Speaker 1: Welcome into NBA Polster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Kustak, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and
Speaker 1: today is Monday, May sixth, and we have got a
Speaker 1: very special guest, Roy Hibbert. Roy, I'm going to begin
Speaker 1: with someone that I can call a colleague, a wonderful
Speaker 1: human being, but also an incredible basketball career that you
Speaker 1: have had. A nine year NBA veteran. You spent seven
Speaker 1: of those seasons with the Indiana Pacers, A two time
Speaker 1: All Star, you were the seventeenth overall pickback in two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight. And in the broadcasting world, that's why
Speaker 1: I get to say is say colleague because incredible analyst
Speaker 1: to this point, But where I want you to get
Speaker 1: into is is get those shoes back on back when
Speaker 1: you were a player. We are set and ready to
Speaker 1: go for what has already been a really fun postseason
Speaker 1: here that we've seen now entering the second round, and
Speaker 1: one of the great old time rivalries that we've seen
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the postseason has been New York
Speaker 1: Knicks and Indiana Pacers. You go back to ninety four,
Speaker 1: ninety five, ninety nine, and most recently the last time
Speaker 1: these two franchises have faced off in the playoffs has
Speaker 1: been back in twenty thirteen, and that is when you
Speaker 1: and your Indiana Pacers defeated the Knicks in a four
Speaker 1: to two series win Game six. Everyone remembers that block
Speaker 1: that you had on Carmelo Anthony twenty one points, five blocks,
Speaker 1: twelve rebounds you balled out to help the Pacers win.
Speaker 1: But more than anything, it wants you just to get
Speaker 1: into what that series was like you twice went to
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference Finals, but in that year, with that matchup,
Speaker 1: with that rivalry, take us into just how those emotions,
Speaker 1: the experience, the atmosphere, everything that goes into those two
Speaker 1: iconic franchises playing one another in the postseason.
Speaker 2: Well, obviously New York is such a big market and
Speaker 2: always a lot of pressure when you go play in
Speaker 2: MSG and everything. But I see like the two teams
Speaker 2: are comparable. They have, you know, a very good superstar
Speaker 2: obviously in Brunson, who is a left you can score
Speaker 2: you know, youah with forty one points on you know,
Speaker 2: thirteen to twenty seven shooting the last close out game
Speaker 2: versus the seventy six ers. So it's kind of reminiscence
Speaker 2: kind of to like Mellow his scoring nobility and everything
Speaker 2: like that. I do feel that this next team is
Speaker 2: a little bit more locked in defensively than that team
Speaker 2: before that I played against. But the atmosphere. Atmosphere is
Speaker 2: going to be crazy, msg like the fans. I remember
Speaker 2: Spike Lee was always chirping in my ear court side
Speaker 2: during the playoffs and stuff. So hopefully he can make
Speaker 2: it to Indiana and see if he'll still be chirping again.
Speaker 1: Will you make it to any of these games?
Speaker 2: So I was invited by the Pacers last night to
Speaker 2: come out. I'm trying to I'm coming out on Friday.
Speaker 2: I'm going to rev up the crowd, try to do
Speaker 2: my part to, you know, get the crowd ready to
Speaker 2: cheer on the Pacers.
Speaker 1: I can't wait. I can't wait to see that, to
Speaker 1: watch that, to witness that you mentioned Jalen Brunson and
Speaker 1: he and the Knicks had a hard fought series against
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia seventy six ers. You look at this Indiana
Speaker 1: Pacers team knocked off a undermanned Bucks team that had
Speaker 1: played without Giannisidava Kumpo throughout the course of it. But
Speaker 1: it's also such an interesting style or interesting matchup of
Speaker 1: different styles and contrasting styles, and the pace want to
Speaker 1: the pace, the pace literally the pace the Pacers want
Speaker 1: to play at offensively, the amount of weapons they have
Speaker 1: with Tyrese Halliburton. And then you look on the next
Speaker 1: side of things much more of a grinded out team
Speaker 1: with Tom Thibodeau and the way they play and the
Speaker 1: control and organization that Jalen Brunson has shown. What's impressed
Speaker 1: to you this season about the Pacers, about Tyrese Halliburton
Speaker 1: in just how Rick Carlisle has him playing, has been
Speaker 1: playing in the piece of surrounding the player that Halliburton
Speaker 1: has been.
Speaker 2: Well, well, first I just want to talk about like Rick,
Speaker 2: you know, sometimes I watch the Pacers, I'll see that
Speaker 2: they'll give up something offensively at the rim, which to me,
Speaker 2: like it grinds my gear. But I have to shift
Speaker 2: to know that the way how their team is constructed,
Speaker 2: you know, defense isn't you know, let's say, at the
Speaker 2: top of the top of the list. So you know,
Speaker 2: the thing for them is like to get the ball out,
Speaker 2: get it to Halliburton, let him play free. He gets
Speaker 2: up and down the court. I feel like The thing
Speaker 2: that he does well is distributes the ball early and
Speaker 2: often you know, attack downhill. He brings a lot of
Speaker 2: attention and you can kick it back up to Miles
Speaker 2: Turner for the three. I feel like that is going
Speaker 2: to be key at the beginning of the game at
Speaker 2: least to like, you know, fast paced. Let Miles be
Speaker 2: able to say, at the top of the key, get
Speaker 2: those open threes. Now they're going to be able to
Speaker 2: like you know, have to worry about Halliburton and that
Speaker 2: top of the key three. Now he can attack the
Speaker 2: basket throughout the game. And one key I really like
Speaker 2: is and I'm all over the place if you need
Speaker 2: to ring me and let me know. But Pascal Siakam,
Speaker 2: what he does well is like throughout the game you
Speaker 2: play with pace, but then also you can slow it
Speaker 2: down and throw it to him in the post and
Speaker 2: like he's on that left block, he catches it off
Speaker 2: the block. He'll work middle term, baseline, spin, fade away
Speaker 2: and hit some real tough shots. So they have like
Speaker 2: a one to two punch. And I think that with
Speaker 2: the lack of a big man like Brook Lopez who
Speaker 2: can spread the floor on offense and then also score
Speaker 2: in the paint will kind of lighten the load. I
Speaker 2: think for Turner to be a little bit more free
Speaker 2: because he doesn't have to worry about, you know, say
Speaker 2: like a Brook. And I'm not sure I answered your question,
Speaker 2: but that's just goes through my mind when I think
Speaker 2: about the Pacers.
Speaker 1: Well, and you said something that is really fascinating. I'm
Speaker 1: curious how you view it. Just what grinds you about
Speaker 1: maybe some shots at the rim, or you know, lack
Speaker 1: of a presence in the post, or just the changing
Speaker 1: Like what has been your view of the evolution of
Speaker 1: the game. How's it changed with the Bigs? And I
Speaker 1: think there's been some variance to it, But how have
Speaker 1: you watched the game and the game that you played
Speaker 1: changed throughout the course, just really across the league and
Speaker 1: in particular now what we're seeing this postseason.
Speaker 2: You know, like I said, I used to really want
Speaker 2: to see defense be key, but like you look at
Speaker 2: the depor Nuggets last year, Joker is not going to
Speaker 2: block shots at the rim. More than likely he would
Speaker 2: rather give up a layup at the rim, imbounded and
Speaker 2: then chucked that thing down there for Aaron Gordon for
Speaker 2: a dunk. So it's a tradeoff, you know, and like
Speaker 2: when my team when we played, we were kind of
Speaker 2: like a grinded up team, slower Paul PG and Lancy
Speaker 2: in the fast break. We let them do their thing
Speaker 2: and then eventually the slow guys like myself and the
Speaker 2: David West would get down the court. But like a
Speaker 2: switch is flipped and it's more faster paced. And it
Speaker 2: depends on roster construction. Why focus on defense when your
Speaker 2: roster is focused on it has been made to get
Speaker 2: up and down the court, create more opportunities, be quicker
Speaker 2: and faster. So it's something that I had to be
Speaker 2: okay with and I'm totally okay with. But at the
Speaker 2: same time, you know, you get one hundred and twenty
Speaker 2: four to one thirty games and stuff like that. You know,
Speaker 2: for me, that was a disappointment to let a team
Speaker 2: score that much. But at the same time, things change
Speaker 2: and you have to be okay with it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and reminiscent you bring up names like David West.
Speaker 1: Of course, Paul George, a lot of questions will surround
Speaker 1: what decisions he makes this offseason. But when you think
Speaker 1: about that series, for you, the series that you guys
Speaker 1: go six games against this next team, is there any memories,
Speaker 1: any moments, anything from it that stand out most to you.
Speaker 2: Well, I remember Frank Vogel told myself and Paul George,
Speaker 2: whenever Lebron, let's say Lebron, whenever Mello gets subs out
Speaker 2: the game, you guys come out the game. Whenever Melow
Speaker 2: you see him getting up off the bench, whether it's
Speaker 2: a minute after you sit down or you know, a quarter,
Speaker 2: you get right back up and you get in the game.
Speaker 2: And I was just like, that's pretty nice. You know,
Speaker 2: usually have to wait for coach to sub me in.
Speaker 2: But we knew how important it was to defend Mellow,
Speaker 2: you know, I always said Paul to this day, you know,
Speaker 2: takes on the challenge of playing both ends of the court.
Speaker 2: Offensively gifted, leading the team, but defensively wants to, you know,
Speaker 2: go out there and defend at a high level. And
Speaker 2: I said, I'm jumping all over the place. But Anthony
Speaker 2: Edwards reminds me of a player like that, a young
Speaker 2: player who wants to guard the best player on the
Speaker 2: other team. But then also we'll give it to you
Speaker 2: on offense. So I feel like this, this this playoffs
Speaker 2: has just been a changing of the guard. But so
Speaker 2: exciting to watch.
Speaker 1: It has been. I'm glad you brought up Anthony Edwards
Speaker 1: because we're going to take a break shortly and get
Speaker 1: to that series with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets,
Speaker 1: and just how much fun the game one was, as
Speaker 1: we'll have an opportunity to watch that again tonight. But
Speaker 1: last thing on this Knicks Pacer series? Is there one
Speaker 1: thing that you're looking for as we have game here
Speaker 1: tonight taking place at seven thirty pm Eastern with the
Speaker 1: Pacers visiting the Knicks at the Garden, is there there
Speaker 1: one thing, whether tonight or through the course of the series,
Speaker 1: that you're really going to be keeping an eye on.
Speaker 2: Well, maybe not tonight because the teams have had so
Speaker 2: much rest. I talked a lot about the Pacers, but
Speaker 2: I want to give the Knicks opportunity for me to
Speaker 2: show them some love. They played very hard, led by
Speaker 2: a good group of young core the Vincenzo Hart Brunson.
Speaker 2: But for me, the biggest thing that could be a
Speaker 2: detriment to them is the fact that you look at
Speaker 2: this game, the last game against the Knicks versus the
Speaker 2: seventy six ers, only seven players played, and let's say
Speaker 2: Robinson played eighteen minutes, he had two points, and then
Speaker 2: McBride played nine minutes and he only had three points.
Speaker 2: So to me, the bench and I just I know,
Speaker 2: I actually I did NBA TV last week in or
Speaker 2: week or two ago with Carlos Boozer. You're talking about
Speaker 2: how you know, what's his name, the Knicks coach. I'm
Speaker 2: having a brain fart. He just guys up and down.
Speaker 2: You know. Richard Hamilton said that, you know, she's shaved
Speaker 2: off a couple of years out of his career just
Speaker 2: by how tough and how defensive minded. Uh, the Thibodeau is.
Speaker 2: So for me, I want to watch that the bench
Speaker 2: scoring and how tired the Knicks could potentially be around
Speaker 2: game three, game four. How much do they have in
Speaker 2: the tank, you know, because the pacers, you know, while
Speaker 2: they may not go deep into their bench, they have
Speaker 2: you know, t J McCollough had twenty points, ll be
Speaker 2: topping that twenty one points off the bench, and then
Speaker 2: you know a slew of other players had like single digits,
Speaker 2: but they sprinkled them in a little bit more. So.
Speaker 2: I was just saying to watch the h the fatigue
Speaker 2: and how many players are playing throughout the series for
Speaker 2: the Knicks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be very interesting to see that
Speaker 1: and how that factors in. I'm also really interested to
Speaker 1: see just in terms of rebounding and what the Knicks
Speaker 1: were able to do as esecially in that first round
Speaker 1: series against the seventy six ers and the offensive glass
Speaker 1: in crashing in. For as much as the Pacers want
Speaker 1: to run, want to leak out, you got to get stops.
Speaker 1: You gotta get rebounds in order to do that. So
Speaker 1: it is it is certain to be fun. I cannot
Speaker 1: wait to watch you hype up the crowd once it
Speaker 1: does return back to Indiana. But in the meantime, it
Speaker 1: begins at the Garden tonight seven thirty pm Eastern on TNT.
Speaker 1: We're going to take a quick break and get to
Speaker 1: the late game tonight as a Minnesota Timberwolves will face
Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets in Denver, up one OHO in the series.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to NBA, Paul Sarah Kustak joined by the
Speaker 1: great Roy Hibbert, a two time All Star, seven years
Speaker 1: with the Pacers. As you began your career in the league,
Speaker 1: nine years in the association, and now you are a
Speaker 1: part of the broadcasting crew, the fraternity that you have
Speaker 1: here in calling and seeing and watching and breaking down
Speaker 1: NBA games, college games, all of that sort. Let's get
Speaker 1: to the game tonight at ten pm Eastern on TNT.
Speaker 1: You got the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Denver Nuggets, and
Speaker 1: game one Saturday was extraordinary. That was one of the
Speaker 1: most fun experiences throughout the course of this postseason. We've
Speaker 1: had a lot of bangers and a lot of big
Speaker 1: time games, but it was so much fun to watch
Speaker 1: this Nuggets team, the defending champs and the up and
Speaker 1: coming I don't know what you want to call in
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves led by Anthony Edwards, who is just continuing
Speaker 1: to thrive and grow and evolve before our eyes in
Speaker 1: such an extraordinary way. What stood out to you about
Speaker 1: the play? I know you mentioned this not just of
Speaker 1: the Timberwolves and not just of the Nuggets, but of
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards and what we're seeing him become at this
Speaker 1: early stage of his career.
Speaker 2: I mean, everybody online talks about the comparisons to Michael
Speaker 2: and you know, just the manner, hysms and everything, but
Speaker 2: he has some dog in him and I love it.
Speaker 2: In a in an age where guys are giving out,
Speaker 2: you know, swapping jerseys at the end of the games.
Speaker 2: You know, sometimes I like to see a little bit
Speaker 2: of bark from those dogs out there. And he's definitely
Speaker 2: leading the charge, and he knows when to go out
Speaker 2: there and score and then when to facilitate as well.
Speaker 2: You know, so he only had three assists in the
Speaker 2: last game, but he allows nas Reed to go out
Speaker 2: there and play well. He had sixteen points, come off
Speaker 2: the bench, he attacks the boards and it's just like
Speaker 2: it's just it's just allgoing like he leads the charge.
Speaker 2: But you got you have guys like you know, McDaniels
Speaker 2: who can slash, defend and you know, pick up some
Speaker 2: of the slack for him on the on the defensive end,
Speaker 2: so he can, you know, go out there and score
Speaker 2: forty three points.
Speaker 1: How impressed have you been to with Rudy Gobert? And
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see maybe a different look from
Speaker 1: a Nuggets team that finish off that Laker series in
Speaker 1: five games, and obviously he had had some time. It'll
Speaker 1: be interesting to see just how they respond. But what
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert has done in anchoring, we obviously saw that
Speaker 1: with him throughout the course of his time with the
Speaker 1: Utah Jazz, but it maybe took a season, took some time,
Speaker 1: you know, dealing with some injuries with Karl Anthony Towns,
Speaker 1: just for everyone to figure out the chemistry. But so
Speaker 1: many players defensively showing why they're one of the best
Speaker 1: defenses in the league. But the play of go Beart
Speaker 1: and the play that he showed there in Game one.
Speaker 2: I think he gets a lot of flack, you know,
Speaker 2: go Beart. I love the fact I love defensively minded
Speaker 2: centers who could protect the basket. Will Go Beart be
Speaker 2: able to get you back to the basket jump hook? No,
Speaker 2: do a lot of guys score like that. No, for
Speaker 2: the most part. But at the same time, he will defend,
Speaker 2: you know, for as big as he is, to be
Speaker 2: able to move his feet on those switches is amazing.
Speaker 2: So I like the fact that he's up in the drops,
Speaker 2: he's able to defend, but at the same time he's
Speaker 2: blocking shots, you know, twelve rebounds. You don't have to
Speaker 2: worry about him. I think he's pretty solid. But it's
Speaker 2: a good one two punch, especially with Cat. You know,
Speaker 2: I always want Cat to be aggressive tack don't always
Speaker 2: settle for three point shots. Make it dirty, and when
Speaker 2: he does make it dirty, you know the team is
Speaker 2: better for it.
Speaker 1: We get a couple more Round two series beginning tomorrow
Speaker 1: night on TNT as well. After the Cleveland Cavaliers took
Speaker 1: Game seven at home against the Orlando Magic team, coming
Speaker 1: back from an eighteen point deficit in the second quarter
Speaker 1: to outscore the Magic sixty three to forty one in
Speaker 1: the second half yesterday, behind another sparkling performance from Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 1: They will play at Boston at seven o'clock, but then
Speaker 1: at nine point thirty it's the Dallas Mavericks who took
Speaker 1: care of the Los Angeles Clippers. They will face the
Speaker 1: number one seed in the West in the Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: Thunder at nine thirty pm Eastern on TNT Roy. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna put you on the spot with the MAVs and
Speaker 1: with the Thunder, what do you expect in that series?
Speaker 1: In who would you take coming out of this.
Speaker 2: Mis So I'm gonna say Luca is my favorite player
Speaker 2: in the NBA right now. It makes those look so smooth.
Speaker 2: Him and Kyrie just you know, they found a good
Speaker 2: ability to say, all right, you know what, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: let you go. I'm gonna go. Let's attack. We'll get
Speaker 2: lively a lob dunk, you know, from time to time
Speaker 2: attacking the baskets. So I feel like they're well, well
Speaker 2: rounded team. But man like, but okay, See is coming,
Speaker 2: Like Shay is so cool. He eats up that mid range.
Speaker 2: He knows how to get to the basket, and it's
Speaker 2: not flagrantly where he like looks for fouls like the
Speaker 2: old Harden where he's throwing his arms up and and
Speaker 2: everything like that. But man, that's a young, up and
Speaker 2: coming team. I think that next year will be their
Speaker 2: okay See his year. But but I like Dallas right now.
Speaker 2: I like Dallas.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what you think I'm with you. I
Speaker 1: think I'm with you. I love okay See. I think
Speaker 1: you give them a ton of respect for what they
Speaker 1: accomplished this year. The Coach of the Year and Mark
Speaker 1: Dagnall and just how we've seen Shaye Gildas Alexander continue
Speaker 1: to raise the level of play of those around him,
Speaker 1: Jalen Williams what he's done in the second year, but
Speaker 1: Dallas has been I mean, you got you got Kyrie
Speaker 1: Irving and Luca Doncic, you said it playing at this
Speaker 1: level with one another and how they figured out how
Speaker 1: to play together. Jason Kidduh just recently reported that he
Speaker 1: signed a multi year extension, so congratulations to him. But
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see kind of some of that balance,
Speaker 1: some of the questions too that that have always existed with,
Speaker 1: you know, the postseason, with the playoffs, how much it
Speaker 1: does youth versus experience matter, And I think a lot
Speaker 1: of that will be put to test throughout the course
Speaker 1: of this series. What I do know is that we've
Speaker 1: got a fun postseason. It's already been, It's already been
Speaker 1: a lot of fun to watch, and for those of
Speaker 1: us who love to see it, I think it's only
Speaker 1: going to keep getting better and better, as will will
Speaker 1: you in your career. Roy I. I am so glad that,
Speaker 1: as I said, you joined you joined all of us
Speaker 1: here in the broadcasting world after your tremendous basketball career,
Speaker 1: and as always, we appreciate you, we appreciate your time,
Speaker 1: and we'll look forward to having you having you on.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna try and convince you to come
Speaker 1: back on again down the road to see what happened well.
Speaker 2: Can I say, yeah. I just want to say, when
Speaker 2: I was at Georgetown, Big John Thompson always said, Roy,
Speaker 2: if you want to get from point A to point
Speaker 2: B to point C, talk to people that have gotten
Speaker 2: to point C. And I appreciate at the tournament, at
Speaker 2: the final four, you know, you took time out of
Speaker 2: your schedule to like give me some pointers and everything
Speaker 2: like that. So I obviously want to pick your brain.
Speaker 2: So I just want to say, I appreciate that you
Speaker 2: know and everything. So definitely, somebody always I want to
Speaker 2: pick your brain from Roy always.
Speaker 1: I hope we both all eventually get to point D
Speaker 1: point E. I hope there's no Z because we don't
Speaker 1: want to get to the end. But no, you know
Speaker 1: that you know that anytime you are the best. We'll
Speaker 1: see you again soon for sure.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.
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