Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Nah, nah, nah. 2 o'clock straight up. Carton Show. Big Mac. Great to have you here. Phone number to join, as always, 888-808-1019. Got a great show for you today. Got some baseball today. Big Mac's going to be happy about that. Got a crazy football situation happening right now, which we're going to get to in just a little bit. And, of course, last night, the Knicks fall to the Cavaliers.
And something happened last night that I don't think has happened. in Knicks history since 1958. In any event, good afternoon, Big Mac. How are you today?
What's going on, Craig? I'm good. How are you?
I'm fantastic.
Chapter 2: What happened in the Knicks' loss to the Cavaliers?
Thank you so much.
Fantastic. It seems like you're walking around here in a good mood today.
I am always in a good mood. The day you find me in a bad mood is the last day you'll ever see me.
True story.
I've never been in that mood.
Well, today was an extra good mood. You're breaking balls extra hard out there in the newsroom.
Well, I got to do what I got to do. No, I know. It's good. You got to keep everybody in the right place in this joint. I got to tell you that right now. I hear you. All right, so look, I'm not going to... I told you guys when we started the show January 5th, you can't overreact to a great win in February or a bad loss in February. But something happened yesterday.
That, honestly, you're going to have to go to the angels on this one. I don't know that it's ever happened before in the history of modern-era Nick basketball. And I'm not being, like, hyperbolic. 11 points in the third quarter? Because that happened in 2022. That's happened before, yes. We've had an 11-point third quarter before. I think we've had some single-digit quarters. Is that a fact?
In the modern era of Nick basketball. Nick with, what, five consecutive 20-point games? Only takes five shots? No. No? No?
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Chapter 3: Why did Karl-Anthony Towns only take five shots?
But at some point... And I've been off this. Carl Anthony Towns, on some level, has to be able, and he just won't do it, but he has to be able to get, if it's Brown's fault, if it's Brunson's fault, he's got to get in someone's face and say, damn it, I'm the reason we beat the Bulls.
I'm part of the reason we came back against Houston, and I'm on a stretch of finally on a season where I feel like I haven't been on a stretch like this. I'm finally playing my best basketball over the last handful of games. I'm getting the ball. So figure it out. Right. Give me the ball.
I don't think he demands it.
He won't do it. Right. And I don't know who to blame at some point. Like at some point, I'm not, I totally hear what you're saying, but, and I've been off this, but watching the game last night in particular, like five for five, all these 20 point games, like he, and all of those four out of the five in the first half, like at some point, is he ever going to step up and say, give me the damn ball?
No. And that's the problem. That's why I think it's a three headed monster. Yeah. Like, look, we're down six at halftime. That's a nothing deficit. And obviously the third quarter was just an embarrassment offensively, which I'm going to get to in a second. But if you had to rank them in order, and look, I know that Carl Anthony Towns is the deserving whipping boy on this team.
He gets all the negative attention. No one dares criticize Jalen Brunson. Mike Brown's only been here for the better part of three quarters of a season. He was not our first choice, but there could have been 50 games with him. The third choice for all we know. They're going to be a 50-win team with him.
Obviously, he's going to be judged by what they do in the playoffs, not the regular season, based on the fact there are a lot to be a top three or four seed going into the postseason. So you've got Mike Brown. You've got Jalen Brunson. You've got Carl Anthony Towns. I think the obvious answer for most people is Carl Anthony Towns. Have some self-respect.
And if you have to curse people out and demand the damn basketball, then demand the damn basketball and play at your ability level, not just once a week, but every time we play. And that's the problem. That you'll see him in spurts be the best player on the court, the most dominant player on the court, but then you'll see games like last night. It's unconscionable to me.
I want to be clear about this. He was not in foul trouble last night. No. He had two personal fouls for the entire game. He played about 29 minutes. So he wasn't taking dumb fouls. And for a guy that's not in foul trouble to only take five shots in that game. That cannot happen unless you're disinterested in shooting the basketball. And by the way, he was five for freaking five.
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Chapter 4: What is Jalen Brunson's role in the Knicks' performance?
Cat, get your ass down there. Cat, set a pick. Cat, pick and roll. And I have never seen Jalen Brunson do that. I have not. So we agree that... Cat's got to take the most responsibility. Yeah. Especially for last night, taking five shots. That's where I am. Okay, I'm with you on that.
That's where I am because I think I have different answers for last night and overall.
That's fair.
So let's go overall. Overall, I go Coach Brown first. Because it's not fair to cherry pick one game. Overall, I go Coach Brown. Go. This was at the start of the season, Craig. We are almost, what, 50 games in? More than that. Almost 60 games in, rather. That's what I meant. We are at the start of the season.
He was talking about what Karl-Anthony Towns is going to have as an adjustment to this offense. His adjustment was going to be the toughest. This is on him that we are still here 60 games in. That Detroit game, knowing there's an advantage and the refusal to coach towards it. I absolutely 100% They're too big.
That was the game where he was clearly the advantage for the Knicks, and they didn't take any advantage of it, not a game plan for it, nothing. So for me, without question, the overall scheme, he was brought in to kind of figure this out. This was part of the Tibbs problem, the two of them playing on the same court at the same time. He was supposed to be the guy.
So him first, then I go Carl Anthony Towns, and then a distant third, not to disrespect your point or to say it's not fair, it is. Jalen Brunson has to be a guy who gets everybody involved. Jalen Brunson has to be the floor general. So in my order, I go Coach 1, Cat 2, Brunson 3. But last night specifically, because he was playing well, this whole year he's had a down year.
You went through some of the numbers. Maybe it's better than some of us suspect. Statistically, he's having a very good year.
Better than last year.
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of the Knicks' third-quarter performance?
And neither do I. But be a point guard, buddy. Agreed. Start playing point guard. Get guys involved. OG Ananobi, by the way, last night... only with five points, three rebounds, and only made two buckets? Again, who's on the floor telling guys where to be and telling guys when to take shots? That's partially the coach, partially the player's responsibility, but I want $80 million a year?
Go start playing like a point guard. And if you want, I'll have Kenny Anderson come back to town and give you a little point guard lesson. I'll give you a little point guard lesson. I'll have Steph Marbury come back and try to be a point guard. Be a point guard.
He's a score-first point guard. We know that, right? We know that. He's not known for his facilitating. He is a scorer. He is their best scorer. He is their clutch scorer. He's captain clutch the whole bit. But I don't disagree with you. I don't disagree with you.
Right now, especially at the start of that third quarter, the start of the second half, the offense was completely ā they didn't know what to do. That third quarter was embarrassing. That was embarrassing. Hard to watch. Like, no joke.
I'm not going to lie to you. I've watched, I think, all but maybe 10 minutes of Knick games this year. I try to watch every minute. Sometimes life takes over. After that third quarter, I went to the... Can I guess? You know where I went. Can I guess?
Yeah, go ahead. Did you go check out the Laker game? No.
I caught that later. Oh, okay. I caught that later.
I'll give you the LeBron.
I got the LeBron. I was wondering if you caught his missed shot at the end of the game. I got LeBron throwing Luka under the bus. I'll do that later on. Oh, and he threw Luka under the bus? Oh, he threw him under the bus. It wasn't his fault. Luka should have taken the shot. It looked like a good shot. Oh, Luka passed up a wide open three. Yeah, that's a good shot for Luka. I'll get to LeBron.
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Chapter 6: What criticisms are directed towards Karl-Anthony Towns?
I know. I didn't see the start of it because I was watching the Knicks. Did you see the hockey team come out?
I've seen it, yes. To answer your question, yes. I thought it was interesting that we gave one of the hockey players the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Yes. I like the Secretary of Defense because he's the goalie. That I thought was pretty cool. That was clever. Right. But the dude got the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
And if I heard it correctly, there's only 12 athletes in the history of our country that have ever been given that. I assume Jackie Robinson got one of them. I would imagine so. I assume Muhammad Ali got one. I think Tigers got one. I don't know who else has them. Maybe that would be a little fun game we'll play later today. Okay. If I'm up for games today. You're up for games today?
It feels like it. Yeah, I'm in a game. You are really. Look at you. You're flying today. I'm good. I haven't had any soup yet today. No soup for me. I'd like to have some soup at some point today. Get the phone man on the phone. I've had my beef jerky today. I've had my bagel today. I've had my Coke today. I'm good to go. You look it. 888-808-1019.
Chapter 7: How does Mike Brown's coaching affect the team?
Here's Eric in Newark on the fan. Eric, good afternoon, kid. How are you?
Hey, what's up, Craig? Good to hear you had your Coke today.
Yes, you can't go a day without Coke.
So, my theory is that your boy, Cat, we're going to go with option number one and I'm also thinking he might have a little bit of a gambling problem. No, I can't allow that.
I can't do that. I can't allow that. If you want to talk about what he does on the court, the only personal thing I brought up is that he got engaged this year, and we all know Vagina's undefeated. So I would understand a guy that is on the high of getting engaged might have been distracted, but that's a couple months old now.
So I don't buy that as an excuse, but it's not fair to suggest anything untoward about gambling. I can't have that.
I think it's hard to explain it. Carl Anthony Towns is in the offense. He has taken the role of being... Number two to Jalen Brunson. Jalen Brunson kind of went off last night, took 19 shots, a little bit of hero ball, a lot of ball movement last night. I understand why when you score 11 points in the third quarter, he's trying to take over the game and kind of get into a rhythm.
But Carl Anthony Towns won't force it. He won't force it. He won't say, give me the ball. He won't say, I've been playing well. I'm feeling good.
There's something going on.
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