The Mismatch - Jacoby Went to the Game. $888. Zero Regrets. Knicks Win.
Episode Date: June 5, 2026Verno and Jacoby break down a wild Game 1 from every angle—including Jacoby's upper-deck view from inside the Frost Bank Center. Jalen Brunson went into the tunnel and came out a closer, dropping 13... of his 30 points in the fourth quarter when it mattered most. KAT bullied Wemby all night long, and Wemby shot just 6-of-21 in his NBA Finals debut. The Knicks stole one in San Antonio—but is this series really over? Not even close. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (2:04) Jacoby drops $888 to take in the moment of a Knicks Game 1 win (8:32) Inside the arena: San Antonio's kindness vs. New York's chaos energy (15:45) "We've got a guy" — Brunson's fourth-quarter run (28:29) KAT was built for this moment — 18 points, 12 rebounds, and Wemby had no answer (38:56) Hart and Alvarado — the unsung heroes of Game 1 (43:00) Looking ahead: Can Wemby and the Spurs adjust to the Knicks? (52:56) Game 2 predictions and series outlook The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Protect your summer today at WeatherTech.com Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! (323) 389-5091 Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Stefan Anderson and Jeff Shearin Directors of Photography: Ulrich Von Dran IV Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Welcome to the Missy Badge up Chris Vernon and join the music as every week from the ringer.com.
This time from San Antonio, Texas.
Jacoby!
Berno, I'm in San Antonio.
And on the last episode, I said I wasn't going to the game.
But I'm sitting here in my hotel room, game day, being like,
am I really going to watch this game here?
Because I like to listen to the announcers and take notes and be a professional.
I was like, no, I'm going to get a ticket.
Walk me through it.
So at what point during the day do you decide, look, I can make more money.
What I can't do is get this moment back.
I am in the city where the NBA finals are going on tonight.
And beyond that, the team that I root for is in said NBA finals and has a chance at
the first title in 53 years.
At what point during the day?
Are we prior to lunchtime?
Are we after lunchtime?
Great question.
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Great question, Perna.
You know, you're in my head already because I have children.
So I wake up at six every day, no matter what time's on, no matter what it is.
Six on the dot, ready to go.
And then I look around, I'm like, oh, wait, I don't have anybody to take care of here.
So then I go back to sleep, right?
And then it was around.
I woke up at like 8.39 and I got a little breakfast.
I drank some water
and I literally didn't have work until after the game
because I'm producing the Game OverPod
with Rich Paul and Max Kellerman
please subscribe and like or whatever you comment
whatever you guys do on the internet
and I was like
am I really just going to sit in this hotel room
and listen to the announcers and like take meticulous notes
and be a nerd about this basketball game
or am I going to be a fan and have an experience?
So I opened up my app that I used to buy tickets
that doesn't sponsor the show so I'm not going to say it
and I was like, you know what?
50 yard line
midway and the top level
section 208 so I'm right
I'm dead I'm looking right at the Larry O'Brien trophy
midway up and it was $888
is that with fees and everything
everything all in okay all right
did I tell my wife I spent $888 no
no that's all her was $500
never hearing this anyway right
yeah she's not listening she listens to the mismatch
Just listen to me when I talked to her about the money and the children, please.
She's not listen to this.
So I did it.
I just bought them.
I was like, you know what?
Like, I'm here.
I'm doing it.
I knew the next one.
One.
I bought one ticket.
You bought a single ticket.
Someone was selling a single ticket in the middle of the upper deck at the 50 yard line for $8.88.
They probably saw 700 of it.
They probably saw 700 of it.
Right.
All right.
Right. So at this point, you buy the ticket and you know you're going to go.
The other thing I will say, I don't know where you're staying, but in San Antonio, when I went before, I went to it for a final four and I loved it because everything was in walking distance.
I don't know if that is the case with what what's going on there.
The Spurs were very nice to us and game over as a show. So we had a post game show at the Spurs practice facility, which is kind of in the sticks.
which is where I'm staying near where that is.
So I'm about 25 minutes, I think north of like downtown San Antonio.
But I assumed, because I've been to pretty much every NBA city,
I've only not been to Milwaukee and Minnesota at this point.
And I've been to all the arenas, but this is when I have not been to.
So I assumed it was like downtown.
It's not a big town.
Like my Uber driver's like, oh, no, I stay outside of it because I can't deal with the craziness
of downtown San Antonio.
I'm like, are you kidding me?
I'm like, this is too.
Like, this is too urban for you?
Like this?
They've got, like, four big buildings in a river.
You got to, you got to be out in the suburbs.
So, but here's, here's, so, Verna, like, I'm an idiot.
I'm an absolute idiot.
I get the, I get the thing.
I'm planning my whole day.
I'm like, I want to get there early, right?
I want to get there early, get the experience.
I spend a lot of money in this ticket.
Let me get there early.
I totally forgot we're in central time.
No.
I thought the game was at 8.30.
So right around 6 o'clock, it dawned on me.
I was like, wait a second.
The game's at 7.30, not 8.
And you're for sure not going to be early now.
And then I get in the Uber.
And this is the most San Antonio thing about the whole experience.
My Uber was a silver silverado.
So good.
So good.
So good.
He's like, I don't care about the spurs.
I don't care about sports.
He's like, I don't care about any of this stuff.
I was like, all right.
I'm not kidding.
When is the last time you saw a pickup?
truck. A pickup, I mean, I see pickup trucks.
You do? Not in the city, not in the city.
There's zero pickup trucks in the city. No, that's what I'm saying.
They don't have, like in Queens and the Bronx and stuff. Outer boroughs have, but Manhattan, there's no pickup trucks.
You won't see. Zero. It's just a waste of space. Like Manhattan is about maximizing space.
Right. And pickup truck is just too much space. Oh, like, literally half of my buddies have like,
C-7s and Dodge Rams and like, I mean, they've got,
freaking, you know, like they're like hunters.
And so they use them for hunting and like, I mean, so there's pickups everywhere
where I live.
But where you live, there are no big trucks.
None, none, none.
And then I get to the game, I walk in, I'm not going to make this story too long,
I walk in and I get to.
You're completely alone.
Who else am I with?
I'm saying, like you didn't even meet up with anybody that was also going to the game.
I didn't text a single person.
I know a lot of people in town, but I didn't text a single person.
I was like, I'm on a solo mission to.
route for the Knicks and win this game. They needed me to be there. All right.
I get in, you get past security, and I start walking. I like to do loops, you know,
because every arena is the same. It's a circle. You got two loops. You've got the lower level
loop and the upper level loop, right? I do a lower level loop. There's some Knicks fans. And like,
if I do a loop in Madison Square Garden, like, imagine me saying hi to everybody wearing a Knicks
jersey or a Knicks shirt. Like, it's like you just disregarded. But when you're in on the road,
I've never been to a Knicks game on the road.
And when you're on the road, there's a camaraderie.
Oh, yeah.
There's a kinship.
There's like a, there's like a, there's a nod for the same reason.
There's a nod and there's a fist bump.
And it's always, like New Yorkers really don't interact with strangers.
Like stranger, we don't really do that.
It's just not part of our culture.
But like on the road, oh, yeah, oh, we're all part.
We're all in this together.
So I'm giving everybody a fist bump.
If you got a good look, I'll give you a big pound.
and if you really know what's up,
I'm gonna give you one, two, three in a row
and say Knicks and four.
And there was an energy before the game.
I was like, there's some Knicks fans here.
And I get to my seat.
First of all, like, the Fiesta colors.
Did any, you know, 20 seconds.
All right, go ahead, go ahead.
I would use the timeouts Mitch Johnson did not.
Did, at any point, as you're walking through the concourse,
does anybody say anything to you?
Heckling wise or even a,
boo or anything.
Is there any commentary that you are walking through wearing a New York Knicks,
Latrell Spreewell shirt?
Yes.
So to be fair,
I want to explain what I'm wearing.
I'm wearing a black t-shirt with a LaTrell Spree Will on it.
It says New York Knicks on the front.
There's nothing on the back.
So it just looks like a black t-shirt from the back.
So there was somebody that was behind me that was like,
oh,
and you know, I like, I always say, excuse me.
I'm very polite.
So I walked in front or something.
I was like, oh, man, excuse me.
He's like, oh, it's all good.
He's like, unless you're a Knicks and,
fan. I turned around and I was just
I showed my shirt. But everyone's
so sweet here. Like, it's
not like New York. Like, people's default
setting is just like very, very nice to
strangers. Like, even though you
are a Nick fan and you're here, they're
very accepting of that. And I'm also like
a very gracious fan. Like,
I'm not like, fuck you, you root for the Spurs.
Like, you're just a human being like everybody else.
Like, you know, I'm like, hey, let's
let's have a great series. You know, like, I
my energy is very positive and nice.
I'm not like one of those fans that
just like being a complete asshole.
Did I turn into an asshole in the fourth quarter?
Yes.
But like I started off.
My default setting was nice.
And I get to my seats and there's two,
there's four Nick fans in front of me who are just like regular people.
And then there's behind me about three rows up.
There's a conglomerate of Nick fans that I would say didn't come in with the same
sort of positive basketball loving attitude.
But you,
but you're thrown in the mix of them.
I mean, you're with them as far as it's...
And listen, I don't want to talk too much about what it's like to be in the building.
Oh, yeah, all that.
But here's what it is.
There's a problem.
And I just want to say this with love to my San Antonio Spurs friends.
The Go Spurs Go chant is broken.
You know the chant.
Because what happens is they go, go, Spurs, go.
And then they lay out for like two breaths.
go spurs go
so the knicks fans
use that opportunity
for a let's go nix
so they're starting the game
and they're like go spurs go
and nix fans are like oh you guys are going to stop talking
for this exact amount of time
for let's go nicks to happen
and then we took that and ran with it
oh wow so when you are there
and you move up to your seats in the arena.
Is everybody up there, like welcoming their,
nobody up there is.
There's no.
Any act in any kind of way.
It is also, it is also weird that you're there alone.
I mean, it is just a, you are,
people don't typically buy tickets in the middle of sections.
Like, it was an extenuating circumstance that you would go by yourself to this game.
You're usually not walking.
in the middle of a section alone as an opposing fan that is uncommon.
It is an uncommon thing.
What are you talking to be like that?
If I just saw some guy at the Grisly's game, like in a Celtics jersey by himself
sitting in the middle of a bunch of Grizzlies fans, I would think that's weird.
Well, they got the shirts and I'm in the pink section.
First of all, the Fiesta shirts are awesome.
The arena looks so good.
And everyone's wearing the shirts.
Everyone's wearing the shirts.
And these ladies to my right, they were like, I don't know.
I don't think they're teachers, but they work in education for children, which is always, like, got a soft spot for me because I have like a million children and they take care of my kids all day long.
And I gave her the shirt and she was just like, what?
She's like, seriously?
I was like, yeah, yeah.
I'm like, what am I going to do with this pink spur shirt?
Like, you know, I'm not going to rock this to the gym.
Like, she was so appreciative.
I try to give my neighbors some nachos because the nachos, they, they're.
give you like just way too many chips so i was trying to be like hey do you want some not
they no one would accept my food like i drugged it like i'm bill cospy or something but it everyone
was really really sweet like there's no there's only like two people that sort of gave me a negative
vibe and i've been in yankee stadium with a red red socks hat on and like everyone has
something to say to you in yankee stadium but san antonio is a different culture all right uh now
they are going to be getting a new arena which they'll call the house that wembee built um
but the arena that they play in right now.
Fan or not a fan of?
It was typical.
You know, they're all kind of the same.
You've been to a bunch of them.
Not a lot of space.
Like, I was in the middle of the row.
So to get from the aisle to my seat,
I had to say sorry to like 10 people.
And they all had to stand up.
This is not a lot of footroom.
Everybody has to stand up to get in there,
which really limits your, like,
bathroom and beer runs.
You really got to be efficient.
Right.
You know what I mean?
Do you think that it felt like it was the finals?
I've never felt anything like it.
I've never felt anything like it.
Oh, the vibe in that arena is totally different than any other.
I've never felt anything like it.
Because, bro, let's talk about the game for a second.
Because it feels like every play, right?
That's how it feels.
Like when I have been to like big playoff games in the past,
every play feels enormous.
And that is the difference.
And remember how the game started.
Yeah.
Brunson hits a three.
Wimby gets a bucket.
I think OG hits a three.
I forget who it was.
Bridges or O.G.
There's a lot of points of the first four minutes.
Yeah.
And then it went dark.
Right.
But like Nick's fans, I think it was nine to two at one point, I want to say, or something like that.
And it was just like, Nick's fans were just celebrating, standing up, celebrating.
And then the field goal stopped going in the basket towards the end of the first quarter.
Okay.
So by having.
Half time, it's still fine.
It's like a striking, it's striking distance game.
I want to say 49 of 55, I want to say?
Yeah, it was.
Yeah, 48, 48 55.
So they're down seven.
It's still a striking range.
When they go down early after they come back out from the halftime break,
when they go down early and they're down like 13, is your mood changed completely at that point?
Like, you're like, oh, God.
Oh, did my mood change completely?
I wanted to leave.
Oh, my God.
be somewhere else. I was like, this is the worst decision I've ever made. Because they're all
standing and cheering and looking at me. You know what I mean? It's just like, oh yeah, because
when you're the only guy sitting. Well, I got a couple of Knicks fans around me, but like, I might
have been a little vocal towards the second half. You know what I mean? I might have had an adult
beverage or two during my loop at halftime. And I got a little vocal and like, I might have
said some things that I regret. And when they were up 13, I was like, wow, this is just everyone
The worst.
Everyone is right.
The Western Conference better than the Eastern Conference.
Then the Knicks are not ready for this style of play.
And they just have more firepower.
And there's nothing you do against Wemby and Castle can shut down everybody.
And I just started to get real like the trigger word people say is like intrusive thoughts.
I started to have them.
I was like, I hate it here.
I want to go.
Maybe I should just go to work.
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I have my eye on game two, and you know me.
I'm a Knick fan, but I also know ball.
And I also know that the Knicks plus six and a half is way too big of a line.
I'm taking those points.
And I'm also taking the over on Landry-Shammett threes and the over on Carl Anthony
Towns boards.
And I hate to say it.
But again, I am a Nick fan, but I'm a basketball fan first.
I think Wembe is going to absolutely bounce back and have a monster game.
So I'm going to take the over on his total thing.
The rebounds plus the assist plus the points.
I think he's going to go off in game two and still lose, but that's just me.
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Knicks close the gap and then overtake the lead. And you have been, I will say, you come by
this honest. You've told me since last year, every time the Knicks are on, you'll be texting.
You'll say, we've got a guy. Like if don't get in a gutter war, don't get in some kind of
close game with us. Because if you want to get in this close game, Big Body Brunson is always wearing
a Knicks jersey. We've got a guy. We've got a guy. So as that is unfolding,
and I know your confidence has to be building
because I know you and I know the way you
like you are one of those that believes like
if this is close we got this
like he's going to take care of this
if it's close it's not close
we've got a guy
so when it got close
then are you at that point
you got your chest out and you're like
okay I know what I know the way this goes
so first of all I'm really glad you
ask this question because this is one of my biggest
takeaway from the game that no one has spoken about
Brunson missed a ton of shots he normally makes in the fourth quarter.
Like everyone's looking at those two at the end.
The three that he gets off the tap out and that one that he gets,
I think it's Bissell when he does like the upbake and lean through.
Everyone's like you're to see that on your algorithm over and over and over again.
What you're not going to see is wide open 13 foot or missed.
Wide open 17 foot or missed.
Like he missed some huge shots between like minute four and minute two in the fourth quarter,
which I honestly, like, it really shook my confidence
because there's two Nick fans in front of me.
Love these guys, right?
I think it's a father's son I wanted to say,
but I didn't ask, whatever.
And like, when we were down that much,
it was like, just stay within reachable distance.
Just keep it to eight, keep it to seven.
We've got Mariano.
We've got a closer.
I'm tapping my right arm.
I'm like, we've got a closer.
We've got the guy.
Just keep it close.
And our guy will help.
And I'm telling you, man,
I didn't log it,
but he missed some.
easy shots right around four minutes left, three minutes left, where I was like, oh, oh,
I don't like this.
This is not what I thought.
This is not what I thought.
This is not what I was talking about.
You're never going to see that on ESPN shows or anything.
No one's even talking about these shots.
He missed some wide open looks that he always hits in the four quarter.
This is interesting.
Because those are a little earlier.
Because if even if, because let's just say there's like a bleacher report.
super cut and it'll be like
end of Nick Spurs was a movie
like they will they will have like
the Wemby turnover they're got
the Fox missed nine footer
and they're gonna have the Brunton makes but it doesn't
start until after
these plays that you're talking about right
shots where I was sitting there I'm standing up
I'm standing up but he misses it and then I just sit down to my chair
and my shoulders are slumped and I'm not screaming
at anybody I'm not even calling Wembe a bitch
I'm sitting there just being like, God, man, like, we're about to lose this game.
Our guy is not being a guy, but then our guy was a guy.
Yeah.
So you know how I told you that about, I don't know, four or five years ago,
I took the kids up to New York and Shohia Tani and Mike Trout were in town with the Angels
and I went to the Yankees game.
And one of the things that stood out when I was there at the game was I looked around.
I'm like you'd see a random Derek Jeter maybe some like you know hippie guy would have like a goose gossage throwback.
There was a couple guys with like a, you know, Lou Gehrig throwback or something.
But 95% of the audience had either a judge jersey or shirt jersey on.
And I was like, 99.
This is insane.
Like everybody in this crowd has the same damn thing on.
Is it like that?
Has Wemby?
is the whole arena just wemby gear i did not see i saw a couple of duncans i didn't see
another current spur shirzy or jersey i didn't see no castle no harper no i'm sure they were
there i mean there's 20 000 people there so i'm sure they're there oh yeah it's all number
ones it's all number ones well and then there's the old guy that's got the sean alias yeah i mean
Yeah, but it's all number ones.
And, like, even I went to, like, a wing spot to get food.
First of all, like, bro, ordering food and getting the food here is a completely different experience than New York.
It's honestly, it's like, how so?
Jamaica here.
It's like, I ordered five wings at a wing place.
And I was like, all you do is make wings.
It says wings on the sign outside.
I ordered five wings.
Why are they coming 25 minutes later?
Like, it's insane.
And I was eating those before I got my Uber to the game.
I was just like, I'm going to miss the first quarter because there's five wings.
You're so impatient.
It's like it's like when I was at the bagel shop that you sent me to and the guy behind me.
Like I'm literally standing in line and the person has moved up.
But I'm like looking at my phone and the guy's like, get the F out of the way.
That's what I'm saying.
Give me my wings.
I got to go see a game.
This is like a 15.
I've literally wasted 15 seconds of your life.
Let me also tell you something.
There's a gentleman behind me.
He's like, I want to call it, you know, he's like 5 o'clock.
And so he's behind me to my right.
And he's a serious Spurs fan.
And he's an older gentleman, I'm going to say, like early 60s, baldhead.
I'm guessing ex-military.
And he was not happy with our shenanigans at all.
But he was a ball knower.
You know what I mean?
And there's a moment.
that I need to describe from being in the building.
Watching Jalen Brunson go to the tunnel,
I think it was the end of the first
or start of the second,
I don't remember exactly what it was.
Watching him go to the tunnel,
it was just like, oh, that's the series.
That's everything.
That's all of this.
11 straight games,
Gray's run in history of the NBA,
it's all over right now.
In the first half of final.
Game one.
And I spent $880 to sit here and watch this man go to the tunnel.
And we got, God bless him, we got Jose Alvarado in there.
I'm just like, oh, and it, but I remembered last year in the Pist and Series.
His minutes were so good.
Oh, we'll talk about that in a second.
But last year in the Piston Series, like, he didn't just twist his ankle.
Like, his ankle touched the ground.
Right.
And he went to the tunnel and came back and put 20 on him in the second half.
And I looked at that guy, because me and him were talking a little bit.
It's a very friendly environment, but like, he definitely, like,
the things that he said and the things that he thought were two different narratives.
You know what I mean?
He was being nice to me, but he hated me.
But he's being nice because he's texting.
And he was like, I was like, man, he does this.
Like, he just goes to the tunnel and you think he's never coming out and he comes back
and he just tears up the second half.
And while he was doing it, while he was like in Brunson mode in that last minute,
I looked at him.
He looked at me and he just shook his head.
like you knew
fucker yeah yeah he hated that you were right about that
yeah he he's talking about me today he hates me right now
he's talking to his wife and I hate that guy he's like I think he
and I swear he looked familiar I think he was on ESPN or I don't know where I
knew him from but this guy is a guy that recognized me in the section that took a picture
so that everybody else like once one person takes a picture of you
everybody else was asking me like why did he take a picture of you and I'm just like
ah don't worry about it
The teachers don't watch ESP.
They're not Gilles and Jacoby fans.
Teachers are like, whatever.
Just a Knicks fan in the middle of the Spurs section at the NBA finals.
It was such an experience.
He hits the shot.
The dagger was really 38 seconds.
I mean, there was a couple of like big moments.
Obviously the Fox Miss, the Wembe Turnover.
The Wembe turnover was crazy.
It was crazy.
And then the bump, Vasell, and then the rainbow shot that drops in.
Like, that's the signal.
moment of game one, right, where it ends there.
At that point, you've got to just be, it's like absolute euphoria.
But weirdly, you're in the midst of absolute devastation, right?
Like, that is the crazy thing.
There's enough Knicks fans there.
So the thing is, like, it wasn't like in the Philly games, you had this feeling there was
like 40% Knicks fans because like the, literally the city had given up on the team
because they're down 3.0.
Right.
This is, it's a vocal minority.
like I'd say 5%,
like one out of every 20 people
are Knicks fans, but when
when it's going good for the Spurs,
you just want to leave the building.
And when it's going good for the Knicks,
you just want to make eye contact
with every single person around you.
Seriously, I was just looking around the section
feeling all of you.
I just want direct eye contact with all of you.
And I'm not saying anything mean.
I'm not being rude.
I just want you to meet
eyes with me and know that my team is better right now.
All right.
Game ends.
I mean, they probably get out to the exits fast enough and the Knicks fans probably
want to hang around.
They left.
They were leaving early, dude.
They were leaving, like, after that Brunson shot, they were leaving.
I'm like, it's a six point game with like 35 seconds left.
I'd be trying to, I know.
That's beat traffic time.
I'm out to.
So I've got a gig.
I'm working on Max and Rich's show.
Oh, yeah.
And they have a show.
they have a show, which is, I can't drink that much, you know, I've got to work.
So, um, I've got to get out.
And my Uber driver on the way in was like, don't get an Uber from the stadium, walk to the gas station.
So again, like, I'm supposed to be producing a show.
I walk to the gas station, which is like a, I don't know, half mile.
And the Uber I ordered was to a different gas station.
And Rich Paul is not letting you in his limo.
Didn't even ask.
I don't ask for favors.
I didn't even ask.
You probably put you in the trunk.
So I'm talking about friends.
Like, why don't you just ask Rich for a ticket?
I'm like, I'm not asking Rich Paul for a ticket to a finals game.
I don't ask favors of people.
If I ask you a favor, I mean it.
I mean it.
You know what I mean?
How many favors have I ever asked of you, Chris Vernon?
None.
None.
I can't remember one.
None.
Yeah.
Like, I don't ask people for favors.
I'm not asking Rich Paul for a finals ticket.
Like, I don't ask you.
I'll ask you a favor when I'm behind bars.
That's when I ask for favors.
Which is also a possibility.
It was a possibility last night.
It was a possibility last night, probably.
There was a guy that did look at me like he wanted to fight.
I was like, bro, like, this is not.
So you're at the wrong gas station.
And then I get to the Spurs facilities.
The Spurs people were really sweet to us.
And we had Antonio Daniels, who does the Pelicans broadcast.
He's great.
He's also on NBA radio.
Yeah, he's great.
He's good, man.
He's good.
And we had Gary Payton on and they came through.
It was a little bit of a late night.
But, you know.
Yeah, I guess so.
So you didn't really get to soak it in at the arena
because at that point you're worried about getting to the next place.
You got to be somebody.
I got a job.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Right.
But Nick's fans are obviously hanging around.
It's just a different energy when you're on the road.
Like I've literally never been to a road Knicks game.
the spurs fans want to leave as soon as possible and beat the traffic
nix fans are like oh until they turn the lights off and police tell me to leave
i'm gonna be right here chanting nix and four like
it's because all the videos you see
it's not because there's so many nix fans it's because they stayed
you know what i mean it's like there's 20,000 people in there and 19,000 of them
left but there's a thousand left
obviously everybody in the free world has parsed through this game already,
but we've got to give our thoughts on this.
Brunson is the story of Brunson takeover when the game was tight at the end,
coming through in a massive way,
Captain Clutch, Brunson, Bernard,
or whatever you want to call him.
And it was cool having Mike Breen be on the call for it.
There's no way around it because he's done it so many times.
But, but I will tell you that the two.
people that dominated my group text that has, you know, obviously it was all Brunson at the end.
But throughout the game, the two players that dominated my group text with my friends that don't
have a particular rooting interest in this, we're just watching this as NBA observers,
were towns and heart. And first of all, we have to start with towns. We have to start with towns.
Well, especially because, look, he's a Western conference guy for a long time.
We, you know, we used to watch back in the day, you know, these Grizzlies big guys.
Like, Towns was like the finesse All-Star, and then he would come to town and, like,
Jack Randolph and Marcus Sault would just bodybag him, you know what I mean?
And like, and that was when he was young.
And then older, obviously played him in a playoff series.
and he was fine,
but it wasn't somebody that we looked at
as the kind of guy that's built for it,
not the guy that you would typically say,
that's the guy I want in my boxhole when it matters most.
And now final stage, number one,
the guarding of Wembe,
and number two, the exposing,
it seemed over and over again,
anytime they could pull him away from the basket,
he became like this dominating figure beating Wembe off the dribble and going to the basket.
Like I thought Towns was so good in this game and the best version of Carl Towns that you could have ever imagined on the road in game one.
Also, I know that you may have seen the postgame thing today.
that he did where he's talking to Shaq.
And did you see this by any chance?
And he's talking about,
I don't know what it was,
but a calm just came over me
and he starts talking about his mom.
I'm getting chills thinking about it.
And he's like, it felt like I was like going to an AAU game.
Like I was just going to have fun.
I'm out here.
I'm having fun.
I'm living in the moment.
And like all that pressure and all that stuff
that goes along with the NBA finals,
I just, I don't know what it was,
but just like all day,
I didn't feel that.
And I was like,
I'll be damned.
I mean,
the story to,
the story to back up what I watched,
which is a guy so ready for that moment,
not a shrinking violet portion of him.
It was,
I have so many thoughts on this.
Let me try to be consistent.
concise. It was kind of the opposite of Chet. It felt more like towns had a couple possessions.
And he was like, he bleeds just like I bleed. He's not an actual alien. He's kind of slow-footed.
And if I get him out here, there was a, he did like a Draymond Green like fake D.H.O.
Went right past Wimby and right to the basket. And the thing about Wimby is you can get past
him, but he'll block your shot from behind. It's one of his strategies actually. Like it's like,
oh, oh, you, you dribbled past me.
A lot of times it's smaller people.
You dribbled past me.
I'll just block your shot from behind.
But Towns was finishing on him.
And I just feel like early, he got confidence.
He was like, he's just a man.
He's just a person.
And they put, I want to give a shout to Mike Brown and the coaching staff.
I feel like they did a really good job on both ends of putting Wemby in uncomfortable positions.
Like how many turn around 14 footers?
with a hand in his face did he shoot.
Like, he wasn't just catching lobs.
Like he wasn't in game four.
Did he shoot a three?
Yeah, oh, he shot a ton of threes.
No, no, no, no.
I'm talking about Towns.
On the other side.
Towns shot two.
He only shot two.
I think he hit one, right?
Do you hit one?
No, no, no.
He was over two.
And Wemby shot nine.
But Towns is, I've said this before in the show.
When he goes to the basket, it's ugliest sin.
It's so gross, but it works.
He just kind of lumberes his way there with long strides and puts his body against your body.
And it's just so gross.
But what is one play, I don't know if you remember this, because this is an inconsequential possession that no one will talk about into a microphone, but I'm about to do it.
I think it was the end of the first quarter.
He'd already scored on Wembe.
He's finished like around the rim on Wembe, maybe it was a putback or something.
And he had confidence.
and he went down the middle of the lane
and jumped in the air,
bumped into his chest,
and tried this like,
underhand scoop thing.
It was early in the game.
And I was just like,
he's like freestyling,
trying weird shit.
And I was like,
I don't like that.
It didn't go in,
but I like that you have the confidence
to,
like,
do a saucy layup on Wemmey.
Because I just watched the Thunder series
where they're just not even testing it.
Like,
there's not testing him at all.
Right.
I feel like the Knicks were like, we're going to try stuff.
We're going to see what works against you, what doesn't, but we're going to test you.
We're going to make you do something.
Make you stop us.
Make you change us.
Make you adjust to us instead of like, if Wembe's there, I'm not going to shoot.
And I feel like across the roster, they were like that.
And I thought even more importantly, the job he did on defense.
Oh, my God.
anybody in the free world talked about
was that OG and Anobi
because I mean the stats are everywhere
nobody does a better job than OG and Ovi
the analytics right at a world filled with analytics
and basic decisions based upon the numbers
and they've obviously still got that to go to
if they want to but
I couldn't believe that that's what they came out with
and towns it wasn't like towns held up
Towns was unbelievable against him.
He didn't foul.
He didn't foul.
Right.
Like, I was just, I thought the defense was amazing.
And I mean, again, like, as good as the defense was, if I'm a spurs fan or if I'm a spurs
coach or if I have Wimbingyama's ear, like, that's not it, Victor.
Well, how is he 26 feet away from the basket?
You got to get to the basket, man.
You're seven foot six, man.
Get to the basket.
I don't care if you miss.
I don't care if you get an office.
offensive foul. I don't care what happens, but like, we need you rolling to the basket hard and getting your feet in the paint and dunking the basketball. I don't care if you get an offensive foul. I don't care if you miss. Like, the idea that his shot chart looked the way it did was stupid. Well, the other thing is how can he, can we get him the ball closer to the basket? Like at the free throw line at the most, why is he always got the ball above the three point line? Like he's seven, nine. What are we doing?
If he shoots a three, the other team celebrates.
That should tell you something.
Yes.
It should tell you something.
Like if it's Carl Anthony Towns, you don't want to leave him open for a three because he'll knock him down 40% of the time.
Well, that is the thing.
As we talk about like, you know, and we'll get into adjustments that are going to be made, that is not going to happen again.
Like, no.
I even saw it today in the, you know, they have to do the off day press conferences or whatever.
and a girl asked him, said,
Greg Popovich has been talking to you throughout the season.
Have you talked to Popp, you know, basically since what happened in game one?
And he said, I have not talked to him, but he texts me.
And she says, she was, stopping a pitch.
Great reporting.
Great reporting.
She says,
can you tell us what those texts said.
Yes, please.
And he said,
that I've been bad and I'm better than this.
That's like a dad.
I'm not mad.
I'm disappointed.
I'm not mad at you,
Victor.
I'm just disappointed.
He said,
he said,
I'm not going to tell you everything.
He goes,
but the subject is basically,
you've been bad and you are better than this.
And he's like,
and I will be.
No, I agree.
I will be better than this.
The thing about him in that Thunder series,
it's so hit or miss.
It's so coin flippy.
Like game one,
game four,
game six and seven,
he was good.
Oh,
he even said,
he even said after the game.
Like,
basically,
like,
we go as I go.
And when I've been good,
we've been good.
And when I've been bad,
we've been bad.
And I was bad.
I do respect that.
One thing I found interesting, you saw the Jeremy Sohan quote leading into game one.
Waring him out.
He's like, he's tall.
He's like, it's just like sometimes it's so simple.
Like I watch, I rewatch the game today.
I look at all the stats and the analytics and the numbers.
But sometimes it's just like, it's just right in front of you.
He's like, yeah, he's really tall.
So it's hard for him to move because he's so big.
It takes a lot of like energy.
And it's like science.
He's like, it takes a lot of energy for him to move.
So if you make him move, then he gets.
tired. And I heard that and I was like, why am I on second spectrum? You know what I mean? I'm just
like that is the answer right there. Well, it's like those old school basketball coaches that would
always get mad about the big guys standing, you know, at the three point line. And they would always
say, everybody's the same size at the three point line. Yeah, yeah. Get your ass into pain.
Like, what that's your advantage. Your advantage of being seven five does not show up.
up 26 feet from the basket.
It shows up 15 and down.
And we are going to pivot to game too a little bit.
We're all over the place.
No, no, no, no.
We need to celebrate some more players.
We got to celebrate.
Hard.
Oh, my God.
I mean.
That's the other guy I told you was in the text.
Like, I know they're called an ultimate glue guy, the whole thing.
Do you see the video resurfaced today and it's going around everywhere?
of when they had him miced up two years ago,
and he's under the basket,
and he tells Mitchell Robinson,
he goes up to him.
This is why he's miced up.
You've got to find this video if you haven't seen it.
He walks up to him.
It's in the middle of the game.
He goes, you, you get regular rebounds.
I get rebounds that break teams.
And I'm like, do you!
And I heard Brian Winhorse say something that I'm absolutely steep.
and not from him.
He was relaying what Eric Spolstra once told him about Josh Hart, who was on a team USA team.
He said Josh Hart does not get 50-50 rebound.
He doesn't get 50-50 balls.
He gets 30-70 balls.
And I was like, oh, that is so good.
That is so good.
I'm stealing that.
Anybody gets 50-50 balls.
30-70 ball.
Yeah.
He gets 30-70 balls.
And he does it over and over and he breaks you by doing it.
I think it's also worth mentioning Jose Alvarado.
Hell yeah.
Like Brunzonson's in the tunnel.
Alvarado comes in, hits a three.
And remember, Champagne's from Brooklyn, too.
They're both in Brooklyn.
And Jose played ball in Queens.
But they know each other.
It's like when you're an elite athlete at that level,
in the same age group, like, you know each other in the city.
and he was talking shit to Champany
and we all saw it you can see it
you don't even need to be on the broadcast
I could see it from the 208 section
and then the next possession
he leaves Champany in the corner
just he just
kind of like put his hand in the cookie jar
is a little too much
and Champany hits a three on him
and then Champany is roasting him on the way back
and I was just like this is the finals
and these two have known each other since they're 14
and 12 years old.
Like, it was just awesome to be there.
To make that level of competition and trading blows.
And like, you know, people you've known for a long time that you've played at,
like, literally on concrete against.
And now you're like the Larry O'Brien trophies on the hardwood and you're trading
threes.
It was just like, it's one of those things.
Like, yeah, I'm a Nick fan.
But like, I love basketball more than the Knicks.
Like, that was awesome.
It was awesome.
Because look, and the reason we're highlighting towns, the hustle plays by heart,
Alvarado getting his opportunity in the moment.
not being too big is because you watch, and that is one of the things that you have to look out
for is you go, who is the moment too big for, right?
Who is not playing up to their standard?
No.
Because of this.
And it's like, Alvarado and Shamet were there for it as guys off the bench from the next.
We need to talk about this.
Dylan Harper has no idea at the NBA finals.
It seemed like he was the only spur in the first five minutes of the game.
that was playing basketball.
He knows, hey, he came in the game, bro.
He knows it is now.
You see what happened today?
We've got a youthful mistake.
What happened?
Oh, you didn't see this?
Oh, it was everywhere.
I went to the riverwalk today.
I've got to believe he accidentally.
What do you do?
But on his TikTok account,
he reposted this video that this guy made of,
it basically says,
What? I didn't see this.
Oh, it's a video and it says, it's goofing on Deeran Fox.
Oh, my God.
And it's, he reposted it.
Oh, my God.
Hey, he reposted it.
And it's a guy made this whole video of Deeran Fox saying he was honoring playoff James
Hardin with his stat line and then has the stat line at the bottom.
and then like Deerrin Fox dancing in it.
I mean, it's a catastrophe.
And then when you're Deerrin Fox,
you see Dylan Harper's name pop up on your phone
and you're just like,
and you answer it and then Dylan's like,
hey, man, how are you doing today?
He's like, oh, man, tough game last night.
I checked against this.
This is one of those that was so,
I checked against it.
Like, I went and did like the research.
Central Cental.
I was like, it's this?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brick Center, Sports Center.
And you don't know if he's going to say,
was an accident. Obviously, look, you can't. Yeah, there's no way you were doing that up purpose.
Just fat thumbs. Yeah. There's no way you were doing that on purpose. But you're looking at it,
though, but you're looking at it. Yeah. Like, you might not have meant to re TikTok it or whatever
the kids say, but like, you saw it and you watched it. And don't you believe deep down Dylan
Harper thinks he should be getting Deere Fox's minutes for very good reason? Dylan Harper,
if, if I just watch that game not knowing that he was a rookie, I would be like, oh, that's the
on the team that's a calming presence that's ready for the moment.
Well, because here's what I'm going to say, Jacoby.
Again, sometimes these games can be by big enough margins that it's not like, you know,
give the ball to your star, go get me a bucket, right?
One of the things that I was saying to my buddies last night when we were texting about it,
I said, this is, not only is this advantage because you've got Brunson and he's like,
clutch gene, whatever you want to call personified.
It's also, it is very hard for a big guy to be your best player in an NBA where it's
throw the ball to him, go get me a bucket.
The ball is typically in the guy's hands, right?
And even if you go back, even if you go back through finals MVP's of the past, right?
Kevin Garnett might have been the best player, but Paul Pierce is the finals MVP.
and Shaq might have been the best player, but Kobe Bryant was.
And Kawhi Leonard was.
You could go on and on, right?
The ball is in their hands, right?
And they're the ones utilizing screens and coming off screens and going and get into their signature move, whatever.
That's hard for big guys.
Big guys typically are at their best when someone is delivering them the ball.
Not when they are initiating it.
And that's where the Fox being crap thing was the killer of all killers.
because he himself has been an amazing clutch player in the past.
He was NBA clutch player of the year for those light the beam king.
I'm not mistaken.
I think he was the very first one.
I would say this though.
Think about Wimby's big game four, right?
What are your memories from that?
It wasn't like game one where he got his own shots.
My memories of game four is Castle just throwing the ball up and Wemby dunking it.
And then again, Castle, Bissell, Fox, just getting downhill, drawing defenders and just throwing
the ball up, like blindly throwing it up
because his, you know, his arms or his arms.
And like, that is not the same
as Brunson going off
a screen, getting the matchup he wants.
No. And then we all know what's going to happen next.
Well, they just all play off of that.
It is hard to initiate offense as a big.
Unless you're crawling to its house.
This guy. Carl towns.
Crawl towns. It was great.
I would also like, like, Bruno, like,
three years ago, two years ago, last year.
The story of the Knicks was they have a good starting five,
but there's two guys in their starting five that you can hunt on defense.
That was the story.
It's like 40% of their starting five are bad defenders.
That is now down to like, I don't know, maybe Brunson.
But like, Carlton Towns is no longer the guy that you,
that you're like, hey, come.
Oh, Towns is covering you, come.
a pick we're going to cook them it's not happening anymore at all right this is the biggest
transformation that i've seen midseason because the the first half of the regular season i would
watch every nick game and constantly josh hart would be looking at towns being like what are you
doing that's your defensive assignment they just got a layup it was like twice a game right
and now it just doesn't happen anymore he stepped up like this a couple years ago and it's interesting
because they also had really good athletic defensive wings in Minnesota.
Against Yolkich.
He stepped up like this then, too.
You know, when he had, he was flanked by Edwards and McDaniels and that crew.
And now he's flanked by.
He got absolutely eaten alive like Clint Capella on the Rockets.
Do you remember that series?
It was like Clint Coppella.
I would be like, who's a better basketball player?
Clint Capella or Collins is like Capella, not even close.
Honestly, you remember that series?
It was like, not even close.
Well, and the big thing is, like what I was talking about earlier, to me, it was a who do you, he's never been a guy that you'd say, I want to go to war with him.
That's what he's now is.
That's what he's become.
Now is.
Yes, foxhole guy.
No one would ever say the Carlin-Lith Downs was a foxhole guy four months ago.
No one would say it.
I remember we did a show like mid-season and you're like, oh, you feel good about it.
about the next day. They're on like a, you know, like a seven-game win series.
They're like, oh, what are your concerns? I'm like Carl Anthony Town.
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So we've obviously had the love fest for the Knicks.
Let me just play devil's advocate here, okay?
Okay.
Like that, you needed every bit of that Brunson run at the end, right?
And he was great.
And the towns that we're talking about are Josh Hart getting 15 rebounds.
Like, OG didn't turn up really until the second half, but then did get it going, you know, later.
Fox and Wemby were a combined
9 for 34
That's not a good percentage
I mean
that's the guys that we're talking about like they need
The other ones are guys that play off of those two, right?
Fox and Wemby were 9 for 34
I think Fox is hurt
I think Fox had a good game seven
but he's hurt like he's hurt
He's playing hurt and God bless him
but he's hurt.
It's the Wemby part.
Like, I'm, one of my concerns as a Nick fan is
Wemby played poorly mentally.
Like, I feel like he can be coached into a successful game.
He was just settling for mid-range jumpers.
Everything was contested.
Nothing was aggressive.
How many times do you go to the line?
You get the box score there?
How many times you go to the line?
Yep.
He went to the line 13 times.
That's pretty good, actually.
Yeah, 13.
but like, I don't know.
I just feel like, I feel like Wemby played poorly,
and there's a lot of room for him to be better.
And he had 26 and 12.
I know.
But Towns had, what, 18 and 9 or something?
18 to 12.
Yeah, but if you were to say who had a better game,
Carlton Towns or Wemby, it's not even close.
Right.
The numbers don't always tell the story.
And that's because of the defense.
Yeah.
That's because of the defense, right?
And offense.
Like, Carlton Towns would just go by Wemby.
He looked slow in his beat.
You know what's interesting?
The third lead, so we talked about hard having 15 rebounds,
having 12 rebounds.
Who do you think was the third leading rebounder for the Knicks?
Oh, for the Knicks?
Yeah.
Mitchell Robinson.
What do you have three?
Six rebounds in 13 minutes.
Well, two of those were putbacks that he missed, right?
Yeah.
He looked like he was going to be able to play, though.
Like he looks like he's going to be able to play.
Yeah, he's going to be able to play.
Yeah, he's going to be able to play.
there. He's going to be able to be out there, right? He's going to be out there. And, and
Rosa actually said, my producer here sent me a thing earlier today. He said, if you want to use
this for the mismatch, when Kat and Mitchell Robinson both play, they're 3 and 0 versus the
spurs this year. Wemby has shot 38% and 23% from three. Mitchell Robinson did not play in the,
in the one game they lost to the spurs, which is the 134, 132 game.
they have and in those games the nicks have 77 second chance points in the three wins
which is almost 26 points a game wow that's something but like those games are so goofy
because i looked i looked over him before the series i know i know i know they're not games like it's just
like there's only so much you can do about that i'm just saying that's not a one game sample size
of wendy being crap versus towns and robinson yeah i mean three
game sample size. It's just funny. 38%
is 38% to goby.
We're sitting here being like, well,
well, obviously, uh, Wemby's going to guard
Josh Hart and O'G and O'G and Obe's going to guard
Wemby. And it's like, the
coaches are just like, no.
That's actually not what's going to happen. Guard
each other. And I loved it.
I'm just, you know, I
want to applaud Concy Towns
for the great game that he had and I look
forward to him repeating it. I am concerned
about him fouling. If he's going to be Wemby's
matchup and Wemby's going to be more aggressive in game too,
Wemby's going to look at the tape.
He's going to know what he did wrong.
Pop is going to text him back and say mean things.
And he's going to be much more aggressive.
And I'm concerned about Towns being a good boy on defense
because he has a tendency to get those fouls.
And then you look at Mitch.
And if Mitch can't really be himself,
they might even hack a Mitch.
And then you look at it like hot porting.
And then, you know, I don't know.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, look, they got the one.
They got the one.
Oh, no.
We're not playing with the house money.
Nixon for it, bro.
Nixon 4. I said Nixon 4 before the series. I mean it.
You do not think they're going to sweep them.
They're going to sweep them. You do not.
You're just chanting what they're chanting in the streets in New York.
You don't really believe that.
I got an update. I got an update. You've been to my local bar. You know my local spot.
You know Vinny, right? Oh, yeah.
There's a guy there that works at Summer Stage. Summer Stage is this huge stage that they build for
the summer in the middle of Central Park. They have a lot of concerts and venues and stuff there.
and he's like a stagehand.
I don't know what he does.
Shout to him.
Rob Mahoney,
not Rob Mahoney from the ringer.
Right,
you told me about him.
All right,
let me read you this text
that it's got from here.
This is in Central Park.
Central Park.
Bro,
wait to see this text.
Rob, it's Jacoby.
You guys doing a watch party tomorrow night?
I went to the game in San Antonio last night.
It was bonkers.
He writes back.
Listen to this.
Yes, we are,
but it's going to be so crazy
last night was nuts.
You're more than welcome,
but no VIP at the moment.
He's like, yeah, you can come to the watch party,
but you're a civilian.
What?
I can't even get into the,
I got a guy,
and I can't even get into the watch party.
No VIP at the moment?
At the moment.
Like, you could just show up like a regular guy.
I'm not like Dave Jacoby.
I love being a regular guy,
but I was going to go with my kids.
Yeah, I was going to be,
I was going to go with my kids and be like,
I host food news and the mismatch.
Do you know who I am?
And now he's like, bro, I got nothing for you.
He's like, you're welcome to come to Central Park.
It's a public park.
Thanks so much.
Tell him your co-host does master's updates.
Oh, I will.
I'll send him a link.
I'll send him a link.
He's like, he's welcome to come VIP, but not you.
Because when I talked about the bar, he's like, oh, yeah, dude, you're sitting next to me.
Like, yeah, we got you.
Yeah, we got you.
Oh, that's, that's drunk talk.
The watch parties are going crazy.
That's drunk.
That's drunk talk.
He's slow plays like sun, what it's called sun, sunrises, those like ice tea things, what was called?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Suncliffs.
Yeah, they're like that self, the new selts.
Yeah, but they don't have bubbles.
Yeah, he's slow plays those, so he's not, he doesn't talk crazy.
Oh, okay.
Well, you also, probably just didn't want to hurt your feelings or make you feel special.
No, he hurt my feelings.
You hear my family.
Well, now he did, for sure.
Yeah, but it's also like, hey, don't say one thing and then be something else later.
So now what are you going to do?
I'm going to wash it at my house with my kids.
I'm going to make, my kids don't, my kids don't care at all.
all. My kids don't care at all. I land at seven at JFK. So it's going to take me about an hour of 15
to get to get to the house. I'm going to be tired. I don't fly the same I used to. What do you expect
from game two? Let's talk. Let's finish up. I expect this first to come back and like play with
force. You'll get a better Fox, a better Wemby. You'll get more Dylan Harper. Adjustments will be made.
and we're going to be back to, is there, you know, look, the problems the NICs have will be the subject of our next, you know, podcast.
Or I guess by the time we do it again, we'll have had the benefit of another game before that.
But, yeah, I mean, that's the way this goes.
I never want to overreact greatly to what happened in the first game.
That was a- Do you remember the Western Conference?
It was like, the West Conference finals.
It always felt like that.
After every game, I was so resolute that whoever won that game was going to,
steamroll the rest of the series.
Yeah.
Look.
All right.
Just hear me out.
Despite your Nixon form.
Here's...
Nixon for.
Everywhere I went before game seven,
people were asking me,
well, you think's going to happen in game seven.
And I'm like, you know, I do,
like, you could just listen to the podcast I do, but okay.
Sounds like work.
You know what I mean?
I have to listen to Jacoby then, so I'm not doing that.
Yeah.
So I'm here.
And this was my opinion for the game seven between Spurs and Oklahoma City.
By the time it got there, I was at the point where it was like, bro, game one, game three, game six.
Wembe was fantastic.
Game one game four, game six.
Whatever, four, six, yeah.
Wemby was fantastic.
and they won. So it's literally to me a question. Game seven, whole things on the line.
Do I think Victor Wambayama will be awesome? If the answer is yes, then I like them. I,
you know how you were saying, like, sometimes this is simple. Like, yeah, I actually think that
there's a reason why when he was on the podium, it made all the sense in the world when he is saying,
like kind of goes as I go and I'm not good.
And I mean,
that wasn't good enough.
And it will be good enough,
but that clearly was not good enough.
And I will be better.
And I believe that.
Like,
I do believe like that he's not going to be.
That was,
that's crazy for a freaking guy to,
six for 21.
He's nine foot tall.
No, counterpoint.
Counterpoint.
All right.
Counterpoint.
What?
Uh,
excited to play in game one of the NBA finals?
He was excited.
What do you need?
You need a little pep talk before game two?
Is that what you need?
You need to make adjustments?
It's like, bro, you're not ready for game one.
Then you're not going to be ready for game two.
Here's what I'm telling you.
It's not about being ready.
It's about like that old quote that we lauded Gilded Gildes-Alexander.
We were like, oh, yeah, that's a bar.
That's cool.
Or he said, I know the answer.
I know the answers I need the other questions.
Correct.
Yeah.
And I do not think that Victor Wimbidiamma,
he clearly is not at the point in his career
where you can't throw something at him
that makes his life hell, right?
When you become the fully formed superstar,
you've seen it all.
And then you know the answers to the test.
And you know what to do
and what is the right basketball play.
He is going through this in the most high leverage.
situation possible for the first time.
He has never played in a
playoff game until this year.
Jacoby and he's going up against
the best teams that are super well
coach. And so the trick
is you can't let the same
thing happen to you twice. And what we
did see in the Oklahoma City
series is he did not let
the same thing happen to him twice.
He did figure it out.
Like you know what I mean? You get to do that to him.
Game two and game three.
I'm not saying you can't present.
I'm not saying you can't present him different problems.
Not saying you can't present him different problems.
But what I am saying is he is one of those players that you could throw him off.
But now, like, you better believe they are going to be scouring through that.
And he's going to be scouring through that to figure out how does that not happen again?
Why have I got the ball 26 feet away from the basket?
This is stupid.
Yes, I think that there are, if you are a Spurs coach, Spurs fan or Spurs player,
there are some very obvious adjustments that need to be made,
especially when it comes to Victor Wembe and Yama.
I will say that.
I will also say this is Vernon.
Do you know what he has now?
Battle scars.
Not yet.
Not yet.
No, that's a scar.
Game one at home.
Game one at home and watching Jalen Brunson just have his way in the last 90 seconds
and win the game by 10.
And then you have the key turnover, those are battle scars.
Well, and look, this guy had this heart ripped out of his chest and refused to talk to the media in game five.
He was awful in game five, which was the pivotal game five.
And he responded with game six and game seven.
So I know you may not like him, but I will be stunned if he doesn't respond.
I'll be stunned.
After what I just watched against Oklahoma City?
I'll be shocked if he's not awesome in game two.
All right, we've gone over an hour, so we're about to wrap,
and I do want to give you the Riverwalk update.
I don't know what it's like anymore.
I haven't been in so many years,
but I quite liked it when I went there.
I enjoyed it as well.
Yeah, I liked it.
Because I'm staying in the sticks.
I'm like by the practice facility.
So I'm like 20 minutes outside of town.
I was like, I have, I had like a two-hour window.
I have to go see the Riverwalk.
Like, it's the only thing in San Antonio.
I'm not going to go see the Alamo.
I don't like looking at things.
I like doing things.
I was like, I was like, there's the Washington,
Monument.
I was like, that looks just like the pictures.
There's Abe Lincoln statue.
That looks just like the pictures.
I don't like looking at things unless it's like the Grand Canyon.
Okay.
So let me tell you something.
I'm out after like 30 seconds.
Dude, let me tell you something crazy.
When I was there, I went and I was like,
I needed to get something at Walgreens.
I can't remember what it was.
Maybe I needed some toothpaste from Advil or something.
Yeah, probably that.
And so then I was like, so I walked down the street from my hotel, past the river walk, up to like this Walgreens.
And like it's just like, you know, it's like a town square type of thing, right?
And I look across the way and there's like a little sign and it says to Alamo.
And I was like, what the hell?
Right at the Walgreens.
No, it's just like, bro, if you go, it's.
it's nothing like what I thought.
It's just,
it's in the middle of downtown.
Like,
you're just walking by.
And then you're like,
what?
That's the alamo?
And of course,
I was like,
I want to go try to find Peewee's bike,
you know,
in the basement.
That's,
my reference point for the alimaux.
Oh,
my God.
Is Peewey Herman?
Yeah,
his bike is,
do you know what I mean?
And I was like,
I got to go.
And I,
like,
walk through it.
It took me like two seconds.
It's literally.
like in the middle of downtown and you're just you can just be walking down the street and then
it'll say yeah yeah and then there's like that thing that you see like the yeah of course the outside
structure the front of it yeah yeah but it's not big and it's just there i love to hear you explaining
pee we herman to your 15 year old son the river walk was lovely shout to san antonio everyone's lovely
i had an uber silver silver rhodo truck and an uber purple dodge charger that's all you need to know
about San Antonio.
That is amazing.
A purple Dodge Charger, dude.
And you had five chicken wings.
It took 25 minutes.
I think 25.
I'll take the over on 25.
I was like,
I'm going to miss the first quarter because of these chicken wings.
Were they at least good?
They were good, yeah.
I liked them.
Yeah.
All right.
All right.
Nick Spurs,
game two is going to be on Friday night.
After game three.
We will reconvene after game three.
As long as your.
or not in Central Park and VIP.
I'm not.
I already got the Rob Mahoney shut me down.
I'm hit up the other Rob Mahoney, see if he's gotten in.
You don't want to be outside for this.
I mean, if they win game three, buddy, that city would be on fire.
I like to be outside.
All right, no.
You don't need to be.
You're too old for that.
No.
I saw those kids on top of, like, bringing ambulances and stuff.
And I was like, oh, good.
All right.
It's going to do it for another episode of the mismatch.
Thanks to Jeff.
As always, and Jacobia.
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