For part 1 of this interview click here.
On your twitter feed, I see a lot of comic book references.
Pete Rock: Hell yeah.
Cool with me because it makes me reminisce. You actually helped me remember a series from back in the day that had my full attention, Crisis on Multiple Earths. I know you are a big Marvel cat though.
Pete Rock: I'm strictly Marvel. Only DC (Comics) I mess with are probably Batman and Flash. Besides them, it's all Marvel. I just think Marvel has more interesting characters. Some of the stories aren't told right in these big movies, but the books are ridiculous.
What do you think about the Dark Knight trilogy?
Pete Rock: Oh it was crazy. The whole series. I look back on Batman Begins until now? Beautiful. Christopher Nolan is the best. DC should have him do all their movies. I loved Dark Knight Rising. Now Robin is into play. No one had any idea who that was, but I did. I thought, you know what? This feels like Robin. Then he starts to look like Robin in my eyes. This is Robin right here! Then the next thing you know, boom, it's Robin. How ill was that? From Batman Begins to the Joker. The way Heath Ledger played the Joker. From that to Bane. Oh man, the story is ridiculous. The League of Shadows. Bane was in The League of Shadows. Ra's al Ghul was controlling all of that! It's amazing the way they redid that. The cronies and the Val Kilmers. They did good jobs Mike. This new Batman? Christian Bale is the best.
Yeah he did rock that. You know what? Listening to Bane, he sounds like Bill Cosby to me man.
Pete Rock (we laugh): It was a great movie. Man, it was a great movie.
Did you see the Superman trailer?
Pete Rock: Yeah I did. I heard Christopher Nolan had some things to do with that as well. It looked interesting. He (Superman) grew a beard and stuff like that.
Last topic sports. Brooklyn Nets. The new squad there.
Pete Rock: Ooooooooooooh! Yo, did you see that game (Knicks vs. Nets)?
You know it.
Pete Rock: The Brooklyn Nets showed us that they will be a team everyone wants to see.
On TSL, there were two recent posts about the top players of all time. One the Top 10 All-Time Nominees and a discussion we had about the greats. Do you see Melo as a George Gervin type scorer or is he more than that?
Pete Rock: Yeah. Yeah. Potentially. We all know Ice Man was great. Come on. This is the younger version of him with just a few nicks here and there that need to be adjusted. He scored 45 vs. the Nets. He scores 30 almost every game and at least 25. The Knicks need a scorer like that. He's our top scorer. He's also someone who has learned a lot. Something in the Olympics sparked him. Maybe it was LeBron winning a chip that gave him something to go home and work on. He's come back playing hungry. He looks different, feels different. He's looking more focused, trusting his teammates and there are things he says that I love. I'm like wow, he's talking different. The thing is, when Amar'e comes back, that everyone has to be on the same page. I think Amar'e should have a shot in the first half of almost every game to see how he's developed after the injury and all that. If they don't feel he's up to potential, keep starting Sheed.
Their chemistry right this second is great. This is a good thing for the Knicks because it's been a long time since fans had something like this. People are saying Knicks this and Knicks that. They aren't going to make it. That's fine, but we're looking good right now. That's all that matters. That we maintain balance. We'll have our ups and downs and highs and lows, injuries and so forth, but, if we can maintain balance through the season? We've whupped the Heat two times. Two games losing by twenty? I'm not saying LeBron isn't showing up to work, but the rest of the team looks like they stayed home.
Mike Woodson deserves a lot of credit.
Pete Rock: Oh hell yeah! He is the actual reason. When Amar'e came to the Knicks is when everything started changing. Transition of players and coaches. When we got rid of D'Antoni, I was so happy. Look at the Lakers. I knew what I was talking about, but they didn't want to listen to me (Pete chuckles). I'm not saying he's that bad of a coach, but his style was not for us. He was bringing that Phoenix stuff to the playbook and we're used to defense. We're a defensive team and we've become a three-point shot team. Seems like we're trying to master that. Everyone is shooting threes. When Amar'e comes back, I just want him to be on that same page. What they're doing right now is working. Don't go out there thinking it's your own team. This is a team with team effort. Like Melo said, he's trusting every one of his teammates to pull out a win. What do we have five losses?
Yup.
Pete Rock: That's great man. The burst of wins that we have from the start of the season is just unheard of. It hasn't been like this for a while. Go Knicks. Let's go!
I picked the Heat and Knicks to go to the ECF. I really hope that happens because it will be good for the sport.
Pete Rock: The postseason what's gonna tell it all. Three time's a charm. I'm happy about the two wins (over Miami), but the postseason is when we'll see everyone playing well, coming back from injury and getting comfortable on the floor. If the Knicks beat the Heat or any good team, we'll begin to say this team must not be overlooked.
So I know you're a Giants fan. They're almost like the Yankees in a sense where they're waiting for the regular season to get over with so they can get down to business.
Pete Rock: I think that's all about New York. Athletes play with that spirit here. Sometimes it's a slump, sometimes we burst out. I think the Giants are in a great place though. We aren't as bad off as the Eagles are in our division. I really would love to beat Atlanta (Falcons shut out Giants 34-0). The NFL is so exciting because anything can happen. They're talking about the Jets sneaking in the door.
Was it a mistake for the Jets to bring Tim Tebow in?
Pete Rock: I think it was for publicity and mixed with a lot of other tings. Tebow carried the Broncos to the playoffs. I don't think any other quarterback would have done that playing for the Broncos (last year). Before they got Tebow they weren't even part of the conversation. Same with the Redskins before RG3. Now Peyton is the comeback kid in Denver. His little brother still is going out there trying to be like Peyton. Eli has two rings under his belt. I'm all for Eli. I'm all for Eli Manning — especially in a clutch situation. I didn't like the Bengals loss, I didn't like the Eagles loss, I didn't like the Dallas season opener. They're in a great place.
Mets fan or Yankees fan?
Pete Rock: I'm a Yankees fan, but when I visit Mom I put on a Mets hat and jacket (we laugh).
Last thing. Pacquiao. When Marquez knocked him out, it put him in the meme hall of fame.
Pete Rock: I felt that was coming. They robbed Marquez and he was angry about that. He caught Pacquiao out there. Caught him out their lovely and put him to bed.
