Can the Spurs Forget About That Humiliating Loss?

All right, so if you're in that Spurs locker room, how hard is this to get past?

You've got 48 hours to recover.

You're going home.

I say that like you're going home, air quotes out there because God knows how many Knicks fans are gonna be in that building.

But you're going home and now it's an elimination game.

Coming off a game like that, how hard do you think it's going to be for this Spurs team, which is mostly young.

Most of the team is 25 and under.

Some of them, the core players 22 and under.

How hard do you think is this gonna be to put past them if you're San Antonio?

I think they're so young, they're like the same way they are kind of like they made mistakes.

I think they're kind of delusional in that sense as well.

Like I, I go off how Stefan Castlefields, you know what I mean?

And even though, you know, everybody takes that guy's a killer, he's a killer to faze him.

And that's what I'm saying.

And he's just like, hey bro, he said some real stuff like, yo, we Kenny Atkinson's word, analytically, we, we could be up 3-1.

And I think one thing that occurs, you could be upset about it, but the mindset is the truth was in the pudding, like, yo, we played them 4 games very, very toughly.

In one game we were kicking, kicking the dog mess out of them and just let it slip.

So I think they, they're just like, man, we, we really have to walk this down.

I hope the coach is making a message of, of saying like, hey, we gotta take it one quarter at a time.

Hopefully we have, we got, we got, we only got 4 quarters to start to earn another 4 and then another 4.

But I believe like they come out and play, I think they're a confident group of kids, um.

You have to be confident from, uh, you know, that game 7, how they got here, and I believe they're gonna battle back, man.

These guys are mentally strong, and I, I, I think they really want to win.

I don't think they have any like quit in them, you know.

If there's that, that San Antonio community is way different as well.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Like I think the culture in general, it's not like if the, the Knicks would have won and now you have to battle against the whole city.

You feel me?

Uh, uh, yeah, and look, Vegas is the most objective.

Observer of all this.

Vegas going into game five.

I want to read you some of the DraftKings odds.

Vegas has the Spurs' money line minus 198.

So the Spurs are favored to win this game.

Vegas has the spread.

Spurs given 5.5. So Vegas believes that the Spurs can put this game behind them and that they can win this game.

And, and I I, I, I tend to believe that they've got it in them.

The, the variable, I don't know, and, and you would know to a degree given that you, you played, and I'm, I don't know if you've been in this exact kind of situation, but you played the game like, like the, the variable items, we would, I would be on the bench.

I, I would, I, I would say that.

I, I, I can't, I, I can't put myself in the shoes of a 22-year-old that had a 20 point lead with 9.5 minutes left, and a 29 point lead in the third quarter, 27 point lead at halftime.

I can't put myself in the shoes of a young guy who had those kind of advantages, lost it, and now they've got to deal with.

With, with what's next, I, I don't know how they're going to respond.

Could I see them respond by absolutely caving and getting beat by 20?

Yes.

Could I see them responding and stepping up and winning by 20?

Yes, I could see all of these outcomes as possibilities.

I just found it fascinating that Vegas, which Sees this stuff right down the middle.

There's no, there's no heart in Vegas here.

There's no emotion in Vegas.

They've got the Spurs as the favorite to win.

They've got a 5.5 point spread, which is crazy .

Like how many of these games have been separated by a bucket?

Like 2 of them, right, have been by 1 point, I think it was.

So they get the Spurs as 5.5 point favorites in Game 5 .

Crazy, crazy.

They must, they must really believe that Wemby and company got something left in them.

I think so too, man.

I, I think their whole journey, Wemby's whole story is perseverance.

I don't think when you look at some of these other stars, I think.

They, they sometimes succumb to the moment.

Like mentally.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

I don't think Wendy has a situation where he's breaking or he's nervous.

I think, give him credit, how he prepares, everything he does.

I think he's accepting who he is.

You know what I mean?

Like that's that's been his word.

So I think he comprehends his res responsibility and his obligation, and he, he's also spoken that into life to his teammates numerous times.

You understand what I'm saying?

So, the guy that goes and hangs out with, you know, the monks in China in the summertime, I think, uh, 7 months removed, he's still got a little left in the tank of some wisdom to, you know, really push through.

And at the same time, we're talking about a 75 animal.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Like, like he, he's going to go get his 30.

I think he'll be ready for that.

I think uh if they play the exact same way, because in a couple of times this series, they've been up by double digits, like , you know what I mean?

Where I think they have things where they're naturally confident on and they really believe once again, like, bro, we could really be up 3-1, we just tricked it off, even though people hate hearing it.

To find castle was like, bro, no, this is, this is our series to lose, and we have a, a locker room full of people that really believe that, they're gonna come out and, and, and, and move like the, the game is theirs and just say yo, we just gotta win.

This is a seven game series again.

They, they could, they could have swept the series.

They had a 1-point lead with 2 minutes to go in game one.

They had Wembayama with an open 20-footer to win game two.

They win game 3.

They've got a 29 point lead in game four.

Like this series theoretically could be over in favor of San Antonio.

That's how, how much this, uh, this series has swung so wildly on, on different plays.

Like you mentioned you were at this.

This camp with these kids this week.

Like this, this series and these games have been like, they must have been such a learning tool like for these kids.

Like, hey, you know how they say never give up on a play?

Well, OG Anna Obi inbounded the ball with 6 seconds left to Jalen Brunson.

Could have just as easily floated on the perimeter, been like an outlet valve, and I'll just take the 3 instead.

The second he sees Brunson elevate, he goes to the Rim and just gets a paw up there, gets a hand up there and knocks it in.

Like, just, I, I, I'm sure there are lots of players that would have done it, but like, OG seems like the kind of guy that like when Mike Brown tells him before the game , like, hey, we need you more on the offensive glass, he puts that into like the, the data file and then just does it.

And like the way he went to the basket man and just got that hand up, redirected that shot.

I don't think there's anybody else on the floor at least that could have done that for, for either team that night.

No, he, I mean, that was just amazing all around.

He's a great insurance card, but at a high, high level, you know, he's shooting almost over 60% from the field.

I think, uh, even then how he asserts himself so much in the offense really takes a lot of heat off, uh, Kat and Jalen Brunson.

Sometimes he has those shots you're like dang he shot that and it just goes in.

But defensively, he shows up so well, and I think his tenacity, his championship.

Experience has been able to mold well for him and you can't take for granted.

That's another big, big body, a big matchup, mismatch opportunity that the Knicks have to exploit.

And the IQ that he has and, you know, being able to crash the boards speaks volumes.

And I think when we spoke on this fight last week, it's like, hey man, like the Knicks are men, and he's one of those people that, you know, not only is he a man age-wise, but he impacts things that way.

You can feel him.

Even when he's switching up, he can switch on a Wimpy.

He dunked on Wimby, you know what I mean?

So it's like, what don't you do?

and a smart dunk, right?

Like he used his body, shrugged, shrugged him off, didn't try to just like posterize him, but just kind of bumped him.

Like he doesn't look to make the highlight play.

He looks to make the right play.

And then he just hung on the rim and was just like.

Yeah, little dude.

You know what I mean?

Just say, hey, I'm a man, and just ran down court.

I think mentally he understands the competitive edge, and I even forgot he learned from under Kawhi, but you're absolutely right.

He's, he's making all the time his plays and uh, he's earning his check, so.

I mean, this was a guy that averaged 11 points per game in his last season at Indiana, who was the 23rd overall pick in the draft, who didn't average double-digit points till his 3rd season, was a role player on that 2019 championship team, but just gets better.

Every single year.

Somebody in New York was telling me like, he's the kind of guy that will like call up people around the league and ask them like, what do you think of my release point?

Am I shooting at the right spot?

Like he's so, the attention to detail within Annanobi is, is as impressive as anybody playing the game.

Uh, right now, the other play where, you know, Fox, he's taken some lasers today.

I mean, at this week, it's the way it goes because look, it's not just that one play at the end offensively.

He had a couple of bad turnovers in the 4th quarter as well.

He also, and look, I, I'm guessing he was told to do this, but when the ball got inbounded to Brunson.

And Brunson's staring down Wimbayama 35 ft from the basket.

What are you double teaming for?

Like, why are you chasing?

Like, isn't that to me, that's exactly where you want Jalen Brunson to be if you're the Spurs.

Now, if there's like 20 seconds left, yeah, you don't want him going ISO on Wimpanyama because like maybe, you know , things can happen, get around him, all that stuff.

But if you've got your 7'4 unanimous Defensive Player of the Year staring at Brunson 35 ft from the basket, that is a Exactly where you want to be.

And if Fox doesn't come over and try to double team, maybe he gets a body on, on Annadobi.

Maybe not enough to, to box him out, but enough to deter him from getting into that position to get that put back in.

That was another, like, it's, it's a game of inches, man.

I mean, you played it.

I'm telling you, like it's, it's just a game of inches where it's like one decision, one lazy play, one bad play.

That's it.

That's your championship right there.

Absolutely, and, and.

Historically, in 15 years when you write a story, I hope you like, be like, hey, this was literally like a game of inches and sometimes just like IQ ruined 47 minutes' worth of work every single night.

You understand what I'm saying?

Like I still don't understand the series.

The it's, it's crazy.

What I saw the other night was just, it like it was dope, but it's just like, wait, what, like what has happened?

Like it's crazy, man.

But NBA basketball is back.

This playoffs has been very, very fun.

I just, I'm having a little bit of a heart attack when you're like, man, you just turn the ball over again and again, you know.

But do you think at a certain point too, I mean, he, he's got just gotta be a pro, he's gotta be a I feel like sometimes when De'Aaron Fox is put in to save, it's so random and his rhythms so off.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Like even when you, you go over some of like the, the, the players to watch, it'll be Wimby, Dylan Harper, Stefan Castle.

And you'll be like, oh damn, yeah, I forgot such and such is doing that.

And every other game it seems like he's taking a game off.

I haven't seen an ankle injury, but like taking a game off from his usage rate.

And I felt like they put him in a bad position.

They're like, yo, go save us.

And it's just like, man, he, he's closed some things, even in the game 3, I didn't think that shot should go in, but he got fouled.

But it's like, those repetitions and everything, I just felt like they put, uh, they put a closer in that wasn't warmed up, man.

And at the end of the day, like my big fella, the dude screaming MVP should have.

You know what I mean, showed up more, but, yeah, but even then when you look at game two, what did he do?

He shot the, the hero jumper down the stretch and he showed his IQ was a little off as well.

He, like, the shot selection to me going to the next game is huge.

Like when, when the Spurs are taking in rhythm jump shots, in rhythm 3s, they're great.

Like all those 3s they made in the first half, it was off ball movements, you know, there were a couple of kind of bullshit ones, but most of them were, were in rhythm shots.

The 3rd quarter, watch them back, they're just like, All right, 10 seconds on the shot clock.

Let's get this 3 up.

Like, we're kind of open, so let's just take it.

Like, keep going to the basket.

The Knicks have some really good defensive players.

They've also got some liabilities out there.

Like you can attack Brunson.

You can attack Towns.

Like there are guys you can go after in certain situations.

If you can get Wemby in motion, get him like around the rim, like just throw the ball up there.

He's shown he can catch it, finish it.

They've gotta, they've gotta be assertive.

Don't try to land these knockout punches with these three-point bombs.