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00:00If we're taking a look at the Knicks coach, because as a fan, you have to be elated by
00:07this.
00:08There's nothing more fun than being a fan of a team that's bringing superstar talent
00:10with the expectations of winning a championship.
00:13But talk to me about this, heading down the stretch in the playoffs, the Knicks team camaraderie
00:17was phenomenal.
00:18That room we're saying, how are they winning basketball games?
00:21They were so tight, bringing new players in, trading some players away.
00:24Is there any thought process that maybe it would take a while to get that camaraderie
00:28back with all these superstars and the changes to the team?
00:30Well, I think the tough thing about it, Don, is having it happen so late and NBA training
00:35camps, guys, what is what, two weeks?
00:37So you're not going to get a lot of time early on to kind of get the flow going here.
00:43But remember, they also played, you know, the second half of the year without Julius
00:46Randle.
00:47So, you know, that is something to also be noted.
00:51There is camaraderie.
00:52There is that.
00:53I also think we're getting Carl Anthony Townsend's a little bit more mature than people realize.
00:58I know him and Tibbs had their runnings in Minnesota, but he's shown a real true appreciation
01:03for Tom Thibodeau over the last couple of years.
01:07Obviously, I think if I'm not mistaken, Cat is a Leon, was a Leon Rose client as well.
01:13So there's camaraderie that way.
01:15Listen, at the end of the day, Donnie, if you can stay healthy, protect the rim and
01:20not threes, you can, you know, take that camaraderie and shove it.
01:24They need to win games because the window now officially with this group is open for
01:29about a four-year span.
01:31You saw the career resume for Cat.
01:33You see the outlook now for the New York Knicks, a three-to-one price to win the Eastern Conference.
01:39There was a little bit of a trade-off, J-Y, back and forth after the Sixers acquired Paul
01:44George in a relatively quiet free agency period that Philly moved in front of the Knicks for
01:51the second-best price out east.
01:53New York back to the third-best number.
01:55Now the Knickerbockers at three-to-one, second-best price, less than a buck and a half behind
02:00the reigning NBA champs.
02:02That would be the Boston Celtics.
02:04And that was kind of the thing, J-Y, all throughout the summer, we debated.
02:08How far was the gap, the seas in front of everybody else in the Eastern Conference?
02:13So let me ask you plainly a two-part question with the same answer, really.
02:18Are the Knicks, the second-best team in the Eastern Conference now, has the gap between
02:23Boston and New York closed enough that you believe the Knicks are a true title contender
02:28with Boston?
02:29Yes.
02:30Close.
02:31Philadelphia is right there with them.
02:34And yes, here's the key, guys.
02:36The three centers, Porzingis, Cat, and obviously Embiid, all three of them have had careers
02:44With injury concerns, which one of the three can stay the healthiest?
02:49Obviously, we know that KP is going to miss the first, I think, two to three months of
02:52the season.
02:53So I think the Knicks are the biggest challenger.
02:56But there's a guy down in I-95 in Joel Embiid that's going to have a lot to say.
03:02Tyrese Maxey should be unbelievable.
03:04Paul George, that guy can shoot the ball from three.
03:06And I'm really amazed at what Dal Morey was able to do with no salary cap, just getting
03:12rid of Tobias Harris was a win in itself.
03:16Everything else Dal Morey did struck gold.
03:18Top three teams in the East all come from the Atlantic Division.