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- [00:01]
A
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B
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- [01:37]
A
men's Wearhouse helps you love the way you look no matter if it's a formal occasion or a more casual thing. Job interview, tee time, high school reunion, wedding, courtside seats or just a neighborhood party where you want people to say man, he looks impressive. If you're a man with something, anything on the books, Men's Wearhouse has the clothes, shoes and accessories that make you look, look and feel good. Their in store experts will help you find the right look while their on site tailors will ensure you've got the right fit. Men's Wearhouse Love the way you look. Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for Tuesday, June 2, 2026. On today's show we're going to preview the NBA Finals with our experts from the Athletic Fred Katz and Jared. We. Good morning everyone. Good morning Fred. Good morning Jared. Glad to have you guys on the show. The NBA finals start tomorrow which is just mind blowing and we have two just heavyweights in the NBA finals. We got the New York Knicks back in the NBA Finals since 99, which is just amazing and crazy. And I'm sure that the city is just on fire right now. And then we have just a literal alien in the finals from San Antonio. It's very exciting. Let's first talk spurs side. An obvious advantage. We're going to talk about advantages for each team, but like an obvious advantage for the spurs is having Victor Wim Benyama on your team. When you think about the advantages that the spurs have, you know, it starts there. But where else do we talk about like the advantages the spurs have over the Knicks?
- [03:39]
C
Their, their guard defenders are monsters. And I don't know if it's an advantage, but they have guys that can get into Jalen Brunson's body. They can do that without fouling. They can steer him effectively. They can force him to just, just work for everything that he wants to get in the series in a way that Cleveland obviously could not to. And so this, this defense that the spurs have is just miles beyond anything that the Knicks have had to face so far. And so it's, it's more than Wemby. And Wemby is so good and can park in the paint because his guards do such a great job up at the point of attack. They do a really nice job with their rotations on the backside to make sure that they're not giving up really bad open shots. In fact, usually when the spurs give up an open shot, it's because the chain of passing ended up where Wemby's guy is the one who's wide open. And, and the Knicks will see how they shape their lineups. But they tend to have a lineup out there where Wemby doesn't have to guard someone who's a knockdown shooter. And so that's usually what the spurs want. So the spurs defense has been able to dictate what they want for most of the time in the playoffs.
- [04:49]
A
Yeah. And then flipping it to the Knicks. The Knicks have obviously shot the lights out. Is it, is it shooting? Like, where do the advantages lie for the Knicks over San Antonio?
- [04:59]
B
Well, shooting definitely counts as one because I think you look down the San Antonio roster and the three point shooting is a little spotty in places. Right. Like Castle is inconsistent from three, Harper is inconsistent from three, Fox is inconsistent from three. Champagne can get really, really hot like we saw in Game 7 against OKC. And he's also out laid some duds out there. And you look at the way the Knicks are shooting the ball, especially in the playoffs where they have been the best shooting team in the NBA during this playoff run and it is everybody. And it's not just three point shooting. They have had nights where the three point shot hasn't really been falling, but they're getting out in transition and they're scoring easily in that sense. They're hitting their mid range jumpers. Mikhail Bridges is hitting 59% of his mid range attempts in the playoffs. So wild OG Anobi is shooting 48% from three. Is that not good enough for you? Cats shooting 49. They, they just keep making shots. It's crazy. Jalen Brownson shot 12% from three in the Eastern Conference finals or 18 from three in the Eastern Conference finals. Whatever it was, it was number in the teens and I guess 12 is in the teen, but I don't think it was 12. I think it was 12 going into game three. He shot 50 from the field. That's how well he shot on twos. The Knicks are, are, are, are not just hitting jumpers, they're getting to the rim. They're operating efficiently and their offense has been incredible. They have the number one ranked offense in terms of points per possession during the playoffs. They have the number one ranked defense in terms of points allowed per possession in the playoffs and they're, they're rolling. And if they're able to control the extra points they get from beyond the three point arc and the spurs are inconsistent from there, that's a good way for them to, to gain the advantage.
- [06:44]
A
Let's talk about Wemby because the spurs team, and it's not just Wemby, there are multiple players that kind of make you play differently. But Victor Wembanyama changes everything about the way you play basketball against the Spurs. They are not a normal team to play against. You can't. I mean, I heard multiple Thunder players talk about this yesterday, exit interviews. But like one of the ways that it was phrased was like playing the spurs is not just like a normal Tuesday night. Like you can't just walk in with your normal game plan and just execute the normal game plan. Like you have to change things, you have to shape shift. How did, how did the Knicks handle that? Fred and I would love input from Jared too. On like what, what you've seen work throughout this season. But like how, how do they change their game plan in order to factor in Victor Webman Yama, which side of
- [07:41]
B
the floor you want to start off on? Is Victor on offense or defense?
- [07:44]
A
Let's say Victor's on defense to start and then we'll flip to offense because they are. They are both equally terrifying for whoever they have to play.
- [07:54]
B
Yeah, I mean him on defense is as terrifying a proposition as you have to face in the NBA now. It's like Victor, Victor Mumbanyama on defense, Nikola Jokic on offense. Those are the two horrifying things that you have to face in this league. And you're gonna see a lot of them in the playoffs for years to come. With Wembanyama, my guess, my guess is that he is gonna start the series guarding Josh Hart, which is a strategy that a lot of teams have deployed against the Knicks where they put their best rim protector on Hart, who did shoot 41% from three during the regular season. But also a lot of those are open and he can get hesitant and he hasn't been as accurate from three during the playoff run. And you just have that guy basically roam off of heart. And then that clogs up a lot of the stuff the Knicks want to do. It clogs up the mid range area for Brunson. It also clogs up a lot of the cutting lanes that the Knicks like to use because Anunoby is so active off the ball and Bridges is so active off the ball and even Hart is so active off the ball. And it can take away Karl Anthony Towns, his ability to facilitate from the high post too. We saw Cleveland do that with Jared Allen guarding Hart and Towns from the high post just was not able to hit a lot of these cutters because Jared Allen was just waiting around the paint for guys to come across. Now Victor Wembanyama is a completely different animal there. So my guess is they're going to tell Josh Hart, just shoot it. As soon as you touch the ball, shoot the ball. I think there's a decent chance they're going to run a lot of pick and rolls at him that Hart will be the screener for for Jalen Brunson. The Knicks tend to want to run screens at those kinds of guys. I think Hart will probably be in a lot of dribble handoffs too. Pull Wembanyama away from the rim and hope that that works out okay. If it doesn't, if Hart's playing hesitantly or he's not hitting his jumpers, they have other options they can go with. They ran very clunkily in game one for the first three and a fraction quarters against Cleveland and then they subbed out Hart and they put in Landry Shamit and all of a sudden this five out lineup just drove them back. And that's when they made the 22 point comeback. And in the fourth quarter of game one, you could do that with Shamond at the two, you could do that with Deuce McBride at the two, who's another three point shooter. And then you give the Spurs a look at something they haven't really seen during this playoff run, which is a five out lineup, which also doesn't have a ton of defensive liabilities on the other side. And you have to respect every one of those shooters. And you're making, when Banyama make decisions now if he's guarding, say Carl Anthony Towns in that lineup, you're making Wembanyama make decisions about whether he can go to the rim or whether he has to stay out there with Kat, who is obviously a tremendous three point shooter. So I would say the Knicks are going to try to make Wembanyama make as many decisions as he possibly can. We've seen Mike Brown go to different variations, different lineup types, and I could see them going to a lot of five out lineups just to try to combat Wembanyama during this whole thing.
- [10:42]
A
What do you think, Jared?
- [10:45]
C
If Wemby has to run in circles on a five out against a five out offense, maybe he could actually finally get tired. And the thing that's been shocking about his postseason run is that this was a guy entering the season. We kept hearing he was doing all these crazy conditioning drills and we're all wondering, you know, he was running out of steam in games, rookie year last season. And who knows how the judge last season because it turns out he had a blood clot. So probably can't judge too much on that. But like, we didn't know if this guy could really handle 30 minutes of playoff basketball. He's been playing 40 minutes, no problem. Like he has some moments where he gets tired. I mean, going to war with Isaiah Hardenstein all night in that Thunder series took a lot out of him, but he tended to show up in the fourth quarter and play really well. And as much as battling Hartenstein is exhausting and like my back is getting sore just even talking about it, running in circles, chasing down all those Knick shooters could be tiring in a different way, honestly, because Victor, they run their defensive system as much as it is to take advantage of his rim protection, it's also to manage his stamina throughout the game because he gets to spend a lot of time standing there in the paint and catching his breath and that allows him to be a more potent offensive player. And so it's just kind of this great Irony where he gets to save himself on defense while also still being the best defender in the world. Usually it doesn't get to work out that way, but energy management is a big part of the game for any star, and particularly him. He's going to need to play 40ish minutes a night in this series, I'm sure. Or at least like 36, 37. And if he has to chase down shooters all night long, he either has to have really mediocre closeouts, which does happen, or he's going to have to really sprint after it, which is going to take a lot out of him, and it's going to take him away from the glass. And when he's getting defensive rebounds, that's when the spurs tend to be at their best, because he can take it and he can go. And they get into transition really easily. So if the Knicks can really run him ragged over the course of the series, that's going to do a number on him. And I just. It'd be really interesting to see if their offensive strategy could be to actually try to get Wemby to get a little bit tired.
- [13:06]
A
Yeah, that's. That's interesting. I think that that is, like, I think a strategy that a lot of teams have tried to employ, including the Thunder, like, they wanted to make Wimby tired. It just felt like. It felt like not only him, but like the rest of the spurs, like, gained strength throughout the series. Some of that was, like, health wise. I think they just got healthier as the series went along. But you can see that, like, the limits that we. And it wasn't that I don't think people didn't believe in Wemby, like, being able to do it. I think it was like we just hadn't seen it. And some people were saying, like, that because the Thunder won Game 5 or whatever, the Wimby was tired. Like, I don't. I don't know if that was necessarily the case, but, like, as we saw in Game seven, like, the guy was ready for the moment and he met it in a real way. He presents a lot of problems offensively, too. I mean, this is a guy who hit what will be a legendary shot from, like, the same spot that essentially that Steph Curry did in OKC in Game 1. He's got, like, endless range. He's ridiculous around the rim. I thought the Thunder did better on him as the series went along on how to defend him around the rim.
- [14:13]
C
They did a great job defending him around the rim. I think that, that we can't Undersell that he. He could not get to any of his looks from the post. It was really hard for him to score, and that might be a big advantage for him in this series, actually. But the Knicks, the. The Thunder did the best job stopping him in the post and at the rim of anybody.
- [14:31]
A
Yeah. Yeah, they did. How do we think this. The Knicks handle him as an offensive player, Fred? Like, what. What does that. What does that look like?
- [14:40]
B
Well, during the regular season, we saw a few different guys get the Wemby assignment. We saw Mitchell Robinson get it. We saw Carl Anthony Towns get it. We saw OG Anunoby get it. They will start more conventionally, usually, and then switch to the stuff that they really actually want to get to. I could see in the most important moments, I could see OG Anunoby guarding. Guarding Wembanyama. The problem is that that means you're going to have Towns probably on Champagne, and if Julian Champagne gets hot from three, like, that gives him the opportunity to do so. But if you're just worried about Wembanyama or Champagne, he's not hitting his shots or they go another route and Champagne's off the court, then all of a sudden you might be able to do an anobi on Wembanyama, which happened a lot during the regular season. And you can have cat shading over kind of his rim protection at the rim, where he's been a lot better defensively during the playoffs. The thing with an Anoby is that he kind of has that perfect mix. I mean, shouldn't say perfect, because nobody is a perfect Wembanyama defender. That's the whole point of Victor Wembanyama. But the thing that he is the best at when it comes to being a wing who guards bigs is tremendously important against Wemby, which is that he is so good at pushing bigs off of their spots before the catch. And with Wemby, that's more important than it is against any other big in the league, because Jokic might get deep post positioning and. And he'll turn around and. And hit a little turnaround hook. Or Embiid might get deep post positioning and then hit a layup because it's so easy. But when Benyama gets deep post positioning and it's like he can literally just drop the ball in because his arms are animated. And so you have to make sure that he is far away from the rim. And Anobi during the regular season did a really good job pushing Wemby away from the block when he was trying to post him up and that's a huge thing. Just knock him off his spots when he has to set screens, knock him off his spots when he's trying to get down low. Mitchell Robinson is a big part of it too, where we don't know where his hand is going to be at. He's got the broken pinky. But if he's able to catch the ball cleanly, he can do two things offensively which can at least make Wembanyama have to think which is number one. Like I guess this is taking us back to the other side of the ball. But number number one, he's a lob threat. So when Wembanyama steps up to block a shot blocker, that's going to make him think. And number two, if Wembanyama does go after a shot block or does go after a shot contest. Mitchell Robinson's the best offensive rebounder in the league. Him and Steven Adams. So he can slide in there and he can get in good internal positioning to get an offensive board. He can do a similar sort of thing on defense to where he can use his big body and just try to keep Wembanyama off the boards because he's tremendous box out guy and rebounder and all that kind of stuff as long as he can catch the ball. And I think he'll have time guarding Wembanyama too. So I think it's going to be a rotation of guys and none of them is perfect and they're just going to kind of wind up at whichever one is the best one for that night.
- [17:53]
A
Let's, let's flip it to Brunson, who has been great in these playoffs and I feel, feel like the Knicks have, have used him in a variety of ways. When you think about Brunson, I think you think about a guy that has the ball in his hands a lot and that is creating off the dribble a lot. But I feel like they've used him in a lot of different ways in the playoffs, which I think is probably a good thing for the Knicks, especially against the spurs team. But Jared, is this as simple as Stefan Castle is the best perimeter defender in the NBA and we just tell him to guard Brunson or what other strategies do you think that, that the spurs use on, on Jalen?
- [18:33]
C
Well, he's not OG Anoby, so I'm not sure if he could say that. But he's, he's getting close. You know what, the way he's played the playoffs, maybe he's the best guard,
- [18:41]
A
defender Better than I've seen anybody defend Shea.
- [18:45]
C
Yeah, the best. Yeah, maybe, maybe Steph is the best guard defender in the NBA now. And it, I mean guard, guard, defender in that he is a guard and he can defend people, not that he defends guards because he can defend anyone under seven feet. Probably. Yeah. And so yeah, you, you know, Fred and I were getting into this, there's a bunch of different permutations about how it plays out. I think your base strategy is Castle presses Brunson up at half court, just trying to shove him into that corner, like you're just trying to body him into that corner and force him to work his way out of it. Use the sideline in the half court line as your friend. What kind of high pressure stuff can you do? Because Castle is usually great at getting through screens. He can blow up screens very effectively and stay attached without fouling. And then it's a question of the screen level. How are they screening for him? Where is it coming from? Is it Cat, is it heart? Do you bring heart up into the, you know, up high and have him scream 30ft out to try to create this gap between the ball screen and then Wemby who's probably going to go up and guard that in drop coverage and sit underneath the three point line and then Brunson can get to his pull up game. What's, what is the spurs appetite for letting Brunson get the step up threes? A big advantage for them strategically in that OKC series is Shea. The one thing that he doesn't really do for some reason is step into pull up threes very often, which I don't know why he would average 70 points a game if he did that. Brunson will do it. He'll take 10 of them and he'll hits half of them. They might win that game. So that I think that's kind of the, that's the core battle right there defensively for the spurs is just like how are regarding Brunson in the pick and roll and what are we letting him get to? I think they're probably going to let him
- [20:33]
B
actually.
- [20:34]
C
No, maybe they should just get aggressive right out the gate. Maybe take that away from him. Force him to. Force them to let him have his step up threes. They, they broke out like the spurs general coverage is drop coverage going over the screen. They mixed in some ices where they tried to force the ball handler to reject the screen to send him against the sideline. They started doing that with Shay when Cornet was out there and that was a huge key to them winning Game six and seven. And winning that series was like that coverage worked against Shea. I think just the big difference with the Knicks is they're, they're loaded with shooters, so if you give Brunson the shot, he can take it. If you take it away from him and you start pinching up on him, they have other guys that are going to hit the shot the second that you have to send one of your weak side defenders to sit in and tag underneath. So the, this is a really, it's just, it's such an interesting challenge for the spurs because it's so different than guarding the Thunder, where the Thunder is just all about like they got, they got plenty of guys we're going to let take that shot. We're going to make sure that we get the ball out of Shay's hands and we own the glass. Like that was it. It's just way more complicated with New York.
- [21:43]
A
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C
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- [22:49]
A
there's never been a better time to get outside and experience the benefits of nature, discover nearby trails and explore the outdoors with alltrails. Download the free app today and find your outside. Fred without power ranking fingers what's Mr. Robinson's status for this series? And like, what are the expectations for him?
- [23:20]
B
Unclear on the status. I mean it, it sounds like he's going to try to play, but unclear on the actual status as of now. What to expect from him? I mean, guys, I, I just, I don't want you to take out your Pulitzers now. You know, I want you to don't. I just, I just want you to control yourselves with the level of this reporting. But what to expect from him? Also totally unclear.
- [23:51]
A
Wow.
- [23:51]
C
That's what, that's why they pay him the Big bucks, folks. The man.
- [23:55]
B
I mean, come on, calm down. You know, like, don't. I know, I know. This is good. This is good, but.
- [24:01]
A
Yeah.
- [24:01]
C
I can't believe I got to work with you.
- [24:03]
B
Cool it. Totally unclear. He's. He's. He's been doing what Mike Brown called individual stuff. Now, I would classify as playing Mario Kart as individual stuff. Sure. As you're not playing against anybody else.
- [24:20]
A
You don't even need your pinky to do that.
- [24:23]
C
No strategy.
- [24:26]
B
Yeah, you don't. And. And if we were talking about Mario. Mario Kart, I would probably have way more in depth analysis on what to be able to say, because you don'. Need the pinky, unfortunately.
- [24:35]
A
Who's your. Who do you pick in Mario Kart?
- [24:38]
C
A Yoshi. I feel like he's a Yoshi for some reason.
- [24:41]
B
Wow, that's an amazing call. I am a Yoshi.
- [24:45]
A
Oh, he. You're a Yoshi.
- [24:48]
B
Oh, oh, you mean. You mean.
- [24:49]
C
I say Mitchell Robinson, but however, I would say Fred Cats is the Mitchell Robinson of the Athletics Kindred.
- [24:55]
B
Yoshis is what we are.
- [24:57]
A
We're Kendra Yoshis.
- [24:59]
C
Yeah, you're Yoshi, which is a plural street.
- [25:02]
A
Jared, who do you race with?
- [25:03]
C
I mean, I race with Yoshi, but Toad. Toad. When I'm in a good mood, okay.
- [25:07]
A
I'm a. I'm a big, big Waluigi guy.
- [25:11]
C
Waluigi.
- [25:12]
A
Huge Waluigi guy. Funniest character by far.
- [25:16]
B
See, that just. That just shows that Waluigi jumped the shark.
- [25:22]
C
There was Luigi.
- [25:23]
B
There was no need for. There was no need for a Waluigi. You had Wario made him special. No one needed a waluigi.
- [25:32]
A
Oh, hard disagree.
- [25:33]
C
I completely disagree. What is this?
- [25:34]
A
What in the world is this?
- [25:36]
C
Yeah, Wario is long in the tooth. Wario is the one who jumped the shark. And so we casted the younger, hotter Waluigi to bring the people back into the show. Come on, man.
- [25:49]
A
I can't imagine playing any of these Mario games and be like, you know what? No, Waluigi. I'm like, no, I'm out. I am exclusively Waluigi. Exclusively Waluigi is how I function in my life.
- [26:01]
B
I'm. That must be why we're such life enemies, because I am principally against the existence. Have you not, Luigi.
- [26:07]
A
Have you not played Mario tennis? You have that guy at the front of the net. It's over. It's over. Okay?
- [26:13]
C
When you rip that purple forehand and he goes, oh, my God.
- [26:17]
A
Incredible.
- [26:18]
C
Yeah.
- [26:19]
B
So we don't know what's going to happen. With Mitchell Robinson, we don't know if he can catch the ball. We don't know if he can pass the ball. We do know he probably won't shoot well from the free throw line, but it probably won't be because of his binky. We really don't know other than the fact that he is going to try to play. As of the time we're recording this, the Knicks have not said that he's been cleared for contact or anything like that. And game one is in what, 52 hours from now? 55 hours. 55 hours. Game one is 55 hours from the time we're recording this.
- [26:52]
C
That's might be level subtraction in real time.
- [26:55]
B
I guess so.
- [26:56]
A
Yeah. That was so.
- [26:57]
B
Well, I got it wrong the first time. Maybe that gets me the pit. Either way. Either way. We just don't know. Like, we don't. We don't know. Guy broke his finger.
- [27:09]
A
Yeah.
- [27:10]
B
Could be any possible.
- [27:12]
A
Do you know what, like, do you know what he did? Do you know what he did to break his finger? Like, what exactly happened?
- [27:17]
C
We just said he was playing Mario Kart. He slammed the controller and he had his pinky on the table.
- [27:23]
B
It was a hit from Waluigi.
- [27:25]
A
It was a blue.
- [27:28]
C
And just, just one of the spikes ripped his finger.
- [27:32]
B
Waluigi hit him in the hand and then went Waluigi. And then. And then that was what did it.
- [27:38]
A
Yeah, that makes sense.
- [27:39]
B
We don't. We know it was not done in a game. Yeah, we know it was not done in a practice. Mitchell Robinson, as we have requested Mitchell Robinson be available to. The Knicks have not actually, in any official capacity even really acknowledged the injury other than Mike Brown fielding some questions on it. They sent out. The Knicks have not. You know, normally a player has surgery. You send out a release on surgery. The guy had surgery. Nope. Nope. No release. All of this stuff has been. None of this was like leaked by the Knicks. All this was like reported. Like James Edwards and I were the ones who got it. And like, it was not leaked by the Knicks. Like we like got it and wow. They. They did not want any of this out there. They have not released anything about the surgery that he underwent on. On his. His pinky, which he did. And so they are. This is what the Knicks do with injuries. This is their, their M.O. with injuries. And so I have, I have. I long ago decided I was not going to guess about any Knicks injury stuff based on what they were saying because the credibility on that kind of stuff went away a long time ago. So I'M just kind of in wait and see mode.
- [28:52]
C
But credit to Fred that he started with a joke about how he doesn't know anything and deserves a Pulitzer and then in the end reveals that he managed to break an injury like detail while the Knicks lie about their injuries and probably maybe deserves a Pulitzer for that.
- [29:07]
A
True.
- [29:08]
C
I can't remember if he or Shams had it first, but clearly did the athletic thing and you had all the information we needed. Yeah, you had it first. Okay.
- [29:14]
A
That's right. Fred had this. Of course. All right, I'd like. We got one more question, then we'll do our picks.
- [29:22]
B
And James.
- [29:22]
C
And James.
- [29:22]
A
And James. And James. Of course, James.
- [29:24]
C
The Waluigi of the Athletic.
- [29:29]
A
I've got a really.
- [29:30]
C
Not at all. He's too nonchalant.
- [29:31]
A
He's got to process that one. I feel like Fred would be more of the Waluigi of the Athletic. Than anybody.
- [29:37]
C
I feel like James is the Luigi because he's just like effortlessly cool and has good swag and always gets it done in the end.
- [29:44]
A
Let us. Let us know who's the Waluigi of the Athletic. Sign off.
- [29:48]
C
Hello?
- [29:49]
A
Okay, is there anything about.
- [29:51]
B
For sure,
- [29:54]
A
Joe Varden is the Waluigi of the Athletic. Oh, somebody send this to Joe Varden right now, please. Okay. Is there anything about this series that you don't think people are touching on that is important? We obviously have like the Wimby stuff, the shooting. Is there anything that when you think about this series we'll start with Fred that people aren't really touching on that you think could affect the outcome of it?
- [30:21]
B
Yeah, there's gonna be a couple of bench guys on the Knicks who step up. It's happened in every single series so far where Landry Shamut missed one three pointer in the entire Eastern Conference finals or Deuce McBride has a total breakout. And I think especially if Josh Hart isn't hitting his threes like those, whoever is the fifth guy in those five outlineups, I think it's going to be huge. I mean, Mitchell Robinson's off the bench. We've talked about him. I think a lot of people have talked about him. Any of the starters probably don't qualify for this because they're all really good players who get a lot of recognition. Mikhail Bridge has been great during the playoff run. I think the answer is either Deuce McBride or Landry Shamut. Whoever settles into that fifth guy if and when Josh Hart is not hitting his threes or is hesitant or just his mere existence is making it so Wembanyama can sink into the lane and it's making the offense all messy. And in game one of the Cleveland series, that was what happened. And the Knicks subbed out heart for the fourth quarter. They put in Landry Shamet. Andrew Shamrot went nuts. The spacing was incredible. The Knicks had five shooters out on the floor. I mean the worst three point shooter in that lineup is probably Mikhail Bridges. And if he's your worst three point shooter, then you've got something good going because the rest of the guys are Brunson and Anunobi and Towns and then either McBride or Shamet, who are both really, really good three point shooters. I think McBride is a really interesting one. Like he is kind of the key that opens up. For years this has been the case. He's like the key that unlocks all of their best lineups. You look at their best lineups every single year and you look at their most successful lineups and they just, they just all have Deuce McBride, it's McBride and then just four dudes. It's just the same thing every time. It's just they all have Deuce McBride and he's, he's somebody who kind of helps with their point of attack defense while also just not giving a crap when he touches the ball. Like he will put it up every single time. And he's a 40%3.40 plus percent three point shooter, which is, which is what makes him an elite spacer because people know they just got to be right on him or else it's going up and there's a good chance it's going in. So I think McBride is a really interesting one too and that's a, it's going to be an interesting little game within the game to follow.
- [32:41]
A
Yeah. Jared, what about on the spurs side?
- [32:45]
C
I think you hit on the most important part of the series, but I think just from an overall series perspective, the dramatic shift we're about to see from it being defensively driven to offensively driven. Like we might go from watching these games where it was like, you know, 103 to 92 to like 1:34 to 1:29 like this. I feel like these teams are just going to be scoring like absolute crazy. Like there's this huge offensive advantages on each end here that the other team can't really take away if it's really clicking. So I just feel like the style of play is going to change very drastically because I mean you were there for it. Like we got, we had like blood on our clothes watching those games, right like, that was.
- [33:28]
A
It was so insane.
- [33:29]
C
A mauling.
- [33:30]
A
Yeah.
- [33:31]
C
I mean, remember the play where Chet. Chet's blood was on the backboard?
- [33:36]
A
Yeah.
- [33:36]
C
Scott Foster looked up and he's like, yeah, forget about it. Who cares? Like, they left blood on the backboard in that series.
- [33:43]
A
I mean, it was.
- [33:43]
C
It was crazy.
- [33:44]
A
Yeah, they had. They had to stop the game for a long time looking for spots. They're like, oh, we found more over here. You know, it was.
- [33:50]
C
Yeah, they had, like, half the spurs bench was out there spotting blood like it was a crime scene. That series was a crime scene. Literally. They were putting down little numbered marks, markers on the floor. They had a guy with chalk in his hand. Like it was an absolute crime scene. And that's. I think, obviously, it's the finals. There's going to be plenty of that. But I don't think the. I don't think the game is going to be played in the same tenor. And so I don't know how I feel about that, because I love. I love. I love a good crime thriller, but I think the general audience probably will prefer this style of play more. And so I just think the overall environment and tone of the series is going to be incredible. I'm hoping that this is going to be one of the most fun finals of our lifetime, which it really has the chance to be with just the Wemby's emergence and just how fun of a team the spurs are to watch. And then just like the Knicks and the. And just the lore of New York and MSG going crazy, like, this is going to be. I guess I don't watch first take, and I don't consume all this other stuff. Like, I listen to you guys. I listen to Zach Lowe, Bill Simmons, you know, a few other shows like that. So, like, I don't know how the general public is taking this, but I'm more excited for this Finals and almost any other finals I can remember. Like, this is going to be hopefully amazing.
- [35:10]
A
All right, let's make our picks. Fred, what's. What's your series pick?
- [35:17]
B
Home court's tough, I think. Man, I'm so torn. I'm more torn on the series than I've been on any playoff series. I. I think I'm going Spurs and seven. Home court's really tough, so I think I'll go Spurs and seven.
- [35:38]
C
Jared, I'm spurs in seven, but I'll just say spurs and six just to differentiate. I think I'm closer to spurs and six than I am closer to Nixon.
- [35:46]
B
7.
- [35:49]
C
It's funny, I've had a few like scouts around the league that I've talked to that just kind of laughed in my face when I said that I thought this was going seven. So I think there's a lot of people in the league that just believe that the quality of competition jump is going to be so incredibly drastic for New York now that they're not facing a team with just like, like just not having to face James Harden or not getting to face James Harden who is just like played the worst defense I've ever seen in stretches of that series. And the spurs that will never happen. There is no defender on the spurs that you can go at like that.
- [36:22]
A
Like you can't pick at them.
- [36:23]
C
The worst defenders are so good defenders. Like they're still above average defenders and they, if they're not doing well they will just shade you towards someone who is an all NBA defender. You can't get away from it. Do we even talk about Dylan Harper yet who's just been like awesome and it's just a two way monster and if he can find consistency in the series it could end even quicker. But I think the spurs clearly have the upper hand and I don't agree with the people that are, that are underselling the Knicks offensive potential and the impact that them being able to be truly dangerous in the five out game has on the spurs defense and just has on Wemby. So I think this one's going to go pretty far.
- [37:07]
A
I'm picking Knicks in six. I think we get our first double in the history of the NBA. I think the Knicks will then acknowledge the NBA cup. They'll raise the cup banner. Then they'll raise the NBA finals banner. It's going to be, I mean NBA championship banner. I think, I think we're going to get our first double in the history of the NBA.
- [37:28]
C
Is that going to be funny?
- [37:29]
B
Wouldn't it be funny if the Knicks refused to raise a championship banner?
- [37:33]
A
They just raised the cup banner.
- [37:35]
B
Yeah. They just raised the cup. Yeah.
- [37:39]
A
All right, fine. We believe the cup means something.
- [37:42]
C
Now will they do a match like you know like in soccer when you win like when you win a treble, they do like a patch after that. They should do that. They should. They also, they should do a defending champs patch. I don't understand why they don't do that. They now they do like the gold little thing for when you win an award. Why isn't there a defending champs patch?
- [38:01]
A
That's a good question.
- [38:02]
C
Right?
- [38:03]
A
Right. That's a good question. They need to do it.
- [38:05]
C
Why isn't there an NBA cup patch?
- [38:06]
A
If the Knicks win, they better do a double patch.
- [38:09]
C
Oh, I will be.
- [38:10]
A
I will be so miffed if they don't do a double patch.
- [38:12]
C
I actually. I have a. I have a. I'm a Chelsea fan. I have a double patch jersey from when they won their first championship.
- [38:18]
A
You can't be this obsessed Adam Silver with. With European soccer and not do this
- [38:26]
B
hot take.
- [38:27]
A
They need to talk about it.
- [38:28]
B
Hot take a man die. Patch.
- [38:34]
C
Patch.
- [38:34]
B
I'm fully anti patch.
- [38:35]
C
Do you not care about history?
- [38:37]
B
No, I not. Not with a patch.
- [38:40]
A
A pat.
- [38:41]
B
No one wants a patch. A patch, by definition, is like, there to keep something structurally in place in the interim. It just looks messy. It's terrible. I won't even watch Patch Adams. It's. It's all terrible. I'm anti patch.
- [38:57]
C
Oh, you really hate kids, don't you?
- [38:58]
A
Wow. Yes.
- [39:02]
B
That's why I won't watch Patch Adams. That's why I won't watch can't stand the smiling children. That's why.
- [39:08]
A
Okay, well, that's gonna do it for today's show.
- [39:11]
C
I have another theory. I think Fred's. I think Fred's on the take. I think he doesn't want to patch because he's getting money from Big Patch from all these jersey patch sponsors. He doesn't want anything distracting from those beautiful logos that are sitting there on the other side. Yeah.
- [39:25]
A
Get out of here with Big Patch now. That's gonna do it for today's show. Thank you to Fred and Jared for joining us. Stay locked into everything at the Athletic and thank you for waking up with us.
- [39:38]
C
Big batch.
- [39:42]
B
Thanks for listening.
- [39:43]
C
Listening.
- [39:43]
B
Make sure you hit the subscribe or follow button so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed it, drop a. Like, leave a rating or let us know in the comments. Thank you guys for waking up with us. Hi, this is Ben Green from the Athletic fc. The podcast you're about to listen to is brought to you by Hotels.com as a Hotels.com member, you save up to 20% on hundreds of thousands of of hotels and earn rewards on every single stay. Which means the trips you're taking now help pay for the ones you're already dreaming about. And unlike some other places, there are no blackout dates. So when you want to travel, your rewards are ready to go. So the next time you're planning a work trip or a getaway, make sure to book it at hotels.com and start earning rewards. Hotels.com, it's all in the name.
- [40:36]
C
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Phew.
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C
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