Knicks Weekly: Deuce McBride Injury Update, NBA Cup Preview & Fanchise Forecast | Ep. 137

Knicks Weekly: Deuce McBride Injury Update, NBA Cup Preview & Fanchise Forecast | Ep. 137

[Music] Yeah. One time for the city. Same as before, meaning you pursue at your own cause. Last of a breed to do it how we was taugh. Gods in the raft is covering you battle. Infamous enough it get harder to brea. All right, here we go. Slutinix nation on this Monday evening, the drive home edition of KFTV weekly episode 137. On today’s show, we’re going to recap the Knicks 3 in one week as the Orange and Blue take control of second place in the East at 16-7, including a big win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday. But the Knicks got their eyes set on the prize. They want the cup, and we’re going to talk about their NBA Cup matchup with the Orlando Magic, plus our players of the week and a new segment, a new edition of the franchise forecast. man. TB of the franchise in the building. Joining me today, friend of the program, singer, songwriter, diehard Knicks fan, uh uh uh content creator, man. My guy does everything, man. Justin Melli back in the building. Hit the like button, hit the share button, subscribe to the channel. Action-packed show. Let’s get into it. Salute, salute, salute, and salute to the replay game for sure. All right, man. Justin, how you feeling, man? Feel great. Feel great. Ready to go. I want that cup just as much as they do. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s get right to business, man. Three and one in a week. I thought this is how it would go. You know, one of these two games is going to be tricky. I did think the Boston one on the road was going to be a tricky one, but they got the job done. Everybody circled Sunday against Orlando. The the Hornets game, the Jazz games are tune-ups and they went in there and got a gritty win on Sunday. Man, what’ you think about the week? Yeah, I mean I think with this Nick team, the one thing you could go out and say is they don’t slip up against the teams they should be, right? Like we’ve seen in the past where it’s like sometimes it’s like, oh, they might play down to their competition or they might blow a game against a bad team. This Nick team does not seem to do that and that’s an important thing. You know, like you could say Utah’s not that great, but you’re supposed to go out and beat them by 35 and that’s what they did. So the thing for me, the Orlando game I thought was a must-win, even though it’s not a must-win in terms of the schedule. You just don’t want to lose, you know, Orlando’s a team that’s always given them trouble. You don’t want to lose the first three games and you might not have another game against them for the rest of the season unless you play them in the cup. So, you don’t want to lose all the Orlando games for the year and then, you know, you may face them in the playoffs and it’s just that’s not something you want. You know what I mean? So, I thought that was a huge game to get. Um, I’m curious to your thoughts. I was I’m still I’m still thinking about that Boston game though cuz that’s you we have not we have yet to see as much as the Knicks have played great and they and they’ve looked great at home and all those things. We have yet to see them play a good game on the road against a quality team. We’ve yet to see that and I you know you saw them come out in Boston first 10 minutes of the game they’re hot. They’re they’re all over the place. You’re like all right this is going to be it. This is going to be it. And then they completely fold in the second half. So, are you concerned at all about the road kind of woes against quality opponents or you think as we get in the end of the season it’ll even itself out? Yeah, I think it’ll even even itself out. You know, I I I think they will pick it up. The Boston it it was interesting to see how they started the week and how they ended the week. I think the dogs absence was was greatly was felt in that game where where Jaylen Brown is cooking. you needed someone to be able to match his strength because he’s a he’s a sneaky strong player, man. And, you know, I didn’t like the overall defensive game plan. I also felt like that game it just it was kind of out of character the way things kind of crumbled in that second quarter because I thought that was the big turning point in the game. Even though it was early, they spent the rest of the time really on an uphill battle because Brown was hot and and the Celtics are hot. Give credit to the Celtics. I mean, the Knicks have the second ranked offense. Celtics have like the third or fourth ranked offense. very surprising OG there in that game. Not to pin it on one person, but just in terms of what he does defensively, it it’s a big difference, bro. It’s a big difference. And I think with the Knicks, they can’t really afford to lose him, right? Like there’s certain guys they can’t afford to lose, especially when you’re playing certain teams. Like you said, JB’s a physical player, so you’re not you don’t male’s not really the right matchup for him and they don’t really have anyone else who could guard him on the roster. So without OG, like you said, that becomes a problem. I was more cons. I’m not JB. I I that’s, you know, he obviously had a big game, but I think they let some other guys like Walsh got way too many offensive rebounds. He was he was beating them to the hustle 50/50 balls. Like that’s something you just don’t want to see in those games. You know what I Like that’s like the Josh Hart thing to do. Like you’re not supposed to let this guy we’ve never heard of and now you know listen he’s been on a run since that game. But you don’t want to let those guys kind of get those 50/50 balls, those offensive rebounds. That was the thing that I had most issue with down the stretch when they did get back in the game when they cut it to like what was it? Five, something like that. Yeah. So that’s what I didn’t like about it, you know, and we’ve seen that in certain games against these good teams on the road. Like you said, it’ll probably even out. I was happy with the Orlando win even though let’s let’s be fair they didn’t have Fron Vagner as much as we didn’t have Cat. Yeah, they didn’t have Vagner. He went down in the game. So you that’s kind of a wash at the end of the day, but I just want to see them start stacking some road wins. I know I’m being nitpicky, but I’m trying to look at a team who’s going to go on a run in the playoffs. I I want to see more of a road we can’t just have wins against Charlotte, Dallas, and Brooklyn. That’s not going to cut it. Yeah. No, not at all. I I don’t I don’t think it’s uh it’s off to be concerned about that. They certainly have to pick it up. But some of the opportunities were there. I was there for two of those road losses like you know the first one in Miami. Winnable game. The one in Orlando. They literally just let go of the rope. Orlando was cooking. Of course, give Fran’s credit. But again, another game with no OG. I to me it makes a big difference in terms of their defense. Now, all things considered, I thought this week was a good week after the Boston game for their defense. Look, Charlotte Jazz tuneups. Skip those. Orlando, they hold him to 100 points, you know, and look, yes, the Fron’s absence is major, but I do think that Nick defense have been picking it up, and it’s no surprise that when OG gets back, he’s a demon. Macau’s still Macau. Three steals for OG. It it it makes a world of a difference. And the thing is is that especially when you look at the Boston game and then you go up against Orlando, the Knicks needed their size to impose its will. And with OG Mitch, the game that Hucky had Yeah. I thought that was big in terms of deciding that Orlando game and it’s the way they need to play to shore up their defense because I think some of the holes on the perimeter as it relates to JB it may be hard to fix but to be able to plug up some of the gaps the passing lanes and then protect the paint that still has to be a staple for their defense to be you know average to above average 100%. And I think also the thing the one thing I would say though is they didn’t have Cat in this game, right? Which is which is a positive for defense. Exactly. So I I kind of want to see like that’s the concern for me and I was on a podcast earlier in the week and I and I they you know the person said what’s your biggest concern with the Knicks? And my biggest concern is the same thing as I was entering the season and that’s can the defense be good enough with Brunson and Cat on the floor together against top teams? That’s going to be what it comes down to for me. So, we still haven’t really seen that this year where the defense has been clicking with those guys. Obviously, without Cat. Cat’s a tremendous offensive player, but we know he’s not the greatest on defense. And Mitch is a is a big upgrade. You got OG back, so the defense was going to be better in that game against Orlando. With that said, now I don’t know if you saw some of these clips that were going around Twitter after the Utah game of Cat playing really good defense in contests and challenges in the paint on the Utah players, especially early in the game. That to me is if Cat could just get in this, he doesn’t have to block every shot. If he could just get in this, let me just be in the right spot and get a contest up. You’re a big man. That’s really what we need just to be, you know, like you said, you don’t need to be the best defensive team in the league, but you also can’t be bottom half, right? Like, we got to make sure with when we’re a healthy team. And that’s why I’m curious, is CA going to play on Tuesday? That’s going to be interesting to see. But good team in Toronto. They’re playing, they’re not playing as well now, but they’re still a quality team on the road in the cup. That’s going to be a big test to me. I think that’s going to show you a lot of where this team’s at right now. Yeah. And according to Nick’s head coach Mike Brown, Cat did do some things with the team today. Left calf, soreness, uh not determined whether he’s going to play on Tuesday against Toronto. Should they win it in Toronto, then they will go they will travel to Vegas for a Saturday matchup either with the Heat or the Orlando Magic. And I look I I like that prospect of facing not to look past Toronto. We’ll talk about Toronto, but the idea of facing Orlando or Miami for a fourth time. Again, it’s almost like a playoff simulation because these are two teams. You’re going to have a good chance of seeing one of them either in the first round or the second round, maybe in the conference finals. There’s a good chance you’re going to play one of those two teams. So, you know, it’s a good way to again see how they stack up, make your adjustments, and find where your advantages are to really pick it apart as it as it relates to uh postseason basketball. And as much as they’ve played these teams already early in the season, like you said, it’s kind of like a playoff series what you’re playing. Like, it feels like they’ve played Orlando like 20 times in the last month. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, like it’s that’s really checking out like, okay, how are you going to adjust from game to game against these teams? Now, I wanted to ask you one more thing because we didn’t touch on it. That play in the Orlando game um yesterday with with Bane throwing it off OG. Like I I was at the game, you know, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. I said that to my brother. I was like, I literally never seen that cuz he did not he was not falling out of bounds. You know, you see that when someone’s falling out of bounds. He was in the quarter. He was in the court. He took a he took a step, got his momentum, and then just pegged it at him. Like I did. Did you hear any explanation from Bane after the game? Did we get any quotes on that? Do we know anything? I I didn’t hear anything. Now, the the announcement, it just came out that he’s been fined though. $35,000. He’s been fired $35,000 for the whole thing. Um this was a completely boneheaded, out of control play. And as I said on postgame yesterday, by the letter of the law, the way that they call these games now, it should have been an ejection. 100%. It should have been immediate ejection. like one one technical free throw is not enough or for a quote unquote hostile act is not enough of a punishment like you said that was a clear like you know people compared it to when Clemens threw the bat at Piaza if you remember back in 2000 right like which was out of cat which made no sense like that to me as soon as I saw it I was like this guy’s got to be ejected I would even say you could suspend him for a game based off of that I’m not saying they should ejection would have been fine but I thought it should have been that they gave him one free throw kept him in the And then, you know, I think one thing I want to I want to get your take on actually, not that it’s a huge deal, but if you remember a couple years ago when the Knicks had Isaiah and they had Dante and there was that kind of fist of cuffs in the Pacers series and both those guys got Miles Turner’s face and there was like some the Knicks, not saying they should have swung at Bane, but no one really got in there to kind of be like, “Yo, protect OG and just be like, yo, this is what what are we doing here?” Like, we’re not going to handle this. we’re going to handle this. We’re not going to tolerate this. Do you feel like and we kind of saw like that last year they don’t have those like dogs this year or last year like those enforcers that you’re like when things get chippy you need someone to step in. Does that concern you at all? Cuz I or did am I making too much of this one play where it just seemed like an out of character play or did you think the same thing? No, they don’t have an enforcer. So, I wasn’t expecting anything really to to come out of it or anybody to really come to his aid. Unfortunately, that’s just how these guys are built. like they’re not really those type of guys. Like they talked about it on the roommates pod with the with the Trey rolling of the dice. They’re not really the type to escalate things or check them. I was surprised OG even did as much as shoved the dude, you know, cuz OG’s a very as much as he’s a dog defensively, he’s a very mild manner dude. So, I was even surprised to see it that way. But that goes to show you for a guy who plays the game at a physical level and doesn’t complain about much for him to react that way. You already know it was it was a totally uncalled for move. But you know the Knicks, they don’t have the Dylan Brooks’s. They don’t have the Draymonds or or the vets. The PJ Tucker is not there no more. You know, he’s he’s he’s off the team. But it kind of goes circles back to the enforce they need someone like that. Do you think for for them I don’t I’m not saying they do. I’m just asking you. Do you think they need someone like they brought PJ in last year at the end of the year? I thought that did bring some sort of intensity to to the team now even though he doesn’t play. Do you think they need someone like that? Cuz really Isaiah and Dante were were more like that two years ago than they than they had this past year. I’m not so much concerned about having an enforcer to to protect guys because the NBA it’s just a different NBA. Like the league is just not like that anymore. But one thing I am curious about is the whole reason why PJ Tucker was brought in last year was to have a veteran presence to hold these guys more accountable. So Leon West, these guy, they did not feel confident in have in anybody prior to that being the vocal leader in the locker room. And so PJ comes in, he’s not even there for that long and he’s calling guys out. Yo, you missed this assignment. Yo, what are you doing here? He’s and and he has that respect of the locker room. So, I do wonder with his absence, is anybody assuming that role sometimes? I think it’s it’s Hart, but after Hart, who is it? And they didn’t bring anyone else in this year that would be that like Yavis is not that type of guy. Obviously, Clarkson’s not good enough to do that anyway, right? So, you know, he doesn’t have the the pedigree. He’s not he’s really not that type of guy anyway. But, you know, yes, that’s the one thing is it’s more than the enforcer. it’s holding people accountable and and and keeping everyone in touch because when things are good, they they got no issues, right? But the question is going to be when there’s going to be those games or a couple games they lose in a row and things might be a little bit like, oh, what’s this guy doing? This guy’s not playing well. Are they going to be able to hold it together? That’s the question. But I guess we’ll find out. And they could trade make a trade at the deadline always if they need to. That’s right. That’s right. TP the franchise. Justin Morelli in the building. Salute to everybody in the chat. Salute to Nicks Nation. This is Knicks Weekly episode 137. CP the franchise Justin Morelli in here. And so uh the Knicks go three and one on the campaign. Uh had a good week for sure with a big week ahead. But as you as you asked earlier, you know, what is the injuries going to be looking like? Well, according to Stephan Bondi of the uh of the post, Duce McBride is going to be out for the Knicks versus Raptors NBA Cup game. He’s listed on the injury report as having a sprained left ankle. Um, but let’s start with this because the fans have voted Deuce as this week’s player of the game. Over the last four games, Deuce McBride at 12.5 points per game, shooting 45 12% from the field, 48 from three, a plus minus plus 72 on the week, and 87 and a half% from the charity stripe. So yeah, I’ll start with you Justin on this first be before we go into uh the loss of Deuce. I mean just talk about how he’s been playing cuz you’ve been a big deuce guy. You’re a big deuce guy. Talk about how Duce has been playing as a late man. Absolute flamethrower. Well, as you know, I I kind of politic for him to be in the starting lineup on your ver this very show early this season and I said he I thought he should be the fifth starter. Um I he’s been listen last year I think he was banged up a little bit with the injuries and he didn’t play as well. This year he’s been off to a much better start in his shooting. Maybe it’s the braids. He’s gone he’s changed the hair up. Maybe that’s gotten him a little more aerodynamic maybe. And now he’s he’s getting a little higher on those threes and now he’s he’s he’s draining them. But no, he’s been he’s been playing as well as anyone on the team and he really doesn’t get talked about. I think I did a video on it a few days ago and how he he really gets overlooked. He’s an underrated player in this league. A he’s on a ridiculous contract. I mean, I know his his agent, you know, signed that he signed that contract in his first year. But now that looks like, look, you know what I mean? Like that that’s a contract you’re going to look back at and be like, how many players are making more money than him? It’s crazy. He’s he’s playing like and I’m going to do actually a video on this, too. Him and JB are playing like some one of the best back courts in the league, period. Yeah, I would say that right now. I think they’re one of the best back courts in the league. And Deuce was on the verge of being that guy who was like the X factor, right? who was like the guy for the Knicks that even if Josh was starting and I don’t have as much of a problem with Josh starting with the with this new system but Duce going to play 2530 some nights he was going to finish some nights Josh some nights others but he was playing as well as anyone on the roster and really is any two guard or combo guard in the league right now to be honest. Yeah, no question. I mean you you look at the numbers right here for Deuce McBride a 91st percentile in differential this year man. his biggest impact on the team since his rookie year. But, you know, rookie year is rookie year and there’s very limited minutes. I’m talking about, you know, substantial amount of minutes and a bigger role, a plus 12.8 on the differential side, plus 23 in terms of uh expected wins with Duce on the floor. The Knicks are a plus 10.4 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor. That’s good for the 93rd percentile. How about the turnovers, bro? How about the turnovers, man? minus 4.2% lower turnover percentage when he’s in the game, which is which is pretty big for Duce. 99th percentile. And then defensively, you know, they they uh they give up minus 2.5 points per 100 possessions when he’s in the game and a little bit lower effective field goal percentage. But, you know, that that’s a major loss for this team for a red-hot shooter and their their most consistent bench player because now we’ll see how long he’s going to be out for, but clearly is a sprained ankle. So, you figure not a good sign that they announced him out today already for tomorrow, right? So, you’d have to think it’s going to be at least a couple more games after that. Yeah. So, you already have Shamut on the men. Now, you have Deuce down. So, the guard rotation is getting a little bit light, man. What do you think about that going forward if he’s out for the next say week or so? Well, I think it’s more more than the guard rotation. It’s their shooting, right? Those two guys were the best snipers they had on the team. Like Shamid, remember before he got hurt, he was shooting great from three, then he goes down. And now Deuce is is shooting great from three and he goes down. And they really don’t have another guy on the roster to fill that role. Those are the two guys that are in that role, right? That are in that bench. You know, they start sometimes, they come off the bench, but those guys who if you cannot leave those guys open because they are knock down lights out three-point shooters this year and they don’t really have the guy to fill that role. Clarkson obviously hasn’t been shooting well. Kick is not that’s not his game. He’s really a floor general. He can he can obviously he’ll shoot a three, but that’s not his game. They don’t have anyone to fill that role. So, I think it’s gonna hurt them. Now, luckily, they got OG back. So, if they were down OG and Deuce, that would be a problem. And Josh is at least making threes this year. So, he’s at least factor from there, which I think is a positive. I always said I’d rather him shoot him and miss than not shoot him at all. So, I think that’s a factor, but yeah, it’s going to hurt him. It’s that I don’t think there’s any way around it. He was playing the best on the team. He really the Sunday was his first like off game and it might have been because he was a little banged up with the injury. I don’t I didn’t see really when it happened, but Yeah, it was a it was it was a Oh, you didn’t see it from your vantage point? I couldn’t see from my vantage point. Yeah. Yeah. It looked it looked kind of it looked bad. It looked bad. Luckily, it was just an ankle, man. It looked bad. It was another one where it’s just one of those things, man, where everybody’s going up full force and your momentum is taking you under the basket and you’re trying to land. It’s like Fron’s landed like this and so did Deuce. Ah, so it’s kind of it’s kind of hard, but um yeah, it was a tricky play. Luckily, it’s just an ankle. The as you said, they’re going to miss him. certainly going to miss his three-point shooting. The point of attack defense as well at the guard spot. Somebody who another ball handler, too. I mean, ball handler. They’re obviously playing Colick now, so you know, you have Kolic and Clarkson off the bench. It’s not as big of a deal in that area. Um, but yeah, like I think more so it’s just the role that he plays and he was also an energy player, you know, like those guys those guys are key. Like Josh plays that role for them, Deuce plays that role for them and like he’s a pest, you know what I mean? Like he’s a guy on defense like he’s like get get you like get off. I like that was like me on defense when I played. Like I always wanted people to be like I I want to smack this kid off the court. You know what I mean? Because that’s I wanted them to feel every like bit of me following them around the court like and I feel like that’s what Deuce does on defense too. So it’s going to be a loss but at the end of the day you’d rather it happen now than at the end of the season. Rather it happen now. And you know luckily if you look at today’s the eighth let’s say let’s say he’s at let’s say two weeks. You know what I’m saying? Let’s say it’s two weeks. That takes you to the 22nd. You’re only technically if they win against the Raptors. Let’s say they they they run through to the 22nd, you know, win the NBA Cup. They hope they take the whole thing. It’s only five games. Like, it’s not that much. If he were to miss at least two weeks, you have the NBA Cup games, you have the Raptors, you have the winner of Miami and Orlando in the semifinals, and then you potentially have the finals on Tuesday. Then you have on the e you know who we’re playing. You know who you’d be playing in the finals. We don’t need to go. You know who it is. We don’t. Then you know it’s gonna be you know OKC. Let’s be honest. Then you have uh then you have the 18th year at Indie and then home against Philly on the second night of a backto back. So I mean even if they take it up to say two weeks it’s not that much. It’s not that bad. No. And they’re in fine position right now. They’re in second place. They’re going to win games anyway. They show they can they won games without OG, right? they just win those tough road games against the the upper echelon teams, but other than that, they handled their business. So, I’m not worried about this strength of time. I just want to see you want to more see these guys play together because obviously it’s a new coach and it’s a new system and you want as much time of them playing together as you can as the season goes on, right? Because that that’s really that’s the only concern. Other than that, I think it’ll be fine. And he and he obviously was playing well. You hate to see him go down when he’s playing this well. Lose that rhythm, you know, as a shooter. you’re you’re in that type of state. You don’t want to go down in that spot. But you know what? You made that point and someone else made that point just a couple days ago. It was like that’s the thing that continues to derail Duce is the injuries cuz then he comes back and then he gets a little inconsistent. Takes him a little while to get regain strength. I I did ask him that in our interview in Vegas, like you know, how was it last year going through those injuries? And it was tough on him. So hopefully this this doesn’t set him back too much. But as we just we got we got and you know you and you know Deuce like he’s he’s a man of few words. You know what I’m saying? He’s not he’s not going to he’s not going to tell you everything he’s feeling. So he doesn’t let you know maybe what he really went through last year with those injuries which might have been even more than he let on. Here was Mike Brown in terms of uh you know how the Knicks might go about dealing with the absence of deuce in particular on the offensive side of the ball. Here’s Mike Brown. You guys watch this enough. We don’t really we don’t put a ton of pressure on our quote unquote backup point guard to go make plays for everybody else. We we just have, you know, we I call a position a push man, but it’s push man, initiator, somebody to initiate the offense because we feel that our staples within what we’re trying to do and the actions that we throw thrown out there with the options to start the offense um get the dominoes to fall and we can play from there. So, as long as we have guys that can pass, dribble, or shoot, and when I say dribble, just bring the ball up and initiate the offense, then we feel good cuz now the dominoes will fall on their own. And I think when you think about obviously what Mike Brown is preaching about is is, you know, his positionless system where, you know, it it doesn’t really matter who’s bringing the ball up just as long as they’re getting into the offense quick. You have a number of options that can do that depending on how he’s staggering the lineups. As you said, Kolic has played, you have Clarkson, you have Hart who can do it, Bridges, you do have a number of guys that can get the get the Knicks into their offense. And I think that’s part of what’s helped them maintain that number two offensive rating. And also where the lack of a backup point guard hasn’t necessarily killed them just yet is because, you know, they have those options, especially with hard. That’s a sleeper right there. Yeah. And I think you saw at the beginning of the year, he’s had everyone bring the ball up. Like male’s brought the ball up a lot. Josh obviously is comfortable doing that. He’s great. We know as getting the getting the ball in transition and bringing it up off a rebound. Like, so I’m I’m not worried about that because it’s not going to be that many minutes in a game anyway where Jaylen’s not going to be on the floor at least in in crunch, you know, crucial minutes. I’m not that worried about them getting in their offense. I think like we talked about this, it’s going to have to be by committee. They’ve done it by committee. They did it with Deuce by committee. Deuce is not a primary ball handler anyway really, at least at this point of his career. He’s more of a a combo guard that’s that’s I would I’d say better with Jaylen than he is without him. You know what I mean? Like so I think for me I’m not really worried about I’m not more worried now than I was at the beginning of the season because Deuce is out in terms of getting into their offense. Like Mike Brown’s offense is player movement, ball movement, and just having multiple guys run the offense. like he knows who he wants to get the ball to in the end, but at the beginning, I don’t think it really matters. So, I’m not I’m not too concerned about that. Yeah, as of right now, you know, they should be okay despite the fact that uh you do have Clarkson in in a bit of a cold spell and Co can be a bit up and down. You know, we we’ll have to uh we’ll have to see how the Knicks fare without Deuce McBride, man. Deuce, who is becoming the three point the 3 and D specialist, you know, Duce Deuce really becoming uh the uh the 3 and D specialist for the New York Knicks. So, as of as it relates to the NBA Cup, they will be without their three-point sniper, man. But speaking of specialist, Justin, man, I got to shout out one of our sponsors of today’s show, and that is Rula. You know, I I say this all the time, man, especially during the holidays. It it’s a good time for some, but for others, it could be uh a difficult time as they navigate some of uh the the troubles in life. Man, let’s let’s just be real. You know, we go through a lot of trials and tribulations, a lot of ups and downs, and sometimes the holidays. Sometimes it it brings a you know, the the the negative side of of life where you’re kind of struggling. And so, you know, that’s where Ruler comes in because they have over 15,000 licensed mental health professionals that can help you if you need to speak to someone. And especially for us guys, sometimes we don’t, you know, we don’t want to do that. We kind of stick to oursel and not want to get the the the treatment that we need. But with RUA, you can uh be assured that there’s somebody out there for you to speak with. And it helps, man. It certainly goes a a long way. So, I’d encourage you guys to head over to ruler.com/kftv. Uh because with RUA, you can get a special see a specialist for as little as $15 uh per copay there. So, uh, make sure you check them out. Rula.com/kftv. Connect with a mental health expert who specialize in you. So, shout out to our guys at RULA for sponsoring today’s show. Okay. All right. So, to everybody in the chat, hit the like button, hit the share button, subscribe to the channel, CP the franchise, uh, Justin Morelli in the building. Shout out to DJ Eric L. Beats, man. franchise channel member says, “Solute to the mods and the entire KFTV family.” He says, “Uh, today’s a rough day for my family, but thank you all for your support.” Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely, man. Please, everybody in the chat, make sure you at our guy DJ Eric L. Beats and make sure you guys let’s lift them up in prayer. Him and his family. Let’s lift them up in thoughts and prayers, man. We got to support our fellow KFTV members because, as I said, uh, you know, everybody goes through their trials and tribulations, man. So, we want to make sure that we are there for each other, not just during the good times, but also during the tough times as well. So, salute at DJ Eric Lats, hold your head, man. We want to send our condolences to your family and uh just hopefully that you hope that you win one day at a time. So, salute to DJ Eric El Beats. Okay. All right. So, we talked about Deuce Cat questionable tomorrow against the against the Raptors. I mean, what are you thinking, man? NBA Cup, man. Raptors. No RJ tomorrow. What What do you think? Well, you know, you know Josh Hart wants that cup. He wants the cup. He wants the cup. He know cuz people I had this conversation with someone yesterday cuz when I did the Josh Hart and we we saw a lot of people talk about how Josh was, you know, got robbed of the bag, you know, all the jewelry. You saw that in in the hotel room. He lost 200k almost. And you know, we Joe, everyone’s joking around about him wanting the cup more than anyone else cuz if you saw that prize money, you know where that prize money’s at. I think, you know, if he comes in, if he’s a runner up, he makes his money back. Yeah. Plus 20 30K. And everyone’s like, “Oh, well Josh has got he’s making 80 mill. He’s got a he’s got a big bag. What does he care about that?” Well, people don’t realize that’s not all liquid, folk chat. Folks, that’s not liquid money. That’s the 200k he lost. That’s spending money. That’s money he wants to go out and buy his girl something nice. That’s something he wants to go out and buy his kids so he wants that puff so he can go out for the holiday. We got holiday shopping, babe. We got holiday shopping coming up. So, I guarantee you he’s going to be ready to play in Toronto on Tuesday night with that cup. He’s going to be He’s got that cup up on his wall right now, right? He’s He’s going to sleep. He’s like kisses that cup, puts his head on the pillow, he’s ready to go. He wants that thing. So, I think they’re going to be ready. Yeah, I I think they’ll be ready. They They’re actually on their way right now. Uh they are on their way traveling to Toronto. So um you know they saw this team last week. Yeah. No RJ. Toronto was on the back to back in that game too. So this is going to be a different challenge in Toronto. Toronto not on the backto back. Obviously no RJ, but they’re still a formidable opponent the way Brandon Ingrams and playing this year. And obviously Scotty Barnes and all those guys. And we got to go into their building. Ingram and and and Scotty Barnes playing fantastic ball. One of the ways that the Raptors were able to stay in that game where the Knicks have been vulnerable practically all year has been in transition. So, they have to make sure that and and I believe it’s Yaka Purtole playing. We got to check the injury report if if he’s back. But they’ll be a little bit sharper on the boards if he’s back. They have a bigger body there. And that’s one area of weakness for the Knicks is their transition defense. Now, no deuce. Now, no deuce in this game. So Clarkson, Kohic, these guys are going to have to be on alert for when these Jacobe Walters and the Quicks and anybody on the Raptors because that’s part of their game. They want to get out in transition and they want to cook you with speed. The Knicks are going to have to be on guard for that. But at the same time, the dog is back against his old team. Scotty Ingram against Wing Stop. Get your popcorn ready, man. That’s going to be that’s going to be nice. OG and Cal versus Scotty and Ingram. Let’s go. Let’s go. I’m My money’s on Wingstop, bro. Let’s go. Me, too. And I think that’s a great cuz I think that’s a good matchup for us. Like those guys perfect in terms of size, the whole thing. Like I would assume Male’s going to probably start on Brandon Ingram and OG’s going to be on Scotty. That’s how I would guess they would play it. Um because that makes the most sense. But to me, what the deuce loss will be is my man quick. Quick, quick, who, you know, loves to come after the Knicks. You know, he loves to cook the Knicks. He did it at the Garden in the third quarter. He He got hot. He brought him back in the game. You know, he’s going to be ready. And Deuce is the is the guy for him. He’s the primary defender on a guy like Quickly. So, like you said, Kolic, right? Uh Clarkson, all those guys, those smaller guys, those quicker, smaller guys, they’re going to have to hold Quick in check and keep him at bay enough because when he gets going, he’s he’s a microwave type of player. We saw him in New York, right? He’s he’s a microwave type of player. When he gets going, he gets going. So, that’s the guy I would keep my eye most on him more than I would on Scotty or Brandon because I think like you said, Wing Stop’s going to be ready. Those guys, the dog, he’s against his former team, right? You got male who’s been one of the best defensive wings in the league this year. Those guys are going to be ready to go. Quickly is a guy I’m concerned about. Who which Nick player is going to step up and take that challenge? I wish I was out there. I would take I would love to take that challenge because I think who’s gonna step up and take that challenge. Yeah, it’s gonna be a barn burner, man. I’m looking forward to it. And as you said, you know, Josh Hart, man. Josh Hart said he he wants the cup, man. He he definitely wants the cup. Cap talked about it. Let me find the sound bite on Josh Hart speaking on the NBA Cup. And I’ll just give you this right now. Here’s Josh Hart. Hang tight. Switch everybody in the chat. Hit the like button. Hit the share button, subscribe to the channel. Here was Josh Hart on speaking on the NBA Cup. Here we go. Not not even close. Not even close. May maybe it’ll be different, you know, if we ever get to Vegas. We haven’t. So, it definitely hasn’t. But, um, no, man. The playoffs are playoffs is, you know, a different animal. That was Hart speaking on the difference between the playoffs and the NBA Cup. I’m I’m trying to find the other one where he talks about um just actually playing there. Hang tight. Here we go. Is it important if you get a banner that says you’re the NBA cup champ about the championship banner? Um I mean I think a as competitors whenever you have the ability to win something um you know you want to do that. uh and uh if you’re a competitor um you should want to compete every time you step on the court. So, you know, for us it’s, you know, important to um obviously first we got to make sure we focus on Toronto and and can’t look past that, but you know, it’s something that we definitely want to win and um you know, we’re going to we’re going to go all out for it. I bet you to go get that bag. But hey, look for you look for the for the extended rotation guys for the DAS, the diaras, the Kix, the Tosons, you know, uh uh Jameson, all those guys. It’s a little extra bag for those guys, man. It’s huge. And also like like we just said, first of all, these guys make a lot of money, but they’re not they don’t just have cash laying around in the apartment. You know what I’m saying? In the house. Like that’s not the way this works. Plus, it’s this the New York is big taxes, you know? This is not We’re This isn’t Miami over here, you know? We’re Texas. Yeah. You got we’re Texas, so you got big taxes. They don’t just got this is they don’t got a mattress with a bunch of cash under it. Well, maybe some people do, but most don’t, right? So, if you if you’re in that situation, you want to get this is a little extra spending money. You want to go around 200k is 200k. 500k is 500k. I forgot what the what is it a mill for the for the main prize? I forget. It’s close to that at least for the if you win. Yeah, I got it. You know what? My guy um my guy Caleb was on the show breaking down the breaking it all down. I should have pulled it back up, but yeah. If you can find it, let me know. I’m going to pull it up right now. Let’s see. Yeah. The players players on the winning team around between five win win win around between 500 and 530K for the win. Right. That’s right. That’s right. And runners up 200 to 212K. Semi-finalist 100 to 106 and then quarterfinals 50 to 53K. You get, you know, you’re getting 200k above. That’s a nice That’s a nice chunk of change there that you want to go in this time of the year. They actually picked a good year to have the good time of year to have the NBA cup because like you want to have it around the holidays. Hey, I’ll take that 200k check. I’ll go ahead and write to Burgdorf or wherever they want to go or to Barnes or you know Barney isn’t really there anymore, but you know they want to go to Gucci store. They want to go to Louis wherever they want to go. Get their wife a little something, get their girl a little something. That’s what you want. That’s exactly what you want for the holidays. You want that cup. That you got to have it. That That’s a good gift right there. So, look, man. I love their chances. We’re going to see what happens. All starts on Tuesday. I’m going to be looking forward to it. I’m into the cup, man. I I’ I’ve given it a chance since its inception. I They had their opportunity last year. You had the whole Trey rolling rolling the dice. You were there for that game, right? You were there. That That meant something to me, man. I I wanted to see them win that game and and I was tight that they lost it in that fashion. So, look, I I like it. According to Ian Begley, he says 40 million people in the US watch the NBA Cup group play games across Amazon Prime, Peacock, and ESPN, which is 90% more than last year. So, it seems like it’s gaining steam. My question is the cup ratings. Are the cup ratings in general up from the other regular season games? So, like for instance, a Nick game on a Tuesday night last week, what are the ratings compared to the cup on this coming Tuesday night? That’s what I want to do. We have any numbers on that. I Yeah, I haven’t seen this. A good question. Yeah, definitely a good question cuz that would be the telltale is is how much is it affecting for for you? Same thing for me. It’s better than just having a it counts as a regular season game anyway. So, it’s not like it changes anything in the grand scheme of things, but it gives you something a little more early in the season when you don’t have playoffs yet. You’re not close to that yet. You know, the Knicks, you know, listen, Nick fans, we’re getting spoiled, right? We’ve been in the playoffs now the last four years, five years, whatever it is, and we’re like, “All right, we belong. We’re just waiting for the playoffs to come now. We don’t care about the regular season anymore. So, this gives a little bit of extra juice early in the season to be like, “All right, we’re playing some other good teams.” And I want OKC. I’m going to tell you right now, forget Toronto, forget Orlando or Miami or any of these other, you know, Florida teams. I want OKC in that final cuz I think it’s going to sound crazy. That’s a great early season test. It’s not going to affect the finals, but you want to see where you stand right now, right? You want to see where you stand and that’s on a neutral court. So, you want to see where you stand against OKC in the finals. That would be my goal. Forget these, you know, these other teams that we’re going to mop the floor with. I want to see OKC in the finals. I don’t want to see any other team in the final. I want to see OKC there. And I want the Knicks to give them their best shot. And I want to see where we stand. Now, I might regret saying this, you know what, in a week and a half or whenever we play them, if they go and beat dump truck us by like 30, I hope that doesn’t happen, but that’s what I want. Are you thinking about that? That’s all I want. Of course. Of course, man. You know, listen, I rock with iHeart, heavy sold to iHeart. I’m ready to see them. I was hoping, you know, maybe it was Detroit. What was like a little Detroit mid-season NBA cup in Vegas? That would give me some juice, man. I’m into the cup. Detroit, too. Detroit, too. Yeah. That like you want to see those teams that a are off to a hot start and b like those teams you might have to f you’re probably going to have to face in the playoffs. Obviously, Detroit in the Eastern Conference. And then if they make it to the finals, I think everyone would be surprised if it’s not OKC at this point. I think Denver has a chance, but I I think everyone would be surprised if it’s not OKC. You want to you want to get that test. Remember last year we blew that game against them early, you know, I think it was in January. We played them at OKC and we were up by like 10 15 the fourth quarter. We ended up blowing that game. And you want to you want to set that that tone early. I hope OKC’s 27-1 and the Knicks are coming to Vegas and JB just comes up on Shay. Clock running down one-point game. Captain clutch. Five, four, three, two, buckets. That’s what I want to see, right? That that’s the you want to see that. That’s But you know what’s so funny, man? And as you as you mentioned the clutch, one thing about the Knicks this year that is kind of surprising amidst where they are in the standings and the fact that they’re the number two ranked offense is that they’re one of the worst teams in the worst offenses in the clutch. They’re three and they’re three and five in the clutch. And the clutch being defined as the game under five minutes of play within five points. They’re three and five. the one of the worst shooting teams in crunch time and and one of the worst offensive ratings in crunch time. That’s kind of crazy giving away right now. It’s It’s crazy, but it actually could make some sense. And for the for the viewers out there, for the listeners out there, I’m going to explain why. You’re probably thinking, “This guy’s crazy.” It could make some sense because remember, they’re learning a new offensive system this year. When you’re playing in clutch time, usually that system goes out the window, right? That’s mostly it’s ISS iso ball. The the play bogs down. These guys know the plays and they’re locked in on every play on defense. So, you’re really going more so to your ISO stuff. And because they’re not running it all game like they used to run, maybe it’s just taking them a little time to then get into the flow state of when we’re in those moments again, we’re we’re kind of reverting back to similar ball to what we played last year. So, I’m not It’s surprising when you first said it, but when I think about it, it could make some sense from that standpoint. I I’m not, you know, not that that’s like the answer. Some of it could just be a regression to the mean eventually, but it could be somewhat their offense is different and when you go down the stretch and you’re in clutch time, you’re seeing a lot more ISO ball. And do you think there’s any credence to that? Do you take anything in that? I thought about that. That’s exactly what I thought. You know, we’ll definitely have to go back and take a look at like which one of those games were in clutch scenarios and how they fared, but it could be just them trying to figure out that new offense in those crunchtime situations because other than that, it’s just hard to fathom. I mean, their effective field goal percentage in crunch time is 32%. Their true shooting percentage is 36%. They’re 3 and5 in crunch time right now. Um the the team with the most wins in crunch time, Detroit 13-4, Spurs 10-3, OKC 9-1. So that’s the top three teams in terms of uh in the clutch. The highest offensive rating in the clutch right now is the Thunder at 136. The Knicks are last at 74. Wow. At 74. OKC 10 games in the clutch. The Knicks eight games in the clutch. They have a a a net rating of minus8. It’s not even because the defense is all that bad. The defensive rating, that’s the crazy part. I think that’s You would think it’s it’s the defense that’s letting them down, but you know what I think it also could be? They’re not playing as many of those games this year either cuz they’re blowing these teams out. A lot of these teams they’re blowing out that they should beat. So they’re when they do have a clutch game, they haven’t played one in about a month. You know what I’m saying? So that could be part of it, too. It could be a little bit of like not used to playing in those games. Yeah, it’s very interesting, man. very interesting stat. Um because if I flip to if I flip to last year, hang on, I’ll give you the numbers for them last year. Last year they were in the clutch, they finished at 19 and 12. They had a offensive rating of 113, defensive of 109 with a net rating of 3.8. They had uh effective field goal percentage of 51.8 and a true shooting percentage of 56. Right now they’re in the in the low 30s. Damn. That’s interesting. I mean that’s that’s like that’s what some of my friends would shoot at, you know, over at the gym. You know what I’m saying? Yeah. Yeah. So uh yeah, that that’s got to be something that that we got to look at under the microscope a little bit more. But um yeah, still interesting stuff. So it’s everybody in the chat. Yo, the chat is saying, “Yo, Justin, man, you getting us hype right now with the with the NBA Cup talk.” Hey man, just a little more juice. Just just a little more juice, man. We We need more reasons to be excited, right? Like that’s we always want more reason. How could we get hype in any situation basketball-wise? Because a lot of these times and especially now, like I said, like we’re used to getting the playoffs like as Nick fans now. You’re like, you want the season. Okay, let let’s get to the end of the season. I want to see us we we’ve been there now. Now we want to we want to win, you know, we want to go to the finals. That’s what the Knicks fans are. And to be honest, from everything I’ve seen this year, especially in the East, I don’t really think there’s that much in our way of getting there. If they reach their potential, I I’m not worried about Detroit. Orlando actually is the team I’m most worried about, believe it or not, if they’re healthy. That’s the team that scares me the most. Detroit, I’m still not worried about. And there’s no one else. I I you know, Boston would still be, you know, their winners. That’s those are champions. There’s a heart of a champion. And if they ever get Jason back, which they said is possible, but even if they don’t, they’ve shown they could be a pain in the neck with those guys they have on that team. So, but there’s not a lot in your way. So, you need something early in the season. We want that test. You want that playoff feel. This is like a playoff tuneup. Really, you want I want to play Orlando, by the way. I want to play 100%. 100%, man. A little more juice is what the people are asking for, man. And speaking of juice, uh let’s shout out another one of our sponsors of today’s show, and that is Ziotics for a better tomorrow, man. Because we all know this is the time of year, man, we’re going to parties, you got your holiday parties at work, you got your celebrations, your birthday parties, a lot of late nights. But I got a secret for you guys, man. Because waking up the next day can be a little bit tricky when when you’re a little bit older like me, Justin. You know, I’m not a young whippersnapper like you, man. So, I got to get prepared. I got to get prepared for these type of festivities. Like we had the lady Nick Chick’s uh birthday over the weekend, so I had to prepare. Tell her happy birthday. Appreciate it. So, you know, you drink a little a Ziotics, pre-alcohol probiotic drink. It makes sure it gets you on the right track because this is the world’s first genetically engineered probiotic built by PhD scientists to help you feel your best the day after drinks. And here’s how it works. When you drink, your body creates an unwanted byproduct in the gut. Zbiotics is designed to break that down so you wake up feeling normal and ready to roll. Just make Zbiotics your first drink of the night. Pace yourself, hydrate, and thank me in the morning. Man, I tried it before a big party over the weekend. Next day was good to go. Was getting ready for the Knicks versus Magic game and I got I was ready for the mat dip off and postgame yesterday. I was in good shape after a good night Saturday night celebrating the Nick Chicks birthday party, man. So, that was that. But anyway, go ahead and try it out, man. Go to gbiotics.com/kftftv for 15% off your first order. That’s zb io t i cs.com/kftftv. It’s your first drink for a better tomorrow. Shout out to our guys at Zbiotics. Man, shout out to I may need a lifetime supply of that cuz I got my girl’s birthday coming up too and she wants me to take her to Turks. Okay. All right. Yeah. I might She’s like She’s like, “You’ve been working too much.” Yeah. You haven’t been spending enough time. I want you to take me on a real vacation to Turks and stuff. So, I might need to get I might need to get that. Maybe some sleeping pills. I don’t know what I need. Hey, listen, man. I’m going to need something. Hey, listen, man. Well, you catching the sun rays on Greece Bay, man. You know, you got to have like a a little pina colada, a little mojito type of thing. You go to Turks, you you got to get your sip on, man. I I haven’t been yet either, by the way. It’s beautiful. Beautiful, man. Yeah. Get to get to Grace Bay. It it it’ll blow your mind, man. Get to Grace Bay. Yeah, man. Shout out to Turks and K Coast, man. Well, you know, one thing, Justin, that’s you know, we are the Segue Kings here, man. You mentioned Turks and Caos. Always fantastic weather out there. Always orange and blue skies, which leads us to our um another one of our segments of today, man. And and since you’re back here on Next Weekly, it’s uh it’ll be good to talk to you about this, man. And that segment is called the franchise forecast. That’s right, man. The franchise forecast where we dish on the hottest and coldest players of the week, Justin, man. So, welcome to the franchise forecast. First player up, we got to go ice cold, man. That is our guy Cardiac Clarkson. in the last week. 6.5 points per game, 28% from the field, 37% from the charity stripe, and 20% from downtown. Man, your thoughts on Jordan Clarkson, man. He’s cooling off right now. Well, I just I pul I just wanted to pull up his stats because I looked at this the other day and I was surprised actually that he’s not as good of a three-point shooter in his career as I thought he was. I thought he was going to most mostly at 35 36%. I thought he was a solid above average. He’s actually only shooting 33% for his career from three. He’s his he’s only had a couple seasons where he’s been a 37 or 36. So it seems like he’s more in the 33 area of as a three-point shooter. So he was probably shooting above his head early in the season. So I think this is more he’s just a streaky player. So, yeah, he’s cold, but like I don’t think he’s not going to be someone that’s going to shoot, you know, a a consistent percentage through a season. He’s a guy that’s going to be up and down. You know what I mean? I think that’s just the type of player he is. He’s going to be hot and cold. There’s going to be some games he’s going to be the good J.R. Smith and then there’s going to be other games he’s going to be the bad J.R. Smith, as they say. He’s the prototype of that player, right? He’s hot. When he’s hot, he’s going to win you games. When he’s cold, he’s going to be cold. And you’re going to have to live with that throughout the season. Right now he’s on a just a brutal streak. I think for for this season now he’s shooting only 29% from three which will be his lowest of his career. He’s never shot below 30%. So this will be this is a a really bad stretch. I expect him to get it back going. He’s and by the way he’s been getting pretty good looks too. This is not you know it’s not like he’s been forcing for the most part. He’s gotten a lot of good looks that he’s just missed. Yeah. So, and yesterday I think they must have had the window open at the garden because he missed everything but the floor yesterday on one of those shots. He was wide open. So, he’s he’s not been good. Um, and I think it’s affecting the rest of his game, too. You know what I mean? Like, I haven’t seen him be as aggressive to score at times in the paint because maybe he’s missing those shots. If I were him, I’d like to see him take it inside more. Let’s get the Let’s get see a ball. You know what they always say when you start playing hoops, it’s the it’s the tail oldest time. see one go through the hoop, get to the line, go to the basket, get some easy buckets before you start pulling from three because right now he’s looking to pull in transition. He’s looking from three. I want to see him get inside, get start getting that flow back, start getting that feel back, then take it back outside. That’s what I want to see. And and you’re right, because right now he’s shooting 51% um from that short mid-range, 67 from at the rim. And so, you know, maybe that’s what he needs because right now, man, he’s he’s shooting 50% effective field goal percentage and only 30 from three and he’s got to pick it up. But you’re right, this is who he is. So, you kind of have to expect these kind of uh, you know, cold fronts, if you will, if we’re talking forecast here. You got to expect the eventual for cold front to come through for for Jordan Clarkson. However, with Duce McBride out and you’re going to be facing the Toronto Raptors and then potentially the Miami Heat or the Orlando Magic, Jordan Clarkson is going to have to come through not just offensively to fill in the shooting void, but also defensively. You’re going to be coming up against some tough guards, the Anthony Blacks of the world. Quickly, Jacobe Walter, you might have to check Norman Powell or or Dave Mitchell. So Clarkson’s going to have a tough week without deuce should the Knicks make it all the way to the NBA Cup semifinals and beyond. Now heating up on the forecast even though he did not play yesterday against the Orlando Magic. Carl Anthony Towns big bodega man who was was trending on a good week especially offensively man 27 points per game 56% shooting from the field 50 from three and 90 from downtown. Big Bodega was on the money this week, man. He’s trending that way. Had the meltdown in Boston, but offensively, he’s been pretty good. Well, you’re Listen, we’re always going to be there’s always going to be one cat meltdown in every 10 games, right? If this was a DraftKings thing, they would have they should have a cat meltdown overunder on the prop bets, right? Cuz that would be over under one and a half per every 15 games. So, he does that, but he’s a great offensive player. He’s going to be a great offensive player. He started off the season shooting badly. Very uncharacteristic for him, especially from three. You knew he was going to get it together eventually. Remember, he didn’t play in the preseason in training camp cuz he was banged up with the injury. So, he was always going to get it together. He’s hopefully we just need to get him back healthy. I’m not worried about his offense. I’m never worried about Cat’s offense. And there it is. Carl Anthony Town’s heating up and hopefully he’ll be back to provide reinforcements for the Knicks with a big week ahead. Josh Hart Justin is not only heating up but he is on fire. Josh Hart continues to cook this week at 14.8 points per game, 51% shooting from the field and 40 from three on five attempts to go along with 90% from the charity stripe. Josh Hartman digging in. He’s he’s really been their best player for for some time now. You know what I mean? Like the stretch of games. I however many is five to 10 games since he’s really been in the starting lineup whenever Mitch was was out with the illness and he’s for I guess the last 5 10 games he’s really been their best player. and he’s he’s if he’s shooting like this, that’s the key for him in my opinion because when he’s not shooting, he kind of gets played off the floor against some teams cuz they’re not going to guard him and then you’re playing four and five and then you can’t really have Mitch and him on the floor together and then it just it just creates problems. But when he’s willing to shoot, you saw yesterday there was a couple plays the Magic ran to close out on him. I think the Knicks swung it. Josh was open and they had to come close out because he has been shooting and not only like you said, he’s shooting 40%. That’s that’s a that 40%’s a good three-point shooter. So, I want to see him continue shooting the rock. I don’t care if he’s shooting 35, 37, 40. Shoot the rock because when he does, he becomes a totally different player and it creates and it opens up so much for the Knicks offense. So, salute to Josh because with the finger injury, I didn’t think this was possible. I was more worried about a shot. Maybe he should get injured more often. Maybe that’s okay. Maybe he needs to break his whole goddamn hand and then he’ll be shooting 50%. I don’t know what it is, but I like this Josh that I’m seeing right now. Yo, uh, no question about it, man. He’s hot. The confidence is through the roof, which is which is what you have to love about Josh Hart because he’s not only shooting the threes with confidence, but he’s attacking close outs and knocking down mid-range shots. So, he there’s nothing that he’s not willing to do offensively. And then, man, this is where, you know, Josh Hart shines bright. You take a look at the onoff numbers again. And let me just switch the screens real quick. 99th percentile in transition with the Knicks, man. Off of steals, they’re plus 1.8 points plus uh per 100 possessions. And off of live rebounds, they are plus 2.8. When they get it and go, Josh Hart is at the front of it. And that’s what Mike Brown means by that push ahead guy. So you don’t necessarily need a backup point guard if you have the right guys out there that are running that system and playing fast as he wants because you have a different number of guys that can bring it up. But Josh Hartman, Mr. Triple double, that’s a big bonus for us right now with the shooting being the skill that keeps him on the floor and keeps him dangerous. Um, the passing numbers and him playing smart, I think, has been also a key to making this team a lot more well-rounded. So, uh, great job by Josh Hart. And that’s our franchise forecast, ladies and gentlemen. Justin, what you think, man? Your first one, man. I love the I I like how you obviously the segue. You didn’t know Turks was coming. That was part So, that was that’s that’s how you got to work it. You the the forecast in Turks. Now, we’re moving it over to the franchise forecast. I love it. franchise forecast, man. We’ll we’ll we’ll switch up the the music for it. You know, that that I I kind of use my trivia music. We got to get a new beat for it, man. We’ll have our own section. You know, people are saying maybe maybe we’ll have like a full uh uh you know, forecast board like Al Roker and them be having and stuff in the background. So, maybe I’ll go like green screen and, you know, we’ll we’ll do it that way, Weather Channel style. But yeah, it’s a good it’s a good format. Good good segment, man. Great job by you, bro. And I think the four I think the the board the Al Roker type board that that’ll hit big time. That that might be a hit, man. So uh either way, man, what’s the plans for the week? Are are you thinking about Vegas? What What are you thinking? Yeah, I’m thinking about Vegas. Um I probably won’t be there in person. I just have so much coming up and and you know, in a before we know it, it’s going to be All-Star weekend, which I’ll be in in um LA for All-Star weekend. I’ll be in in San Francisco for the Super Bowl. Um, I’m going down to Palm Beach for Tiger Woods Golf League coming up in about a month. So, I’ll be there for that. And obviously, you know, you catch me at the garden. Nick Ch Nick game, Big Chain, and All My Splender. You know that that goes at the But I just want to point out one thing cuz the last time I was on your show, we did three hot takes. And I take a temperature of my hot takes right now of where they’re at. All right. Because if you remember, we said uh Giannis trade. Yep. By the deadline. That’s That’s looking good. That Giannis trade to where? I I I I don’t Did I mention Did I say he was going to be traded to the Knicks or did I just say he was going to be traded? I remember I don’t remember. We got to go back and look. We got to go back and look. We go back and look. I honestly don’t remember. I know I said I think he’s he was going to be traded by the deadline. I don’t remember the only way the Knicks are going to have a chance to get him if he decides he wants to go there and the Bucks agree to do that. That’s the only way it’s going to happen. And and the Knicks would have to get a third team as we know. Now, the what makes it trickier is and the only thing I’ll say about this is I think the Bucks would probably have most interest on the Knicks in is would be Bridges and especially the way he’s playing right now, but he can’t be traded till February I think 1st and that’s only 4 days before the deadline. I don’t see this this dragging out until then. I I just think that situation I don’t care what anyone says. You’re the you’re the source guy. You’re the in you know the inside scoop guy. You know all the info. I read body language. I read the tea leaves. Giannis has already asked for a trade. I don’t care what anyone says. I know he wants to report it. I know it’s not out there. I can see by what’s going on. And I’m not saying he’s faking that injury. But I’m also not saying he ain’t. Okay? Cuz I’m telling you right now, I I you see these I saw Carmelo in 2011. I saw a lot of these things come down the pike. He’s out of there. This is why he wanted to trade in the summer. There’s no way the Bucks have exclusive conversations with the Knicks in the summer if he didn’t ask for a trade already because why would they want to talk to the Knicks out of all teams and that’s it? The Knicks have about the ninth best package of any team that that they can offer. So to me, he wanted out in the summer. They couldn’t find a trade. He said, “All right, I’ll start the season with you. Let’s see how it goes.” Now they go on. What did they lose? How many games they lose in a row? A bunch. They without him, they’re like three and 12 or whatever it is. I think they were nine and eight with him. To me, that situation, you’ve seen him play his last game in Milwaukee. That’s my hot take for today. I think he’s out the door by the new year. I’m gonna say top of the new year, he’s gone. I don’t know where he’s going. I’m hoping he goes to the Knicks, but you obviously can’t trade male. So, it would have to be a cat and OG situation would be the way I saw it. and a third team would have to be involved where you could get multiple draft picks for one of those two guys from that third team. Yeah, that’s my evolution of my hot take because now I’m feeling it. Right. Now I’m feeling good. Now I’m feeling good. Right. I’m feeling good about the take. So now I got to double down. I’m we’re going to Vegas for the Knicks for the Cubs. I’m in Vegas right now. I’m double down on it right now. I’m seeing the I’m seeing 11 and I’m doubling down to try to hit that 21. So that’s my first thing. And then I think I said Mike Brown coach of the year. Oh, yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Which he’s going to have his work cut out for him because obviously if the Thunder go 81-1, I would say most likely Dagnold’s going to get coach of the year if they go 81 and one. Um and then obviously you have Detroit. If they continue on this pace, you know, their coach is going to be is going to be in that mix as well. So, but both looking good. Do you remember what my third one was? Uh was it Brunson MVP? Maybe Brunson MVP. Brunson MVP. That’s unlikely. I just want him in the conversation though. I think he will be. He’s in the He’ll be in the conversation. The Knicks are off to a hot start. He’ll be in there. The only thing I want to know out of those three takes. Yeah. What do you think? Am I crazy with this Giannis? How I feel about this Giannis situation? I mean, as I’ve said, right now it’s cold, but things can change, man. Things can change. I don’t necessarily want to go that way unless they can guarantee depth on the back end. I think it’s a dangerous move to make. And right now, I like where this team is. I do. I I I really do. I just I I don’t I I’d be very careful gutting this thing again to bring him here. Mid-season. It’s not midseason. It’s definitely not a a no-brainer. It’s just for me, it’s not a norainer. I’m like the way here’s the way I look at it without spending too much time on it. If you’re do you think this team could beat the Thunder in in the finals? I think the Knicks could get to the finals. I’m not sure as constructed they could beat the Thunder in the finals. So with that said, if I can get Giannis without, you know, giving up JB and or Male and I could somehow make that work. And by the way, what if I told you what if I told you you could get Miles Turner back in the deal? I need What if I told you that was a part of the deal? I need more wing defense. I I need a guarantee who’s who’s the wing death. So if you OG is the biggest concern for you, losing big time. You saw what he did at the garden on Sunday. The dog is unleashed. The dog is back. He’s going to have another big week this week. He He’s vital, man. He is. I Giannis, as people who really watch ball, he’s more of an offball defender than he is he, you know, he’s a great defender. We know he’s won two defensive player of the years, but he’s he’s more of a safety, right? like then he is a DB. Like if we’re comparing it to football, he’s not he’s more of a a ball hawking safety that’s going to cover the whole court than he is like, “Oh, I’m going to lock down Jason Tatum today, right?” So when you lose OG, you’re going to lose that defense. It’s Listen, I think it’s a 50/50. It’s a tough call, but I’m I just love making trades as a fan. You know what I mean? Like you like that that’s the fun of that’s the fun of sports. You I love the trade market and I love the offse. Like I love that stuff. You know what I’m saying? I’m I’m sure, man. Well, we’ll see. Hey, as the world turns this Knicks edition, uh, but we’ll set our sights for Toronto. And speaking of Toronto, game of the week preview will be up next tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern time. So, everybody in the chat, make sure you come on back for game of the week preview as we talk more deep dive on this Knicks vs. Raptors NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup in the six. Salute to the replay gang. Also, remember that these shows are available in audio podcast format, so no reason to miss it. And uh get your merch, man. Get your KFTV hoodies, your crew necks, your beanie. Hey, it’s cold outside. Somebody said CP looks cold in New York. Yeah, the Hawk is out, as we would say. It It’s cold. It’s getting colder and Yeah, it’s it’s hoodie and beanie season, man. So, make sure you get yours forecast on the on the weather right now. Do we have a franchise forecast on that? It’s got what? It’s got to be like It’s 30s for sure, but they said it’s dropping tonight. What is it? 24. There we go. There we go. And it’s supposed to be supposed to be going lower tonight. So, uh definitely bundle up, man. But Justin, excellent job as always, man. We’ll catch up. Be safe out there. Everybody at home, we’ll catch up as well.

Knicks Weekly: Deuce McBride Injury Update, NBA Cup Preview & Fanchise Forecast | Ep. 137. Welcome to Knicks Weekly Episode 137! CP The Fanchise and Justin Morelli break down a huge week for the New York Knicks as they go 3–1, climb to 2nd place in the East, and get set for a massive NBA Cup Quarterfinal vs. the Raptors.

We cover Deuce McBride’s ankle sprain, the impact on the Knicks guard rotation, why Josh Hart is on fire, Karl-Anthony Towns heating up, OG Anunoby’s defensive return, and the ongoing concern about the Knicks’ road struggles against top teams.

Plus — the debut of the Franchise Forecast:
🔥 Who’s trending up
❄️ Who’s cooling off
🌡️ Who’s on fire this week

We also dive into:
• Why Mike Brown’s system works without a traditional backup PG
• Knicks clutch-time struggles (3–5 in crunch time)
• The importance of the NBA Cup — and whether Josh Hart wants it the MOST
• A spicy Justin Morelli take on Giannis trade rumors 👀

Stick around for analysis, stats, breakdowns, and fan Q&A — the #1 Knicks show For The Fans, By The Fans!

0:00 – Knicks 3-1 on the Week!
15:25 – Player of the Week: Deuce / Injury
29:50 – NBA Cup
41:17 – Clutch Factor Missing?
49:03 – Fanchise Forecast
58:35 – Closing Thoughts + Hot Takes

SPONSORS:

Use code KFTV10 for 10% off your first SeatGeek order – https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/KFTV10

Sign up for our FREE 2025-26 Knicks Game Digital Calendar. Get a calendar notification for every game directly to your phone plus links to the Post Game Show, game tickets & more!

Apple Cal link – https://bit.ly/3HO9Dkv
Google Cal link – https://bit.ly/46gb1V3

Advertise with us! – https://forms.gle/8Ssko9DkrrDUz45f9
Sub to our NEW channel discussing all NBA teams & topics!!! https://youtube.com/@TheNBAReport

24/7 Knicks Chat & Live Calls – Join Our Discord https://discord.gg/kftv 📲💻

Become a channel member & gain exclusive perks https://youtube.com/knicksfantv/join

🔥JOIN THE MISSION TO 100K SUBSCRIBERS🔥
🎥https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4w7Wl5Ptq4A10attECLflg 🎥

🤑Support The Movement, Donate To The Show!🤑
🏦Paypal – https://paypal.me/knicksfantv
💵CashApp – https://cash.app/$knicksfantv
💰Donations – https://streamlabs.com/knicksfantv/tip

🏪 GET YOUR KNICKSFANTV MERCH!🏪
👕 https://shop.knicksfantv.com 🧢

KFTV SOCIALS:
📲DISCORD: https://discord.com/invite/Syaj8an
📲KFTV TWITTER: https://twitter.com/knicksfantv
📲CP’s TWITTER: https://twitter.com/cpthefanchise
📲KFTV IG: https://instagram.com/knicksfantv/
📲CP’s IG: https://instagram.com/cpthefanchise/
📲TIKTOK: https://tiktok.com/@knicksfantv
📲FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/KnicksFanTVFB

THE NBA REPORT SOCIALS:
📲TNR DISCORD: https://discord.com/invite/Vh96PCrAek
📲TNR TWITTER: https://twitter.com/TeamNBAReport
📲TNR IG: https://instagram.com/TeamNbaReport/
📲TNR CHANNEL:https://youtube.com/@TheNBAReport

🎙PODCAST LINKS!🎙
🍎Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3H4vVsp​
👀Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3fVp0Wq
⏯YouTube Music: https://bit.ly/kftvyt
🐼Pandora: https://bit.ly/kftvpa
*Write a review on Apple Pod ✍️*

NEWS, RECAPS, RUMORS & GIVEAWAYS AT https://knicksfantv.beehiiv.com 🧑‍💻

ℹ️INFO:
Join Our Mailing List to stay informed on new, future content and events!
📩 http://bit.ly/kftvnews 📩

🧢 Get exclusive Knicks snapback hats here 🧢
https://www.amazon.com/shop/knicksfantv

#knicksfantv #knicksnews #kftv #cpthefanchise #BlueWireVideo

FOR THE FANS, BY THE FANS!!!