WEST PITTSTON, PA – What’s better than a weekend full of rainouts and playoff basketball?
Nothing.
Oh, and I guess the Stanley Cup Playoffs are going on too. But to be honest, with the Buffalo Sabres being so unwatchable this season, it’s hard for me to get into the postseason this year.
I will root for Evander Kane and the San Jose Sharks, though. I still don’t think it trading him was the best move.
But hey, with the New York Yankees in what looks like a spiral, the New York Mets off to a blazing hot start and the second set of first-round games underway tonight, there’s a lot to discuss.
Let’s get to it. Here’s a fresh batch of Ebs’ Hot Takes:
David Fizdale is the perfect fit for the New York Knicks. Reports leaked out on Sunday that the New York Knicks will be interviewing Jeff Van Gundy, David Fizdale, Mark Jackson and Jerry Stackhouse. The search should stop at Fizdale.
New York is finalizing plans to meet with three of the top candidates for the Knicks' head coaching job this week — David Fizdale, Mark Jackson and Jerry Stackhouse, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 15, 2018
The former Memphis Grizzlies head coach is credited for unlocking Chris Bosh during his time in Miami and Marc Gasol, until the two had that ugly split-up.
The Knicks’ quickest path to success is through – what do you know – another big man in Kristaps Porzingis.
While Porzingis burst onto the scene as a rookie, he still hasn’t reached his full potential yet. Fizdale is the perfect guy to bring it out of him.
Rick Pitino needs to be the next coach at Siena. The Times Union reported on Sunday that Rick Pitino is interested in the recent Siena College opening.
It makes sense despite the fact that Pitino later denied the report.
Rick Pitino denies interest in Siena basketball coaching job https://t.co/jGWwqQEO82 via @TimesUnion
— Mark Singelais (@MarkSingelais) April 15, 2018
Pitino spends portions of his summers up in Saratoga Springs as a thoroughbred owner and Siena College was once one of the best mid majors in the country. But they’re still looking for that stature that they once had when Fran McCaffery was their head coach.
However – and this is a big however – considering Pitino was just fired for violating after a pair of nasty scandals at Louisville and Siena just had its coach resign amid a scandal, itself, would the Saints want to hitch their wagon to him? This is a Catholic school after all.
But if Siena truly wants to get back to its winning days, hiring Pitino would ensure the quickest route. Not to mention, it would put the school on the map again.
Siena has also been linked to Le Moyne coach Patrick Beilein, the son of Michigan coach John Beilein, and Syracuse great and assistant coach Gerry McNamara. Two great candidates.
Another name I have heard that is in the mix at Siena is Syracuse assistant Gerry McNamara. https://t.co/U6jZAHpxBH
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 13, 2018
The Yankees and Mets will trade places in the standings by June 1. Look, this isn’t all that crazy.
The Mets are playing their best baseball right now while the Yankees are at .500 with Greg Bird, CC Sabathia, Brandon Drury, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clint Frazier, Ben Heller and Billy McKinney all on the DL. Oh, and Gleyber Torres is still in the minors too.
My point is, the Yankees are playing .500 baseball with help still on the way. This is a team that has the talent to challenge for a World Series title and Brian Cashman will likely trade for an arm at the deadline. The Yankees haven’t hit their ceiling yet.
The Mets don’t have a lot of assets to reload at the deadline, and the ones they do have are probably about to be unloaded for J.T. Realmuto.
It would be insane to think the Mets can keep this incredible pace up. Sorry, guys.
Don’t lose faith in LeBron. Welp, LeBron James was going to lose a first-round playoff game eventually, right?
If you’re counting James and the Cleveland Cavaliers after one game you’re foolish.
Don’t get me wrong, an 18-point victory at The Q was impressive for the Indiana Pacers, but I don’t see Victor Oladipo going 66 percent from behind the 3-point-line moving forward, like he did in Sunday. He shot 37 percent from behind the arc the regular season. That’s a big dip.
Cavs in seven.
Feel free to comment below, check out Ben Whitney and please follow us on Twitter at @ByDJEberle, @MeetTheMatts and @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram at @meetthematts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
For all of you Yankees fans, check out my brand new Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders podcast. Episode 1 features RailRiders reliever Brady Lail. Episode 2 with Yankees top pitching prospect Chance Adams comes out later Monday.
https://soundcloud.com/ridingtherailspodcast/episode-1-railriders-reliever-brady-lail
