Knicks Weekly Recap: Knicks Lose OG | KAT Bounces Back | Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?!

Knicks Weekly Recap: Knicks Lose OG | KAT Bounces Back | Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?!

[Music] All right, here we go. Salute to Nick Nation on this Sunday evening. another edition of uh KFTV Weekly, episode 134, where we recap the Knicks week that was and talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. On tonight’s show, the Knicks would go 2 and one on their weekly campaign with wins over the Memphis Grizzlies and the Miami Heat in an NBA Cup matchup and a tough loss to the Orlando Magic. And speaking of tough losses, the Knicks will be without their top dog for at least two weeks. So, the injury wos continue. We’re going to start to show off with just that and talk about how the Knicks survive without uh OG and an Obi plus our player of the week and a new segment. We are ripping the bow off called a franchise forecast. So, lock in, hit the like button and the share button, subscribe to the channel. Salute to the replay gang and of course happy Monday to those catching up on the replay side of things. CP the franchise Alaros on the ones and twos. Let’s get into it. All right. How you feeling, man? How you feeling, bro? Good, man. You know, uh the Jets got the loss out uh earlier in the week, so uh I get to enjoy the Sunday. Just throw on red zone, chill, you know, watch football with little man. Just, you know, take a nice easy Sunday day. You know, I like those type of days. How about yourself? Less stress for you? It was good. It was good. You know, Gmen got a a quality loss. I was I was pleased. And then I went on and carried on with my day in my, you know, acceptance phase of of being a Giants fan. So there that was. But then we get the news that we’re short-handed again because the dog OG Anenomi left the Heat game, the Knicks versus Heat game NBA Cup game with a left hamstring strain. Uh the news was came out that he is now going to be out for at least two weeks. At least maybe meaning he’s going to be re-evaluated in two weeks. And so with that being said, how did you react to the news um of of the Knicks losing OG, man? What do you think? Honestly, it’s not even a surprise to me. When I saw him pull his hammy, I was like, man, he’s going to miss some time. Like that’s just who he is as a player. Like it’s Last year we got lucky. Let’s keep that in mind. Last year we got lucky like where he didn’t miss many games. You know every time he hit the deck you’re like this season you know he deals with a tweak in his hammy take two weeks. I would say I’d be I think I I would feel a little bit more probably annoyed about the injury. Not at him obviously at the injury because you want your team to be healthy and so forth. But the fact that this the matter is that the Knicks have an easy schedule coming up relatively for these next 12 games. And so when I spoke with CK on postgame after, you know, they just mollywoped the Heat. Uh, I was like, “You know what? If you’re going to have Brunson and OG miss time, this is probably the right time for them to miss it.” And I want your opinion, CP, because CK and I said they can go nine and three during this time period without Brunson and OG, but I want your thoughts. So, I’m going to list the 12 games. We did the 10 games. You know, we did the we did the 10 game breakdown, but just to talk about the next two games that go on top of that, it’s Miami that we get Monday, then Dallas, Orlando, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Toronto, Boston, Charlotte, Utah, Orlando, Indiana. So, that will take us all the way to December 18th. So, a little bit longer than uh two weeks, but just to give a, you know, a little bit of cushion and obviously Brunson’s dayto day. What do you think about that with OG and Brunson? Well, we’re you know, Brunson’s TBD, but with at least OG missing that time period. Yeah, all winnable. All all winnable games. You know, look, obviously you don’t want to look past anybody on the schedule, but it is a quote unquote lighter part of the schedule. I think the schedule will start to get a little bit more challenging after the NBA Cup and and into the new year. But for now, yes, they will have five games on the road. They’ll go to Miami on Monday for a rematch for for the third match up there. Uh they will go to Dallas, go to Orlando, they will go to Charlotte, and they will go to Brooklyn. Or they will go to Brooklyn, then go to Charlotte. all winnable games on that schedule. But nevertheless, I’m with you in that with OG’s injury, it’s something that you have to expect every year, especially a hamstring. Every time he goes down, every time he he, you know, takes a hard drive to the basket, you have to hold your breath and hope that he’s going to be able to get through it and be able to play the next play at next play speed, as Mike Brown would say. But, but it it’s one of those things that you have to expect. The Knicks were very fortunate last year with whole teamwise in terms of their their injuries. And you know, it it just to to think that we were going to have the same luck two years in a row just doesn’t work like that in the NBA, man. Especially at at the the way the speed at the way that these guys the speed that these guys play at, the physicality that they play at. Unfortunately for the Knicks, it’s going to happen. And for OG, it stinks because he was having a great year so far. careerh highs across the board. I mean, his differential with the Knicks, bro, is a plus 23 and a half. All right, so talk about a guy who gives you two-way maximum effort and is an impact player whether you look at the stat sheet or not. And so, you know, when you think about defensively at the point of attack, shooting the gaps, taking the chances, getting the steals, you know, a complete disruptor, you’re going to be missing that. and you’re going to be facing, hey, some some good talent on the wings on this trip. Norman Powell, all-star campaign. You’re going to see Fron, you’ll see Miles Bridges when when you go to when you go to Charlotte, you’re going to see Cooper Flag. So, you’re going to see a number of good wings and and uh and you know, guard wing tweeners along this road trip. And and without OG, it’s going to be it’s going to be tough without him, man. So, you know, it’s um it’s time for him to heal up. It’s time for Captain Clutch to to to heal up and for the Knicks, it’s a next man up situation. Absolutely. And look, last season, this is a guy who was averaging 18 points, getting you what was it right here? About five rebounds per game, two assists, you know, close one and a half steals, about one block. And that’s just last year. And he was shooting 47 47.6% from the field, 37% from downtown, you know, had an effective field goal percentage of uh 56%. And this is what he how he was starting this year. You know, he was start averaging 16 points. Uh was getting where is it about he was getting close to six rebounds, 5.6 rebounds per game, same amount of assist. You know, started the year off with 1.9 steals, seven blocks. Like he was really on a pace to really make like he was already starting to garner like all defensive team, you know, type of nods. You talk about all-star type performance as well. just his efficiency. I mean, still shooting the same percentage, shooting 39% on higher volume this season from downtown and then even more higher effective field goal percentage at 58.2%. So, guy was just, you know, rolling to start the season. And that’s the thing though with injuries is that now you deal go off with an injury, come back, you hope that you can stay in rhythm, but you know, once you come back from an injury, it takes some time to ramp back up. And with OG, man, because of his lengthy injury history, you just don’t want to rush this guy back to the court. You want to make sure that he’s fully healthy, able to take take contact, and also just play at the same game speed that he was at the beginning of the season. So, you know, they say two weeks. Hopefully, it’s two weeks, but this is also a guy that you don’t want to rush because the impact that he makes defensively, it’s why he’s one of the highest paid players in the league. You know, we were having that conversation with LD. You know, we talk about uh Cat’s contract value, OG’s contract value, some may say it’s overpay, but for a guy who can guard one through five very easily, and then when you’re talking about giving yourself giving him giving you 18 points efficiently on one end last season and looked like he was about to do even greater than that this season, yeah, he’s absolutely worth that money. And to like like I said, playing at all-star type level, all defensive type level, totally worth it. But they’re not going to rush him back. They’re going to make sure that he is healthy when he returns. You just hope that he can stay at that same pace that he was playing at to begin the season. May take some time once he returns, but that’s the hope, man. And hey, I wish nothing but a speedy recovery to OG. Yeah, speedy recovery to the dog. And as I pull up some of his numbers at 39% from three, he was in the 93rd percentile from the corner three at 49%. the rim numbers, 66% at the rim and an overall effective field goal percentage, it went up from 56.2 he finished with last year. He’s at 58.2 here this year before leaving with the injury. And we talked about his onoff the differential at 23.6. He’s in the 98th percentile in differential, a plus 48 expected wins. And then again on the defensive side, 98 percentile in in onoff stats and defense. teams are shooting a minus 19.5 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the court. They’re minus 4.2% lower effective field goal percentage when he’s out there on the court. The rebounding numbers, the free throw rate, they’re not fouling as much when he’s out there in the court. So all those things, especially when we think about the Nick defense and some of the holes, some of the warts that this team has, that’s showing from last year. you take OG out of that, I think they there’s going to be, you know, some some leaky leaking holes. There’s going to be some leaking holes on this defense that we’re going to see over the coming games. Yeah, man. Like I said, he’s a switchable defender one through five. And the way that he’s able to attack passing lanes, capable of getting blocks, like he covers a lot of the mistakes, man. And I mean when you think about having him, Mitch McBride, Bridges out there, even Hart, like those are guys that you just want collectively all together because for this team, when you have guys like Jaylen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns who defense is not their forte, you want to make sure that you at least have guys that are capable of playing at a high level to mask those deficiencies. It’s a team sport after all, right? So like you’re going to have guys that are stronger in other areas and that’s what they do, man. That’s what these guys are are brought in to do, not only to score, but to play defense at a high level. So without OG for some time period, man. And this is what’s even more tough is that now if you have if you don’t have OG, you know, Mitch is already like on a games restriction. Um McBride’s really just your best perimeter defender. Bridges like yes, he’s switchable. He’s like above a he’s he’s not I’m not going to say he’s like the elite defender, right? But he’s a good defender. He’s above average for sure, but it’s like what OG does, you just can’t replicate and we don’t have enough of that on this team. And then I know you what you what you always talk about having enough wings, right? Now you’re down a wing for some time and it’s like what do you do to you know mask that to like work around it. This is these are the things, man, with this the roster construction here, especially when you have a guy who has such a unique skill set that cannot be replicated and just takes your team to that next level. Well, when Mike Brown talked about in in training camp when he felt like, you know, I maybe it’s coach speak, maybe it’s not, but when Mike Brown felt that everybody in this roster was going to play at some point during the season, well, we’ve reached a point in the season where you’re going to have to see Muhammad Diawari, you’re going to have to see Pakome Dier get thrown into the fire, throw these guys into the deep end. We’re watching around the league now several draft picks that the Knicks passed up on in that 24 draft. Look at what AJ Mitchell is doing with the OKC Thunder. My gosh, he’s ready to usher in the new the the the next wave of talent for the OKC Thunder. Like, it’s crazy. Look at Look at Larson with the Heat. Yes. Right. He’s starting for the Miami Heat right now. And I get it. You know, the Doier pickup was a salary cap exercise and you know, they got Kolic in the second round, but these guys got to have to start showing something. They got to start showing a little bit something that they even capable of playing rotation minutes, situational minutes, whatever it is. So now’s the time for next man up for them to step up. Mccomome Dier being first. He was the Knicks first round pick. Like where is he? If if I’m one of the guys on the beat, I’m asking Mike Brown, what is the plan for your young players at this moment in time? And so I’m looking at Dier Diawara. Is it Trey Gon gonna be getting more burn? Does Tosson get a look? I I like him as a scrappy player, as a scrappy wing. He can give the Knicks some energy. They’re gonna need it. They They’re going to need to expand that rotation and and those guys are going to have no better opportunity than now to showcase themselves. Absolutely, CP. Absolutely. Especially Diwara. I mean, he’s the most intriguing, especially what we saw in summer league. You know, I especially if you want to talk about wingspan and switchability while OG is out and defense, he gives you all that, especially when you’re looking from a defensive lens of what you’re gonna be missing. But to your point, if we’re going to keep it a buck and and put the front office to the fire, you know, the whole point is you wanted to bring in a head coach that was, you know, focused around development, communication. You brought in like this whole developmental staff. You went with a lot of these guys that you talked about after you passed up on certain players in last year’s draft, uh, even in this year’s draft. So, if you’re going to do all that and now if you have Mike Brown saying guys are gonna play to your point, they got to play. There’s no there’s no question that they need to play because then it’s if you’re going to live by what you’re putting out there and not saying that they need to like sit down and talk with the media, but if you’re going to be putting out quotes and what and tell saying what your thought process is, you have to live by it at least. Otherwise, next thing you know, it’s like the trust in the front office. What are you guys actually thinking? And did you guys make bigger blunders with these draft picks? Because if I don’t see Dier, if I don’t see Koic, if I don’t see a diara, if I don’t see any of these guys, that means you guys don’t believe in any of these guys that you drafted. And then I got to start looking at Walt Pere and be like, “Yo, who are we drafting over here? What are we doing?” Yeah. Exactly. So, these guys better play. And even if they struggle, that’s fine. They’re going to struggle. These guys are young. These guys are rookies. Second year, they haven’t gotten them enough experience. I’m not expecting them to go out there and be perfect. I’m als but I do expect them to go out there and learn. And there’s no better time to learn than getting real time game time experience. So go give them that experience. Especially if you believe these guys are projects. Projects got to touch the court at some point. Yeah. For for sure. So what happens with the dog? Uh we shall see. But for now it’s at least two weeks. At least two weeks and then he will be re-evaluated. But just as you said, Alex, I’m with you 100%. He’s a guy because of the way that he plays defensively and and hey, he’s a guy who attacks the rim with aggression. You want to make sure that he’s 100% before he gets back out there on that court. So maybe it’s maybe it’s two weeks, maybe it’s a little more, maybe it’s Christmas Day against the Cavaliers before we see OG. Whatever it needs to be, the Knicks need to take their time with this and make sure that they get OG right. Whether it’s OG, whether it’s Cap, I said this on the show the other day. I said, “Run the clock. Just just, you know, let’s cross off some dates, man. Just run the clock so we could just just, you know, fast forward a little bit and sim. You want to sim to their sim. Let’s let’s sim through December, say mid December, and see where things are. Now Jaylen is expected to make the trip with the team. Not sure if that’s a sign that, you know, he he’s close or this is just a moral support type of thing, but uh Jaylen is expected to make the trip with the team. OG will not make the trip with the team. So, you know, we’ll see what happens with there. We will have an orthopedic surgeon Al on the show joining us for postgame tomorrow, Monday, Nicks versus Heat postgame show. Talk a little bit about the Brunson ankle injury and and and how these things keep happening and what the recovery time typically looks like. So, we’re going to have orthopedic surgeon here, man. We We’re going to we’re going to go to medical school on this on this show tomorrow night, man. Let’s go, man. That’s awesome. That’s sick. I also expect you to get some uh free advice, too, uh for medical advice, you know, diagnosis. So, you’re getting ready for next season cuz, you know, we got we got to we got to win the title again next year, right? No question. No question. I I need a ramp up. I’m day to day still on the Knicks Twitter day tournament. I’ve been dayto-day since uh the the tournament in last summer. So, I’m I’m slowly recovering. But you mentioned the schedule. Looking ahead, the Knicks will be in Miami on Monday. Then Dallas, you have Orlando, Brooklyn at Charlotte. Then you have versus Milwaukee. That’s NBA Cup Black Friday. No OG. Who’s guarding Giannis in that game? Who is guarding Giannis in that game? That game is terrifying to me to be honest with you. Wow. You have Toronto RJ Quickley homecoming at Boston versus the Hornets versus the Utah Jazz versus Orlando again. So that’s number three against the Orlando Magic December 7. So you’re going to have two games against Orlando that you won’t even have OG for Orlando. Will they have Paulo? We’ll see. They didn’t have him tonight. They lost to the Rockets in overtime. Good game. That was a good game. I don’t know if you saw that. It was a good game. Uh uh Orlando at Rockets tonight. I was watching that. So you have home versus Orlando. then at Indiana on the 18th. So between the 7th and the 18th, if the Knicks are not going to Vegas for the NBA Cup, that’s another 11 days right there. So, you know, may maybe we’re looking at a month I realistically because that kind of makes sense anyway. Look, and I think the thing that we got to think about too is if I I guess I wonder too like how hard are they going to gun for the NBA Cup? You know, do you want to actually take that week off and have guys rest too before like just to make sure everyone’s on the same page? Because the big thing here is winning a championship. And this is not me saying I don’t like the NBA cup, but I love it. I love everything that it adds to the NBA. But if you’re the Knicks in the position that you’re looking for, the NBA Cup is like a cherry on top if you win that. That’s not really your main priority. So, do you really want to go out there, start gunning for it? Not saying that they’re going to start losing games, but how how important are those wins and racking up the points each and every single matchup is it to them? So, I don’t know, man. Part of me also thinks that they’re going to be happy if they make it. They’re also not gonna be like totally upset if they don’t make it because I I feel like some was I feel like last year they’re really trying. I for I think it was Milwaukee that took him out. But it was the Hawks. We lost to the Hawks. That was that Trey Young dice roll. Dice game. Oh lord. I’m thinking two seasons ago with Milwaukee. Yeah, that that I got to think about that. That any Trey Young got us, man, with the dice game. So yeah, I dig it. again, winnable games, but it may be worth their while to push him until the 18th or maybe even Christmas. You know, we we need the dog healthy, man. It’s going to be very important to get the dog healthy. So, we’ll see which direction the Knicks go in. And uh we’re going to recap the the rest of the week. Salute to everybody in the chat once again. Hit that like button, hit the share button, subscribe to the channel. Before we do that, let’s shout out one of our sponsors of tonight’s show, and that is Manscaped. 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Al, Knicks go two and one on the week. Got a win over Jaw Wick and the Grizzlies, lose a tough one to Orlando, and then uh and then a win over the Miami Heat in the NBA Cup. How’d you react to the week? How’d you look back on the week? Good good week for the most part. Uh you know, obviously I wanted them to defeat the Orlando Magic. Didn’t like seeing that uh physicality really threw the Knicks off their block. I don’t care if it was a second night of a backto back. The physicality just made them look uneasy. And I hope they’re able to bounce back stronger throughout the season as it as it continues. But love what they did against the Grizzlies and uh against the Miami Heat. Once again, CPI like they this team put up over 75 points in the first half. Then you’re talking about over 130 points through what was it three out of the was it four out of the last five games. Yeah. Four out of the last five games they were able to put up over 130 points. So, to me, I’m liking that I see that this team has an offensive identity, that these guys are moving the rock, that these guys are cutting the the the speed that they’re reading, uh, while things are breaking down while they’re on the offensive end. Uh, you want to see the defense improve. I don’t really expect the defense to be, you know, top tier as it like throughout the regular season just because you’re trying to save your legs uh, for the postseason. But offensively, I like it. And the fact that the Knicks lost OG and Brunson against the Heat and they were still able to put up 140 points. Now, I know they had some guys that just went berserk and that they shot above their weight, but it’s good to see that they still stuck to the same philosophy and principles that Mike Brown wants, even without their two top guns. And so with for that, I think it’s a good week for the New York Knicks and moving forward because they’re gonna still continue to work on what Mike Brown’s doing. I think it shows me confidence that this team can still compete while Brunson and OG are healing. Yeah, overall I thought it was a good week. I did expect a win over me Memphis. Orlando was a tricky one just being on the second night of a backto back. Did I want that win? AB, absolutely. But it was one, it was a tough one. Orlando came out and they were on their game. They took it to the Knicks from for all 48 minutes as Palonero said coming into that game. They they circled that date on their calendar and it really showed and for the Knicks it looks like their legs couldn’t carry them and for Orlando their legs did because you know they were attacking the Knicks relentlessly at the rim. Fron Vagner was amazing in that game. You know I said it on that post game during the Magic game. I said very few people put the dog in a kennel. Giannis has. And this year, France, France really did a number on OG and and the Knicks as a whole and I was very impressed with his game. Anthony Black, I was impressed with his game. So, Orlando, they sent the message to the Knicks and and as a team to be reckoned with. So, uh that was a good warning shot by them, but I did like how the Knicks bounced back as you said against Miami. Very short-handed now with no cap and OG only playing just a couple minutes in the first quarter. But to me, that game was was set by Carl Anthony Towns. his aggressiveness for the entire night, which was fantastic. And then once Josh got in the game and really handled the point guard duties, I think I felt like that’s when things really opened up for the Knicks in that game against the Heat. So, as you said, offensively, there’s a lot to like, but defensively for me, that’s where my concern is. They finished the week as a number 18th ranked defense in the NBA, and somehow uh their three-point defense is even worse than it was last year. So, that’s a little bit of a concern to me. Is it an effort? Is it scheme? We’ll have to dig in a little bit deeper over the course of the season with more of a sample size to to determine that. Or or is it just the personnel? I think it’s a combination of of all three, but their three-point defense needs to needs to improve. They give up a ton. They’re they’re worse in the league in terms of three-point uh opponent three-point attempts and then three-point accuracy. They’re they’re right there. So, they’ve got to shore that up. Yes, we want to close be aggressive in the paint and take away those rim those rim attacks, but you also want to be able to get out to those three-point shooters and in particular the corner three. You know, they’re they’re one of the best corner three-point shooters in the league, but they’re one of the worst defending it as well. So, they’re getting they’re getting a dose of everything. They can’t have everything. They’re getting a dose of their own medicine. Want to see that defense improving a little bit. Unfortunately, not sure we’re gonna get to see that with Oanobi being out and and he he is the head of the snake when it comes to that Nick defense. Gonna be tough, man. Gonna be tough. And you know, like on on top of that, when you have a guy like Mitchell Robinson who, as I said earlier, is going to be in and out of the lineup, you want to make sure that he makes it all the way to April. Like, you don’t have him, you don’t have OG. Uh that defense is going to look very suspect at times, man. Everyone’s going to be attacking the rim. Guys are going to get shots up. So that’s why like even with that being said, I’m still confident because you go back to no Brunson, no OG, and you’re still able to put up 140 points. I think the offense is going to be just fine. And on top of that, guys should be learning and expanding their roles and showing their capabilities while Brunson and OG is out. You know, we saw that last year when Brunson after that angle injury against the the Lakers, we saw what Macau could do. We saw what Josh could do. We saw what uh other guys were capable of doing, but once Brunson came back, everything just reverted back to what it was should be, which is Brunson, you just dribble the living daylight out of the ball, and then we’ll work off of what you can do. This season, we’re seeing that Mike Brown wants everybody to initiate the offense. Everyone’s getting touches. So, I’m more hopeful that way that if guys do expand their roles while Brunson is out, that Mike Brown will identify what their new strengths are, maybe that he didn’t know, and recognize that and say, “Hey, we got to implement that so that way these guys can stay even more aggressive and be more polished once the postseason comes around.” And with that being said, we got to talk about our player of the week as voted on by the fans out and it is the birthday boy who just celebrated his 30th birthday. Carl Anthony Towns coming in this week or finishing the week averaging 25 points per game, 12 rebounds, four assists, shooting 44% 44.8% 8% from the field, 38 12 from three, 81% from the charity stripe, and 1.7 steals by the big bodega, man. Talk about the big bodega this week and the big week that he had. Yo, man, these past three games, this guy is averaging, let me just make sure I’m getting it right. This guy is averaging 25 points, shooting 45% from the field, shot 39% from downtown, gra averaging 12 boards, four assists, which is good to see. Four assists is really good to see. And on top of that, CP close to two steals, 1.7 to be exact. This guy is doing the damn thing this week. And look, the biggest one that’s going to stick out is what you said is that Brunson goes down, he instantly becomes aggressive and decides to take over. That’s going to be so critical moving forward for this team while Brunson and OG recover. But everything you saw from Carla Towns talking about the quad injury to start the season at starting the season saying he has no idea how he’s going to fit uh into Mike Brown’s offense. Well, it looks like he figured it out and he’s looking even much better as the season progresses. So, I like what Carl Anthony Towns is doing, man. Especially the offball movement. The offball movement has been key for him, man, because you’re not going to stop a seven-footer barreling down the lane, you know, especially with his type of shooting. So, now you’re adding another element to his game outside of just posting up, shooting threes. Right now, you’re getting a guy who’s working off ball. Now, he’s becoming more of a threat offensively. How do you stop him? This is what defense is going to have to try to figure out, man. But great great week for Carl Anthony Towns. Yeah, fantastic week for Cat. And to me, it just starts with just taking advantage of of the matchups because there’s very few people that can really take Carl Anthony Towns out of his game or or even shut him down, if you will, because you can’t shut anybody down in in this era of NBA. But for me, it’s it’s the aggressiveness and it’s the confidence to understand that you can’t be checked and you cannot be stopped. And that’s what he showed against the Miami Heat. And especially with Jaylen out and with OG out, that’s a lot of offense that the Knicks were missing. So, it required G to let you got to let it fly, you know, in a in a in a constructive way, in a not in a reckless way, right? You still want to play within the confines of the game, but you also have to be aggressive with your shots because again, Jaylen averaging 28 a game and OG averaging 18, that’s 46 points right there out of your lineup. So Cat had to take it on himself to just, you know, be aggressive, let the just fall where they may. Rely on the Knicks to get the offense second chance opportunities. So even if he misses on those long threes, the Knicks still being a good rebounding team with Josh out there, Mitch getting his eight against the Miami Heat, you can you can afford to miss shots as long as you’re getting them in rhythm. It is what it is because you’re going to most likely get it back. So, um, just overall just just a great job by him. Continue to keep him healthy and just to see him continue to stay aggressive, uh, both as a as a shooter and as a playmaker. You know, Cat Cat was outstanding, especially against the Heat. And I think that’s going to continue. Man, it looks like he’s settling in in this offense. And with Jaylen out, it could be a blessing for Towns because he’s now the go-to guy. Like you ever notice like especially when Brown staggers the lineups, that’s typically when Towns does his best work is when he is the focus of the offense. And yeah, you want to see more chemistry with him and Jaylen and them being a potent one-two combo. I really want to see that and maybe we will as the season progresses. But one thing we do know is that when he is the feature of the offense, good things typically happen. And so while the captain is out now and even while OG is out, I think you will see this the same production from Carl Anthony Towns. Yeah, man. The aggression goes up while he is when he is the, you know, main focus. Absolutely. Let me ask you this though because look, we we know that with Mitch being in and out out of the lineup, Cat is then your deacto starting center. I know we see that they want to run the double big lineup, just not possible, but based on wanting to maintain Mitch for the postseason run that they’re looking for that they’re thinking ahead of. So with guys like Brunson and OG missing out, you’re going to have to be more offensive driven. Is there any concern him getting too many minutes? Could be. We’ll we’ll have to see where Brown goes there because you’re gonna need that production, right? You’re gonna need that production just because who else is like he is your most efficient offensive gun out there. So yeah, you can’t really be resting him, especially if you’re not going to have the same level of defensive production, you’re then going to have to win by like obviously it makes it’s obvious basketball knowledge, right? It’s like whoever puts up the most points wins. If you’re a team that’s not going to be playing great defense, then you really got to be putting up some points, man. I mean, to see that we’re winning by 130 is great. But, you know, when teams are also putting up 120, 130 on you and and you’re winning by like 10 10 points in that same span, it’s not it’s not giving you a lot of confidence that the defense is going to get any better. I mean, look, we watch Memphis put up 120. Two nights later, then we see Miami put up 130, right? 432 to be exact. Well, as it as it relates to this week, you’re you have Miami, you have you have Dallas, and then you have Orlando, they’re coming up against or where in in the case of Miami and especially without Bam and the uh and the Mavericks, like defenses that like you don’t really have to like, you know, worry about per se. Orlando’s defense obviously is going to be tough and they’re stout, but when it comes to Miami and and Dallas, you know, look, they can be scored on and so whether or not he’s going to get extensive minutes, look, he’s he’s their highest paid player, so he’s going to have to be their workhorse. But it also depends on the supporting cast and if everybody else is doing their job. If you’re getting production from Mac Bridges, Macau Bridges is still there. You’re getting production from Clarkson who had had a good week as well. We’ll talk about that in our new segment, franchise forecast. But if you’re getting a a good quality production from those guys, deuce, you know, this is even a time for for Yabaselli to step it up with no OG, right? Like if if you’re getting good production across the board from those guys and we’re taking a look at the schedule. Hey, you may not necessarily need to to, you know, play call on on the closer to 40 side, but we’ll have to see which which direction Brown goes in. You I hear you, man. I hear you, man. And like hopefully that is the case that we get the production from everybody. But look, I expect Cat to shoulder most of that workload, man. Just because you, as you pointed out, you you’re the $50 million guy. You were brought in here for your offense. So, if we’re not going to have Brunson on this team right now for for God knows how long, uh you got to go out there and produce. Yeah, that that’s a fact. So, uh, it is, uh, the big bodega or bust here, Al, if you will, and and he’s going to have to get it done. Bodega or bust, CP. Bodega or bust. Uh, speaking of towns, man, happy birthday once again to the big bodega. He celebrated his birthday and celebrated it in in sentimental fashion. Al, I’m not sure if you saw this. This went viral. Did see it. Jordan Woods with the with the top tier job, man. Top tier on the social circles, man. Congratulations to Towns and and shout out to his lady Jordan Woods. She found his childhood family car that was I I’m guessing this is the same car that was driven by his mom. And so it she says during the summer Carl asked if I could drive any car a day, which one would it be? I answered and his response was I wouldn’t pick anything crazy. I just really love my mom’s car she had when I was a kid. So, I went on a mission these past months to find the car, shipped it across the country, got it fixed up, and was able to surprise him on his uh on his day. It’s nice, man. It’s a beautiful thing, man. Beautiful sentimental gift, man. And uh if you see the video of him riding around, he’s just like, you know, he’s just shocked. You can see that he’s just elated with the back in the car. This is the best thing ever. There you go. What? is so far. This is the best thing ever. Now he now he looks like it looks like a bumper car for Carl Anthony. It does with him. It is crazy. They were not thinking sevenfooters were going to be driving this thing. Not not in the 80s or the 70s or no not in the 80s whenever that car was uh was made. Man, the cabin head space is not even there. He is up against the windshield. There is no room. It looks like a clown car, you know. But um now shout out to him. That’s a beautiful thing and and a and a great way to remember his mom. I’m sure he was he was very touched by that. And so shout out to to Jordan Woods. That was a fantastic job by by her and a and a great griff for Call Anthony Town. So salute, man. Salute. Uh salute to everybody in the chat once again. Al, hit the like button, hit the share button, subscribe to the channel. I want to shout out our franchise channel members in the chat. Salute to them. Shout out to my guy Arman Dutter Al. He sent us a $200 cash app to the KFTV Cash App earlier this week. A big time supporter of the show. Shout out to Arman Dutter, franchise channel member for for a long time as well, man. Send us a $200 super chat. So, we definitely appreciate that. Shout out to Jonnal to Al. Shout out to Will Latimer. Those both of those guys representing our Atlanta contingent. Uh, who else do you want to shout out in the chat, man? We got Eric El Beats in the building as well. Shout out to Eric, man. Who else we got here? Yeah, we Eric did a great job, man. KFTV watch party, man. We had great turnout in Clinton Hole 36. Great job. Let’s go. I I see that we got our chief modern operation TM in the building. Shout out to our guy TM. Let’s go. Who else we got in here? We got the aggravated man. Shout out to you. Okay. Okay. Aggravated always in here and aggravated man. Shout out to him, man. Always on on uh on queue. Always. We got Justin Presley in here as well. Shout out to Justin. Uh, we got Daniel. Uh, is this uh, Bezour in here? Is that Yeah, Daniel. Daniel’s always in here, man. Shout out to Daniel for sure. Oh, and we got we got more KFV members in here. We got uh, we got Jaylen. Okay. The, you know, the editor of our newsletter here Jayen for sure. Who else we got? And we got Don John. Shout out to Don John as well. Don John, salute to you, man. Salute to everybody in the chat. Hope everybody had a great weekend. And, uh, and we just recapping, man. next weekly episode 134. Like, share, and subscribe. Join the mission to 100K subscribers. We’re at like 983. So, we’re we’re getting there. We we are getting there. Inching our way there. We are inching our way there. We’re getting the the the the ladies downstairs planning right now for the party for the 100K party. And so, we’re getting there, man. I can just see I can just see Maria now just like she’s got the corkboard. She She’s mapping it all out, you know, drawing everything, getting everything set up. No question. All right, so we we’re definitely getting ready for that. Orlando fam, we are getting ready to invade the city, man. The KFTV Road Warrior Tour is hitting Orlando, Al. They’ve been asking us to get down there for the past for years. CP, come to the Oh, come to Orlando. We’re coming to Orlando this Saturday. District Gastro Bar is where the pregame happy hour and meetup is happening. the RSVPs are flying off the uh off the shelf here, Al. And um yeah, it’s going to be a fantastic time. So, we’re definitely looking forward to that. Shout out to my franchise channel members as well. Make sure you guys are coming through and uh it’s going to be a great time. District Gastro Bar 1:30 p.m. is the uh is the meetup time. The game starts at 5:30. So, make sure that you guys are there and Oh, no. The game starts at 5:00. Game starts at 5 on Saturday. The meetup is at 1:30. Meet up at 1:30. RSVP. It’s all free. Just come pump come through. But RSVP. So we have accurate headcount at kftvmeup.com and nickfantv.com. All right. Well, I know it’s not too hard to get you down to Florida, man. Anyone says warm weather, you’re like, “Oh, I’m right there. Bro, we we can’t stop the wind from blowing out here in New York. It’s been windy for five straight days, man. Literally, I’ve never seen anything like this.” Nobody as type of weather we have. It’s been windy for five straight days in New York, bro. It is brick. It is brick outside. It It is It is insane. Yeah. I’m like sitting by the window and I’m like, “Yo, I have the heat going right now. How do I feel a draft? This is crazy.” It’s not like I got old windows either with like some storm windows type stuff. This is modern windows we’re talking here. Crazy vinyl. Shout out Shout out Dave El Rodriguez. Shout out to the number 37 Al. Uh they said they’ll be there. They’re pulling up to Orlando. Let’s go. So, no doubt. No doubt. Shout out shout out to them. I’m watching. Notice how I say CP come to Boston. He’s like, “Yeah, bro. We We got you there for the Boston Postups, man. We got you there, man. You representing New England. That’s your territory, man. If you want to go to Maine, you want to go to New Hampshire. My guy Luis uh uh my guy Luis Pachanga’s up there in Vermont. Luis Guzman. Yeah, Panga’s up in Vermont, man. He lives up in Vermont, bro. Well, let me choose a different Chicago. I can only imagine dead winter in Chicago. CB like, you know, you got that that whole out frontier right there, man. Oh, wow. You’re g I can see how you want to go to We’ll call Michael White. We’ll we’ll tell him that to to accompany you. Oh, God, man. I’m trying to get back home alive. I’m not trying to get out there uh wasted. Sheesh. You know, you want to call Michael White. Listen, man. It’s busy times out here. I got to pick and choose by locations, man. If you were if you were if you were the district well you are the district manager if you were the district manager like all right man you Alex you get all the cold spots I don’t got to go there yeah you all the hot spots I’ll go there you in Boston man you you’re used to the cold man you live in New York what’s the difference it’s a little bit it’s a little bit nippier up there come on man it’s a little bit nippy up there same is broish All right. All right, man. Salute. Yeah, John. Yeah, P. Panga is in Vermont, man. He lives up in Vermont. He He likes it up there. Luis is up in Vermont. Lives up there. But yeah, man. Busy times. Busy times, man. And uh you know what? Speaking of busy, Al, we got to shout out to another one of our sponsors of tonight, and that is Der. Shout out our guys over at Der Jeans for sponsoring tonight’s show. Uh, we definitely appreciate that because listen man, you know, I’m always on the move. Uh, whether it’s games, events, we got the we had the watch party this past Friday. Shout out DJ Eric El Beats. We’re going down to Orlando on Saturday. So, because I’m always traveling, I’m always on the move. I need to make sure that I’m rocking jeans that are comfortable and that can keep up with my lifestyle, man. And that’s why I’m rocking my new Dura jeans, man. Let me tell you, it’s an absolute game changer, man. They absolutely they sent me their uh performance denim the relaxed uh the relaxed straight. They sent me the performance denim and um I like them, man. I like them. You know, I wasn’t really I wasn’t really familiar with the brand. Um but once I started doing my research and they sent it to me, I I’m digging it, man. I definitely definitely like the uh the performance denims that they sent me. And what’s good about them is that they have a cool max technology. So, it keeps you cool. It’s hot when it’s warm and and when it’s and it’s it’s cool when it’s hot and it keeps you warm when it’s cool, man. So, they’re they’re also antibacterial, so they stay fresh longer. Less washing, more wearing. That’s a win in my book, man. It’s a perfect combo, man. Style like jeans, comfort like joggers. You look sharp, you feel good, and you’re ready to take on whatever the day throws at you. So, do yourself a favor. Go to shopd.com right now and get 15% off your first order. that shop doer due.com/kfftv because trust me man once you put on a pair of doers you’re not going back to your old jeans doer made for the doers made for the franchise man guys at doer for sponsoring tonight’s show and like I said man they got a ton of products they do have jeans but they have shirts too you have the flannel shirts you have um you have your sweaters you have jackets obviously for the fall and winter season coming up these this is the type of gear that you want to use to layer up with. So definitely check them out. Shopdoer.com. Once again, our code is kftv for 15% off your order. Okay, shout out to our guys at door, man. Shout out to our guys at Doore. All right, now we ready. We ready to rip the bow off the new segment, man? Let’s get it rocking. Are you ready to rip the bow off the new segment, man? Let’s do it, man. Born ready. Let’s do it. Let’s do it, man. because a new segment out is called the franchise forecast. That’s right, man. On the franchise forecast, we recap the week through the lens of the Knicks hottest and coldest players right now and we react to it. Man, where you want to go out? Do do we want to go? Because you talk you you just spoke about the cold weather, which was a good segment by you to segue into uh uh the the the franchise forecast. New segment, man. Do we want to start with the cold or we wanted to start with the warm? The hot. Let’s start with the cold, man. If we’re talking about cold, we’ll end on a good note with the hot. Let let’s let’s uh let’s start with the cold. And look, man, you know, I it’s really nothing new with this guy because he’s been cold literally since uh he signed the check with the Knicks. And and that’s Gershan Yabiselli out. You know, only 2.7 points per game, shooting 31.8% 8% from three after shooting 40% with the Philadelphia 76ers last year. Uh 2.7 points, 2.5 rebounds on 9.6 minutes a game. Are you concerned about Gershon Yabiselli and and how does he bounce back? Hey man, on a scale of 1 to 10, I am 10 being the highest, one being the lowest. I’m at a three right now. I’m not too worried. Still very young. Look, he had a lot of opportunities to just do a lot of running with Philly. He’s not getting that here. And I think with the injuries that you just mentioned earlier, he’s going to get that run and I expect him to bounce back and be a little bit stronger. The shooting has actually been pretty decent over the last couple of games shooting like you see like the last three out of the last five he’s shooting over 60%. So I think it’s coming around. I know it’s low volume, but I think he’ll come around. It’s just defensively, man. I think that’s just him getting conditioned and just him getting more minutes. But I I I expect him to get this thing turned around. He’s just going through a cold swamp right now. Yeah, I I I’m going to be patient, man. and he was one of the guys that I thought that we should have be been patient with just because I thought he was going to have a major adjustment to the um to the system to not being just featured. And look, it’s a lot of mouths to feed on this Nick team. This isn’t Philly from last year where he had a lot of guys injured and you could just run up stats. It’s a different situation here and he has to adjust to being a star in his role which means as you said defensively getting after it on the rebounds and efficient offense whenever it comes knocking down those threes whenever you get an opportunity. But I also think that the Knicks can do a better job of of finding him on those mismatches whenever um it allows and and whenever it allows for him to take advantage of. And so look, now’s the time with no OG Anobi, Gershan Yabaselli has a chance to get comfortable here and now’s the time for him. Now, let’s get to our next guy on the coldfront, Al and and this this has been a little bit tricky, man. But um how about Deuce? How about Deuce, man? you know, Deuce McBride, um, you know, last couple of games, Al, if you look at his stat sheet, nine nine points, nine points and nine points last three games, but overall for the for the season, Ally, he’s shooting 40% from the field. Uh, yes, 36% from from three, but, you know, hasn’t been a great output from Deuce. Miami game 16 from three, 40 from the field, 37 12 from the field from uh for Orlando. What do you think about Deuce? Not as freezing as Yabiselli, but a little cool for Deuce, man. What do you What do you think, man? Yeah, man. It’s a little cool. I mean, look, he he he did miss some time due to personal reasons. So, you know, coming back and trying to earn your your spot. Not necessarily in the in the way that I’m saying like he lost his spot, but just earn your minutes and like truly just get back into offensive flow. That is sometimes very tough for guys like that. But look, man, through the last seven games that he’s played, he’s averaging about 20 minutes, which not bad. So, he’s getting the opportunities to work through it. It’s just that he’s only shooting 41% right now from the field over that time. But CP, four of the last seven games, he’s shot over 40%, which is not great because you need his shooting. That’s the whole point. you need, especially from downtown. He’s a guy who’s going to space the floor and be your best perimeter player. And right now, he’s giving you the defense, not necessarily giving you the offense, but I do believe that he’ll get out of this at some point, man. We always see it from Deuce in the especially last season when he dealt with injuries. I expect him to turn it right back around. It may just take a little bit longer. Yeah, Deuce is a guy, man. It it it he he go comes and goes in cycles and and I think this is now just a little valley for him. Hey, maybe personal issues. Sometimes we don’t take that into account with players. And he’s he’s actually questionable for personal reasons for the Miami game on Monday. Not sure if that’s tied to the passing in this family that sidelined him a few weeks ago. So maybe that’s a factor as well. We got to give Duce some time, but as you said, you need his offense. The defense is fine, but you you need you need Duce’s offense and and shooting out there. And it just hasn’t been on point over these last few games. as you mentioned and now he has another adjustment to make because with no Jaylen Brunson I expected him to be the starting point guard of this team but as you saw in the Miami game the Knicks couldn’t get any fluidity when he was out there running the point at least in the beginning they couldn’t get the paint touches and they didn’t have that consistent dribble penetrations for those driving and kicks and so uh for Deuce that’s another role that he’s going to have to excel that with the captain out. Another adjustment for him. So, the shooting and the playmaking is going to have to improve in those minutes. Now, we move to the warm front, mind my part of the the map, Al, if you will. All right. Now, first guy we got to talk about, man, because as you’ve been saying in uh in these post games, he’s far from cardiac, but we got to put some respect on Jordan Clarkson’s name. Last three games this week, 14 points per game, 52% shooting from the field, 46.7 from three for Jordan Clarkson. Man, what what have you liked about Clarkson? He’s a plus minus 5.3 on the week. What have you liked about Jordan? Man, Clarkson has just been playing so efficient, man. That that’s been my biggest thing about him. Over the last seven games, Jordan Clarkson has been averaging, you know, 13 points per game, but shooting CP, 55% from the field, 44% from downtown, 86% from the free throw line on just two attempts per game. But the guy is doing it, man. When you’re asking for him to just be a score, he’s giving you just that. And the assist numbers is not showing the full the complete picture of the playmaking cuz he’s averaging only two assists over the last seven games. But he’s been a good playmaker, too, man. He’s just been getting the paint touches, kicking it out to the perimeter, finding guys in the paint with those dump dump off passes. Clarks has been giving you great minutes, man. and he’s he’s he’s giving you 13 points and he’s averaging right now through the last seven games only 19 minutes. So Clarkson has been just a breath of fresh air after not having a sustainable scoring bench for a guy who can create for himself do is fantastic and I only expect him to have more of an impact while Brunson’s out because you’re going to need that type of creator. Yeah, I’m with you 100%. My thing with Clarkson that that I’ve been impressed with, especially this weekend, you know, as a as a counter to how he started the season, which was kind of slow, uh the efficiency, but the decision-m this the decision- making has been good. He’s been aggressive when he’s needs to, the where we would call him cardiac, the, you know, the the shucking, if you will, really hasn’t been there. He’s really been very contained. And I like his energy defensively. Like look, they he’s he’s going to have his weaknesses. He has his his his vulnerabilities defensively, but I like his effort overall and understanding that look, he’s a he understands his role coming off the bench. Instant offense. Get the garden up and going. Give him that energy. And without Captain Clutch, Jaylen Brunson, and without OG Anobi, he’s another guy whose offense he’s going to you’re going to have to live and die with with how he plays. But so far, he’s having a good week and he is on the warm side of the franchise forecast. Now, as we keep it going now, Landry Shamut, come on down, man. Shout out to Shamwow, Shamsanity, whatever you want to call it. Landry Shamut got his MSG moment on Friday against the Miami Heat. But overall, Al, he’s uh he’s heating up, man. 19 points per game this week, 63% shooting from the field, and 47% shooting from downtown. Obviously, he had the explosion against the Heat for 36 points. But hey, 11 off the bench for Orlando and 10 off the bench for Memphis. And I think, look, for a bench player for his slot in the rotation, those are good numbers for him. But to come out with the 37point explosion, man, looks like Landry Shamid is ready to roll without uh OG Anomi, without Jaylen Brunson. The thing I like about Shamut, man, is that he constantly plays with energy. You know, you you don’t have to go into a game not knowing if Sham’s going to bring it tonight. He’s always going to bring it. And I love that. I love how he competes on defense. Not your greatest defender. We saw Norm Norman Pal take it to him, but you can always count on that he’s going to be a guy who plays with high energy. But the efficiency right now, CP, and this is why they brought him back, is because of the efficiency of his shooting. And we’re going to see a little bit more than just being a three-point shooter. We’re seeing him doing those curls and getting to the mid-range. We’re seeing, you know, him driving and taking it to the Cubs, especially against Miami. The efficiency is just through the roof right now for Sham. I mean, over the last seven games, and I’m choosing the last seven games because the Knicks have won the last six out of the last seven. But when you look at what Shaman has done during that time period, dude is averaging 13 points in 23 minutes, 56 from the field, 52% from downtown. And we’re not talking about some small volume either. We’re talking about oh, we’re talking about close to five three-point attempts per game. So, the guy is giving you just what you need being a guy who’s going to put the ball in the hoop offensively, especially from downtown when you’re looking for spacing. I love what Sham’s been bringing, man, for the Knicks. Yeah. all three levels. And I talked about it in in that he came. What impressed me the most was yes, he can get those catch and shoot threes, but he was shooting contested threes with confidence and knocking them down and then at the same time attacking the paint. OG’s gone. Brunson is gone. Who is going to get the Knicks the paint touches that they need? Let’s see if Landry Sham can carry that over into South Beach on Monday and beyond because the Knicks are going to need this version of him, this aggressive version of Landry Shamut to maintain their winning ways. But uh speaking of him, he deserved his accolades this week after coming off of the uh the separated shoulder last year, not really getting the consistent minutes from Tom Tibido off the Nick bench last year when he when they really needed him. And so now, Landry Shamid, it’s his time to capitalize on some playing time with with the absence of uh some of the Knicks top gunners. Now, also on my list on the franchise forecast, Al warming up, Josh Hart got to come to the stage, man. 10 points, six rebounds, 6.7 assists this week. And again, just a counter to how he started, where he’s going, I thought Josh Hart had a great week and I think he’s heating up right now, man. He looks very comfortable in this Brown offense. Very aggressive. He’s getting the Knicks out in transition, as I mentioned that earlier in the show with no captain clutch. Jaylen Brunson, I thought he was a I thought Josh assumed the point guard duties very well and had himself a triple double off the bench against the Miami Heat. Josh Hart is heating up out. Josh Hart is heating up. I mean, look, he had that 14 rebound game when he first returned against Boston. From those next couple those next three games, the guy looked like a shell of himself. I mean, the game that we all had where was like, is Josh Hart even going to be that effective this season? Was that first match up against Chicago? 15 minutes, didn’t make one single basket, only got uh one board and one assist. Since then, CP, since then, through the next, once again, the next seven games, this is what uh Josh Hart is doing for for the New York Knicks. He’s averaging 26 minutes, getting you 12 points per game, 54% from the field. He is shooting a whopping 46% from downtown with three attempts per three attempts per game. Get shooting 89% from the free throw line, getting you seven boards, five assists. Josh Hart’s doing the damn thing. And we saw as you mentioned what he did against Miami. Stepped up in a big way and I expect him to do the same thing as we are without Jaylen Brunson for TBD man. TBD without Jaylen Brunson. Agreed. And last but not least, Al, we talked about him. He was our player of the week and he’s up on the franchise forecast. Carl Anthony Towns 25 points per game, 12 rebounds, four assists on 38 and a half% shooting from three, 1.7 steals. The Big Bodega is heating up for the New York Knicks overall. Just got to love his aggressiveness. We we know who Carl Towns is at the at his peak powers. Uh but, you know, a lot of the times it’s between the ears with the big bodega and you have to love his approach this week against, you know, inferior defenders, if you will. No, Triple J is not that on the Memphis side, but for Miami with no BAM, that’s dog food. Pin the ears back and get ready to go. And that’s what Carl Anthony Towns did. And that’s what I’m going to be expecting from him this week as they face off against the Heat. They head over to Dallas and then they head to Orlando to finish off the week. Look, man, Towns was a jungle cat and all I needed to do is just to continue being impressive. That’s it, man. That’s my analysis. Phenomenal. We already went through it. Phenomenal performance by Carante Towns. Just continue to be aggressive. The big bodega. And that was the segment, Al. The franchise forecast. Let us know what you guys think in the chat. All feedback appreciated. You We’re going to we’re going to evolve this segment. We’re going to have graphics to go along with it. You know, I might get my Al Roker on. The lady wifey’s telling me I got to get my throw on the halfuit. Got my Al Roker on. Maybe I got to have the the real forecast in the background on the green screen. She wants me to go all all the way all the way with it. She wants me to go all the way with it. Now you see here, ladies and gentlemen, you see how the stock is going up and how it’s dipping now. This is what I project. She she wants a full meteorologist with it. So, we’ll see. We We’ll see how this thing evolves, man. Fantastic. Next thing you know, CP is going to be giving you uh your draft your draft uh you know, DraftKings uh outlook predictions. There you go. Well, that that’ll come. That’ll come. Shout out to DraftKings, sponsor of the show. Uh, full disclosure. Okay. Yeah. So, let let’s take a look. We’ll wrap up taking a look at the week ahead at the schedule. As I mentioned, they the Knicks will have their third matchup against the Miami Heat on Monday. Then they will go to Dallas. They’ll see the number one pick, Cooper Flag, the the point guard of the Dallas Mavericks. And then they will see Orlando for the second time. What are you expecting this week? And give me your record prediction. All right. So you got Miami, you got Orlando, and who was the last team that you had on? Dallas. Miami. Miami Monday, Dallas Wednesday, Orlando Saturday. Going three and 0. Okay. Okay. Yeah, man. Look, I’m very confident in this team. I like what like again, I like what I saw against Miami on Friday night. I think they could do the same thing, guys. Just just just tell me you didn’t go out partying this weekend. All right. Just tell me you just didn’t go outside. All right. Stay stay in the hotel. We don’t need to be going to the clubs. Don’t be Don’t be touring South Beach. You’re on a mission right now. So hopefully you didn’t do that. Go out there and do the damn thing. Orlando, they just took it to you, man. Go out there. Go get your revenge. Then Dallas is just uh in an infernal right now, man. That that city might be burning down right now. Nico’s out there, you know, looking for a new job. Yeah, it’s all sorts of bad. I think Nico’s I think Nico’s left the city. There’s no way Nico’s sticking around. He’s leaving. He’s He’s probably going to Miami or something like that. Nico’s leaving the city. But if you put if you see his house for sale, it might get damaged. Yeah, it might it might get damaged. Yeah, I think you know the Miami one is interesting. This is going to be the third matchup with these two teams in in less than a month. The third time they’re facing off against each other. So they they were quoted in in the papers to talk about, you know, Carl Anthony Towns talked about the fact that this is kind of like a simulation playoff matchup, if you will, and the Knicks got game two and now Miami is going to look to make their counters and what what will the Knicks counters be? How will Miami handle Mitch on the boards? What will be their process there? I don’t I didn’t look and see if if BAM is going to be available for this game. I don’t know. maybe take a quick Google search, but certainly that will change things and and help the heap defensively. You know, what what’s the Knicks plans for Norman Powell, man? They have not had an answer for this guy. Nobody’s really had an answer for him. No, no, no. You know, um with all due respect, like nobody in the league has really had an answer for Norman Powell. But what’s going to be the game plan? Um we’re going to talk about the Knicks zone that we saw against Miami. Shacks is going to be on the show tomorrow. So, for tomorrow’s lunchtime edition of KFTV, we’ll we’ll break down some of the zone defense that we saw from the Knicks. And I think we’re going to see some more of that on Monday, but we’ll see how the Heat counter with that. Um, so yeah, going to be fascinating to see how these two teams come out the gate tomorrow for this game. Win all game for for the Knicks, but man, that heat pace was something to watch. It was one thing cuz I was at the game when they faced off the first time in Miami and again that was early season, but it’s one thing to watch it in person and then it’s another thing to kind of watch it on TV when you’re looking at scoreboard and and and shot clock and everything. That heat pace is is serious. Serious, bro. It’s insane. I mean, you could not look down for a second or you were missing something. You’d be hearing oo and you’re like, “Wait, what did I miss? Got to rewind.” I mean, both teams were moving at a high rate. So, I expect the same thing. You know, it’s funny cuz uh B and Brady talked about ah this is going to be, you know, probably slow grinded out game. W defense. Nope. Threw that out the window real quick. Out the window. Out the window real quick. So, yeah, that Miami game will be interesting. Dallas, I think we should have no problem. But even, hey, you never know what could happen. But I think they’ll be fine against Dallas. And then Orlando revenge. Orlando sent him a message this week. At least at least at least it got me thinking because you know not nothing to be afraid of or or concerned with. But Orlando showed me something. I I’ll just say CP will not be a good look if the Knicks get punked again by Orlando based on physicality. Yeah. It will not be a good sign for that team. You you know you know you know you’re going to have the the articles and uh the naysayers out here bright and early. Yeah. But the the thing is is that for the Knicks, you’re down two of your most physical plays as well or some, you know, cap in his own way in OG for sure. Kind of back in the whole situation. I get that. But some will still say that this team is very talented, so you should still be able to do it while you don’t have them. Okay. So, you’re going three and 0. What do you guys think in the chat, man? What record are you guys going for? Hold on one second. I love how you pivot to the chat. You’re not even g What’s your take, man? What do you think? Am I going What? What? What’s my prediction? Yeah. Ah, here we You thought you were about to leave the show without giving a prediction. That’s what you’re doing over there. I’ll go three and 0. There we go. That’s I’m with you. I’ll go three and 0. Let’s go. We’re taking this game tomorrow night, Monday, in Miami. Now, if Duce doesn’t play, I think it gets it gets a little tricky if Duce doesn’t play. That That’ll get a little tricky. So, I’m a little less confident in that one, but I’m still going to go for it because it’s Miami and we’ll never we’ll never I will never give Miami the the benefit. We will never wave the wire towel to the Miami Heat ever. No. Dallas, we should be fine. And Orlando, we’re going to the game. So, we’re going to bring the good juju. So, we’re going to win the game against Orlando. I’m going three and 0. I’m with you, man. Let’s go with you. That’s what I like to hear. Yeah, I’m You had me concerned a little bit. You You were looking down, had the shadows of the the brim over your eyes. I had no idea where you were going for a second. Ah, it’s three and0. Let’s do it. Let’s go. Let’s Let’s go. Let’s go, man. Anyway, man, great show, bro. Right back at you. Great show. Uh, so as the as far as the schedule again, we’ll have Shacks on Monday lunchtime edition. We’ll break down some film. Monday nights versus Heat postgame live. We have a special guest. Dr. Bitterman is coming through to talk about the the Brunson ankle injury and uh he’s an orthopedic surgeon here in New York City for for Northwell Health. So, it’s going to be interesting conversation, man. We Adam Bitterman is Nick Van and and an MD, man, and an orthopedic surgeon now. So, we we’ll get to talk that talk and and learn some new things tomorrow night. So, make sure you guys tap in there postgame live. He’ll be on around 10:30, but we’ll start around 10:00. We’ll have the Dallas game. Maybe we’ll talk to Harp as well. Maybe I’ll talk to Harp. We always like to talk to Harp when the Knicks and Dallas face off against each other. So, we’ll talk to Harp about the latest with both teams. And then, uh, we’ll do game of the week preview will be Orlando again. So, we’ll do that on probably Thursday. And then we’ll have Orlando playbyplay and Orlando postgame. And so, that’s pretty much how the week is going to be shaping out. Anything else happens, you already know, man. Lock in. Number one show for the fans by the fans. Shout out to our sponsors at Manscaped. Manscape.com. Use code KFTV for 15% off plus free shipping. And Dura Der jeans. Check out the jeans lineup. They also have women’s lineup as well. Go to shopd.com. Use our code KFTV for 15% off your order. Al, any last words, man? Any last words? Yeah. Thank god the Jets didn’t play today. Hey man. Hey, one thing I’ll say, I want to see J whatever happens with the Giant season, who cares? Throw it in the garbage. I want to see Jameus Winston back hella high water with this team. Not as a starter, as as a backup. Eat them W’s, baby. I I like I like him a lot, man. I I like him a lot. I think he’s just what this team needs. He’s what this league needs and he’s unapologetically himself. I I just respect that about him. And uh you know, didn’t got the job done. It was a competitive loss. They lose the game on an interception where Hyatt doesn’t run the route completely. Drew Brees throws him under the bus in the telecast. And I’m going to go with Drew Brees. He stinks. So, hey, not James’ fault. Giants competed. I I enjoyed the game. I thought the running game, they had a great running game today between Tracy and and uh and Devin. Um, who’s a short guy? Singleary, Single Terry Tracy, man. The run game was was potent, man. That that looked like some Jacobson Ward type of Thunder and Lightning. Jacobson Bradshaw back in the day. So, you know, those type of things. You want to be entertained and still you want them to lose so that they can get a draft pick and get serious about their about their football team. You know what I’m saying? Well, now you explain what what a good loss was for today. Fantastic loss. I was pleased with the outcome in the acceptance phase of my Giants fandom. All right. Wow. Yeah. You were once riding high, winning Super Bowls, beating Tom Brady. Now, now you’re looking at like, “All right, man. I got the fatigues on fully, man. I’m in the tank. I’m in the tank. Get serious.” And get some football players in here, man. Stop messing around, bro. But what do they got now? If they don’t got football players, what do they got, man? A mess. O a mess. Going nowhere fast. But yeah, man. Great show, man. Uh, shout out to the replay gang. Shout out to our franchise channel members. Oh, this this this uh super chat came in here from Janol to Al real quick. Uh, five super chat from Jol. Shout out to Janal. It said PCP and Alex. What trades or upgrades are we anticipating this trade deadline, if any? Think it’s still a little too early to see what the needs are. It’s ear. Well, I I think we do know what the needs are for now. It and it’s at the to me it’s at the wing or the backup point. I mean, I agree with those two. I You could even say center at this point, man. And you could say center because if a Port is not getting those minutes, you could say center as well. That’s what I’m saying, man. So, like I think it’s still too early. It’s still too early. Yeah. It’s going to really be dependent on how guys are playing. This is a great time period for this. If you think about from a front office perspective, great time period to see who’s developing and then you can address the real need by the deadline. 100% 100%. So yeah, good job there. Shout out to Janelle Tore. All right, Al, great show, man. Rhyme Animal Chuck D in the chat. Shout out to the legend. Make sure you guys check out our show earlier this week remembering the great Michael Ray Richardson. We had a great conversation there. Go back in the archives if if you guys haven’t already and check that out. Man, a lot of people left comments like, “Man, like me.” A lot of people like, “Man, this was eye opening. I learned a lot cuz he was a guy that a lot of us did not know too much about.” So that’s why, man, we did a great job. We brought on the rhyme animal, Chuck D. And uh a co-author who wrote the book with Michael Ray Richardson, Jake Edy. He was based out in Seattle talks about that. We talked nicks with him as well, but um he he was able to kind of provide some insight on on Michael Ray Richardson as well, man. So make sure you guys go to archives, check that out. Have a great week. See you on Monday.

Knicks Weekly Recap: Knicks Lose OG | KAT Bounces Back | Stock Watch. The Knicks go 2–1 this week, but the big story is the loss of OG Anunoby — out at least two weeks with a hamstring strain.
In this episode of KFTV Weekly, CP The Fanchise and Alex Trataros break down the Knicks’ win over the Grizzlies, the blowout victory over the Heat in the NBA Cup, the tough loss to Orlando, and how New York survives without OG and Jalen Brunson.

We dive into:
🔥 OG’s injury timeline & why the Knicks can’t rush him back
🔥 Brunson’s ankle update + recovery expectations
🔥 Carl Anthony Towns’ dominant week (25/12/4 on 38% from 3)
🔥 Shamet’s breakout performance — Shamsanity at MSG
🔥 Jordan Clarkson’s hot streak
🔥 Josh Hart’s triple-double & point-Hart minutes
🔥 Knicks defensive issues: 3-point defense + rim protection
🔥 Upcoming matchups vs Miami, Dallas, Orlando
🔥 Franchise Forecast: HOT & COLD players of the week
🔥 Why Mike Brown MUST play the young guys now

Tap in and join the conversation. Knicks Nation — let’s talk about the week that was.

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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro
1:55 – OG Anunoby Out At Least 2 Weeks
22:16 – Knicks go 2-1 on the week
28:25 – KFTV Player Of The Week
46:10 – New Segment! – The Fanchise Forecast
1:02:13 – Weekly Predictions

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