Yankees Mediocre Muck, Mets Meaningful September, & Liberty Closing Time | NY Sports Rapid Rundown

Brian Fleurantin it's Labor Day weekend and time for the final New York Sports Rapid rundown episode for the month of August and just like that summer is unofficially over but football returns this week starting on Thursday we're in the final stretch of the MLB and WNBA season so Sports never stops needs us a conversation on this show where we discuss the three hottest topics in New York Sports my guest this week is a talented journalist who covers the Brooklyn Nets for Nets Republic and Nets da he also covers the New York Liberty for the local W now he's dope because like myself he's an Lum of the great Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn welcome to the show a fellow Brooklyn Knight and Barton night the one and only Brian Florentine what's going on man I feel great great to be here always good to have Barton lumps in the house good time coming it definitely is you are the second Barton Alum to sit at this desk I had a fellow classmate of former classmate of mine say here with something else it's always good to have a bar night here and if you know about the greatness of clar Barton well now you do how are you doing how's your summer going how's everything been Summer's been great I got back in the country a couple weeks ago from from a two we state in Europe did one week in England a couple days in Florence Italy and then wrapped up in Rome I will say if you do travel bring a lot of water it's hot hot hot like I've never sweated and had that much water in my life in one sitting like I would get the really large po I'm like drink drink them up make sure I'm hydrated feeling good but it was amazing yeah you was telling about the trip you were living good despite being hot you were eating well that sounded all really good glad your Summer's going well I can't believe the summer is practically over yeah it makes me sad it makes me sad too but let's let's try to stay positive and happy and talk about a lot that's going on this week because we've got a lot to talk about this week guys with Brian including the Liberty they are eyeing the playoffs with seven games left in the W season the Mets are set to play meaningful September games but first Brian we have to talk Yankees Mediocre Muck about the New York Yankees yep here we go starting with some baseball so Brian the Yankees they started this 2024 season 50 and 24 really good start right but since then they've been 29 and 34 and at times we've seen the Bronx bombers play down to their competition play up to some of the tougher teams but down to the Lesser teams earli this week we saw this they dropped the series to the Nationals the team has been what I like to call mediocre or so like I have to say sometimes extra regular I'll say that about them right since that dominance start so now we're in the final full month of the season do you believe the team can get out of this mediocre muck do you believe that can happen I think for them they have right because right now they're up a game and a half on Baltimore and they have the tie break I think they're up three games over the Guardians plus they have the tiebreaker so that gives them a little bit of a cushion to work with and I feel like that's I feel like that gives them at least a little bit of leeway it's almost like you're in like a crowded area but you have just enough room to move your arms around so I like that for them and I think that their schedule is going to be pretty tough but I think what helps also is that a lot of those games are going to be at home like the G like they have a three game series against Baltimore from the 24th to the 26th and it's going to be in Yankee Stadium and I think to really give themselves as much room as possible I think they got to sweep all three of those games like they're down in the season series currently to Baltimore and then if they win that they have the tiebreaker over Baltimore in Cleveland and I think especially for this team if you're able to stack those wins up really get back on in in good footing you get to have home field throughout the playoffs and I think you know we talk about it in a lot of sports yeah Ro players always play better at home and when you're at home you feel a lot more comfortable just as one example John Carlos stanson I was looking it up last night at Yankee Stadium he's slugging 568 and on the road he's slugging 387 so for for for players like that if you get as many games in your building as possible you really get to be at you get to be your full most comfortable self and like like we were talking about before when you have that Advantage you have a little bit more time and rest to really sort of like set your rotations have players to like rest up any sort of B any sort of Nicks and bruises that they're going through so I think for the Yankees getting home court getting home field home court later you think about basketball getting home field advantage I think is really of the utmost importance and I I like that chances and last night they got a good win against St Louis stro gave them some really good Innings Austin Wells had an awesome game at the plate I like what they're going to do and I think they cuz coming up they're going to Texas after the St TRS up against St Louis Texas hasn't been hitting well this year they're 24th in Ops and you have Rhone and Garett Cole pitching in that series Cole he he hadn't he he hasn't crossed seven innings yet this season but he's gone six a couple times in August he's really started to S like figure some things out I would say to a certain degree so they're going to need really big work out of him and everyone else to sort of really make that big final push to secure top spot yeah and it's going to be really interesting to see if they can make that final push but now is the time you really talked about looking at the end of the month with that Series against the Orioles that looms to be large but I think what Yankee fans are hoping for is can they get some separation before that and that means taking care of business against teams that you should so Brian kind of mentioned this here guys because starting with Friday's game against the Cardinals the Yanks they've got the 10th toughest schedule the third hardest in the American League the rest of the way so it's not going to be easy those stats are according to thanathon decom now the Orioles that's their main competition they've got the third softest schedule between now in the end of the regular season Brian so the top two records in the American League will get a buy to start the postseason part of what you're talking about in the importance of just being in your own bed playing on your own home field so how imperative is it despite the 10 toughest schedule in the league that the Bronx bombers win this Division I take it as important because you want them to have home court field advantage but winning the division getting a buy also gets you a little bit of rest which can be helpful too yep I would say job one like job one for for for September and and and the end of the season get get home fi like everything push towards that because once you get that you you you really allow yourself to set the table as much as possible you don't want to have a situation like the 2022 Mets where you win 103 games but you don't get you don't you don't you don't win the division so you're hosting San Diego for a wild card that oh we got one hit in game three and everyone's miserable and in a great season's just down the tube so you really want to avoid as many sort of like danger zones as as best as you can and that comes with winning the division securing that best record in the league and really being able to establish yourself in that way let me ask you something of that because there's sort of a Counterpoint that's been going around in baseball when you look at the last couple of Seasons where there's been some wild card teams we've seen some wild card teams make runs to the World Series so some people may say well it's better to be a wild card team you don't I I don't I personally don't agree with that notion I'm like look you want to stay in your home bed you want to get these extra games at home and that little break I do think is good to reset yeah I think that if you have the option to make your road easier you always go for it like if oh we can win on the road do you want to have to win on the road nah that way I can go oh for the road for all playoffs but if I have home field advantage I know that when the series comes down to it it's in my house and I can really do what I need to do that way so if if I'm able to get that opportunity why not go for it why not really give yourself that chance to really enjoy enjoy the time off and really have really sort of like enjoy the rewards of a success of a successful season it's really hard to win a division especially with with a team as good as Baltimore they have so many they have so much good young talent in the team and coming down the pipeline so you really want to have that success to be like okay I wanted the division now I'm going into the playoffs I I've got I've got a buy now I'm fully ready to go I have the MVP he's he's he may not get the Triple Crown but he's right on the edge on on the batting average side like you want to really have as much opportunity as possible like you get hey Juan sto you have a week off walk around New York enjoy being in the Bronx a little bit more that way when the winter comes sign sign with us we're all happy like you want to do these things and you really want to make sure that you can control the board as much as possible I think that if like when you're able to sort of control how things go when it comes to like postseason postseason play your life is a lot easier yeah no there's no doubt about that I agree I think you want the easiest pass possible look is it always guaranteed no the fans know that out there but I do think rest is good and getting yourself right I think that can help and the Yankees can use that we'll see how things work out for the Yankees moving Amazin’ Mets September? forward okay keeping it in baseball and moving over to to the Mets the amazings they just what was that side about my the Nets the Mets are near and dear to oh okay okay I I I I was like there's a little bit of of pain there so I had to make sure I understood what that I I heard it in the okay I understand I I grew up a Mets fan I understand exactly what that side meant to Brian totally right there no no no I'm glad you you let it out we want to be our authentic selves on this show I'm glad you were able to let that out so we got the Sigh out the way the amazing they just completed a 10- game stretch right where they played the Orioles you just talked about being a good team with a young Talent they also padr the Diamondbacks they went six and four in that stretch I think most Mets fans I hope so would have signed up for that but now they've got themselves a big September that's going to determine whether or not they will make the playoffs they play six of their next nine games against the White Sox that started series with them on Friday and they also have the Reds in that span how important is it that the Mets take care of business with teams that are below 500 or around so we don't hear another sigh like that from you yeah I think for the Mets in for those upcoming six games I I want to say get all six but I know I know the Mets too well they're going to trick a game off because that's what they do so give me five in one I need five- one out of those six games like they SNY the SNY Mets Twitter account had had a really great post about maybe like a week ago where the Mets had leads late in the games and then they lost all five in August like things like that when when you're right there you got to lock it down like you have to get those you have to get these wins and you really especially against teams that are at the bottom of the league and really are just looking forward to the off season you got to you got to wrap it up like you can't afford to have any lapsers you can't afford to have bad Bullpen moments you got to really make sure that you handle what you're supposed to do so I want five in one out of them like their schedule's going to be a little bit tough they have some big games coming down the line and you you're they're going to need help and I think what might help them is that teams like Arizona and San Diego who are ahead of them they they face off at at the end of the season so you might have a little bit of process of of elimination there as they battle it out like they they both have game series against the Dodgers coming up and Arizona has one right now so you're hoping that you get that help Atlanta is directly ahead of them in the standings and then they go into Atlanta it's not it's not the old turn of field House of Horrors but it's still a house of horrors nonetheless in on in on September 24th 26 so I'm like God just give just get get get me two games in Atlanta and I will like I won't complain for like three days except getting two games in Atlanta has not always been easier right it does yeah the bets fan knows and I I hear the side there I want to move to this because you talked about the team blowing games right in the five that they blew with lead's late in August now early this week I'm sorry to bring up tough memories tough conversations from the Mets fans but Edwin Diaz blew his sixth save of the season right let's just keep it real the Mets pen has been shaky yeah it's been shaky this season so here's the thing with all that's been going on do you trust the Mets pen to get the job done down the stretch you just talked about five games blown in August do you trust the Mets pen to get the job done down the stretch especially they got to go down to the ATL try to lock down some games do you trust this Bullpen right now I feel like it's a situation where it's like your partner asks you do you like should I do this thing I'm like yes you always say yes like you never want to you never want to like have that doubt because when you have that doubt it sort of seeps into everything you're doing and I think for me I got to trust him by default like I have my trepidations it's like for Edwin in particular the the itest matches the numbers he's been hit a lot harder this year fewer strikeouts more flight balls it's been really hard hard and I think especially coming off as severe injury as a as as he had in 2023 you really sort of see the struggles play out but I think for him like he he he had a clean inning last night he bounced back from the blown save in in Arizona the Wednesday night the Grand Slam he had he had he had a good inning the next day so I think for him being able to sort of like bounce back from that immediately in the way that he has I think is a good sign for him and I trust that he has enough sort of like we aw and he he has enough like gas in him to really power through for this month so I my my default with the Mets says hope for the best and then when everything else happens it just happens so I'm like okay I got you I believe in you let's make it happen when everything else just happens it happens that is not the most encouraging words for the Mets Manan at all right there he's like hope for the best and when everything else happens it happens yeah life be life in with the Mets man let me tell you man that a lot of Mets fans are going to watch that hear that and they will agree let's you know what let's hope for the best and here's the thing Brian cu the Mets are near and dear to your heart I think that being realistic at the beginning of the season if I had said to you hey the Mets are going to be able to play meaningful games at the start of September think you would have signed up for that right yeah so here we are you it sounds like you're going to try to enjoy the ride yeah like when I hear meaningful games in September I think back to previous ownership and that being their goal so I'm like oh we're here we're we're at the we're at the minimum standard that you want now that we're here we're close let's make it happen I think that I think you know especially when when a team is close in the way that the Mets are you really want to just like turn your brain off in a sense so I do that a lot where I'm like okay we're close enough anything can happen in a particular game why not oh hey we're facing we're facing a really strong lineup tonight oh complete game shut out from sevie great work like there are so many like I think with the Mets I'm still I'm so used to like expecting bad things with them and there have been plenty of bad things in my lifetime I'm 34 and I've seen I've seen a lot and it's like it it it can really sort of like bum you out to a certain extent but what's fandom right we're here let's let's really let's let's let's make it happen like I want to I want to I want to believe I think that hey Lindor has been amazing Pono is close he might if he if he has a really good hot stretch he might have 40 home runs again I why not hey tough games ahead Wilder things have happened Wilder things have happened just got to enjoy the ride there you go that's a pretty good advice I think for the nuts fan we will see how it all plays out we'll have to check in with Ryan at the end of the month and see if he still feels good about it if it goes badly I have a like we can just have like a Mets couch where I just like lay and we do some Mets yes all right there we go we'll have some Mets therapy for the people Mets therapy on the rapid rown coming soon but hopefully not too soon we'll see okay let's talk about a team that Closing Time For NY Liberty you cover that is the New York Liberty I'm always glad we get the Liberty here on the rundown team just wrapped up a West Coast trip they go two and one they have seven games to go in the season you know this cuz covering a lot of basketball teams always want to peek at the right time right particularly if you're going on that right trajectory before the playoffs so what do you think you need to see from the Liberty that'll let you know in the next couple of weeks that okay they're peing and they're ready for the postseason what do you need to see from them one thing I'm looking for with the Liberty is I need them to cut the turnovers down like since the allstar break they're second in the WNBA in turnovers and against team against certain teams like you really can't afford to do that like the loss they had to to Connecticut a while back turnovers bit him in the butt the game against the Sparks which they probably shouldn't lost because the Sparks are the worst team in the league turnovers bit him in the butt again and I think when they get like that it's because they're not moving the ball side to side they're just sort of like relying on the first action there's not much off ball movement they're just rushing they're rushing three-point shot attempts they're not really getting in the flow of what they do and going from paint to great as syy barela always preaches to the team so you know that when they're in a bad rut it's when they're rushing shot attempts and not really doing what they normally do and I think also the players and cop to it a couple days ago like there's been a bit of slippage over the past couple games I think that's probably a result of just like you know the grind of the Season you know the game every other day is really tough competition especially when you're at the top of the league you're going to get everyone's best effort every single night so there's that natural bit of slippage that comes in the dog days of a season and I think for them they Friday night they were really able to sort of like snap out of it and play as close to their normal game as possible so you start to see them sort of like finding their way in a sense and now that the team is fully healthy for the first time in a while we can really sort of like map out what they're looking for so turnovers is going to be the the first thing I look for the second thing that I want to see on the positive side for them is rebounding they have been monsterous on the class post Allstar break I think they lead the W in rebounding re they lead the league in rebounding post Allstar break second overall on the season second only to Chicago by only a little bit so you see the success they've had on the boards last night for example they outrebounded Seattle 45 to 17 as a team it's a crazy number yeah John quell had 11 by herself so you really sort of see the the the I would say they're not as big as they were last year because the last year's roster had more centers but this year the bigs are so much more versatile like J JJ's fully healthy Niar sa has really come into her own in the past couple games Brandon Stewart is Brandon Stewart so you know what she you know what she's about and even other players Kennedy Berg Leo Feit they've they've been able to help on the glass and you sort of see that strength and that physicality really shine as far as making sure that they complete possessions making sure that teams don't get those second third opportunities on offense and really being able to set the tempo that way so I want to see them contining dominating on the boards really making sure that they're controlling the tempo of the game and then with that it allows them to be their natural selves on offense yeah the to get to your first point the turnovers have been a little concerning to me just watching that post Olympic break post Allstar break as well too and the rebounding they've been so dominant you saw how they dominated the glasses you mentioned against Seattle and you can see how demoralizing that is as a team because they're always finishing possessions then they're hitting the glass on the offensive end that's really demoralizing for an opponent now speaking of the postseason right because unbelievably it's coming up you and I were talking about this before we started recording which potential first round matchup would you like to see for the Liberty if the playoffs started to today they would play Chicago is that a matchup you'd like to see they have some size there they have an elite rebounder in Angel ree what's the matchup that you love to see for Liberty in the first round I think for me the matchup that I think would would would be most advantageous for New York would be Chicago post Allstar break it feels like it feels like like you watch a team and it's like okay something's really wrong here like it feels like the vibe is just completely off Chicago since since they traded Marina May at the All-Star break one and six post All-Star break their offensive I want to say the offensive rating is like second to last in the league their three-point percentage is like second second worse in in the league at want to say like 30% only Seattle's worse at 27% like it's really everything is such a slog for them on offense to really like get into their sets move into things quickly get those easy baskets Kennedy Carter has been out sick the past couple of days we hope she's okay and then she's been out she's she's really their only perimeter score like the only player who can get to the bask and consistently get downhill really create off the dribble Chicago really doesn't have that and and with that it allows for opposing bigs to relase a crowd the paint even more you know credit to Camilo cardoso and inesa that they've been able to play well even within like the lack of spacing that's within Chicago but at the same time it's it's so hard to get to score every possession when teams know okay all we got to do is just like crowd the paint because we know Chicago is not going to be able to burn us from outside we know that that team is just they don't have enough Shooters they don't have enough players who can create off the Tribble they don't have those great Wing players who can really punish a teams and in a ways in ways that that that they might be able to so it's really hard for Chicago to get into their stuff and I think also it's not a rookie wall for Coach per se but it's tough like for for for your coach you're trying to make the playoffs you've lost a key player in the rotation like they they got um Rachel banam and Mariah Jefferson in exchange for mayy but Marina for all for whatever you can say about her Marina can get you buckets when the time comes Mar Marina Marina she got she she got some she got some spunk in her like if it if it's time to get testy Marina will get testy with the best of them and she gives you that edge that a team needs but it's a situation where they don't have that anymore and then just even even externally a couple days ago Dana Evans their backup point guard she she initially she denied that she requested a trade but then she was like I requested a trade and when you have a situation where players are looking towards the exit the team is falling apart the struggles are really loud and last night a showcase game against Indiana Indiana it was almost like it almost like a horse it's almost like a race where it's like you're close for the first couple steps and then gradually getting a little bit further getting a little bit further getting a little bit further and then it's out of here and then you have Caitlyn Clark looking to Fan was that N1 it was and really sort of like dominating your house in a jam-packed Sola Arena ready and and you just couldn't you couldn't keep up and it wasn't for lack of effort or lack of like want to it's just that the roster just not there for it yeah them do your point losing Marina Ma has changed everything for them and um they they are not necessarily the same team and listen they're just holding on to that e spot Atlanta is right behind them the Atlanta Dream and that's a possible first round opponent for the Liberty who look like they will hold on to the top spot so we'll see but I do think you're right for everything you brought up they do match up well with Chicago and it could be a pretty nice I don't say easy sweep I don't want to say anything's easy but they will have home court advantage we talked about that that is good we know that so we'll see what happens with the Liberty but postseason right around the corner for the New York Liberty okay always like to do a little bonus question and I thought You' be the perfect person for this because you Nets Fans Vs Liberty Fans spent a great deal of time at the barklay center I see you a lot at the barklay center you cover the Nets you also cover the liberty so I got to ask you a question that people have been asking me it's been coming up to me they're like who's got the better home crowd at the barklay center is it the Nets fan is it the Liberty fan who brings it more right now I'm not I was about to catch myself and call it the Clays cuz I hated that when KD made that name I was not a fan of that just to be I'm actually okay it don't like it the CL sometimes if my St I almost call myself I'm not a fan of it okay but if you want to call it it's fine you're welcome to say whatever you wanted the show but yeah who's who's bringing the energy right now at as you would say the Clays is it the Nets fan is it the Liberty fan who's got the Barclay Center rocket right now is the Liberty fan in a clean sweep Clean Sweep yep like when you're there like we we've been in we've been in the arena like it gets turned like loud like it feels like the energy is really massive like every possession and especially when Sabrina or fit are hitting those big threes the crowd gets to an even higher level and it's a situation where okay everyone's locked in and everyone's like pushing in One Direction you want to see the Liberty Dominate and win and we we get that more times than not and also I think that I think I think what helps the the Liberty fan is that I don't know how to Sugar quote this I'm just going to say it here we go the Liberty fans have a better product to to afford and watch like yeah like it's a situation where you know you're getting like Elite basketball from the home team and that as a fan you have way more energy because it doesn't feel as if oh I'm here we might be close for a minute then we're going to lose by 18 tonight no you're going to get a complete Game even when the Liberty lose like it's not uh they're completely non-competitive they don't show up they're just like flat and don't bring you anything you don't get that from them in my opinion you get really you get sustained Excellence all across the board you have amazing players and a lot of like energy even the game against Dallas on Thursday night like maybe like a week and a half ago Jaylen Shad came in really was a big spark plug off the bench and that crowd went extra loud for her because she gave them that she gave them even more of an energy boost and you and you saw it in the crowd like the players have mentioned hey playing for a crowd like that it gives me a little bit more juice like I want to win and do well anyway but they give me just that extra bit of motivation like you know the gameing against Minnesota at barlay Center in early July it was it was close late crowd crowd the crowd hated a particular call they got even more amped up players got even more amped up and you saw it coming down the stretch against a really amazing Minnesota team so the crowd it almost feels like it's like 12th man adjacent like in football where you like you have like those home crowds who are really so good they give you that extra advantage and I feel like Liberty I feel like the Liberty fans do that and just in thinking a little bit more about the net fan Liberty fan Dynamic I'm we might have talked about it last year but you you remember it really well the game when the Knicks fans were in barklay Center the first matchup and then I think maau Bridges had 30 points that night but then the Nick Julius Ren took over late Nick Swan and they asked him about it in in postgame he's like it doesn't feel fun when when when my home arena gets taken over and I think I might have said at the time but he's been in the building when when when when the Liberty fans there we've been in there plenty of times you never get that like even when Caitlyn Clark was here you didn't get that it's it's it's not a and and and when inur resour here you didn't get that where the opposing Superstar or the opposing team took over your Arena that's a good that's a really really good point because you're right and I was there for both these games where caylin Clark for the home opener this year and then Angel ree being there yes there were a lot of people out there just let people know a lot of people with Caitlyn Clark jerseys a lot of people with Angel ree jerseys and it's dope for the game we like to see that everything but yeah the Liberty fans let it be known and they they were still strong and as you and I have been to a lot of Liberty games for people who have not please come out and experience that energy because it is it it is fun I I agree with your answer um we love you Nets fans too obviously but yeah the Liberty they're they're just bringing it right now yeah that like they're bringing it and also they Ellie is an adventure like I like i' I've had occasion to hang out hang out around Ellie sometimes like in certain events like Ellie just has like a magnetism to her and you feel it like I've been like in press row like I'm sitting where I'm at and then the fans right above her start screaming for Laie Ellie I'm like that's so adorable people go crazy for Ellie my daughter I took her to her game last year on West India night went crazy for Ellie she got a picture with Ellie so shout out to Ellie for being so kind to take the picture but yeah kids love Ellie everybody loves Ellie well except for one person I know who actually like Ellie there's actually a person I know whoes yeah there's a person I know who does not like Ellie but I I'll I'll get into that at a later time it yeah it's it's it's weird but yes it's a great experience of Liberty um I think it's going to be fun down the stretch we'll be talking more about the Liberty you and I for sure liberty have an excellent chance to win it all we'll see if that could happen but that does it for this edition of the New York Sports Rapid rundown that is my Guy Brian Florentine the great writer covering the Nets and the liberty and he went to you know just happen to go to the best high school in the world that is clar Bart High School right there fellow Brooklyn nights you know when Brooklyn is in the building on the show it's always good Brian I appreciate you joining me you've been with me on the New York God game basketball show you've hopped on me with a lot of stuff glad to have you on the Raper rundown thank you so much I really appreciate it and I look forward to doing it again in the future yeah oh definitely coming the future and hopefully the next time you're hear in the future you don't have to Exhale as hard about the nexts that's that's that's what I'm hoping for you I'm wishing you the best that you don't have to Exhale as hard about the Mets we'll see how all that goes again check out the work of Brian floron I'm Dexter Henry and we will see you guys next time in September on the next edition of the New York Sports rap right now [Music]