Hour 3: Aaron Judge Sidelined with Bone Bruise as Mitchell Robinson Returns

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
All right, 4 o'clock Carton Show, Big Mac, and here's the good news. We've now seen tons of video of the Knicks warming up, doing some like three-man weave drills and taking shots, getting some rebounds, inbound passes, dribbling the whole thing. And Mitchell Robinson looks fantastic. He's rebounding the ball. He is catching the ball. He is dribbling the ball. He is shooting the ball. And it seems like he's completely unhampered by this very small kind of brace that's around his pinky and his hand.
So, if there's any concern at all about his ability to play, Mitchell Robinson is playing.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:40)
I'm hesitant to go that far.

**Craig Carton** (0:42)
You saw the same video I'm looking at.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:43)
I'm very encouraged by that.

**Craig Carton** (0:44)
That's not a guy that they're holding out. And I like the fact that they're keeping it close to the vest.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:49)
The only thing is contact, right? The only thing is contact. Is he going to be able, can he slam the ball home with that hand? I don't know. Can he play physical defense and push it a little bit and hand check a little bit? I don't know. But he can handle the basketball. He can shoot. He can pass.
He looks unhampered by the injury and what we're seeing. I'm very encouraged.

**Craig Carton** (1:09)
By the way, if you didn't know that he had broken his pinky and you just watched the about three minutes or so video that Big Mac and I just watched, you would have no idea that he broke his pinky or that he had surgery two days ago, right? He looks great.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:24)
He looks great.

**Craig Carton** (1:25)
Now to be interesting, how he wakes up tomorrow, now that they're letting him and appears to be full on practice. I'm not sure that he's going to be dunking the ball, but he looks fantastic dribbling, catching the ball and shooting the ball.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:39)
That's the one thing he doesn't do in the video. It doesn't really go anywhere near the rim.

**Craig Carton** (1:42)
Right.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:42)
So we'll see.

**Craig Carton** (1:44)
He's going to dunk the ball if he plays, because the pick and roll of Alleyoop is a part of their offense when he's in the game.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:51)
No doubt.

**Craig Carton** (1:51)
Now, when you go up to dunk, theoretically, the pinky is the least important finger on your hand. But you can't go up there and avoid the pinky, make a contact with the rim.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:02)
No.

**Craig Carton** (2:03)
But that's where the man thing comes in. And by the way, I know a lot of tough gals that have either this way too.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:07)
If you grab onto the rim as the hand specialist called yesterday, that pinky is where a lot of the strength in the grip comes in.

**Craig Carton** (2:14)
Who's this hand specialist?

**Chris McMonigle** (2:15)
She called in yesterday.

**Craig Carton** (2:16)
She doesn't know what she's talking about.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:18)
She knew all the words.

**Craig Carton** (2:19)
She talked to us? Yeah. She was, oh yeah, I remember that gal.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:22)
The hand surgeon specialist.

**Craig Carton** (2:23)
She was not a surgeon. She was like a fingerotomyist.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:28)
A fingerotomy?

**Craig Carton** (2:29)
Yeah, she was not about fingers.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:30)
No, she's called a hand surgeon.

**Craig Carton** (2:31)
She specialized in fingers. Yeah, she knew a lot about it.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:36)
I'm with you too, man. You just can't let... I don't know if he can grab the rim. I don't know if he can hold on to a rebound.

**Craig Carton** (2:42)
I don't care if he can or not.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:43)
Grab the rim. I don't know.

**Craig Carton** (2:45)
Grab the rim, let's see.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:45)
But what we've seen, shooting isn't going to be a problem. Not that it's a big part of his game. Just overall, in general, it looks like he can handle the ball.
I don't think catching a pass is going to be an issue for him.

**Craig Carton** (2:54)
Plus, as a guy that's dunked before, you could kind of dunk above the rim, and kind of go eight fingers on it. That kind of thing.
Like that.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:05)
Like a guy who's dunked before?

**Craig Carton** (3:06)
Yeah, or maybe George Curvin, that little finger roll.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:09)
I mean, listen, I dunked too. That Fisher Price hoop, the blue...

**Craig Carton** (3:12)
You dunked?

**Chris McMonigle** (3:13)
Yeah, on the Fisher Price.