Knicks-Sixers playoff preview with Brendan Brown & Keith Pompey | The Putback with Ian Begley | SNY

On The Putback with Ian Begley, SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley is joined by longtime NBA broadcaster Brendan Brown and Philadelphia Inquirer Sixers beat writer Keith Pompey to preview the Knicks first round matchup with the 76ers.

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you comfortable and then people just say
so um um at the end of the day we’re
focused on us um whatever comments they
have they have but um we’re focused on
our team we’re focused on um just
getting better every day and getting
focused for the
Sixers already some bulletin board
material there for the Knicks from
Phillies Paul Reed ahead of game one of
Nick Sixers Saturday 600 pm. at the
Garden I’m Ian Begley SNY NBA Insider
you’re here on the putback our show to
talk Knicks playoffs NBA and everything
else we got two great guests today first
of all we got the Philadelphia inquirers
Keith Pompei cover the Sixers for a long
time if you want to know about the
Sixers you talk to Keith you read Keith
we have Brendan Brown three decades in
the NBA as a coach as a scout as a
broadcaster they’re both here to break
it down and we couldn’t be luckier to
have the two guys we’re going to start
off General matchup what did you think
about uh the read comments Keith and and
how do you think that played maybe with
the
Sixers you
know actually I was like okay there go
Paul Reed again um you know I I think
some of his teammates are probably like
come on I’m I’m gonna share something
with you one day they were in the locker
room right it was after Dallas and I
asked Paul a question and then Kyle
Lowry was like yo chill man chill people
use this stuff as bulletin board
material and Paul and goes you know what
this is how I feel and and that’s who he
is I think he doesn’t mean anything by
it he just has the troop that backfires
at times gotta respect that uh Brendan
your experience does this stuff actually
become bulletin board material or is it
a little bit
overblown well I think the season series
was a little cured and the Knicks really
like cream them the first game at
Philadelphia one of the best Nick games
of the entire year but then MB doesn’t
play the other three there’s a terrible
7973 game at the Garden so I don’t think
there’s like a lot of fire in between
these two teams with like everybody
there people have been missing in my
experience unless it’s something like
seriously directed at an individual
player I don’t think this is bullet and
board material I mean these teams are in
the playoffs it’s a good matchup it’s an
excellent first round matchup and I just
don’t think that a comment by a read
like that is going to have a lot of an
effect yeah makes sense that makes sense
uh Brendan I want to start with you just
getting into the series what is your
biggest challenge uh with for this Nick
team going into the seven game series
against Philly I sat around all day
Tuesday you know Philly or Miami Philly
or Miami and I changed my mind a lot a
lot and what I came up with at the end
was Philly’s the more talented team than
Miami but there are holes that they
bring to the game and they bring to the
series that the Knicks can take
advantage of and I think the Nick
offense in terms of having a lot of
opportunities for offensive rebounds the
ability to get out on the break the
ability to score in the paint and the
ability to get to the free throw line
like those four areas Philadelphia is a
little bit sof in in some of those spots
so when you’re looking for scoring
outside of Brunson and that happened in
that game where the Knicks like blew the
Sixers out a lot of different guys had
big games I think that could be very
important
here now Keith Sixers where do you think
their biggest challenges coming into
this
thing you know I think their biggest
challenge is um trying to stop Jaylen
Brunson you know I mean there was a
couple games where they played them and
they had bigger guys on them and the
Knicks were able to switch and then next
thing you know he was getting them
seeking out the matchups that he wanted
to so like you said like Brendon said
you they were able to get shots I think
that you know he’s a guy he’s going to
penetrate he’s going to look to score
but you’re going to they’re going to
focus so heavily on him that they’re
going to leave Other Guys open if they
knock down those shots I think the
Sixers could be you know in trouble at
least for that one particular game but
he is the guy I mean think about it I
mean he’s been one of the top five
scores he’s one of the top five scorers
in the league League I mean he’s been on
a tear as of late and I think number one
is you got to try to stop him from
scoring and setting up
teammates Brendan well first of all I
should say this Brendan has a fantastic
detailed breakdown of the Sixers on
sny.tv if you want to learn about the
Philadelphia what they do how they do it
be sure to check that out and Brandon
just in terms of Miami having success
with that zone in the playin do you see
Knicks going into that at all I mean it
would be a little bit out of character
do you see them taking a shot there with
his own defense well I I gotta mention
one thing right before that you know I
broke down the Philadelphia and Orlando
game on Friday night and embiid was
moving around just fine and I know Keith
could speak to that there was The Tweak
in the second quarter but he played in
the third quarter and still looked good
so whatever happened from the end of
that game to later that night or maybe
the next morning and then they s him out
on Sunday like he was moving great on
Friday night and then we saw what
happened the other night now would the
Knicks play zone defense against
Philadelphia maybe you put something
deep in your back pocket if you’re
having trouble with Maxine MBI is a twom
man tandom or guys like UB and Harris
are getting involved a little bit more
in transition of the flow but tibs
generally doesn’t do that but then again
it’s a playoffs like if you had to play
that maybe with the second unit for five
or six possessions and that kind of made
the game go a little bit different uh
maybe you do have that in your back
pocket the Sixers ran 10 different
patterns the other night against Miami
and only the last one or two were
effective in any way shape or form it’s
gonna be interesting to see how thibo
approaches it in the chess match between
Nick nurse Tom Fido Keith we’re talking
about embiid you’re there every day
you’re seeing him every day
where is he now in terms of conditioning
and his ability to you know go uh give
you 40 plus minutes uh throughout a
series you know it’s it’s tough because
I don’t think he he he reached that that
level yet he was trying to he was
trending in that level and then all of a
sudden you know as Brenda said you know
he he tweaked his knee and then all of a
sudden he didn’t play in the in the
other game now now here’s the thing
about embiid it’s like as far as where
is
you know I would have to say that he
took a step back you know I thought that
he was like 90 something per 95 he was
getting back to just being in
conditioned but you know as of the last
game when you saw the Miami he didn’t
have the mobility that he had before um
it it seemed like he didn’t have the
lift on his shot um I don’t know if it
was mental or not like if he was fearful
of uh you know reinjuring the knee but I
didn’t see the same aggressiv
aggressiveness that I saw the in the
previous games before before the injury
before The Tweak so I would have to say
mb’s around 80% you know I mean but I
mean that’s good I guess but not for a
playoff game in in my opinion maybe I’m
making too much of it Keith but even
with that bad game that he had most of
the game against Miami he still came up
really big late um I think he scored or
assisted on 10 points late in the fourth
that just swung the game so you know
regardless 80%
75% uh still you know can can come up in
a big moment for Philadelphia and I
think obviously the series starts there
and swings there and Brendan if you are
drawing up ways to defend your scheming
ways to defend Joel embiid you’ve got
the Nick centers at your disposal how
would you approach it to be honest with
you and and many moons ago when I
coached in Memphis which goes back like
18 years
um there were teams that we played that
had very good passing big men and
whether they were at the elbow or they
at the top of the key which are two
places that embiid usually is we jammed
all passers and being that ID might not
have a lot of Mobility if he kind of
looks like he did against Miami I would
get in his face and make him put the
ball down on the floor because I don’t
think he can do a lot of that and I
would go that way on him rather than and
play off him or or come up with
different schemes of fiveman situations
I just say to hartenstein whenever he’s
in the game you’re in the game you see
him go to the bench you come to the
bench he comes to the table you go to
the table and you just face guard him
and crossface make him turn make him
turn one shoulder so one half the floor
is taken away he’s such a great dribble
handoff guy because he’s big and he has
an knack for passing so he and Maxi and
other guys can be really good in Twan
games but I would just pressure him and
say hey you got to dribble the ball to
beat us and he could do that last Friday
night against Orlando he was doing
everything against Orlando last Friday
night but now the mobility isn’t there
like make him put it down Brandon you’ve
also mentioned um in the the writeups on
sny.tv that if embiid is out on the out
away from the rim draws the Knicks big
man out that could that’s not the
natural
positioning that Knicks like to play on
defense how do they how do they defend
in that position with a hartenstein or a
Robinson pulled out well you have two
distinctive options number one do what I
just said because if you press up on him
and you make All Passes hard and he
might only have a pass to either Wing
that’s going to somewhat diffuse some of
their offensive sets that they run the
other thing you can do is what the
Knicks did to sabonis the last two times
they played Sacramento late in the
season and they played off him and they
gapped everything and they went out you
know under everything so that would be
like divon chenzo and hardt going under
on some of their different perimeter
guys and then when the guy slid through
the Gap then the big did have the
ability to go and close back up again
after the dribble handoff maybe didn’t
happen so Knicks have done a little bit
of both and Tom has done a lot of really
good individual game plans I’d say since
the All-Star break so you know we’re
going to find out in the first quarter
what it’s all about because embiid has
generally been up top he’s generally
been the trailer they do put him in the
post a handful of times a game but he’s
generally out there Keith obviously andb
dealing with that significant knee
injury um and he he got back on the
floor he worked his way back and is
there anything to like this postseason
for him and and motivation for him in
terms of coming all the way back from
that knee how do you see how does he see
this playoff run in particular with this
team yeah there’s a lot of motivation
because when you think of Joel and be I
mean you think of a guy who has great
regular seasons and then he’s often
injured in the playoffs and his numbers
go down and and you know it’s all about
Legacy right so for if you’re Joel you
know and unfortunately he tweaked his
KNE but he wants to come back and he
wants to play he wants to show that he
can be a reliable player in the in the
postseason and and right now it’s it’s
you know that’s what it is I mean he he
also talks about you know he wants to
win a championship he wants to do all
this other stuff but I think at the end
of the day he wants to shed that label
of yes you’re a great regular season
player but your numbers are on a decline
in the postseason and you’re often
injured in the postseason yeah the the
loser of this series there’s
ramifications for that team the winner
of this series I mean you look at
Milwaukee in Indiana you know I one
thing with Yannis SED compo in the Bucks
there’s been reporting that he’s out for
at least game one I think you know the
Bucks are going to be conservative there
on Giannis in terms of just the calf and
not wanting to rush him back at all
because you put him in a position where
he could potentially have a more serious
calf injury Achilles injury so I think
that’s how the Bucks are looking at this
thing with Giannis just a conservative
approach not rushing him back so you may
you know maybe in Indiana gets through
there uh maybe they would even with
giannis’s if Giannis was healthy but
maybe you’re looking at a a tough
Indiana team if you get through this
Nick Sixers series but let’s get back to
the Here and Now Jaylen Brunson Brendan
Brown you’ve You’ watched all these
games in detail uh and you’ve seen how
Philly has approached them in the past
you think they have some good matchups
for Brunton what do you see there in
terms of the Sixers defending Jaylen oh
the first thing to talk about is the
Sixers General defensive philosophy
you’re talking about a team that tied
for number one in Steels they were sixth
in blocks it’s very hard to be in the
top 10 of those two categories without a
lot of activity and a lot of activity in
General on the perimeter now if you go
to the individual games in this 3-1
Knicks one Series in the regular season
I think you can put too much stock into
what happened down in Philadelphia when
the Knicks blew him out and I think you
can put too much stock into the 7973
game where Brunson went six for 22 but
are there little bits and pieces of
those games that make sense Kelly UB is
a pretty good matchup for Brunson we’ve
talked about it before on these podcasts
just putting a bigger guy on Brunson
does not mean the bigger guy is going to
shut him down that is not true his
footwork is excellent he’ll still figure
out how to get high percentage shot but
UB is a little different because he’s
long he’s got quick feet you know to
shift around as Brunson shifts around
and then he’s got a little bit of an
edge to him I wouldn’t say it’s like
Dylan Brooks like nasty nasty Edge but
UB does have an edge so I think he would
welcome the matchup you know how much he
can slow him down I’m not sure but he’s
a pretty good individual matchup whereas
many of the bad teams the Knicks played
you know at the bottom of the East they
just didn’t have schemes or matchups for
Brunson and he killed so yeah there are
other people Melton Lowry uh you could
throw Maxi Adam a little bit you saw
Batum at the end of the game against
Miami covering Butler covering hero so
he’s another potential guy so then it
comes down to Nick nurse am I gonna try
to play Brunson straight up or am I
gonna junk the game
up it’s yeah it’s just a chess match and
it’s going to be so fascinating to see
how it unfolds Brunson for you Keith and
and you know you’re around the Sixers
what what are they saying about
defending jayen facing jayen over the
course of this
series I mean basically what what
brandan just said I mean you you want a
long guy on them but you want a guy that
can defend and and the thing is there’s
two guys like you talked about Kelly UB
but then also I think that you know I
would bring in Nico baton and try to see
what he can do with them I mean these
are two long Defenders who who you know
can defend and they have reach and
everything like that um but but again
it’s one of those things where when you
look at him you know he is the head of
the snake like he’s the guy that when
you know the one game the second game he
didn’t shoot the ball particularly well
and the other guys didn’t shoot it I
think that if you go in there and you
want to stop him and then everything
else goes but yeah I I think that you
want to get a a guy like Kelly UB but
you hope that Kelly like you said Kelly
has an edge but you hope that Kelly
doesn’t cross that edge or do anything
crazy right you know what I mean you
don’t want that to happen but but I
think that you need Kelly UB and and um
and Nico but you don’t you hope and pray
that they don’t do any switches to where
they get Maxi on him I love Maxi a great
offensive player but but I think that
that’s the favorable matchup even Kyle
Lowry I hate to say it but at the age of
38 right now I think those are favorable
matchups for Brunson and where he would
you know Feast on the Sixers but I like
Kelly and I like
Nico Brendon just I want to go back to
ID for a second because you we talked
about hartenstein what role do you think
of Mitchell Robinson could play uh over
the course of a seven game series on
embiid well I think it depends like as
Tom tho always said you go how the game
goes and how is Philadelphia utilizing
them and right now kind of in the games
he played heading down into the series
he’s on the perimeter like 80 to 85% of
the time so would you if you were the
Knicks potentially play a Chua against
him if he’s really perimeter and not
play Mitch you know like that is a
possibility here depending on how you
think the game is going and what you see
now if Mitch is out there against him uh
now what’s your immediate strategy on
him are you up on him are you one length
with him are you playing back on him
what are you doing but what I would do
is I would jam him and make him have to
put the ball on the floor now Mitch we
know since coming back has just had some
like limited you know contributions here
and there in the big Milwaukee win he
did have a couple of Big Blocks in that
run at the beginning of the fourth
quarter but you’re constantly looking at
Mitch and saying like how good a shape
are you in and maybe a chea could be the
guy because you want to play 94 foot
offense and maybe outrun andb down the
floor and The Chew would be better for
that so I think that’s something that
Tom and his staff will figure out as the
games Move Along yeah it’s going to be
it’s going to be fun to see how it
unfolds Saturday game one obviously and
then how the series goes from there but
remember guys the putback is also in
podcast form now so you can find us
wherever you download your podcast be
sure to check us out there or check us
out on all of sny’s social media Pages
let’s get to ogn anobi because uh he he
is one of the many swing potential swing
players in this series now I think with
Nick nurse obviously Keith he knows in
and Obi very well you think that gives
nurse any kind of an edge here in in
terms of uh you know game planning for
anobi and maybe how to approach the way
he plays
defense you know I think it does um but
but but also think more so on the when
when how the Sixers play defense against
him you know the one thing that I
noticed is that you know when when Nick
was when when they were in Toronto it
was one of those things from what I
heard like OG wanted to do a lot more
you know I mean of the offense in
regards and what his role was and Nick
was like no this is what you are you do
this you do that so I think when you
have a coach like that that knows a guy
strengths and his weaknesses it’s going
to help the Sixers out right now
defensively it could give him a little
bit of an edge in regards to like you
know basically you know where he doesn’t
like to be how to draw fouls things like
that but you know I also think that it
also goes both ways right because then a
player often you know you you coach for
this guy coached you right you you felt
like you were more of a offensive player
than your role allowed you to be and
sometimes you go out there and you get
motivated to try to show him that hey
look dude you messed up you should have
given me the ball more than you did so I
think it goes both ways on on on that
one you know so but at the same time
yeah Nick is going to know how to defend
him but I also think that OG is going to
be motivated to prove that um he’s a
better offensive player than he was used
in Toronto yeah big series for anobi
obviously uh potential pending free
agent and this is probably a
conversation for another day but you
know I I’ve been told that Philadelphia
you know if they don’t if they are not
successful in their pursuit of Paul
George think anobi is right there on
their radar and obviously the Knicks
planning on resigning him want to resign
him that’s what happens when you make
the kind of trade that you do to bring
an anobi in you’re going to keep him in
your building long term but I think
Philadelphia will be lurking depending
on what happens with the Paul George
situation but again something to discuss
another day there hopefully with Keith
and
and uh we’ll see how it shakes out but
Brendon for you back to the series here
Anon Obi how would you employ him
defensively uh against the Sixers and
and what do you think the Knicks can do
to put him in the best position to make
a strong impact on defense well the last
time these two teams uh met in New York
all right we’re coming off the 7973 game
which was a real rough game to watch
both ways in terms of the offense but
the Sixers did get a win without Maxi
and without embiid on the Knicks floor
you can’t undersell that a little bit
but that very next game was the first
game that Maxi came back from concussion
protocol and the Knicks used diven jenzo
against Maxi in the initial matchups and
I thought he did an incredible job of
not allowing Maxi to get the ball back
if he gave it up he pushed Maxi off the
three-point line I know it was his first
game back might have been a little
tentative with that but Devon chenzo
activity on him was awesome so then
where is anobi in that game well anobi
ended up being on Harris we know that
Harris only has scored 25 points in the
four games against the Knicks this year
so OG obviously did a good job in that
game so you say like can he guard embiid
in some spots yeah he probably can
especially if embiid’s goingon to be
camped out at the top of the key or you
know outside the three the whole game
can he take turns on Maxi I would say
yes but the one negative that came out
of the huge blowout in Philadelphia is
that OG tried to guard Maxi a fair
amount that game and Maxi got around him
relatively easy and was in the lane
three four five times Maxi is one of the
only guys in that game who had a good
game for Philadelphia so yeah you can
throw them at Maxi but I would like my
chances maybe first with divon chenzo
and Hart I would go that way and then
maybe McBride Off the Bench um but you
know OG can pretty much guard anyone so
let’s see what Tom does with him now
we’ve got a question from Matt spenley
uh social media executive I can’t even
come up with a new title at this point
social media executive for SNY Now Matt
you got a fan question for us what do
you have it’s all right Ian I’ll forgive
you it’s all right but next time you
better have a new one all right bring
the Heat next time yeah all right um so
Jay R is in YouTube and we’re also
seeing questions from our guy David
futernick about the role players in the
series who we expect I know brandan you
just kind of talked about it so I want
to talk about the Sixers side here Keith
obviously uh Nick patum was huge for the
Sixers in there in their win against the
Heat so who are the role players for
Philly that you anticipate potentially
swinging the
series well Nick baton could be one but
you know he he shot phenomenal that game
but you’re not going to ask him to do
make six threes every every game I think
the guy who was talking the trash could
have a big could swing the series right
and and I’m talking about Paul Reed and
the reason being is you know we don’t
know what how Joel is going to perform
right because of that need and Paul Reed
is a guy who’s got a lot of minutes you
know playing the five spot with Joel
being out and you know what they like
for him to do is bring some energy and
do certain things and play hard and and
run rim to rim so he can do that now
another guy who I feel like could have a
big impact is Buddy Hill if he makes
shots right the reason why I got buddy
is for the playoffs because they felt
like he could help create space for
embiid and Tyrese Maxi and they could
probably utilize him a little bit like
they did JJ reck like they did Seth
Curry you know players like that so
those are two guys that I look at as far
as coming off the bench who can have a a
big impact now of course they want Kelly
UB to do it on both sides of the ball
but if we’re talking about bench players
I think that with Joel embiid’s Health
right now you got to look at Paul Reed
and and then you got to look at um you
know buddy Hill in regards to shooting
and and and spacing the
floor Brendan I’m curious because we
were talking about Maxi a little bit
earlier and now we’re talking about X
factors uh for me Dante diven chenzo is
my exactor coming into the series
because so much attention is going to be
paid to Jaylen Brunson can Devan chenzo
take advantage of that and I I think
that he’ll spend some time on Tyrese
Maxi defending Tyrese Maxi is that how
you see the Knicks matching up Ear
initially on Maxi and what do you what
do you think about how they would
approach Maxi well if they did what they
did in the last game and it was a very
successful game yes Steven chenzo was on
Maxi in that matchup and whether he was
on the ball but more so off the ball he
would not allow Maxi to get the ball
back not on a pass to the wing he chased
him really hard into dribble handoffs he
made life very difficult for him now how
do the Knicks guard Maxi and pick and
rolls and that’s a big key Keith watches
him every night Maxi’s kind of like this
going to sound unusual a little bit of a
rhythmic pick and roll player so if he’s
feeling good in the game maybe he got a
easy basket or two on the break or you
got an open look in the half court then
his game will accelerate very very very
quickly in pick and rolls he’s not
afraid to shoot all the way behind
everybody if he’s feeling good if you go
at him try to show or trap he can split
the Trap uh if you go under he does
different things he does uh which are
effective but the best is he’ll go
screen rescreen and now you’re dealing
with him trying to turn the corner off
the second screen so as much as the
individual matchup is important with
maxi how they deal with him in different
pick and roll where that side elbow high
they run staggered pick and roll at the
top there’s so many different things
they can do with him but as a team
defense component that might be more
important on Maxi than it even is an
embiid I think on embiid you’re trying
to go as oneon-one as possible Maxi
might be more of a group effort yeah I
mean and listen you’re listening to
Brendan Brown break things down in great
detail and he’s got also fantastic
breakdown on sny.com
of the Sixers so be sure to check that
out right now we go back to Matt
spendley another fan question what’s up
fellas I’m back all right so this one’s
on uh how the series will be officiated
because this was a bit of a discussion
yesterday as a Haren Steiner practice
I’ll read just a brief uh quote from him
he said about Joel embiid he’s going to
seek fouls so that’s the main thing
through fouls he’ll get his little
breaks easy free throws so the main
focus is not letting it to the line he’s
the MVP so he’s going to get some calls
that maybe don’t go in your favor and he
made a point to say it’s smart for and
beid to do this um to potentially
utilize this strategy but Keith watching
the Sixers all year and beid how he’s
officiated how do you anticipate that um
going into this series potentially being
a
factor I think it’s gonna be a huge
factor I mean he is and and and and the
guy is right that’s when Joel takes his
break I mean he he knows that he admits
that like I get to the foul line is a
little break I get to uh get the shoot
the foul shots but yeah I mean I I think
that I mean let’s let’s face it Joel he
does that move
um and and he gets he gets to the foul
line he is the MVP he gets a lot of
calls and I expect him to live at it I
mean the last game he didn’t shoot the
ball particularly well from the field
but he was nine for 10 from the foul
line I think that we’ll see that in this
series now the one thing is I noticed
that a lot of guys who are real
disciplined who don’t get their hands up
um in there they just keep them up you
know a lot of times when you do that
with embiid he likes he he rips through
but then all of a sudden it’s like oh no
one’s there and he doesn’t he gets a
little not frustrated but it’s like one
of those things where he can’t go to
that move but there’s going to be times
when guys get tired guys don’t think and
they’re going to do it and he’s going to
bait you and he’s goingon to get to the
foul line I expect embid to live at the
foul line now the one thing that Brendan
did say though right is here’s a here’s
the thing with MB if MB settles and
wants to be at the three-point line and
is trying to take take these little set
shots and all this other stuff and he’s
not down like faing the basket like you
know at the elbow or anywhere like that
I don’t think he’s going to get as many
foul calls right he needs to be physical
with he needs to be a little bit
aggressive to do it but if he’s doing
like these bailout shots they won’t get
the call I I don’t think he’ll get as
many calls as he would like to get so
Brendan um in the clutch and be
delivered in the clutch the other night
against Miami clutch numbers when you
look at them how do you assess them
going into the series I tell you what
this could be a very important number we
we know that this matchup even on paper
is relatively close you know who can
execute better can the Knicks make it a
little bit more of an uptempo game put
the pressure on MB to change ends but
when it comes to the end of the game
okay the Knicks were 17 and 16 in clutch
games Philadelphia 18 and 18 I thought
the Knicks were done playing clutch
games and then they had two more over
last weekend to get the 50 game the
Knicks as a team in the clutch field
goal percentage 44% which is just 18th
in the league threo percentage in the
clutch 26% that is 26th in the league
free throw percentage in the clutch for
the Knicks 69.9 that is 28% what does
that tell you maybe Brunson misses a
fair amount of free throws at the end of
games or other guys do as well uh the re
rebounding for the Knicks just 10th
where they are always number one two or
three in the league during the game uh a
solid number at 10th now you start
thinking about this and when you get to
individual players Hart and Haren Stein
are very good shooting in the clutch OG
is at 38% Brunson at 42% remember with
the clutch you got to add five so
brunson’s 42 is really like 47 but then
what you got McBride at 33 you got Divan
chenzo at you got bogdanovich at 29 and
then if Burks were to play he was at
only at 26 this year so all your
knockdown Shooters and all your
three-point shooters for the Knicks in
33 clutch games they didn’t make many
threes or barely any threes and is
Brunson delivering any kickout passes
with good efficiency so these guys can
knock down shots and when you think that
McBride and divon jenzo and bonovich
could all be on the floor late in games
that could be a very good key big key in
this series in each individual game I
saw spendley get fired up when you
mentioned McBride Brendan but we’ll
we’ll leave that for for another show uh
we talked about potentially winning the
series and you get through and maybe you
have a Milwaukee team that’s being very
conservative with yian Santa compo
injury maybe you have Indiana real quick
Keith ramifications for the Sixers if
they lose this series how do you think
they’d react
act well I mean it it’s it’s weird
because you they had a rough season
right they’ve been through a lot uh I I
think if they lose this series they look
at like this is just another year I mean
unfortunately you know a lot of it would
be um you know Joel emb’s knee like how
you know how was he able to play but
then after that I think that this will
of course this is going to be the end of
what we see I I think that you know the
Sixers that this summer they’re going to
be disappointed but moving forward the
only two guys that will probably be on
the
team is going to be Maxi and and Joel
andb right now again they have guys that
they just signed from the two-way
two-way guys on there and they they’ll
be like trying out for the team whatever
or or low minutes guys but I think it
it’s going to be an end of an error for
the Sixers now again you’re G to have
himbi but they’re going to have to go
out and get something I mean think about
this this this season this will be a
major disappointment because when Nick
nurse was hired in his opening press
conference what he said is I know what
my job is right is get out of the second
round you know everybody wants to win a
championship but we want to get to the
Eastern Conference Finals and no matter
like what happened at the end of the day
is all about results and if they lose to
the Knicks um in this series it will be
one of their worst you know uh finishes
you know since uh since since the
process right since the process ended so
you know I I I think that you know
they’re going to have to go back in
there and think about some things we
talked about Paul George they want OG
they want a lot of different guys but I
think that if they go down this is going
to be remembered as a extremely
disappointing season yeah and it will be
a big off season for Daryl bore and the
group because you guys will have a lot
of cap I should say the Sixers will have
a lot of cap space I really think the
off season start in some ways with Paul
George extending with the Clippers
looking elsewhere somewhere like
Philadelphia or another team and uh yeah
just fascinating ramifications real
quick ramifications for the Knicks I
think there will be a lot of noise about
them not getting back to the second
round not meeting expectations and
invariably you’re going to point to the
head coach regardless of how things play
out in a series when you lose I I don’t
see Tom Fido’s job being in Jeopardy
though if they lose they series I mean
if they’re non-competitive maybe we’re
having a different conversation but read
Jaylen brunson’s players Tribune essay
that he wrote and read what he wrote
about Tom thibo that tells you all you
need to know about how Brunson feels
about thibo uh when your top player is
in lock step with your head coach The
head coach is going to be safe and also
Leon Rose uh OB very close relationship
with thibo thibo has done a great job in
New York Rose has had the green light to
make a coaching change over the past few
years hasn’t done it has stuck with
thibo so I would not anticipate a
coaching change uh unless there’s
disastrous results for the Knicks in
this series even if they lose it um but
let’s go to prediction let me say this
if there was a coaching change I think
it would have to come from above Leon
Rose it would come from the ownership
level but anyway uh not not a
conversation we need to have necessarily
right now I want to know predictions for
this series Brendan Brown who’s winning
it how many games couple of facts you
want to talk about when you’re trying to
figure out the series lot of fans
running around two seat two seat two SE
two seat yeah okay the Knicks won three
more games than Philadelphia and mbid
missed 43 games so if Brunson missed 43
games would the Knicks even be the seven
seed so you gotta take all this into
when you’re trying to figure this out
the fact that be is compromise is
definitely an advantage to the Knicks
and something that they can take
advantage of in several different ways
and I think that Tom and his staff will
figure that sort of situation out I see
as I look at it on paper and what I’ve
broken down on film that if the Knicks
take advantage of what I talked about
earlier there are four different ways
they can score that will get them to5 in
most of these games if the Knicks score
105 in the playoffs I believe they’re
going to win pretty much every game in
that you know in that manner so for this
series I see the Knicks winning I could
see it going very long I could even see
it going seven games if embiid was 100%
or like Keith said like 85 90% I think
this is a lot different but that injury
I’m not going to chalk everything up to
that but the Knicks outside of Brunson
you still got a figure how you’re
getting to 105 if Brunson gets 30 how do
you get the other 75 points and divon
chenzo is not going to get 15 threes off
and and then you’re going to have to
have some guys do some more scoring that
they usually do so it’ll be very
interesting um and I think it’s G to be
a great series I I think there could be
a lot of theater
involved Keith I know you have to go
cover Sixers practice here momentarily
what is your prediction who’s winning in
how many games you know I I think it’s
going to be a long series but I I think
you know just by basing off of seeing MB
play Wednesday night I’m not optimistic
for the
76ers because you know the longer you
play more injury you’re going to have P
stress on that knee I see the Knicks
winning this in in either six or seven
games right and if it comes down to a
game seven I just think that it’s going
to be tough for the Sixers to go into
New York go into the guarden and pull
out a victory now again if MB was
healthy like I I get it I I feel like
the Sixers will have the upper hand but
I just feel like you know the 76ers like
you’re right this team made the playoffs
and MB missed a lot of games but they
lose a lot their offense is predicated a
lot on MB than Maxi and when mid is not
playing or if if he’s limited teams
guard Maxi different in the fourth
quarter and I don’t know he can score a
lot of points but I don’t know if in in
this setting if embiid is hampered that
Maxi is going to be able to get it done
by himself yeah I’m with both of you
guys I think the embiid health is a big
factor I think the Knicks in seven
that’s where I’m going we’ll see how it
starts to unfold Saturday 6 PM Madison
Square Garden game one that’ll do it for
us here on the putback Brendan Brown
Keith Pompei thank you so much for
sharing your Insight and your time and
we will be back on the putback sometime
after game two I believe Wednesday so
keep an eye out for us there and keep an
eye on Honda Sports night for your
nightly Nick coverage
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