Bleav in Knicks

When is a star player in potential hot water good news for the NBA? When it distracts from things the league's doing that are worse. Plus: what makes Jalen Brunson a better bet to build around than most players his size? What would the ideal future featuring Julius Randle as a Knick look like? Is there any coach who could be available that'd be worth cutting ties with Tom Thibodeau (spoiler: there's one)? And more!

Game 6 in Miami wasn't just where the '23 Knicks went to die -- it's where next year's Knicks were born. From what we just witnessed, what do we take moving forward? Part 1 of a multi-part conversation begins here

Jalen Brunson is the greatest Knick in 25 years. That and more as New York looks like themselves in keeping the series & season alive against Miami

Heroes! Zeroes! Questions! Concerns! Thrills! Chills! The Knicks' comeback win in Game 2 had it all, and we are here to hand out flowers and figurative Xanax where appropriate

After we celebrate the series win over the Cavaliers, Heat expert Julio Romero joins to give us the lowdown on what to expect from a likely tougher foe. What threats does Miami pose that Cleveland didn't? What keyed their turnaround from a disappointing regular-season team to one that upset the title favorites in just 5 games? And what embarrassing secret from the mid-1980s NBA does Matthew reveal about himself? All this and more!

Celebrating the many reasons the Knicks won twice at home to take command of their series vs. Cleveland, we sample from the (Madison Square) Garden of Hardwood Delights: RJ Barrett & cometh the hour, cometh the man; the best bigs in the series have been Mitchenstein; songs of praise for Deuce McBride, Obi Toppin and Tom Thibodeau; and more. Come bring in the love.

Stacy vents after a disappointing Game 2, while Matthew is optimistic about where the series is headed -- literally and figuratively.

NBA wise head & Cleveland Cavaliers fan Brayden Todd joins Stacy & Matthew to discuss all the storylines, matchups, trends & tchotchkes to look forward to as the Knicks & Cavs kick-off their first-round series this weekend. There's also a fun trivia question in the middle of the episode.

Robert Silverman (Daily Beast) hops on to cover the entire Knicks spacetime continuum. Is Julius Randle underrated by his own fans? If Randle isn't fully healthy or available at all for the playoffs, can the Knicks still beat the Cavs? Was Carmelo Anthony too selfish? Was Patrick Ewing? All this and more!

Tommy Beer of the eponymous newsletter hops on to talk late-stage Knicks. Obi Toppin will play a lead role in the season's final games, like he did last year -- what are we looking for from Toppin, and could it factor into a likely playoff meeting with Cleveland? If Randle is back for the playoffs, who might get cut from a shorter postseason rotation? Plus flowers for Immanuel Quickley, Isaiah Hartenstein, Quentin Grimes and more.

Edgar Miranda saw Willis Reed's entire career with the Knicks. What stands out in his memories from those years? Given the respect the Captain held with his teammates, what shocking thing did they do to him in 1974, an act that riled up fans and media alike? After our Reed retrospective we talk about Julius Randle and his demonstrativeness. Is it an issue, short- on long-term? What does it mean to prioritize the human over the jersey? It's not always as simple as it sounds.

Are the Knicks winning more close games now than before? If so, why? If not, why does it sometimes seem that way? Is RJ Barrett abnormally frustrating for a 22-year-old #3 overall pick or are some fans fixated on picking at him, like a scab? Should the Knicks stay the course with the cast behind their ascent, or still be hunting for their white whale/Messiah X?

Denver and Minnesota visit MSG for the next two games; bet you can guess which one has more reasons for excitement. What do you know about the Knicks' likely first-round playoff opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers? Here you'll learn about their foundation, their flaws and the flashpoints of particular intrigue between them and the Knicks. Lastly, Mitchell Robinson complaining about his role isn't just not bad -- it's good.

Saturday's loss to the Clippers adds an unexpected fragility to what's been a rock solid Knick season so far. Questions regarding Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle may go a long way in defining how the rest of the year goes.

Matthew & Stacy reunite a half a world apart to discuss: how is the Knicks' successful team-building the past 5ish years antithetical to the caricature of what a big-city team does to turn things around? Why is Jalen Brunson's career year in 2023 different than Julius Randle's in 2021? Plus the underrated foundation of this season's success, whether it's time to declare Hartsanity and more.

We welcome Ben Ritholtz (Knicks Film School) to consider questions big and small regarding the Knicks and their season so far. Recorded after the Cleveland win but as timely now as then, we delve into all Knicks great and small with one of Knicks Twitter's great minds. Does it mean anything that two years a Mitchell Robinson injury was when thiings took off, and this year it's where we fear a drop-off? Why is Matthew's fantasy about adding a superstar while retaining Julius Randle possibly unwise? What goes into Ben's famous nightly grading rubric? And why is the BleavKnicks pod forever anti-Montclair State?

BleavinWizards host Matt Modderno joins us to discuss all things Washington hoops. How is old friend Kristaps Porzingis faring? Kyle Kuzma is playing well, so naturally trade rumors are swirling; what might the Wiz want back in a Kuz swap? What does the Washington fanbase make of Bradley Beal at this point in his career -- is he more Ernie Banks or the pebble in their shoe? Who has been Washington's biggest rival, historically? All this and much more.

With Matthew still recovering from Covid and Stacy still recovering from Michigan's loss to TCU, there's no time for an intro: we get right into the heroes of the win in Toronto, why Zach LaVine is not an ideal trade target & who is, where Julius Randle & Jalen Brunson stand in the East as far as All-Star consideration, and which Knicks match our astrological signs.

Is Zach LaVine returning to form a matter of "when" or "if"? What about Lonzo Ball? Where does the career of Patrick Williams stand, and where might it be headed? We talk with Vijay Vemu about the Knicks and Bulls, find common ground as fans of rival teams and, in the end, all think of something nice to say about the other franchise.

Flowers for Julius Randle. The defense never rests. Has Tom Thibodeau found love? Repeating what had been a mistake from the Kristaps Porzingis years is good for RJ Barrett. Where do the Knicks stand in the Eastern hierarchy a third of the way into this season of surprises? We get into all that and more.