The New York sports talk radio listeners must surely be experiencing whiplash this morning. After the game 3 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, everyone was calling for Mike Brown to be fired and envisioning a first round playoff exit and a rebuild in the off-season. What a difference a week makes!

SU is not a Mike Brown fan but one thing he accomplished during the regular season was establishing a core of 10 players that he can mix and match depending on the opponent. And he has shown that he is not averse to banishing a player to the bench, e.g., Landry Shamet, if he feels they are not right for that series. Even starter Mikal Bridges saw his minutes reduced for a few games before breaking out last night. SU says competition for playing time is always a good thing in any sport. Brown pulled it off – at least for this series against the Hawks. He was smart enough to run the offense through KAT and have someone other than Brunson bring up the ball to reduce his burden. The Knicks are so, so much better when the ball does not stick in Brunson’s hands and really moves. However, every playoff series it seems to take Brunson a couple of games to realize that.

Did you see that Mitchell Robinson had a +29 points plus/minus last night in only 9 minutes of court time? That has to be some type of record.

The Sixers and Celtics will wrap up a brusing series tomorrow and the Knicks get a few days off to rest up for the next opponent. They would have home court vs. Philadelphia but they have some tough players, i.e., Maxey, Embid, Geroge and Embid is a load in the playoffs drawing fouls. SU believes the Knicks may actually match up better vs. Boston but they have that championship pedigree. This will be another tough series.

For Knick fans, you have to make the finals this year. You don’t have to win it all but really do need to get there. OKC and San Antonio would be tough opponents in the finals but it sure would be fun to see how that went.

The Yankees are managing through the annual Giancarlo Stanton injury but it has opened the door for Jasson Dominguez to get a shot to play regularly. Of course, he was hit on the elbow this week so hoping he can get back in there and avoid any IL time. The reality is that the Yankees really don’t need Stanton until October as he is a proven post-season performer. They have plenty of offense assuming guys can hit according to the back of their baseball cards. Only 3 teams above .500 in the AL. Parity at its finest. Note to Aaron Boone: Ben Rice is the man. Don’t forget that.

The Yankees have back end of the bullpen issues but they will resolve themselves assuming Cole and Rodon can return and stay healthy. You move Weathers to the bullpen where he has pitched before and then one other starter (Warren?). Volpe will return and SU says he should have to earn his playing time as Caballero has played well. Caballero is versatile though and can also be put in the outfield. For the Yankees, it’s just a matter of tweaking.

For the Mets, man, we are beyond tweaking. David Stearns came to the Mets with a reputation for putting together high performing rosters with low cost budgets in Milwaukee. So, how does he do with big budgets? Not so much. Team can’t hit or pitch and did you really want to build your bullpen around ex-Yankee relievers? Weaver and Williams may be effective playing for middle market teams but hey, this is New York and they both showed cracks in 2025. The Braves have the best record in baseball but it’s still early. Do you fire Mendoza? SU says he is a good guy and a solid manager, and the issue here is not him but a crappy roster. What is the over/under date where Juan Soto starts to leak complaints to the media that he is not happy?