WEBVTT - All-Star Weekend, Brian Mahoney & Thibs In NY 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:16.200 No, no, come on, come on. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:21.400 Brian Mahoney from the AP is live in Cleveland. We 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:23.799 want to get his take on what's happening right now, 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:26.680 what the environment is at All Star weekend. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.320 What's the feel with the Knicks right now? Brian? Are 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:31.320 you here? Are you with us? 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:33.520 I am with you absolutely? 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:36.920 Hey, Brian, how is it in Cleveland? 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:40.519 Have you been enjoying the snow storm that's been going on? 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:41.400 The snow and the ice. 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.840 It's cold, It is cold, for sure. It's it's fun 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:47.400 to be back at All Start. Don't get me wrong. 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.519 You know obviously last year they couldn't really do this, 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.080 so it's SIT's back to normal for the most part 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:56.200 now with all the events back. But it's it's cold. 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:58.720 It's we're not We're not in a warm weather city 0:00:58.720 --> 0:00:59.040 for sure. 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:00.600 In Cleveland, Yeah, no doubt. 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:05.759 At least you're somewhat enjoying festivities instead of having to 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:08.840 be on the on the beat of drama in Brooklyn 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:13.240 and in New York. At least like a week break 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.840 for everyone who's wanting to know what's going on with Tibbs, 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.679 what's going on with this next organization? Would love to 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.640 get your take though, because there's a lot of blame 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:27.039 that's being thrown around. Who should be to blame for 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:30.319 the Knicks and their woes? All of those twenty point 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:32.600 leads that they've blown in the last like eight games. 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:34.000 What are you hearing? 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.760 What's like really going on in terms of the reason 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:39.280 that this team is struggling and what do you think 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:40.480 happens next? 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.400 Well, I mean there's a lot of you know, being 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:47.160 here on the road, I've seen a lot of national people, 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.160 there's a lot of you know, we can't believe how 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:51.480 it get so bad so fast. You know, this was 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:54.040 a you know, a good news, feel good story last 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.320 year at the Nicks nicking the playoffs and Tom Tiba 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:57.880 winning Coach of the Year, and it would just look 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.040 like a great mix. And you know, people like to see, 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:02.680 you know, once in a while the next have a 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:04.640 good team and then they're surprised that went so bad 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.320 so fast this year. I think they just, you know, unfortunately, 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:10.400 the moves they made this year, they sort of built 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.000 a team that is, you know, a competitive team. They're 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:15.320 in every game most games anyway, but they're just not 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:17.480 good enough to win a lot of them. They're you know, 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.840 this team ultimately falls short, and it's a you know, 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.359 a top to bottom failure. So far, Unfortunately, some players 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.799 haven't played well enough, some moves they made weren't good enough. 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.320 And Tom Thibodau has made some coaching mistakes. 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:30.639 Yeah, for sure he has. 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.320 But I think that it's interesting that the blame falls 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.360 on him when the players that he are very clearly 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.120 Tibbs guys. And now the news comes out that he 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:42.200 wasn't super thrilled with the Evan Fournier signing, wasn't super 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.520 thrilled with Kemba as well as Cam Reddish, And I'm 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:48.240 curious as to, you know, the move with not re 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.040 signing Reggie Bullock. I know that's kind of a niche question, 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:53.080 but it feels like there was a shift within the 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:56.480 organization maybe of trust where they were bringing in the 0:02:56.600 --> 0:03:00.200 Tibbs like mold guy, like a Derreck Rose, like a 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:03.000 Taj Gibson, and then they end up getting kind of 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:04.720 rid of them and going a different direction. 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.079 What do you think is is the reason for that? 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:12.440 No, it's a very good question, you know, obviously, you know, look, 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.920 they felt they needed to upgrade the offense. You know, 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:17.680 I think Jeff bang Gunde during doing one of their 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:19.640 games this year, said, you know, look they you know, 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.000 they tanked a bit in that Atlanta series. Afterwards, you know, 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:24.680 they played so poorly offensively that they felt they had 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:27.280 to go out this summer and upgrade that. And you know, 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:29.880 the moves to get porny A and Kemba Walker. We're 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.200 done that and they say, okay, maybe we can afford to, 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:35.040 you know, sacrifice a little bit of defense and you 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.040 let a guy like Bullet go, and you know, again 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:40.200 it hasn't worked out. I understand why they made the 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.680 move for sure, watching the end of last season, but 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:45.600 also they took away some of the strength of the team. 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.360 And you know, you probably saying some regards. Okay, a 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:50.560 guy like Tom Tibodeau, you you know, I'll be able 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:52.240 to deal with that, but you have to have a 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:54.960 certain kind of player, and this team doesn't have all 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:56.040 those kinds of players. 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:59.160 Yeah, And it's like you have to earn the minutes 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.280 for tips. You have to earn him. In practice, nothing's given. 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:04.920 He'll give you a DNP if he doesn't like what 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:08.400 you're doing. So I guess the question is if things 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:11.400 go this direction, because right now Tibbs is saying, oh, well, 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:13.440 now post All Star break, we're gonna start playing the 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:13.960 young guys. 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:15.240 What's the reason for that. 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:20.159 Are the expectations no longer surpassing Obviously it's not going 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:23.000 to be possible, but winning to the level of last 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:24.840 year and now it's kind of a punt season. 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.320 Yeah, it was interesting hearing him say that after the 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:30.640 game the other night. You know, he was talking about 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:33.800 winning in one regard, that's all his focuses on winning, 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:35.800 And then a few minutes later he said, Okay, we 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.280 have these young guys, and you know, developing our young 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:40.800 guys what we have to do, which obviously those are 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:45.039 contractory feelings for the most part. So you know, they're 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.840 still close to being in the play in position. I mean, 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.080 that's only three games out maybe or so, so they 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:54.120 could try and keep going. But with this little bit 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:56.080 left in the season, they may I think it's worth it. 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.479 And in that regard, then, yeah, they have enough guys 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:01.600 here young, so you do have to start to give 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.080 more minutes, I guess. And that's not the kind of 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.520 thing he ever wants to do, but it may just 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:07.719 be what management tells him to do. 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:13.800 I'm curious as to what happens postseason. Tim signed a 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.960 five year deal right off the jump, and I think 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.920 the world is sort of wondering could he be on 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:25.000 the chopping block legitimately? What does your feel on that? 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.159 And is that just still to be determined or are 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.400 we at a not at the tipping point as to 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:31.800 where we can make a prediction on that. 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.839 Yet I hate, I hate to make one because you 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.320 never know what My feeling on the one, Renownd is, Look, 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:40.080 the guys a winning record in New York. You know 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:41.640 no one has that in no long time. 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.120 Yes, so how could they not want to keep him around? 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.080 He's proven he can do well here. On the other hand, 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:50.640 he's on the Knicks, and they make reaction and decisions sometimes, 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.200 you know, I would I want to give leon Rose 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.640 benefit a doubt that that he's not going to be 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.320 that kind who has done, you know what some of 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:00.760 the previous presidents have done and just kind of bail 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:04.000 out on things too quickly. But at the same time, 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.599 you know, these being the Knicks, you just never never 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:09.040 can know. They have a history of making the wrong 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:10.000 move sometimes. 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:13.800 Yeah, and James Dolan isn't always one of those those 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.480 owners that want to have multiple coaches on the payroll 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.680 all at the same time that it takes a lot 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:22.000 for him to get there. Sometimes shifting over to Vinettes, 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.840 what's kind of the vibe now that all the drama 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.000 of the Harden trade has settled. 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.480 It seems to be pretty good. You know, I wasn't 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:33.600 around them much when things really went bad but hard, 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.720 and they were on the West coast trip then when 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:38.600 things seem to really fall up the deep end, and 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:40.520 you know, I didn't realize how bad it seems to 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:42.680 have gotten. And now that that trade is done and 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.160 he's gone, Uh, you know that that win against the 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.120 Knicks was was a great win, you know, to come 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:50.440 back there and win that game, and you know, winning 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:53.159 at home the first night when they had Drummond and 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:58.080 Curry playing was a you know, routing Sacramento. So, uh, 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.679 this seems to have really improved things. Now again, doesn't 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:03.320 matter unless Kevin Durant gets healthy and then Benson's comes 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:05.880 back think to play and all that stuff. But certainly 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:08.240 they seem to be in a much better place mentally 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.040 than they were, you know, ten days ago. 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:13.640 Now, Harden said that this had very little to do 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:15.679 with Kyrie, but that's not true. 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:16.360 Is it? 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.960 I can't imagine it is, you know, I mean, obviously, 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:22.800 if you're gonna find a reason you frustrated as a 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.240 NETS player, I mean you have to look there, don't you. 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.200 Yeah, yeah, I mean, and now you're getting to a 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.160 point where you have a guy like Cam Thomas who's 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:32.840 able to get buckets in late game situations without all 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:34.640 that drama. 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:38.280 Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, getting him more 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.440 it helps. And you know, I can understand why Harden 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.040 is disappointed obviously. You know, this has been two years 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.000 in a row where Kyrie is not there all the 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:48.440 time and James hardness to play heavy minutes because of that, 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:51.800 And I don't think that's necessarily was fair to Harden. 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:53.880 And so you know, is that the only reason you 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:55.320 want to go? I don't want to say that. I 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.400 think that would be unfair, But I certainly can't imagine 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:00.760 they played no factor at all. You know, we saw 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.240 he was appointed after the Nets change our mind in 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:06.120 December and brought Kyrie bank and and uh, you know 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.640 that certainly it all added up to him wanting out. 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.360 Do you believe that this situation happens the way that 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:14.760 it does if Kyrie was not a part time player, 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:16.240 that he was a no time player. 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:20.840 If Kyrie hadn't played role this year would have one. 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.640 That's a it's a it's a good question. I uh, 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.000 you know, I I think maybe he would have made 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.440 it through the season. Maybe and you know, and then 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:31.240 you know he's playing was to go into free into 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:33.080 the summer, and maybe he would have stuck with that. 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.239 If he was so frustrated he would have been left 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:37.600 or you know, just wanted to go, he would have left. 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.400 But uh, you know, it's very possible that when the 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.160 Nets changed our mind, that that sped things up. You know, 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.320 I certainly, you know, Harden needs to win the title, 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:47.800 is the bottom line. He you know, Kevin Durants won, 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:51.120 Kyrie Irvings won, Harden hasn't won, and he needs to 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:54.080 make sure they're doing everything possible to win. And the 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:56.800 Nets were not. Kyrie not playing all the time wasn't 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:59.520 going to help him here. So that certainly, you know, 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:00.600 would have this point at him. 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:06.240 Yeah, it's interesting that on one end k Carden's full 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:08.800 goal is to win right now, but on the other end, 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:11.560 we're seeing you know, reports that he's out on the 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.199 road partying, that his conditioning isn't up to par I'm 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.400 very curious as to how this actually ends up shaking out, 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.760 whether any of those things change now that he's in Philly. 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:24.280 What what's the vibe with Ben and when we can 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:25.120 see him return. 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:30.080 You know, that'll be interesting because you know, they play 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.840 in Philadelphia in a couple of weeks on market. Yeah, 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:35.319 I don't know what they want to have been to 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:37.120 who's played there, you know, if he has you know, 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:40.120 mental health struggles. Uh So that's a tough place. So 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:42.800 you know, do they on the one hand, not bring 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:44.800 him back before then on the other hand, if they 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:46.800 don't bring him back before then, you know, this is 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.440 a team that doesn't have a lot of games left 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:50.560 and they're you know, pretty far back into standing, so 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:52.120 they need to get things going. 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:53.280 So it'll be. 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:56.120 Fascinating to see, you know, how soon you know, physically 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.480 and mentally he's ready to get on the court. 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.920 So I'm curious, says to how things are shaking out 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.880 also with Kyrie, because I've I've seen some news that 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.240 there's a potential and this has been whispering for months 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:11.840 now that possibly that New York will change their mandate 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.800 or maybe he'll be able to figure out where the 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:18.040 Nets pay a fine, like what is actually true here? 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:20.440 And is that actually going to change before playoff time? 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:24.600 I mean, just use the Steve words, Steve Nash's words. 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:26.680 They're optimistic, you know. I think everyone is sort of 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:28.720 looking at things are you know, getting better and numbers 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:30.959 are going down, and you know they believe in the 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:33.920 way happen. I understand, you know, the mayor you know 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:36.640 has said, you know, I'm not sure myself what to do, 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:38.199 but I don't want to rush this and send the 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:40.679 wrong message. But the playoffs are still you know, two 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:42.600 months away, so I think the Nets can you know, 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.240 hang in there. The problem is if it doesn't happen. 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:47.120 I think, you know, a lot of us all thought 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:49.480 at some point Kyrie would say, I prove my point 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.760 and I'm going to get the vaccine. There's been no 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:53.840 reason to believe that's going to change it all during 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:55.600 this whole season. He seems to have sort of dug 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:59.000 in more. Even so you know, if the man it 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.200 doesn't change, they have to, you know, realistically think you know, 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.040 he's not going to play at all this year and 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:06.880 on games and you know, and you know they can't 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:08.880 win if that doesn't happen, and. 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.760 If that doesn't happen and we get a halftime kai 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:15.160 all the way through playoffs. I know we're not in 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.000 the prediction game all the time, but I have to 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:19.280 ask you, like, if you had to put odds on 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:22.520 Kyrie getting an extension this summer, if he does, and 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:24.240 at what length, where would you go with that? 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:28.640 You know, I think the Nets have to be careful 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.760 with that. You know. Again, I he you know, he 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:34.880 took a leave of absence last year. He has not 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.000 been committed to doing what it does to play all 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.440 year this year. These are his own personal issues. I 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:41.480 understand that. I'm you know, I don't want to say, but. 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:44.960 He's never available full full games except for the years when. 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.920 He was with Braun right, So you know, you can't 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:50.720 then pay him maxim money in my mind to you know, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:52.760 if you're not going to be there all the time. Now, 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:54.839 you know what you know? Is there a middle number 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:56.720 where the Nets will say, well, we're going to extend you, 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.680 but we're giving you only this, uh, you know, And 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.520 as that matter of Kyrie, I'm not even sure, you know, 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:04.800 it's hard to really tell what's important to him at 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:06.560 this at this point in his life and his career, 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:08.960 so it's going to be tough one for the Nets 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:10.880 to navigate it. It's such a hard question to answer 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:13.640 because we've never seen this. You know, how many you 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:16.000 know guys are they with his talent who you aren't 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:19.319 sure whether they want to play basketball anymore? And that's 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:20.800 where we kind of are with Kyrie. 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:22.600 Where are we with Joe side? 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:24.840 Do you think because he's kind of the key piece, 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:29.240 his only goal is to win at any cost, has 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.120 there been any whispers about what his sentiment. 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:32.040 Is on this? 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.760 You know, the only really wizards we hear is obviously 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:40.559 you know, he believes in vaccines and science, so there 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.240 was some disappointment there. But at the same time, he 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:45.400 also you know, wants to do what everyone takes to win, 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:48.280 as you mentioned, and bringing Kyrie back was part of that, 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:50.880 so you know, he did. You know, they all have 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:52.560 done what they had to do for this season to 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:54.240 give us out what they felt was the best chance. 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.320 But you know, going forward up this year, they have 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.560 to sort of evaluate the whole thing because there's dollars 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:01.880 and cents involved, and and commitment levels and talent levels 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:04.720 and all those kind of things. And he's a tough 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:05.480 one to evaluate. 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:08.680 Brian, thank you so much for joining us all the 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.920 way from Icy Snowy. Got your surrels on, your bug 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:16.120 boots on. Hopefully you don't have your sneaker game going 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.120 because I think you'll have to leave those in the hotel. 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:20.480 You don't want to wear anything on your feet on 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:21.240 the strip, that's. 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:23.640 For sure, and that's what the All Star Game is 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.480 all about. Brian, thanks so much for joining us. 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:28.040 Thanks to take care. 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:28.559 Thank you. 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:32.600 Brian Mahoney from the AP Live in Cleveland. The Danis 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:37.840 pleasure doesn't nothing. I measure, there's getten. 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.640 A lot of a lot of hate here. I'm Tristan 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.160 Criek here on the fan. A lot of hate here 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:47.360 for Tibbs. The pitchforks are out for Tibbs. 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:51.400 I tell you what. I was talking to a couple 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.960 of co workers, Big. 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:59.400 Knicks fans, and they're like, Tibbs is an idiot, Tibbs sucks. 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:04.880 Tibbs won Coach of the Year last year. So my 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:09.640 question is does a coach go from being elite Coach 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:15.760 of the Year status to becoming absolute garbage overnight? 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:18.719 Or is there more going on here? 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.640 Because I believe that there's a lot of blame to 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:25.520 go around, and I think Tibbs is the last person 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.880 that should be fired or the last person that should 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:31.880 be on the chopping block, the guillotine, whatever you want 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:36.200 to say, right, because let's put this into perspective. Say 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:40.000 you're an employee, you get hired, You get hired right 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.920 off tops for five years. They've got the trust in 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.800 you to sign you immediately to a long term deal. 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:50.800 They know everything about you, they know your history, they 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:54.120 know your reputation. You guys got a great relationship. You've 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.680 laid out the plan for success, and the business that 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:02.280 you're coming into to run has been successful for I 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:06.160 mean a long long time. And you come in and 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:11.000 you ignite the culture. All of a sudden things are 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:16.560 going swimmingly. All of a sudden, you are performing well 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:20.680 above expected, I mean well above well above expectations. 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:27.520 Like the team the Knicks going to the playoffs. Excuse me, Okay, we've. 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.200 Got to play in tournament here, we've got a playing Okay, 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.440 so the Knicks, we're like a nine hour ten seed, right, no. 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:33.840 Four seed. 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:37.640 They had home court advantage with Tom Thibodeaux. He got 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.560 a couple of his guys in Derrick Rose, and he's like, 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:42.040 oh yeah, we'll bring him in for you. 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:44.760 We know he's a TIBs guy. All of a sudden, 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:46.280 you're a four seed. 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:50.560 Yes, you did get bounced by okay, a team that 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:53.480 went to the Eastern Conference finals in the Atlanta Hawks, 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.720 so there's no shame in that. And then okay, you 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.560 win Coach of the Year Tom Thibodeaux for the New Nicks, 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:07.000 and one year later you say, Okay, I've outperformed expectations. 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:11.880 The city is electrified by me. They think I'm doing 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:17.240 a phenomenal job. Flowers and roses and everyone's excited. The 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.880 garden's going crazy. It's back to the nineties era. 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:21.320 Week go. 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:24.840 And then you say, listen, in order for me to 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:28.280 get to that next level, which is to really compete, 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:31.520 I have some additional resources that I need. 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:36.720 Can you get me x y z. And instead of 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:43.960 getting you what you need, what you got was Evan Fournier. Yikes. 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:47.920 I love me some Evan Fournier, but I only like 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:50.880 him when he's playing in the Olympics. I am not 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:55.880 a fan of domestic Evan Fournier basketball. And I don't 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.560 think Tom Thibodeau is either and then you go out 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:03.920 and get a feel good story in Kemba Walker. Kemba 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:08.639 Walker is injury prone. He's never played defense his entire career. 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:14.240 He's a New York kid that literally the Boston Celtics 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:17.840 had to pay to get rid of. And you're like, 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:20.840 we are going to get this guy into the starting 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:25.560 lineup for Tom Thibodeau. And you know, Leon Rose and 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:27.960 Worldwide West, they know everything that there is to know 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.080 about Tom Thibodau and what he needs and what he 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:34.399 wants to succeed, and they give him Evan Fournier and 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:39.800 Kemball Walker, my lord, and then when it doesn't go 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:45.440 the way that you expect as a fan base, as 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:49.560 a front office, as ownership, it's like, well, Tibbs is 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:50.919 the one to blame. 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:54.640 Really, is that true? Is that true? 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:55.240 Why? 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:59.520 Because you gave him an inferior amount of resources and 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:02.040 the type of resources that he asked for, and then 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.000 you still expected him to not only perform to the 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:09.560 level that he did last year, but even above. And Okay, 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:13.560 so it's Julius Randall's fault because Julius Randall is now 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.040 playing more minutes than he's ever played. 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:18.040 His usage rate is through the roof. 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:21.199 And you've got Kemba now being benched, and now it's 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:24.040 trade deadline time, and what do you do? You say, 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.440 everything is on sale, everything must. 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:30.080 Go, anything can go. We just need some pieces that 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:33.520 fit into the Tibbs model. And what do you do? 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:41.280 You go get Cam Reddish. Cam Reddish can't the same 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:42.439 Cam Reddish that. 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:46.239 The Atlanta Hawks went on a tear right after they 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.719 traded away that Cam Reddish. No shade to Cam Reddish. 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:51.920 He can be a very very good player in this 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:56.160 league at some point, but he is not a Tom 0:18:56.320 --> 0:19:00.520 Thibodeau player. Hence the reason he got multiple dnps to 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:03.560 start the year and to start his career for the 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.960 New York Knicks. So the question is what is a 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:12.840 Tom Thibodeau player. Well, you've got to be healthy, you've 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.080 got to play defense, you have to be a dog. 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.080 That is the most important, And the most most important 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:22.800 is you have to buy in too doing all those things. 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:26.000 You have to say, Okay, Tom, I get you. I'm 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:26.480 gonna do it. 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:27.800 But not only am I gonna do it. I'm not 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:29.920