Guess who’s back? Back again. Fans are back. Tell your friends.
It’s been a long year, but Knicks fans can rejoice. There will be 2,000 fans back at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for the first time since March 8. While it’s only 10 percent capacity, 2,000 people can still make some noise and bring some energy to a Knicks team that is just a game under .500 and in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference. Fans are back, Julius Randle is potentially going to be an All-Star and the Knicks are playing great basketball.
There’s no better time to tune in to a brand new episode of the “Big Apple Buckets” podcast with Sal Licata and Jerome “The Junk Yard Dog” Williams, featuring an interview with Knicks standout rookie guard Immanuel Quickley.
Big Apple Buckets Podcast with Sal & The Junk Yard Dog:
- Fans back at The Garden. Impact that will have on young players, the Knicks and their opponents. Even if just 2,000 people, it helps. Going up against Steph Curry with fans, could put on a show.
- Julius Randle needs to be an All-Star. We find out Tuesday night if he will be. What have been the main reasons for Randle’s improvement?
- Kenny Payne coached at Kentucky when Randle was there. He’s been big. Randle knowing his role and becoming a leader and star for this team.
- Schedule ahead for the Knicks. They have a bunch of games to close the first half in a short amount of time. A chance to get to .500 Tuesday and finish the first half strong and potentially even in the top five in the Eastern Conference.
This Day in Knicks History: Ten years ago today, Carmelo Anthony made his New York Knicks debut. Looking back at the best Melo memories. Sal explains why he was not in love with Melo, while JYD and I explain why he was so important to the franchise.
Immanuel Quickley Interview:
Knicks rookie guard, 2020 SEC Player of the Year
- Having early success and now fans returning to MSG. His grandma and aunt coming to games soon, will be some of loudest fans.
- NBA life, constant COVID tests, having to wake up early to get tested. Started to get used to it.
- Dealing with high expectations after a great start to the season.
- CBS Sports giving him a D+ grade, having a screenshot of that and other things in an album on his phone, using it as motivation.
- Surreal to be playing with Knicks. High-level expectations, just like Kentucky. Playing at The Garden is like a movie.
- Getting to play with Derrick Rose in the backcourt. Watching him play as a kid, one of two games he saw in person as a kid. Playing both the one and two guard.
- Getting his floater watching Lou Williams play and drawing fouls. Watching CJ McCollum and his float game too.
- How great Randle has been as a player and a leader.
- Being coached by great coaches in John Calipari and now Tom Thibodeau. Holding you accountable if you are not playing well.
- Pandemic 21st birthday, being a lowkey guy, loving going to the mall, Chinese food at the mall is some of the best. Going bowling after the pandemic.
- NYC food, not getting to go to many spots, lives in White Plains. How great his partnership has been with Roc Nation.
Inside The Dog House: In honor of Episode 34 of the show, JYD tells two great stories about his old teammate and Knicks great Charles Oakley. The first about Oak’s tremendous cooking skills…and the second about him punching Tyrone Hill in the face before a game over not paying up on a $10,000 card bet. I follow telling the Samaki Walker-Kobe Bryant infamous sucker-punch story and a JYD Knicks jersey coming up from a girl on the dating app Bumble.
Catch up on all episodes of “Big Apple Buckets,” a New York Knicks podcast, by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the crew on Twitter @sal_licata, @JunkYardDogJW and @JakeBrownRadio. New episodes of the show drop Tuesday afternoons.
