Do Knicks Have Best Chance To Go Back-To-Back Since Warriors? | NY Got Game

Welcome to New York Got Game. What's good everybody? Welcome back to another edition of New York Got Game. It's your boy Dexter Henry alongside my guy Brian Fonseca. It has been a very interesting off-season now that we are past... Not lately. ...summer leave. Well, I said interesting, not tons of news coming all the way, Brian. You love that Jordan Walsh extension that came through at the time of recording this? Oh yeah, that excited me today. So excited me today. But the time of us recording this... Good deal for him though. Good deal for him. We're still waiting... Got as much per year as Landry Shad. I know, it's crazy. Almost. Almost, which is crazy. But hey, everybody's out here. Time of us recording is still waiting on LeBron news. We will have something on that, I'm sure, to talk about at some point. But it has been a while since we did a New York Got Game mailbag. So we are going to look at some interesting questions and comments that we've had from the fans, from the people over the last month and a half or so. I'd say since the Knicks won their title, first title in 53 years. So we're just going to get right to it, man. We're going to see what the comments are. We've got eight of them. We have not seen any of these comments or questions at all. So Brian and I will just be reacting to this in real time. No BS. We have not seen these at all. We have not seen these. This is just what our producers have chosen that they thought was interesting. Hopefully, y'all brought it with your best, is what I'm saying. Hopefully, that has happened. And hopefully, the best ones were selected. Yeah, we hope the best ones are selected. All right, let's get into it. What is the first question comment that we have from the people? This is from E Rizzo 5. This one looks good. Okay, so the Knicks have the best chance to go back to back since the Warriors last did it. Whoa, all right. Do you know why? It's not because they have the same players minus Mitch. It's because they generally love playing with each other and sacrifice for one another. Alvarado, Scheinman, and Clarkson each didn't test for agency to get the biggest deal they could find. And if they did, we wouldn't even blame them as you only have a finite amount of years in the NBA. They settled with as much as the Knicks can give them to stay. They will fight for each other. As much as I want to savor this championship, I can't wait for next season. So interesting. E Rizzo, I think there's a lot of good things that you said here. Can we leave this up for a little bit? Yeah, I think it's a long one. I have to process. I think there's a lot of good things said here. It's a well thought out comment, though. I'll say that much. I agree. Can we get to the first part? Can we just start with the first part of what he says here? Yes, we have to. The Knicks have the best chance to go back to back since the Warriors last did it. I want to say that I thought that the Thunder last year had a really good chance to go back to back. Here's the problem, Dex. We've been doing this every year for the last few years. Somebody's going to break it, though. Yeah. No, no, no. What I'm saying is the Celtics had the best chance. The Nuggets had the best chance. The Thunder had the best chance. We didn't do it with the Warriors in 2022. No one thought that the Warriors were going to repeat that. Did we even do it with the Bucks in 21? No. Probably not. No. I don't think we did it with the Lakers, either. But the last three champions prior to the Knicks. I agree. Everybody said. And there was reason to believe that because Denver's like, they just whooped everybody and they have the best player. Boston's like, they have the best team. They have a machine. They can't miss from three. And then OKC has the runway of all the picks, the youth, the two-way play and all these different things. And look, they got hurt last year. So, like, we don't know what would have happened if they played the Knicks in the final. I like that you said that. Health is such a factor. Health is a huge factor. This is something that, like, with the Knicks, after four deep playoff runs, you're like, OK, can you be healthy for a fifth? And if they are healthy for a fifth, then I think they can win the title. I don't know about best chance. I don't think that part of it matters. I think they have a chance, though. They do have a chance to repeat, obviously. Yeah, I think of these teams that have recently won, I would have said, I thought if I just take everybody's team and their roster, I think the Thunder going to last year, I would have said had the best chance because I think they had the best roster out of all and the deepest roster and the highest end talent out of all these teams. And then Denver would have been a close second for me before Boston. Now, I probably will put the Knicks over Boston because I like their depth. Now, they've lost some of their depth. Well, I trust the way they play more than the Knicks. Yeah, well, OK, that's a great point. I think that matters a ton, too. Yes. How you play, and then to E-Rizzo's point that he's bringing up here, playing for each other. Culture. You out here using the culture word. I think, you know, when I talked to Steph about this stuff, our Steph and Bondi asked me this a couple of weeks ago. I was like, you know, do you think this matters to the culture of the team that people want to stay? Yeah, I think it does. So I do think that matters to E-Rizzo's point. And I understand his excitement for next season. Yeah, save for this championship. Look, it's a good summer in New York, people. It's a real good summer in New York. The vibes have been good. Minus the floods. You got a couple of floods. Even people who are not Knicks fans are telling me, ah, the vibes have been good. I talked to a Nets fan who I was at the Barclays Center yesterday. He was like, man, I was watching these Knicks games and I couldn't even hate. He was like, I was here like these comebacks were great. He was like, I couldn't even hate. He's a Nets season ticket holder. I've known him a long time. And I was talking to him. He's also a Liberty season ticket holder. And I was chatting it up with him. And I mean, well, you got more optimism there. Oh, he did. We talked about that too. That's a whole other story. Yeah. But Sabrina's waking up a little bit. But what I will say is I do think the connectivity of this team is going to matter. I do think the playoff battles they've been through is going to matter. I do think they just know how to win. That's how you can keep a window open. But Ryan, you mentioned the thing about with OKC and all this stuff. You can have the best chance and think you have the best chance. And you might think they have the best chance since the Warriors or whatever. Fine. If you ain't healthy, ain't none of that going to matter. And it's like all the other teams that we just talked about. It's just incredibly hard to repeat. Because think about what Denver had to go against that year after they won a championship. So that was the first OKC year where they became a playoff team. They became, you know, best record and all these different things. Dallas ended up going to the finals that year. Because Minnesota was the team that was built to beat Denver. And they did that. And then it was like, oh wait, we need to do something about Luka Doncic setting up all these quarter threes that PJ Washington keeps making. And then also Gaffley, the combination of Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively just playing out there for 48 minutes in total. Because you had like a really good center rotation. Like all these different things. And then Boston won their title. And the Knicks were built to beat the Celtics. Which was something that was mocked all year. Because it didn't look that way at all. And then they beat the Celtics. But then you weren't necessarily... Somebody built to beat the Knicks. Well, here's the thing. One, we need to see like what else happens in the offseason. Two, I think Pistons fans would say that the Pistons are. But they need to get there first. And I need to see what their roster looks like also. Well, look. We didn't get the playoff series last year. I don't think the Pistons would have won it. I don't either. I think it would have been more interesting than the Cavs series that we got. But I think with the East, though, as we've talked about. There's so many teams now. There's like 10 teams that want to win games in the Eastern Conference. And there's going to be like a pool of legitimately competitive basketball coming out of it once we get there. Between the Pistons and the Pacers and the Celtics and the Heat. And the Hawks, who actually took some steps. And the Cavs. It's like we could go on down. But there's like Orlando. There's like a lot of teams that are trying. Toronto, if they get Kawhi, they're interesting. Like there's just a lot of teams that you're gonna have to navigate through. Yeah. But if you're a Knicks fan, I think you should feel confident. You should. They brought most of the team back. I'm not saying not to feel confident. But just understand like it's gonna be very difficult. It's not easy. Not to mention whatever comes out of the Western Conference. I'll put it like this. The way the Knicks are constituted with their playoff experience. Now having won a championship. And I'm sure Brunson will have the guys motivated again. Because he knows there's going to be the doubters. I think the Knicks standards is disappointing. If they're not at least in the Eastern Conference Finals. I feel like that's a disappointment. Yeah, yeah. I would put it that way. That's the way I put it. If they're not in the Conference Finals. Battling for a chance to get a championship. You're assuming health though. Assuming health. Yeah, yeah. Obviously. If you're not healthy, you're not healthy. You're not healthy. That's it. Yeah. All right. Good one, Erez05. We appreciate that. Yeah, great comment. Good one. Good one to start off. Okay, can't get wrong with that. What do we got next? Let's see what we got. All right. This is from Marvin Lassie. I hope I got that right for you. The New York Knicks overcame all their weaknesses with their strengths. Which were heart. A lot of heart again. No Josh Hart. Cohesiveness. And 80s Lakers-like fast break finishing layer performances. And very good perimeter shooting performances. Here's the thing for me. One, I don't. 80s Lakers-like fast break finishing layer performances. It's a bit much. They didn't kind of, you know. It wasn't magic passing a worthy and finishing on the break. I would necessarily say there. But the Knicks did a good job of taking advantage of things in transition. When they needed to. I think if we went into the playoffs. I think a lot. And we talked about this. The Knicks strengths. We knew what the Knicks. The Knicks could be a really good offensive team. They were a top five offensive team. The defense got better through the year. I think that's the biggest key for me in the postseason. The defense got better. And then they found ways to maximize their offensive potential. With using Catt as the hub. But not even just that. They were able to always have, as Brian would say. A counter to the counter. And when there was something that the other teams tried to take away. They were able to adjust. And I think so much of that had to do with Mike Brown's. Adaptability throughout the regular season. And that's where it mattered in the postseason. So their weaknesses. I think if you were going into the postseason. And being honest about it was. How are they going to hold up defensively? Right. And then I remember before the postseason. We had our guy Gerard Hector on from True Hoop. And he said to me. Well if the Knicks can just play. Towards the defensive level. They played towards the end of the season. When they were in that top seven. Eight-ish range of defense in the NBA. And their offense can become even more. And this goes to your point. Marvin. About the perimeter shooting performances. That you got. From OGN and Obi. He was fantastic throughout the playoffs. Right. That you got. From Raquel Bridges. When he came alive. After his pitiful. First three games of the playoffs. Right. And he really came up when they needed. Landry Shaman. They were even able to survive a finals. Reduce McBride. Couldn't hit a shot. So. Yeah that mattered too. I think what they were able to do on the perimeter. But I just think they felt comfortable in their offense. And everybody understood their role. I thought that mattered a ton Brian. I think the main thing that helped them. Just overcome all their weaknesses with it. Was just the fourth quarters. And how. Whatever. Whatever the situation was. You just felt like they could put enough together. To win in the fourth quarter. Because as we said. They were the best fourth quarter team. All season long. In the regular season. Then they proved it in the playoffs once again. And I think the main thing. That really helped them. Was just. Whatever happened in the third quarter. In the second quarter. In the first quarter. Whatever happened. In the 36 minutes beforehand. Just you wipe it away. Just men in black style. Just you don't even remember it at that point. And then you just go into the fourth quarter. With this new mindset of desperation. And I think their desperation. Being greater than everyone else's. Their urgency to execute down the stretch. And just whatever they were able to do in the fourth. Like that's generally what got them over the hump. And I think that's the story of this team to me. Is just being the best team. When it mattered the most. Even if they weren't the best team necessarily. For all 48 minutes all the time. But when it mattered the most. They came through more than anybody else did. Yeah the resiliency part mattered to me. I tell them with this team. And I think that when you think of this championship. That's the word that always come to mind for me. Is resilient. And we said it a bunch of times. In the post game shows. And during the lives. It's a resiliency. That's what I think you'll think about. With this 2026 Knicks. Adaptability is probably the second word I'm talking about. Because the adaptability to me. Of what they were able to do. From the regular season. To the post season. And you can kind of see it coming. At the end of the regular season. But it just mattered. The process of what they went through. And I really really really hope. That going forward. Fans can understand. Like this is why you can't get too crazy. About a veteran team. That's been through regular seasons. And or coaches that are willing. And why it matters to be willing to experiment. During the regular season. When you have these veteran teams. That are knocking on the door of a championship. This stuff matters. And I think it matters a ton for the Knicks. In this championship run. All right next up. What we got? Got another question from the people. This is from says him. Future they passed on the future early in the draft. Like idiots. Nichols ain't nothing special. I think he means Tyler Nichol. Spelled wrong. You gotta stop and admit Leon failed this offseason. Failed how? What are you talking about? Why I'm not even here like being a super Leon Rose. Or putting on the cape for him. Here's my. This comment. Go ahead. Here's my thing. I have to think that this person is trolling. Because. I don't think they are. I think they're serious. There are other people who believe this. We knew people who thought Mohamed Diawara. Was a bad pick last year. I will repeatedly say this. Y'all don't know. We don't know. Maybe. And if you got a comment. And come out with your chest. Get the name right. Spell it right. Come on. The Knicks don't even know. Like they hope. They hope. Like listen. I think there's always a thought. That drafting is an exact science. And it's not. If drafting was an exact science. Jalen Brunson would have got picked a lot higher. Than he did. Nikola Jokic would have got picked a lot higher. And Giannis would not have dropped. Yeah. To the teams. It's not like 2K. Where you can just see the overall. And all the things you scouted right beforehand. And then it's like. Yeah. I know their potential is going to be at 90. Oh you sound. You sound like me. Where I'm like 2K. 2K just messed the game up for people. Yeah. Just messed things up for people. I just also like. Just flatly. I can't say that Leon Rose. Failed. In the offseason. When the directive was. Don't go over the second apron. Right. And. You got three guys back on. Bargain contracts. Like all of whom. Landry Shamit. Jose Alvarado. Moe Diawara. Who could have gotten more in the open market. And probably would have. If they actually went out. And really tested that market. But decided to. Stay for hometown discounts. Which was the comment. The first comment we heard here. Which you generally don't see. You know. And unfortunately. Like the players shouldn't have to take hometown discounts. Because the players. Like we can talk about like. The salary cap. And the issues with that. In terms of players. Making money. That you know. They're entitled to. They should be making more than that. And these players shouldn't have to take discounts. If they are. But it's a salary cap sport. Regardless. I do think that. In getting those deals. Like that's just good. Salary cap management from. The entire Knicks front office. Not just Leon Rose. And then you have the flexibility. Of adding six second round picks along the way. That you can then use. To maybe shore up your backup center position later on. Or fill. Like if somebody gets hurt. You could potentially fill the need there. But that's the problem Brian. Like it was not ideal. To lose Mitchell Robinson. But you were going to lose somebody. Not even just because of the second apron. But because. Like it's hard to bring back. The entirety of a championship team. Across any sport. The problem is. In what you just beautifully laid out. And I agree with you. And all the stuff you did. I think Leon Rose. Cook might be strong. But I think he did the best that he could. Within the constraints that. There were around him. And getting the six second round picks. And some people are going to say. Well you didn't address the backup center issue. I'm not. I don't believe in Andre Drummond. That's fine. If you don't believe in Andre Drummond. I don't believe in him. As terms of Knicks answer. As a backup center in the playoffs. But for the regular season. And to be fair. To be fair to them too. They have evidently exhausted some other avenues. Like they tried the Moussa Cissé thing. They've been involved. Which was a smart offer sheet. They've reportedly tried to get Eve Meese. Who's the guy that we've said. Should be their top priority. They have assets. As you just beautifully mentioned. With getting the six second round picks. Who were smart. To still address that issue. Yeah. You need. You need this answer by really February. Right. More than you need it right now. But that's the problem. And that's the problem with this comment. Yeah. Right. People think the answer. Always has to be solved right now. And my thing to that is. Did last season not teach you anything. Where you're not paying attention. Yeah. Remember last year. I'll say this again. Last year beginning. In this point in offseason. Where we're sitting right now. Think back to end of July. Last year people. Ah. I don't know what the Knicks are going to do. A backup point guard. And they found the answer at the trade deadline. Which helped them win the championship. So just calm down. Just calm down. You don't have to have all the answers there. Your roster. Your championship roster does not have to be done. On July whatever. That's not how it works. You literally just saw this. You literally just saw this play out. That's why I can't take. Says him seriously. And that was before they won a title. I just feel. I feel like. I don't know. I thought winning a title would earn. I thought so too. But especially this title. Given this the first. The first one y'all have seen in a really. What are you complaining about? The team hasn't seen a title in 53 years. And you're out here. Leon Rose who helped do it. And you're like. Leon Rose failed this offseason. What? The offseason is not even over. What are you talking about? And I don't. I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. If like. If you don't go back to back. I don't think the world's going to implode. You know. Knock on wood. Yeah. They're going to try to go back to back. As you should. I hope they go back to back. But you don't. You don't need all the answers in July. Is the point. Yeah. You don't. They don't. All right. Thank you for that. Maybe not. Thank you for that comment. Come on. People gotta calm down. What do we got next? What do we have next? All right. Here we go. Special Spencer 69. How about Vincent Goodwill's take that Delario O'Brien is just a participation trophy now? Seven years of a different champion. But the Knicks win. And all of a sudden you have to win multiple chips to be a valid champ. Knicks goalpost moving is already in full effect. To be fair. I've heard Vinny Goodwill on other shows. Point out that. While I know the point came. Came across as clunky to a lot of people. But he did say that he got clipped. There was more to it than that. And the juicy part is what made the rounds. Which tends to happen now with clip culture. I spoke to Vincent Goodwill. I hope he's fine with me saying this. I'm not going to go too, too deep into our conversation. But I spoke with Vincent at the parade. When we were doing our live show. Vinny was next to me doing stuff at ESPN. And he talked about this. And basically talked about how the Knicks fans were on his head. After this clip went out. They have been for a while. Like not even just for that. Listen. I think some of y'all out there take it too personal. And expect reporters to do too many things. Reporters by the way. Not like fan content creators. I think that Vinny is a Knicks hater. He's not a Knicks. I can assure you he is not a Knicks hater. I mean I had Mark Berman on the other day. Shout out to our former colleague. And there were fans in the comments calling Mark Berman still a Knicks hater. I brought it up to Mark. We talked about this on the show. About how the fact people still think that he is a Knicks hater. I can assure people Vincent. People have forgotten. People have forgotten what reporters do. And also what like analysts do. And I think there are people. This is not specific to this commenter here. Special Spencer 69. But I do think that there are a lot of people. Who just want pundits. Content creators. Reporters. Analysts. To basically tell them what they want to hear. Often. Yeah. You and I have talked about it. Now. As far as the actual point of the comment. I don't think that Larry O'Brien is a participation trophy. Do I? And I think. I think. Viddy has even admitted. Even in my conversation. That like. Yes. The delivery of what he was saying could have been better. He said it was hyperbolic. He was. He was being hyperbolic. And I do think. I told him this. I think he's aware that he. Enjoys needling. I don't think he hates the fan base. We know this is not true. As a reporter he does not. But do I think he enjoys maybe some of the needling. Of New York. Yes. Well if they take. If people continue to take the bait. Then yes. Like guys will do that. I think he does that. I listen. This is not me. I'm defending it. I do not think Larry O'Brien is participating trophy. Do I think it's convenient. Some people might say this Brian. That that comment. Or the talk around it. Came out when it's the Knicks. I understand where people are coming from. Yeah. I get that part. I get the defensiveness of it. Um. But look. There are people. Who. And I think this would even be fair to say about Vinny. Who do think that the league is better. When there are dynasties to chase. I'm not. Which I think is generally his point. Right. Like. Yeah. When when there's somebody to chase. Like when you had. The Warriors. When you had. The Heatles. When you had. Which. I know that they're not like a dynasty. In like the old sense. Where it's like you win. Four in a row. Whatever. But like new age dynasties. Where. You're dominant for like a stretch. And everyone's chasing those teams. And then obviously before that. You had like the Shaq and Kobe Lakers. And things of that nature. And earlier than that. You had the Bulls. But like. I don't necessarily think. Either way is bad. Like I don't. I like the parody. And I also like the dynasty chasing. I just think like. You need enough. Compelling contenders. So that fans buy in. So that reporters. Media buy in. Like oh. We actually have. A slew of teams that can win a title. Like. It got a little bit. I don't know if boring. Is too strong of a word. But. It got a little bit. Maybe formulaic. When it was just Cavs. When it was just Cavs Warriors. And it just felt. Going into the season. Like we're going to get Cavs Warriors. All the time. The Raptors aren't serious. Maybe the Rockets. Maybe OKC. Maybe the Spurs. But for the most part. We know what's going to happen here. Because they're too loaded. I think that's. That's like a bridge too far. And now this may be a bridge too far. For some other people. Where it's like. Now just anybody can win the title. But. I do think that's what makes it fun. Because I don't think the Knicks. Except I. Hold on. I want to stop there. That. See I know you're not saying that. But that comment to me is ridiculous. Which part? Because anybody can't just win the title. Right. Like the perception. The perception is. I know you're not saying that. But I think the thought. I think the perception of that is ridiculous. I do think there are more teams. That can today. That's different. But that's a much different statement. Saying that there are more teams. That can win before right now. Today in this era. But here's the thing. It's kind of a good problem to have though. But also. Can we also. Like do we. Do you think it actually. Diminishes the champion. No. And I think. But I think Knicks fans feel like. What some of the talking heads are saying. Is like. Oh because the Knicks won. And it diminishes the title. And I. I don't think you could say that about a team. Who did what they specifically did in the playoffs. No. When you have the historic dominant run. That they did. And you go 16 and 3. And you're the best fourth quarter team. If you're the best team when it matters. And if you do that in the playoffs. Like you are a worthy champion. Right. And my thing is like. Do I say the Knicks fans. I understand where they're coming from. And I actually on this comment. And I said this to Vinny. I understand the defensiveness of where it is. But you know what you did. You know what your team did. Can't nobody take that away. So you don't have to worry about. What everybody else feels out there. You know what your team did. We all did. We just talked about the great memories. That they had here. I personally there are things. And I just wrote about this. I don't love about with the second apron. In particular. Yeah. That I have issues with. But at the same time. I do think different changes and errors are good. We'll get back to some dynasties. It'll come back around. I think people are scared. It's going to swing back and forth. I think the thing that people got to look at. Is you know. Because sometimes people long for the old days. And I'm not one of those people all the time. The league is more talented than it ever was. It's just more talent in the league. Than there ever has been. And so when the talent's more spread around. You're and you have the apron stuff. You are going to get a little bit more parity. Somebody in this era is going to win back-to-back. And start a little dance. Maybe. Maybe it's the Knicks. Maybe not. It'll happen. Somebody will do it. Maybe it's the Knicks. And if it's the Knicks. Because it can't be anybody else right now. Right now. On the title. Right. But if it is the Knicks. A lot of Knicks fans are going to poke out their chest. As they should. And they're going to be like. What you got to say now. I mean. If you thought New York was up before. Oh man. I hope that. If Brunson. Listen. If Jalen Brunson. Goes back-to-back. With two finals MVP. We're going to. You thought the conversations were uncomfortable before. Oh my goodness. I hope that happens. I hope it happens. Oh my goodness. I hope it happens. There going to be people chanting participation. That Isaiah Thomas seat is. It's going to be interesting. That's going to be a discussion. It's going to be interesting. For a lot of people. Special Spencer. Thank you for the comment. We appreciate you. Yeah. There as well. All right. What do we got next? We have one here from Frankie. Hands. Him and Shamit. About to be a problem. Best things about summer league have been. Nichols. Liam Robbins. And Aiken. I think this comment came. Oh, okay. I remember where this comment came from. This came from the Tyler Nichol. Breakdown video. I did. About how. He might have earned himself. At minimum a two-way contract. With the Knicks. I. You know. We haven't talked since the summer league. Ryan. Finished. Because we did a couple shows. During the summer league. We didn't miss a lot. After. Tyler Nichol. Was impressive. When he did play. To me in moments. There were things I did like. About his game. I see the vision with Tyler Nichol. I saw it. I think people commented on one of the last shows. We did when people were like. Pretty much like. Get Colic about it here. Now. Now we want to. And I'm like. I want a new white. Y'all gotta. Yeah. Y'all gotta. Y'all gotta chill. Although we don't know. They might get Colic. But Colic up out of here. Yeah. And then. You know. Cahill is really the reason. They wanted Colic out of here. Excuse me. Nichol. You know. They like Nichol. But they were just saying. I think they were talking about Cahill as well. Too early. Liam Robbins. I know some people liked him. I. He's older than you think. I don't think he's got the. Foot speed enough to. Defend an NBA. Akins. Was fine. The biggest thing to me. I thought. Tyler Nichols. Tyler Nichol was the. Highlight to me of. The summer league. I thought his movement off the ball. Was really good. If Robbins gets a two way. It's like. You know. I think that's whatever. He's 27. Sure. I'll let people know. That he's older than Trey Jameson. Who was just. Not brought back. Which makes sense. And Liam Robbins did play. 13 games with the Bucks. Two years ago. Four and a half minutes a game. Shot 25%. Not much you can make there. Probably just mostly garbage minutes. I wasn't. Overly impressed. You know. I thought the two. Rookies. The two players they just drafted. I thought it was about. Tyler Nichol. And Jack Cahill. I thought. I thought they were fine. They showed some stuff. I'm very intrigued to see. What happens with Jack Cahill. I think. The Muldeoara didn't. Really show. Anything. And then they shut him down. After two games. Yeah. Which I kind of expected. Pacalm Dadier. Oh. To be fair. Dadier. Showed some stuff at times. Yes. Now. Let me see what he does in the preseason. Yeah. I'm not sure that fourth year is going to be. As of right now. I would say no. Yeah. But. Which we've talked about in previous episodes. Tyler Nichol though. Like I said in that video. The shooting. Is real. It's. And I thought he did some decent things defensively. And then Brian and I did that film breakdown. We talked about his off ball movement. We talked about. Certain things that he can do defensively. He had one possession that we had highlighted. Where he was very active. And did some really good things. If he can play that level of defense. And compete. Then I think he's definitely worthy of a two-way spot. And I won't get into talking about rotation minutes. I think that's down the road. But. Tyler Nichol definitely to me is the most impressive story. Coming out of summer league. Yeah. Because you see the vision. You see the movement shooting. You see how he's moving. And trying to complement his point guard. Trying to just be a moving target for them. Trying to peel off the screens with like intent. Like really actually. With his hands ready to shoot. Not just trying to float over here. And just space. But like you know you saw a lot of that. You know doing it in training camp. Doing it in the regular season was different. But he's absolutely worthy of a two-way spot. And then you see from there. Like I don't know how much we'll actually hear from him this year. Barring a significant amount of injuries. Or fairly significant amount of injuries. But I do think that if he does play at any point. I'm confident like I know what he can do. I know what he can be. It's just a matter of is he actually going to be good enough at the NBA level. But you can worry about that later. Yeah it's a good problem to have. All right. What do we got next? Let's see what we have here in the mailbag. Hopefully something good. We're gonna see what we got here. This is from Broam Josh. Broam Josh. Says my problem with Mo. Talking about Diawara. Is that he looked to step slow on defense. He doesn't grab rebounds with someone with his build. Doesn't contest shots as he should. And it's not athletic as I once thought. He's just tall and long. Okay. Um. Pause he says. Pause. Yeah. Pause police is out here. I. Pause police. Look. I. I thought Mo Diawara was disappointing. In the two games that we saw from him. In summer league. Am I gonna go crazy over it? No. I think you saw enough in a sample size. He played what just under 70 games last year. 69 games. Started 7. 9.2 minutes a game. He did good things as a role player. I think it's. I think we have to take an account. Which you'd want to see. But it's just not his game right now. He was asked to be a number one option. On the summer league team. With dudes he has not played with before. Like that. We have to take that into account. Dudes have not played at this level mostly. Right. And so. I take all that account in summer league. So as much as I said. I like things I saw from Tyler Nichol. You know. And that's fine and well. You still have to take things with a grain of salt. Mo Diawara has been playing as a complementary player. That's what he will do in the NBA. We've seen him do it already. He's a rookie in the NBA. Yeah. Teams are going to key in on him more next year. And he's going to have to make that adjustment. But. Defense wasn't actually a problem for me. Watching the summer league. It was offense and his ball handling. You know. In our film breakdown we showed. You know. He had some issues with turnovers. What do you think about. Because Josh mentions the athleticism here. I've never looked at him as like a. A plus athlete. I'm not saying that Josh is saying that. But I've never. I've never thought of him as that type of athlete. I thought of him more as like a. A three point shooter. Potential shot creator. Because he could do some things with the ball. We think. The handle obviously needs to get tighter. As you mentioned. I don't think of him as like. A jumping out the gym type of athlete. If that were the case. He wouldn't have been picked where he was. Also I think a lot of people. You know this. But a lot of people know me as. I think. Generally speaking. There is a. People of a certain era. Love athleticism in a way in the NBA. That I do not. Or I don't think. Same. I don't think it matters as much. I thought you were going somewhere else. I don't think it matters as much anymore. Yeah. Right. So. What I look for with Moe Diawara. Particularly when he's playing at the NBA level. Which is what we saw last year. It's funny. He said he looks up stolen defense. I thought his defense last year was really good. I thought he always looked like. But during. But during summer league. Summer league. Yeah. Okay fine. I've seen enough tape with this dude. In NBA action against higher level NBA competition. You'll go off the NBA tape. I'm going off the NBA tape. That's going to count way more for me. And I think he plays well off of better players. And I think as he gets more comfortable. In his adjusting. And he adds a little to his game and his handle. I don't think you have to be a crazy athlete. Because I would ask fans like. Okay on the Knicks. Who's the like. On this Knicks roster. Who's a crazy athlete on this roster. I think OG is the best athlete on the team. But okay. But he's not. Do you think Mohamed Diawara. Could be in that OG athletic range. The kind of athletic range you're talking about. I mean we. I think there's some other things. We probably should prioritize before we get to that point. Oh you're talking about with Moe Diawara. Yes. Yeah. I agree. I care more about. Can you actually potentially lead a second unit. Not even that. Can you just make an NBA rotation. Because I think. I think I come away from summer league being like. Okay. He's really going to have to. Because I probably. Was like. All right. Yeah. He's definitely going to just be in the rotation next year. And now. While I think that may still be the case. But I do think there's going to be a competition there. Because if I'm Mike Brown. I'm like. Okay. Like. You have to beat out. Because you're both playing for basically. But that's a good problem. Like you both have contracts. Right. You're both also playing for your NBA livelihoods. Like Moe Diawara's contract is not long term. Neither is Dottie's at this point. Dottie has two years left. And it really might be one. And then with Moe Diawara. He signed a short term. Team friendly deal. Only the first two years are guaranteed. So like. Yeah. Like you guys. Are probably competing to be like. One of the main. Backup. I guess the backup wing on this team. Because if you look at the roster construction. Andre Drummond. And then you're playing three of the guards. With Shamit Alvarado. And. Deuce. Not to mention. You still have Jordan Clarkson there. You still have Tyler Colick there. So like. Yeah. Like. That. Whatever spot it's going to be. Nine. Ten. Eight. Whatever it ends up being. Dottie A. And Moe Diawara have to fight for that. Yeah. By the way. Like. Tyler Nickel could fight for that too. To be honest. Hey. These are good championship problems to have. Because all I'm saying. Great problems to have. And what I'm. We want competition and training. What I'd say with Diawara. I think. Especially with young players. The thing for me is. Again. I'm going to go off the NBA tape I saw on him. I thought his rebounds per. What are you grabbing rebounds for games? Was it about three a game? He grabs. Up 1.4. But per 36. Per 36. He was 14. Five and three. I think the scoring could get better there. I mean from the field. He wasn't great. He was streaky. Streaky. But he. A lot of. But to be fair to him. A lot of what he shot. Were three pointers. Like the ball. The ball. A lot of what he shot. Were threes. Yeah. And he shot. 130 of his 213 field goal attempts. Were from three. And he hit 37 percent of them. Which is good. You'll sign for that. Now people are going to. Some of them off the dribble. People are going to close out. Harder on him. This year. And he's going to have to. Either put the ball on the floor. Make a decision. Make the right read. That's going to be the thing I'm watching the most. Come preseason. And that. Let's let his development. Come along fine. He had a good year one. Let's see how he counters in year two. I'm not. I didn't like what we saw from him. In summer league. Am I worried? No. Like. He'll turn. 22. Yeah. In the first round of next year's playoffs. Let's. We can. We can let. Maybe second round. We can let the kid develop. I think he's fine. I don't think he needs to be the. Jump out the gym athlete. That maybe some people want him to be. No. But thank you bro. I'm Josh. We appreciate you. I'm. I'm looking more for the. The defenses. Like that's something. To watch for. But. I do think. To me. More than the athleticism. Is just a shooting. In the shock. Shock patient. Yeah. I think we have one more. Uh. Two more. Actually. Uh. All right. What do you have next? This is from James. Men I. 113. 24. Oh. This guy. Somebody. I'm so happy. We brought this comment up here. And I'm so happy. I'm wearing a Mets hat. For you. James. Men I. 1324. He's at Clarkson. Got signed. Why do you wear a Mets hat? On the next podcast. Every episode. You wear the biggest loser. Busted sports. This year. With the biggest winners. This year. Makes no sense. Go buy a Knicks hat. Okay. First of all. I'm gonna note this. Number one. I understand. Why this was chosen. Because everybody. Who works here. In this building. On this show. Is a damn Yankees fan. So anytime. They have a chance. To throw a shot at the Mets. Who've had. A terrible year. And I'm the first person. To met it. But here's the thing. This is what you should know. James. Men I. Let me tell you. I know about myself. I'm a winner. No matter what hat I wear. Okay. Let me tell you about that. I understand. Where the Mets are. And here's the thing. It's my show. I'll wear whatever. Goddamn hat. I feel like. And here's. You're still watching. Thank you. For your service. You're still watching. Hey. This is the show. That we do. About the NBA champions. And I happen. To represent New York. With my hat. And you better. Get used to it. Because I expect. To see you here again. And here in the comments. Once again. So. If. And here's the thing. About James. Men I. This isn't one comment. From him. This man has commented. Multiple times. To come back. And see this beautiful Mets hat. On. The head. Of this beautiful host. And you had to see that. And see it again. Please come back. We love you. We all the love. This is no hate. I understand. You're a Yankees fan. I get it. But you may not want to see the Mets hat. But you keep coming back. Because you know New York. God game is so good. The show is so good. I know you got to come back. I know you had to come back. And I do own a Knicks hat. And I'm not going to wear it. Because you. Need to see more of the variations. Of the Mets hat that I have. So every time you come back. You're getting Mets. It might be blue and orange. It might be black and white. All the variations. Just for you, James. Brian, do you have anything to add to that? How many variations of Mets hats do you have? I believe I have five. You know what? It's a lower number than I thought. Oh, it's going to get higher thanks to James. He's going to get all the variations. James, to be fair. Just think of it as a New York hat. It's literally an N and a Y. He can't. Why? He's clearly a Yankees fan. Why does it bother your soul so much? Why? You're good. Y'all got mad championships. What are you mad about over there? Yeah. Barring the obvious. I don't generally mind what people wear. Barring certain things. Also, James. In your profile picture. How come you don't have a hat on? Can we see you with the hat? Thank you. Tommy, great job. Great job on choosing this. I knew you were going to choose this, sir. Great job. And we got Nikolai, our technical director out here enjoying this. Yankee fans. Y'all sure band together. And just love bashing on some Mets misery. We know the Mets are miserable. What? You could also subscribe to Straight Outta Flushing. You could do that. Be sure to check out that. It's a great show as well, too. James, you should check that out. Especially now that it's trade deadline season. Oh, trade season, Lord. AKA lines. If you want to hear Dex and Wardie talk about the top five Mets that are most likely to be traded. I know, it makes me so happy. Oh, it's great. James. I know you are angry and you think it makes no sense. But it makes so much sense to us that you watch the show. We appreciate you. Keep coming back. Please come back. Thank you, James. This is our last one. What do we have here for our last comment here in the mailbag? Let's see if we go out with a bang. GD Nation New York. Remember that guy with no rings, Reggie Miller? He can honestly broadcast every one of our FTC games this year. And it won't phase me. Yo, GD Nation. Let me say this to you. I've heard this from multiple people. Really? Not this particularly, but it's a broader idea. I did a show. I think we did this show. I think it was almost two weeks ago now. I did a show with our guy, Jeff Johnson from Knicks Film School. And we did a show about, is the Knicks for Klicks industrial complex again? No, it's not. Very clearly not, Jeff. But Jeff's point was it has been humbled. But to quote Jeff, I believe he said it like this. Like a phoenix from the ashes, they will rise once again, eventually. Right? It's a very Jeff statement too. And I was like, yo, yeah, I hear you. If you haven't checked out the episode, check it out. It's a great conversation with Jeff. And what GD Nation is saying here. Because I was always shocked from Knicks fans and other New Yorkers, how bothered they were by Reggie Miller on these broadcasts. That it really irked their soul. Shout out to our guy Greg Filmstuff, Louis Jackson. And our guy Greg is like, why do we have to have him on? I get it. But now. I also thought it was fun. Oh, yeah. Did it feel like they did it on purpose? Like put Reggie Miller on as many Knicks games as possible? Yes. Possibly. But also, if you're a broadcast network that has Reggie Miller, are you going to do that given the history? Yes, you are. If I was like, just like ESPN put, oh, can Mike Breen do the Knicks games? Yeah. All right, fine. Like, you're kind of having it both ways there. Yeah, I mean, listen, it's a matter of what team you're on. Mike Breen is the number one, the play-by-play guy on ESPN. And Reggie Miller is part of the number one crew on NBC with Mike Tirico. So this is just what, this is just what it is. And Kevin Harlan previously. And they're going to get most of the A games in the Knicks. Especially next year. You thought you got a lot of Reggie Miller before. Next year, you're probably getting a lot of Reggie Miller coming off a championship. Now, to GD Nation's point. And this is the larger point I was going to make about it not phasing him. This is how good this summer has been in New York and how the Knicks fans are feeling. Nothing can phase him. Shout out to my best friend, Anthony. We were on our way to the Jay-Z concert a couple of weeks ago. And my boy Ed was telling me, he's like, man, I went back and I was looking at old games that used to hurt my soul. He said, I went back and watched when Charles Smith missed those layups back in 93. He said, they can't hurt me no more. He's like, I felt no pain. And I said, yo, and somebody else told me this. I don't know. I think it was Jeff was telling me some of that too. And other fans have been like, another fan I ran into at an event the other day was like, Dex, I can go back and watch the Patrick Ewing finger roll. And I was like, that was so worth it. To get to what we felt now. And I've heard this now from several Knicks fans. I've heard people say this. And I understand it. I think it's dope that y'all can go back and watch these former painful memories that y'all went through your Knicks therapy, right? You went through your Knicks therapy. You sat on the couch. You were healed through this playoff run. And now you're saying, Patrick Ewing missed finger roll in 95. Charlie Ward getting flipped by PJ Brown in 97 in the suspensions. You got nothing. Amari punching a fire extinguisher. Cause you know what? You know, if anytime somebody once told me I was feeling down and you know what I did? I turned on game four of the 2026 NBA finals and I felt so much better. And I understand you. I understand. And you can relive it forever because it happened. Yes. Like that's the beauty of a championship, right? There's so many. Honestly, you can take your pick. There are so many options available like on YouTube or wherever else. Game four highlights, fan reactions. Game two, game one, game five. The blowouts against Atlanta at the fight between Dyson Daniels and Mitchell Robinson. Yo, I had a reporter who covers the Knicks at Liberty and tell me that the run of covering it was such like you're enjoying it in the moment, but because you're working that they had to go back and really watch and appreciate these moments again, because they just, you know, I get it. You're in it. You're covering it, but sometimes you really have to go back and watch these games to really appreciate it and really take yourself back. I rewatched the Mitchell Robinson Dyson Daniels fight of recently and within the last week or so. And I remember looking at the score as it was happening and I was like, damn, I forgot. I can't believe a fight happened now. We were doing the, I think it was us and we were doing the watch along and I just, I just, it just took me back to like, wow. Yeah, it was 72 to 22 early in the game. Dyson Daniels tried to fight it out. Like, yo, get me out of this series, bro. Look, GD Nation, I feel you. The trauma can't hurt you no more. You are free from the trauma. Free. A lot of Knicks fans got free. See, and I'm glad we're ending on this comment. That is why, that is why people, GD Nation, you sound like you're enjoying your best summer and you should. If you're mad and you're out here saying Leon rolls it and cook, or you're mad because you're having a mess. Go outside. Touch some grass. Put some on the grill. If you don't go outside, rewatch some Knicks highlights. It's gotta make you feel better. GD Nation's out here feeling good. Why can't you? Why can't you feel better? Don't you want to feel good? Don't you want to bask in the orange and blue skies? Isn't this what you've always wanted? This is what you asked for. This is what you've always wanted. And some of y'all are still mad. What the hell is? I think more people are happy though. Now, what I'm, and I will end on this note for my contribution to this. I do wonder when the games actually start again. Because we're going to be doing shows and maybe I'll be surprised, but I feel like I might be taken aback at like, wow. So I thought the championship would like buy a little bit more, but it, we are very much. I live in the moment. What have you done for me? Not lately, but what have you done for me? Like now within the last week or so? I think, I think in the fall. We are going to be doing a watch along and there'll be some point where we get some comment or something and we'll just look at you and we're going to look at each other and be like, this is the moment. The championship of happiness is worn off and you know what it's going to be the first time the Knicks lose back-to-back games. That's probably, or if they just lose opening night, which we don't know who opening night is going to be against yet. Although there's probably three obvious options for that. Right? But I feel like it'll happen. And then we'll, we'll probably be saying throughout the season, calm down. And also we just did this last year. If I, I'm a price at 50 million times, you know what I'm gonna say? Everybody can't be like GD nation. Some people like to live in a state of misery and happiness. Some, some people like to enjoy what's going on. Enjoy it. It's beautiful. New York is beautiful this summer. Right? And you know, it's even more, there's not a lot of things to enjoy all the time. So no, why you can enjoy something, do that. Enjoy it. Cause it's hard to enjoy things in 2026. Enjoy. It's good. Hey man, you, you, you, you can still have a smile on your face. I do when I wear MedTech. So you can too. That's all I'm saying. All right. Great mailbag. Fantastic questions and comments. We appreciate it. We might do another one next week. We might have, yeah. I want to know the question, questions and comments to this. If you've got questions and comments, put a comment right here. Let us know what you think. Are there any good things that you saw that you liked? Any comments you didn't like? Do you have any future questions or comments? And if we get enough, if we get enough good ones, if we get six to eight good ones, we'll do another mailbag. Um, that that's good. Let's see if LeBron don't sign. Jesus Christ. LeBron's ragging it out. I'm sure we'll react to what that matters for the Knicks. We'll have all that. He will likely go to one of the, um, aspiring contenders in the Eastern Conference. So wherever he goes, it'll probably be relevant to the Knicks in this show. But here's the thing. You're a Knick fan. He's still the champs. So it is what it is. All right. That is going to do it for this edition of New York Got Game. He is Brian Fonseca. I'm Jax Henry. Thanks as always, again, to the people for the fantastic questions. We'll catch you next time on another edition of New York Got Game. And thanks for watching New York Got Game. Bubba Shakalaka.