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00:00The 3-6 will be the Knicks against the Pistons.
00:04And the Knicks, of course, with home court advantage
00:06are favorites in the series.
00:09Yeah, man, if I told Knicks fans,
00:12preseason, round number one,
00:15Detroit Pistons against the Knicks.
00:18Here we go.
00:19First of all, first of all,
00:22what are you talking about?
00:24See, you know, you know, JY, again,
00:27listen, I'm very kind, especially college season,
00:30NBA gloves come off.
00:32You walked in today and went,
00:33you guys ready for Detroit to eliminate the Knicks
00:35and Tibbs get fired in two weeks?
00:37It could happen.
00:38But it's me.
00:39It could happen.
00:40But it's me.
00:41I can do it because I'm a Knicks fan.
00:43And I'm a pessimistic Knicks fan.
00:44All right, come back to me.
00:46Very simply put, as a Knicks fan,
00:48should you be nervous about this series?
00:50Absolutely.
00:51Why?
00:52Because Jalen Brunson, we want to talk about,
00:54and I love JB.
00:55We talk about Damian Lillard being a cone on defense?
01:00You watch Jalen Brunson defensively?
01:02And this is where, as much as you love Brunson,
01:05you have a little bit of a problem with this team.
01:08The Knicks struggle against athletic, tough guards.
01:11And here is Cade at 6'4",
01:14who in the last, during the season,
01:16has given you, let's see, 22, 29, 36, 36.
01:22And who is going to be the one that's going to stop him?
01:25Now, that also means that Tom Thibodeau
01:27can't rely on playing his starters 40 minutes a night.
01:30So this is where the Tom Thibodeau debate starts to come in
01:33as the most unbiased Knicks fan on the planet.
01:36I said Knicks fan.
01:37He said Knicks fan.
01:37That's true.
01:38Give me that one.
01:39I still don't think that's true.
01:40Yes, absolutely.
01:41Because I think there is a world where Detroit could take out the Knicks.
01:46Do I think it's actually going to happen?
01:48I pray not.
01:49I think it's going to be about a six-game series,
01:52if you look at right now the Knicks being series spread minus 1.5,
01:55minus 144.
01:57But to me, this comes down to tips adjustment.
02:03And this is where people are going to think I'm crazy.
02:05I think the critical player in this series may be Deuce McBride.
02:11No.
02:12No.
02:13No.
02:14Listen to me.
02:15Because he's the only guard on that team that I think could stay in front of Cade
02:20and make it somewhat difficult.
02:22I'm not trusting Hart.
02:24I'm not trusting, obviously, Brunson.
02:27Mikel has been all over the place in this game.
02:30I think Deuce McBride is going to play a critical part in this series
02:33because someone's got to slow this guy down.
02:36I'm not saying that Deuce has got to get you 17, 18 points.
02:38I'm saying he's got to keep Cade 24, 23, or less.
02:43You can't give this guy 30 points a night.
02:45That's going to be a problem for New York if they do that,
02:47and they keep running Brunson to guard him.
02:49Here's my take on the Pistons.
02:51I believe Cade Cunningham should be in the MVP conversation.
02:55And that's solely based on – that's not based on the stats.
02:57I'm not saying he's as good as Jokic or SGA,
02:59but what he means to the team if we're actually talking about value,
03:02Cade Cunningham should be there.
03:03What they did this season.
03:05Point notwithstanding, when it comes to this matchup,
03:09the Knicks, as we know, if we were talking about pre-show,
03:11depth is an issue for them.
03:13Can they match up punch for punch with the Pistons
03:15based on their starting units?
03:17Yes.
03:18I think we'd all agree with that, right?
03:19Just solely based on the starting fives, the Knicks have the advantage.
03:22But after that, that's where the questions arise.
03:25To me, that's where the questions arise.
03:26And when Brunson is a liability out there,
03:30if Cade Cunningham does go off and he's averaging 30 a game,
03:33the Knicks are at risk.
03:35So when we're looking at the series price,
03:37I think there's very clear value to take the Pistons.
03:39Maybe not on the money line at plus 270,
03:41but you could certainly take the Pistons at plus 1.5.
03:45You maybe do something with the games or the total games in the series.
03:48I don't think betting on the Knicks is the right move for the series.
03:51I think betting on the Pistons is the side to have,
03:54regardless of the outcome.
03:54I think the Pistons is where you want to be.
03:57I will assuredly be on the other side, perhaps aggressively.
04:01I think that this is an instance where if Deuce McBride matters,
04:05it's because Brunson was injured.
04:07To me, Brunson is going to be guarding one of the shooters,
04:10whether that's Hardaway or Malik Beasley.
04:12If he can keep his legs about him and chase him off pin downs,
04:15that's going to be his responsibility.
04:17McCall Bridges' job is not to hold Cade Cunningham to 18.
04:20It's to hold him to 24, 25.
04:22Because Cade Cunningham is averaging 30 points per game against the Knicks this season.
04:26That's what McCall Bridges' job is to do.
04:29OG Ananobi should be able to ball up Tobias Harris and put him in his back pocket
04:33for however long this goes.
04:35The swing of this series should be Carl Anthony Towns,
04:42who is going to be second or third all NBA this year,
04:46comfortably outplaying Jalen Dern.
04:48And if that doesn't happen, again, the Knicks have much, much, much bigger problems.
04:54Thibodeau, by the way, who I don't even think is a great postseason coach,
04:57walked at J.B. Bickerstaff just two years ago when Cleveland,
05:01or a year ago when Cleveland was supposed to be hot up, two years ago,
05:04hot upcoming and ready to rock and roll.
05:08The Knicks should not have an issue here.
05:11The fact that people think they might is an indictment.
05:13See, will be alright.
05:18Here, if this is the end of the week,
05:35what's new is going to be?