Exploring Knicks' Strategy with Mitchell Robinson & Josh Hart

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00:00So I'll throw an idea out that I thought would have been the Knicks approach

00:04if Mitchell Robinson was healthy to start the year,

00:08which is start Mitchell Robinson,

00:09and have Josh Hart, who would have just won six-man of the year.

00:13Now, again, it is remarkable that all of a sudden Josh Hart,

00:16when you think about the season he's had, the moments he's had,

00:19the toughness, everything,

00:20he kind of feels like he is supposed to be the embodiment of Tom Thibodeau's

00:23New York Knicks.

00:24But ultimately, this team needs to get a little bit of help out there

00:28on the defensive side of the ball.

00:30Getting Mitchell Robinson out there consistently will help them offensively

00:34in terms of the rebounding perspective.

00:36It'll cover for Cat and Brunson with the rim protecting.

00:40It feels, J.Y., like a switch to make,

00:45and I would imagine Josh Hart will be cool with it

00:50because I think that Josh Hart actually does read like somebody

00:52who just wants to win.

00:54I also think Josh Hart, like coming off of the bench,

00:56which may give you, you know, effort level six billion,

01:01like levels that he, you know,

01:02because he'll just be so ready to go and wanting to prove himself.

01:07I think, I don't think that's too drastic of a change.

01:10What do you believe?

01:11No, I think it's the right approach because going into the season,

01:14everybody thought it was going to be Brunson at the one,

01:17Bridges at the two, OG at the three,

01:19Cat at the four,

01:20and Mitchell Robinson at the five because of the fact that Cat showed that he

01:24could play alongside a center because he did so with Rudy Gobert.

01:28And then what you have is you have Mitchell Robinson's rim protection.

01:32You have a double barrel big.

01:33Cat still goes to the perimeter.

01:35So you can put Mitchell Robinson in a dunk spot and you create more driving

01:39lanes.

01:39And then you have Mitchell Robinson to go and get off his rebounds,

01:42which is kind of weird because sometimes Kevin,

01:44the best line the Knicks have had during the series and the playoffs has been

01:48a minor double barrel big lineup with,

01:51with Cat and obviously Mitchell Robinson.

01:54So yeah,

01:54I think what that does is I think it also gives the Knicks,

01:57honestly,

01:58Kevin a little bit more balance.

01:59We talked about having a secondary ball handler.

02:02Well,

02:02Josh Hart becomes a secondary ball handler because you don't trust Deuce.

02:06Josh Hart's minutes go down.

02:07Now Deuce doesn't have to have the weight of his shoulders of the second team

02:11campaign gets less minutes.

02:13Maybe you give pressure to Chua a couple of minutes here and there.

02:17I mean,

02:17he ain't that much worse than OB top and he can get in there and mix it up

02:20and get a rebound and put a put back.

02:22And so it's,

02:24it's,

02:24this is the problem sometimes with tips.

02:28Tips is tips.

02:29And I want to push back on something right now.

02:32All these Knicks fans that are going on social media saying,

02:34we're going to fire tips.

02:35We're going to fight.

02:36It ain't happening.

02:37So put that to bed.

02:39He got the team to the Easter conference finals for the first time in 25

02:41years.

02:42They're not firing them.

02:43Now could they get rid of them next year?

02:46If they get off to a poor start with the same roster,

02:49some tweaking,

02:50that's a story for another day.

02:52But Tom,

02:53the big story with the Knicks is,

02:56well,

02:56tips,

02:57try anything different.

03:00Like Kevin suggested or Deuce McBride.

03:03What are your thoughts?

03:03Where can the Knicks do something different to try and change the series a

03:06little bit?

03:07So we were talking pre-show about the JJ Redick first series with the Lakers,

03:12how Rick Carlisle's like,

03:13Hey,

03:13well,

03:13Hey,

03:14you got a player.

03:15Are you healthy?

03:15Can you get out there?

03:16Let's,

03:16let's,

03:16let's try something different where I do like the idea of a heart and

03:20Mick and miles McBride coming off the bench just to give a different

03:23look.

03:24The issue is like the Knicks are running out of time.

03:27Like I,

03:28I view game three as like a must win for the Knicks because if they can win

03:31game three,

03:32maybe they lose game four.

03:33They win game five back at home.

03:35We got a three,

03:35two series lead.

03:36The pressure would be on the Pacers going to game six to win on home

03:39court.

03:40Right.

03:40And then anything happens in the game seven.

03:42Yeah.

03:42The Knicks are running out of time to experiment with the Tibbs doing

03:46something different.

03:47So I want to see anything different.

03:49I don't think precious to chew it is the answer longterm,

03:52but give me eight minutes,

03:53right?

03:53Give me eight,

03:54maybe 10 minutes.

03:54We just got to mix it up.

03:55We got to put a different body out there,

03:57give a little bit of rest.

03:58But I think Robinson should be in the starting lineup.

04:01Go him and cat.

04:02You can go against Turner and Siakam just to try something different.

04:06Hart comes off the bench.

04:07And I agree with the take that the effort that he would bring is something

04:10that he wants to prove.

04:12And it would just be a completely new look for the Knicks.

04:14And what's the,

04:15what's the worst that happens?

04:16Like,

04:17all right,

04:17you're losing close games.

04:18You lose another close game because you happen to try something different.

04:21There's no wrong answer at this point.

04:23You just got to figure out what works.

04:25Yeah.

04:26Um,

04:27here's,

04:28I guess the,

04:30if this series is Pacers in five or four,

04:36they absolutely can fire Tom Thibodeau because you losing consecutive seasons.

04:43So the Indiana Pacers while having home court advantage,

04:45I,

04:47when you consider the off season that they had,

04:50I think is a change that is on the board.

04:53The other change that is 100% going to loom and maybe,

04:58maybe long-term a sacrifice worth making.

05:03They will be immediately,

05:06maybe at halftime calling the Milwaukee bucks about Giannis.

05:09So,

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