. But what is like four or five in the loss column? Like if all of a sudden you start throwing away games, it goes to two or three now you might be sweating it just a little bit. Well, if we say they're locked in, it doesn't mean it's impossible. If you mail in the rest of the games and start losing, especially like last night, it could become a bit of an. When you get down to four or five games left and you are officially locked in, then you might see players not dress. But right now it is a little too early to just say, oh, we've got the three wrapped up, we're not going to get caught by Milwaukee, so let's just rest. Everybody scale the minutes down when, when applicable. When you've got a blowout but you know, resting guys, it's. We're not even in an April yet, right?
- [13:30]
Dan
It's four with 14. I mean a four game lead with four teams a play, right? You still have games this year against the Boston Celtics. You've got two with the Cleveland Cavaliers, you got to play the Detroit Pistons, you still have to play Milwaukee, you still have to play the Clippers. So those are like six, seven games right there that are far from gimmes. Like I was saying the other day, because I didn't expect them to mail it in against San Antonio like they did. But you got 14 left, you got 43 wins right now. I'm still going to go out on a limb and say this team will win more than 50, right? Last year they won 50 and that was good enough to get them the 2 seed. This year they'll probably finish with a better record. Done. And they're not even going to be.
- [14:11]
Rosenberg
The 2 seed, right. Because it's just circumstances, right? Like everybody and their mother thought Boston was going to be the one and you wouldn't have to worry about facing them until the conference final. Who knew Cleveland was all of a sudden going to have an epic season and now you're going to be forced to play Boston in the second round. Circumstances change. But right now you got to get through the season, and there's still, you know, quite a bit of season left to play. Merv brings up a good point. Winfield, you're on espn. New York. What's up, Merv?
- [14:37]
Merv
Hey, what's up, guys? How are you?
- [14:39]
Rosenberg
Good.
- [14:40]
Merv
All right. Yeah. I just don't see resting these guys a game here, a game there, and five, let's say, even eight minutes off of a game. What is that going to do at the end? These guys are professional athletes, right? Like, they're paid to play. And I don't care about how much they make. That doesn't matter to me. But they're there to play the game. These guys want to play, like you said. And I just. I don't see that doing anything in the playoffs, like, getting it better. I think the chemistry can get better between the guys that are playing. Like, this is our first year together. Did the Heat win their first year when they put their three together?
- [15:21]
Rosenberg
No. @ least they got to a final. But you're right, they didn't win at all. I don't know why we get caught up, Merv, and thank you for the phone call in. Oh, it's all about this year. Like, I hear that the amazing amount of pressure the Mets are going to feel to win now that they sign Juan Soto. I'm sorry, it's one of 15 years he's going to be here. Why do we have to put all our eggs in the 25 basket? You know, same thing with the Knicks. They made bold moves during the off season. And yes, the expectations were high based on what they had done the year before. But it all has to happen now, this season, like, it's new, it's fresh. I understand it's been a while that the Knicks haven't won, Dan, but this new roster that they reimagined during the off season, it's their first kick at the can.
- [16:04]
Dan
Yeah.
- [16:04]
Rosenberg
Why are we putting it all in one basket here?
- [16:06]
Dan
The two things that you look forward to with the Knicks down the stretch, like, as far as, okay, what needs to be sorted out by the playoffs? Number one, obviously, you got to get Brunson back and get him playing a few games before you get to the playoffs. That's one to Mitchell Robinson, and they're bringing him along slowly. Like last night. I think he played maybe 24 minutes. I don't know, Maybe he might have been his best game last Night, even though the team wasn't very good, but they don't want him playing back to backs. But you don't got to worry about that in the playoffs anyway, Don. There's like three nights between games in the playoffs, right? There aren't going to be any back to backs.
- [16:37]
Rosenberg
No, you wouldn't think. No, no. The way that they milk the first round, you're lucky. You probably have three days off between games.
- [16:45]
Dan
There might be that oddity where there's like, you know, a day off between games. Most nights you get two.
- [16:51]
Rosenberg
All right. The only thing you might get is like an. A Friday night game and a Sunday afternoon game.
- [16:58]
Dan
Correct.
- [16:58]
Rosenberg
That might be like the closest to back to backs that you might see, but that's even rare. They milk the first round and make sure their games every single night.
- [17:06]
Dan
But there's no back to back. Never.
- [17:09]
Rosenberg
Let's go to Norris in Brooklyn. You're on ESPN New York High. Norris.
- [17:16]
Norris
Norris. Is that me?
- [17:18]
Rosenberg
Yeah. What's your name?
- [17:19]
Dan
Is Norris?
- [17:20]
Norris
Oh, no, no, I'm Ernest.
- [17:23]
Rosenberg
I can only.
- [17:24]
Dan
I can only ask three times and.
- [17:26]
Rosenberg
You can only read what I'm given.
- [17:27]
Dan
Now you're Norris. And you know what I like. I think it's a good name.
- [17:33]
Norris
I kind of agree with the, with the previous call and I don't. Because the NBA.
- [17:41]
Rosenberg
Yeah.
- [17:41]
Norris
I spent good money and I want to see my players play. But instead of just resting them, how about you just play them a half? If we're blowing the team out, let them play a half. You don't have to rest. You don't have to do this low management. But at the same time, the knock on, the knock on Thibodeau is the team could be blowing them out by 20 minutes. I mean by 20 points. And, and, and Thibodeau will still have him in there 40 minutes. That doesn't make any sense because yes, the guy that was talking to said that the, the, the bench players stink. They don't necessarily stink, but at the same time, how are they going to get better if you don't let them play?
- [18:29]
Dan
What's the NBA? I mean, I mean, Norris or Earnest. I mean, what is this, like CYO basketball, Biddy basketball in the sixth grade? How are they going to get better? It developmental. It's the NBA. You should be good enough to play. You should warrant minutes based on your abilities. Not. We're gonna develop them and see if they get. But these are veterans. Tom Thibodeau. I say this all the time, Don. Tom Thibodeau knows his team Better than you, better than me, better than anybody. And he knows, and he knows rather if these guys off the bench are actually good enough to where if he plays them long minutes that there's not that much of a drop off, he'd play them more minutes. We knew when they made these trades in the off season and depleted their depth that the bench was not going to be a strong point for them. This didn't. We know that.
- [19:10]
Rosenberg
What's changed, it went from a strength to weakness. But they knew that and now the ship sailed. So they're gonna have to deal with it in the off season. But right now, this is the way that it is. And up until Bridges said something last week, all we heard was this is what the players want. They want to play a ton of minutes. And listen, it can mean something. If you, if you got a guy that's averaging 35 minutes a game and you're able to manage his minutes down the stretch because the Knicks are locked in and he's averaging 28, that could still be something to give him a little rest or whatever. But I just think it is what it is. I don't think these guys are getting hurt because they're playing too many minutes. They're just going to have to get through this. But I do think you will see in the final week of the season, the final three, four games of the season, if they're officially locked in, you will see minutes scaled back and guides guys load managing. But I don't think you're going to see it at this point now.
- [20:03]
Dan
And the other thing too is like, you know, take a step back for a moment. It's, you know, I always say it's like first world problems before last night, the fourth best record in the NBA. Fourth. Oh yeah, like it's not all that bad the way some people want to make it out to be.
- [20:20]
Rosenberg
But like I said, the beginning of the show with St. John, it's about expectations. The expectations were we would have played Boston in the conference final last year had we not been banged up. So it's conference championship or bust. Well now it doesn't look like conference championship is gonna be on the table because I don't think you're beating Boston. And right now there could be serious questions. You even get out of the first round depending on on the health of some of these guys. So yes, they are the fourth or fifth best team in the NBA, but will they live up to the expectations? Are fans willing to change those expectations? And also too, oh, we would have beaten Boston Stop it. You wouldn't have beaten Boston if you had been healthy. You would have lost to Boston. Boston was the best team last year. You would have beaten Indiana, no question. And you would have given Boston much better fight than, than the fight that Indianapolis gave you. But don't all of a sudden start projecting that you were going to go to the final had you been healthy and played Boston. Boston is still, you know, the defending champions and they, and they were, they're really good basketball team. Team. So that gets in your head and then you start projecting out out and then trying to make the team into something they're not. Dave and Freehold, you're on espn New York.
- [21:35]
Dave
Hey guys. I just wanted to briefly touch on the Rangers and I like the way everyone's a little revved up right now because I feel that way myself. I just wanted to, you know, just, just a quick background. When I started watching the Rangers. Eddie Mio was the starting goalie.
- [21:49]
Dan
Nice.
- [21:50]
Dave
Hamlin the Beezer to Richter. Backup. Backup. Backup. Hank, I just wanted to kind of point out, it seems to me the issue is not our coach. What does this team need other than a two time winning Stanley cup coach to coach them? Because it seems to me this guy's a good enough coach to win.
- [22:12]
Rosenberg
I believe you're right and I don't think it is a coaching problem. But unfortunately, you know, he's entering the last year of his contract next year so it might end up costing his job. You got to change the core, Dave, but you do not change the face and the core of your team. At the trade deadline he, I think he reimagined the defense and I think that has worked. I think, I think that's a good six defenseman that they have and they have depth there. You got your goaltender locked up, but he tried to change the team. Mika's abandon. Jad's got a no movement clause. Chris Kreider's got a limited no movement clause and also had a bad back at the trade deadline. Dan, you're going to see major changes I think during the course of the off season, especially if they miss the playoffs. But I think Chris Drury's vision of this team could not be completely transformed at the deadline.
- [23:02]
Dan
It's only so much you could do during the season. There's only so much it's going to have to. It might not even be next summer where the final prints are laid out. But yeah, you could already see this thing taking shape and, and look, the bottom line is you're setting goal. That's a good place to start. You're setting goal. You know, we talked about it. The defense core looks like they're pretty much set, if you will. But you got to get stronger down the middle. I think we could all agree on that.
- [23:25]
Rosenberg
Dan, this was a lot of fun. Thank you so much for your efforts. Appreciate it and apologize for yesterday. Alan Hahn will be back tomorrow. We've got Knicks coming up Next here on 880. And on 1050, I will have the pregame for the Rangers and the Leafs right here on ESPN New York.
- [23:42]
Don Hahn
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [23:46]
Rosenberg
I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. I just want to know. It's good.
- [23:48]
Don Hahn
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.
- [23:59]
National University Advertiser
All right, let me ask you something. Ever feel like you're juggling at all, work, family responsibilities and still trying to keep eye on the ball?
- [24:08]
Rosenberg
Yeah.
- [24:09]
National University Advertiser
You're in Ander and National University gets the hustle. That's why they have flexible online classes and support services for folks who are balancing jobs and kids and everything in between. If you're ready to take the next step, National University can help you level up your education and score your goals. Check them out at nu Edu to learn more.