THE KNICKS FIRE THIBODEAU!!!!! (Hour 1)

Live from the police show, you're not overly ostentatious studios of the Infinity Sports Network here in beautiful New York City sitting on top of the 10th floor 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in what is to a Tuesday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local Infinity Sports Network affiliate Sirius XM channel 375 and the free Odyssey app 88710.

For ISN is the number to jump on in that's 88710, 4476. You can follow me on Instagram where I'm straight flex interview the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb. Let's start right out of the gate and we got some news here from the NBA. I will say I am surprised by this news. I did think that Tom Thibodeau was going to be back as the head coach of the New York Knicks, but Sham Sharani had the breaking news report about 20 minutes ago that the Knicks are saying goodbye to Tom Thibodeau as the head basketball coach of their organization. Yeah, I am surprised. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that there was a 0% chance of this happening, but if you told me yesterday Zach gun to your head, do you think Tom Thibodeau with especially how close a relationship he has with Leon Rose was going to get back and be back as the head basketball coach of the Knicks?

Yeah, I would have thought so. And I would have said yeah, he would have been back, especially when you have a coach who let's be fair here. Tom Thibodeau did a heck of a job in New York. Number one, he restored the organization. Number two, they made the playoffs four out of five seasons.

He had back to back 50 win seasons for the first time since 1995 and he just came off a conference finals appearance for the first time since 2000. So you will look back very fondly of Tom Thibodeau as the head basketball coach of the New York Knicks. But the message of this sentence to me is that team president Leon Rose, who I do think has control the organization always there's that fear that James Dolan could step in and intervene and all that. I understand that. But I would assume here and this is just a gut feeling that Leon Rose thought that Tom Thibodeau reaches apex in New York and I could say, hey, he deserved to be back for another season.

Oh, this is unfair. But Leon Rose deserves your trust. And if this is Leon's decision and Leon believes that a friend of his has done all he could in New York, which is something that deserves a standing ovation for where this organization was and where they are now, then Leon has that right to do so. And I think Leon knows this organization best. And I will go on to say that Leon Rose probably looked at this as sometimes when someone's tearing a house down and they are building the house back up.

The guy that laid the foundation, build the majority of the house may not be put in the roof and you may not be having him put the roof on top of your home to complete your home. And that's where the Knicks are right now. For the first time really in my life, there is sustained success with the Knicks. The Knicks are probably now viewed as an attractive job, not just because of brand, not just being in New York, but because of what they have on the court. And you look at what they have on the court. This is a team that made the conference finals this year. Was the ending of the season bitter and disappointing?

Absolutely. But they still have been progressing as a franchise for an organization that bat out last year in game seven around two. They made round three this year. They made the conference finals for the first time since 2000. So the way that I look at this is the next coach, whoever that may be, it's his job to push the ball over the goal line.

It's his job to reach the top of the mountain and be like Johnny drama and chant victory. Now they got to deliver a championship because whoever this new coach is that's coming on in, it is up to that coach. And it's the first time you could say this in forever that that coach has realistic championship, robust expectations because Tom Thibodeau brought respectability. Tom Thibodeau bought sustained success back to this franchise.

And you're making a move that I don't know how popular this is going to be. Like, yes, there's a contingent of the fan base that was looking heading into this postseason to fire Tom Thibodeau. And they won the first round.

Whoopty damn do. They didn't get embarrassed, obviously, in the second round. Like most of us thought they won the second round up against the Boston Celtics. And when they won that second round up against the Boston Celtics, all of us were like, all right, Tom Thibodeau is definitely coming on back. And now that's not the case as they lost in six games to the Indiana Pacers in the conference finals.

So I understand people that say this is unfair. I understand that people that dislike the move. Once again, I thought Tom Thibodeau was going to be back as the head coach of this organization. But clearly, team president Leon Rose thought that Tom Thibodeau reaches apex. And now it's up to the next guy to get this team to the top of the mountain. And it's up to the next guy to go win a championship because that new coach is coming on in with championship robust expectations.

Now the question is going to be who's going to be the new head coach. So Michael Malone obviously is a name that's going to be thrown out there. I've said this once. I'll say it again. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I think Michael Malone personality wise is too similar to Tom Thibodeau.

I would be more than fine. I would applaud the Knicks if they hire Michael Malone. I don't think they're hiring Michael Malone. People will throw out the name Jay Wright. I did text Jay Wright a few moments ago and I asked him, hey, are you interested in the job? That speculation is going to come up.

I already see your name getting thrown out there. Jay is not respond yet, but if he does, we'll let you know. Am I anticipating that Jay's going to have a comment to me on this? No.

But I'm doing my due diligence on what I'm supposed to do for my job. I'll tell you the name that I actually thought of because the most popular names are going to be. Oh, Jay Wright. Oh, Michael Malone.

Like we're talking about. Johnny Brian is one to me that I think would be very 2025 hiring by the New York Knicks, a former Knicks assistant this past year with the Cleveland Cavaliers, a younger guy and also someone that is a finalist for the Phoenix Suns job. That wouldn't be a surprise to me if he ends up getting the job. Now, that's not any sourcing.

That's not any information. That is just a gut feeling right now. If you made me give an early prediction right now, who's going to be the next head coach of the Knicks?

I think it's going to be Johnny Brian. And the biggest reason why I say that is sometimes a move that could be made elsewhere, expedites and makes you do something that maybe you didn't want to do. And when I sat here yesterday, I really did believe that Tom Thibodeau was going to be back as the head coach of the Knicks. I did not think that Tom Thibodeau was going to get fired. So now, with all that being said, you look at why he got fired. I consider and say, OK, which I think it's logical to do, even though Tom Thibodeau did a heck of a job in New York. They think he maxed out. They think he reaches apex, which is OK. But is there another motive?

Is there something else out there? And maybe the Knicks got word as yesterday came out that Johnny Bryant was a finalist for the Suns job, but it's down to two. Maybe they really wanted him and maybe that was a move with him being a finalist. Maybe they got some inclination that he was maybe the leading candidate or maybe he was likely to get the job or maybe the job was his. And who knows if that was the case? I'm just assuming here. And maybe Leon just said to himself, you know what, let's go get him. I like if I have to look at this honestly and I look at Tom Thibodeau, do I think he's going to do any better than what he just did this past year in New York? And if that's the case, that's a difficult decision. And if it is now, you better go get Johnny Bryant. So that's the way that I kind of look at this.

I think there's a lot to this story that either is not told or it's just as simple as, OK, you know what? It was a great year, fun year, phenomenal year. Look at the last five years. A lot to be proud of your Knicks fan, a lot to be proud of your Tom Thibodeau. But this is something that if we want to be a championship team, if you want to go win a championship, then maybe you have to go make this move and it could be that or it could have been another name being on out there that really did intrigue them.

And that pushed them to make this move today. I will reach out to Tom Thibodeau tomorrow. Tom Thibodeau used to come on this show all the time. The last time he was out of a job when we were in a different time slot, like he would come on, you know, all throughout the NBA season, all in the postseason. So I will offer him an opportunity to speak about this. I can't tell you that he will definitely come on. But if we get any more information about this, obviously we will share it with you right here on the Zach Gelb show, on the Infinity Sports Network crossover at local Infinity Sports Network affiliates, Sirius XM Channel 375, the free Odyssey app as well. So that was definitely something that I was not expecting to lead the show today with.

But you go through this process. The season ended on Saturday, right? Everyone gets back late Saturday. You kind of take a day Sunday. You do some meetings Monday. And then they ultimately came to this decision today on Tuesday. And I do I would like to believe that this is a Leon decision.

I would. James Dolan kind of has been out of sight, out of mind. I know that a lot of Knicks fans will probably sit there or if you're a Ranger fan, you'll probably sit there and say that this could maybe have a little bit of a stench of a James Dolan. But I think that James Dolan trust right now, Leon Rose. And sometimes when you're trying to build a championship team, you got to make difficult situations or decisions. And it's not always easy for people to understand. But in this case, the Knicks lost a good coach.

They did. And I know people say, oh, he doesn't deepen his bench. You know, he doesn't empty the bench a lot. Oh, he plays the players too many minutes.

And some of those things are definitely justified. Look at the Knicks. They played better defensively later on in the series when they started playing guys that you normally wouldn't see.

In a Landry Shamet, in Dolan Wright and so on and so on. And the Knicks, assuming that I thought that Tom Thibodeau was going to be back, they need to take from this run. You got to play more guys and you got to give other guys a shot and it may benefit you and behoove you later on the season.

So that was something that I was thinking about that was going to have to happen. Obviously, today you can now have that thought and evaporated into thin air because the man that we thought was going to be coaching the team next year is not coaching the team next year. And now to advance the conversation, is this just the start?

Or is there more to come? Because you look at this team. First off, Jalen Brunson ain't going anywhere.

But I'm just talking about the core. Carl Anthony Towns, I would still be surprised if they move in this offseason. I think the only player you move Carl Anthony Towns for in a realistic term is if Giannis Antetokounmpo comes on out and says, hey, to Milwaukee, I want to go get traded. I want to go to the Knicks. Then obviously, Carl Anthony Towns, you throw him in a deal and heck, we'll go get Stu to pick up Giannis Antetokounmpo from wherever he wants to fly into, whether that's Newark, LaGuardia or JFK. But ultimately, I do think that not only will Jalen obviously be back, that's a given that Kat will be back, OG will be back.

And the interesting one is McHale Bridges. But the first domino to fall in this offseason has been the coach and Tom Thibodeau after having back to back 51 seasons for the first time since 1995 in this organization, taking the team to the conference finals for the first time since 2000, he was sent packing today. So Tibbs is out. That's the domino that falls. You know, the Jalen Brunson dominoes not going anywhere. The Kat domino may be a little bit wobbly. I think the OGN and OB domino is staying put. And then you got the McHale Bridges domino that could be a little wobbly as well. Will the Kat domino fall? Will the Bridges domino fall? Ultimately, I think if they're getting rid of the coach, the team president's going to say, hey, I believe in the two big moves that I just made this past offseason.

You know, I believe in Kat. I still believe in McHale Bridges. Doesn't mean you give McHale Bridges a new contract unless he wants to take a big time discount. And could you go trade for a Giannis possibility? I still think it's rather unlikely. Do I think they're going to give up these players for Kevin Durant? No, I do not. Not at this stage of his career. K.D. in his late 30s.

So I don't think that's going to happen. But when you get rid of the coach, that's who's the scapegoat here. So now it's up to Leon Rose to bring in the right new coach. If it's Johnny Brian, is it Michael Malone? Is it Jay Wright? Who knows? We'll see.

Taylor Jenkins. Could that be a possibility? But this move ultimately leads me to believe. And I do think there will be some changes with this next roster. But I think there'll be minor changes to make this team deeper that ultimately will pay off and have bigger dividends coming up in the postseason, hopefully this time next year. But when you get rid of the coach, that would suggest to me that they thought they need a new voice or a new head honcho to take this team from a very good team to a great team.

Take this team from a conference finals team to an Eastern Conference champion to an NBA champion. And I would think that they're going to still believe in the majority of the roster and in the core pieces of the roster. And they just thought that they needed a new guy, a new maestro kind of leading everybody and being the guy that stands on the sideline and that leads the bench.

And that's what ultimately I think happens here. So, Knicks, one day in the conference finals, one day, right, thinking, oh, maybe you'll get to play for the NBA finals. And shortly after that, now you have a head coach who's greatly respected, in my opinion, in Tom Thibodeau available. And we'll see if Tom Thibodeau gets a job anywhere else as Tibbs is. How old is Tom Thibodeau? I want to say he's 70. Tom Thibodeau, 67 years old, is Tom Thibodeau, turned 68 in January. So, you know, has the game passed him by? I think with what he did this year, there's still a spot for Tom Thibodeau somewhere.

But the game is getting younger. And we've seen coaches with a lot more on their resume, like a championship, just recently get let go. So I would say that you could be shocked by this today. I, you know, I am more so using the word surprised because I thought he would be back. But judging by the fact that Michael Malone won an NBA championship. Right. We've seen other guys recently win NBA championships and bootenholzer and get let go shortly after that. I guess that this shouldn't be one that is really jaw dropping.

But considering what the Knicks did, yes, I'd be lying to you if I sat here and said, yeah, I was expecting Tom Thibodeau to get fired today. All right. That's the reaction on Tibbs. This is at the Yelp show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll take a break. We'll come on back after these short messages. This is kind of crazy.

So Samter just sent me this link and this comes from Lev Akabus, I believe is how you say this person's name. But anyway, NBA head coaches tenure. Right. We've talked about Mike Bootenholzer winning a championship, then being let go. We talked about Nick Nurse winning a championship, then being let go. Recently, you saw Michael Malone winning a championship, then getting let go. Taylor Jenkins, who didn't win a championship, but did a really good job with Memphis, being let go.

And obviously today we just got the news about 35, 40 minutes ago that Tom Thibodeau is being fired by the New York Knicks. There are only two head coaches remaining in the NBA with their current team before the pandemic. Obviously, Eric Spolstra and then Steve Kerr as well. Those are the two longest tenure coaches in the NBA.

Spolstra number one, Steve Kerr number two. After that, in terms of staying with their team and being with the team that they're currently on, not just like, oh, a guy, for example, like Rick Carlisle, that's been around forever. But with their current team, the next three coaches are Billy Donovan is third, Tyrone Lewis fourth, Mark Dagnoldt is five. After that, you have Chris Finch, Rick Carlisle, Chauncey Billups, Jason Kidd, Jamal Mosley and Willie Green.

And then you get in the grouping of Will Hardy and Joe Missoula, which is just absolutely crazy when you look at the the. Well, really, the top five longest tenure coaches in the NBA. Spolstra, Kerr, Donovan, Liu, Dagnoldt. And then you have the tie of Chris Finch, Carlisle, Chauncey Billups, Jason Kidd, Jamal Mosley and Willie Green as they all got hired in the same year.

But if you weren't hired before the pandemic at twenty twenty by your current team. So all coaches in the NBA besides Eric Spolstra and Steve Kerr. And still those coaches are Billy Donovan with the Bulls after leaving the Thunder is third with Ty Lue and Mark Dagnoldt.

That's just that's unbelievable when you when you look at that. So technically the top five longest tenure coaches. It's Spolstra, Kerr, Donovan, Liu and Dagnoldt. But you got guys that are that are on the on the same years and stuff like that. But that's just wild. And three of those coaches that make up, I guess you could say tied for third is the best way to say it. All got hired in the in the same year.

Oh, my goodness gracious. Real quickly, just going on the room here. Yeah, just take a guess.

Put a take a dart and throw it on the board. Who's the next coach of the Knicks? I'm going Johnny Bryant. That is what I think who is going to be the next coach of the Knicks finalists for the Phoenix Suns job was a Knicks assistant. He is thirty nine years old. I think that fits the mold of what teams are looking for now. These player friendly younger type of coaches emerging. You know, I know that Joe Missoula. Right.

It was a different situation. How he got the job in Boston. But coaches like that, I think, are what is now more the norm or what the NBA is becoming. As you get a lot of these elder statesmen on the way out with, unfortunately, Greg Popovich because of his health condition. Having to move over to the team president role. That's what I kind of think. You know, an unexperienced assistant, someone that's been around for a while and is thirty nine years old, looking for his first opportunity.

That would be my guess. That would be the first dart that I would throw on the board would be Johnny Bryant, who's a finalist for the Suns job. Do you want to throw a name out there? I mean, I think Johnny Bryant makes a lot of sense. I just don't think it's going to be Jay Wright or Mike Malone. I think Jay Wright's happy with what he's doing. I think Malone will take at least a year off, maybe more. So I think it'll definitely be a non-established guy, an assistant coach somewhere. So Brian is a guy that makes sense to me.

And if you're looking for an established name, established name, like that's like one of the criteria that maybe Leon has, which I don't know if it is. Oh, I want a guy with head coaching experience and I want to trust this roster with the guy that hasn't been a full time head coach in the NBA. Then maybe it is Taylor Jenkins, because Taylor Jenkins is only 40. He's only 40 years old. See, Taylor Jenkins looks a lot older.

No offense, Taylor. And he's been around for a while, but he coached the Grizzlies from twenty nineteen to twenty twenty five and did a good job. So maybe that ends up being, you know, being another name that they do consider. Sam, do you got a name there? I mean, I'm going to go a little bit outside the box. There's a coach who flirted with the NBA, but the team that he was flirting with was just too far away from his family and his life. And now there's this opening very close to where he lives and where he likes to be. And that's Dan Hurley.

Oh, OK. Never mind. I thought you were going Rick Pitino there for a second. No, but Rick Pitino. But Dan Hurley didn't hide the fact that he was interested in the Lakers. But one of the big reasons why he turned it down was he didn't want to go across the country and leave his whole family back in New Jersey. And so it's literally a a train ride away, a bus ride away over a bridge.

Maybe Dan Hurley after what happened last year with Yukon and knowing that maybe, you know, he doesn't have to chase three in a row anymore. Can make sense. So we're looking at it. If you were if you were Leon Rose, I think the first phone call you place.

Go fact or fiction here, Santa. First phone call, you place Jay Wright, correct? That's got to be. That's the first phone call I'm placing. I'm saying, Jay, I need an answer now. I got to move, if not, I would say, Jay Wright, do you want it? And my gut would tell me that Jay Wright would politely say no. If if there's any chance that that Jay Wright is going to is going to take a job in the NBA. I think it would be this one because you have Josh Hart, you have Jalen Brunson, you have McHale Bridges.

These guys that he's coach in college and won with one championships with in college. So maybe that makes Jay mull it over. Maybe that makes Jay think about it. But ultimately, I think Jay would say no. And if Jay says no, if I'm doing the search, this is how I would do it.

If Jay says no, then I would think about not so you got to call him. Think about Mike Malone. Ultimately, if you're getting rid of Tom Thibodeau, I know Malone is younger, but I think their personalities are too similar. I would probably just prefer to keep Tom Thibodeau based off what he's already done right now in New York.

Then, oh, I got to go get Michael Malone, even though Michael Malone won a championship with the Denver Nuggets. But look what happened behind the scenes this year. Behind the scenes this year, he hated the GM. The GM hated him.

And ultimately, the petulance by both ended up getting them fired by the Kroenke family. So I really think that this is going to be J. Wright one. And when J. Wright says no, then it's going to be.

All right, Johnny Bryant, let's bring you back to New York. That that's what I think it's going to be. But the five names that I would consider the five names I think you have to consider.

And no order, but let's just go J. Wright, Johnny Bryant, Taylor Jenkins, Michael Malone, and then Samta. I don't think it's a horrible suggestion what you just brought up and Danny Hurley. Now, is Danny Hurley an NBA coach? That's the question. Because I think to me, Danny Hurley just screams college coach. Right. And I think that would be a huge loss for college basketball. But if the Lakers were interested in him and he clearly thought about that long and hard and then went back to Yukon.

Why wouldn't you? Yeah, at least take it under consideration if you're Danny Hurley. So that's the way that that I'm looking at this right now. It is Zach Elb show on the Infinity Sports Network. Hey, real quickly, let's just do what we're supposed to start the show off with today. And that was a little commentary here on the NBA finals.

And I will go on to say this. The NBA championship, whoever wins it this year between the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Indiana Pacers. It will mean more in the way that I view it than any championship that Kevin Durant won with the Golden State Warriors or the two championships that LeBron James won with the Miami Heat. And I know people will say, oh, another gas bag nationally just trying to bring up Kevin Durant and LeBron James in a segment.

That's not the case here. But the point I'm making here is look at the way that KD won those two championships. Look how LeBron won those two championships. It was forming a super team. Now, I don't hate super teams, but if you ask me what's more impressive, Tyrese Halliburton and Pascal Siakam winning a championship together as a one, two punch. Or LeBron joining Dwayne Wade and getting Chris Bosh to go with them or Kevin Durant already joining a championship team with Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Like, what's more impressive to me?

It's a guy like Halliburton. It's a guy like Siakam winning a championship together or how quickly this young core in SGA was acquired via trade and became a superstar. You have Jalen Williams.

You got Chet Holmgren in the draft and them going out there. One seed last year, this year one seed again, 68 wins, all these double digit victories and then boom, they win a championship. That's just more impressive to me.

It is. It doesn't mean that you still don't respect what LeBron and company did up against the Spurs that one time up against the Oklahoma City Thunder when they had KD James Harden and Russell Westbrook. It doesn't mean you don't respect the Warriors and just how dominant they were able to be. But when you're looking at championships and you're saying what's more impressive when you win with lesser stars, that shows you how great your team is.

So let's go around the room here. What's the most impressive championship to you since 2005? So that's like past the Lakers winning a championship with Shaq and Kobe.

So 2005 and on, Stu, what's the most impressive championship to you? Mine is the 2019 Toronto Raptors. They took a chance on Kawhi. They knew it was probably going to be a rental. They got him for the one year and, you know, they had a lot of pretty good players around them. They had Kyle Lowry who was there for a while, a young OG, a young Pascal Siakam, guys who are more known now. But that team and I know obviously they were kind of benefiting off the fact that the Warriors were injured at the time. But still, I think that team, nobody had that team getting to the finals and winning it. So that to me is like the kind of the impressive small market team winning a finals.

Yeah, it was definitely one. And I know that they ended up trading for Kawhi and you had the exodus of Kawhi from San Antonio. But who would have thought that team was going to win a championship? And look how close they weren't from winning it all in that second round where you had that crazy game where Kawhi had that ball just bounce up in the air and hit the rim about four times before falling through. Sam, what's the most impressive championship for you in the NBA since 2005?

So I actually was looking at it from a... You can view it however you want. Well, I was looking at it from all sports. I didn't realize it was just NBA. Yeah, just NBA.

So if it's just NBA, I've got to go with LeBron and the Cavs. Yeah. Because for him to leave Miami and to go back to Cleveland with all the pressure and all the anger after he left with the decision and to come there and bring Cleveland a title for the first time in decades for that city, for a guy born and raised right by that city. To me, there was nothing more impressive than that.

That I thought was just absolutely storybook ending. And also being down 3-1. When they're down 3-1, everyone thinks that's cooked.

It's over. The Warriors get another championship and then boom, they come on back. The one that I'm going to rock and roll with is 2011 because Stu kind of hit it. And I know that the Warriors were banged up, but it was David versus Goliath kind of feel with the Raptors and the Warriors. But you look back at 2011, you had the Miami Heat first year together. You know, the big three, not one, not two, not three, but four hundred and seventy six championships.

That's what they were going to win. And LeBron James had his worst performance of his career. Like what he did in those NBA finals were absolutely putrid. And the Dallas Mavericks with Dirk Nowitzki singular star Jason Kidd was past his prime at that point, even though he's a great player. But Dirk Nowitzki winning that championship in 2011 was, for me, one that definitely stood out.

You're champion since 2005. The Spurs beat the Pistons. The Heat beat the Mavs. The Spurs beat the Cavs. You had the Celtics beat the Lakers. The Lakers beat the Magic. The Lakers beat the Celtics in seven.

So nice little moment there for Stu back to back years. Dallas beat in Miami. The Heat beat in the Thunder. The Heat beat in the Spurs. The Spurs then beat in the Heat. Golden State beat in Cleveland. Cleveland then beat in Golden State. Golden State. Golden State beat in Cleveland. Cleveland back to back years. Raptors beat in Golden State. Lakers beating the Heat. Bubble championship.

I had to just do that to Stu. Bucks beat in the Suns. Very impressive. Also, they were down 2-0. Golden State Warriors beat in the Celtics. Nuggets beat in the Heat 4-1 with the Joker and also Jamal Murray.

And then last year, the Boston Celtics beat in the Dallas Mavericks four games to one. And we'll see, kicking off on Thursday, tipping off on Thursday, who's going to get the first to four victories between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. We'll come on back with news brief update time first. Here's Zach. Alrighty.

Rock and roll. And this is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network coming up at 4.20. John Fanta will join us as we will chat it up with him and get a little insight on who the new Knicks coach could be as it was just reported at 2.40 today by Shom Sharania that Tom Thibodeau is out as Knicks head coach. And there's already some speculation about Jay Wright.

Santa threw out the name Dan Hurley. I threw out Johnny Bryant. You know, we've also discussed Michael Malone and Taylor Jenkins. So we'll kind of tap in the NBA and the college world with John Fanta coming up at 4.20 p.m. Eastern time today. The defensive player of the week is brought to you by the Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission, and this week's player is Pacers guard Andrew Nebhard. In Saturday's game six win over the New York Knicks, who have now fired Tom Thibodeau, the third year man out of Gonzaga had six steals and a blocked shot.

In that game, Indiana forced 18 turnovers, which resulted in 34 points. Alrighty. Without further ado, I'm not talking about Freddie Uddu. Let's get to a news brief. Extra, extra real about it.

Extra, extra real about it. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports, and reconnaissance from The Day in Sports. So this was Saturday after the game, and this was after the Knicks' season came to an end. We played this for you yesterday, but I think it's important that we bring it back up into the conversation today, now with Tom Thibodeau being fired. But Jalen Brunson, the captain of the Knicks after the game, was asked if Tom Thibodeau was still the right coach of this team at this fiery exchange. Jalen, when you talk about the confidence, obviously, I feel like nobody takes more criticism than Tom. And this team obviously has turned around during his tenure.

Do you kind of feel that going forward he's the same guy that flipped you guys the rest of the way at next level? Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe that if he's the right guy. Yes.

Thanks guys. Come on. So as I said yesterday, I'll say it again, I thought it was a fair question. The reporter has a job to do. When you're a reporter and I've been in those situations before, when you're asking questions, you ask questions that people are curious about things with. You're not just going to sit there and be like, hey Jalen, describe what it's like to get to the conference finals and lose. You'll have some team shill that will do that and you'll have some like lazy slap you-know-what reporter do that.

Or someone that's just on TV trying to get a headline so they can have some sot when they go to their report later on in the night. But if you're there and actually doing the job after that game, and maybe it's not the appropriate time to ask it in terms of maybe there's a better time, but you never know when the availability is going to be in that stuff. The Knicks, they don't speak to people like every day and things like that. They're one of the more guarded teams in the league. But the way that I look at it is after that game, if I was writing an article, if I was doing a report, it's okay, the Knicks laid a nice foundation, but what's the future? And you think of three names potentially being associated with the future that could or could not be back next season. And one of those names was Tom Thibodeau.

Then after that, it's Carl Anthony Towns and it's McHale Bridges. And I don't think it was unfair for that reporter to ask that question. Also, I think the response by Jalen Brunson was spot on. Like, what is he going to say?

Yeah, get rid of the coach. Come on. So he makes it appear like he's going to bat for Tibbs and that he's disgusted by the question.

So I thought it was a good exchange all around. But you go from Saturday to where we're sitting here today on Tuesday. And after it marinated Saturday night in the plane ride back, Sunday, Monday, and then early today, Tuesday, they made that decision that Tom Thibodeau out as the head basketball coach of the Knicks. And we'll see who's going to progress and who's going to try to move this team moving forward. And ultimately, I think whoever is the next coach, you know, whether it's Michael Malone, whether it's Taylor Jenkins, whether it's Johnny Bryant, whether it's Jay Wright, Dan Hurley, like whoever you want to throw out there, it's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You're taking over a team next year, and the goal, especially with Jason Tatum out for probably the season, is to go win a championship.

And for whatever the reasons were, even though Tom Thibodeau did a really good job in New York, they thought that was the end of the road for him, and they didn't think he was capable in winning a championship with this group. So right now, barring a trade for Giannis, which I think is still rather unlikely, you're going to look at this and say, they're going to run it back with Cat. They're going to run it back with McHale Bridges.

They're going to have Brunson back and OG back, and that new coach that has to find the way to get the most out of this group. Let's go to Josh McDaniels on Staphon Diggs now being at OTAs. He wasn't there last week. We also saw the video emerge where he was on a boat and was allegedly passing around what was a pink powdery substance.

I think I got all the legal language correct out of the way right there. So let's hear from the Patriots offensive coordinator. Oh, by the way, Stu, Josh McDaniels looking a little slim. A year out of coaching, and he was able to shed some pounds. I don't know if he's on Ozempic.

I don't think he needed to be on Ozempic. But I guess out of coaching for a year, got him back in a little bit better shape. Here is Josh McDaniels, Stu's favorite coach of all time for his days with the Raiders, on seeing Staphon Diggs at OTAs.

As a coach, selfishly, you love it when they're all here because you feel like you've got them all in the classroom and all in the field and all the rest of it. He's here today, and we're excited to have an opportunity to work with the guys that are out here and available to us. So I know he's staying up on the information and the material.

I'm not concerned about Staphon in that regard. So here's the thing that I think is fascinating here. The conversation, and maybe it's just because it's monotonous OTAs, and this is at least like a juicy story. And right, what are you really reporting on with the Patriots? Vrabel's there. Drake Mays, the quarterback. This team should be better. They're not going to be really good. So you get a big offseason acquisition, a guy in Staphon Diggs, fiery personality, you know, on a boat, party him with girls, pass it around allegedly, allegedly, a pink powdery substance.

What a dope friend to get that on video. So this becomes a story. But all these reporters saying, oh, like the Patriots may cut Staphon Diggs. And I know Rappaport kind of refuted that today. What are we doing here? Like, you're telling me this is the first time you think an NFL player has been in a boat with women passing around what was allegedly a pink powdery substance?

And how many times do we see this? The NFL prioritizes on the field compared to off the field. And there's a lot worse that has gone on off the field. Not saying what Staphon Diggs was right, if what allegedly he was doing did in fact happen, which I think if you watch the video, you know what's going on.

But I just got to be careful here from a legal situation. But the idea that people are like, yeah, Diggs needs to get cut. Huh? Why is Staphon Diggs going to be the Patriots start the season? Now, is he going to be healthy?

That's a different question. But if he is healthy, why will he be playing for the Patriots the moment he's available and why he won't get cut? It's because Drake May needs a good target. That's what he needs.

He needs a target. And Staphon Diggs is a target. Staphon Diggs has been a number one wide receiver before. Do I think he's number one wide receiver right now?

No. But he is a guy that will have flashes of being a number one that is at this stage of his career will be asked to be a number one, but it's probably more so number two on most teams, like a one and a half kind of guy right now. So the Patriots, of course, are going to prioritize having Staphon Diggs on the field in a video that, let's be real, most people are going to forget about, not by next week, by the end of this week. So I don't think that there's a shot that Josh McDaniels is going to lose Staphon Diggs and Mike Vrabel is going to lose Staphon Diggs. And the two of them are like, yeah. RKK Robert Krask is going to sit there and be like, yeah, we got to go get rid of Staphon Diggs right now.

I just don't understand that one. Let's get to Jordan Love from the F. This is via The Athletic. Goals for the 2025 season? You know, I think you talk about Super Bowl, that's the goal for us. You know, we talked about that last year, and that's the same message this year. We're trying to win a Super Bowl. So I'm definitely trying to be that guy to be able to take this team and lead them to that. You know, I think when you talk about Aaron and what he did this third year, you know, I never try to compare because, you know, it's so hard to do.

There's so many different situations that go on. But at the end of the day, like you said, you know, I've been here going on year six, going on my third year playing. So, you know, everything's right there in front of us and for this team. So it's just about going out there, executing. But the goal is definitely a Super Bowl. That's the mindset we have.

And we're going to put in the work to be able to hopefully get there. Yeah, you don't play for the Cleveland Browns. You play for the Green Bay Packers. So the goal should be to go win a Super Bowl. Do I think that's a team that I believe can win a Super Bowl this year?

No, I do not. I look at that team two years ago. They made the second round of the playoffs.

Love across his body. Interception in the game that they could have won up against the 49ers. First year as a starter. They beat the Cowboys.

They walked into their house. They whooped up on the Cowboys. That was a successful season. Last year, they made the playoffs again.

The wide receiving room was no true alpha, no number one. They drafted wide receiver now for the first time in the first round since 2002. I think that if you make the NFC championship game this year, that's a success for the Green Bay Packers. Like just making the playoffs again. Just winning a playoff game. I know they lost a playoff game last year. That to me is not success this season.

You got to take this the next step further. And that doesn't even mean you got to get ultimate success. And that's making a Super Bowl and winning a Super Bowl. But that's a team. I think that their limitation this year is making an NFC championship game. And a very tough division, by the way. That division, you got four teams.

All four of those teams can make the playoffs. Let's go to Todd Bowles. This is the Pewter Report on his relationship with Baker Bayfield. I had a very good relationship with Jamis when he was here off the field. Tom was unbelievable.

You can't say enough about Tom and his football IQ. But Baker's probably, if I was an outward personality, Baker would be the guy I probably would be. So we have more in common than you really think. He just shows a little more.

I probably wouldn't have did the Tommy DeVito. But at the same time, I could think it. But he does not think so. I think we're kind of interconnected that way.

And we're kind of just fraternal twins, so to speak. So I guess that is Todd Bowles saying he has a lot of inner confidence, but he doesn't express that confidence. Yeah, if you're going to say you're similar to Baker Mayfield, and I like Baker. I think Baker is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the league. I think he is easily a top ten quarterback in the league. Baker Mayfield's just someone that screams confidence.

Right? Todd Bowles, and he's a Temple guy. I like him. He is as boring of a coach as you could ever talk to. He says nothing. Baker Mayfield stirs it up. So maybe you have the same competitive spirit, but in the case of voicing it and showing your true thoughts, yes, Todd Bowles, you keep everything internally. Baker tells you everything.