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World Cup Preview Special + Knicks Stunning Game 4 Comeback
12 Plays18 days ago
Episode 80 – World Cup Preview Special & Knicks' Incredible Finals Comeback
Episode 80 of Who's Got The Ball? sees Danny O’Brien join James with Shane sidelined as the lads preview the upcoming World Cup and make their predictions for football's biggest prize.
They discuss the tournament favourites, potential dark horses, Golden Boot contenders and Player of the Tournament candidates before debating which nation has what it takes to go all the way and lift the trophy.
In the NBA, Michael joins the show to break down the Knicks' stunning Game 4 comeback in the NBA Finals. The lads debate whether the Knicks produced a championship-winning performance or whether the Spurs let a golden opportunity slip away.
They also look ahead to a pivotal Game 5, discussing whether San Antonio can regain control of the series or if New York now has one hand on the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Another packed episode full of World Cup predictions, NBA Finals analysis, basketball debate and big takes throughout.
Link to Danny’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyedobrien/
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(0:00) Intro
(2:07) Danny Joins the World Cup Preview
(2:24) Underdogs to Watch
(2:44) Mexico
(4:21) Austria
(6:41) Ecuador
(9:26) Senegal
(11:56) Japan
(14:14) Who Will Win the World Cup?
(24:30) Player of the Tournament Picks
(27:48) Golden Boot Race
(35:34) The Knicks’ Insane Game 4 Comeback
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Updates
00:00:09
Speaker
Alright lads, welcome back to another episode of Who's Got The Ball. It is World Cup time, got the Mexico jersey on. Opening game is about to start very soon here tonight. You'll obviously be getting this on a Friday. So you will be well aware of what went down in night one of the World Cup, but I am absolutely buzzing for it.
00:00:27
Speaker
I've got the 2022 World Cup Mexico jersey on, so hopefully they get the win tonight. And hopefully it's a great tournament. But as you'll see, Shane is not here, unfortunately, this week. He has shingles, so not very nice at all. Send him some love and in the comments, or if you have him on message, whatever, give him a message, because obviously that is not nice. But got a couple of guests, or well, one guest and one usual, and Michael, of course, coming on for the NBA. But First of all I started with Danny O'Brien, he's been on the show before, so I really appreciate him coming on on such short notice.
World Cup Preview with Danny O'Brien
00:01:02
Speaker
If you want to give him a look on social media or listen to any of his shows then they will be linked down below. But we did do a full World Cup preview with Danny. We talked about our underdogs for the tournament, our finalist picks and our winner, our player of the tournament picks and our golden boot winners. But you'll be fully prepped for the entire tournament after listening to that. reaching your ears on day two of the tournament so you're prepped for all the group stage and going into the knockouts it's going to be absolutely crazy a crazy amount of football myself and Shane are obviously going to cover it throughout the tournament every single week so we're really looking forward to that then we had the usual Michael appearance for the and NBA he was hyped after that Knicks comeback
00:01:45
Speaker
A crazy game, a crazy game to put the Knicks up 3-1. And we talked about how the series has unfolded so far, what the Spurs have done wrong, what the Knicks have done right, who's the favorite for finals MVP and how the rest of the games are going to shake out.
00:01:59
Speaker
So we've got lots in this one for you, a lot of important stuff with the World Cup and the and NBA Finals on deck, two massive occasions.
Mexico's Chances in the World Cup
00:02:06
Speaker
Let's jump straight into the action. So we've got Danny O'Brien back on the show once again.
00:02:10
Speaker
Friend of the show at this point, second time on, I believe. So this time for a different topic. Last time we were talking Steelers football, but this time we're we're touching on the World Cup. We want to get a a preview in. So welcome aboard, Danny, once again. And we're going to start with a little underdogs talk. So start off...
00:02:29
Speaker
Given maybe a couple of teams each, we have three lined up that we think are maybe considered underdogs could knock off someone big and cause a bit of an upset. So I'll throw it to you first if you want to give your first underdog of the day.
00:02:44
Speaker
um I think it's goingnna one of them will be fairly similar to you, I think, because you're wearing in the jersey. um Yeah, I think Mexico, just given... Again, they're being therere at home, they're in the Azteca, probably the best, most probably the most famous stadium in the world as well. I think that home factor, the whole thing as well with Mexico City, the the altitude, the heat, the home crowd as well, like you can definitely see with them being a host nation as well. Mexico, you can see definitely being an underdog who could...
00:03:10
Speaker
I don't know how deep they will get, but like i last 16, yeah, like I wouldn't be surprised either at the quarterfinals because just even running through potential matchups they could have for us, like they could potentially play the USA, which would be
Austria as a European Underdog
00:03:23
Speaker
hilarious. But yeah, I could definitely see them being one of the teams and like in Raul Jimenez as well, kind of he's proven he has that pedigree there as well. I can definitely see them kind of being an underdog who could...
00:03:34
Speaker
I mean, granted, they've been in the tournament nearly every time as well. It's just once they reach the last 16 where their problem tends to be, but I wouldn't be surprised the last 16 potential quarterfinalists. Yeah, I think Mexico have the most losses ever in the tournament, but that's because they've been in it so many times. and It's not to say that they've been performing badly, but yeah, i think that home advantage is massive, especially with the group they're in. don't want to dwell on that too much considering it could have been the the Irish group, but if they top that, they've got potentially a home last 32 and a home last 16. So yeah,
00:04:07
Speaker
Yeah, that would be something that not a lot of teams would probably take that advantage. I don't think USA, I think there's a lot of pressure. Canada as well. i think there's less so on Mexico. I think it could be and a better advantage for them at home.
00:04:20
Speaker
But I've gone with a European team to start it off and I'm looking at Austria as a team that can cause an upset. And... They always do play good football, but it never really tends to translate far into tournaments. They're probably the team that you could identify their style straight away because they play that kind of Red Bull, and fast, high-pressing type of football. Might not translate in this heat, but given that they are well-equipped to play that style, they've got...
00:04:53
Speaker
some veterans now at this point in the team but alaba limer so but sir and some exciting young players like schmidt and i think they could be one that could cause an upset and the fact that they're in a bit of a tough group that might stand to them because this year like it's such a bloated tournament third places get through and the top eight third places so if they even do quite well against the other teams in their group and and play Argentina in the second game we can kind of sharpen them going into the next round I think that might stand to them to knock off a couple of teams in the knockout rounds yeah and even like the pre-tournament like they have experience in knockout tournaments as well that because that could stand to them too and like there they were unfortunately
00:05:37
Speaker
first I mean, they were looked like one of the better teams as well in that in the tournament. So yeah, I wouldn't be surprised with Austrian-Belich. like When I was going through the potential dark horses, you you mentioned it there, at the weather conditions, I think that's going to play a really important part because you look at a lot of times for many of these games, and it is during the day, like most of England's games, they're going to be kicking off at, say, 9 o'clock our time, but it could be 2, 3, 4 o'clock US time, depending on where they are. And I think...
00:06:04
Speaker
given what those players have been through their season as well. I think that's where some of the Europeans, I'll rephrase this, some of the European sides from the northern part of Europe are really going to struggle in these conditions.
Ecuador's Potential as an Underdog
00:06:15
Speaker
Yeah, I would agree with that. I think unless they're well equipped to keep the ball for long periods, then it's going to be tough. And so I'd wonder if, speaking of England, will they try and adopt that tactic? It looked like in some of their warm-up games they were trying to play quick, but I don't know how that translates against higher level teams. So we'll have to we'll have to wait and see how that goes. But who's your next up on your underdogs list?
00:06:41
Speaker
So I went for Ecuador. It was interesting even just going to, I'm hearing a lot in terms of the discussion before the tournament, like they was that they finished second in South American qualifying. From what you're hearing, they're not a very fun team to play against. They're yeah they're very, very defensive. They're very smart in terms of yet they just They got there by being very difficult to score against, and generally those types of teams in these tournaments, you do get a couple of them that do tend to go deep where they're just like, I'm getting flashbacks of Greece from Euro 2004. But I could see Ecuador, like i mean, to get out a second, I know South America may not have been the strongest in terms of its qualifiers this time around, but I really wouldn't be surprised to see Ecuador kind of be a team most sides will hate to play against. And I could really see them kind of be another where teams will struggle and I could see they might get one or two goals. Like they do see, there's a lot of talk around them again, just being one of those sides that lot of people are a bit wary of and only Argentina finishing better than them in the, in the qualifiers there. So I think from a defensive standpoint, that's like most teams who are going to be successful or are going to go far in tournaments.
00:07:44
Speaker
And again, given these conditions, they'll also be they'll be well adapted to those kind of conditions as well. So I wouldn't be surprised. i'd Originally, I was looking at Colombia, but i'm after kind even after kind of going into more in-depth with them, they they have an old team by international standards. um And I think a lot for them will swing on Luis Diaz as well. He's been brilliant for Bayern, but I was originally thinking Colombia, but i think, yeah, Ecuador, there are going to be a size that not many teams are going to want to play.
00:08:10
Speaker
Yeah, that's an interesting interesting one because I've got Ecuador also down on my list. I think they are... bloody Yeah, it's great. I think that they they are just a team that, like you said, i don't think many teams will want to play against them once the group stages are over because um they'll see them as very difficult to beat. Like, they play Germany. I really fancy them to take down this German side. I'm not fully sold on um Germany in this tournament. I'm not... I'm not too sure that they'll go overly far. and And I think they have a good blend of experience and youth. So like you have the likes of Caicedo, obviously, in midfield. Paso, just after winning back-to-back champion leagues. But then you've got Ener Valencia up front, who's on the other other scale of things, always turns up for them in big tournaments. Paez on the wing, and highly touted. Now he had a bit of a poor season last year, but and he could bounce back. And this could be a stage where he kind of sets himself up for,
00:09:07
Speaker
for a big career so I think that they are the type of team that will cause an upset like I would really put a lot on saying that they're going to cause at least one upset in the big game whether that be against Germany in the groups or later on into the into the knockout round so I like that pick a lot I'll throw out
Senegal's Strengths in the Tournament
00:09:25
Speaker
my next pick. So at this stage, I've tried to get one from kind of across the continent. so I've gone with an African nation next and I've gone with Senegal. I think they were obviously, they legally, they didn't win AFCON at this point, but... A lot of us would like to would like to say that you know they did. They topped their qualifying group. um They're also in a tough group. I pick teams that are in tough groups because I think having one tough game, at least in your group, will stand to you in this tournament. and Being so bloated, you know if you get your tough game out early, you get into the knockouts and then you're well prepped. I think looking at them, they've got to play France first and then Norway before they finish up with Iraq. So they've got their easiest game up last.
00:10:10
Speaker
Mane, five goals in qualifying, he's still going on an international level. They've got a lot of solid players. Njaye Mbaie is very interesting from PSG as well. Didn't get a whole lot of minutes in big games, but when he does play, he has a lot of flair. So I think across the pitch, they're they're very well equipped to go far in this tournament. And they obviously showed that in the last AFCON that they're they're well set up for international tournaments.
00:10:36
Speaker
Yeah, I know. I think there's the challenge that there just is for Senegal, like you mentioned, the group they're in, it's it is probably is, if not the toughest group in the tournament. And I think that, yeah, I think that the the Norway game, that's the pivotal one, if they can get anything out that. Because I think France, there's very few teams are going to get anything against them. It is that Norway game and can they stifle Haaland, can they stifle Sarlott, can they stifle Autogard?
00:10:58
Speaker
That's the crucial one for them. Like it's it could be a a fine line for Senegal. Like i'm I'm seeing a lot of people saying they're a really strong side. And If they were in any other group, I think they would have a good chance. It's just that this this current group and going up against France and going up against Norway, they they may struggle a little, but I wouldn't be surprised at the same time.
00:11:17
Speaker
France, Senegal, the history there that there is between them in big tournaments. But yeah, I could definitely see Senegal. And again, the weather conditions, they'll be well apt for those as well. So I really wouldn't be surprised to see them kind of progressing through the tournament.
00:11:29
Speaker
yeah um i think a lot of exciting games in the groups they really can hone in on specific matchups i think there's so many games in the groups obviously not every single one of them is going to be spectacular and it's going to be less so this year with all the games but we do still have those big matchups and but in that group alone there's going to be three massive games so and it's interesting one to watch who have you got on your last underdog team um So I have Japan and a lot of it's been based, there seems to be a lot of momentum going behind them as well. And a lot of talk that this is potentially the strongest Japanese team that's ever going to the tournament. And again, it's a little bit of it has also has to do with the look of the draw. Like they're not, it they're the group they're in, it's Sweden and the Netherlands as well. Like i that first game against the Netherlands, I think it's a good it's a good opportunity for them as well to be going up against the Dutch, say say first off as well, get to kind of get that game out of the way. But
00:12:26
Speaker
I'm just going by what a lot of people are talking about as well with them. I thought i know Matoma being out for them, that's it that is a hammer blow, but I could just see Japan being one of those sides who, similar to Senegal, I think, that if they can't get through, there's not going to be many teams who are going to want to face them. And it's it's funny just doing even some of the predictors for us to have Japan going very, very surprisingly deep, actually, in this tournament. so And I'm basing a lot of it off of just kind of the draw that they could potentially get because...
00:12:53
Speaker
It does seem to be kind of as in previous tournaments, one side of the draw is extremely heavy. is there's There's all the heavyweights seem to be on one side versus the other. So like I really wouldn't be surprised if even a loss for Japan in one or two of the games might actually turn out to be a good thing for them because it could really give them a much lighter draw to be able to progress that bit further.
Predictions for World Cup Finalists
00:13:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's the interesting thing about the third place teams going through. There's going to be so many permutations and looking at following that side of things is going to be you know difficult as it's something that it it hasn't happened in the last number of years. So looking at what matchups could possibly happen is important in in making a deep run. i think...
00:13:33
Speaker
I did see a lot about this Japanese team and I like the fact that they're in a group with kind of, again, a big team like the Dutch. I think they could beat them. um I'm not overly sold on this Dutch team. It's a bit of a weird selection. They've gone with a lot of age and experience rather than maybe some of their more exciting younger players from the Eredivisie. So...
00:13:55
Speaker
yeah i think they're a team that's definitely out there to be had so i like that japanese pick and so we've got our our underdog picks those are kind of some teams to watch out for in the groups if you maybe weren't sure what teams could be could be um kicking around and causing up a bit of a stir early on but we want to shift our focus towards the business end and we've both picked finalists and an eventual winner and i found when i went through the bracket I found it quite easy early on because some of the matchups were not too difficult to pick, but then later on it did really get down cutting time and I really couldn't look past teams that are well able to hold on to the ball and recycle the ball and wear other teams down with this heat. But I'm interested to hear what your final matchup is first.
00:14:46
Speaker
So, yes, kind of it's like when was balancing it out, it was also kind of looking to say the strength of the teams and also just like we said, who's going to be most able to suit. I mean, I know not every game is in extreme weather conditions, but just the chances of you getting a game in Mexico or in the southern states, like, I mean, who's dead there there's a couple like Miami's not going to be fun this time of year either to play in. If I had to pick who think finalists are,
00:15:11
Speaker
yes I'm looking at Spain, potentially Portugal. Like I'm looking at Spain and in terms of just like the depth that they have there, the quality of the players that there is in that side. It's interesting. They're very kind of teams that tend to be almost like club teams or club international teams seem to do very well. And just you look at Spain, it's ironic that isn't a single Real Madrid player, but you're looking at say the, obviously the Barca influence, but also just the Basque influence that there is in that squad. It's,
00:15:38
Speaker
it was really interesting even hear about when they won the Euros house in the, even in the Basque country, while it was nice that they won it, it was still that kind of whole identity thing was a big issue for even just the Basque, but just given the huge influence that they've had on the squad as well. But like you look at some of the players that they have at their disposal, I think overall there's very few teams who are going to be able to compete with them. And also, like i said, the weather factor,
00:16:00
Speaker
Spain. it's they're they're they're going to so They're going to be pretty comfortable in in these kind of conditions. And again, they have Niamh Lamao, they probably have an elite player there. I'm even here he's seeing some discussion around he might not even play in the group games and he could still be player of the tournament. That's kind of the caliber that he's had that he is at. And imagine when he got that energy injury and taking the penalty for Barca, the entire Spain probably held its breath because kind of that's how much of that's how much their chances do kind of swing on it. The only weakness I see for Spain
00:16:30
Speaker
is they their lack of a pure striker. Like Alvaro Morata not being there, it's Morata. Like he wasn't, he like he's he seems to have played. It seems to me for the international team that he seems to be more of a, he was a talisman more than anything else seen as a leader. Like up front's the only issue I could see with them, but I'm thinking back to like the Spanish team of twenty Euro 2012. They didn't have a striker. They did fine. So I think Spain on one side of the draw and I think the other side, I'm going to go Portugal.
00:16:58
Speaker
And again, you're looking at strength and depth in terms of world-class world cast players in their squad. And again, Portugal, there's not very many teams who are going to be able to compete with them from that standpoint. And again, the PSG, the backbone of that PSG side was Portuguese players.
00:17:15
Speaker
That could be an issue for them from the point of view of how many minutes have these players had in their legs as well this season. I think for Portugal, the biggest question in a round, if they can make the final or not, is can a certain player up front for them be willing to actually not play every single second? Because I think for them, it's the Euros, the reason they got knocked out is because Ronaldo played so many minutes for them and wanting to play every single minute. I think that's where the crucial thing will be with them. Could an injury potentially happen to him?
00:17:42
Speaker
if he's If he's looking to play every single minute, I think that could I could see that being Portugal's biggest weakness because you look across the board, the depth that they have, the quality of the players, and again, the factoring in the weather. Yeah, I think i wouldn't be surprised if it is an Iberian World Cup final.
00:17:57
Speaker
Yeah, i'm very interesting because that is my matchup also. I just think... Oh, bloody hell! But it's good, we're thinking along the same lines. We did not talk... Spoiler alert, we did not talk about this beforehand. Yeah, but i think I think that that matchup is one that, you know, I think Portugal are the one I'm a little more concerned about getting there because of their Ronaldo factor.
00:18:23
Speaker
But I think if they can give more minutes to the likes of... you know without ronaldo on the pitch the likes of leo um ramos is obviously going to have to come on for him uh cohen so is probably going to come off the bench so you've got some some great talent that will be coming off the bench and can make an impact in this tournament should games maybe go to extra time you know ronaldo is obviously somebody that should be coming off at that point if he is starting these games which he will be With the Spanish side, I just think you've put it well there with the fact they're kind of like a club side. They know exactly how to play with each other. um and
00:19:00
Speaker
I see Oyarzabal as kind of like a new Morata for them. Like he's not overly prominent at club level. He's quite good. He might score a goal every couple of games, I think, as return for Sociedad. But then with the Spanish team recently, he's been very, very strong. And I think with the amount of chances they'll be creating, the amount of ball that they'll hold on like even looking back at the Nations League when they played in it against top sides last time around,
00:19:29
Speaker
They were scoring so many goals in those games, including in the final. And if they create that number of chances with the likes of Farhan Torres, Dani Almo, Fabian Ruiz, like they're just chance creation machines. And Oyarzabal can't finish. He knows how to kind of put the finishing touches on things around the box.
00:19:49
Speaker
And I think a lot of things will spill into him and he will score quite a few. And if Jamal gets to rest around the group and then joins this team as their kind of talismanic figure in the knockout stages, I think there's no reason why they can't get to the final. I think...
00:20:04
Speaker
It's a potential against France maybe in the semis. I think that they are the better team out of the two. They have the better playing style. They might not have the better players, but they as a whole, they are a better team. And then obviously with Portugal, you mentioned the midfield. I think their event their defense is very strong with Viega and Ruben Diaz.
00:20:24
Speaker
so i think they're very solid as well in the wingback areas because you've got nuno mendes and then on the other side potentially matthias nunez if they continue that um dalo samedo still gets minutes there so it's it's a wealth of talent on both sides so i do see these two teams getting in as the european representation and i just think that spain way well maybe they are a better all-around team i think just The ability to just do something out of nowhere with the from the likes of you know Bruno Fernandes, even Ronaldo at this older age, Rafael Leão.
00:21:01
Speaker
I think once Portugal get there, they need to win it because I don't see when they're going to get another chance. Yes, these players are not old, but you know things can change and and in in the next World Cup. There could be another possibility.
00:21:14
Speaker
powerhouse team france are going to continue to go so are spain portugal when they have this opportunity they need to take it so i'm going with that matchup in the final and i'm going with a portuguese win um to really kind of send ronaldo's career off even if he doesn't play the biggest part for them which i think would be beneficial to them as a team who do you think is is going to come out on top I think Spain.
Spain and Portugal: Finalists Analysis
00:21:38
Speaker
I just think the big match experience they have. And again, similar, like they they're one of those seat their sides as well. I think that they'll keep playing their game. They'll keep playing their system. like when they Against England in the last Euros, even when England scored, they didn't like they played the same way they always do. And I think that big game experience going to crucial because I think for Portugal, the biggest thing the biggest challenge for them will be, will Martinez be able to actually... will he have the balls to take Ronaldo off? Because I don't think he will. And it's just, I think that's the biggest stumbling block, I think, for Portugal if they are going to lift the trophy. It's how many minutes are they going to be able to give Ronaldo? Because while he's playing, again, he's playing in the Saudi league as well. What's the gauge there? Like, what's he going to be like when he comes back against big opposition? But, Yeah, I think that's the crucial thing. It's how much game time Ronaldo gets. And so long as they can avoid the tactic of give him the ball all at all all times. Like they showed in the Euros when he wasn't on the field, they tore teams to pieces. So I think that's going to be a crucial thing for them. I think just overall, I think, yeah, Spain, I can just see them doing it. Because again, they've been there, done that. They have the t-shirts, not only say previous teams, but the current team as well.
00:22:45
Speaker
going to those eu're going into the those Euros, getting to the final, beating hosts Germany as well on the on the way to the final, and looking fairly comfortable as well in nearly every game. like they weren't They didn't seem to be panicking at at any point going up against the French, even England in in the final as well. I think just the big game experience that they have...
00:23:03
Speaker
and just the the talent that they're disposing. I think the play the person in the dugout as well, I think that could also be the thing that swings it that way. And it's it's just incredible as well from the point of view just the amount of Basque coaches, not only in terms of their their influence at the national level, but international level. Look at the club game. The amount of Basque coaches that there is even at the elite level in Europe. like There's going to be books written about it because it's incredible just the amount of just the IP and the intelligence that's coming out of that particular part of the country.
00:23:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think the coach argument is definitely one that swings first in. I think Martinez, while he has been a solid coach, like you've said, he's never really had that kind of thing about him where he can step in and put himself in the position. wasted belgium Yes. And that was another another team that was destined for greatness and it never amounted to anything. but i do think that this time given the fact that you have that midfield pairing of vitina and nevas just coming off back-to-back champions leagues that could maybe give them a little bit of something that they didn't have before and that kind of experience in in major major finals and the fact that psg kind of staggered their minutes throughout the season in the league as well kind of might might stand to some of these guys but
00:24:18
Speaker
Since we've got our matchups, I think we want to touch a little bit on players the player side of things. Now, that that often coincides with who you're going to get who's going to get to the final, who's going to get deep. So we'll go with the player of the tournament first, and then we want to give our golden boot picks. But player of the tournament, who have you got for us?
00:24:39
Speaker
ah la meanium out I'm not going very creative with it. You see the the potential this guy has. You look at some of the goals that he has scored in recent years as well. He just he makes this he makes the very incredibly difficult look very, very easy. And I think Spain could have the luxury of actually, like I mentioned, they could rest him until the knockout stages and just unleash him then on teams. I just think his overall game, if so long as that hamps as long as his injury doesn't flare up again,
00:25:03
Speaker
There aren't many other players out there, I think, who can compete with him in terms of that. And like you said, generally the player of the tournament comes from the team who wins it. So I really wouldn't be surprised from that standpoint. And I know we're not mentioning a certain Argentine team or Argentine player as well.
00:25:17
Speaker
But I think just briefly with the from the Argentine perspective with Messi and that, I think it's just... I think just the age profile of the entire squad, I think that's where they could actually struggle with. And Julian Alvarez, his injury profile as of late isn't as good. He's after picking up a couple of injuries there as well. so And I think Angel Di Maria not being there for them either. i think argentine Argentina will go deep, but I think like for a lot of Argentines, it's like, well, we won the last one, so anything more of a could kind of a bit of a bonus there. But I think Yelamal is just... I think it's set up for him to...
00:25:48
Speaker
follow on from what he did at the last Euros and really cement his his place as one of the elite, the one of if not the elite player of this current generation. Yeah, I really like the pick. And I think on the Argentina point, I think this could be the type of tournament where you'd see like a regression from them. But the fact that the the tournament is so big, like you could, this could be in another tournament, they could easily finish third in that group and just get off to a slow start with an older squad and that's it for them. But they have the chance I don't think they will get as far last time, but yeah, it's an interesting one to look at with Messi obviously still firing for them.
00:26:21
Speaker
I've gone with, depending on who wins, I've gone with either Fabian Ruiz or Bruno Fernandes. I think this type of tournament is where...
00:26:33
Speaker
you know Somebody who constantly gets on the ball and dictates the game is going to is going to really come to the fore. I think Jamal maybe missing some games might play a little bit into it, but as you said, it's going to probably be that he plays in the knockouts, which is obviously the more important side in the tournament. But I think Ruiz, he hasn't played an overly demanding schedule. He only played 20 games in Ligue 1 this season.
00:26:56
Speaker
He was superb towards the latter end of the Champions League. He was so good for Spain in the last year, although thought he was unbelievably good, ran the show for them. And I think he could do that once again and and maybe add couple more assists, a couple more goals that makes him stand out a bit more. And then obviously on the Bruno Fernandes front, only played less than 40 games this season, so he should be relatively fresh.
00:27:20
Speaker
if they're going to take any of the loads off ronaldo if anyone's going to do it it's going to be bruno um he's coming off a record-breaking season in the premier league with the assists and i think he's in that kind of prime where he could drag this team to something very very special if they allow him to do it so i think those are the two type of players that can really dictate games and dictate a tournament so i've cheated a little bit by giving two but i think those are my two picks there for that one Last up, Golden
Golden Boot Contenders and Standout Players
00:27:49
Speaker
Boot. Who have you gone with?
00:27:53
Speaker
Mbappe. It's nuts to think. he want's It's only his third World Cup and he's four short of Miroslav Klose's overall record. So I think I could see France... The way would look at it is, again, teams who tend to go deep tend to get... Again, the Golden Boot tends come from those countries. So, yeah, I just see Mbappe. He's... like Consider what he's done in these last two... In the two World Cups. Like, the hat-trick he got in the final. Like, he... if I think if he does struggle, like there could be there's already some questions in around it. like Since he's gone to Madrid, look what PSG have done in his absence.
00:28:25
Speaker
But he just seems to be one of those players who, like his first World Cup, what he did, kind of introduced himself the last World Cup, only for they lose only for losing the finals. He would be good setting in his place in history. I think Mbappe, just over the course of the tournament, it could be either him or...
00:28:39
Speaker
Maybe because of the group, Ronaldo could potentially actually get gold. And it's just it's more to do with the groups that Portugal have, that there are one. Congo, DRC and Uzbekistan, are they're going to be difficult, as I think. But I wouldn't be surprised if Ronaldo was there, thereabouts, in it. Because, again, the extra round really kind of throws things in the air. But with Mbappe, I think the firepower of the French have the friendship behind him. And...
00:29:03
Speaker
why I'm not kind of mentioning them as being the team to potentially win it I think it's just more to do with I think Didier Deschamps this may be one tournament to think too much too long I think after the last Euros things really started to again they were knocked out by the eventual winners but things started to seem kind of a bit stale with the French and I think Deschamps maybe he should have left at that, at that time as well. But like France, I think we'll go deep and I could just see Mbappe, yeah, be being, be in the goals of the winner. Like the depth that they have, it is terrifying, but I think at the same time that could, that could be against them in terms of who do you pick as being your best, for best team for that as well. So it's,
00:29:38
Speaker
Yeah, there's going to a lot of intrigue from that standpoint, but I wouldn't be surprised if Mbappe wins Golden Boot. And also, again, it's only take it could take him only three tournaments to smash, and I wouldn't be surprised either if Ronaldo wins Golden Boot, but Mbappe breaks the record as well because it's just incredible what he's done, what he's the potential to do in just three World Cups.
00:29:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think when I was looking at Mbappe, I thought of a couple of things and that deterred me. The first one is just kind of the last Euros. He wasn't firing as well as, you know, he did in the World Cup's previous. But that's that's a once-off. As you said, I think Deshaun probably should have stepped away at that point. And the second thing is just maybe the mental side of the game. Because...
00:30:18
Speaker
the petition to get him out of Madrid, the fans booing him on a number of occasions, you know, he still scored so many goals, but then you step into this bar-studded team where, okay, if he doesn't perform for the first 60, 70 minutes of a game, did they then pull him off for some of the other firepower on the bench? Like, if Dembele is firing better than him, if Alisa is playing better than him, you kind of have to take him off and then how he reacts to that.
00:30:45
Speaker
So that's the only thing that deterred me a little bit, but he is the gold machine, and I think he's going to get his fair share. I've gone with a guy I mentioned already in Mikkel or Yazabal. I just think it's a kind of a little bit of a rogue one, but he's...
00:31:00
Speaker
Going to get so many opportunities. i just I've already gone through why I think he'll score a lot of goals. And I think getting very deep into this tournament, he's the type of guy who could... hes He probably won't score like too many games or he gets two goals. He definitely won't score a hat-trick, but he might score one in like five or six games straight.
00:31:19
Speaker
And if other players aren't firing and then he goes very far, he could really just kind of pip somebody else to it and by maybe getting one more just because he's played more games. So I think that's why I've gone with him. I just think this Spain side is so potent in attack that he's going to get so many chances and he is a very, very strong finisher. i'm A couple of outside shouts...
00:31:40
Speaker
Not really too far outside, but I think Messi is going to continue to score a lot. If Argentina go far, he will continue to score a lot, as he did in the in the qualifiers. I think he was the top scorer in the South American qualifiers. And then Rafinha, I think, is an interesting one for Brazil too, because I don't see...
00:31:57
Speaker
really talismanic striker for them and I think he'll take on a lot of the onus in scoring so if they go deep I was kind of looking at some of the odds around that and he's 25 to 1 so if somebody likes a bit of an outsider I think that would be a solid one because i think he'll he often takes it upon himself for Barcelona to you know drag them if Jamal isn't playing he's not afraid to take a lot of shots and I think it it could be the same in this tournament so and they're kind of my outside shouts and any closing thoughts on the tournament how you feeling about it overall um I suppose it's kind of, it's it's a difficult one to get excited around for the just what the way everything's been. And even the fact that kind of, I was there last week, I was there last week and they were saying, oh, the World Cup's next week. I'm like, what, really? Like, we've just gone through, for like some of these players, it could be 21 months straight that they're playing with it. So, but it's, yeah, i think it's a case once the actually the games start, it will be nice because then we can get to, it'll give us a good distraction from everything that's happened off the field as well. So it's, I think this is going to be one of those tournaments where you could be like, being honest, you could skip the entire group stage. It's kind of similar to the Champions League.
00:33:01
Speaker
Skip the league phase, watch the knockouts. You could probably do the same thing for this World Cup as well. And then you'd be like, wow, this is a really good tournament. So because I could see this nearly going the opposite of previous World Cups where the group stages tended to be spectacular and the the knockouts not so much. I think this could be the other way around, just given the extra round of games there is. And I'm just...
00:33:20
Speaker
I'm hoping, especially for the Morocco-Brazil game, that we do get a ah good game from that because that could really kind of help kick things off there from that point of view too. And I actually do kind of hope Scotland finally break that hoodoo and get out of their group. Although I'm seeing a lot of people saying that like, knowing the Scots, they'll beat Brazil but lose to Haiti. So, and then they won't qualify because they're just, they're just cursed at major tournaments getting out of the group stages with them. So.
00:33:42
Speaker
Yeah, I think the the three teams getting through is the best chance that they've had. and it would be great to see them getting through, obviously. The closest connection to Ireland we've got, really. But I think, yeah, the off-the-field issues, obviously we had some... Before the Qatari tournament, there was direct impact on, you know, the building of the stadiums. This time around, it's a different story, but it's one that's...
00:34:10
Speaker
maybe a bit more sour given the the relationship that Infantino seems to have struck up with a certain president. And it's kind of hard to separate that from the football. And i think once it starts, hopefully we don't see any more...
00:34:27
Speaker
of this but I wouldn't be betting on that side of things especially with the prevalence of you know ice in that country the policing the issues of certain countries certain players not even to be allowed to stay in the country so yeah a lot of this off the field stuff has dominated it so I do hope that the football is enjoyable and something that can maybe you know, get past some of these other issues and hopefully, hopefully it doesn't become too much more prevalent as the weeks go on. But if it does, it will leave a really sour taste on this tournament. And also it's a, it's a terrible look for the U S already. And so they'll want to hopefully preserve their image, but doubtful the way things that have gone lately, but yeah, that's very doubtful. Yeah. Very doubtful. But yeah, let's let's look forward to to what's to come. Let's look forward to the football side of things. And first game, first couple of games will already be over once you're listening to this on Friday morning. So I've got my Mexico jersey on ready for the game in a couple of hours. So let's see how that goes. But it's a pleasure to have you on, Danny. And we'll speak again soon.
00:35:32
Speaker
Yeah, great. Thanks for having me on as well. Okay, let's jump from the World Cup into the NBA Finals. So much going on right now, but... What a game we had. What a game we just had.
00:35:43
Speaker
Game four of the NBA Finals. Obviously, we haven't recorded since before the Finals started, so quick rundown. All the games have been San Antonio going up big early.
00:35:54
Speaker
Game one, they kind of looked a little bit gassed after the OKC series, and they couldn't hold on. The Knicks came back. and won it in the fourth. Game two was a matter of inches. Like San Antonio clawed all the way back.
00:36:07
Speaker
Jalen Brunson, while he wasn't red hot, he hit some timely shots in the fourth. Wemby missed a very nice open look to win it at the end. And Knicks grabbed that to go 2-0 Game three, that was all San Antonio. The Knicks did come back. They were leading at halftime, but Wemby and Castle kind of took that game over. Some great shooting from Castle, and overall the Spurs kind of dominated that one in the garden.
00:36:32
Speaker
And then game four, utterly insane. Spurs up by 29. They were up by 27 at the half. It seemed like it was sewn up, to be honest. um And then they only score 40 in the second half, and the Knicks create the craziest of finals comebacks.
00:36:49
Speaker
This is the most insane thing. I think this is the most insane finals comeback since like the 28-3 comeback for the Patriots. I genuinely waking up and then seeing the Knicks won. Okay. Like I thought the Knicks won in six.
00:37:08
Speaker
Seeing that they were down by 30 points. And they came back. 30 points with 9 minutes 40 seconds in the third. Like, not even a halftime. Like, we have maybe 20 minutes of regulation basketball left.
00:37:26
Speaker
i I'm actually so shocked that this is the case. There's so much to talk about when it comes to this game. There's the Spurs, the Knicks. Do we want to start negative or positive? I'll leave it up to you, James. Do we want to start with the Spurs or start with the Knicks?
00:37:40
Speaker
and Let's go negative first. Let's get it out of the way. Go Spurs.
00:37:49
Speaker
All right. The San Antonio Spurs. We talked about it in our previous like finals preview that we thought the lack of experience was really going to get them. Now, I had some some friends of mine say that Harrison Barnes is going to average 15 points in the finals, which I told him is crazy talk. He's not touching anything. But...
00:38:12
Speaker
he's not touching anything but What we saw here was inexperience. And we kind of saw it in game two as well. We saw, you know, this young core doesn't know what to do at the end of these high pressure games. They haven't been in that kind of scenario. Not on a national stage like this.
00:38:30
Speaker
But De'Aaron Fox. Oh my god, De'Aaron Fox. Okay. You are the person who blew up Sacramento. The coach on the other side of the court is the coach you got fired.
00:38:47
Speaker
You are the person who said he wasn't good enough. And then you guys still sucked afterwards. And you said, oh, well, you really tried your best to make us good. But I really want to go play with Wemby now.
00:38:59
Speaker
We were talking about you being a dynamic duo with Wemby. You, like, I don't see that at all. And ironically, I see what happened two years ago when Wemby first got to the league, which is none of these guys look at him under the rim.
00:39:15
Speaker
Wemby had a fantastic first quarter and had almost all mid-ranges for the next three. Like, it it makes no sense. And I was thinking about it. I was at work thinking about this all day.
00:39:28
Speaker
You know who would have made sense to pick up who could have given Wemby easy but buckets at the rim and in a 30-point game can get on the floor and just keep him tipping away?
00:39:39
Speaker
Chris Paul. Someone who retired halfway through the season? Chris Paul! Thank you! Like, you have three guards and I'm watching the highlights again and people are passing at the top of the perimeter in like three or four second windows where Wemby's standing like this under the rim.
00:39:59
Speaker
I'm going to say one more thing about De'Aaron Fox. That last possession, there's two things that happened. You didn't think about the fact that you should probably dribble out this ball.
00:40:10
Speaker
But what I think is more than likely is you thought, oh, I'm having a shitty game. Since we were up 30, I've went one and for seven. I've hit one three in the fourths.
00:40:23
Speaker
OG has shut me down every single time. I have the advantage on a layup. I'm going to get him now. No. OG is the best two-way defender in the league. The best two-way player in the league. He has been so consistent, and he's been locking you up the whole fourth quarter. And you tried to play Superman, and you tried to win the game, and now it's on you.
00:40:45
Speaker
I don't want to hear anything about the refs, because no ref is going to help you lose when you're up by 29 points a off you go james i'm sorry but i' well look i i'm just looking at these this whole guard rotation and castle was like really good um in game three in terms of his offense he's always good on defense but every other game has sucked on offense and Game one and two he was awful. So bad.
00:41:19
Speaker
And then you're looking at Fox. You've just broken the whole thing down. That last layup is just egregiously bad. Some of the passes he had in the third quarter where he just he just tosses it out of bounds. Just like, nah, don't care. Going ISO, training the James Harden step backs with his tiny little steps, not creating any separation, flanking it off the front of the rim. Like, Dylan Harper is your most reliable guard.
00:41:43
Speaker
And that's crazy because he is a rookie. Like if you look at the how this game went, the story of the game, the Spurs were great in the first and second quarter in terms of their shooting, in terms of their three-point shooting. Even even Fox was pretty good. They were 6-10 in the first quarter, eight to sixteen in the second quarter from three. And then...
00:42:03
Speaker
Looking at Harper specifically, he was 100% from the floor in the second. And then you go into the third, two of 12 from three. So what did they do? Something that worked for them this game. You have one bad quarter shooting threes. They go, nah, we're only shooting five in the fourth.
00:42:18
Speaker
They're just so inexperienced. They just were like, no, nobody is shooting. We're not shooting it anymore. Doesn't matter. One bad quarter. Well, let's throw everything away. That's it. They were still up by nearly 20 points at points in the fourth quarter.
00:42:31
Speaker
And they were throwing it away like that. They were literally going, no, we're not doing that anymore. Just give it to Wemby. He took nine shots in the fourth quarter and he made two of them. And he was the only one trying to do anything. Fox took five. Nobody else took more than one.
00:42:46
Speaker
Wemby was the only player on the Spurs to make more than a single bucket in a quarter of the second half. Like, it's just crazy. It's just crazy how they capitulated like that. Um...
00:42:58
Speaker
I just don't know. I don't know what they do, to be honest. Like, the guard play has been abysmal this whole series from them. Like you said, Wemby, just lob it up to him. Just literally lob it up to him.
00:43:09
Speaker
Even if it goes wrong, he's able to reach it. Nobody else can reach as high as him. Just lob it to him if you don't know what to do. And then Fox is literally dribbling the air out of the ball until there's four seconds left on the shot clock.
00:43:24
Speaker
Like, can you not just give the ball to Wemby in the post and he's just going to make work of at least half of those shots? oh Every single time he got into the post in the game that they won and in the games that they didn't win, when he got those stretches where he's in the paint, backing people down, using his body, using his strength.
00:43:45
Speaker
He's so hard to guard. He's impossible to guard. And they were just like, nah, we just we're just not going to do it. And I don't know how... As a coach, that Mitchell Johnson is not just like, guys, can we not just sort something out here and do what we need to do and get the ball to Wemby? It makes no sense to me whatsoever. Yeah, I fully agree. And one more thing I want to say on the Spurs.
00:44:11
Speaker
Game two, like the first two games of this series, I'm hearing a lot of fans say, oh, the refs gave the Knicks this game. Oh, the refs did this. The refs did this. The first two games of this series, we saw the Spurs not play OKC ball, where they're manufacturing contact and then selling it.
00:44:30
Speaker
Just there's a highlight tape of Castle and Harper trucking people. Like, I understand the bigs down low. They're pulling on each other's jerseys. The NBA is allowing that contact to happen. I'm not complaining about that.
00:44:45
Speaker
But Wemby didn't get fined for the elbow to Nas Reid. Wemby didn't get fined for missing media. Wemby didn't get a flagrant foul for what is clearly a flagrant foul by pushing by excessive force to Jalen Brunson in the head or neck area.
00:45:06
Speaker
Automatic flagrant foul. And the NBA didn't give it. And the reason why... Is because if they gave that flagrant foul. This flagrant foul. Would have had him suspended.
00:45:17
Speaker
For the next game. And that's the whole thing the NBA is riding on. We can't have our next superstar. LeBron. Thrown. Upturner.
00:45:29
Speaker
coming in and getting suspended for a game in the finals. The favoritism that is being showed towards this player. Like, I love Wemby. I genuinely said before the playoffs, if Wemby plays 40 minutes a game, he could win the finals. I would love to come in here and just say,
00:45:47
Speaker
He's playing amazingly. Unfortunately, they're getting outmatched. But, like, he's getting blessed by the NBA. And, like, there's the replay of him saying, oh, I'm in Mitchell Robinson's head.
00:46:03
Speaker
No. No. This team, this Knicks team, didn't want to get up. In game two, De'Aaron Fox got into Brunson's face. He didn't want to fight. He doesn't want to fight. He just wants to win the game.
00:46:15
Speaker
Same thing in this game. It got chippy. But who was getting chippy? Jose Alvarado. Mitchell Robinson. It wasn't Brunson because it comes to the fourth quarter.
00:46:27
Speaker
Captain Clutch is there to save the day. And we can go on to talk about the Knicks because holy shit. This is actually an unbelievable team. Maybe this might be the craziest playoffs run I've seen in a while and it took him all season to get into motion like this. But Captain Clutch himself is here to save the day.
00:46:50
Speaker
i'll I'll let you go from here, James. Oh my God. ah Well, on the thing about the fouls, first of all, like Castle is physically assaulting people on the court and somehow only picking like three fouls up per game. when he should He should have fouled out in every single game of the OKC series and this series so far. And they're just letting him get away with whatever he wants. Wemby, again, he elbowed Cat in the face last night. He tried to break Ananobi's leg with a stomp. I don't know, did you see that?
00:47:20
Speaker
but he's kind getting pushed a little bit and he jumps into the air and like plants his foot as hard as he can and misses ananobi's leg like he like it's just crazy he is a he's a dirty player um he he does indulge in that kind of dark arts you know we saw him when they lost to okc in one of the games he's coming off the court telling plumbly and biambo to hard foul everybody and stuff you know that's part of the game Like you said, you've got Robinson and Alvarado doing that type of work. But Wemby can't be getting too caught up in that. Castle can't be getting too caught up in that. You need to still play basketball and not completely lose your head. I think in the game, game two, they should have won. When they were on that sideline and it was not looking good and Wemby was losing it and telling everybody they need to lock in on defense basically and play harder. And they make that run back and it was led by him playing great basketball.
00:48:13
Speaker
But then he throws that ridiculous pass off Castle's back. You don't do that unless your head is gone. And his head was just... You know, he drove them to such a a a great point where they were back in the game. But ultimately, he was too far gone. And some of these fouls that he has, and the moments where he seems to be not in control of himself, he...
00:48:35
Speaker
goes a little bit too far. And that's in, I think, with one, with immaturity, and second, he he gets away with it, like you said. So these things need to be clamped down upon because he's such a great player that we want to see him for the basketball reasons and not that this type of thing gets out of hand. and On the Knicks, you mentioned Jose Alvarado. What on earth? I did not expect the Jose Alvarado...
00:48:56
Speaker
game that Jose Alvarado fourth quarter he had 16 minutes all game 10 of them in the fourth three of three from the floor two of two from three huge huge in the fourth quarter when they needed they needed it the most and they go and they look okay OG Brunson you two you're doing it as usual cat little bit better in the fourth this time than in the other games couldn't have been much worse Bridges, nah, you're not doing it for us. Hart, you can't shoot. Schammett, ice cold this series. Let's go to Alvarado. And he answered the call. And he stood up against his, you know, his ex-teammate since, I think, high school, Champagny. And he bodied him. Champagny was scared to shoot in the fourth quarter because of how bad he was all game. And Alvarado was like, nah. Not me, I'm not scared of this moment. And he went out there and he took it alongside Brunson and OG, who those two are the forerunners for finals MVP. It's going to be Brunson probably, but OG for his defensive efforts. And the fact he's shooting 58% from the floor.
00:49:59
Speaker
And what is it from three? 56%. fifty six percent And you're adding that to one and a half blocks per game, a steal per game, four boards and 24 points.
00:50:10
Speaker
And he's guarding the best player on the floor at all times, whether that be if he needs to guard a guard, he's going to guard Fox. If he needs to step onto Wemby, he'll guard Wemby. If Harper's hot, he'll get on Harper. If Castle's hot, he'll get on him.
00:50:22
Speaker
It's just crazy how good this guy is. And he's going to get a second ring because of it. Yeah, OG Ananobi is... I said it to my friends in the first game. and We were right at the start of the first game. I said, OG is so consistent, bro. His offensive package. Some games, it's just run and dunk and a couple of catch and shoot threes.
00:50:46
Speaker
But he has games where, like last night, where he's doing so much defensively. He has that contest on on Fox ah right at the end of the game. He doesn't allow a layup at the end of the game. He has eight threes this game. He has two in Wemby's mouth.
00:51:02
Speaker
yeah Like, four of them are step-back threes. He actually likes him closing out him. he I think he's he just prefers a closeout than an open three. yeah like And fine, you're going to get the closeouts because honestly, they should be denying you the ball.
00:51:20
Speaker
He shouldn't be getting more than six threes with with all of these other players. It's not like all of the Knicks are hitting. It's not like they were all on fire. Like you said, Bridges wasn't there. Shaman has had a rough two games.
00:51:34
Speaker
Hart can't shoot. He hit one, but like that guy can't shoot. OG should not be hitting eight threes. yeah like It's just... He is so good. he Another thing, he loves getting Wemby on his back and then getting that little rim. Oh my god. like grazer it low He squats down with the ball in his hands and uses all his leg drawing. He's just like, get away from me, skinny man. Just dunks it. It's so good.
00:52:05
Speaker
I like the finals MVP. If Carol Anthony, Nate Towns has a really good game five and they end up winning, I actually wouldn't even be upset if they just split it between the three of them, because there's no way without OG Brunson and cat.
00:52:21
Speaker
Like each of them bring a different thing to every game. We were saying cat has an outrageous stat where in the first three games, he hasn't scored in the fourth quarter. But he's so good in the other three quarters, in the quarters that Brunson doesn't play well, Cat is there to pick it up.
00:52:41
Speaker
And then OG has a constant, steady heartbeat right through the middle. You have Bridges picks it up sometimes, heart picks it up sometimes, quality contributions from Alvarado, from Shamit, from Robinson. But like those three players are the core and the heartbeat of this team.
00:52:58
Speaker
And I don't think you could give finals MVP to one of them without it almost feeling unfair to the other two. Like I i wouldn't complain about just three finals MVPs here. Give them all a statue. Give Jose Alvarado a statue. Make the make the whole 15 a statue. We got some SoChan minutes today. got three minutes of SoChan minutes, okay?
00:53:23
Speaker
I am on top of the world. this This was the most hype game I could have woken up to. And I will absolutely be watching game five. Even if they lose, give me Nixon six because that home win yeah in MSG game six, the city might blow up.
00:53:42
Speaker
Genuinely. I already warned you about that one. I think, look, man, like, if you're looking at this, i we obviously all, we went Knicks in six, me, you, and Shane before this, right?
00:53:56
Speaker
I think it's fairly safe, that one. Like, it's not guaranteed, but it looks like at least in six, if not in five, possibly. But I would not be at all app surprised if the Knicks go and absolutely destroy the Spurs in the next game because the Spurs should have won game two and they should have won last night.
00:54:15
Speaker
like they should be up 3-1. They threw away the chance in both of those games. They threw it away. And the Knicks are kind of yet to have the game where they completely dominate from start to finish.
00:54:28
Speaker
The Spurs are up 14, they're up 14, they're up 12, and they're up 29 in these games. They've had a double-digit lead in every single game. The Knicks are yet to have that game where they kind of bulldoze the Spurs.
00:54:39
Speaker
And I think whether that comes in the next one or the one after, it's coming because... I can't see how mentally you recover from blowing a game like that. And, you know, such a young team, i think they could still have belief when it's 2-0. But to be down 3-1 in that fashion, it must be near impossible to recover from that. Like...
00:55:04
Speaker
we're bound to get this game, I just think, from the Knicks. I just can't see us not having this game where they dominate and at least won. And maybe Wemby stands up and he wills this team on and Castle at home steps back up again and shoots better. And you've got Champagny maybe playing a bit better because they're at home. But I think...
00:55:24
Speaker
If they give more minutes to Harper instead of Fox, then there is a good chance. But if they play the same rotation, Mitch Johnson doesn't change anything. They continue to play the same way without feeding Wemby enough.
00:55:35
Speaker
The Knicks are going to win this next game. They need to change things. They can't just keep playing the same and expect to come back into this. I think the Knicks are going to win it. It's just whether it's in five or six for me at this point.
00:55:48
Speaker
Yeah, I'm with you. i feel like Mitch Johnson, he does have a really difficult decision where I think right now i wouldn't blame him bringing De'Aaron Fox off the bench and starting Dylan Harper, like you said.
00:56:02
Speaker
What does that do to De'Aaron Fox's confidence? What does that do to his future perspective on the team? I think most people are assuming that there won't be much. But will he be able to accept that in a game five in the NBA finals?
00:56:20
Speaker
Yeah, we're trying to win we're trying to win the finals here. you know yeah You're going to have to do it if if they want to win it. But is Mitch Johnson an established enough coach for him to take that kind of like... Maybe not. We saw Kenny Atkinson just keep going with Harden in the fourth quarter because he's the superstar. Like, he's he's only got two on this team, really.
00:56:41
Speaker
i I would be very doubtful. and And like you said, I think it's time for people to take a step back. The Knicks that we are looking at here is not the Knicks of last year or the year before or of the last 30 years.
00:56:56
Speaker
This Knicks team has went... They didn't lose for 46 days in the playoffs. They lost in round one like against against the the Hawks. And then they like brought it the whole way in.
00:57:11
Speaker
And people are saying, oh, the games are close. They're 50-50. They could have went either way. No, they didn't, though. It's not analytically. It's 2-2.
00:57:24
Speaker
like i can't believe I can't believe the Cavs are analytically up 3-1 right now against as far it's crazy. the Analytically, James Harden is shooting 85% from three right now. I'm saving that analytically. The Cavs just won the finals tweet when when the Knicks eventually do win it. I'm saving it for that moment because, ah come on.
00:57:46
Speaker
Like, this team, and like you said, i think if you're going to bet money on it, these guys have a point differential of 27 in elimination games. They've got like a 50 point, then a 39 point, then a 27 point. Like it is more than likely they win by 25, then they lose by 10.
00:58:08
Speaker
Like that's what the odds look like right now. And another unfortunate benefit from all the Knicks fans being priced out of all of their seat tickets is that all of these millionaires that are paying 200,000 for floor tickets in the garden,
00:58:28
Speaker
will all be able to travel to San Antonio. They do not mind at all. We saw in game... in In the last game, in game two, every time Deuce was shooting, it sounded like half the the stadium was screaming his chant. Like...
00:58:45
Speaker
i really don't believe that the Spurs can bring out this next one. I think there would have to be so much change from a relatively young coach and from a team that is relatively young.
00:59:00
Speaker
I just think Brunson wills it out. He's so good. i like i genuinely... People say it all the time, but like you wouldn't pick Brunson. At at the start of this playoffs, if you said you could have... like At the start of the year, you said you could have five players going into this year.
00:59:18
Speaker
Brunson, i'm I'm not sure in your top five. If you had any pick. I don't think so. In the fourth quarter of any game, this season. Oh, we have five minutes. We're down by eight. Who would you like to have? Brunson.
00:59:31
Speaker
Thank you. That's it. That's need. Are you sure you don't want clutch player of the year, De'Aaron Fox? Ooh. Ooh. I was thinking about that. What a fall from How he win that? You know? But he was in Sacramento, okay?
00:59:48
Speaker
He's the guy taking every shot at the end of the game. Now he has to pass it to a 7'6 guy. That's really difficult. He doesn't want to do that. what What if I save the game?
00:59:59
Speaker
But like another thing about him taking that layup. There's 14 seconds left. Both teams have a timeout. Guess what happens? Oh, yay. We're up by three. They have 10 seconds and OG is hitting a step back three in your fucking face. Like ah that's what's happening. Or Brunson's going to take ah three from three steps out.
01:00:21
Speaker
And OG's going to jump from the three-point line and dunk it, and it'll technically be three points. Like, we haven't even mentioned the tip back. I have never seen something like that in my life.
01:00:32
Speaker
And who was backing up? this Who forgot to rebound? Fox was supposed to be on him from the inbounds. Like... But Wemby doubled, yeah and instead of crashing the rim, he backed it up and he was ball watching.
01:00:47
Speaker
And every coach knows we're replaying that eight times and we're saying, this guy wanted that rebound more than you. yeah That's it. That's all it is.
01:00:57
Speaker
We can complain about Fox, but a tip is never supposed to be. You should never look at a tip and be saying that like you got robbed.
01:01:09
Speaker
because you could have just boxed out. And he was coming from he was coming with a running start, and Fox came over on that double to Brunson. And as soon as Brunson...
01:01:21
Speaker
took that shot like both Fox and Wemby turned around and looked at the rim like you should be turning around and running back there and at least doing whatever you can to come down with that ball because that's the game but they didn't they both turned around and kind of froze and then you've got OG running off the wing and he just times it perfectly like the perfect oh I just that finish was just so good like he deserves finals MVP for that alone and I just think before we wrap this up, Brunson, 30 points per game, five boards, five assists, and two steals across this series.
01:01:57
Speaker
unbelievable like the knicks never never could have predicted getting this much from him and they've gotten so much from this player he's already people saying that he's the greatest nick of all time if he gets in this title he won't be too far off it just what they've done and it shows that didn't really matter their regular season they were building something with mike brown and the fact that they're able to lock in on defense as much as they have considering how bad they were in the regular season Yeah, even Brunson, his effort has been so much better. And its he he doesn't care. The contact, he's literally getting physically assaulted on the other end of the floor and he's not getting calls. And he's just going after the game. Yeah, that's part of it.
01:02:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's fine. Comes out the next game, drops 30. It's just, it's unbelievable. he He is amazing. What he's done for in New York. Let's remember, this guy left 113 million on the table.
01:02:55
Speaker
He brought his dads in on this coaching staff. He brought in the Villanova boys. yeah This front office has made smart decision after smart decision. Mitchell Robinson has stayed on the team. They went with Kat. They didn't trade him for Giannis. They stuck with what they got. They went and got Jose Alvarado at the trade deadline.
01:03:16
Speaker
Unlike the Rockets, unlike many other teams that we said could have took multiple chances as well. Sorry to cut across, but they took multiple chances. They went with Sohan, they went with Alvarado, and Alvarado has worked out so well, whereas the Rockets just sat there and did nothing.
01:03:32
Speaker
Exactly. and Like the way that Brunson has come here and it's like in his tenure has completely reinvented the Knicks now.
01:03:43
Speaker
and And another thing, one more thing I want to say about the Knicks I said in our preseason preview that I was really worried about this defense as well. and I was saying Thibs might have been holding this defense together.
01:03:56
Speaker
No. The defense is here, but Mike Brown has elevated this offense. i I genuinely cannot understand what the difference is with this team in the first two games of this playoffs versus every other game of this playoffs. They have been absolutely fantastic. Everybody has understood everything they needed to do. If we saw spurts of this throughout the regular season, nobody, like, they've had good games.
01:04:25
Speaker
But they didn't run off 10 in a row like this, where everybody's hitting every three and Kat is having eight assists a game for over 10 games. Like, this is, and the cool, the calmness,
01:04:42
Speaker
of their leader, everybody is freaking out. And he approaches every game like he just got spat on. He looks so unhappy in every moment of every game, but all he does is win.
01:04:56
Speaker
He's used to this. Since under nineteens all he does is win. it It couldn't be... It's like a storybook story. book story at A fairy tale story.
01:05:07
Speaker
Like, oh, this guy just keeps winning at every league level. Oh, Chuck and Shaq are calling him Munchkin on the biggest stage. Oh, let me just average 30 points.
01:05:19
Speaker
Call me a Munchkin now as I'm a champion. Like... Coming from shit from Chuck, never won a ring and he's talking about somebody else who's just about to get one and drag his team to one.
01:05:31
Speaker
It's crazy. And i i went one more final point. Rick Brunson, I think, has played a massive part as the coach on this team. Last year, you saw Tibbs completely like ignore him when they had huddles, didn't basically look like he didn't want his opinion. That's just the way Tibbs carries on. It was probably a different during training sessions and behind the scenes. But on the side of the court, he didn't want it.
01:05:52
Speaker
He didn't want anybody's opinion. Whereas now you look at Brown. Mike Brown is literally letting Brunson like run some of the huddles. He looks like he's dictating some of the rotations. The rotations are obviously a major part in this that weren't there before. There was literally no rotations last year. Now they've got the rotation dialed perfectly. And I think Brunson is part of that along with Mike Brown. So I think they've got the perfect the perfect measure of this whole thing. So...
01:06:20
Speaker
so I think going to stand on I think I don't see how the Spurs recover from that last game. Knicks fans, like you said, it's cheaper for them to fly first class and go to the game in San Antonio than it is to get a regular seat in MSG. So this is going to be full of Knicks fans.
01:06:38
Speaker
They're going to win it and they're going to win it well. I think the Knicks win this last game by like 16 points and they they take home the Larry O'Brien trophy to MSG and to New York City.
01:06:50
Speaker
Yeah, I like part of me wants to believe like, but I don't know how the Spurs aren't just demoralized after this. I think Harper is going to show up.
01:07:03
Speaker
I think Champagny might hit four threes. And I think Wemby might have 30 points. And we might just see five Deuce McBride threes, Landry Schammett hitting fadeaway threes, OG getting his 20 points a game that you can just write in the scoreboard before the game starts. Cap might do another five crazy assists. And then we're halfway through the fourth quarter and we're thinking, damn, it's already over.
01:07:34
Speaker
Just like that. New York is the winner's. Because all they care about and all they're focused on is winning. that's they don't They don't look happy. like The Spurs look like they're having fun sometimes in the games.
01:07:50
Speaker
When the Knicks are not winning, they they look like they don't enjoy basketball. like They actually look angry at the world. So I think it's got to be Knicks. Knicks in five. Crazy, man.
01:08:05
Speaker
Yeah, we agree on that. let's see how we Let's see how that affairs over the weekend. Obviously, the Game 5 will be coming on shortly after you listen to this, so you'll be well prepped. Let's see if we we're right. And next week, we will have our winner, and we'll be talking all things Finals MVP and how it kind of wound out over the next few games, whether we do get many more or just one more. But thanks again for jumping on, Michael, and we will chat to you again next week.
01:08:35
Speaker
Bing bong. So there goes Michael. Thank you to both him and Danny for stepping in this week. Michael, as usual, coming with all of the energy on the and NBA and we've got our full World Cup chat gone down with Danny. So hope you enjoyed this episode. Shane should be back again next week. As usual, please drop a like, a comment, subscribe if you're on YouTube, follow us on Spotify or whatever platform you use for podcasts and leave us a rating or a review. Follow us on social media, all that good stuff. You can find us at Who's Got the Ball pod or WGTB pod across all social media platforms. So that's another episode in the books and I will chat to you again next week.
01:09:16
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Who's Got the Ball with Shane and James.