Episode 256
Knicks and NBA Conference Finals, Mets Baseball
Show Summary
Host Andy Suekoff is back behind the mic just in time for the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, welcoming Harris Wichard from Knickerbocker Banter to the WGBB studio to discuss the New York Knicks’ remarkable playoff journey. The conversation delves into the exhilarating atmosphere at Madison Square Garden following the Knicks' impressive victories, particularly against the Boston Celtics, and the fervent anticipation surrounding their matchup with the Indiana Pacers. Later, Andy transitions to baseball, inviting Martino Puccio from Sports Illustrated to the program to analyze the New York Mets as they navigate the early part of the season with notable performances from their key players. In this episode, we explore the intricate dynamics of both basketball and baseball, providing insights into the strategies and performances that define New York sports at this pivotal moment.
Show Details
Host Andy Suekoff's return to the WGBB studio coincides with the electrifying atmosphere of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, as he is joined by Harris Wichard from Knickerbocker Banter. The discussion unfolds with palpable excitement regarding the New York Knicks' recent triumphant performances, particularly their impressive victories against the Boston Celtics. The guests delve into the nuances of the Knicks' playoff journey, highlighting the significance of their mental fortitude and strategic prowess. The conversation emphasizes the pivotal role of players like Jalen Brunson, whose leadership has reinvigorated the team, transforming them from perennial underdogs into legitimate contenders. The episode captures the fervor of Knicks fans, who have long awaited success in the playoffs, and the emotional stakes involved as the team nears a potential championship run. As the dialogue progresses, the hosts also reflect on the broader implications of the Knicks' resurgence, considering the cultural and historical significance of Madison Square Garden as a bastion of basketball excellence.
Transitioning from basketball to baseball, Andy engages Martino Puccio of Sports Illustrated to discuss the New York Mets, who are currently showcasing a promising season. The conversation explores the Mets' pitching depth, particularly in light of injuries to key starters. The hosts analyze the contributions of emerging talents and seasoned players alike, noting how the team has managed to maintain competitive momentum. The dialogue provides insights into the intricacies of managing a roster amid the rigors of a demanding baseball schedule, emphasizing the importance of strategic decision-making in player utilization. As the episode draws to a close, there is a palpable sense of optimism surrounding both the Knicks and the Mets, encapsulating the spirit of New York sports as they strive for success in their respective leagues.
Takeaways
- Host Andy Suekoff's return coincides with the highly anticipated NBA Eastern Conference Finals, showcasing the excitement surrounding New York sports.
- Harris Wichard from Knickerbocker Banter provides insight into the Knicks' remarkable playoff performance, emphasizing their resilience and ability to win crucial games.
- The discussion transitions to Mets baseball, where Martino Puccio highlights the team's pitching depth and the impact of new signings on their early season success.
- Listeners gain knowledge about the Mets' lineup dynamics, including the contributions of players like Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, who are pivotal to the team's offensive strength.
- The hosts examine the challenges faced by players like Mark Vientos and the expectations set for young talent within the Mets organization.
- Finally, the conversation touches on the managerial decisions of Carlos Mendoza, reflecting on the balance between player management and team performance amidst a demanding season.
Transcript
The views expressed in the following program do not necessarily represent those of the.
Speaker B:Staff, management or owners of wgbb.
Speaker A:Live from the WGBB studios in Merritt, New York, this is Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:What's good, everybody?
Speaker B: FM and: Speaker B:I'm finally back.
Speaker B:Somehow I found the key they let me.
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Speaker B:Make sure you're listening.
Speaker B:We post all of them, all shows next day.
Speaker B:We got a good one for you today.
Speaker B:I wanted to make this one a big one.
Speaker B:You know, we have a lot of good stories coming out of New York right now and joining me in studio and we might be doing this, the first half of this in sign language.
Speaker B:He might still have some ringing in his ears from being at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Speaker B:From Knickerbocker, Banner, Harris, Richard Harris, how are you tonight?
Speaker A:I'm doing very well.
Speaker A:Thank you for that introduction and it's an honor to be here, especially after the biggest Nick win of the century On Friday night, MSG.
Speaker A:My voice is finally coming back.
Speaker A:Not 100% yet, but it was well worth it and I enjoyed every second of it.
Speaker A:And again, thank you for having me.
Speaker A:It's great to be in studio, man.
Speaker A:It really is.
Speaker B:Of course.
Speaker B:So, so, so tell me, like you, you were in the building on Friday night.
Speaker B:What, what was the atmosphere like in the Garden on Friday?
Speaker A:Tremendous.
Speaker A:I mean every, I mean, I tried to stay away from getting water bottles thrown at me.
Speaker A:And I'm not going to be the guy that's going to climb up on a street pole or be on a billboard.
Speaker A:I just, you know, let's put some good music on and dance in the streets and have some fun.
Speaker A:Like you said, it's, it's been a while but you know, I feel like a kid in a candy store every time I'm at a Madison Square Garden playoff game with the Knicks.
Speaker A:And me and my brother in law luckily have seen a bunch of wins lately and obviously the team has turned a corner here with, you know, it's not, as I said to you before we came on, it's not just the fact that it's the Boston Celtics and it's not just the fact that, you know, it's the second round.
Speaker A:It's been so long.
Speaker A:And that is what I think the rest of the world might not fully understand is all the difficult years and all the struggles, and we've been the Mecca, and everyone's coming here and love to play at the Garden.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:When is it our turn?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:When is it going to be the Knicks turn?
Speaker A: finals for the first time in: Speaker A:That's why you're seeing everything that you're seeing.
Speaker A:Not just a young kid that wants to go viral screaming in front of the side talk thing, or someone dressed as Spider man or in a gorilla costume.
Speaker A:These are genuine, passionate, enthusiastic basketball fans that want to see wins at the end of the day.
Speaker A:And we want the Mecca to be the real Mecca and win the Larry o' Brien Trophy, of course.
Speaker B:And, you know, so far you've seen eight of them.
Speaker B:And one of the things that really impressed me about this Knicks run, they're playing incredibly well on the road.
Speaker B:They won three.
Speaker B:They won the two those first two games in Boston, coming back from 20 down in both games.
Speaker B:Once.
Speaker B:Once.
Speaker B:Okay, like that happens.
Speaker B:When you see that happen a second time, then you're thinking, okay, like, there's something here.
Speaker A:Yeah, no question.
Speaker A:The incredible five and O start in the postseason.
Speaker A:I know the Detroit Pistons aren't world beaters, but then, like you said, to beat Boston those first two games and to do it in the fashion that they are, you know, that.
Speaker A:That really is what sticks out to me.
Speaker A:When you're trying to put together a championship run and have championship DNA, it usually forms in the.
Speaker A:We're never out of a game.
Speaker A:We have great leadership and.
Speaker A:And to me, that oozes out of Jalen Brunson.
Speaker A:It starts with him.
Speaker A:He is the reason why the Knicks play the way they do, and he's the best captain and leader they've had here in.
Speaker A:In a very long time that we've ever seen.
Speaker A:I mean, that's no knock on Patrick Ewing and the teams that they had, but, I mean, a lot of in the 21st century, Jalen Brunson, the best leader that the Knicks have had for sure and someone we waited for for a long time.
Speaker A:So, like you said, those road wins, to be down 20 twice against the defending champion.
Speaker A:And you can't say the Tatum stuff, he was playing at that time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, I know everyone wants to point to, oh, Brown was fighting through an injury.
Speaker A:No one felt bad for us when we had half our roster last year.
Speaker A:So it's been really fun to watch them battle.
Speaker A:And when, as a fan, when you never feel like they're out of a game, that's a really, really, really good feeling to have.
Speaker B:I totally, totally understand.
Speaker B:Like, you know, I like what I've been wanting.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:More of a casual observer of the NBA.
Speaker B:Like, I'm a big.
Speaker B:I'm a big hockey guy.
Speaker B:And, like, over the years, watching the New York Rangers in the playoffs was very similar.
Speaker B:And a lot of those games would go to overtime, and I'd be sitting there on the edge of my seat, you know, scraping at whatever was in front of me, wondering, like, is this going to be.
Speaker B:Is this going to be the moment that they're going to score and I'm going to be able to jump up or other teams going to score and I'm just going to deflate?
Speaker B:And when you're.
Speaker B:When you're with all those people and you all have that shared.
Speaker B:That shared goal, and when you, when you get that moment and you all get to kind of have that moment of in unison of jubilation, especially after game six where they went out and they absolutely crushed the Celtics.
Speaker B:They fit.
Speaker B:They finished the job in that series at home, in front of their crowd, their fans, and all 18,000 of you, plus everybody outside the Garden watching, got to have that moment.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:That's got to be one of those things that you'll definitely always remember.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:You know what?
Speaker A:As Knick fans, because you've heard this one before, all right, they're the Knicks.
Speaker A:We know what's going to happen, right.
Speaker A:As a Knick fan, as a Met fan of it, as I'm not a Jet fan, but, you know, if you're.
Speaker B:A Jet, I am.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So we have this mentality.
Speaker A:And I'm trying to.
Speaker A:When I get on the show, when I do these lives and at the podcast, I've tried to explain to people that it doesn't always have to be that we don't have to think, all right, the shoes got to drop, and we have to continue to have this mentality that we've had over the years.
Speaker A:And for them to go out in game six, like you said, put a stamp on it, leave zero doubt.
Speaker A:A team that we're not used to seeing, not make us sweat, like, we're not used to seeing that this was a no doubter, this was.
Speaker A:And main reason why I have, you know, not my full voice is because in that first and second quarter, you know, I was screaming my head off at what some of the stuff that I was seeing, those extra effort plays Right.
Speaker A:The chase down block by Deuce McBride and then that turning into a Josh Hart M1.
Speaker A:So for this team to go into halftime up 27 points in a closeout game with or without Jayson Tatum, I mean, if you don't.
Speaker A:If that doesn't convince you that maybe this is a little different and maybe we don't have to just sit there and wait for the shoe to drop and eventually something will go south, I have full confidence in the group.
Speaker A:I know we'll get into the Pacer stuff in a little bit, but to me, again, it starts with 11.
Speaker A:I've always defended Thibodeau.
Speaker A:I like the culture change here, and I don't want to sound like a homer when I talk about this team because I've been accused of being overly optimistic.
Speaker A:So I would love for the guys to back up everything that I've been saying over the last year or so.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:And thus far they certainly have.
Speaker B:And like, let's get into this Boston series a little bit.
Speaker B:We saw a lot of.
Speaker B:Lot of players besides Brunson, guys like Mikal Bridges and Mitch Robinson that the Celtics went to the.
Speaker B:Went to the process of doing.
Speaker B:Of hacking him to get him off the court because he's not a great free throw shooter, but because he was so dominant on the boards that they wanted him off the court.
Speaker B:And this is a guy who was hurt for pretty much the entire season just getting himself back into game shape and providing that much of an effort that they scared the defending.
Speaker B:National.
Speaker B:Defending champions.
Speaker A:Yeah, but, you know, I want to give Mitchell Robinson a lot of credit.
Speaker A:And I've said, I've been on the record saying they don't win the Phillies series against Embiid last year without Robinson's defense because Hartenstein struggled to guard him.
Speaker A:And now this year, you set it out for a while, didn't come back till, you know, after the.
Speaker A:Excuse me, after the trade deadline.
Speaker A:And so the Knicks didn't really make a move this year.
Speaker A:The last couple of years at the deadline, they said, okay, we have to go get better.
Speaker A:We have to go upgrade our roster.
Speaker A:They said, we have Robinson coming back, so we're not going to do that.
Speaker A:And some people laughed at it because they forgot that at the beginning of this season, excuse me, at the beginning of last season, how dominant he was on the offensive boards and how he could change a game defensively, like you said.
Speaker A:So for the Celtics to basically say, hey, this guy's shooting 30 something percent from the line, we got to get him out of the game, he, he had the best plus minus of any Nick in this series and his minutes were big.
Speaker A:And again, he changes the game in a lot of different ways.
Speaker A:I would love for him to be able to catch sometimes a little bit better and maybe stay off social media a little bit more in the playoffs.
Speaker A:But you got to give him a ton of credit because he's the longest tenured Nick.
Speaker A: here for, you know, since the: Speaker A:So he's been around a while.
Speaker A:He's the only guy left from that group.
Speaker A:And you got to just tip your cap for the impact that he made on this series.
Speaker A:The fact, like you said, Boston wanted him off the court.
Speaker B:It's funny that Mitch Robinson's been around that long.
Speaker B:I honestly thought he got drafted like three years ago.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:And it just like that.
Speaker B:It was like the longest three years ever.
Speaker B:No, but like that, like that's 30% from the free throw line.
Speaker B:Like, if I was a coach, that would drive me crazy.
Speaker B:And like, like we were talking before the show, like you, like, you coach kids and I know that like, if like I was in that same position that like I would be the, I would be the crazy coach who would make you hit 53 throws in a row before you could leave the gym.
Speaker B:Even though I couldn't do that myself.
Speaker B:So it's like, like you're a professional athlete, you should be able to do that.
Speaker B:But if you're contributing in other ways, like obviously you can, you can look, you can look past that.
Speaker B:One of the other players I've really caught my eye in this series was Mikal Bridges.
Speaker B:Like, like throughout the season he took, took a little bit of flack.
Speaker B:You know, they, they'd given up five first round.
Speaker B:It was five, right, Five first round picks for him and he wasn't putting up the numbers that you were expecting a guy of his caliber to do.
Speaker B:But he, he's really stepped up here in the playoffs for, for this team and has been a major contributor thus far.
Speaker A:Well, something that I've talked about all season long is you're not going to be defined by what you do in the regular season.
Speaker A:Here it's going to come down to can you get it done for us when it matters most.
Speaker A:And Bridges, you know, not, not really fair to him.
Speaker A:This is, one, he didn't make the deal and two, I believe the Knicks paid what I call a Knicks tax to the Nets because they didn't really want to make the deal with the Knicks.
Speaker A:We said, hey, we're going to give you an offer you can't refuse.
Speaker A:I know you're a mob guy, so you know, I know you like that, that line.
Speaker A:But the Knicks went out there and said, hey, we want to complete our team with a guy that our stars are comfortable with.
Speaker A:Obviously know the Brunson with the Villanova ties, and we think he brings something to the table we don't have.
Speaker A:And we think he's going to be versatile in the spring.
Speaker A:And what he's shown you is, yes, he's not a superstar.
Speaker A:We know that usually when you give up that much, you get a superstar in return.
Speaker A:But what he's been is instrumental in the most important spots.
Speaker A:And you think about the rip of Jaylen Brown in game one, you think about the deflection on Jayson Tatum in game two, and you think about his timely shot making in the fourth quarter of this series.
Speaker A:And sometimes when Brunson was off the court, like there were times where Brunson was off the court and Bridges was the guy, the ball was in their hands and people kept saying, well, when Jalen's not there, who else is going to create offense?
Speaker A:Well, in this series, at times it was Bridges and he was able to make his mid range jump shots.
Speaker A:He had some timely three pointers.
Speaker A:So I give him again, a guy that you have to tip your hat to.
Speaker A:This is in no way, shape or form over.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:They still have some work to do.
Speaker A:He could come out and have a dud here or there.
Speaker A:But I think you're starting to see the vision of when Leon Rose made this deal of we have to beat Boston, we have to have strong wing perimeter defense, and we have to have guys that aren't afraid of the big moment cut from that Villanova cloth.
Speaker A:And that was, I think, what they had in mind with Mikel Bridges.
Speaker A:And he came through for them and helped them win this series.
Speaker B:And somewhere in Philly, somewhere, Jay Wright is smiling like, I did all that.
Speaker A:You know what he said about Brunson?
Speaker A:He said, there's only one guy ever that that's worked as hard as me in the Villanova program history that, that when he's been there and it was Brunson, he said no one had ever, had ever challenged my work ethic.
Speaker A:So, yeah, Jay Wright deserves a lot of credit.
Speaker A:I want him to coach the team because I don't want a college coach and it to be a Villanova love fest.
Speaker A:But you got to give him a lot of credit.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker B:I mean, I mean, like I every year that, like when, before Wright retired, I knew, like every, every, especially every even year, like Villanova's going to win the championship, like Jay Wright does not lose in March.
Speaker B:And he, and he always had that one guy, one or two guys that, that you knew that you could count on to make that play.
Speaker B:And whether it was Jenkins or Josh Hart or DiVincenzo or Brunson, and that was like that, like.
Speaker B:And now you see like all those guys contributing in the NBA and all, like all of them are in the conference finals.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And you know what?
Speaker A:I'll build another villain of a guy.
Speaker A:That has to be discussed and you have to talk about when you're discussing this Nick team right now is obviously Josh Hart.
Speaker A:I mean, how, how much more can you say?
Speaker A:I ran out of adjectives when I'm doing the podcast with Hart because to me, he represents everything you want in a basketball player.
Speaker A:Now, is he an unbelievable scorer?
Speaker A:No, but he literally made a statement before the season.
Speaker A:I'm not here to give you 20, I'm here to do everything else.
Speaker A:And I had, I had multiple people tell me before this series that Josh Hart is still, after all the stuff that he's done for them, all the dirty work.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We'll talk about a little bit.
Speaker A:But is not a starting caliber player in a championship team.
Speaker A:That was, that was the take.
Speaker A:And now listen, I understand that if he's not making jump shots, he can at times hurt the spacing.
Speaker A:But you absolutely need in this league someone to play the role that Josh Hart plays.
Speaker A:And by the way, first playoff triple double since the 70s.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And not to mention all of those.
Speaker A:There's not a stat for somebody that throws the ball off an opposing, the opposing team and gets you an extra possession.
Speaker A:They call it a team rebound.
Speaker A:It's not a stat because no one has possession of it.
Speaker A:You can't give Josh Hart the rebound.
Speaker A:He does that five to six times a game.
Speaker A:He gives them extra possessions, not to mention his prowess in transition.
Speaker A:And you feel good about when he's pushing the ball.
Speaker A:So if he could just make a few jump shots like he did in this series.
Speaker A:I don't understand where that take comes from, that he can't be a starting point, because I.
Speaker A:When you're picking a team and you're trying to formulate a team, you need somebody to do the things that Josh Hart brings to the table.
Speaker A:And a lot of people have fallen in love with him in New York because nobody appreciates blue collar.
Speaker A:Nobody appreciates you doing the dirty work.
Speaker A:More than this city does.
Speaker A:And there's a love fest there with the fans at heart.
Speaker A:You saw it when the season ended last year.
Speaker A:Remember that ovation that he got?
Speaker A:The fans love that extra effort and he does that in the boatload.
Speaker B:We're talking with Harris Burchard from Knickerbocker Banner.
Speaker B:Let's, let's move forward to the conference finals.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:It's fun to say that, isn't it?
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Never get tired of that.
Speaker B:Like, just like old times, they're playing the Pacers again.
Speaker B:Like, it may not be Patrick Ewing, Rick Smith and Chris Mullen and Mark Jackson and Mason out there, but you have a new generation of Knicks.
Speaker B:Pacers getting a rematch from last year's conference semifinals where the Pacers did take the Knicks out.
Speaker B:And while the teams do seem very similar, but you're playing under very different circumstances this time around, as now it's winners going to the finals.
Speaker B:What are your expectations for this series?
Speaker A:Well, if you would have told me at the beginning of the playoffs that the New York Knicks would have home court advantage in the Eastern Conference finals, even the most optimistic person would.
Speaker A:Would do a double take, right?
Speaker A:Because that would mean not only did the Knicks beat the Celtics, but someone on the other side of the bracket took out the Cavaliers, which the Pacers did.
Speaker A:You have to respect what Indiana's doing right now.
Speaker A:And they got a good thing going on.
Speaker A:People talk about their depth, right?
Speaker A:They play like nine or 10 guys.
Speaker A:Not a ton of minutes, but enough to give these guys a rest.
Speaker A:If you remember last year, they'll pick you up full court.
Speaker A:They got The Naismiths, the Nem Hards, those guys that of course, McConnell, who could forget TJ McConnell from last year that from went to Arizona, right?
Speaker A:The annoying little guard that is a pest, basically.
Speaker A:And he always gives the Knicks 20 point game somewhere along the series.
Speaker A:But Halliburton is an interesting one, right?
Speaker A:Because everybody and their mother in the NBA voted him as the most overrated player in the league.
Speaker A:I don't know if you saw that poll or heard about it.
Speaker B:I did not.
Speaker A:But there was a poll that came out and he was the top guy.
Speaker A:So anytime he has a big moment in these playoffs, I think he's went to Twitter a couple times and said overrate that he's been good.
Speaker A:Heck, he's been great at times.
Speaker A:He has that one game every once in a while where he has four points.
Speaker A:You're like, where did Halliburton go?
Speaker A:Because Brunson's not having a Four point game in the playoffs.
Speaker A:It's not happening.
Speaker B:You'd hope not.
Speaker A:Let me knock on wood that it doesn't, because that would be trouble for us.
Speaker A:But Indiana, a little different than Boston, right?
Speaker A:They're not an awful defensive team, but they want to play with a lot of pace, no pun intended.
Speaker A:They want to get up and down and they don't shoot as many threes as Boston, but they do get them up, too.
Speaker A:And we know Turner has given us some issues.
Speaker A:Siakam can be a low down, you know, can be a lot to deal with down there.
Speaker A:So do I think the Knicks are going to win this series?
Speaker A:Of course, you're not going to get me to pick against the Knicks in a series that they're playing on their home floor to start in game one.
Speaker A:But this is not going to be a walk in the park as we saw last year.
Speaker A:Now we're healthy, so I expect them to go out and take care of business.
Speaker A:And that X factor, I can't even call it X factor at this point.
Speaker A:This Nick team, to me, truly goes as far as Towns plays because I almost expect Brunson to be Brunson.
Speaker A:Like, you just know he's going to show up.
Speaker A:He's that type of player.
Speaker A:Towns, on the other hand, we saw a great version of him in game six.
Speaker A:We saw a really bad version of him in game five.
Speaker A:And we could go back and forth in the playoffs and do that all day with him.
Speaker A:There was a great version.
Speaker A:There wasn't.
Speaker A:There was a Carl, it's enough, man.
Speaker A:Like, we got to see you like you were in game six going forward.
Speaker A:When he does the thing with his arms and he's flexing on people and he's talking to smack it.
Speaker A:Whatever energy, whatever he ate for breakfast on Friday, I want him to eat every single game for the rest of these playoffs because he is.
Speaker A:The Knicks have the better one in this series.
Speaker A:And Brunson over at Halliburton and they have the better two in Towns over Siakam.
Speaker A:I don't think anybody really would argue that.
Speaker A:I mean, maybe on some nights, Yaka might look better, but those two guys have to win those matchups and they won't be guarding each other on most occasion.
Speaker A:But I think if Towns is significantly better than Siakam, it goes a long way in the Knicks becoming successful in Eastern Conference finals.
Speaker B:And like, talk Towns for a minute.
Speaker B:Like, watching this series against Boston, it was like every other game was like night and day.
Speaker B:Like which Towns is going to show up if you get a town that's somewhere in the middle, let's call it.
Speaker B:He puts out 18 points, nine rebounds and doesn't get himself into foul trouble.
Speaker B:Will that be acceptable for him or are you still going to be wanting more?
Speaker A:Well, I think sometimes the numbers can be deceiving.
Speaker A:Now he can't average 10, right?
Speaker A:Like we know he can't do that.
Speaker A:But his activity level is really important.
Speaker A:There was a game, it was game one of the Detroit series where he actually had impact, a strong impact with his defense and he got in front of, he deflected some basketballs.
Speaker A:He got them out in transition in some big spots too.
Speaker A:So, you know, you nailed it.
Speaker A:You hit the nail on the head with the foul trouble.
Speaker A:Carl, you're too valuable to be picking up ticky tack once.
Speaker A:So we can't have him going into the second half with three fouls in a lot of these games because it will change the way that he's able to defend.
Speaker A:And we know what the Pacer strategy is going to be and it's a smart strategy.
Speaker A:Go at Brunson, his towns as much as possible.
Speaker A:Don't attack hard as much.
Speaker A:Don't attack Bridges And Adenobi and McBride and Robinson, the guys that are plus defenders, especially Anunoby and Robinson.
Speaker A:We want to get Brunson and Cat, the Knicks, two most valuable pieces because of what they could do with the ball in their hands.
Speaker A:We want to get them out of the game and we want to make them play defense.
Speaker A:So you'll see a lot of that high pick and roll that you saw for Boston.
Speaker A:You'll see a lot of that force switches when you saw Cat try to guard and he didn't do a terrible job by the way.
Speaker A:Cat moved his feet and he did a decent job on the perimeter.
Speaker A:But that's what I believe the Indiana game plan will be.
Speaker A:And that's why, like you said, staying out of foul trouble and will be probably more important than him.
Speaker A:A 18 and 9, it might be good enough, but we want to see some mid-20s, dare I say 30 from the second best player in the New York Knicks.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean like that, like that's certainly, certainly what you, what you want to see from your, from a former, from a team's top player.
Speaker B:Like, like they're paying them big money.
Speaker B:Like you, you need big effort, you need big games.
Speaker B:And now it's like the lights are brightest.
Speaker B:Like, like these are, these are the moments where you.
Speaker B:I don't want, I don't even want to say legacy defining because that, that, you know, that's the next round.
Speaker B:Like, like that, like, that's where you, that's where you separate.
Speaker A:We gotta get there.
Speaker B:Gotta get there.
Speaker B:What, what do you, what do you need this team to do that you're gonna feel comfortable saying this like this team is going to wipe the floor with Indiana in five games and call it a day?
Speaker A:Well, it's going to be if they can consistently defend.
Speaker A:I don't expect the effort, I'm gonna say the effort.
Speaker A:I don't expect the kind of defensive performance every night that you saw in Game six.
Speaker A:But for the Knicks to play at their highest level, you're obviously going to have to get your complimentary pieces.
Speaker A:The Mikel Bridges of the world.
Speaker A:We brought up some of the bench names already.
Speaker A:I'm interested to see how if Tibbs goes a little deeper, knowing that The Pacers play 10.
Speaker A:I'm talking about a name such as maybe campaign.
Speaker A:Preston Chua might see a minute or two just to relieve some guys.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Again, I think he'll stop at seven and he'll be a little stubborn with that.
Speaker A:I am interested to see it.
Speaker A:But it will be the defense and it will be their energy, effort and smarts that I think will end up winning this series.
Speaker A:I'm not a huge, like I told you before, prediction guy, but I want to see that type of intensity.
Speaker A:We know there's some blood boiling here.
Speaker A:You know, I mentioned to you the WWE thing with Halliburton and Brunson.
Speaker A:We're glad to see the, you know, our millennial version of Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, John Starks and those guys.
Speaker A:I don't think you'll see as many Kung Fu Fighting moments as Clyde would say.
Speaker A:But yeah, this is going to be a tough series.
Speaker A:Like, there's no doubt about it, this is going to be a tough series.
Speaker A:That's a talented group over there.
Speaker A:I'd love to say the Knicks to close out in five or six, but I just have some sort of feeling that we're headed to where we were headed to last year.
Speaker A:And this is going to be a deep series.
Speaker B:So I actually want to, I also want to go over to the other side of the, of the league, over to the Western Conference for a second as we saw the Oklahoma City Thunder just absolutely throttle the Denver Nuggets this afternoon to the tune of like a 40 point win.
Speaker B:And it's going to be now Oklahoma City and Minnesota in the conference finals on the Western Conference.
Speaker B:Do you think deep down the league want Maybe wants Knicks Timberwolves to have all those storylines going through, man.
Speaker A:I mean we played around with the idea at the beginning of the season and as the Wolves start to struggle and the Knicks had their moments again, you know, the struggles against the top teams, we thought, yeah, there's, there's no way those two teams can meet right now.
Speaker A:There's four teams left in the NBA and two of them made a blockbuster deal over the off season.
Speaker A:So I think in terms of the storyline, it's unprecedented.
Speaker A:Like there's never been a as big of a deal and those teams to meet in the NBA Finals and just on the circumstance like Karl Anthony, Towns and Tibbs going back to Minnesota and Divincenzo and Randle come back to New York and not just a regular season game, guys, for all the marbles, man.
Speaker A:I mean the NBA would be in heaven, I think with it.
Speaker A:But I don't think they're necessarily pushing it.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I mean, I'm not a big conspiracy theory type.
Speaker A:I'm not a big this is what they want for ratings type.
Speaker A:I mean we've seen some finals over the years that have been duds in the smaller market.
Speaker A:So listen, like I said, get through this one first.
Speaker A:See what happens over there.
Speaker A:That OKC team that you saw today is pretty talented, but man, you want to talk about how nerve wracking the finals would be and now we have to deal with an exciting at the same time and now you got to deal with some familiar foes.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'm focused on Indiana to answer your question right now.
Speaker B:That's totally fair.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's where everybody's head should be at.
Speaker A:How do we make sure we don't let Halliburton this second coming of what he thinks is Reggie Miller with the shirt that he wore in the playoffs last year.
Speaker A:This is gonna be a fun one for sure.
Speaker B:And I mean like I'm excited to watch this series.
Speaker B:I, I may wind up watching the 99 series again.
Speaker B:Just, just to kind of get myself in, get myself into the mindset.
Speaker B:Like, like we were talking before we came on.
Speaker B:I still once a month I will sit and watch the Larry Johnson four point play.
Speaker B:What you said you were in the building for.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I imagine when you, if you, if you go to Game 1 on Wednesday night, you're going to, there's going to be a very similar feel to Those, to those 90 series against those Pacer teams that you loved to hate.
Speaker B:And it probably very similar emotions now.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Listen, that shot and that moment I talk about this with.
Speaker A:I had the opportunity to interview Chris Childs, had the opportunity to talk about this, this unbelievable moment.
Speaker A:My dad taking me to Madison Square Garden to see, you know, just, just unbelievable basketball history and the four point play.
Speaker A:Everyone knows exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker A:And I loved basketball since the moment I touched one.
Speaker A:But the Knicks being good and the energy of Madison Square Garden made me want to race home and practice in my driveway.
Speaker A:It's just, it's what you're seeing now with kids.
Speaker A:And I'm so glad when I go do my lessons and, and I coach and do all the training that I'm seeing.
Speaker A:All these Brunson jerseys like we saw the Ewings and the Houston and Sprewells and Starks and all the other knicks of the 90s, because for a while there, there weren't many people rocking.
Speaker A:And this is no, you know, listen, I love David Lee and Nate Robinson and Quinton Richardson, but there's a certain pride that people are taking in this team now that we had in the 90s.
Speaker A:So the energy in New York City is off the charts, as we know.
Speaker A:And to be able to fall in love with the game and have that team at the same time.
Speaker A:I would be going around weddings as a kid, announcing the starting lineups to people.
Speaker A:Like, that's how much I loved it.
Speaker A:And as you know, still love it to this day.
Speaker A:Can't get enough.
Speaker B:So I'm gonna, I'm gonna do a little bit of ass kissing for a second here.
Speaker B:Harris and I went to high school together 100 years ago.
Speaker B:And when I, when I would watch our school's basketball games, Harris had one of the sweetest strokes on the court that I had seen in high school.
Speaker B:Like that.
Speaker B:Again, I.
Speaker B:And I do honestly mean that.
Speaker A:Thank you, man.
Speaker B:So we got a couple minutes before we go to break here.
Speaker B:Let's talk about your.
Speaker B:Your podcast a little bit.
Speaker B:You said you've been at this for a couple years now and, you know, and building up a following.
Speaker B:Like, what.
Speaker B:What made you do this?
Speaker A:Yeah, I did it in college.
Speaker A: nd I started up again in like: Speaker A:Let it go for a little bit.
Speaker A:But then once the Knicks, you know, we're in the playoffs, I started sending, like, voice notes to people.
Speaker A:I would literally say, hey, you know, I would do it at a.
Speaker A:From an energy standpoint, enthusiasm standpoint that I think people enjoyed, and it Resulted in me wanting to start this up again and wanted to start the Knickerbocker Banter brand.
Speaker A:And it really was, you know, I didn't know what was going to happen to start, but I've been overwhelmed by the amount of support.
Speaker A:And you said it's turned into something even bigger than I could have imagined in terms of the people.
Speaker A:And your station's getting blown up here.
Speaker A:You're very popular today.
Speaker B:We like that.
Speaker A:Yeah, you're getting a lot of calls in there.
Speaker A:But, yeah, like I said, just the start point was the passion of the game and the passion for this team and how much I love the sport.
Speaker A:And it turned into something bigger, turned into a community.
Speaker A:And shout out to all the Nick chats.
Speaker A:I'm in.
Speaker A:We have an LFGK chat.
Speaker A:We have a chat trick Ewing chat that I'm in.
Speaker A:Shout out to them if they're listening.
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And it's just a community for me.
Speaker A:It's about people.
Speaker A:It's about bringing great people together and I've met a lot of awesome individuals in this process.
Speaker A:So whether, like I said, whether it's the watch party, whether it's someone tuning into a live, whether it's, you know, being at the games and environments with.
Speaker A:With crazy fans like as my.
Speaker A:Such as myself, it's been an overwhelmingly positive thing.
Speaker A:And people always ask me, how are you going to monetize this?
Speaker A:How are you going to make money?
Speaker A:Are you going to sell this?
Speaker A:What are you going to do?
Speaker A:And I said, listen, at some point or another, that is the end goal.
Speaker A:But it's not why I started doing this.
Speaker A:It has really.
Speaker A:I mean, you want to do that, but it's.
Speaker A:It has really not much to do with, you know, the.
Speaker A:The dollar bill.
Speaker A:It's about the love and connecting people that love it.
Speaker A:And like I said, it's been so great.
Speaker A:And thank you again for giving me this platform and having me on the show.
Speaker A:It, you know, the 30 minutes goes by in seven seconds when we're talking basketball.
Speaker B:Ain't that the truth?
Speaker B:And that actually does bring us to breaking.
Speaker A:Harris.
Speaker B:I do want to thank you for coming on tonight.
Speaker B:Like, I really do appreciate it.
Speaker B:How could people get at you on Instagram?
Speaker B:Twitter, however?
Speaker A:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker A:We do our show on YouTube at Knickerbocker Banter.
Speaker A:Instagram, same thing.
Speaker A:Knickerbocker Banter, Twitter.
Speaker A:You know what I'm gonna say here?
Speaker A:Knickerbocker Banter.
Speaker A:It's all the same.
Speaker A:And appreciate all the support.
Speaker A:I know you gotta wrap up and go to break, but this has been a great experience and I look forward to more of them.
Speaker A:And it was great to see you too, man.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:I appreciate it.
Speaker B:That's Harris Patrawart from Nickerbock Inventor.
Speaker B:When we come back, we're gonna have Martino Puccio from Sports Illustrated.
Speaker B:We're gonna talk to somebody.
Speaker B:Subway series.
Speaker B:We'll be right back on WGBB Sports Talk.
Speaker A:You are listening to Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B: FM and: Speaker A:At wgbbradio.com stay connected to sports Talk New York on WGBB by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at WGBB Sports Talk.
Speaker B:You'Re listening to Sports Talk New York on Long Island's wgpb.
Speaker A:And now back to the show.
Speaker B: FM and: Speaker B:Brian, how we doing?
Speaker B:I got, I gotta have that thumbs up that is so important to me.
Speaker B:But now we're going to, as we transfer away from the Knicks, we're going to go into baseball.
Speaker B:It's the heat of baseball season.
Speaker B:We're approaching like the 30% point of the season.
Speaker B:Mets are playing well, Yankees are playing well, and they're playing each other right now.
Speaker B:And coming on to talk about that is Martino Puccio from Sports Illustrated.
Speaker B:Martino, how are we doing tonight?
Speaker C:Hey, Andy, I'm doing great.
Speaker C:Thanks for having me on.
Speaker B:Of course.
Speaker B:So, you know we're going to jump right into it.
Speaker B:Met you're playing well.
Speaker B: You're sitting at: Speaker B:What have you seen thus far from this Mets team that's really impressed you so far?
Speaker C:I think the main thing that a lot of people are impressed by is how well they're pitching, despite the fact that they're missing two starters heading into the season and Sean Miniah and Frankie Montage.
Speaker C:So I think just having guys like Griffin Canning and Clay Holmes, even also a great start after not starting for pretty much his entire career, just to kind of have that sort of consistency and reliance upon that pitching staff and even the bullpen as well to an extent, even though they lost A.J.
Speaker C:minter and Danny Young for the year, they've just shown that sort of consistency that we even saw last year, too, when no one really bought into that Mets pitching staff.
Speaker C:And to see Kodai Senga come back and pitch well, too, you know, a little high on the end with the loss, but at the end of the day, you can't complain at all about the pitching if you're a Mets fan.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I will say this as someone who has Griffin Canning in fantasy baseball, that is an absolute home run signing by Stearns thus far.
Speaker B:You know, he's one of those guys that just shows up and eats innings and, you know, he's not going to do anything flashy, but does get the job done.
Speaker B:And that's something I think Met fans do certainly appreciate.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker C:I mean, almost every single time you see a Mets fan talk about Griffin caning on Twitter, they just go back and reference his stats last year with the Angels and then compare them to now to see how much he's really improved.
Speaker C:And that's just a testament to David Stearns and everything that the Mets are trying to do under the Steve Cohen ownership of, you know, taking guys who weren't so great elsewhere and then fixing them and making them much better.
Speaker C:I mean, we saw the same thing with Luis Severino as well last year.
Speaker C:Got a record contract from the A's.
Speaker C:So just to sort of see that be a consistent thing now within this organization.
Speaker C:It's not even just, you know, the one off that you saw last year.
Speaker C:There's foolproof evidence now, and I think Mets fans should be very happy about that because these are the very early days of the Stearns Cohen era.
Speaker B:And obviously one of the biggest move that the Mets made this offseason, they signed that Juan Soto guy.
Speaker B:And, you know, he's pretty good and he hasn't even really fully heated up yet this season.
Speaker B:He's starting to come around now, but with the fact that he hasn't been what Juan Soto was last year for the Yankees, the others around him have really stepped up.
Speaker B:Guys like.
Speaker B:And you knew that someone like Francis Gouldor was going to be a top play.
Speaker B:You knew Alonzo was going to be better than he was last year, but they're really picking up that slack that, that Soto was leaving at the.
Speaker B:In April.
Speaker B:But now, now we're seeing that sort of starting to get back to it.
Speaker B:That leaves a.
Speaker B:That is a huge, a hugely formidable 2, 3, 4, 5 in the Mets lineup going forward for the rest of the season.
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, there's no Denying it.
Speaker C:This has been one of the best first three hitting combinations in team history, regardless if it's, you know, a month and a half season.
Speaker C:You just never really see talent like that throughout their history.
Speaker C:So, like you said, same thing.
Speaker C:Lindor had a great April.
Speaker C:He's historically a slow starter for the season and he's, he's done very well, especially since that change to the leadoff spot.
Speaker C:And then you had some future hall of Famer like Juan Soto in the number two spot.
Speaker C:Not only is, like, Alonso going to be better than he was last year, he's just going to be far more comfortable.
Speaker C:I think also we have to attribute to the fact that that home run off of Devin Williams and his postseason heroics really play into that psychologically.
Speaker C:There's no den you could just tell he's at ease at the plate and how he's not really going after a lot of pitches out of the zone like he was prior to that.
Speaker C:It really seemed like he was pressing last year for the big contract.
Speaker C:But, you know, just to have those three guys that are consistent as players and we know what they're capable of doing, and arguably throughout their careers, they've been top five MVP candidates at separate times.
Speaker C:So to have that at the top of the lineup while you, you know, it's a little spotty through, through the bottom half of the order.
Speaker C:It's just fantastic to just sort of have that week a day in, day out with, with those three.
Speaker C:It's just, it's a very strange feeling for a lot of Mets fans, I'm sure.
Speaker C:But to know that's going to be the situation for years to come is also a huge plus.
Speaker B:On the flip side of that one, as a Yankee fan, watching Devin Williams completely implode this season, basically having like that moment of Alonzo hitting that home run just annoys me a little bit.
Speaker B:Even though in that moment I was very excited when Alonzo did hit the home run.
Speaker B:I do have to be on record about that, but one of the players that I was looking at this season to take a step up when given the opportunity was Luis Angelicuna.
Speaker B:And I wasn't sure what kind of role he was going to have this season, but with Jeff McNeil's injury early on in the season and Brett Beatty struggles, Acuna has gotten that opportunity to line up.
Speaker B:What have you seen from him thus far that you've liked?
Speaker C:Nothing different than what we kind of already knew about him.
Speaker C:This is closer to a five tool player.
Speaker C:Even though he's not exceptional in A lot of those tools.
Speaker C:We've seen his versatility.
Speaker C:He really came up as a shortstop in playing second base and seen a small flash of him in center field.
Speaker C:So we know how good he is athletically and again, his speed on the base paths.
Speaker C:He's one of the fastest runners in all of Major League Baseball.
Speaker C:He's been.
Speaker C:I think he's going to be a super utility weapon off the bench for the Mets in the coming years.
Speaker C:But you can't sit there and deny how impressive it's been for his pitch selection and what he's been able to do in terms of, you know, recognizing balls outside of his own and not swinging at a lot of things.
Speaker C:Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of pop.
Speaker C:We would have thought, you know, maybe a couple more doubles.
Speaker C:And he's shown flashes of hitting the big ones.
Speaker C:But you know, that also is in comparison to what he is doing at the plate.
Speaker C:You know, he's not swinging as much.
Speaker C:He's not going for the fences all the time.
Speaker C:He's waiting for his pitch and know sometimes that means you're going to have to sacrifice some pop.
Speaker C:But I think the Mets will take what Luis angel has been giving them in this first month and a half of the season.
Speaker C:Especially the fact that, you know, it's not a guaranteed spot for him at second base or any other position in the field because of McNeil, because of Beatty and Vientos and all these other guys that are going to get opportunities to play.
Speaker C:But Luis Angel, I think has been a steady piece to this Mets team and I think he's going to continue to do so the rest of the season.
Speaker B:I mean, I wouldn't be opposed if he finds a way to like space jam some of his brother's hitting talent and, you know, then he can start hitting 20 home runs a year.
Speaker B:Like, I wouldn't be opposed to that.
Speaker C:I don't think any fan would be opposed to a player like him being able to hit 20 home runs this season.
Speaker C:I think some Mets Fans will take 10 if he's capable of doing so.
Speaker C:But yeah, we'll see what happens.
Speaker C:You know, more experience over time.
Speaker C:He realistically has only had a three month career in Major League Baseball and even then it's kind of generous to say that it's more like two months because been a month and a half.
Speaker C:He was up for like half, half of September last year.
Speaker C:So again, this is still a very young player trying to go through the trials and tribulations of being a Major League baseball player and it's not easy whatsoever.
Speaker C:I think he has done a good job of adapting, especially being thrown into the fire for a team with postseason expectations.
Speaker B:We're talking Martino Puccio from Sports Illustrated.
Speaker B:One of the players that I was expecting to take on a much bigger role this year, and.
Speaker B:And he.
Speaker B:And he had a really good season last year was Mark Vientos.
Speaker B:And he hasn't yet contributed to that level that I think I and a lot of Met fans were expecting.
Speaker B: n himself out and get to that: Speaker C:I think it's somewhere in between.
Speaker C:I don't think he's.
Speaker C:I think he was riding high on confidence, and confidence was obviously massive for these players in the postseason.
Speaker C:You know, when you're riding a wave like that, it's kind of.
Speaker C:It's not easy to do so, but, you know, it's a little bit easier to ride that confidence in what you're playing with, because then at that point, he was playing with house money.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Expectations were relatively low.
Speaker C:Brett Beatty is the guy going in last year as the starting third baseman.
Speaker C:Obviously had injury issues, struggling.
Speaker C:Vientos was sent up, sent down, and eventually, like, stuck this year.
Speaker C:He started off very slow.
Speaker C:Some.
Speaker C:Some things were unlucky.
Speaker C:And then a lot of the stuff you're seeing is chasing pitches outside the zone or pitches that he should not be swinging at.
Speaker C:I think that's sort of caught up to him.
Speaker C:And then you see issues at third base in the field, and sometimes with young guys, they carry it to the plate, and you just don't want to see that from Vientos.
Speaker C:I think with the injury situation with Jesse Winker, with what's going on with starling Marta and not being a reliable, consistent bat, I don't foresee Vientos actually being the third baseman the rest of the way.
Speaker C:I think there's a genuine chance for him to just be a designated hitter.
Speaker C:He's not very.
Speaker C:He doesn't have a great glove.
Speaker C:Beatty's done very well in the field as of late, too.
Speaker C:He's a better athlete.
Speaker C:So I think what we're going to see from Vientas is a sophomore slump where you hope the pop shows up when it matters most.
Speaker C:And, you know, he hasn't done that bad at the plate over the past couple of weeks.
Speaker C:It's really just been his overall game, you know, like when he's playing decent defense.
Speaker C:His bat is something and when his bat isn't slumping, he's just not doing well out in the field.
Speaker C:I think if he's able to focus on one thing and you give Brett Beatty a chance at third base, the Mets can play with some of that versatility that they have with these players.
Speaker C:And again, there's always Ronnie Mauricio waiting in the wing.
Speaker C:So, like nothing is safe with his job.
Speaker C:I just think he needs to not press as much because he had high expectations out of all the youngsters heading into this season, especially after his postseason.
Speaker B:So I think you're going to see.
Speaker C:Him struggle a little bit more.
Speaker C:I don't think he's out in the clear just yet.
Speaker B:You know, we're still two and a half months away from this being or maybe two months away from this actually being something that a lot of people are going to think about.
Speaker B:But given that the Mets have the expectation of making a deep run in the playoffs and you know, they're going to want to bolster their roster come July after the All Star break, what would you be wanting them to look for?
Speaker B:Like, I imagine, you know, David Stearns is looking now like potential options for trade targets come July.
Speaker B:Where do you think you might want to, might want to improve the roster?
Speaker C:Honestly, I think it'll be the hitting, maybe some back end bullpen help as well.
Speaker C:It'll be interesting.
Speaker C:They really have not an embarrassment of riches, but been stockpiling some of the arms in the system.
Speaker C:Brendan Sproat, McLean, John John are a few names that are, you know, high up on the Mets pitching list.
Speaker C:So, you know, Sprout, who we saw in spring training pitch pretty well, has been having up and downs in the minor leagues, especially at aaa.
Speaker C:I think what David Stearns is going to do is what he always does is if there's an opportunistic deal out there with a franchise that, you know, needs to maybe dump a salary or wants to get rid of a player that's not working out for them.
Speaker C:You know, I think the Baltimore Orioles and the Mets could be a potential match down the line.
Speaker C:Do the Orioles want a controllable arm for the future?
Speaker C:Because their staff has been pretty horrid and that's a huge part as to why they're.
Speaker C:They've been the biggest disappointment in Major League Baseball so far this season.
Speaker C:So maybe someone perhaps like a Cedric Mullins could pop up for this.
Speaker C:And again, this is just pure speculation.
Speaker C:This isn't anything that I have inside information, but you Got to look around the league to see where some sort of these matches are.
Speaker C:And again, the National League, I don't foresee any teams that they could probably trade with.
Speaker C:You know, at the end of the day, who knows what happens with Miami and Sandy and then again at the same time time, some of the teams in the American League.
Speaker C:The American League is sort of wide open.
Speaker C:We're going to have to see, like you said, what happens the next couple of months.
Speaker C:But as of right now, I think if there's a team that's going to be struggling and has someone that can maybe fill into a hole of what the Mets are looking to do.
Speaker C:Because again, remember, the Mets don't have a full time starting center fielder.
Speaker C:Drew Gilbert is in Triple A.
Speaker C:Jose Siri has been injured.
Speaker C:And then they obviously have Tyrone Taylor.
Speaker C:So maybe if they see somebody that they think could be an everyday center fielder and can be a fit for what they want to do, I think that could happen.
Speaker C:But again, you never really know what David Stearns.
Speaker C:Where most people's eyes are, David Stearns aren't.
Speaker C:And I think that's very important to remember for a lot of people.
Speaker C:That is what makes Stearns so great is because, you know, not everybody was on Griffin King, not everybody was on Shamania, Frankie Montas, all these guys are kind of scared off by a lot of people.
Speaker C:For David Stearns, that's not so much the case.
Speaker C:So just going to have to wait and see because it's been a very interesting start to the year.
Speaker B:All right, And I got one more before I let you go.
Speaker B:You know, looking at like the managerial stand, looking at what the job that Carlos Mendoza has done thus far.
Speaker B:What have you seen from him?
Speaker B:Is there more you want to see that he can do to get the most out of this roster?
Speaker C:You know, I think Mendy's done a tremendous job being a very great communicative manager and backing his players, you know, and this, you know, it also goes from the top down, right, because Stearns and Mendy, they let Mendy do his job.
Speaker C:But at the end of the day, Sterns is going to give him the players that he thinks he can make something out of and you know, his relationship.
Speaker C:You hear it all the time from players that have been on this team since last year or even some that have come from the Yankees and knew him there, AKA Clay Holmes.
Speaker C:And they back him up.
Speaker C:They love Mendy, they love his personality.
Speaker C:And I think he's.
Speaker C:I think he's done a good job.
Speaker C:You have to remember he's very young.
Speaker C:This is his first managerial job, especially at this level.
Speaker C:And the situation that he's been thrust into, I think maybe a little more aggressive sometimes and in putting out players, you know, like, you know, some fans wanted to point out the fact that the Mets had the base is loaded against the Pirates and Azakar came up and then Juan Soto was resting for the series against the Yankees and he didn't really choose.
Speaker C:It was the fourth inning to put in Soto in that situation to get some runs going in.
Speaker C:There hasn't been drastic changes to the lineup where you see like a Nimmo struggle a little bit.
Speaker C:Even.
Speaker C:Even Soto to an extent or what's going on with some of those players there.
Speaker A:Like, you know, even the move of.
Speaker C:Like okay, Marte has is a respected veteran.
Speaker C:He's doing a pretty good job.
Speaker C:But you know, when is Vientez going to get a good run at that DH position and putting Beatty not sit Beatty against Les these just see what happens.
Speaker C:See what you have in that opportunity.
Speaker C:We haven't seen too much of that just yet.
Speaker C:Some of the in game stuff, you worry a little bit, but it's not easy in the position that he's in where you have to manage your bullpen and pitchers because at one point in the season, the Mets had to play 26 games in 27 days, which is really unheard of.
Speaker C:And so to manage a bullpen like that, to manage a pitching staff that doesn't have its main starters that don't go as deep into games as the main guys would, I think it's hard to juggle that on top of, you know, guys getting slow starts and they're sort of rookies and younger players like the ones that you see.
Speaker C:And there's quite a few platoon players.
Speaker C:So I think he's really playing the game well so far.
Speaker C:And the Mets record reflects that.
Speaker C:So maybe just a bit of adjustment with in game management.
Speaker C:But overall, I don't think Mets fans can get too upset about what Carlos Mendoza as the manager in his first.
Speaker B:Year in two months, you know, I certainly would agree with that.
Speaker B:And I do want to thank you for coming on tonight.
Speaker B:You know, I really, you know, appreciate it.
Speaker B:One, you know, definitely want to have you on again in the future.
Speaker C:Of course, anytime.
Speaker C:And I really love talking baseball with you and it's been great.
Speaker B:All right, well, enjoy the rest of your night.
Speaker B:That was Martino Puccio from Sports Illustrated.
Speaker B:You know, like, it's like I love baseball season.
Speaker B:Everybody who knows me knows how I feel.
Speaker B:About baseball and how important it is to me.
Speaker B:Just to give a quick update from the Bronx, it is tied to two in the bottom of the fifth and the Yankees have bases loaded.
Speaker B:So hopefully the Yankees can break this one open, get some runs in and win this series against the Mets.
Speaker B: he case since he's come up in: Speaker B:Especially now that Juan Soto is not hitting behind him in the lineup.
Speaker B:Giancarlo Stanton is hurt, so he's not hitting behind him in the lineup.
Speaker B:And those were two players who were major contributors last season.
Speaker B:And Stanton will come back at some point, maybe, but right now they're relying on on Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt behind Judd in the lineup.
Speaker B:Bellinger started off slow.
Speaker B:He's starting to come back now, which has been nice to see.
Speaker B:Starting to hit the ball a little bit harder and putting the ball in play.
Speaker B: with Arizona back in the mid: Speaker B:I wanted Goldschmidt to be a Yankee so badly that I could taste it.
Speaker B:And now he finally is and I and he was one of those guys for me.
Speaker B:You know, everybody's got their favorite player and you have your play the players that you like that don't play for your team.
Speaker B:And Paul Goldschmidt for me, was always in the top three of favorite non Yankee players.
Speaker B:It was always a combination of him, Mookie Betts and Nolan Arenado.
Speaker B:And I had always said I would give my right arm for any one of those three to play in pinstripes.
Speaker B:Granted, if you asked me which one I really, really, really wanted, the answer would be Mookie Betts.
Speaker B:But Goldsmith would probably have been the second one, especially after the last four or five years of just really bad first base play that the Yankees have had since Mark Teixeira left that they because Greg Bird could not stay healthy.
Speaker B:And that was unfortunate because I, to this day I believe that that guy was going to be the next great Yankee first baseman.
Speaker B:Just unfortunately his body betrayed him because it was made out of glass.
Speaker B:I remember when he hit that home run off of Andrew Miller against Cleveland and it's like, this is the guy.
Speaker B:This is going to be the next, the next great first.
Speaker B:And it just didn't happen.
Speaker B:And they were.
Speaker B:They tried everything.
Speaker B:And, you know, they brought in Anthony, they traded for Rizzo, and that worked for a little bit until he got hurt.
Speaker B:And now they bring in Goldschmidt, and Goldschmidt is clearly more years behind him than in front of him in his career.
Speaker B:But he has been.
Speaker B:He's been hitting incredibly well.
Speaker B:You know, he was hitting.390 up until a week ago, and like, that's a guy you want protecting Aaron Judge in the lineup, like Cody Bellinger.
Speaker B:They make the move to get him after they lose Soto, and you're expecting him to take on that big.
Speaker B:And last year, Bellinger had a fantastic season, and you're waiting for that, for that year's, for last year's Ballinger to show up.
Speaker B:This year, I think we're starting to finally see that from him.
Speaker B:And they're getting that better production out of him.
Speaker B:You know, there's still a lot of question marks.
Speaker B:You know, Anthony Volpe has his moments where it looks like he's never swung a bat before.
Speaker B:And sometimes it drives me a little bit crazy.
Speaker B:But then I'll have those moments where he just.
Speaker B:He goes up on a good streak and it's like, okay, like this.
Speaker B:This is the guy.
Speaker B:Unfortunately, they have an issue with second base and third base where they, you know, they're dealing with injuries, and now that Oswaldo Cabrera is out, they have to kind of mix and match and find who's going to be that guy to take that spot.
Speaker B:Obviously, you want to see more from Jason Dominguez.
Speaker B:If you're the Yankees, they have invested a lot in him.
Speaker B:They've marketed him.
Speaker B:Hey, this is the Martian.
Speaker B:This is the next guy, the switch hitting outfielder who can do it all.
Speaker B:And, you know, he's.
Speaker B:He's starting to put a little bit more pop on the ball, but not the way that I think we as fans have wanted yet and maybe, maybe expected.
Speaker B:May.
Speaker B:We may have, you know, over inflated what the expectation was going to be for him.
Speaker B:And that's impossible to accomplish.
Speaker B:Obviously.
Speaker B:You know, there is that high bar to set, especially when you watch the guy sitting next to him in center field putting up video game numbers every season.
Speaker B:You know, hitting 62 home runs.
Speaker B:A few years ago, hitting 58 and driving in 120 runs, and now this year hitting over.400.
Speaker B:And he's gone through the first two months of the season still hitting.
Speaker B:And I'm not even talking like 401.
Speaker B:I'm talking like hitting like 415.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker B:That is unheard of.
Speaker B:That doesn't happen anymore.
Speaker B:In a time where exit velocity and launch angle is so important that sometimes you forget about the most important thing, putting the ball in play and making things happen that not every ball has to go over the fence.
Speaker B:And granted, a lot of Aaron Judge's hits go over the fence.
Speaker B:That's why he's done it, like, 340 times in his career in seven years, because he is a massive human being.
Speaker B:He can just launch the ball, but he can also put the ball anywhere on the field.
Speaker B:And that is just so much fun to watch that guy do what he does.
Speaker B:And like I said, maybe, maybe I overestimated Dominguez's ability to do that.
Speaker B:Because, you know, you read the scouting reports, you see what he can and can't do.
Speaker B:It's like, oh, like, this is gonna be the next guy.
Speaker B:This is gonna be the next Aaron Judge.
Speaker B:Like, character.
Speaker B:And he's just not there yet.
Speaker B:And he may never get there, which is fine.
Speaker B:Like, a guy like Aaron Judge doesn't come around all that often.
Speaker B:And if Dominguez is even half of that, that's going to be fine, because eventually, you know, Judge is going to take the designated hitter spot.
Speaker B:As he gets later into his contract, Dominguez can slide over into center field, where he is supposedly more comfortable as we watch him in left field.
Speaker B:And it's just.
Speaker B:It's an adventure out there.
Speaker B:Sometimes we've seen left fielders in the Yankee Stadium, and left field in the Yankee Stadium is not easy.
Speaker B:The ball cameras off the wall kind of strange sightlines are a little bit out there.
Speaker B:Like, we watch how many times we watch Aaron Hicks misplay a fly ball in left field.
Speaker B:I mean, that may have just been because he was bad at it, but then when he would move over to center field, he would make some insane catch.
Speaker B:And maybe Dominguez is going to be that same exact way.
Speaker B:And I hope he is, because who doesn't want to have Dominguez and Judge hitting 2, 3 in the lineup for the next seven years?
Speaker B: the heart of the order until: Speaker B:I mean, I'm here for that as a Yankee fan.
Speaker B: t of their order until, like,: Speaker B:Lindor is going to probably, I would imagine Lindor is going to resign.
Speaker B:And I think they would be crazy not to re sign him.
Speaker B:He's been, he's been one of the best players that they've had in a very long time.
Speaker B:And he is so much fun to watch.
Speaker B:And he plays a position of great value in Major League Baseball at shortstop.
Speaker B:And I can only hope, like for the Yankees sake, that Volby can become Lindor type player.
Speaker B:And I know that's not an easy proposition to say because Lindor is one of the best shortstops of his generation and he can do things that Volpe can't, and that's fine.
Speaker B:But if you're going to be the shortstop of the New York Yankees, like, you're going to have to take, you're going to have to take that big step.
Speaker B:And especially as you get into your third and fourth season.
Speaker B:I'm not saying he needs to be Derek Jeter, like, because nobody can be Derek Jeter.
Speaker B:But, you know, even D.D.
Speaker B: before they let him go after: Speaker B:And, you know, they did that with the anticipation of laboratories moving over the short, which never materialized.
Speaker B:And now Volpe is.
Speaker B:Once Volpe became the heir apparent at shortstop, you know, there was that expectation like, okay, this is gonna be, this is gonna be that guy, and he puts up decent numbers.
Speaker B:But you want, you want to see more, just like, just like with everybody else, you want to see more because we've seen it over the years.
Speaker B:We've seen what players can do at their very best.
Speaker B:And while it's unfair to compare to previous, previous eras, you can't say you haven't done it before because I've definitely done that.
Speaker B:You've definitely done that listening.
Speaker B:You want to compare to the players you remember.
Speaker B:And when that, when you're not, when a player isn't that person, you're going to, you're going to kind of ride them for a little bit.
Speaker B:And while that may not be fair, that's just, that's what fans do.
Speaker B:That's what we are.
Speaker B:Because we want to see our team win.
Speaker B:We want to see our team win every year.
Speaker B:And we want, we want to see every single player on the team hit.350 and 40 home runs in 127 RBIs and you know, go 162 and oh every year, which obviously never gonna happen.
Speaker B:But you know, one can dream that one one day maybe we'll get, we'll get those video game numbers and 162 and all will happen.
Speaker B:But that's gonna do it for me here.
Speaker B:I want to thank, of course, Brian behind the glass.
Speaker B:I want to thank Harris Richard from Knickerbocker Banner for coming on.
Speaker B:I want to thank Martino Puccio from Sports Illustrated.
Speaker B:And of course, I want to thank all of you for listening tonight.
Speaker B:That's going to do it for me here.
Speaker B: FM and: Speaker B:Have a good night.
Speaker B:The Views Express in the previous program.
Speaker A:Did not necessarily represent those of the.
Speaker B:Staff, management or owners of wgb.
