Ryen Russillo

Appearances

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No, I wasn't. You were hearing about this a little bit. I mean, we can talk about whether or not we're shocked based on this next season. It's tough because you're playing the Pacers. You beat Boston. You think you have a chance against the Pacers. I still thought they had a chance against them, even though I picked the Pacers.

Pardon My Take

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And if you take a step back and not get emotional about it the next morning and you look at this Knicks season and you're like, all right, this team hadn't been in the Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years. I mean, there's a Knicks conversation about this team winning a title before I was even born where you're like, man, we talk about this team a lot.

Pardon My Take

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Although you probably say the same thing about the Red Sox prior to 2004, where you're like, you know, there's a lot of Knicks conversation. There's just a handful of teams that have had a better run for a really long time. Most wins, I think, since 2013, they take out Boston and, you know, look, Tatum went down in game three.

Pardon My Take

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four, but you know, they were up what nine and 11 points in three minutes ago. So they're probably gonna win that game anyway. And that's a huge, huge statement. And I think on the whole, you have to feel really good about who the Knicks were this year in comparison to who they've been. But there was definitely a lot of lingering stuff.

Pardon My Take

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And even the last two days, you were just hearing like, he's out. Bill had mentioned it on the pod where he thought he'd be out. I was actually at a lunch yesterday where like, yeah, he's, he's probably done. And

Pardon My Take

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You know, the thing that sucks is I'll tell you in all the years I've spent getting the chance to talk to people about basketball, whether it's front office people in the last 25 years, working with all these different coaches when I was at ESPN and we'd be in the same room together and I'd be doing like maybe late night TV or something.

Pardon My Take

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Tibbs is without question the most impressive single person I've ever talked to about basketball. Like he made me after five minutes go like, holy shit, do I not know anything? Like I've been watching this game a long time. And He is so incredibly impressive. I think there's absolute buy-in. There's kind of like a toughness resetting that he brings when he comes into the franchise.

Pardon My Take

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But you're right, Big Cat. It seems to run its course. And the minute stuff, I don't really think it's as egregious this year. I thought that Bulls run where it looked like Joaquin couldn't even make it up the floor. And you're like, dude, you're wearing these guys down. It just seems to be, look, I think the NBA, that's the job. I don't even know that it's specific to Tibbs.

Pardon My Take

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I think it's the job where it is very hard to get everyone to keep listening to you after you've had this, this job four or five years. So, I mean, there's some other basketball stuff we get into why they got away from the cat Brunson combo stuff. There was a defensive adjustment to cat. The team started doing playing with smaller guys.

Pardon My Take

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You could get on his ass for like, why did you start going to bench guys that you had buried for such a long stretch of the year?

Pardon My Take

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but you know that part always frustrates me the coach does something different and then you lose and then it means the coach is a moron and it's like well you know would you rather lose without any adjustments or attempted anything and putting Mitchell Robinson the starting lineup so I feel bad for him because I know how smart he is and I think he's a terrific coach but it's very hard in this this job to have it longer than five years yeah it is the league we the longest outside of Eric Spolstra and Steve Kerr who is the longest tenured coach now that Tibbs has been fired

Pardon My Take

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Finch?

Pardon My Take

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Oh, no, it's nuts. Like whenever you look at the Wikipedia page for this, you'll have half the coaches in the league. Like I'm doing it right now. Will Hardy is already on the longer side of the 10-year run with the Jazz. Missoula is in the middle of the pack. If I were going to run through it really quickly here, I think more than half the coaches are hired from 2023 on. You're totally right.

Pardon My Take

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It's a nearly impossible job. I don't know if you can talk about it. I was talking with somebody about it, and they were talking about the money. It was a really funny line because he said to me, He's like, you cannot even be good and make $10 million a year now. Right. You don't even have to be that good, and you might get $10 million a year on a multi-year contract.

Pardon My Take

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But we've been having that conversation for decades. It's like, oh, the players make all this money, and now they're not going to listen to the coaches. So that's not necessarily anything new. It's a bit like the roommate theory. It's really hard to have a roommate –

Pardon My Take

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Where if you think of all the people you've lived with in your life, like how many guys did you get to know that you loved versus how many guys you get to know that you hated?

Pardon My Take

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Yeah.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah, it would be. I mean, they're they're running through them. You know, you know, Monty and that whole thing changed post Chris Paul and the changes they wanted to make. And then you have Vogel, who is a really good coach. But, you know, the Lakers thing, they move on from him so quickly that you're kind of like, all right, the guy just won a title there. And now he's the problem. But look.

Pardon My Take

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It's pretty clear. Look, I give him all the credit for the bubble one. Not us. That's fine.

Pardon My Take

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I'll be sure to let Chris know. Vindication. Yeah, that he was acknowledged for this. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what's next.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah, but I want to talk about the Suns thing, though, just because if I were Tibbs, I'd be like, I'm good. I'm good right now. You guys just blasted out Vogel immediately. Rod and Bud paid him, blasted him out. It seems with the finalists for Phoenix, it's like maybe we don't have to spend a ton of money this time around because they're spending all this money on these other guys.

Pardon My Take

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I think you have to have a certain mindset to respond to Tibbs, and I don't know. I'm sure Booker would be fine with it. I can't even imagine Beal in Tibbs' rotation if they're still stuck with Beal because I do think the ring gets traded.

Pardon My Take

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I respect it. He's better than I give him credit for. I don't like watching it.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah, it's like being on the cabinet where you just go like, well, ultimately everybody's going to forget what I'm in charge of. Right. Yeah, look, I mean, Brunson is like almost bulletproof. And, you know, it's funny because Becky Hammond made the comment, I believe it was Becky who had said, you know, you wonder about Brunson as a smaller guard on a title contending team, which has been...

Pardon My Take

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accepted for years in this league. I mean, that's why Isaiah Thomas has become criminally underrated for what he was as the real go-to offensive player. And granted, Dumars was terrific and Vinnie Johnson coming off the bench, and that'll be the end of that Pistons breakdown. But... There's just GMs that will tell you, like, I don't want to have to go through multiple rounds with a small guard.

Pardon My Take

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I don't want to. And here's Brunson who, whether it was one year, I know I flipped it with he and Tatum where I had one in the top five in the MVP voting. I think I had Brunson fifth and then put Tatum first team all NBA. You know, Brunson's if he's healthy. You know, he's not outside of the top 10 players in this league. They nailed it. You know, he was good in Dallas.

Pardon My Take

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I didn't think he was going to be this. And then on top of everything else, he's just so comfortable in all these huge moments. However, you know, the Boston series, it wasn't really about Brunson in the beginning. They did a really good job containing him. Bridges went off. And then Boston just becomes this comically stagnant team. So you're right.

Pardon My Take

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Brunson has brought such energy to this franchise and those moments at MSG where he's just dialing it up and no one can do anything with him. it ignores and maybe it's, it's kind of baked into the cap. Part of it is like, if he, if you have one bad defender, you can kind of hide it.

Pardon My Take

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But when it's the Pacers deciding, like, do we want to attack cat this time? Or do we want to attack Brunson? And to Halliburton's credit too, which I had to remind myself of a little bit of like his standing in the league, um, where you go, you know how we all kind of fall in love with who those guys are, the top 10 players, top 15. I voted them all NBA. It was close for third team for him.

Pardon My Take

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But when you have somebody who's approached the game more like a quarterback, who's dissecting things and playing like this natural point guard position with the instincts that are so rare in today's game, like when you have a guy like that who knows like, okay, there is a play that he had in the closeout game where he went on that little bit of a tear.

Pardon My Take

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So Cat was late in drop coverage and doesn't get to Halliburton. Halliburton hits a floater inside the paint. And it was another one of those discussions where one of Cat's teammates is like, what are you doing? Like, you have to show more on that. They run something very similar. Halliburton knows, because he just got yelled at, that Cat's going to come up to him. And Halliburton's like, yep.

Pardon My Take

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And delays just enough. Siakam has the cutoff of it. He's wide open. He actually missed the layup. So... I know I'm kind of going off here a little bit, but when you have two of these liabilities defensively and cat is the sassy one.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah. And look, I don't, I don't know what happened with them. I mean, there was only five assists total from Brunson, the cat and that entire series. When you look at the offensive ratings for the Knicks over the course of the year, like month by month, it was the best offense in the NBA to like the bottom third, the last couple of months. So they lost something.

Pardon My Take

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And whether that's on Tibbs, not being creative enough, Now, I would say there's probably more Bridges possessions in there with an offense that's a little bit more creative, where we're like, hey, can't we just use the Kat Brunson thing as some kind of decoy instead of Bridges is watching so much of this? But you're absolutely right.

Pardon My Take

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There's no dispute that with a guy like Brunson bringing this energy and just excitement, and he's so much fun. You know every kid has a Brunson jersey that's a fan of this team. that nobody's ever in a hurry to criticize that guy when you have somebody else you feel like is a bigger liability on the whole than Brinson is.

Pardon My Take

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Well, also when that other guy can drop 40 in a playoff game and it's so much fun watching it happen. Look, I don't even think SGA is a great defensive player. He's even been subbed out at times for defensive purposes, but it's never a thing. One, because he's taller. Two, there's so many great defensive players.

Pardon My Take

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Sometimes he gets targeted because it's like, I'd rather do this than switch into Jalen Williams' daughter Caruso. Or then Chet holds up pretty well, which I think they'll probably close with Chet more in this series than the double big lineup that they've done off and on throughout this year. So I don't want to sit here and be like, hey, you're right. We should all be shitting on Brunson more.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where it's like, hey, you know who we don't shit on enough is this guy. Let's do it. And I know that's not what you're saying, but he's bulletproof.

Pardon My Take

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I know you didn't listen to the podcast already today because it just posted, but we had a life advice specifically about this where a guy was working construction and he was 6'6", and there was another guy on the site that was like, man, if I had your height, I'd be in the NBA. And the emailer was like... Look, I get it.

Pardon My Take

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It's happened to me my whole life, but it's also insinuating that I'm a waste of a human being because I wasted all this God-given talent. And then the punchline was, you want to guess what the other guy's height was?

Pardon My Take

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Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Not long. I think I would have blown through money and been a bit of a fuck-up in my 20s.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah, but I'd be on podcasts talking about how coaches fucked me over. I got blackballed from the league and stuff.

Pardon My Take

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My comeback videos? I mean, we wouldn't have anywhere to post them, but they'd be incredible.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah, I do wonder, like, if you took just a general fitness test of people like North of 45, how many people that are in shape are in shape because their athletic career was such a massive disappointment versus guys that had, like, incredible success. And then after 45, you're like, I don't want to do any of that shit because it was my life.

Pardon My Take

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In the game?

Pardon My Take

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I know. It kind of reminds me. Is that the Tristan Thompson video where he was doing little jump pull-ups?

Pardon My Take

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Well, you like watching sex tapes.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah, but would you want to watch a sex tape of somebody you knew?

Pardon My Take

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I wouldn't. Yes, you would. I wouldn't want to watch that.

Pardon My Take

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I don't want to watch Hank Bang ever.

Pardon My Take

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I think you guys would have to.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah. We started crying and was the little spoon. That would be awesome. That would be very funny. Yeah.

Pardon My Take

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Just something.

Pardon My Take

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Uh, I thought last year he was, there was a lot of stuff, right? A lot of stuff around the draft. There was like rumors about Houston. And then I think Stephen A even had said like, he is going to be traded. And then I talked about it like two days later and said, I know for a fact that he's not going to be traded. And at least I had this year. Uh, I don't know.

Pardon My Take

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I feel like the seeds have been planted.

Pardon My Take

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What is that? It's a wind horse.

Pardon My Take

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Yeah, Windy Fingers. I don't think that deserves to be a Windy Fingers.

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Yeah, but see, I don't... As I've gotten older, I don't need to do any of that stuff. And if I get it wrong, it's like the damage is so much worse than... No one's ever like, hey, good call.

Pardon My Take

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That's why I like Threads so much, Big Cat.

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Threads is like... Like being out in last call looking for food in Philadelphia versus Sarasota. That's what Threads is.

Pardon My Take

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That's good. It was good to see Mike Epps in the mix because all this Knicks stuff, they were like, is there anybody available? Can we do anything? And just to share with you guys, because I know how much you like the jam bands, Trey's been at these Knicks games.

Pardon My Take

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Derek Trucks. I saw him on the baseline. Yeah. And you're just thinking to yourself, like, Can't we get one shot of any of the guys on the creative side of music? Although I shouldn't say that about Busta Rhymes because I still think his third album is one of my favorites. Still a go-to. Listen to it today, shooting around a little bit. Flip mode's the greatest. Yeah, right.

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So I didn't want to make that sound like one form of music is more creative than the other, but there's seriously something against the improvisational guys. I just don't understand why Trey doesn't deserve some sort of graphic. We don't have to worry about that anymore. The Knicks are eliminated. So look, I think when you're watching the Pacers, you're going, okay, cool.

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They take care of the basketball and they love to get out and run. Here's the problem. I went back and watched the March game, the late March game where the Thunder put it on the Pacers. There was no Chet. There was no Jalen Williams too. Hartenstein left the game at halftime with a hip thing. So only played like 14 minutes. So they decided to come out small and play with Kenrich.

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And that's where they put, they were up like 10 at the half. They put like real separation. They got up to 22 in the third quarter. They didn't get a great SGA game because Jalen Williams was on the attack, man. And when he was like the primary ball handler, like he was on the attack. So then you're thinking, okay, so going into this, we expect the Pacers to take care of the ball.

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We expect them to want to go small at times. Sometimes they have this bench and they're going to want to, I would say, get out and run, right? The Thunder were the better running team in the regular season matchup. In that game, there were two things that really stood out. One was the Jalen Williams attacking Neesmith and having zero issues with it whatsoever.

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Number two was they got out and pushed. The Thunder can basically do anything. The other thing that's crazy, I know I'm throwing a bunch of stuff at you here. The Thunder are 13th out of 16 playoff teams in three-point shooting. And they're a minus 750 for the NBA Finals. The only series they've shot it well from three is the Minnesota series.

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They can get to this point, be 12-4 through 16 playoff games, and still not shoot it nearly as well as they've shot it in the regular season. That's fucking horrifying. They've played at a faster pace than the Pacers. They take care of the basketball better than the Pacers do.

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And even as much as we all love that bench because we know who all the guys are for the Pacers, through 16 games, TJ, Obi, Thomas Bryant, and Matherin are all net negatives. Yeah. They're all net negatives. And to your point about the Thunder can go, hey, we'll run a double big at you.

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I don't think they're going to want to because Hartenstein's actually of the main nine rotational guys, the biggest net negative. And I think it's played out that way. And they started tailing his minutes off in the Minnesota series. Also, because Chet is somebody you just feel so much better about now, a month into this, because he's had some massive moments, including...

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I would say, you know, one of the closed Denver games and also game five against Minnesota. He was unbelievable. And you don't even have to really run any place for this guy.

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So, you know, even though I'm picking the thunder and it's going to be really hard for anybody to talk themselves into the Pacers, the things that the Pacers pride themselves on running, keeping the basketball, not turning it over is the better way to say it. And their bench depth, the thunder can match you with a better bench. The bench has actually played better.

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They've taken care of the basketball better. And again, They're more than ready to run with you if you want to run with them. And that's what's so impressive about this team is that they can just take on almost any form needed in a basketball game, and it's probably going to be their advantage.

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I haven't. I mean, have you guys had a moment where it was like the Giants-Pats undefeated season where, where you really thought the other team – because, look, it's sports. This is the whole reason we care about this stuff is we have to be surprised sometimes.

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So I always try to, like, figure out, like, is there a time to just go ahead and pick against everybody else because you feel like everyone's overrating the other side a little bit too much? I mean, this is actually a question. Like, do you have one in your past that you remember you were like, I'm on the other side of this? Yep.

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I thought it was this morning. Whatever. It's the same number. Keep going.

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No, I don't think that that counts at all. And the gambling part of it that drives me crazy is when a guy takes the massive odds and then tries to take credit for like picking it straight up like they thought that was going to happen. Right. That drives me fucking nuts because it's like, you know, somebody loves the payout. So then they invest in the payout, and then they pretend after the fact.

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Like if somebody were to bet the Pacers, who's just a gambler, and then the Pacers win, it's like, I told you. It's like, did you tell us, or did you just like the odds?

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Yeah, I that's true, too. And I look, I didn't mean to dismiss you on the commanders thing, but that's because you're a fan of them.

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What did you get on his number being retired? What was the payout on Shador's number being retired?

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Yeah. Because we do this for a living. And we're wrong enough on the favorites to just feel like, hey, do we just... And again, to the dismissive point, because we live it every single day. The guy that can't stop tweeting about his fucking team who then is like, see, I told you. Right. You're like, what was your fucking reasoning? Right. Yeah. And also, what was the alternative?

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The other outcome was going to make you cry? Like, you know. So to me, those never really count all that much. That happens a lot in college football, too. Yeah. It's like, oh, yeah, you know, you didn't think we could do this. It's like, well, why did you think you could do it? I'm telling you right now, my process was far less emotional than yours was. And you ended up being right about it.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

But this is... Sometimes it's fun, man. You know who? Stanford Steve every now and then would just throw a doozie at you.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

That's some sinister shit. Yeah.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I have somebody who will hit me up being like, hey, don't you think this? And I'll be like, yeah. And then I kind of think like, this guy's already heard me say this, so he knows I think exactly this. And then he'll be like... I can't believe all these people think this. And I'll be like, yeah, again, I agree. I've said this like seven times. We are in agreement.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

And then I realized he has a future on it and wants me to keep banging the table more and more for it.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

No, but I'm just saying. I wasn't talking about you, but that did happen. Because I wouldn't think that you would do it to me, but I guess you wanted an outside guy. Because I remember when that text happened and I said, are you nuts? I go, I'm actually doing an open on it today. And you were like, good, I can't wait. And then after I did it, Big Cat goes, that was really good.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

It's funny, man. I was really happy with Bryce Young this year. I started rooting for Bryce Young only because it felt like people wanted to retire after week eight of his rookie season.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah, just seasons. I'd have to do more work on it. But two things that you said there. One, the free throw thing. I was really worried about it like a Brunson SGA finals because there's always a bit of a reminder.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I remember there was some Harden stuff in 2018 where you could tell how little regular season Houston Rockets basketball people on social media had actually watched during the regular season. And it was like, what the fuck is this? First Rockets game? Yeah. And you could see with Brunson and SGA, just more eyes were on it in a way where people were paying attention.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

And again, I'm not to gatekeep it like this. It's not like I'm a WNBA fan and I don't want people to watch my product, but I look at it where I was worried about what could happen there with Brunson and SGA. And I also, it becomes like just so annoying. It's a bit like, It's a bit political where, again, the only people defending Brunson are Knicks fans with it. And it's on the SGA side.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

It's like, no, no, no. Your fouls suck. Our fouls suck less. And then you have foul totals. And you go, hey, I like how you guys made something that's pretty simple, really complicated. For those of us that have no emotional tie to it whatsoever – the foul merchanting of today fucking sucks compared to the total number of free throws.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Like we watched all those games and I'm not saying Jordan didn't get a few calls. You don't need to clip me as if case closed, but over the course of like whatever the free throw rates were or the free throw totals were, it sucks way more now with the most egregious players than it ever sucked in the past because the officials don't penalize the players in the past for baiting them.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

The old school officials and Van Gundy said this to me, so you don't have to believe me. He's like the old school guys would police it in this gray area, which is what officiating needs to be more like where it's like, hey, you got me. And fuck you. Right. The game. Right. I'm never giving you one of those. And guess what? The player stops doing all of that stuff.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

So I just think there's a lot of smart people that started counting up free throws for any guy. Pick a guy you don't like trying to argue. Oh, actually, historically, it's not that bad. It's like, OK, so now you've just eliminated the visual comparison where it's certainly more bad or worse, I should say.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

And, you know, unfortunately gets in the way of what can be awesome, awesome games and an awesome product.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah, I think Brunson's grosser than SGA is because there's so much with Brunson that's off the ball, like shoving a guy as he's trying to cut. And then like every single thing with Brunson is some sort of dramatic sell. I mean, you'd think he'd get sick of it on some of the off-ball stuff.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I mean, he drew, like Knicks fans always say, oh, look at his free throw rate and look at his free, look at all these other guys. It's like he actually drew the second most fouls per game than any other player in the league. And number one is Giannis by a pretty healthy margin because Giannis is just There's nothing you can fucking do against that guy physically.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

But to bring some sort of conclusion on this thing that you'd asked me about, SGA's all-time season, I don't know. Again, off the top of my head. But this is when we're really dangerous. Because the morning shows can't... If SGA runs through this finals MVP, which is all a very likely outcome coming off of this MVP and for a guard to have the efficient season that he had. And he would have had...

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

the free throw part of it that I would defend SGA on is like, it's not like he's just some free throw guy. And that's the only thing that's working here. He's fucking incredible. All right. But those shows, if that happens, it's going to be like, Hey, does this guy have the NBA belt? Is this the best player in the world? And this is where I would be probably a downer on those TV shows because

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

is I'd go, I have him fourth still. Like, I know he just won the title. I feel like that Jokic series against OKC is, like, I don't know how anybody watches that series and then feels worse about Jokic this year. To me, Jokic is unobtainable. Like, you cannot get to his level right now. And there's going to be a lot of people arguing just because it's better. It's better.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Nobody goes, you know, Mission Impossible 8 comes out. Nobody in the review goes, third best one.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

It has to be the best Mission Impossible ever. And it's the best one every fucking time there's a new one. And with SGA on the cusp of this, nobody's going to feel like they're having fun if they're saying, yeah, okay, now I have them ahead of Giannis, where I would have Giannis and Jokic ahead of everybody. And then we could talk about Luka and SGA.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

which is kind of funny, like SGA still sort of locked in. I don't think a sane person, a real basketball person, should look at this and be like, okay, SGA is now the best in the world because they're going to look back on that take in October going, whoa, I got fucking caught up in everything.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Right, like did you guys have Halliburton in your top ten before the playoffs started?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Who did you have him ahead of?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah, that's a good chunk. That's a good healthy chunk of guys right there. Indeed. You're better at it than I am because I have never thought Halliburton's a top 10 player. And by the way, nobody would even start shit with you saying that four weeks ago. No one would. I had them all NBA 13. So that means I believe he's in this kind of like 13th best to 17th best player. The Dak range. Yeah.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah, which is a lot worse for Dak than his Halliburton. There's so many basketball players. I don't know. Over the course of a season, 48 quarterbacks, maybe 28.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Greeny would be losing his mind on that one. Hey, let's bump Jalen Rose.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Wow. You might be right. Yeah, you like it, don't you?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I'll be happy if they win just so people can be like, okay, finally, Presti's good.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Like that group that was holding out, you know, this guy has just been like an absolute architect. He wants a certain kind of player. The personality part that they emphasize because there's a realness to this team and like how, and look, the Pacers kind of have this too. So I'm not trying to make this all about the Thunder, but this is why they're the heavy favorites.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

But the guy in the friend group or text chain that it's like, all right, give me your three best executives in basketball. You can be like Presti. And then, you know, the guy's like, you know, people talk a lot about how good Presti is. He hasn't won anything. You know what else is funny, too, about the Thunder?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah, that's a fun one. I enjoy that one a lot. Changing my number soon. I'll get that to you guys. But let's look at this Thunder rebuild real quick. Because you realize it was only like a couple years. Yeah. Yeah, they were in. Obviously, Chris Paul, if his teammates, if SGA had stepped up more in that game seven against the Rockets four years ago.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yep.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah, that's fucking crazy. Crazy. Like that gets lost in, well, you know, hey, it finally paid off. They were, what was it, 20? So they lose in 20. That's the Rockets game. Remember Harden had a block towards the end and they were like, you know, people knock this guy's defense. You're like, this is fucking one play. All right. 22 and 50, 24 and 58.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

And when they went 40 and 42 two years ago, people were like, what the fuck? Like they're. That's incredible that they're 40 and 42. It was two down years, and some of these teams are on year 15.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

If you could have the Thunders roster tomorrow, and I said you can't watch the Cubs for 10 years. Ooh.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I was like, what's going on? He's like, yeah, he's like my favorite player.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Like Wally Joyner?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

That's why you should take it to threats.

Pardon My Take

Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

This whole SGA belt thing was the other open I was going to do this week, but now I'm not going to do it.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah, yeah. Look, I think a lot of the ratings decline stuff is driven by people's political beliefs, where if you're really, really right wing, you love the idea of the NBA being a dying product because it's probably the most progressive of the league, certainly more progressive than the NHL. Yeah.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

You know, there's a lot of bubble stuff that maybe I would even understand some of the criticism of being in the moment, feeling it was the right thing, and then looking back years later being like, you know, group economics jersey? What the fuck was that? Uh... But what I don't like is disingenuous arguments.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

And I would tell you people that are like in the TV game, the people making these decisions that I've talked to of investing into live rights are like, who the fuck is using traditional ratings anymore?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

And if you want to hit me over the head with every NFL rating, guess what? I submit. I'm going to tap out before they even ask me if I'm ready in the octagon. I don't have an argument. It's the best product. It's on network TV. It is a part of Americana. It's the best packaged, the scarcity of the inventory and all of those things.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

And the fact that it's an OKC-Indiana matchup, like the guys that are going to be doing victory laps on this, I already can name them all, right? But I also saw like ratings numbers for OKC-Minnesota that were terrible while ignoring like some really great New York Pacers numbers.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

series numbers and you're just like okay as soon as i see what you're doing like i remember this one of my favorite examples of like how fucking pathetic some people are with their political ideology and just hitting you over the fucking head with it over and over and over again is when kaepernick that deal had been signed where kaepernick was with nike and if the nike stock went down then everybody on the right side of it was like see mm-hmm

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Fucking morons. And then the stock price would go up. And then the left side of it would be like, this shows that America gets it and whatever. And what the reality is, it fucking had nothing to do with the Kaepernick deal. It was just the way the markets fucking work. There was nothing significant.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

And whatever way the stock went for like two weeks, people were going back and forth and arguing it. And my whole point would be like, You're about to get an example, a piece of evidence that tells you now the NBA is now a declining product when we already know because of the small market, the rating isn't going to be strong. But is that really what this is?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Is that really what the investment is from the broadcast partners where it felt like every single person that has a channel wanted to get involved in the NBA? It's not the NFL. It's not perfect. But you want to compare it to the 90s. All right, let's do it with the NBA. It looks terrible. You want to do it with any other fucking TV show from the 90s?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Because I'm telling you right now, it's probably going to look bad when you start comparing sitcoms to friends.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Are you aware of who I am, Larry?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Brandon Marshall. Keep it in this lane. I know I'm on and we're all friends. Do you think I'm crazy for having maybe a bit more open-mindedness of like, what the ratings truths really are because I, I like, I don't know, maybe, maybe I'm the, cause I know it's like, Oh, you're the NBA guy. So I, I defend what I think is like a reason way of looking at things.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

And I'm, I'm not trying to tell you like the, hey, it's the NFL because that'd be fucking stupid of me to even try to do. But if the NHL dips in ratings or the MLB dips in ratings, nobody ever talks about how progressive they were as a league.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah. I like the other part of this is kind of like you ask the owners, you go, what do you want? Well, they, they just did the new TV deal. So timing of things, if it were expiring, you know, this summer or, you know, again, they'd have the negotiation done prior to that. But like if, if the heat of the negotiation was coming off, what's going to be potentially a terrible ratings final, um,

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Maybe that impacts the value of it, but it does feel like all of these broadcast partners go, hey, I'd still rather be in the second best live rights thing outside of football, which again, college football and the bowl games and what those numbers do are incredible and everything like that. But on a grander scale of what the owners want or don't want,

Pardon My Take

Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I mean, this league forever, the lack of parity, if you didn't have a top five guy, if you didn't have a number two guy that was number 10, it really was like there was no point. And for a long time, we were conditioned to accept that if one team had two stars, then the next third star was going to be mad and want to go join those guys.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

So clearly, in a way to pull back some from the player empowerment decade that we had, The owners introduce stricter financial restrictions. When you really dig into what happens to a team when it's over the second apron for a little while, it's like you're losing draft picks and all that stuff.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Or like, hey, in the past when the player said, I want to go there and only there, now you can go back to that player saying, hey, we'd love to do it for you, but we actually are not legally allowed to do any of those things. And on top of it, even though it's a split, which is a percentage and the players are guaranteed that amount of money, restrictions for what individual teams can do.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

It felt like all the owners wanted these things to speak to greater parity, to pull some of the power back and then feel like they have a better chance. So there's a version of this finals matchup where you go in a world where it felt like this league had the least amount of parity. Is it actually on this stretch of parity that is better for all of the markets as opposed to the very top?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Now, granted, look, the NBA offices still rather this be Knicks, Lakers. Who are we fucking kidding? But if you're an owner of any of these teams, you probably feel like you have more of a chance than you've ever had before with this version of the NBA.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah, you guys are big football guys. You could say that, yeah. I know I see like the countdowns. The countdowns to like week one tweets. It'll get like 7,000 likes.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

That one I don't understand. I'll never understand it. Like how many fucking tackles did you make? You know, like I don't really get that. No, I don't get the prideful like, well, I am a football guy.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah, but for me who watches like 20 hours of football a weekend.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

You're right. You have that shirt too, right? It says football is life.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

The rest is just details.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I think it's more interesting to like, well, by the way, I don't want to make the Mina Kimes joke again. I know, I know. Cause I wasn't, and I haven't talked to her, but I saw her respond to awful announcing, which I'm surprised wasn't doing another levitard story. So they had room for something else.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

They do. They do really big numbers because there's a show that basically started pivoting into covering every single beef. And my whole point was the people that lose their minds when Mina is on a show. It had nothing to do with...

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah. So I don't know. Then it turned into a bit of a thing and I was pretty busy yesterday. So I was like, I'm not going to worry about this one today.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I'm going to let it sort of live and then die off a little bit. I do think it'd be really interesting to see who would ask to be on it. Who would sincerely think... I don't think Schefter's beyond being crazy enough to be like... Do you need me? Could it happen?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah. You need somebody to come in and do something?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I don't know how Stephen A doesn't just... Oh, he's going to be all over it.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

But they're not going to want that.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

You know what would be killer is if Orlovsky was allowed and he sat down and just turns to the group and goes, I'm here to bring the white guy's perspective.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

That crew loves Stanford Steve. Everyone does. There's behind-the-scenes people that love Stanford Steve. He's hung out with them. He might have the best chance. If Ernie's off, I could see them asking Van Pelt and then them liking because Chuck likes Van Pelt. Everybody loves Van Pelt, too. That would be... I disagreed with Bill. Bill was like, they're going to fuck it up. And...

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

um they can't everybody everybody treats that show like everyone finds i mean you can even make an argument the show's a little fucking overrated oh that's good that's right there no just when they come on and they don't want to talk about the game and shack dumps on a center and then they're like we didn't even know who this guy is or this game sucked

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

The fact that they've been doing it this long, they can get away with all that stuff. When the segments are really long and then it goes into the unplanned stuff, they are better than that than everybody else. But there's a lot of stuff in that show, if you were starting it out, being like, what the fuck did those guys just do? We've all accepted it.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

If that show launched next week and none of those guys have been on TV and they say and do some of the stuff that they do... they would be much more harshly criticized. Oh, yeah. And because it's also not an ESPN show and it gets to be a TNT show, I think that gives it a bit of a bump. Look, they already – what?

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I mean, they almost had to release some sort of statement, like getting in front of the whole thing by saying we're actually not going to do what Simmons said, which is crazy.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

I would have a hard time believing that, like, I mean, they're probably going to be overly sensitive to try, like, hey, what kind of lens do you guys use? Isn't that desk a different color? Like, uh-oh. I would be surprised if at some point You wouldn't have, like, a Steven Ago and him to stop by or something. But people are going to be so mad about it when it happens.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

You better wait until, like, April.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah. I know. And just SVP getting little brothered, and he's, like, 57. Yeah.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

All right, but now I'm disappointed because I want to talk about what I was reading. Oh, yeah. By all means. Almost done with Chernow's latest opus, 1,000 pages on Mark Twain.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

He would have tweeted a ton.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah. Didn't know I needed it.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah. I mean, look, it's Chernow. As a citizen, as a legal citizen, you've got to do your part and read Chernow.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Oh, satirist, yeah.

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Finals Preview, NBA With Ryen Russillo, SCF With Keith Yandle, Thibs Fired Plus Listener FAQ’s

Yeah. Bummed out guy, though, man.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Look, I'm not an insider. I think just there was a younger version of me egotistically, maybe a little insecure in the business where I was like, well, I heard. Then I got to know Woj. I got to know his daily sacrifice. And I was like, it's wrong of me to dip my toes into his world. Yep, stolen valor. Right, just because I have access, right? Like, I don't go on CNBC because I day trade.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Are you good at it? Here's what I'm telling you. If I put the right, if I had more screens, I'd be better. Yeah. But I'm hearing big time rumblings.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Just whoever you have a contact with in the league, because I've never talked to more teams than those 48 hours after that trade on Saturday night. Like I was hearing from guys I hadn't talked to in years.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It still makes no sense, right? So, look, we've been in New Orleans all week. Every single thing I've gone to, all anybody wants to talk about is Luka.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Bobby Marks had to be like, he's not hacked. He's like, I need a third source to confirm this about the original tweet.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Right, because if it had sent until we joked on Saturday after it happened that Bronny would have been in it.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

He would have said yes.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I know that must have hurt.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You're just girthy, dude. You're not even fat.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

270 is not bad at all. On 6'7"? I'd be 270 if I could. Yeah. Right now, I'm not even 6'7".

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, but BMI, there was a new thing I read today. It was like, finally, you're like, oh, you think it might be a little outdated for jack people? Yeah. Scientists. Yeah. Muscle. But is it just he hated Luca? Yeah. It seems like it. I mean, I think everything is out. There's other conspiracy theories. And I love, you know, when somebody is really smart and they're really good at making a point.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And then everybody was like, hey, did you hear about this like casino thing and like the moving around? And then you're like, OK, Maybe. Maybe. Or, because it's so convincing, right? But I always have this issue with making this simple thing difficult. And I think those of us that do this for a living like to do that at times. And this guy wasn't even, I don't even think, a media member.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But you're like, do you think they want to leave Dallas? Do you think they want to leave the Dallas market? And so we get a major league on our hands here? Like, of course they don't. They want the expansion teams. For Vegas. Yeah, but they want the money paid. When you expand, those two new owners have to write these massive checks.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I don't know if you've heard about this one. Of course I've heard about it. I've had it sent to me by people being like, checks out.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I like when somebody shares it with you like they got it in a source that no one else has already seen a hundred times.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Here's what I think is the funniest part about it. Is that I guess Niko wanted to keep it a secret because he was afraid people would get mad if they found out. I don't know. But he was like, don't tell anyone. Yeah, he thanked Palenka for keeping it quiet. And you're like, what did you think Palenka was going to do? Start telling other people?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

The other thing that I always think is insane with rebuilds in the NBA is we need everybody to be on the same timeline age-wise. So you go... So if, like, in theory, Ant were available, he's too young to play next to Kyrie. Now, granted, positionally, a fit center in AD and Kyrie.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It's very clear that Nico's background in the guys that he's had relationships with, like he said, I don't do anything scary. I'm like, you did the single scariest transaction in the NBA two years ago by being the one team that's like, yeah, we'll trade stuff for Kyrie Irving. And it's worked out. And I think it's worked out because of that relationship.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Clearly, the AD relationship goes all the way back. The Palenka relationship goes back 20-plus years. You know, everybody's read all the same stuff about how, like, Niko was obsessed with Kobe, made it work. The Palenka-Kobe deal where Kobe's, like, telling Palenka, go start your own thing. I'm coming with you. Like, these guys have been...

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

um, you know, and not a weird way, but like collectively in bed in this basketball world for a really long time. But like at some point you have to have someone close to you that can, that can go, Hey, even if you don't love Luca, even if you love a D that, silence is not the play here.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know, like, every time there's a big trade, and granted, it's more in the NBA than any other sports, but it used to happen in baseball when it was a more active trade deadline. But when the insider goes on TV, like, it just happened with De'Aaron Fox. Shams goes on, Windhorse goes on, whoever goes on, it's like, look.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

People around the league are starting to tell you Sacramento definitely looking at offers and maybe open for business on De'Aaron Fox. A lot of times that comes from the team. They want the guy to go on, advertise to the rest of the league that this guy is available. The idea that if it got out, it hurts their leverage is bullshit. This is unfathomable to so many different teams around the league.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

This should be an auction. It should be a public auction. It should be updated every fucking day. The Lakers, as Windhorse reported, saying that they went to Dallas and said, we can't give you the second first because we don't know if he'll sign an extension.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Then if you're Nico, you go, okay then, then you can walk away from acquiring Luka Doncic at 25 years old in a trade that is unprecedented historically.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You can say no to me. And instead, Nico was like, yeah, you're right.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Well, that's the other thing, is that I spend a lot of time, I mean, I don't really talk to anybody about it, but they're like, oh, look at this guy's numbers. I'm like, that guy's a loser. Oh, he had 30 points again? Cool. Do you watch all the other shit that he does wrong? This guy has a laundry list of losing plays inside of a basketball game.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Like, I know you're upset about the Zach Levine thing. No, I'm not upset. But, you know, he's played in, what, four playoff games in his career? So, like, we're sitting around. This league has a lot of dudes that put up huge, huge numbers, but they do it on their own terms. They don't pay attention to anything else. They've never even heard of an off-ball cut to save their lives.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

No. It sounds very mean. Well, Jordan Poole is, like, I joke that if he went to confession, he'd be like, what is this? because there's just no... No conscience. There's zero. I mean, he's the most dangerous player in the NBA. I love him. I love watching him play. It's actually not entertaining. No, it is. I can't imagine being a teammate. I'd want to get on the plane at one point.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Like, are you fucking serious, man? So anyway, the point is, is there's a lot of players that get a lot of pub that were like, well, he must be good because look at his line and look at all these things he's done. And they've done nothing. They've never sniffed anything. Maybe a playoff fluky run Luca with a team three years ago. That's third option was Reggie Bullock. Okay. Like,

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

That team made it to the Western Conference Finals. And then this team gets through OKC. It gets through Minnesota. And it plays, you know, it was a bad matchup against Boston. That Boston team was really, really good. But this guy was actually going on the playoff runs. Right.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So all these other guys are like, I can think, you know, sometimes I think there's guys that are good that are on bad teams and other guys I think that are frauds. This guy's not a fraud.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, that's what he brings. Right. I mean, that was alarming. It was also weird because I think the Celtics knew because, I mean, it's pretty obvious by their approach. Like, we're going to just kill this guy. I'm out. The Celtics also had like five to seven guys with a ball in their hands that you actually have to worry about off the dribble, not just spot up guys.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So you can make a target that you're hunting move more when you're as good as the Celtics are. So, those video clips, like, okay, fine, but I can do the same thing with a ton of other players that don't even sniff the first or second round. Right, right.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

That matchup was tough for them, but I think just team to team it was a tough matchup because it was like the first team. I mean, they had Tatum guarding their center while Tatum was playing point guard. And, like, I was at two of the games, and it was funny because Dallas at one point was like, oh, wait, maybe we can attack Tatum on the post.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And it's like, cool, you're going to run Gafford post-ups and take the ball out of Lucas' hands, take the ball out of Kyrie's hands. Like, you're playing right into what they want to do. But I think PFT, your point is just like, okay, you want to call him fat? Fine. You want to say he's not committed enough? Fine. You want to say he argues the refs?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Like, dude, pick a guy that doesn't argue with the refs. Like, it's always shocking when you go, oh, so-and-so doesn't argue all that much. I mean, sure. Okay, fine. All great stuff. Call other fucking teams. Right.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I think Ainge would have done like Tatum after he won an NBA championship with him.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I don't know. I mean, he never would tell you the truth or anything. I don't know if Boston could after just winning with Tatum, knowing that Tatum's always in shape, plays every game, plays defense. You just want a title. Their window is still open.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah. Max aura. Not your Max. Unattainable aura.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I love that discussion. I love that first take. Whose team is it? Yeah, whose team is that? Bronny. When Dwayne Wade spent like two years doing interviews and then like another 10 years after, he's like, well, the team didn't really click until I sacrificed.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

He's like, oh, you sacrificed against the guy who at the time is the best version we've ever seen of him. That's arguably like. Again, we know we're sitting here. He's number two probably all the time. There's definitely a clip that runs in two years, right? Luke is out of shape. He gets hurt again. There's questions about the extension. He's miserable.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

He actually doesn't like L.A., which would be shocking to me. I think he's probably going to hang out with all the hockey players and move to Manhattan Beach. But I – We know what it could be. I mean, maybe Dallas goes on. I really like this team when they were healthy this year was a good team. They had an awesome offseason. The trades were great for them.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

There is a version of events that can definitely happen. So remember how everybody thought this and Nico was right, whatever that could happen. I'm open to it.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Dude, how about Allie LaForse on the call of the Mavs Celtics game last night, like having a moment where she was like, you know, everybody just wants to remind you that Saturday night's home game for Dallas, like these people have families. Be responsible. Right. I know. And like, this is quite the message. Anyway, having said all those things, um,

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

you still will never be able to defend the process. Right, the process is bad. The execution of this is indefensible. But then I think about Luca, like, is this this wake-up call for him?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

A lot of taxes. 13.5% state.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, I think so, over a million, yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

This does remind me of Roman times, though.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Sula, where he was like... I thought you were talking about Jim. No, there's no friend that's ever served me, no enemy that's ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

That is powerful.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Just finished the trilogy. But I can't get the authors on. I wanted to do like a three-part thing. Were they dead? No, I did Pax. I did Rubicon. I did Storm Before the Storm. So I just wanted to, like, you know, what I do is I chart it out. And then I'm like, which years am I missing?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

No, actually, when I saw the memes, I felt a responsibility.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

do your research i was like you know what like a lot of people think this is funny yeah but it isn't and if you look at like the different forms of government like is it better to live under the guise of democracy with you know ultimately a dictatorship yeah you know which again speaks to bread and circus do you feel strongly about the the republic versus democracy debate um

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know, I don't know, man. I think at some point, I mean, not to go full dictator on you, but I think at some point somebody has to make the final decision.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Well, cause I just think that, you know, there's a lot of stuff in history. You go through it and you're like, you think this is a collective.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah. World War II museum yesterday in new Orleans went by myself was shocked. It wasn't busier with people from the media. Some people like to party with booze and drugs and women. And I like to party with history.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, he was sending me a picture of like a... Just an airplane? I took like 20 pictures. No, there's an airplane. There were several airplanes. You bought it?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Well, thank you, Ryan. The shirt, and that's my dog tag.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, that's an MRE right there.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

At first I was afraid I was, I would die. And then I was afraid I wouldn't. Oh, that's good. Anonymous Soldier World War II.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Anyway, how about that Central Division?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I like that. We just did this the other day, the surprise list. So who's not a surprise? OKC's not a surprise. Boston's not a surprise. Cleveland's not a surprise. I think Denver's the fourth team. When Denver has Aaron Gordon and this version of Jamal Murray, even with a diminished bench, it's like you can't rule, especially, you know, look at the depth, the extra days off.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Depth isn't as big of an issue. Yeah. Michael Porter Jr. is hit or miss to me. I think I like him less and less, even though he's so important to what they do because of stretching the floor. Westbrook has been really good in these minutes because of the energy. I think he's finally kind of accepted who he is a little bit so he doesn't force the issue the way he would with some of the other guys.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I think he's more differential to Jokic than anyone he's ever been playing next to. The great thing about playing with Jokic is, dude, if you just keep moving and cutting, there's free baskets all over the place because he's going to find you. So I would put Denver in there because that's just how special I think Jokic is. Memphis? No, I'm not quite there yet. Houston? No, no.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I have a hard time believing Houston will win four series. The Knicks? I probably have the Knicks over Houston, even though I enjoy watching Houston the most. As the taping of this, Houston's really going through a weird stretch. They haven't had Van Vliet. They have these awesome clutch record numbers, but they have some awful clutch metrics, which is really weird how off the two things are.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And I wonder offensively if they would have enough. to keep up with some of the other high-profile teams. But one of the questions I have about OKC is, will there be a second scorer that is more reliable than the first version that we saw in Jalen Williams, which is totally understandable because it was the first time.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, the rebounding stuff has been an issue now for a while with them, but I worry more. Their defense is so good. They are so smart. They made Wemby look terrible. It was very early in the season, but if you hold the ball and you wait around, against OKC, they just swarm you. And everybody's bought in. The culture of that team is almost like an unobtainable thing in the NBA.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So I'm impressed with all of it. I just want the second or maybe even another guy, which isn't going to happen now, someone to be that reliable.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

third creator in those minutes where maybe one of the other guys has subbed out or some of the things bogged down but now I'm like nitpicking like I'm nitpicking with yeah there's little things that I can nitpick with Cleveland but I thought the DeAndre Hunter trade addressed probably the biggest issue is that when they start a game against the Celtics like Struce is getting defensive minutes against Jalen Brown or Jason Tatum because they want Struce's spacing right the rest of the assignments you're like you know what do we do do we put Mobley on a wing and feel like we're wasting him because you kind of have to

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

if Boston doesn't want to play with double bigs like they do sometimes. So I'm really, really impressed with Cleveland. And even though Hunter's expensive as far as what they'll have to pay him and all the tax stuff, it's a no-brainer. Not that he's a lockdown guy, but it's just a way better defensive option. Because playoff series are crazy, man.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You can see a game one result and everybody sits there and be like, oh, This is over. And then game two with the same guys plays out an entirely different way. So at least they have an option as opposed to what they had before.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I think after that, it would be a surprise to me if the Houston Rockets won an NBA championship this year. It would be a surprise to me if Memphis won an NBA championship. The Lakers, yeah, I think it's a surprise. To me, this is a reset. I mean, Doncic becomes available. You stop worrying about how you match up in the 25 playoffs, and it's pretty clear. And even if they spent...

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know, real assets on acquiring Mark Williams, he needs to be better. Now, Graney's only played like half the available games of his career, but the defensive numbers for him are atrocious. And when you watch him, the good sign might be, I just, like, do you not care? Like, I know it sounds crazy. I want guys to care all the time.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But is it easier to fix it when it's like, hey, your effort sucks.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, you're playing with the Lakers now. You can hide in Charlotte on league pass, but you can't anymore. What about the Bucs? I hate just missing Giannis just because I think on the best nights, he's the second best player in the world. He's been even better this year. Last year he wins the MVP in a lot of seasons, if it's not for this epic run that Jokic is on.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know, they've reinvented themselves a bit. Kuzma's probably got a little bit more juice to him than Middleton does at this point. I think Middleton defensively in some of the wing matchups worries him, but Kuzma doesn't necessarily solve those problems.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I mean, that team was such a mess, and the minutes were all over the place, and the priorities were different than Kuzma. Like, when Kuzma's been good, he's pretty good, man. He's not the most athletic guy. It's not like you're letting him initiate a ton of offense, like, off the dribble on his own.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And defensively, he can probably get caught in some stuff where he's not athletically matching, like, another guy that he's assigned to, but... I like him because I think they can just count on him more than they could Middleton at this point. Right. But I'm worried about, like, the Dame stuff at the top. I think Brook Lopez, like, it's kind of over, man. Yeah, it's getting up there. Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So the Giannis thing is terrific. And, you know, I just fucking love that guy. I love, like – You knew when it was the Wemby matchup earlier, you're like, oh, I can't wait to watch this game tonight because he's going to be like, I'm going to go right at this dude. And Wemby blocked him twice at the start of the first game. And Giannis is like, all right, now I'm even more pissed.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Where a lot of guys like with his profile be like, all right, I don't want to get embarrassed. I'm not going to do that again. Like he couldn't wait. So I always kind of like – I think I probably stubbornly have respect for Giannis so much that normally I would keep him live in this. But I think the reality is the NBA story is the way they go. Like their window is probably already closed.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, he's everything that I would want. Like all the stuff that we've talked about with Luka and the funny part, too, is like there's been way more rumblings about Giannis's fragile future in Milwaukee than Luke. I mean, you know, the Luka thing was like, maybe, you know, oh, 26, this team's clearing cap space. All right, fine. But this Giannis stuff has always been.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

this weird lingering like, Oh, they have to do this. This is why they did the Dame deal. You know, this is why they did the coach thing. And you know, who knows? And would he ever say, Hey, I'm at this side of 30. Like I'm out of here because it doesn't mean it's never going to happen. But like the American guys are usually the guys that do it.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

The international guys don't again, an international guy at some point who's a superstar is going to be like, get me out of here. Yeah. Go ahead.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Isn't it funny that, I mean, it's like, okay, well then he can't win. He can't win at all. I know. I know. That's what I'm saying.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Well, there's definitely truth to him liking his role with the Trailblazers all those years. Right. And whenever you talk to people out there, and granted, the regime has changed over, but it was, you know, is he ever going to get a little, like, annoyed with all this stuff? It's like, no, he likes being the main attraction. Right. Like, everything's sort of on his terms.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Not in like a – like, I think the OKC stuff with Westbrook was, like, absurd towards the end where everything was so on his terms and they had just lost Durant. I mean, you had Biggs just getting out of his way so he could get extra rebounds. The highest, like, usage rate in, like, modern history.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And you start to realize, like, he still gets rebounds other guards will never get because he's so incredibly gifted, athletic, and his determination, all that kind of stuff. But, like, everything started feeling so catered to Westbrook. You're like, is this actually – The recipe for success. Now, that team didn't have any success in the playoffs. Dames certainly had a couple moments.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

The OKC shot once Paul George was there. The Houston series. There's just a lot of stuff in there that I thought was a lot of fun. They had a Western Conference Finals run that I think is one of those that falls under the kind of fluky category.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It was the year before.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So... I totally get your point. And, like, there was always this Bradley Beal thing that's very similar. It's like, this guy's not asking out yet. And then people go, well, you know, he's a pretty content guy, and he's pretty close to, like, qualifying for the five-year max.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So he may just get that, and then he's going to bounce, and that's exactly what happened. So... I don't think you're wrong. It just feels so fucking unfair. Right. It's hypocritical. I don't really want to say, oh, yeah, this guy actually was a loser the whole time. You know what's crazy?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Imagine if he had gotten his way and gone to Miami. I know. Like, do you think Butler would have been like, okay, I'll chill out now without the extension?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

The one you can get on Dame for, though, and this was starting to happen, and I remember the first time it was explained to me, they were like, this is just the transfer portal now because people don't care about getting to free agency to maximize their opportunities or leverage or all that stuff. They're just signing the extension and then saying, okay. And then saying, I want out.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, we've covered this. Yeah, and that sucks. That sucks. Yeah, and he had four years to go on his, the same way Durant had four years to go on his when he decided he wanted out of the Nets and they wouldn't trade him, they wouldn't fire everybody, and then they had to trade him to Phoenix anyway, and they ended up getting a haul and

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Honestly, looking back at that, it's an unbelievable deal for what the Nets were able to pull off for a guy that's unhappy within 18 months of every place that he's gone. I was kidding around the other day, but I was like, who's been happier at his peak basketball moments throughout his career, Kyrie or Durant?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I understand the sentiment behind it. The four-year extension not kicking in and then saying I want to be traded here and I only want to go to Miami. Right. I mean, that's not a blast.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, 12 finals run. Yeah, when he didn't get jaded by it.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Best starting five I've ever seen.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Making sure. I just thought you were going to argue. No, I know. I was thinking, I don't know. Dream team.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Oh, yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, Rip.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I love that. That's not even the worst one. Remember the Atlanta Hawks team with all those guys? Corver? Yeah, Corver and Joe Johnson. They're like, well, they're in first place.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It's pronounced Josh Smith. Smith. He was my all-time, like, he's just going to chuck a few threes. I think he was on Detroit by then. He might have been, yeah. Maybe like 27% from three.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I like those guys. That's a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion. Henry V.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

A lot. You know what people don't talk about enough is Shakespeare's depiction of Henry V is so fucked. I agree. I totally agree. Yeah, right?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

That's good. Yeah. Because it's like, oh, Billy Shakespeare, he couldn't get it wrong. Are you serious? Yeah. Have you ever fucking talked to writers?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, when he was just straight-up efficiency. I mean, granted, he got a bit of a gobbed complex and just saying France was his and it was his right. I would love to be arrogant enough. Like, we're here Super Bowl week, and there's some guys you're like, we need to fucking simmer down. Like, cool daytime ratings.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I look at Henry V, and I think... Imagine just being like, hey, this isn't me just being a dick. It is my birthright. France is mine, God told me. How do you run errands that day with that kind of idea of where you are in the world?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

There's really nothing you could say. Yeah. Like, hey, this sucks. We're in the woods still. We're digging ditches and guys have malaria and dudes are dying and we don't have any food and we might have to start eating the horses. And I haven't even seen a boob in two years. Like, this fucking sucks. And he's like, don't worry about it. God said we're going to. Yeah, we got it. God's got it.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

God did. Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Well, he did marry the daughter of the Mad King, which was arranged. He did seem to like her, though.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Totally. Beyonce and Jay-Z. Yeah. You're like, Kate's, you know, good for Kate. I think Kate Middleton's approval rating is through the roof. Yeah. But I don't know, dude. Henry V? Yeah. I just think it's funny to look at maps. You guys don't ever look at maps. Oh, I love maps.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You're going to have to explain to me. You're talking about maps.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Isn't that trump.com where you just pull Greenland? That's ours. You bring it left. That shit's ours now.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Do you? Yeah. Why not? Does Greenland want Greenland? No. No. There is something to be said. Well, I don't know. This will probably bring up something else, but like... Go on. When you read Henry V, you're like, we do invade each other less. Yeah, yeah. That's a positive, and that never gets talked about.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I'm shocked about some of that stuff from...

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Agincourt in like late 1300s early 1400s and you're like you invaded France with 2,000 guys and some boats like what the fuck like yeah imagine getting like we're good yeah like we're going into the whole country and the numbers were like really limited and then they started like going nuts I mean granted you gotta go centuries beyond Napoleon just being like let's go for Russia like

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But, yeah, I don't know. Maybe I'm just more top of mind right now after the museum visit yesterday and everything. But, yeah, I don't know that that – back to the Henry V thing. Completely misjudged. Shakespeare fucked him.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I don't feel bad not knowing that.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I think, I mean, if you want to be like completely serious about all this stuff.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

What flavors do you think they had?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Chocolate and vanilla in 1945.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Japan's resources. were strained pretty quickly.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

First time they'd surrendered in 2,500 years. It's crazy.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Well, he was called the God Emperor. Yeah. Another guy. Probably read Henry V. Yeah, he did.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, I was watching the videos about it yesterday, but I don't know. I mean, this is where being the war historian, like you could say a fact, but I'm going to go, I didn't know that. I'm the war historian? I didn't know ice cream. No, I didn't know ice cream.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I'm supposed to know all of it. I'm supposed to know every maneuver from the runways to Manila, the Manila decision.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It's so good that we can't even do anything now with it.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

We need to take a moment to understand how good that line was right there.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

That's even the capital of the Philippines.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But when Oppenheimer came out and like, you know, some people just can't, you know, they send a tweet and it's like, oh, we're celebrating this now. Like, do you want to fucking do this? Do you want to do this? Do you want to do this? Are we going to do this? You want to talk about the coast of China? Yeah. You want to talk inland?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Dude, there's video. They didn't show the video, but there are stills of like practicing bayonet.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

work with live chinese prisoners so look history is littered with all of this stuff but like the artsy person that decides they're taking this stand without ever reading a fucking book or deciding that they're just going to ignore like i'm not saying necessarily like who's right but who put you in charge of saying who's wrong right yep is uh cooper flag the real deal

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I haven't watched enough of them.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

No, that's definitely not true. I don't have a ton of time for college hoops right now. I've watched, I don't know, two full games. Boston College seemed to not like him a couple weeks ago. They were letting him have it, elbowing him in the face.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, you're right. It just doesn't feel, you know what I mean? That he's a main guy, though, for me, I'm just going to have a hard time being anti. Like, would I hate Duncan Robinson? I couldn't do that, New Hampshire guy. Duncan Robinson's a good dude.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Cooper.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

That'd be the first white American drafted number one overall.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah. There haven't been any good ones that I've heard yet, I don't think. I haven't heard anything that's all that great. I would root for the New England guy no matter what. But we, look, the white guys have had a weird stretch in the NBA. There was a time when you were like, okay, who are the five white American guys? One through five.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And like dudes would get to four going, is it still Doug McDermott? Who we love. Shout out to Doug McDermott. Yes, Doug McDermott. This is, you know, Trump's back in office. Flag goes one. You know, you got to wonder.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

That's true. That woman in the Walmart ad with Busta Rhymes around Christmas when she dropped the verse at the end. Yep. So I don't know where we are on the pendulum. It's all happening.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, well... Yeah, but the thing is, the more you really dug into Zion when he was at Duke, not that it was breaking news because everybody knew he was going number one, but I think for me there was this whole other level of like, oh my God, this is going to be awesome.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And the thing is, once he played, he was that dominant of a player, and you didn't really have to do anything with him except just make sure there was a little bit of spacing for him, which they could have with this new version of the team, but whatever. I don't think he's talked about...

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Like, we're coming off a Wimbanyama deal where the buildup to that, even though Flag has been on everybody's radar here for a couple years, and I think that there's the other two guys that are kind of part of the conversation. Like, you'll hear every now and then of somebody.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So I don't think it's this unanimous praise, but if I'm comparing to Wimbanyama, Wimbanyama is the most anticipated pick since LeBron. So it's been 20 years. Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

uh this is not one i have not watched him enough i don't feel comfortable talking about it based on what i think and i think it's been assumed that he's the number one guy and for good reason because he's side the size and the athleticism and a little bit more of the vision where it's not just he's a straight scorer but i mean look you've watched him more than i have he's he's very good he's very very good uh and i also appreciate that you were like hey i didn't watch so i can't i can't give an expert opinion we're the opposite i think you agree pft he's probably the best prospect ever

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Do you think that's sort of part of that prideful nationalism that you're feeling right now?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

That is interesting.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

He's huge.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

They're twins?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I don't know. Yeah, I mean, that's going to be tough. That's going to be tough. You don't know anything about Cooper Flagg. Let's ask about his twin brother. Yeah. No, I didn't know. I just always feel like no matter what, you know, your mom's going like, hey, your path is different. And, you know, you're special in your own way.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And you're like, yeah, my brother's going to be the number one pick in the draft. Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Um, trouble. How? So I can answer it properly.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I'm going to sound like somebody who loves the NBA and therefore is going to protect it, but I think what I would do, because you know me, is that I would defend something against what I think are bullshit arguments. One, the first ratings quarter that was destroyed by everybody went up against all of our election coverage, and the most important election of our time was the tease, I believe.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Democracy was at stake. Do you realize I've been alive for every one of the most important elections of our time? Yeah. That's fucking incredible. I'd be that lucky.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I was there. I was there for that. And I was like, shit. And then the next year and four years, excuse me, the next election, they were like, no, this is. And I was like, I'm on the hottest fucking streak of elections of anybody you've ever known. So I think that that was a little unfair.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I think the three-point thing, even though there's nights where I kind of feel that way, I also don't miss Mark Jackson post-ups that took 17 seconds. Yeah. I think whenever people start comparing all these clips of what it is today, what it is back then, like, yeah, every Jordan clip looks fucking awesome. You know what?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

There was also a million other games that Tuesday night that sucked and weren't as visually appealing as that clip. Why are we comparing that clip to a full slate of games on a Tuesday? Yeah. I also think that there's a very like I've talked about this before. It's the polling of one.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And it's not just one, but it's still a really small sample size of people who are like, I haven't watched it since they did that bubble woke shit. And it's like, OK, is that true? Like in that moment, you went group economics jersey, which, again, was stupid. But you went group economics jersey and you were like, that's it. I'm fucking out on these guys.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Right. That person exists, certainly, and that person loves telling you that they exist and they've done all of those things. But what I would argue is, did that make you change a channel or did you already change a channel and now you love pointing to that as the reason why you've already done something? Same thing happened with all the Kaepernick shit, right?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Right-wing people going like, I'm never watching that sport again. And remember there was a bit of a ratings dip and there was decline and right-wing media was all over it being like, see, see, see. All right, well... At some point, there's going to be some ebbs and flows of ratings and all that kind of stuff. So look, if you tell me, all right, Ryan, compare the finals to 10 years ago finals.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Well, am I comparing it to LeBron and Steph in that window? I mean, you know, we're also talking about LeBron and Kawhi. We're talking about Steph going up against LeBron in that one where everybody kind of got hurt in the entire series. So is that the best way to do it?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I'd also ask people, like, have you ever cared about sports or games or teams, you know, today the way you did 20 or 30 years ago? Right. But do you care about movies the same way? How many times did you go to the movie theater this year? How many times did you used to go? Is there an appointment viewing on television? Is there anything that's like the Sopranos? So many options. Right.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Like, remember the Sopranos? You stopped what you were doing. Oh, yeah. My TV went out. Right. You make sure your food was ready to go, whatever you were grabbing, like I'm sitting like nothing is disrupting this moment. I don't know those moments exist anymore. So I think the NBA has some things aesthetically about it that are concerning.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I think there's some ratings Intel that is is a small piece. that if it were to continue is alarming. But I also think there's just so many people that love dunking on that league for a variety of different reasons that I think it becomes really skewed coverage. I think the NHL is down 28%. Is it too woke? Like, of course not.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It is. I mean, that's why they're going to 18 games. That's why they were like, you know, Christmas football family. No, it isn't. You're just like, fuck the NBA, which is within their rights to do. I think at one point we'll have NFL on every single night. I think that's what their goal is and that's what they'll look to do.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah. Nobody's lost money on a team in like 40 plus years. They want to add more teams because people want to get into the business. The television contract was reported to come in like 3 billion less than it actually did. So maybe maybe looking at traditional ratings.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Like, as much as you can go, oh, look at that, or look at that number, or this product sucks, or all these different things, I think the global part isn't discussed enough. I think the new consumer and the younger consumer, the idea of sitting down at 25 years old and watching a two-and-a-half-hour game start to finish is, like, absurd to them.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So I think there's a lot of factors here, but I think, unfortunately, the loudest voice is usually the one that already hates the NBA telling you this league is dying, and I don't think that's true.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, right. I mean, you ask that guy to be like, are you going to Vegas still? And he'd be like, ugh. Right. No shit.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I can never tell if I'm like the best taste, like I should, I'm just stop. You have the best taste. Um, thanks guys. If I am the one you should listen to or the one you should listen to the least, because I'm watching no matter what, right? This is my job. I have a good job. I have a good life. I'm lucky to have the life that I have. Okay.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But there are times where when I'm watching all these games, there's all these stoppages, and they add a challenge, and they have the timeout before the three minutes that everybody's figured out and all this stuff. The dramatic back-and-forth moment – and it's happened in football, too, where it's like, is that the game-winning touchdown? Oh, my God, it's the game-winning touchdown. Wait.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Let me wait for a review. And now I'm excited. But there's no way the excitement after the delay of what you think has happened and you're seeing the replay and getting confirmation – There's no way that excitement ever matched what we used to have in that moment where you were like, this is – like, oh, my God, it happened.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And basketball, as much as I love the NCAA tournament, like, there can be a score and scenario where you get maybe that possession, possession, possession moment. But it feels like it never happens anymore in basketball. And I think that's a – except they just are going to tell the TV partners, like, yeah, we'll figure out a way to get another stoppage in there.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know, college football, like, we can't call it the two-minute warning, but we'll call it the two-minute timeout. It's pretty good, yeah. Because, you know, we're our own thing. It's like, no, we'll just call it the extra stop because ESPN just renewed the package. Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I'm up for any of the, the Elam ending thing, no relation to Matt. I thought like at first, like a lot of people were like, Oh, well that'll change everything. Okay.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Like I would love to have those dramatic back and forth moments. Like I think baseball may actually provide the best drama tension because you can't disrupt it the way you disrupt these game winning football plays and all the basketball stuff. So when I say like, I can't tell if I'm the best or the worst, like I can be on game seven and, And I'll know, like, here we get another stop.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Here we get all this stuff. And, like, I start dicking around. I'm looking at my phone. Maybe I'm, like, looking up something, like, what is DeAndre Hunter shooting? You know, like, I'm sitting there. And then I look up, and, like, four plays have happened because I'd already kind of, like, removed myself from paying attention to the game.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So I'm like, if I'm doing that, what the hell is somebody doing that doesn't do this for a living? Right. Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I think Charlotte's actually in a pretty bad spot, even though they've done a good job. Because they've got to make a lamello decision.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know, I mean, I looked it up the other day. His shots per 100 is the highest we've seen since Kobe Bryant's in 2006.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Well, I think the Hornets are in like a weird Atlanta Hawks spot where it's like we have this attraction and we have something we can put on billboards and we have something that gets the fans excited and sells jerseys and everything. Make money. Is this really going to be a guy? It's never going to work.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, I think it's a huge corporate thing.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I don't go anymore.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It's San Francisco, I think. Oh, yeah. Well, with the no game week thing, I did the live show in Utah two years ago, and then I went, why am I working? There's no games. Right. I'm going to take some of this time off. So I went to Aspen last year. It's pretty nice. Yeah, I've heard. Very nice. It's rich. Yeah. A lot of rich people, PFT. How was the powder? Is that a cocaine joke? It was. It was.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Trying to fuck with me a little bit.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I don't know, man. We're not even on a course. It's kind of like a mini Super Bowl week, to be honest with you.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It's unwatchable. I don't watch it. I mean, I can't even tell you the last time I watched an NBA All-Star game. I don't watch it. I think it's for kids. I think it's for kids. I think it's for corporate sponsorships. I think it's, like, whatever we deal with every night of, like, your options in New Orleans for Super Bowl week. It's like, I can go to this party. I can go to this dinner.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And, like, there's plenty of shit I can't even get into. But, like, if you go to the hotel lobby at the Four Seasons, you're like, cool, I'm going to see, like, 20 people I don't get to see unless I come to this every single year. So, to me, it's a mini version of that for NBA people.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

complaining about the game it's just not fixable it's it's not fixable because these guys do not give a shit there has always been something about basketball that bothered me is that if you're good it's like lame to try at times like the guy who's really good in a pickup game that almost thinks it's insulting to try against you and you're like this is way more insulting than you killing us you're really good and now you're pretending you don't care just in case

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

somebody were to cross you up or somebody were to stick a three in your face, like this is your never look uncool moment. That's why none of the guys do the dunk contest. That's why some of the guys don't do the three-point thing.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Why?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But he's way better than all of us. I could see him being a not-try guy.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I can't imagine how good he is. I mean, if you're good enough to walk on, or was it an offer?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

He's big, too. I just saw him in the hallway.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Wow. God, you're all over these. I just made that one up.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, they're at the gates, and it's like, no way you're going to be right. No way you're going to be right. Like the trade and bead thing, I got killed for. You were right. I haven't brought this up yet because it's Super Bowl week. Thanks for not bringing it up. It's the first time ever.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Sulk.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, right. That's what it was. Percentage of games that he's actually played, percentage of Super Bowls that Brady played in during his career. Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It was his 400th game that he missed. Oh, yeah, yeah. So they put the graphic up. When he got to 400, dudes were making a graphic like it was an accomplishment. I've always been kind of protective of him, and I was out. Once he started fallibating the Olympics, I was like, are you fucking serious, dude? I got mad.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I was mad at home by myself because nobody wanted to come over and watch me watch the Olympics during the day. Like, hey, you said something about maybe getting a drink one time. I was like, do you want to watch them play Serbia? It's going to be a good game. I got so frustrated.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And look, I think Embiid played for Team USA because he gets a gold medal, adds to the legacy, because it's probably not that likely that he's winning a title at any point. There's arguments that I would hear about Harden's meltdowns, Simmons having an absolute meltdown in that Atlanta series, just being shot and thinking, like, who has Embiid been able to rely on? But...

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know, whether it's like there was a situation this week, like not this week, this season. We're going through all the hell stuff. And by the way, when he had been playing during that stretch, he didn't look right. Okay. Even though he's putting up numbers, he doesn't look right. He doesn't move unless he has the basketball. So you hope he's hurt.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And he was hurt because that's why he shut it down again. The newest news about his knee. And then I just like, why were you guys in a hurry to even do this extension with him on top of everything else? You already owe him. But when he basically like sat out the Cleveland game and then played in the Charlotte game, I'm like, dude, I can't do it anymore with you. I can't do it anymore with you.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah. I do feel like we're getting closer to the sit-down with whoever it is at ESPN. It's like a countdown. Maybe it's Malika or something. And it's MB sitting there in the stool, and it was like, when did you know it was overview in Philadelphia?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And then it's like black and white footage of like yelling at the ref or him yelling at a reporter or the quote saying like, I've done so much for the city. If you were to say this story, like which course it's on, I don't know that redemption feels like the one that's more likely to land on.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, I know.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I'm trying to be sincere and think about, like, have you? Dick to dick. I don't know. There's some pledging shit I'm not sick about.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It's not going to be good. What do you mean? They're going to beat somebody in the play-in? Yeah, I mean, that's not if they're all healthy and they're all ready to go.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Honestly, even with all the Embiid stuff, because he's the guy, he's supposed to be the franchise guy, there's a bit of me, too, that's just so sick of all the Embiid propaganda people over the years where it's like, you guys are being such dicks about the Jokic thing when Embiid was never better than him. He deserved to win the MVP. I'm fine with it.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I never thought Embiid was the better basketball player. If you voted for Jokic that year for MVP, I couldn't necessarily tell you you were wrong. Like sometimes I still kind of think about like, you know, did Embiid prioritize the MVP? And that's why you felt like you went in that direction. And Jokic kind of not giving a shit the last few weeks of the season. Was that the deciding factor?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know, I don't know. That wasn't an easy vote. A lot of the years for me, I haven't had a vote that long. It hasn't been Something where I'm like, yep, perfect score. Totally right. Zero arguments against any of this stuff. But that wasn't even Joel's fault as much as it was the people around him pushing this thing where it wasn't like just sticking up for your guy.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It was shitting on Jokic so much. And that really, really bothered me because I can't understand how anybody could spend their life in basketball and watch these two dudes play and think that it's the same thing. And I also think the Embiid foul hunting stuff that... Daryl loves because he loved it with Harden and all these guys. Oh, look at your true shooting. Look at your efficiency.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Like, look at all this stuff. Look at your points per 100 and all this. It's crazy. He doesn't play basketball naturally anymore. He's always thinking about, like, how can he get the contact? How can he fall? Like, there's a very choppy way. That he goes about it, but then it's like, oh, he had 34-12 again. He must be fucking awesome.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And I think that stuff is easier to pull off in the regular season. I think there are times, even though he had that 50 against the Knicks, there were times he was not comfortable with the basketball late. He still stinks when a double comes to him. So, yeah, I'm over it. And even with all that said... Paul George is Tobias Harris with better branding. Whoa.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But like Paul George, I know he had a better January, but he needs to be a dude.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

while Embiid is out through all of this and instead he's totally comfortable getting his ISO 17 footer up because he's so talented and it's great and like all the shit that he can do but like there's there's no like consistent flow he just like where's the aggressiveness like it's you're being tasked with get them through this really tough stretch and he wanted nothing to do with it from what I saw

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, and then Maxie took like 25 shots a game, and I don't think his numbers are a true reflection of like – I don't think he's a declining player, obviously. He was just going for it.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Are you talking Hoosiers football right now?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I did see the final score. I've never seen a final score more, to be honest with you.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

The most impressive final score on the losing side in the history of fucking sports.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Did you see when he posted his own AP voting results where he had Indiana slash Penn State 4, Penn State slash Indiana 5?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You haven't seen that?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Um... The play-in is not something I'm in favor of, but I think back to kind of the ratings discussion, like March Madness right now is one of the best products in all sports, right? We agree. It translates over to the person that would never care about this.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And even though the regular season of college basketball has, I don't even know what the declining numbers are there, but I mean, it's just true. Like I don't watch a ton of it anymore, but when I do dabble, I can't believe how bad the product is. There's no continuity whatsoever.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Uh, that's great. That's great. But it's, there are, there are nights where you're like, are they going to score? No, it's bad basketball. What is going on here? I, I don't really know. You know, you can't team build for a lot of the programs, right? At least a lot of the ones on TV with the higher profile players.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And you know, I, I like the one and done stuff because I just think it's the right thing to do. I think not having to go to college at all would be the right thing to do. I just think it's wrong to tell people like, you can't just go pursue this because I don't know. Um, That's a whole different discussion.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But college hoops, when I've watched it over the years, even though I liked it more than the NBA when I was younger, it's a tough watch. But at least they have this moment. And what you're seeing with what Silver is doing is the play-in was we have this moment.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

um the in-season tournament which is now the emirates cup that's a moment it actually wasn't very disruptive and some of those games this year were terrific so i think what you your goal is like baseball's goal is okay make fun of how long our season is we don't give a shit we're selling 162 game inventory six months of the year and it rates really really high in local markets and all the local market stuff like this is a product they can put on and pull a better number than reruns a fucking wheel of fortune maybe i don't know the fortune's pretty popular

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But with college basketball, they have their moment. I think the baseball playoffs are incredible, but that might just be their moment. You're never going to be able to compete with what the NFL is.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But because soccer, I think Silver is so influenced by a lot of the international soccer stuff, I think that they want to have these moments that they can sell and package in a different way as extra inventory. So I don't like the play-in. There's going to be teams that have no business being like, you just had this season you had, and now you get another chance of potentially getting the playoff.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Like in the times that Steph's been eliminated, you're like, cool. Yeah. Great.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And like, oh, yeah, that's bullshit. That's like when they talk about expanding the tournament. You just go, no, you don't need to do it. But then the coaches argue for it. And it's like, do you guys want to argue for it? So you can say like, oh, you know, like the bowl. I made the tournament four years in a row. Give me my extension. Bowl eligible the last five years. You're like, dude.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

What?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Johnny's are really good.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Johnny's are good. People knock the schedule. Maybe you can help me out with Patino a little bit because – Family goes way back on the father's side of the Providence ties. And when Rick was the head coach of that Providence Fires team, this is a little early for you guys, Pop Lewis, Billy Donovan. I had a t-shirt that said Rick Pitino for president. I think I was like nine.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah, he was gone. Went to the Knicks. Family despised him.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And then he left the Knicks, right? Kentucky worked out. Worked out pretty well. Went to Boston. Family despised him even more after that. And then... Louisville... you know, Louisville, then everything else that goes with it. A lot of stops. I know you guys have some history with it too, but I would be tempted because I'm excited potentially about like the St. John's right.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Cause the guy can coach. I mean, he's unbelievable, but I did the Celtics documentary for bill, uh,

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

in hbo and i came in and did the patino years and i wasn't nice so i feel guilty about being in the documentary and then being offered patino and being like let's talk saint john's oh but by the way like i wasn't sweet about your celtics run that's going to be in the documentary so me and big cat had a similar situation it's i think it was nastier than what i yeah we said some things about his penis yeah over the years yeah i never talked about his penis in the doc

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Are you guys even going to do this again right now, or do you feel like you've worked through it?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Maybe I start with that.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Wait, which party?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah. Who would, who would laugh at that response? I don't understand. Like, how could you be that like offended by it or entertained by the absurdity of my, it is very weird.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know who I really like is Aaron Wiggins, Oklahoma city.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Now he's not a superstar, not even close, but does his job. And there'll be stretches with the thunder where I'm like, God, I think I really like Aaron Wiggins, not Andrew. He was traded.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Aaron Wiggins. Speaking of trades and where Wiggins is now, where the rookie from Miami, from Indiana, he's been terrific since he's been a regular part of the rotation. I've been really excited about Scoot's resurgence. Okay. Tough first year for my guy. He was very invested, had some takes that were watered regularly, not showing a lot of life. That's a great way to put it.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

There's still some limitations on the rim finishing and not being like, you know, it's like, oh, he's not Derrick Rose. You're like, well, this is the reason why we were so enthralled with Derrick Rose because he was Derrick Rose. But Scoot's been really good. Scoot's put together like a nice five, six weeks here. What else are you looking for?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Are you looking for, like, Isaiah Stewart, who I think would fight people? I appreciate that. I love what Cade has done this year. I actually think the Wizards with Koulibaly and Bub and even George a little bit. I guess you could throw Sar in there a little as the number two pick. Like, they stink, but they play really hard. There's, like, a few guys in that Wizards team. I love Bub. Yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So I don't know that somebody's like, hey, what do you want to do tonight? Hey, I'm going to stay in because we're still listening to Wizards play with a lot of activity. So let's do that. Been really happy with Mobley, but I don't know if he'll hit like some of the – like Simmons was so crazy about what Mobley could do when he started comparing him to Duncan or KG.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Then you kind of are like, well, I like him, but I don't like him that much. And then you make – makes it feel like you're dissing a guy that you actually like. Like the strokes. Yeah. You like the Strokes big cat, but the way PFT talks about the Strokes, you're like, Jesus Christ, the run wasn't that long.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So you're never having him back on.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I'm not a Strokes guy, Russillo. That would be kind of nasty. You guys could LSU me. Oh, yeah.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I did go to the museum by myself, so I don't know that you'd be totally wrong on that. Who would be most likely in the media to have joined me if I had said, hey, do you want to go to the World War II museum? Probably me. Yeah, or I'd probably be the second or third option. No, I would never ask you to go there because you wouldn't do it. I would. It wouldn't be cool enough for you.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Did you win?

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I bet last night, live odds. What? I was watching Celtics-Mavs before I had dinner last night, and Celtics were getting destroyed. And normally, I would be like, okay, well, they're not going to get killed this bad. Let me look at the live odds.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

No.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Yeah. And it works out. He just wins every time. Well, it wouldn't work last night because it was like... Plus six and a half, minus six and a half when I looked at it, and I thought the number was too small even though they were down 20. So I was watching it, and I waited, and I waited, and I go, this might be just a mail-it-in night from these guys.

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NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And I ended up laying it on the Mavs, and they got up 27 and then won by seven. Celtics won on a 14-0 run. So you covered. I covered, but from the point of like I'm so smart to a 14-0 run where you're like there's still four minutes in and all the backups are playing their ass off right now and Dallas has already shut it off mentally. I'm with Hank on that.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I think if you watch enough, I would look for live odds on the better team that's down. They're going to make the run. Let me see if they were minus seven before tonight. Now I'm getting them at plus three. I think I just have to do that with a certain amount of time left in the game. but I actually hedged myself last night. It just felt good to be back in it.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Okay. I have no investments in crypto. I've thought about it a little bit more recently, but I think everybody does. They're like, oh, it's at 100. Now it's at 106. Now I feel like a fucking loser. I had to get my brains beaten in a bunch of different times with trades for me to then become numb to the ups and downs or that stupid math that you do when you invest.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

We're like, if I had only done this and then I had this many shares, like I used to do all that shit when I was younger. Um, I've had some bad losses. I've had some nice wins. Uh, my wins have been bigger, like my takes, you know, my wins, you know, may not, you may not see how the path you get there and you're like, how the fuck's that going to work out?

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

But there's some, there's some losses I wish I could have back that ruined me emotionally for long stretches, but also when you're by yourself.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

and you day trade and you have a fucking horrible horrible stretch there's no one to tell you how insane you're being so you just accept your own demise it's like nico exactly it's just like nico he didn't have anybody to tell him he didn't have anybody to tell me like i remember i was on vacation once in hawaii with a date and i checked the pre-market to like three in the morning because i was so locked into it and i think i was down like half a million dollars because of just like this news and

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And I ran out onto the balcony and screamed, motherfucker, motherfucker, motherfucker, like a hundred times. And she came running out. She was like, did your father die? And I was like, no, it's worse. She's like, are you seriously setting your alarm to check the pre-market? So I was pretty into it there for a little while. Anyway, crypto... Tried to read everything I could.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Didn't understand in the beginning like everybody else. Now I fully understand it. The problem was throughout the entire time, the people I trust the absolute least were all the biggest people that were about crypto. So I missed the window or maybe the window still continues. I think the premise of it, its utility, all of those things make a ton of fucking sense.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

So I believe in it, except it has always scared the shit out of me.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I like real estate better. Some of you put your hands on. I think it's more fun.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Sopranos. It's free real estate. Even though people on the other side love touching a button and then it's done. Now I have it all. Whatever it says on the screen, I push a button and then I have it. I totally understand people are like, that's the only way I would want to do business. But

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I like real estate because I think it's a little like if I were to read all the materials and stocks and stuff and all the different options, I could read it all. I know that my full grasp of the understanding would be like, okay, so you now think like, I'm just do my own research. I don't need any help Schwab.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I just, I don't know that I've ever felt like truly comfortable going, Oh, I've read about all this thing. This technology makes sense. Like a lot of it feels like the winds can be common sense, but it's always common sense after the fact. at least with like different markets and real estate, I can go, this is a desirable place. I know what this house is.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I know because I've looked at this town so many different times or I know people that live here or whatever. So I just think that's an easier understanding, even if it's certainly not any kind of guarantee. I can't believe we're on this right now. Great job.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

The first 200 is where you fucking... That's the wax on, wax off phase in the movie.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Look, I love Chernow as much as any sports podcaster, probably in the country. I put myself, I'm a one seat of Ron Chernow fans. Okay. And I know when I dig in, I'm like, I've already read them all. I think Warbugs is the only one I haven't read. I'm like these first hundred, one eighty.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

tough sledding washington gets off to a burning start but he but you know like me these long-winded stories and answers i'm like i have to give you the prologue before i can give you the answer i'll get better one day i hope but no you won't i can't i don't want you to change yeah this is the best i can't the prologue is the best part i need to know what george was like as a rascalian

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I need to know what. And I think Chernow is the storyteller in the same case with Andrew Roberts and Napoleon. You've got to learn that Napoleon was an awkward, small dude, failed writer, maybe smelled, chicks didn't like him. No wonder he fucking ran a country and the world for a little bit there. What's more motivating than never having chicks like you?

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

He was. He's just tweeting away. B minus tweet, C plus stuff. Apparently, his writing sucked. Really?

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

All right.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Thunder over Boston.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

It would be seven. Thunder, get it at home.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Hank, what are your thoughts on that?

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Are you leaving tonight?

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Oh, you're out tonight?

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Is tonight the night? Yeah. Neil Young?

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You could do it if you wanted to. 10 a.m. Yeah, but I also... Perfect flight.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I can't imagine how hard you nap when you have kids.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

You know what the... It's got to be unbelievable. Yeah, and you turn your brain off.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

Do you ever wake up and go, I could see Hank's back there asleep. He might be in the night. He's on minute 90. I can't believe he was sleeping that whole time. Be honest. It doesn't mean you don't love your wife or your family, but do you ever have a moment where you're like, I don't want to go back?

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

This place can do it to you, but I think you guys have been here so many times, and I know we're wrapping up here.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And I love that you guys, I was like, those guys really like it. I'll check it out. But once you get, like, south of Poitras, all you have to do is, like, walk five minutes south of Canal. It's so cool. And you go, oh, this is why, like, these people that are, like, successful and, you know, Big Cat's known all these cats for a long time. And he's like, I got to introduce you to Russillo.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

And you see all these guys.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

No, I know. I mean, that was huge for me because I love chicken so much. But what I think is just so funny is like you'll meet all these people and then people think that New Orleans is only Canal Street and like bourbon. Yeah. And they go, dude, that place sucks. You're like, you know, there's other streets. There's other streets.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

I'm going to work my way south. Okay. All right. Which is uptown, ironically. I'm in.

Pardon My Take

NBA Preview With Ryen Russillo, USA Hockey Is The Best, NBA All Star Weekend + Who's Back Of The Week

All right. We'll see each other tonight.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I guess I just wonder why Phoenix would flip the unprotected 2031 for these other pieces without some inclination of what's possible for him before the deadline. Unless it was just, hey, we're all in now. Like when you have Durant, you're all in. So is Beal better than mid-level players? Yes. He's really low on what the actual acquisition cost is because he's in control.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Can I borrow your chips?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Because they have nothing and they're already all in with this group, I think the argument is that, well, what are we doing? We're going to hold on to assets in 2031. We have to find any possible way to upgrade this group because once you did the Durant trade, this is how you were operating.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I'd be fascinated to know what he would actually waive his no trade clause for. Because this is somebody who actually didn't go to Washington the entire time they lost. We kept waiting for that to happen. And then I remember hearing... He's probably just going to wait until he can get that five-year extension with them as the incumbent team. And he is okay with just kind of being there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And then I wonder if Beal goes, you think I'm upset about coming off the bench? You think I'm upset about taking 13 shots a game? Yeah. I like it here. I like Phoenix. My family likes Phoenix. Yeah, you can't. Yeah, yeah. You can't humiliate me. I'm good. I stayed with the Wizards for years on purpose.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

It's also a great name, just to interrupt quickly, because after last night, I was like, will he have a man in his top 10?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

this is a compliment, but imagine when he's good. Right. Imagine when he can shoot threes. Right. And I don't know if he's, he's going to be like somebody you're really worried about, but there are things that he's doing. Like he was even the last, and again, you're right. It wasn't just about last night against Boston.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You're looking at these rebounding numbers, but also, and I like it, even though it doesn't look great, like they're letting him get into kind of a pull-up jumper and it doesn't look very good, but, I like that they're allowing him or they would want him to make those mistakes because you're never going to develop any of that stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You're never going to become the best version of yourself, the most well-rounded. If you're afraid to do that stuff in game, like it's the old Ben Simmons thing where it's like cool videos, bro, but you don't do any of those things that you show us in practice. Cause you just, you've eliminated those from your arsenal because you're just not comfortable doing

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And I love to see young players, especially somebody who is raw as him. And when you did the draft work on him, you're like, man, he's such an insane athlete. And this is why people draft guys like this. And then they get mad being like, oh, they just drafted the athlete.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And you're like, yeah, but this is the version of the best case scenario of if this guy ever figures it out with his gifts and the fact that he's a 1% athlete, I want him making some of those mistakes. I want him...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

pulling up off the dribble and maybe taking an ugly jumper right now, because the only way it's ever going to get better is when he's confident enough to actually apply some of this stuff in game. So it was when you sent me the list this morning, it was the first name I was looking for because, because the question is how high should he be? Right. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

The other thing about this trademark, it is just a hit list of guys I'm not a huge fan of. It really is. It's the Rosillo All-Stars. So Jimmy's the only one, if I knew he was bought in, I'd go, okay, let's do this. And you can figure out where he fits in because as much as they need Van Vliet you worry a little bit about loading up on a small primary guy throughout the course of the playoffs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You know, Brooks is so important to them, especially what he does defensively. And then Jalen is kind of like an every other night guy. And I thought he had turned the corner. You're giving him that? Yeah, I know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Okay, that's fine. Because as great as we are, as much fun as a man is and what he could potentially be, I still have a hard time believing you're running something for him with the ball in his hands to get you the bucket weight. I don't know that he's there yet.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I like the Cavs. I didn't think they were going to get off to like a 73 win pace. Yeah, it's starting to fade a little bit finally.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

No, because I think any of these lists, like the first thing I did when I got it was like, don't go, I can't believe you did this. Because whenever you have to do these lists, like good luck. Like whenever, even though when I did the top 100 that I then threw away, so I wasn't able to submit it for ringer.com. Like I had such a hard time with 11 through 30.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, because I'd go like, do I really think this guy is like a top 20 player? And you go like, okay, we'll come up with the 20 names ahead of him. And that's the weird part of the league ranking stuff. And granted, this is different because of age and contract and all that kind of stuff. But the names start to add up pretty quickly. I think maybe Matherin, just because I've loved...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I've loved what he's been able to do in big spots offensively.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Would you rather have Kobe White or Matherin? I mean, on your list, you'd rather have Kobe White.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Maybe there's somebody we can bump. I like Tari better than some of the names that you have in the top 85. Well, wait, hold that thought, because I have to explain.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I can see like, hey, what is he? And that's kind of the stuff we're talking about here with Thompson where I tend to, I don't want to say overvalue because I don't think I'm wrong about it, but I'm going to value the guys with the ball in their hands that can get me multiple points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

like possessions like hey Cade like Cade Cunningham for me is somebody where you go hey fix this fix us right now yeah and clearly it's different with Detroit now that they've actually invested in spacing around him but we'll get to Cade when we get to him but like that's always going to be kind of like my default setting of can you get me a bucket or can you stop the other team from getting a bucket or really like it's that simple because that's where I still have some defense guys on this list that I'm like I really value the defense

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But I don't think it's a 50-50 split. It's not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You know I love percentages and splits. It might be 61-39 the more I think about it. See, what is wrong with you? It's early. 59-41? Giving us flat numbers like that? I was expecting like 63.5.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

This feels low, even if he hasn't been my favorite throughout all this. And I do wonder, too, when we were talking about the heat at the very top, what if Dame had gone there and it was the same situation with Butler? Because if Butler's not getting the contract, would Dame be going?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I just wonder if Dame at any point is going, this actually worked out better for me, despite the fact that Milwaukee, probably more based on health than anything, has been... when you bring in somebody like Dame to pair with Giannis with this. The Gordon one is tough, man, because Gordon with Denver is worth so much more to them than as soon as Gordon is away from Jokic.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

He's just not going to be the same kind of player.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

So when you label this second apron thing, which I think you're absolutely right about like Przingis and Drew, and you wonder like after this version of the Celtics, if there's a second apron, um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

transaction that happens there with boston depending on the season you mean in july you mean emphatically yes uh you mean next month don't you think gordon's a no because of basketball first and contract second if at all for yeah i don't i just think he plays too well with yokich and as long as as long as you have yokich you have a chance to win the title that contract's not prohibitive the murray contract's probably a little more problematic

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Levine should be behind him is my point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You're not wrong about that. I mean, the drop off from primary score to secondary like shot creation guy for Golden State is so significant. And that's why, you know, granted, yes, I love Steph, but when he has like bad games, they'll be this group. It's usually like LeBron weirdos.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You're like, oh, how come Steph never... I don't really love that content of somebody who's just done it the right way, has won multiple rings, first ballot, everything. It's like, can you guys shit on him for a couple weeks? You're like, you know what? I don't want to. And I'm not going to. He missed some shots. But what he is tasked with...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

to solve their problems offensively as the only guy, you know, other than the Schroeder acquisition. And I know like you could throw it right back in my face. Right, you could throw it right back in my face and be like, I thought you just started this podcast talking about you like bucket getters. And you're absolutely right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Like there's moments with Levine where he looks like the most offensively talented player on the court. But there are just too many plays as a seasoned Levine watcher. There are too many plays in there that I think everybody misses. Yeah. where you're like, what were you doing here? Who were you helping do this? Why didn't you get back on defense here? And they're constant. He's flawed.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

No, there's a lot with him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I could just do it. I know. I thought about doing a version of something on my podcast where it was going to be one name, one game, where I just watch one player the entire time, like that Julius Randall heat game, where I just go, you know, I'm going to rewatch this and just watch Randall And it was when you really focus in the guy that you're like, how come this guy always has numbers?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And how come his teams are never that good? And how come he's so skilled? What else is happening around this? And you go, well, that's not good. And that's not good. And I talk about this stuff all the time with certain players. And I think Levine's the epitome of that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But at least we know at the highest level he's delivered.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But there are some scorers, when I think about their playoff resume, I'm like, so you've been doing this how many years and there's nothing significant? There's not a moment for me to look at and like, look, I'm with you. There's there's stuff with Jalen Brown and this year, the shooting.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And but, you know, when when you're that young, like we've argued about Murray, when players who are like have had something really good in their past, have these like I even was stubborn about Kelvin Johnson. I'm like, is he just going to be terrible now? He's going to be terrible. And I feel like he turned the corner a little bit this season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Um, so even though the Jalen stuff, I would agree with you has been frustrating. At least we've seen that before. Like what, what are you throwing at me with Levine? You'd be like, remember, remember this series. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

They owe their pick this year, though, so they have to get into the lottery.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Eve's, I didn't expect this. I mean, he looks incredible. And he's so confident, too. There's no hesitation on him, his aggressiveness. I feel bad for the Pelicans front office. They're 12-35.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

They have done such a good job through the draft. Yeah. And they have just, you know, their main guys aren't healthy. So it's not a mystery.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I love Zoo. Okay. I think he fights his ass off all the time. There's some good rim protection stuff in there as well. I think he's a big part of why they win. I don't know if anybody will do this because I'm not going to do it, but I'd love to know the success rate of pocket passes because I think a few guys like did it a couple years ago. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And then everybody decided that when the big rolled and the two stayed with them, they were like, I'm going to do this sick look away bounce pass thing. and then it's going to hit somebody's feet or it's never going to work. I think the success rate on this pocket pass that every player is obsessed with off of two staying with them is so low.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But a lot of times, too, they're screwing the big by trying to even throw it to these guys. And Zoo, for the bigs that are out there, I'm like, I know what the play calls for and that you think this is the right move, but can the guy actually catch it? I'm a big Zoo fan, man. So I thought this was fine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Jalen Brown, unfortunately, throws a lot of these. Like, hey, do you see limbs in the way of the pass? Yeah. Well, then don't make it. It's like, no, dude. Two stayed with me. Have to throw the pocket pass every time. Zoo number 60. James Harden, number 59.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. I like to have an open mind about a lot of things, but I think deep down my core, I know I probably already know which direction I'm going, but he just wanted the contract that he's not getting. So what, I mean, unless there was a promise, I mean, everybody knows Harden's not my favorite guy, but

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

It feels like if Paolo's eight, Scotty Barnes shouldn't be 59 or 58. All right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Well, look, this is probably the wrong time to be ranking Scottie Barnes because it's getting worse. The efficiency stuff continues to decline over a four-year stretch. He's back under 30% from three. I think you always knew that he was a weird player, but in a good way because he could do so many different things.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But yeah, you know, back to like the primary scoring thing, like I don't think he was ever going to be like a Cade. And even though Paolo, like people would get on him with his efficiency stuff, especially last year, like that was the big Paolo Scottie Barnes argument last year. It's like, yeah, but are you watching the shots that Paolo is tasked with taking? Right. All these other guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Please factor that in. Right. Like watch and see how difficult some of the shots are for this dude, because he's he's left with the ball to bail them out of every one of these possessions. So I think if you did like a four year thing of Scotty and, you know, again, it's your list. So I don't want to sit here and go through 10 straight guys. I'm happy to go to.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

i kind of sided with harden on the end of the philly thing because why would he have taken the pay cut why would he have done everything he had done yeah and then it's like and i know philly's gonna say nothing was ever agreed upon you're totally wrong all right it's fine but he did something that didn't really make a ton of sense at the time to allow flexibility then he didn't get a deal so in that one i was like well

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but the thing is, I think his playmaking is actually pretty good. But it's just, we talked about Toronto this summer. It's like, look at who they're paying. Look how much they're paying all these guys. And there's nights where I like R.J. Barrett. But it feels like everybody's a slot up too high on a priority list for a basketball team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

If you were Lawrence Frank in Toronto called and offered Scottie Barnes for Norm Powell, you're not saying no.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Do you think Miami would say no to Scottie Barnes for Tyler Hero? I do. Really?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

My fear is that because the numbers are down the way that they are and... You know what? Even if we didn't like Toronto, which we both didn't like Toronto this summer, and the record bears that, but you're right. There are some nights with them Or I'll go, oh, RJ's having a big night. And be like, oh, this is why they wanted Purtle back.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But they've also had a really disjointed... They haven't had much consistency for long stretches this season of having a bunch of guys be available, too. Do you think the Celtics would trade Derek White for Scotty Burns? If Ainge were there, yeah. Because Ainge would just go, give me the potential talent ceiling. But you're taking on like 15 million extra a year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, well, then now we're talking second. Now you're second.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that's a different trade. See, I don't think there's any way. Here's whenever we're doing this exercise, right? Yeah. If right now is like the only time in the last couple of years that we would say Miami would turn down Scotty Barnes for Tyler Hero, is that when we're making a mistake?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Even though I'm not definitive either way, I can understand him being upset with this one. I mean, have you heard anything that you believe? That's probably the important second part. Have you heard anything that you believe that would let you think that Miami would have been in a hurry to extend somebody like Butler, who's 35 and misses a lot of games?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You want to run the numbers on it. It just, I was like, man. And maybe it's because I've been so used to the Paolo-Scotty argument. Like they're 50 slots apart on this one. And it's not like I want Scotty over Paolo, but...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Well, it wasn't very good this summer. And there was, there was a big piece on the athletic that spoke directly to that. And I know that like, as two guys that have caught the brunt of shit from Atlanta, I wouldn't even just say it's fans. It's like media members. It was like, Trey was their guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And then you're like, okay, did you see this piece where they basically said we need to be completely different with you? Yeah, that should matter. Right. And so you've seen it. You've seen it this year. You know, whether it's DeAndre being better in his role and Jalen taking on such a huge part of the offense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Like, I think it was a little alarming that it took this many years for them to say, hey, Trey, you know what would be really cool is when you have the ball, throw it up ahead to see if there's an opportunity to attack. Like, kind of like... Yeah, use your teammates. You got four of them. You can use them at any time. It's not just in the half court.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

That line, you can give them the ball before you cross that line. No shit. And so, look, all that stuff was in there. And they were like, they need to reevaluate what this is. I mean, it's not like he's taken 12 shots a game as opposed to 20. He's only down like a couple shots there. The assist numbers are huge. There's also another piece. Like, I'm sorry that I'm just...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

reading it and I was sort of just laughing as I read all these quotes. It was like, you know, I don't need to just hang on to the basketball and wait for the assist play. I can pass it to someone else who then can move the ball around a little bit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Right. So, um, I, you know, we both sneaky liked this roster for a while and I like it even more. I guess I'll never understand the Okongu thing of like, why every time I would watch it'd be like, so Clint's still the better player. option there. And then they made that change. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I don't, but I wasn't mad about it. I didn't go, this is outrageous. He doesn't play basketball. No. And I remember like last year when it was, I think it was, we already talked about it when we did the Denver show and I mentioned the Zach Lowe part of it. I wasn't being critical of Zach, but it was just this accepted thing because of who beat it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I think it was four.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Don't send a DocuSign. I'll drive to you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I... I don't know what his value is, man. I just don't know that I'd want to be in business because why is it supposed to get better? And for all the shit that he's taken right now from missing games and the Denver history he's brought back up, I'd ask the people that are mad at him for not, did you watch when he was playing? And like, you can come at me with a box score and all that stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

The guy doesn't move. Just go watch the Golden State game if you're wondering why. And he got his numbers. And he got his numbers, so you'll say, oh no, what are you guys talking about? No, watch the Golden State game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

If he's going to move that badly, my point is I don't even blame him for not playing. He was clearly marginalized when he was out there, and now people are mad that he's not playing anymore. And I kind of look at that stretch of going, well, if that's how bad it was going to look, then he actually needs to.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

As frustrating as it is for everybody, he needs to be missing games to not look like that anymore because that's not going to work either.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I don't know why.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I don't even know how you would project to be like, yeah, no, it'll just be fine. The Olympics thing was clearly a huge priority to him. And I think part of it was you're not going to win a title, like, you know, win a gold. And, you know, he's had some big moments for him. But for somebody who just doesn't ever seem to be right, like, was that the best use of your time?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I'm a little worried because it kind of gets back to that thing of like, well, if you've shown us some really high level stuff, then I expect that you're going to get back to it a little bit. And he's 28. I would say there's some Keontae George possessions where everybody else is watching that I don't love. And then Sexton is talented enough to get his.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

So now do they have like all these other dudes? And hell, when they bring in Sensabaugh, there's just a lot of guys that are like, it's go time. And is Lowry collateral because it feels like there's less opportunities for him to initiate? Or is that something that people have figured out with him?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I still think that there is value for him. But I think it's a fair point in that last year it didn't matter. Whatever to the last dollar we can pay this guy is what he deserves and what he would get paid. And everybody else would be happy to give him that in a free agent world. And this season maybe makes you think of him as more expensive.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

No, I don't think it's because here's an example that I would use. Like when we went back and looked at like Kaminga, right? You had Kaminga 83 and you had toughest omission, Tara Eason. I would look at like, okay, I've seen the ups and downs of the Kaminga thing for multiple seasons.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

So the idea that it's just going to turn this corner into something like really steady and that he could be a number two scoring option on an okay team. For $30 million a year? Yeah, that's now starting to feel like a bit of a reach with Kaminga. Where with Tari Eason, even though it's raw or whatever, like, He's out there just wreaking havoc on basketball games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And because I haven't really gotten to see the full-form version of Tara Eason, he would still be more valuable to me just based on the unknown. And then we know this game enough that the unknown always trumps the known. And that's why Castle is a hang-up. Even if it's not...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

like the best you know because whenever we see somebody young that's just good like what if you can do this what if you can do this i don't know if he's ever going to be able to shoot it consistently but i do know this the guy is what two years removed from high school and he goes at like 30 year old dudes like they stole from him he looks to kill guys so

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

That mentality and all of that, like having a dude out there that is completely unafraid this early. Like there's plenty of young guys you're like, okay, he's just uncomfortable and he needs to kind of get through this. There's none of that with him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

So even if the full arsenal of like all the offensive polish of even a guy like Vassell, I have no problem with him being this high because teams don't trade guys like that. I agree.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

No, I'm pretty sure I went over because it was such a massive jump.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I went under.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I think we would have seen this earlier from him, too. One, with health and just more opportunity.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

yeah it's starting to feel undeniable with him yeah now i i kind of just don't want some of these guys to get in his way because i think there's an awesome version of him that's just waiting to happen here and i i love him so if we ran a team we'd be calling griffin every 48 hours you're like i don't know maybe too many guys what about murphy josh hart i was shocked

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I might hang up on you and end the pod right now for having Bam in a group with Zion and LaMelo.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

It was the weird fan base.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I agree that I think there's a second team market for him just based on history. This is like Darko and Orlando giving up a lottery pick for him. It's like, well, this guy went really high. Do you remember this? I do, but wow, I didn't know it was that bad. No, it isn't because Zion's done more than Darko ever did.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

that's a better one based on production because like the Zion thing was, was really good last year. And it's kind of like a little bit like the Embiid thing in that you go, well, if the market is this bad for this guy that I know I probably shouldn't be in business with, I'm still not going to trade him now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And then I think on the other side of it, not that this lasted very long, but the idea that because of the contract, like would they waive him and you go, no, no, no, wait a minute, wait a minute. There's a market. There's still a market based on like the second team going, like if it were Pierce and Antoine Walker, uh, you would be calling in to EEI being like, we should get Zion.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

That's the kind of structure of a team where you go, they don't really have that much hope and I'm going to be excited and it's going to be cool to have Zion in my favorite team's uniform.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Okay, but in a vacuum, like if you were running a team and let's... I wouldn't trade for them. Okay, but if somebody said you have to have one, like your owner calls, hey, I just bought the team. It's... It's Bezos. Bezos is like, we need to make a statement here early, Bill. Finally going to give you GM job. We're also going to have like behind the scenes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You think, you think hard knocks is all access. Yeah. We're going to be, we're going to be waking up with you. Okay. Right. 24 hour. Running a team. 24 hour VR. Right. So you need to trade for one of the two, LaMelo or Zion.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

which isn't even a great bet i thought the all-star voting thing was really interesting and then when i went to look at how it was happening when you sorted his position for available people to vote on he's the first option because he was leading everybody in scoring so i was like i wonder if that would happen i got to give tim mcmahon credit on this one because he was on with wind horse and bontemps and he was like well his style of play has been in preparation of the all-star game

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So he's a perfect fit. If he's named a starter, he ended up not being a starter. He should have been a starter based on what Mitchell Garland Brunson and all these guys have done. I think between the two, here's, here's the issue. Wasn't just the BAM issue. I think that Zion and LaMelo should be behind group G. I think they should just be behind it because if somebody offered LeBron,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You might be right about that. And I think there's there's a bunch of different things there that I like. I've never been special enough to compare myself with Jimmy Butler. Right. Like I and I'm not I'm not saying this because whatever our dynamic is, but your career, like I think at times you have been special enough to probably get away with it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Right. Because, I mean, even though you can't trade Trey Murphy for Zion, if Trey Murphy were offered for Zion, the team says, yeah, we'll turn the page on this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Okay. SEP and Rosella, she'll put me to sleep. That was such a sad day in my career. I was in the car driving home. Listen to Mad Dog. He said that? Yeah, he said it on the air. Mad Dog shit on Van Pelt and I. And I was like, I would leave ESPN right at four. I'd be driving to the gym. I would listen to a little Gottlieb. I'd check out what the dog was doing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And Dog was like, that's my favorite show. Let me just sleep. There's no energy on that show. And I was just like, fuck. I was going to do another Eagles rejoin from Scottsdale. I was pissed.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But, you know, if the rant were offered to the Pacers or Halliburton, would they just go, yep, no problem, and we'll just have Nembhard initiate everything?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

easy to ramp may just not be into it later on. All right. That's fine. I love, I love this group. Cause I think this is where it really starts getting hard. This is where all the years, all the tape for you, bill is showing up because Kyrie, this is maybe the highest he's been in a long time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Mic'd up. Just leadership pouring into your ears.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Right? Well, yeah, I think we're coming up on, what, two years of him being trained.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

It would be a good 30 for 30. You know, the Jalen thing for Durant, you think Boston says no?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

It just feels low for Jalen. And I think because of this year, he's getting dinged too much. So you put him in the 20s? Yeah, but I like the group that he's in because Sabonis is incredibly, like the stats with him every single time. I don't even know that I blame the guy from Turkey for voting him for MVP. Um, I know he wasn't from Greece or something like that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Like he might've just pulled up and gone like, look at this plus minus shit. Like, are you kidding? Like that has to be the MVP. 15 rebounds a game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Okay, but we were doing it before. So what was the Jalen deal? Five years what?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Well, right. When the first quote came out, when this thing first got picked up, it was like Jimmy hasn't even started yet, which I was like, yeah, because we know the deal. You know, I think a lot of this stuff is like personal equity where like Tim Duncan ever had a problem with anything. I think we'd all immediately take Tim Duncan's side. I guess you just go, whoa, like.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Because we were talking OG and Anobi. We didn't really get into it. There's part of me that will always think like you had to pay OG Ananobi five years to 12 fully guaranteed and give him a player option on the last year. And statistically, there's some stuff with him. You're like, how does but when you watch him, you appreciate him a little bit more.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Certainly when he's been more available, which I think has been a fair knock on him in the past there. But you're right. It's still 75 million light of what you're paying Jalen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

That's alarming for anybody. Right, but the cap's going to go up at 65 million. As crazy as that number is, it's 65 million for him at 32. He's going to age well. And at that point, it's under 32% of the actual cap hit. I hope he ages well. I don't like the fact that he's fucking jacked.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

He was a small forward. Is Kevin Willis first team all-time? Oh, yeah. Looks like he could play right now. That's always the Fred Lynn thing when he stops by Nesson once a year. It's mandatory. It's mandatory that anybody that ages well, he can be 104 and be like, that guy probably gets you six innings right now. Right. You just have to make him be skinny. It's just if you're skinny, they say it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Towns has been great for them. Completely won the trade. Still going to be a little bit worried about what the defensive alignment stuff might be. But when they're rolling offensively, it's just an awesome one through five.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Nope. I don't think when, you know, as we get to the rest of the list that I've seen here, so there was nothing. I mean, I always could pick at anything. I guess I'm just kind of wondering, like, what is Ja right now?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Tim Duncan's upset about something. And with Butler, even though I think there's a, there's a version of the Chicago events where I would understand him. I thought the Wiggins towns thing at the time was funny. Cause I don't think he was wrong. Philadelphia decided to go with the young guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Really? He's missed 19 games this year. He played nine games last year. And we know last year was a mess for a bunch of different things.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

He's definitely a... Because Memphis is on whatever priority. Like it's easily a top 10 team for me now because I just am like falling in love with Jaron Jackson in a new way. Like I always appreciated him. But now like this year I get like excited to kind of see like I wonder how they're going to use him I love Jaron Jackson. So there you go. And you're right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Like there's nights where I go, oh, like, shit, Jaws and playing again tonight. And so when you look at his style of play, and I know he's talked about, like, I'm just not going to be doing the same type of stuff that he's in the second year of a five year deal for one hundred and ninety seven point two million. But it is that two major incidents.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

This is a lot like some of these other guys that we talk about, whether it's Trey's value to Atlanta specifically, LaMelo's value to Charlotte, New Orleans going, look, if Zion's not worth anything on the trade market, we might as well just ride this out again and see that if he's healthy because the best version of him, we can be a team that, I don't know if dangerous is the wrong word here, but you understand at least a path of if we have all of our guys and...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

we can get frustrated, we can get impatient, but so many of these teams just kind of default to patience that Ja's probably a hang-up on almost 90%. There's probably a few guys ahead of him that are hang-ups, but I also can see people making an argument that at 23, he's too high because of availability.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, and Maxie has missed a little time this year, but those are the two that I put next to each other. The contract's the same. Maxie's only on the first year, but it's five years 204, like I said, versus five years 197. Maxie played 60 games last year, 70 games the year before that. He's played 37 of 44 this year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

So every exit, there's some drama, but with this, there's another part of this that is just the reality of what's happening. This new CBA, when we first talked about it, you're like, man, this kind of looks like a hard cap. Yeah. This looks like there's really limited flexibility. I think another motivation behind some of this was that, hey, guess what?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

His shooting numbers are down, but really that to me is a product of him going, okay, Embiid's out, and I'm just going to force the issue, and he's taking a million shots. He's taking more bad shots than he normally would. So I don't look at his declining shooting this year as this alarming thing. I think it was just the shot difficulty.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I mean, I could ding you because of the hand surgery, but based on everything you've read about it is that it's pretty straightforward.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Seth is probably third.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

When he when he had the opportunity to talk about the trade market, he did the exact opposite, did the exact opposite. Bobby Marks brought it up when we had him on not that long ago. And it's like, this is what you want. This is what you want in the face of your franchise.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

This is the person that looks at kind of this lifetime professional relationship of like, hey, what's the best way for me to handle this versus the worst way? And the worst way would be like Anthony Davis clearly did it because he learned it from watching LeBron.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

We need a big man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I just don't think, I just think it's a ridiculous way to like operate as if the front office is sitting around and be like, Hey, do you guys want to be worse or better? Like, I don't know. What about you? Like, what do you want to do today? Ah, I don't know. Let's get lunch and then we'll think about it. And then it's like, Oh no. the player said he wants us to get better. All right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

If you have a four year extension about to kick in and you want to ask for a trade and you want to ask for a trade to like one team that's already pretty good. We're going to set up something that not only curbs spending, which is the primary motivation behind this, but we're also going to make it really hard for you guys to decide like, sorry, I'm just out of here now and you have to do this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Well, that, that does it. Yeah. Let's get fine. We weren't, we weren't going to do it. We actually wanted to be average, but now, and usually that means you're forcing the front office.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

If you have leverage, if you have an upcoming contract, you have all these different things, you're probably forcing the front office and ownership into doing something they don't think is the best thing to do long-term. And, you know, LeBron's never care about any of the draft picks anyway. So I think Davis is just basically saying the same stuff as him. So yeah, there are no lines thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

There's there's I don't know, you know, nothing's impossible, but I don't know if that day is ever going to come.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I just think he should be up, man. I'm a huge Booker fan, and I think it's been a bit like some of the stuff that we've seen. I think there's certain guys from an efficiency standpoint, we just talked about it with Maxie, where I can handle the efficiency being dinged a little when I feel like you are tasked with having to get your team out of so many bad possessions.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And when I watch them, I think he's still... he's still the guy I trust the most on that team. So if that, I mean, let's run through it. Like, you think of Jalen Williams? Well, the Jalen Williams contract thing with OKC, I'm going to lose because of the flexibility and all that kind of stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, the contract, I can't win it. I'd rather have Booker just as a basketball player. I'd rather have Booker playing next to SGA right now than Jalen Williams. I don't even know how anybody would debate that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, when you look at who, they'll either attack, the other team will attack Wallace if it's a size thing, or they'll go at SGA because it's like the best of the options, you know, so you can avoid Dort or Caruso or even Wiggins, who I think is one of my favorite like underrated players in the entire league. I like them too. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And I think that a lot of star players, it's becoming a wake-up call. And when you're 35 and you miss a lot of games and your personal history is that it ends up in some sort of bullshit thing that's a distraction for the basketball team. Like, no kidding, there's not a great market for them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I would trade him for Booker. You would? I would. I think this is where... I mean, we raved about him at the beginning, so I don't think anybody's going to, but he's 19% from three first career. Kawhi was 38% his rookie year. I think he was 38% his second year too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I look at Booker as a top 10 bucket getter, and we've seen it in the playoffs. We've seen it deeper in the playoffs. He's 28 years old, and he's a motherfucker in the best possible way. And not in a way that distracts him from the task at hand of the game, but I don't think he's afraid of anybody.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I think when his, his level of like shot creation and scoring in huge moments is there's not 10 players in the league that are better than him at that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Right. But it's kind of the weight of like, how often would we have ever said no to Booker for Amin Thompson? And it's like every day except for the last 12.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

To carry this offense, um, back to the first part of this, to be able to do this, I still would like to know over under, if I said it at five and a half number of games, Monte Williams is watching the post Pistons taking the over the under, uh, way under, uh,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You don't think he's watched six Pistons games? Just out of curiosity, you don't think he's checked in twice a month?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You would say no. Let's see. This becomes a Cavs thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I know the shooting number wasn't great. It's the only dude that I've seen be like, to your point, fuck him. Yeah, it's like, fuck them. I mean, I haven't seen that since Scoot in that international game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I don't know. Come on. They'd come over to my house and be like, is he sleeping? Uh...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I'm glad. I was afraid. I was afraid you were going to do Jaron Jackson in the 20s because you get in his case with the foul trouble and the rebounding.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

When you think about what he can do offensively and the different ways that you can use him, I've never been as big a fan of him as I am right now. I voted him as an all-star starter, and I know that wasn't popular. Did you? No way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Well, very few media members agreed with me, but there was still like when the votes came out, I was like, am I going to be the only one that did this? And I think there were seven of us.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I was that on the fence. You know, we're all impressionable to a point too. And it just, I caught more and more of him during this. And then you back up and you look at the numbers and then you think about what he does defensively and all these different things. And I was like, I think it's close enough. And, um, you know, standings isn't necessarily my tiebreaker.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And I think that'll not be a tiebreaker when it comes to the MVP vote. If we stay on the same path, uh, and i you know i think i i think that durant like the default and lebron and all that kind of stuff like hey it's the all-star game it's about the stars and that's who fans want to see like i i wouldn't get mad about anybody doing that if it's close right yeah if it's close

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

It's yeah, it's minus 4.6.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I don't know why they'd want to be in the Jimmy Butler business. I can't dispute the fact of whatever the trade market was for him versus now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Super impressed with them in person when they house the Celtics. I know people can point to the Celtics, what was it, five and seven? But I just hate how everybody just throws. Anytime any team loses, you're just like, oh, back to back, oh, look at this stretch. And I understand it, but the Lakers control that game from the jump. And it's very clear.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I thought they were really physical in a way that, was, was like inspiring. And not that I went outside and started, you know, fighting people, but I, that would've been awesome. Was well, I wasn't that upset. I wanted to get home and get something to eat cuz it was late.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But I think D'Angelo Russell just being removed from all of the possibilities and all the possessions and all the stuff that he does that may not show up like, oh, look at the shooting numbers. Like, oh, look at this. And he has a better net rating than LeBron, all these different things. It's like, yeah, man. It just there's just times where, you know, like, what the hell is he doing right now?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

it's it's diminished because you're like here we go again and it's all fresh and when it's actually happening and then you have to sit in their front office and your ownership and your coaches and go like like i like the memphis basketball part of it but then when you hear the quote being like don't send him to memphis like anywhere but memphis right so if you're

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And so their best spacing closing group was their worst defensive perimeter group. Yeah, they were kind of stuck. And I think removing that removes some of the stuff with them being stuck. And I, you know, it's weird with them because I kind of like them. But I also think like the standard is that when they're not a true title contender, they get so dismissed.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And then we're just like, oh, they stink. It's like they don't they don't stink. Like there's seven guys there that I kind of like. But then I have to think about who am I picking them against in the playoffs in the first round? And that becomes more challenging.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

The other hope is that LeBron defensively is going to be a different version of himself in the playoffs. Yeah, I mean, it's terrible right now, and it has been.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I mean, there's just so many moments you can look at and be like, well, if he has to move, it'll be times where he'll help to where the help doesn't need to be there, but at least it looks like he's defending somebody, and it's like, okay, but now you just messed up the entire rotation of the stuff, and I get it. He's 40 years old, and that's why there was that weird stretch

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

like 10 games in or something where they were winning games and he was playing out of his mind and his intensity. I was like, what, what is this? Like, are you going to try to keep up this kind of pace? Like this doesn't make any sense. So that actually is a positive in that. I wonder why,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

You gear it up, you have a little bit more of a break during the playoffs if you can see a more engaged version of him where defensively he's just trying to survive the season, play as many games as he can, help them be kind of a mid-seed team in the West.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I still think some of their best offensive possessions is when he's initiating it because it would make sense because he's so smart and he's still so good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

memphis and you're like hey we're pretty good we're not great but we're pretty good so yeah he raises our top five ceiling which i think a lot of teams just do like hey if these are the five guys are rolling out there to close the playoff game this is better than the five we have right now it makes sense but if you're like what if he opts in at 50 million and then he's 36 and we don't give him an extension so even though i there's not there's only one team right there's well you have to be desperate to do this

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

In the passing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Think about it, though. How much easier is to move when you know where you're moving as opposed to having to move in relationship to the other person moving where you have no idea where they're going. So when he knows everything that he's doing, it's still incredibly impressive. And so that window of when he played that hard,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Even though I was like, man, this dude is like, it was a bunch of games in a row. I was like, he's really going for it. I wonder if that's actually something to look at. We were like, okay, well, at least that had happened at some point this season, even from that time on. Yeah, I guess it's been a little bit better lately, but there was a stretch. We'll see.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I don't think so. Okay, good. And it's that stretch. It's that stretch last year. I think he's another guy that you have to factor in who was available around him. Orlando, statistically, so bad offensively. And it also speaks to losing Franz for that long on top of losing Paolo. Yeah. So I think there's a lot of people that could try to throw it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And he's had some dud of games, you know, some of the shooting numbers since he's come back.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

What I love about him is that I know he can fill it up, but he also wants everybody to be involved. And that's why I loved him at Duke. It's why I've always argued for him is that, you know, the difference between Jalen Green can't see the way Paolo sees the game. And that's why I'm a Paolo fan.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but it was going to happen in the Olympics leading up to it. After his run through the playoffs, he was like, I'm the number one option. It's like, or. Yeah. Or you're going to be watching.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Giannis is better. Stop. Sorry. You're going to be so happy right now. Giannis is better than Tatum. Tatum is the better value.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

No. Giannis turned 30 in December. Tatum... Oh, shit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Tatum turns 27 in March. I didn't factor that in. So when you sent that, I was thinking maybe you were doing that on purpose because people were going to give you shit for the Tatum part of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Listen, even the great ones make mistakes. There's not been a day where I thought Tatum was better than Giannis. No, you're getting four extra years. And I'll tell you, Tatum this year, man... I think he's incredible. Couldn't agree more. The numbers may not scream it at you if you're not paying attention. but to see what he is doing to some of these defenses and what they're trying to do to him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And like Houston last night, the entire thing was Blitzen, double him, and he was still turning the corner on some of these traps. And it wasn't like he was scoring every single time, but there's not something that just goes, oh, wow, look at this jump, look at the shooting number, look at the scoring, because the shooting for the team is down, which is another part of the Celtics thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

This is the best Tatum's ever played. I've never, you know, much like I was talking about with Jaron Jackson, like this is the best I've ever felt about Tatum and the fact the age thing here is I think he actually should be ranked ahead of Giannis.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

No, that's fine. Although there's an availability thing going on there where it's not. That's why he dropped.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

So he's number one. They're like, no, we were calling about a three-way with Krejci.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Okay. I... I don't know where this Jokic thing is going to end up all time because like this... This stretch is...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

like so ridiculous and that's why when we were in denver i meant this like i hope he gets another one so that the simpletons are allowed to accept him into a higher tier and i know that sounds like shitty for me to say but i just get so tired of like when i look at how people rank stuff like do you really want to be this simple you just want to count stuff Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Like that's all it ever is to you is that this guy was good because of this and this guy was bad because of that. Then what's the point of watching any of this stuff? Having a lot with college football, I thought this year too. And I really hope like Jokic gets the one that allows him to be talked about in the way that he deserves to be talked about because of what this stretch is.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Westbrook, Westbrook. I was thinking about this the other day and I don't know if this is going to work, but like Westbrook's your buddy from home that just, you know, has it dialed in and everybody knows the routine. You know, the girls probably maybe liked him when he was in high school or whatever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But then if you bring him to like LA and you've been living in LA for a few years and you should be like, Hey, look, dude, just so you know, like, It's going to be a little harder out here. Yeah. And they're going to be competing with like different dudes. And like, it's up to you to accept the fact that like, you're not going to get into some places and people are going to big time you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And that if you recognize a guy from a TV show and you tell him that you're a big fan, he's not going to talk to you and he's going to walk away. And like, they're just going to smell the non LA on you and you'll have to adjust. And some people leave and never come back because they hated their experience. And I think Westbrook showed up to Denver being like, I do get it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Like I do, my hometown stuff might not work. I find Westbrook in this run funny because he can be almost too deferential where he'll like want to get it back to Jokic in a spot where it's not even like a great catch for Jokic because Westbrook doesn't want to do all the things that he's been criticized for doing in the past. Now, I still think

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

there's a version of this with the spacing with Gordon and Westbrook to close like a playoff game. Like, yeah, I'm allowing like, is that actually going to happen? But they needed him. They needed him. He was cheap. He was, and he's giving them like value minutes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Westbrook's really appreciated, though. He's appreciated more by players than he is by those of us that don't play. Because I think they look at what he did at his peak, and there is a respect for him that we probably don't understand as much. But you also realize with Westbrook, which version are we getting? Because the L.A. thing with the Lakers was a disaster.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And I think he resented so much of the dynamic there, which I can even see his...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

true but i mean it's not like he like his style of play was going to lead to oh this doesn't work like once again the players expect to be gms or sometimes i'm like do you not watch league pass like how do you not understand like how this is going to clog up some of the things that you'll want to do like but it doesn't explain the clippers thing last year how bad he was no because when it seemed like his career was over right the dallas playoff series when he decided to like prioritize just

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

being pissed off at everybody and taking himself out. Huge spots where you're like, what are you doing right now? He's a pissed off maniac. Yeah, right. You're getting us any buckets or anything? No. So now we can't even trust you to be out there. So you would think that it'd be easy for somebody to go, hey, look, all you have to do with Jokic is just cut, man. Be ready and cut.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And when you think he doesn't see you, he actually still sees you. So just cut.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And Yoko finds him every time. I still will worry, though, because there's times where you can see, like in a game, or if he has like an open look from three in the corner. And I know the corner numbers are really good, right? But... if he clanks it in a big spot, like the next time he may get that catch in the same look, you can see him just not want to, I've seen that happen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

So I don't know if there's numbers that would tell me that it's, it's true, not true, but I've seen him where it's just clear as day. Okay. He doesn't want to pull the trigger on this. And I don't know if it's like, hey, I just bricked the last one and this is a big spot. I don't know if it's him being deferential of like, hey, let me get it back to Jokic.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I wonder with the Jokic-Murray two-man game in a playoff series when you have Gordon where you have that spacing decision that Minnesota always messes with where it's like, hey, put Rudy on Gordon because that way Rudy can freelance off of him. That gives Nas the Jokic matchup that Cat did so well with last year. Can you run the two-man game if Gordon and Westbrook are both on the other side?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And are you going to start dealing with some real spacing issues?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

That's the only thing that when I watch it, I go, I wonder what that'll look like then. But up until this point, it's been, to your point, for a team that we were like, where's the depth? Just his energy and even like a diminished version of Westbrook athletically when he starts going and he realizes he's going to get the ball back because Jokic is just that good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, it motivates you to be be like involved in all of this stuff. Like, hey, if I keep cutting, I get just all these easy baskets because I'm still so much quicker, even though it's later in his career.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, Wednesday and then a loaded football show on Friday.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I just would be scared to death if I'm Dunleavy and I'm Lakoff and I'm going, okay, so we bring him in. Everything you said made sense, but his agent's like, okay, so what do you think about tacking on those two years for him? It's a no. And so if it's a no.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

If he was 32, he doesn't play enough for me. It's a no. And you're right about the basketball part of it, whether it's them, whether it's Memphis, because it does raise your student. But if I have to sit there and be honest with the people that are in charge of my employment, right, if you're working on the front office side of this, answering to your owner.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

And going, yeah, let's just trust that it's going to work out with his track record. I wouldn't feel good about saying yes to that. I would just go like, look, it'd be one thing if he was younger and you go, hey, maybe the West isn't and it isn't as deep or doesn't feel as deep halfway through the season as we thought it would be this summer. OKC still looks like a monster.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I mean, we can run through every team and I could tell you concerns I have about all the contenders, but. It would have to be more of like a guarantee of what's possible. And even adding him doesn't like, what does it actually guarantee about what Golden State can do in the playoffs?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Let me throw something at you here, because you mentioned it with the Riley thing, and they felt really betrayed by Riley being upset when Butler was basically like, if I was playing, we'd beat Boston, we'd beat the Knicks. By the way, they weren't beating that Boston team last year or last playoffs with Butler. No chance. So it was kind of a crazy thing. And then I think about Riley's age.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

He's the same age as my dad. I'm like, imagine if my dad had to do a press conference about a player. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

I went to go see Gillis and Bill Burr last night for the fire benefit. And Gillis had this whole routine of like, you know, Biden didn't really get enough credit. Like imagine, imagine if you had someone in your family who was 84, who had to like go out there and speak to the world. It actually could have been that much worse.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Now look, Riley, at no point do I think like what's going on with this guy. But he deserves like Riley's done enough in his basketball life to have this stance. And then when I think about like how other teams operate, everybody operates in absolute fear where they have to when their best player goes off, they have to find some way through PR to craft some way that they're supportive.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

But it's like, so what, so what happened? What if Riley had said nothing? The bottom line is that they didn't give him the contract extension. They probably be in the exact same place. So like, you can tell me that it was insulting or that that was the thing that I don't, when he didn't get the extension, when he felt like he was owed this, like why?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 NBA Trade Value List With Ryen Russillo

Cause you went to the finals two years ago, which was like really fluky. And what five years ago last year, which is, and he doesn't play, he doesn't play enough. And look, when he was playing this year, You could see, you're like, what's going on with him? Before this even got publicly bad, and it's like, so you want the extension, but you're going to mail it in for stretches?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Is Tatum a more athletic Jokic?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but no one has ever... Look, Tatum, I think, is actually underrated at this point. But don't worry, don't worry, don't worry. Wow. He's never once and never will be considered the best player in the world.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

We knew the ring count thing, but even if Curry was winning MVPs and I thought he had better seasons... Somebody at a sports bar could make a Curry case.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Shouldn't be.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Längere Runde, diese Pistons-Finale.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

As much as I'm in love with the Jokic part of it, there's a health element to the Giannis discussion. How he'll age. The playoffs the last couple of years were tough.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Can we hear the 8 and see who he's hypothetically in range with?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Aber das zählt.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Alle anderen Jungs haben Ringe gewonnen. Besonders wenn du diese Liste zusammenfasst. Ich meine, Moses hat nur die eine. Hakeem hat die zwei. Shaq hat drei oder vier. Richtig. Er hat die vierte.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ja, aber die West-Eine, wenn du die Celtics jedes Jahr in den Finals verlierst. Ich denke fast, wir sollten es nur drei für ihn runden. Ja. Wenn Jokic, wenn es alles fertig ist, wenn er auf dieser Stufe bleibt, wie, sagen wir, noch vier Jahre, weißt du, als MVP. Ich denke, die Simpletons werden nur die Ringe zählen und sagen, du kannst ihn vor all diesen Leuten nicht vornehmen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Aber von dem, dass ein Spiel an diesem Niveau beeinflusst wird, und wiederum, du weißt, wir versuchen viel in den nächsten paar Jahren, aber der Typ bleibt gesund. Es ist nicht so, als wäre er dieser wirbelnde Kerl, der all diese Muskelpulver hat, immer, richtig?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Nicht so gut, wie du es tust.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Was auch immer er tut, ist in Ordnung. Manchmal denke ich, dass die Jungs, es ist wie das alte Quarterback-Ding, wo Dilfer mir gesagt hat, dass ich 20 Kilo über dem Gewicht kommen wollte. Er hat gesagt, dass ich ein kleines Spare-Tier da unten wollte, damit ich, als ich abgelaufen bin, zumindest etwas hatte, um den Schaden zu nehmen. Ich meine, das ist nicht unbedingt so, wie das ist.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und Beat macht das auch, glaube ich. Und Bean hat es versucht. Er ist so, das ist verrückt. Weißt du, die nächsten fünf Jungs, wenn du acht oder was auch immer hast, ist es nur ein Spieler. Ich weiß nicht. Ich meine, es ist schwer für mich, jemanden über Duncan zu setzen, nur weil er so perfekt war und so bestätigt war und so lange es ging.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Aber der Fakt, dass ich sogar empfehle, dass es möglich ist, ist der Wunsch, wie es heute ist.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich liebe Moses. Und Shaq. Aber Jokic ist zumindest schwimmend. Ich glaube nicht, dass ich Shaq genug genutzt habe, aber ich war auch wie ein Scheiß-Kind und er war auf den Lakers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und dann hat Dwight versucht, alles zu machen, und wir waren so, okay, du bist definitiv der Dick. Ja, du warst der Dick. Ich vertrete eigentlich Shaq viel mehr jetzt, als ich glaube, ich habe es gemacht. Und das könnte nur ein Boston-Weirdo sein, das einige von uns auswachsen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ja, also wir erwarten, dass wir beide Jokic haben wollen, um den zweiten Ring zu bekommen. Also... As long as it's not at the expense of the Celtics.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, because like the Curry fourth ring for me was such a big deal. And him too. But in that order. I felt like it just changed. I don't even know that that many people hate Curry. I mean, if you want to find hate, it's pretty easy to find right now. But Mit Curry hat es sich verändert. Ich denke, es hat sich verändert, wie er gespielt hat.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

All right, so bias. Give me another bias. Let's go back and forth. I'll give you a small one. I'm rooting for the Pistons. I have a lot invested in my Cade Cunningham position. I think that that's come around after some scary early developments. Jaden Ivey being allowed to play in front of Killian Hayes seems to be the right decision.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I wonder if Monte Williams has watched one Pistons game on League Pass, because I know he didn't watch one before he got the head coaching job. If I owned the Pistons, I might have been like, we're going to fire you, you're going to keep the 75 million, but you're going to be an analyst for 45 games this year. Kylian Hayes is not in the league.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

No, and they had the same record as the Wizards last year. Think about that. The same record. And nobody wants to hear your Pistons are sneaky kind of good. We never did that monologue, luckily. But... Ich würde sagen, es gibt keinen Weg. Selbst wenn alle diese Leute Moralisten sind, sind sie viel talentierter. Es gibt keinen Weg, sie sind die Wieser.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und wir haben gesehen, mit ein bisschen Schussbalance, ein bisschen Spazierung, dass wenn du sie nicht für die Pistons auf der falschen Nacht auflässt,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I like seeing a team that is more like I just I just like them being somewhat more entertaining because I probably watch too many Pistons game because it's always the first game on in the West Coast, like a four o'clock when I don't want to be inside.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

It is weird. You know, when you're from the Northeast, you don't think anybody cares about sports as much as you do. And there's some elements of that. But then when you go out to LA and you're like, oh, these guys are all soft or whatever. The Lakers thing is very real.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

The other thing I've never understood is that there's just Kobe fans that aren't Lakers fans. Yeah. They just hang out, you know? And I remember there was like a Lakers, like it was a big Lakers game. And I think I was recording it. So I was like, I'm going to go out, get outside. I'm going to go to the beach. And then I just see all these guys in Kobe jerseys at the beach.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And I'm thinking like, this is a huge game. Yeah. What are you guys doing? It's like, well, you know. Talking Kobe. Yeah. One bias we have together is, So there was nothing else to that Lakers thing? Is there a version of that? Do you have kind of a thing you don't want to share, what you hope happens this season?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

That'll be a weird time, though, before the deadline, because when you're 30 and you're LeBron or hell, even when you're 35 and LeBron, you can kind of get away with putting the pressure on them. But. So far the Lakers have kind of shown like, yeah, we're not like the picks became eligible. They didn't do anything. I actually think they did a great job in the draft.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

There's a version of a rotation here that should work where they're in the playoffs. But if they go through a weird stretch and they don't, they're not active or anything, the subliminal messages and that kind of stuff, like you're going to have a good couple of weeks.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Du hast einen guten Start gemacht. Ich dachte, er sah größer aus. Ich bin so, das ist großartig. Sie bringen ihn auf den Tisch, wie ein mentaler Reset. The numbers are just as bad as they were last year. I even got so desperate, I called one GM that I'm pretty close with, who I don't think lies to me. I was like, you liked Scoot, too, though, right? He's like, is this off the record?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I'm like, no, just tell me that you liked him, too, right? It's like, well, a team took him third, so I think a lot of people liked him. I'm not giving up, but I'm preparing myself for the day. I have to. When I had Jalen Suggs on last year, because Jalen Suggs had Was auch immer es war, es war der schlechteste Offensiv-Rating jedes Spieler, seiner Rookie. Jemand, der tatsächlich gespielt hat.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und dann habe ich historisch geschaut, wer es gemacht hat. Scoot hat es gemacht. Und dann habe ich gesagt, oh, Jalen Suggs hat es gemacht. Und dann hatten wir Jalen Suggs danach. Und er hat es umgekehrt. Und ich habe ihm das ganze Stat-Profil mitgebracht. Und dann habe ich gesagt, was denkst du über Scoot? Und er hat über Scoot geredet. Er wird so gut sein.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich habe gesagt, all diese Leute, was wird er sagen? Nein, er ist tatsächlich ein Scheiß-Dude.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

What else? Give me another bias. I'm not sad about the Sixers. And it actually circles back to the Embiid-Jokic-Propaganda year, where... I don't even know who I'm really mad at. I think Daryl's a great GM. He and I don't exactly... I don't think we like each other that much anymore. But it's okay. We'll get through it. But he... They did such a good job.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And yet all of us that have been around it long enough, you're like, all right. Ich kann die gute Version davon sehen, aber investierst du in die richtigen Leute? Aber du hast auch die Wahl, andere Leute zu investieren und du nicht.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und dann, als Embiid die Extension so gemacht hat, und es war ein bisschen verloren in all dem Wahnsinn, ich denke, es war vielleicht verloren in dem Wohgewake von ihm, und dann passiert die Embiid-Extension. Und es ist fast eine der Extensions, wo, wenn es fertig ist, du fragst dich, ob du auf dem Team bist, und du sagst, er hat es gemacht. Er war so, ja, sicher, mit TACON drei mehr Jahre.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, then they also had Embiid. Everybody kind of knew that he wasn't really the locked in guy that you need to be like. If you look, it's a very simple timeline in the NBA.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

top draft pick score a bunch of points you're gonna get your max extension and then it's like you're seven or eight i think something kicks in for a lot of the special players we're like okay maybe it's not about all the points and i'm gonna get the accolades i'm gonna make all star and all this stuff but like i almost have to figure out a way to be a more productive basketball player that's not just about the stat line and i think there's a lot of stat line players out there that people talk about being really special that i'm like i don't know i know they're good at scoring but i don't know that they're great at like

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

All the things that you need to do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Right. And as talented as Embiid is, and I've always really liked his game, I loved him before the draft, but we knew there was the weird injury stuff with him. I actually always loved his personality. I liked that he cried after the Kawhi shot, losing to Toronto. When he got shit for that, I was like, that's ridiculous. This matters to him. That's a great sign.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

So there was all these things for him that I was kind of rooting for. And then you started hearing more and more of like, He's actually not taking this stuff serious enough. And you were wondering if that story was going to get out. And then it gets out within the own team meeting leaking. Yeah. And then he's like, I don't know who said this. I'm like, you know what? He got mad about the leak.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

You know, I think it was... I had a bunch of friends, like there's a big Vermont-Colorado thing. There you go. And I think once they were like, alright, I've kind of done the JV version of things in Vermont, I'm gonna head out to Colorado. And when I left ESPN and I was kind of going like, alright, Manhattan Beach or Denver, it was like really close. Was it a toss-up? It was.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. You can be mad about the leak, but be like you. At some point you have to get more mad at yourself. And I know he's had all these different injuries and all these things, but I've just, There was like a tipping point for me in you when I did the preview show with you. Yeah, I cleared the floor for you. Because I remember Zach Lowe, like, yeah, I just was waving everybody to the side.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, he was like, ISO! Well, just like Lamello. But I, I, I remember Zach Lowe, who we love, like, did his top five players and it was this, like, unvergleichbare Liste der fünf Jungs, Jokic, Giannis, Luka, SGA und Embiid. Und ich habe gesagt, ich denke, wir müssen ihn einfach stoppen, obwohl wir wissen, was er statistisch war, um das Jahr zu starten.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und ich denke, die Leute sind anfangen, es ist nicht so, hey, endlich sind wir alle auf der gleichen Seite oder realisieren, aber, du weißt, raus aus der zweiten Runde.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

It's all hypothetical. Those two guys for Boston play all the time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Danke, Mann.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Because if you wanted to just, like if you were forced in like debate class, like you have to be the anti-Durant guy, this is going to be easy actually. Right. And I don't want to be that guy, so I understand that bias.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich habe eine letzte Frage, ein bisschen auf dem Menü. Ich war so froh, dass du nicht nur die Großartigkeit von Jokic gesehen hast. Es war nicht das beste Curry-Spiel, aber es ist okay. Wir werden es durchführen. to see Tyler Ford handle a review. He's my favorite official in the NBA and we had a front row seat to it and I kept nudging the group. I'm like, watch this. He doesn't fuck around.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, well, I mean, he knows how much I love him. Like, he gave me the shout out before the game starts and my friends are like, the official say hi to you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, and I think the other guy tweeted a picture of being like, I like French fried potatoes or whatever. And then I was like, so then he was kind of like, fuck him, Priscilla. But Tyler, you know, Bill Kennedy, I think, has a SAG card when he does the reviews. He's doing a one-man show. Right. And then Tyler Ford is like, efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

It was Ocean or Friendship.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, worried because it's probably not going to happen, but the fourth one, I don't worry about his next ring the way I would about somebody who I think deserves the recognition. Ties Kobe though. Ja, aber, naja, ich glaube, die Nummer eins Option, Coby war die Nummer eins Option für was? Zwei von ihnen. Zwei von ihnen. Ja. Zwei für Steph.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Glaubst du, er wird auf einem anderen Team sein? Ich glaube nicht.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I keep waiting for the first mad international guy. Because it hasn't really happened yet. I mean, Nurkic seems to get upset, but he's not really on the level of what we're talking about here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

But when you look at the next pissed off NBA star that forces his way out of something, I don't say this because I think it'll never happen, but it's just something that you notice that it hasn't happened yet. I think you're nuts to put Tatum in that group with the other two guys, by the way. You think he would leave? I just think he's still so young. Never on another team?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Trae Young Hawks, because if they haven't traded them yet. LaMelo Charlotte.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 3. Because it's an awesome problem to have. But I, like you, they're one of my favorite league paths. They might be my go-to right now. No, they're the MVP. Right. Because I'm not only entertained, I'm trying to figure out how they're going to figure it out. And Imei's the best coach for this. Because he's just like, hey, guess what?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

You're benched for the fourth quarter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And he'll bench Jalen Green. He'll bench Jabari. They have to play Van Vliet. They kind of make this defensive decision where they'll go with Thompson over Jalen in some of these spots. Then Tari Eason comes in a wreck shop. They're like, all right, we don't need Jabari spacing. So there's lineup stuff that they're matching there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Long term, I don't know how, like they're probably better off getting out of the depth for the next guy. I don't know who the next guy is. Because what will happen is you're going to end up ruining the value of your own guys because there's just not going to be enough minutes for dudes. So it's a concern, but not concerning enough that they're winning games too. So it's like a three.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

But then I wonder... I think those are my friends, by the way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich liebe das Spiel, weil es einer von diesen war. Wir hatten einige wirklich coole, regelmäßige Saisonspiele und ich fühle mich wie Houston in vielen von ihnen, nur wegen des Efforts allein. Aber ohne Chet, wie ich nicht, das Spiel wird so anders sein mit der Entscheidung von Chet und wie sie Schengen wegwerfen wollen oder vielleicht schließen sie mit Jabari.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Like, that's what I love is that E-Mail is like, I know where you were drafted. I know you get paid this. You don't get paid.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

This is what I'm going to do tonight. And he's actually the tough love, no bullshit thing is the best version. When normally it's like the hand holder for all the young guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

You're watching a lot of cat videos?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Your wife picks up your phone, you're like, I'm no longer worried.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Friendship, friendship, friendship.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I think the defensive part of it though, like their identity, their identity is entirely changed.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

True. Which is funny that he's not on Minnesota and now their defense isn't what it's supposed to be, which doesn't really make a ton of sense, even though I think like, look, nobody stops Jokic, but

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

in that series like he bodied him up and the fact that it stayed in front of him is better for towns than having to move around the mitchell thing is another one of those things i can't wait to see because tibbs won't care the cat's already paid yeah you know he he makes he might have closing lineups where he's like i don't want spacing i don't want five out i want some resistance at the rim or maybe the knicks are like as long as we're top five in offense and 15th on defense we have a chance but yeah and he hasn't

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Smart. Well, conversely, you mentioned Minnesota.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, look, they started 16-4 last year. And they were the best defensive team in the NBA. So, I mean, this is like Knicks, like, to another level of disappointment to who they are defensively, but they moved out Kat. They didn't bring him in. So that part of it's really weird. But look, there's nights where Ant doesn't look like he loves playing defense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And even though he's making a ton of threes, I'd rather him not take 11 a game. Diefen Genso hasn't been good. And Randall puts up numbers, but it's all kind of on his terms a little bit. So they look very disconnected. And it's a team offensively that I thought may get in their way of preventing them even making it to the Western Conference Finals as much as I like some of the guys on the team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I always think it's funny when people just knock the NBA product. There's always this weird push. There was even an NFL push this year. Even though there was a few Sundays where I was like, this wasn't that much fun. But it's like, hey, the NFL product. Es ist immer jemand, der eine Art Agenda hat, aber es gibt viele von den NBA Teilen davon.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und ich habe auch Nachts, wo ich ein Spiel schaue und es ist viel zu viel 3-Punkte-Schuss heute Abend. Oder warum nimmt dieser Kerl diesen Schuss? Und dann frage ich mich, verpasst du Post-Ups? Verpasst du sie? Verpasst du diese Spiele? Ich habe einen Al Jefferson Entry Pass verpasst. So bad. And Randall backs guys down. It's like, hey, it's right there for you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

They had a Mark Jackson rule because your post-ups took too long.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich hoffe, dass eine Person in diesem Publikum YouTube Brevin Knight-Possessionen hat.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und wenn du das Clip zeigst, und es gibt viele Spiele, es gibt einige D'Angelo-Russell-Warriors-Spiele, wo ich sage, ich muss ein Jahr von diesem Team abnehmen, bevor sie ihn entfernen. Aber dann denke ich, okay, worüber redest du, was du verpasst hast? Und es gab keine Bewegung, so viel schneller. Selbst letzte Nacht ist ein guter Erinnerung. Und ich hasse das. Das ist mein Ding.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Aber jemand postet einen Clip eines Pistons Hard Foul und sie tun so, als ob das jede verdammte Besitzung von jedem Spiel von 1978 bis 1996 war. Und du sagst, eigentlich ist das nur ein wirklich hartes Foul. Und wir dachten, das war hart, als es an der Zeit passierte. Und dann schaust du die Jungs aus. Und wie physisch auch letzte Nachts Spiel war.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Mit zwei Teams, die nicht sogar als die zwei physisch größten Basketballteams vorhanden sind. Die Jungs sind so viel größer. Sie schießen sich auf den Ball. Das Spiel ist so physisch. Und diese Jungs auf der TV wollen einfach nie daran glauben, dass es so schwer wird, auch wenn es mehr Raum gibt.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

As great as that stuff and how much we can get nostalgic over it, I'll watch a Celtics playoff game from the 80s Once the ball is crossed half court... Everyone stops. Everybody stops. There's times, I'm talking about like big playoff moments, where they're not picking somebody up who has the ball in transition. They're letting them, because there wasn't, you know, the...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich würde sagen, die Länge des Quartiers, der Bedrohung tiefer Schüsse, weil die Leute damals nicht mehr Schüsse genommen haben, wie sie es jetzt machen. Aber sie würden einfach fast die Leute dazu lassen, zu setzen, was sie tun wollten. Und ich würde jemandem challenge, dass sie so etwas für 30 Minuten schauen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und es ist hysterisch, wie anders es tatsächlich ist und wie die Leute es heute darüber sprechen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Not as worried as you are. I don't know if I'm bad at it or you're dangerous. But you went in and you were like, I don't think he's moving well. He's not peak Westbrook, so it's always a bit shifty into his spot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

He couldn't stop talking about him. I think the quote was, He's not the same anymore. And I went forever. And then he goes now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

He was bad last night. It was bad to see live.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Here we go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Beginning of last year when he came back, it looked different because he was coming off the injury. And then... I think you could tell when it, you know, you try not to just go back, oh, he's scoring more, everything is fine now. But he's a tougher one. I'm not as good at this as you are. I'm admitting. I can't, because he is not somebody.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ja, und er ist so großartig und hat große Playoffspots. Jeder weiß das. Und wenn du das tun kannst, dann erzählt das mir alles über dich, dass auch wenn du nicht die Wettbewerbe der anderen Jungs hast, ich denke, dass keine All-Star-Team-Ding komplett überflutet ist, weil wenn du es durchgehst, wie jedes Jahr, wo er war und Oh, that's a good one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I'm like an eight and a half. See, I think you're right. This is why it's an eight, it's not a ten. Okay? The Pelicans are an eleven. Yeah. Philly, there is, despite the time we've just been talking, there's a version of it coming together.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, they have talent. I mean, Oubre, who I can't stand, has been pretty good for them for a couple of years. I'm not crossing him off, but it's not great. Like when Oubre has to play somebody tough defensively with all that length, like he's into it. He's kind of a different cat now, so I got to give it to him. So at least with Philadelphia, as bad as it is, it's kind of like the Clippers thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yes, it's a huge worry, but dot, dot, dot. Now, it never worked out for them, and maybe it doesn't work. The odds are against Philadelphia, but there's something there in place where I don't see why they couldn't put together a couple of months, and we start talking about them, being like, hey, that's going to be a weird, that could be a weird 1A.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And then we haven't seen him since. He got suspended.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

It generally means you've been disappointing. What other parents should start using it? How's Doug ramping up this summer?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Das Einzige, was ich sagen würde, ist, dass wir das, egal ob zusammen oder separat, schon eine sehr lange Zeit gemacht haben. Ich weiß persönlich, dass die Spieler, die ich anfange zu lieben oder zu hassen, viel mit dem, wie die Fans zu uns sprechen, zu tun haben. Es gibt Spieler, die ich nichts darüber weiß und die ich bescheidere, weil sie ihre Fanbase die ganze Zeit gesagt haben.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

He's second in the league in scoring and I'm worried. Now I know there's a large segment. Not the great city of Denver. Never want to hear Bill and I talk about Lamello. Speaking of scoot takes. And that's totally fair. I didn't like the Australia footage. Don't know how many times I can say it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Having said that, he's an incredibly talented guy at that size, the passing, the, I talk about it all the time, like his size, the start, stop, start again thing is just stupid. But when I watch the games and I see, like he took 35 the other night and I'm like, you know what's not a good shot is a one foot drei von 30 Fuß entfernt mit 16 Sekunden in der Schachklappe übrig.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und ich denke, wenn du das nur für immer tun kannst, weil er ihre Attraktion ist, er ist der Trae Young in Atlanta, wo das nicht groß ist, aber die Kinder lieben ihn. I wonder now on another coach who was supposed to be the guy. And by the way, when he benched him in that Nets game, I don't think it was about the fourth quarter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Because I went back, I was like, where is the moment where Charles Lee is like, I'm benching you in a tight game. He made nine more substitutions in under four minutes. He was subbing in for offense, he was subbing in for defense, and he never put LaMelo back in the game. And I thought it was about the overall approach that he has to have.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

He's obviously more talented and a more productive player than I thought he would be before the draft. Aber ich denke, dass es eine Tendenz gibt, dass er einfach da rauskommt und sein eigenes Ding macht. Ich denke, es tut weh, mit zu spielen. Und ich denke, es ist das Verlangen von Basketball. Und das ist ein Habit, den er brechen muss, um etwas in dieser Liga zu sein, außer nur ein Boxscore-Typ.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Jahr fünf. Gute Stats, schlechte Mannschaft. Er ist wahrscheinlich der Kapitän. Und seine Stats sind großartig. Die Stats sind großartig. Auch mit den schlechten Dreien. Schau dir die drei Punkte an. Er ist ein besserer Schütter in der NBA jetzt, als er an jedem anderen Niveau war. Und es war sofort.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Here's why I'm not worried about it at all. Because when you watch Paolo at Duke, he actually wanted to get other guys involved, even though he was clearly the best player. He was going to be the number one pick. Yeah, so he likes this. Paolo is totally fine getting other people involved, which is why I like him probably. I mean, Wemba Nyama is in his own planet, right? But

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Hallo to be that good, that young and not have to have the seven year run of, I guess I have to kind of find a way to play with other people like that's in him already. So with this front, I think this is just a nice Franz reminder tour of what he is and how pissed people got the Cavs series. So I'm not worried.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I think this is actually one of those weird injuries where it may be better for the rest of the magic.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und Denver und Nuggets Fans sind wirklich vielleicht die einzige moderne Geschichte, intensiv erstaunliche Fanbase über einen Mann. Und du hast es absolut richtig gemacht. Ich denke, das muss gesagt werden, denn mehr oft als nicht, bin ich so, nein, du warst falsch. Ihr seid einfach nur erstaunlich über das ganze Ding.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

No, but it's good to see that they turn it around because Giannis has been insane.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Revisit 89 Kareem for those that don't remember.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und ich glaube nicht, dass es jemals war, dass wir nicht... Sie haben ihn einfach schneller genutzt, als wir, weil Sie es gesehen haben, ob es der Draft war oder nicht. Und Sie sind so, hey, dieser fette Kerl ist irgendwie lustig zu sehen. Ja. Aber was ist er wirklich going to be? Und dann sind Sie so, oh, er wird ohne Frage sein. Ich meine, die Liste beginnt mit einem und ich bin nicht mal...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but you could have done it without comparing it to your pickup game in the 40s. I'm an only child. What do you want? I hope someone that despises you tweets that you said this at this show tonight. With no context whatsoever. I might even retweet it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, I think it's always good to be, you know, every now and then I gotta disagree.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I know what you mean. But I mean, if I said like, hey man, I always hit the cutoff guy in softball. Nobody, trust me, as somebody that tried to do that a few times, like I was trying to explain why Mike Tyson's training- Do you still move on defense and pickup? What's that? Do you still move on defense and pickup? I mean, it depends on, I usually will like, if you make three, I'm like, shit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Like Matt Leinert's kid just destroyed me a couple weeks ago.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, everything you said is right, but don't you feel guilty holding them to a standard that we shouldn't hold them to? Well, it's year 22. Yeah, that's what I mean. So, I mean, some of this defensive stuff he's been doing for a while. I mean, he's had the worst defensive assignment for years, which I think is smart to try to pace him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Hey! Lock it down. Who's got John Moran? Anybody? I think I'm at a stage, and I've talked about this before, but I'm with you. Everything you said is right. And when Denver played him, they had LeBron's guy stay baseline. So LeBron was the baseline help, kind of in the dunker spot. Und sie hatten diese Kutzen, als ob es ein Handoff bei der hohen Post war.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und dann würde jemand sich davon entfernen. LeBron hat es nie, nie überrotiert. Und sie waren so, wir werden das immer und immer und immer wieder machen. Er hat auch einige schwierige Fastbreak-Defense-Spieler. Ich dachte, er wäre drei Jahre ago auf der TV. Gehen wir zurück zu 2010. Und wir sprechen über ihn und halten ihn für den Standard defensiv.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Also fühle ich mich eigentlich schuldig, obwohl du recht hast.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Oh, all right. I'm laying out. Let's talk this out. Well, no, go, because this is your world.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

You're like an owner's insider.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich liebe Giannis, wir alle lieben Luca und alles, aber der Unterschied zwischen ihm und dem nächsten Mann ist sehr wichtig. Das ist großartig.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, Meghan Markle is available again, right? Is she available? Is that the word in the street? After I think that podcast thing didn't work out. I think she's still married, though. No, but we played in a celebrity flag football game together. And it was all of the swimsuit models. So nobody was really paying any attention to Markle. So I was like, that's my lane.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

She's probably down herself a little bit right now. And she's never been more obtainable. And then, I mean, I got the game-winning touchdown over Deion Sanders, no big deal. And I was like, yeah, you know, I shot her a DM. Shot her a DM? Yeah. And then somebody was like, do you know who she's dating? I was like, I don't know. I don't pay attention to any of this stuff. And it didn't work out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und das ist das lustigste Ding. Und dann ging das Lied weiter, weil wenn Piers Morgan seine Scheiße über es verliert, würde ich immer ein Quote über ihn tweeten und sagen, es wird besser, Mann. Keine Sorge. Und ich war im Grunde nur für Sarah Walsh und Carissa Thompson, weil sie die Geschichte wussten. Sie dachten, es war so lustig. Also wusste niemand wirklich, was der Lied war.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und ich habe es immer wieder gemacht. Wiederum, ich mache es nicht so oft, aber vielleicht einmal im Jahr würde Piers Morgan eine andere Meghan Markle-Datei kommen. Und dann würde ich einfach sagen, keine Sorge, Alter, ich bin hier. Wenn du sprechen musst, immer. Und er hat nie geantwortet. Und die lustigste Person, Du wirst es nie vergessen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Die lustigste Person, die mir nach einem von diesen Piers Morgan-Tweets nachgesprochen hat, war so wie, Alter, was ist mit dir falsch? Sie ist nicht so großartig. Hast du dir auf diese haarige Sache geachtet? Du bist viel besser. Und erstens, du merkst, dass sie nicht mit mir rausgehen wird, richtig? Also da ist das Teil. Jeff Van Gundy. Komm schon.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Jeff Van Gundy hat mich getextet, um mir zu sagen, dass ich besser ohne Meghan Markle wäre. That's a thing that actually happened? And I was so like, I was at home solo and I'm on, you know, I'm like, what's Van Gundy want? Because I don't, we don't text a lot. And I was like, oh no, he thinks that Pierce Morgan tweet is real.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

So then I had to explain the whole thing to him and he was like, I've lost interest now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich glaube nicht, dass Mark Jackson... Ich glaube nicht, dass er mich nach dem einen Monolog von mir texten wird, wo ich dachte, warum bleibt jeder immer fragen, warum er keinen Head-Coaching-Job bekommt? Und ich bin einfach durch eine Zehntausendjährige Zeitlinie gegangen. Also nicht auf deinem Speed-Dialog? Das Ding ist auch, dass ich ihn liebte.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Hey, it's Ryan. It was a very soft sell. It was, hey, I know the new season of Suits is coming out. If you ever want to come on the show.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

It was really professional. It was like a gauging of interest. If I got an emoji back, who knows? I didn't. It was ice cold. It was, oh, I don't know anything about sports, but thanks for the offer.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, is it weird to go all the way back to the Goonies? No. I left the movie theater in love with that girl. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Not the one with the glasses. Aber der andere, ja, ich weiß nicht, was der Deal war, aber es ist nie geschehen. Ja. Und wer war das? Brolin? War Brolin der Schicksal?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ja, ich war so, was sieht sie in ihm? Er hatte ein Auto, aber ich glaube, ich war so zehn. So I think that was the first one where like I went to a movie and felt a little different after I left. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You don't know what the hell is going on, but you're like, why do I, why am I looking at Bob Magazine at the CVS the next week with her on the cover of that? So that's one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Did you have ones? We don't have a slideshow for this, right? Because this now feels incredibly awkward after I told the Marco thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Was ist mit der Stadt? All right, let's just get to it instead, because I don't I don't. So. Blake Lively in that movie, like I had a stretch where I was in Boston, where I would see the Blake Lively's. Und es ist einer der wichtigsten Charaktere in der Geschichte von Filmen. Wenn ihr die Oscar-Revisa-Sache macht, habt ihr sie jemals für eine unterstützende Schauspielerin nominiert?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Sie schafft es, weil sie so gefährlich ist. Sie ist die schlimmste Idee jemals. Und du weißt, dass du drin bist. Und ich dachte und als Kind dachte ich,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I love kids. So, is somebody smoking? We're in Denver. Everything's possible. I think she might be back there smoking. She would smoke in the car when she met your parents the first time. The reason why she was modeled, she was modeled after these girls that none of us really knew how to talk to. But at the same time, you never...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I wanted to date one and have every one of my friends tell me how terrible it was. I wanted to lie to my parents that I wasn't seeing anybody. And I wanted to date her all the time. And I wanted to go up to Medford. I wanted to go to these dangers. I went to Revere one night when I was in my 20s to scope this out. I was like, I'm going to Revere. I just want to see it for real.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And I was like, I think I'm going to get my ass kicked here tonight, so I'm going to have to leave. So it never really quite worked out for me. I knew what kind of hair was going to be like a bad dye job, like sort of a Jennifer Aniston thing that was way out of style. And then the streaks that weren't blended properly because she went to some cheap place in a strip mall.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I was like, look, I'm on TV for the Celtics. There has to be something. He gets fucking great seats. But I was losing my hair and I was losing my confidence a little bit. Never happened. She's still the ideal though, right? I think I have a little different standards now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

That guy... I actually was... To be totally honest, there was one deal that was sort of close and I got dumped because she got on a reality show. Ich war nicht überrascht. Das war das Beste, dass du weißt, was für dich schlecht ist. Und wenn du gedumpft wirst, hast du gar keine Ahnung. Wie ein Kabel-Show oder ein Netzwerk-Show? Nein, es war ziemlich, ziemlich populär.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ja. Und dann, als sie war, ich war so, du kannst nicht mal gewinnen. Jetzt willst du mich zurückhaben?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und er war nicht sauber. Es war nicht das Spiel. Ich dachte, es war. Nein. War es ein anderes Spiel? Es war ein Playoff-Spiel von Pacers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

No, because you were getting married that week.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And... I had just started at that station, the Zone in Boston. Yeah. And you had just left and gone on to other things. And so we had just kind of missed each other, like just missed each other. He came on, like did a phone, or he was nice enough to find some time for us. And then I hadn't actually met him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And a bunch of my guys from Vermont came down, because it was like the first time I had ever been able to do my friends a favor with a hookup. So I got us like four... Seats in the suite and like, you know, that age, you're just going to get after it because your friends are in town. And then I was like tight white T-shirt. I mean, I looked like an extra that I remember the outsiders.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Bill's there with like his soon to be wife. I think her parents, your parents. It was at the fours, I think. It was at the fours. I have a completely different memory. And so he was down.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

He was down a few tables and I was like, well, we're colleagues. So. I'll go say something. And I was like, hey, the Heathcliff Slocum trade for Veritech and Lowe was the best since Andy Dufresne bought that Rockhammer from Redline, man. I'm like, that was something else. And I've got like a Coors Light. And I'm like, yeah, well, we're getting married tomorrow, so...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Du warst nett, aber es war vorbei. Und ich wusste 30 Sekunden später, nachdem es vorbei war, war ich so, oh, ich glaube, das ist vorbei jetzt. Und das war der Anfang. Das ist lustig. Das ist nicht, was ich erinnere.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Es wäre wirklich seltsam, wenn wir uns nach dem Nets-Spiel getroffen hätten. Und dann, aber ich weiß, wo ich war nach dem Nets-Spiel.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ja, ich habe eine Liste. Ich bin gespannt.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I have the same one down for you. That's hilarious. Embiid, because he doesn't have a ring.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ja, es ist tatsächlich Trey. Can you believe that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I'm no longer his number one guy. What about Zion or Ja? Ja. August, would you have said Ja? Shotgun Willys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ja, Halliburton. I think this room's a little high on Ja. I'm still in on Ja. He's awesome, but, I mean, he basically said the other day he's going to stop dunking. That seems alarming. Yeah. Because I do, I would, like, every time I'd watch him, I'd go, I love this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And, like, those grizzlies, like, spikes, that didn't really amount to anything because they were always hurt, like, they put together some really nice stretches.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Like, maybe this five, and I think the front office does a really good job with everybody, but I thought there was, like, a Ja, Zion, off-the-court thing. Did you see Zion hit up that ring girl from Alabama? I did. Well...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

He's going to be re-evaluated in two weeks, so I'm excited for that. But that story today that the Pelicans aren't going to waive him, sometimes you're like, maybe this isn't really updated information. Like, no shit, you're not going to waive him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, because I think he knows he needs to. And I think that first week, I both hated and loved it. We all get geared up for the start of the season. We all know we were worried about the bench. Look at me, I'm saying we, like I actually moved here. But...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, think about this. McShay and I did this two weeks ago of... Okay, also es sind sechs Verteidigte in den Top 12. Panix hat nicht gespielt, JJ wurde verletzt. Also haben wir Caleb, wir haben Jaden, wir haben Drake, wir haben Bo. Und wenn ich dir jetzt frage, hey, ob in fünf Jahren jeder von ihnen der Beste dieser Gruppe war, ist alles noch auf dem Tisch. Richtig.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Like if he ends up being like a real guy, you know what I mean? You know, we're talking about here signing up for 10 years. You know, I don't know. We start counting Super Bowl rings here. But he answers your quarterback question for a decade, which is what you're hoping for with any of these guys. You may have to just start drafting guys. How many games have you played?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

You haven't played 50 in college. We don't want anything to do with you because they keep getting it wrong. And when you look at how many games he's played, how many games Jaden's played, maybe it's just trends and it all kind of changes year to year. But it seems like there's real value in avoiding, at least avoiding the guys that have like 25 starts to their career in college.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

The situation piece, which everyone talks about,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

You knew there were going to be some serious problems with the depth and letting KCP go and the draft picks, you know, still kind of like a massive question mark about whether or not they're viable rotation pieces. And he took, I think, 13 shots in that opener against OKC and he gets smoked. Die nächsten zwei Spiele nimmt er 27 und 26 Schüsse.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, like, he got to know it was Sean Payton, and then it kind of turned into a thing where it was like, oh, so Bo Nix can do this, but Russell Wilson can't. And I just wanted to be like, maybe Bo Nix isn't the most annoying human being in the NFL.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

What did you have? All right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

No, you didn't.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Er ist großartig. Ich meine, wenn ich durch meine Top 100 ging und es machte, und ich sah, wie du all die verschiedenen Dinge, die du priorisieren willst, oder ob es irgendwelche Geheimnisse in hier gibt. Einige der Metriken für Pritchard. Ich bin so, wie ist er? Er ist hier mit diesen Jungs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Or 450.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Pass.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

We don't pass, Tina.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

No, I love Tatum. I think Tatum doesn't get enough credit for... Sorry to steal your routine here, but... Er hat die Tafel gesetzt. Selbst einige der schlechten Schussnächte durch die Playoffs letztes Jahr. Das Curry-MVP-Ding in 15 bis heute wird mich den Rest meines Lebens verletzen. Wenn ich sterbe, hoffe ich, dass das erste, was jemand sagt, wird sein.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Er war immer noch wirklich stolz auf Iguodala, das 2015-MVP-Ding zu bekommen. Denn alles, was passiert ist, wurde aus dem, was sie mit Curry gemacht haben. Und Iguodala hat das gemacht, weil LeBron in der 40-Minute gehalten wurde.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Wenn ich an Tatum's Impact denke, versus all the other people that benefit from it, I think that part of Tatum's game isn't discussed enough, because he also can be a bucket whenever he wants. But the SGA thing is, it's kind of hard to deny some of the advanced stuff there, that he's just at a double level than Tatum. I have Tatum's side edge. Alright. Shocked.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und ich war so glücklich darüber, weil es war wie diese immediate Sache innerhalb von 48 Stunden, wo er sagte, ich glaube, das ist das, was ich tun werde. Ich meine, er schießt es nicht so viel, aber er schießt es mehr in dieser Saison als an jedem anderen Punkt in seiner Karriere. Und seine Effizienz ist in Ordnung mit der besten Saison, die er je hatte, die er wahrscheinlich zwei Jahre ago hatte.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Played center on defense in the NBA Finals, played point guard on offense. Does he love horses? I got one for you. Jordan Poole or Draymond Green? As a roommate.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Give me McJesus. I think I agree. I started putting Oilers games up on while there were NBA playoffs games. And I had to turn off McJesus. Because I would turn back to the NBA games. You were like missing it. I was like, I haven't watched 20 minutes. I have no idea what happened.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I don't care about the Patriots anymore. Post-Brady, don't care. Ant, 100 times out of 100. Jake May has it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich erinnere mich daran, wie ein kleiner Mac die frühen Brady-Vibes ausgibt.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Es ist eine tolle Peyton-Manning-Ruhe. Und ich muss diese machen. Ich werde diese tracken. Vielleicht schreibe ich ein kleines Buch darüber. Aber wenn ein Rookie-QB eine Million Interceptions hat, dann ist es so, dass Peyton 30 hat. Und dann denke ich, okay, ich glaube, er wird Peyton Manning sein.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und wenn ein Quarterback nicht viel gemacht hat, aber sie nur ein paar Spiele gewonnen haben, dann ist es Tom Brady. You or me here. I got a couple left. I got like two left. Go ahead. Mobley or lively? Mobley. You like lively that much? I just wanted to see where you were at with it. I'm still, I kept my Mobley position. But you're aware he's not going to be like that, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Also kann er alles in jedem einzelnen Spiel in dieser Größe in einer Art, die ich nicht weiß, die wir je gesehen haben.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Harbaugh's my new neighbor.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich dachte, dass Malone's Kommentare gestern Nacht ziemlich interessant waren. Es ist so, als ob Jamal spät in der Spielzeit getötet worden sei. Das war die primäre Sache, die Golden State in die Spielzeit geraten wollte. Und dann war Malone so, ich hoffe, er weiß, und er nimmt sich der Wahrheit vor und macht sicher, dass das nicht weitergeht.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Habend gesagt, dass Dame defensiv getötet wird, wird er auf dem Weg zur Spielzeit getötet. So he's probably a better like peak, holy shit score. But see, as I say that, like Dame's had more of that in his career, but those Jamal Playoff games are a huge deal for me. So Jamal and the age thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, if we both pick silver, people are going to think we're doing, although if you pick silver, I think people would understand why. I'm going to go with silver just because I felt like the NFL had a stretch there. And again, the commissioner is the mouthpiece of ownership. So you always have to remember that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

But the NFL ownership run there was just so gross and so arrogant and so dismissive of people like the NBA has never had a run like that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und er ist einfach so, wie er ist. So when I look at people losing track of who's where and how dumb and imbalanced the schedules are and leading to all sorts of nonsensical results from the season, it's like, okay, how much further can college football push the money grab to where maybe start turning people off?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, no, because I think the live rights thing is we both know, you know, whether it's our time at ESPN and understanding of being the priority, which it should have been. But They are treating it like cocaine and they are cutting it up as much as they possibly can. And they're putting it on every single corner. And you're like, I still have an NBC streaming subscription.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I'm like, how did that happen? And when they did that last round of packages, it's like they don't even care. And it's actually kind of smart. It's like, why are we doing deals with two or three networks? Put it on eight and everybody will get their little piece and that'll drive up the price.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And I always wonder if there's a moment in time where it's like we did too much of it and it actually kind of hurt it. I don't know. I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I'm in. Do you guys remember that Denver Thursday night or two years ago? Die Kölner, die Denver Kölner. Ich war in Vermont, ich war in einem Hotelraum. Ich schaue es auf meinem Laptop, weil ich es nicht auf der TV bekommen konnte. Und es war eine der schlimmsten Dinge, die ich jemals gesehen habe.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und ich erinnere mich an diesen wunderschönen, empfehlenden Moment, wo ich sagte, ich werde das ausmachen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

The NFL is like, as soon as you get a couple games, you're like, we're going to give you some really weak product. Yeah. Even like the Christmas games, the games are pretty good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

The nice thing about the NFL doing their Christmas thing is that Goodell told us that it's because football is family.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

What about the Thursday TNT thing? Like we have to wait basically now. And look, I used to love betting on Aaron Brooks at UVA in college when it was the Virginia Thursday night ACC thing. Like that was my shit. Und das war einer der tollen College-Games. Und es war so toll, das am Dienstag zu haben. Und jetzt, wiederum.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I don't even know what ratings being down means, because every time it happens, then the TV deal triples the previous one. I don't either. I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

When you have them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I like fastest growing show in America. Oh, that's a good one. There was a couple of shows at ESPN that just were at a zero. And they were ramping up. Or they replaced the worst show possible. Right. And then I'd be like, who keeps track of fasting show in America? That would seem like a huge deal. It's like, well, if you start at zero, who can really say that? I have one more for you. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Would you rather watch 90s NBA players at the TNT desk after a Wizards Hornets game Or an MSNBC panel after the election.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Early Yellowstone, there's a version of events where if I had moved out here, I would have modeled my entire thing after Rip.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

duly super inefficient gasoline the wind visor hat probably would definitely get my ass kicked more than rip did but you know there's sort of like we're all you know we can be a certain age but this is all a little make believe i would hope some of us um so yeah earlier yellowstone rip is is really high up there for me although i think that the show its tentacles went into a bunch of different directions there i love land man

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Have you watched? I've seen the clips. I've not dug in yet.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Wo bist du mit Jon Hamm schreien? Kannst du ihn nach einem Episode schreien? Ich würde nicht. Ich würde nicht. Ja, aber ich denke, das ist wie ein echter... Ich würde ihn schreien, wenn ich es genossen hätte.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

We want your comeback story to be this, but you don't have to do anything. I haven't watched it. I'm in a deficit here. I really liked it. But you do watch old Succession episodes. Yeah, I love it. I think I had an epiphany recently where it has surpassed everything else as my favorite show. And like we could all go with The Wire and Sopranos and I love Mad Men. I loved it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

But there's something about Succession where the show found a way to put stuff in it that it didn't need. Like I'll use a small example here. I promise not to go too long on it. But the election night episode. They already have everything they need. It's going to be this close election.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

The Roys are going to have to be put in a situation where they're going to have to make this decision and call the election for Mencken. And Shiv is going to fight against them. So they've got the back and forth. And Tom has just lost in all of it. But the fact that in that dramatic, I don't know, hour-long show, but in that moment, it's a few minutes, that Greg gets wasabi... Ja.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Die Brillanz, um zu schreiben, all das, was wichtig ist. Und das Episode hätte das nicht gehabt. Und es wäre immer noch ein tolles Episode gewesen. Und die Tänzung der Wahlabend. Und jetzt, was an der Stelle ist. Und wie falsch sie es haben können. Und alles, was sich daraus entwickelt. Dass sie sagten, lass uns einfach einen Moment haben, wo Greg Wasabi in den Augen des Datenmanns bekommt.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Es sind einfach nicht viele Shows, die das machen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

You know what I love about a rewatch? AJ was awesome.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

He was so good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Hartford was going to be one of my go-tos. Well, I always wanted to move to Manhattan Beach. Accomplished. I did want to live here. It was close, but I could live here. I love it here. Great group of friends. I've just never had a bad time coming to Colorado. Wyoming, we're 0 for 1.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Das war großartig. Ja, wenn er in der Stadt gewesen wäre und den Anruf verabschiedet hätte, weil er es hätte, wenn wir die Chance hätten, denke ich, ich wäre so ein Verlierer in dieser Interview. Er würde sagen, erinnere dich an das, was du da gemacht hast? Was denkst du darüber nach, als du es gemacht hast? Honestly, I think the hard part with it too, and it's the same back to his draft thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

What about where the Panthers play?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

So you could move here, but you... Well, once you said NBA town, it screwed up my whole St. Barts thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

No, because you guys think I bought this boat for like luxury purposes. And it's actually my exit strategy. St. Barts, Rye, Boat Captain. NBA-Pod once a week to cover the boat excise tax.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

No, it just needs something to cover the taxes, which I know I'm not supposed to bring up anymore.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, unless they do some weird thing of like, are you here permanently? Because you just keep clicking on visiting.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

There was a South of France thing where I was looking at something on Zillow where I was like, I could just have the worst schedule ever and do NBA pods from here. Like at five in the morning. I don't have anything telling me I can't do it. And then I think something came up and I was like, I can't.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Alright, this is actually kind of funny because when I flew to Reykjavik in Iceland, the flight from Minneapolis to Reykjavik is like five hours, 4.45. And I was like, dude, if I meet... Just some smoke show from Reykjavik. It's not that bad a flight. It's two and a half to Minneapolis from L.A. So you could live in Minnesota, you get the Timberwolves. No, I could live in L.A.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

and I could commute through and then I could be in Reykjavik. We'd split time. You went through this thought process. I just couldn't, it was like, you sit in the, I remember when I flew to Greece once, I was like all pumped up and I like turned to the guy next to me and I was like, what do we got, like six, seven hours here? Because I was so used to the East Coast Europe thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

The guy's like 11 hours I went fuck like I have not mentally prepared myself for 11. So what was the fastest you've gone on a trip though? Right. So that was that was the Iceland one. Once I sat down and I saw the thing on the graphic, I'm like 445. Could I should I look at property? Yeah. And it was all because it wasn't seven hours. It was under five. It was really stupid.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I mean, all these things are stupid that I do. San Sebastian, applying for a job.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

No, I actually was in New Zealand hopping on like this dieses Prop-Plan über Milford Sound und du hattest all diese Warnungen eingestellt. Und ich war so, ich sollte wahrscheinlich jemandem erzählen. Ich erinnere mich, dass ich meine Vertrauen und Willen meinem Bruder übergeben habe. Und ich war so, hey, ich bin in Neuseeland. Ich war so, hast du das E-Mail bekommen?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

When the draft comes around, I'm an athlete snob. And you go, I don't know, is this going to work? And then it starts working, and then you start comparing them. And we had all those nasty MVP conversations, which just made me root for him, I think, even more. It just was ridiculous.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und er ist so, was zur Hölle machst du gerade? Er ist so, bist du in Ordnung? Ich war so, nein, ich bin in Ordnung. Ich gehe, wo sie mehr von den Ringen füllen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I just hope Scoot gets a second contract.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I don't know what you're trading. Unless you just pull the plug on Michael Porter Jr. and you think it's an upgrade.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Wer ist die beeindruckende Person, die dich dann besser macht? Denn Gordon, ich liebe Gordon auf diesem Team so viel. Ich weiß nicht, dass ich das wäre. Eigentlich gibt es keine Version von ihm, die ich so viel wie dieser mag, weil der Jokic und die Baseline und all das.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but it's not even what the penalties are in place, it's the fear of what the next one will do to you, yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Ich denke, es ist eine Match-Up-Datei. Ich denke, einige Teams haben noch reale Fragezeichen. Es gibt einige Teams, die alle die Zeit klein schließen wollen. Ich sehe das immer mehr und mehr, wo Teams sich mit kleinen Lineups verglichen haben. Und hier gehen wir wieder. Also depends on the draw, but they're certainly not the favorites. But here's Phoenix, who's falling apart again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, Dallas is turning it around. They're going to be good, but I don't know if they're locked in. But if it were Dallas, Denver, I mean, it also has to see how it looks in March and April, but

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Some of the stuff, and I know it turns into propaganda, and it becomes really political, and it's like, okay, but if any of your points are tearing this guy down... You're either not watching, you're not being fair, you're not being honest, you can't see the things.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Look, I want to defend Curry all the time. The second player isn't good enough. I don't even know who it is. For a playoff team to get through multiple rounds in this West?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I do, but I do think it's going to be tough to close those two bigs, and that's why they're benching Jared Allen down those stretches, and I think that's what it'll look like, and that's probably their best chance to not. I just don't know how you can play three out with two non-shooters in a game in the playoffs in today's league, but I'm not done with Minnesota. Phoenix is a tough gamble.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Denver's in that mix with those teams. You're not done with Minnesota. No. It's December 4th.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I'm not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

You know what I want from you?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

When we get ready, when we do our first NBA Sunday pod, I want your five favorite body language teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

And I think it's such a visual thing with him that we've talked about in the past is other basketball players have done things that are just aesthetically more pleasing. I've seen him get back in transition where I thought he was going to have a heart attack. I was like, does he have polio? What the fuck is wrong with him right now? And Und trotzdem ist er immer in Position.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

No, five favorite body language teams. Oh. Like raving about high fives.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Looks like you already did the segment.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Er kennt alle, was sie vor Ort tun werden. Und wenn ich sage, niemand hat das Spiel auf seine Seite gelockt. Ich meine, sicherlich LeBron. Und ich gebe ihm einfach, weil Jokic hat einen Inch auf ihn oder zwei. Und dann Magic, das gleiche Ding. Aber um direkt im Zentrum zu sein.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

und dann wissen sie, okay, wenn sie mich verdoppeln, dann sind es all diese Dinge, wenn sie mich nicht verdoppeln, sitzt er einfach da in der Triple Threat auf der Freethrow-Linie, geht gegen TJD und er ist einfach, er hat einfach gesagt, okay, wenn du mir einen auf einen geben wirst und ich werde dich einfach absteigen und dich auf diesen Freethrow schießen, würde ich einen Tag mögen, an dem er es nur 35 Mal gemacht hat, wie ein Score von 60, richtig,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Well, those first three minutes of the fourth quarter, as you know, are the most horrifying. You're just panicking. There are horror movies that are more fun than those three minutes of every fourth quarter. They were minus eight in those three minutes. I'm like, Golden State has to win this and they won it and then they still lose the game because he comes back in.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I know, I think it pisses everybody else off. dass dieser Typ so dominant ist und es wird kein Workout-Programm geben, das er mit dir teilen wird. Es wird kein Mama-Mentality-Rip-Off von Jokic geben. Ich weiß, dass Mike Singer das Buch über ihn geschrieben hat und ich habe ein Interview gehört, das er gemacht hat. Es gab einige Exerpte und er hat die Praxis verpasst.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Er wollte keine dieser Dinge machen. Es ist das Gegenteil von allem, was du deinem Kind sagen würdest. Wie dieser Kerl hat alle die extra Sachen verpasst, und trotzdem ist er so dominant. Aber es geht um seine Instinkte und seine Vision und einfach einfache Dinge wie das Zuschauen von Leuten, die Basketball spielen, wie ich es jetzt seit 40 Jahren habe.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Und du siehst den Ball aus seinen Händen kommen. Und auch wenn es weg ist, ist es so, dass es nur lecker ist. Es ist perfekt lecker und es kümmert sich mit der Rippe ein bisschen. Und dann fällt es wieder rein. Es sind seine Hände, wie ich weiß, dass es die Wasserbrille war. Aber wie er gelernt wurde, das Spiel zu schauen,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Es ist wirklich eine besondere Sache, weil er es einfach so sieht, dass man damit geboren werden muss. Ich weiß nicht, ob man das beobachten kann.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I want to tell stories about underserved stories. Or he has an IT-Ban thing on Instagram. All of a sudden he's running. No days off.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Wir sind in der Hälfte der Jahrhunderte.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, he has some work to do. Yeah, you know. Scoring a lot. I think we'll get to him maybe later in the show. But yeah, you're right. I mean, that's kind of why it gets back to even... I've never rooted for the Nuggets necessarily. I don't have something that back in the day... Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

I would have probably started two years ago and tapped out after this off-season, but... That's coming up later, too. Yeah. Es könnte jemand sein, der... Du hast recht, wir sind halbwegs durch, also wer einen zweiten Ring bekommt, das wäre die dumme Ringkontrolle, die in den Weg kommt, wenn man einfach ehrlich ist, wer die Spieler sind manchmal. Du hast recht, du hast recht.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Just give his minutes to Wallace?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Young Shannon.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

I think there's one way Minnesota hangs. And I think you would agree with this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

There you go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

The two seconds having a big year, big, big legs year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but I don't. I don't know. I don't know about that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Well, Bridges Post suck. I'm just kidding. Too much Tommy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

But ended up trading him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

What is,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

That sounds like you would. Yeah, I think I would. But that's going to get weird quick.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

I'd like to see more bridges.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Minnesota takes Edwards again. Right? We can pencil that one in.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

I think they would still take LaMelo. Really? Interesting. Over Tyrese Maxey. I know who I would prefer, but... Well, let's say we were the conciliaries for the pick. Who would we tell them to take? I would tell them to take Tyrese Maxey. That would be my suggestion. All right, we'll give them the middle of the ball. So Chicago is at four. They took Patrick Williams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Who'd you have for here? I had somebody written down. Or you want me to give you the name? No, I think I might take Jaden McDaniels or Bane. I have Bane. You'd rather have McDaniels than Bane?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Bane would probably be more fun for you to work out with. Or it'd be super depressing. He's in the gym.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

So it sounds like you would add McDaniels or Bain, whoever's left over in this spot, which I agreed with. Yeah. Well, he went 28th, McDaniels.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Are you kidding? I think it sells the pick, but I...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Oh, yeah. Then I have Neesmith going to Washington. Any arguments? Over a Congo?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Quickly or Pritchard? Can't factor in contracts.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Let's run it back with Kyrie. All right, make the case. Let's hear it. Josiah, all is forgiven.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

I don't know. Why is Indiana doing that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

They wanted to get a good player back for him. All right, I'm going to give you mine. I didn't really give you one. You didn't have one. You didn't have one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

I have a good one. Can we talk about LeBron going to Cleveland? Sure. Can we just talk it out? Yeah. There's a couple ways it could go. It's a really interesting last act for him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

I did it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

It'd be nice if you would do it for the Lakers. Would it be? I'm off their cap now. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

I hate to do this, but.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

It's pretty interesting. In a weekend East.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

The goat.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

It feels too risky, weirdly, for Cleveland, who won 64 games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Like, oh, cool. We're going to have to trade Reeves. Although Luca, I don't know if you saw the pictures of Luca recently. I don't trust pictures.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Slim. Looks like he had some Caesar salad wraps. Some carrot juice. I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

Were you tired? Were you up late last night? Doing something in Hollywood? No. I'm just old.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

What is it? I don't play pickleball. That's what I would tell a jury. I've never, ever played pickleball.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

People are still mad about that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

That does look like me. I would, first of all, I would never wear a green shirt. Definitely. Oh, oh my God. You gave it to the kick.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

That's where I stand on pickleball. Well, it seems like some people take it a little too seriously.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A Rare NBA Sea-Change Season, the Haliburton What-Ifs, and a 2020 Redraft With Ryen Russillo

OKC.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

He's been really good. I want to back you up on that. Over the years, the text thread, when he has a very specific Wizards observation, it's usually always on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that's what it sounds like. I mean, at some point here, we have to mention Colette Ware.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

That's fine. And when he finally got minutes that one game where he was really decisive and you could just see all the special stuff with him, that he is a really good athlete. And then when he was coming off the screen, it was actually a little bit like Bronny in that Bucks game where it's like, okay, well, if he's going to be decisive, I didn't ever expect to see this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And maybe it's being decisive. You can't just throw away all of Bronny's attempts and say, oh, they were down 30. Who cares if he's decisive? Because he was decisive earlier in the game. Yeah. Um, but Reed had that game where he went off and you could tell he was reading how they were playing him coming off the screen, where I think when you're a young player, you're not getting any minutes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

You're not even like looking at that stuff. You're just going, all right, you know, what's the read and should I just get rid of this ball? Uh, he was really good with, with that. I also can see it as an email thing where young guard. Yeah. I'm just going to beat you up here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

yeah and they're fighting for playoff seating throughout all this mccain is 21 21 um yeah reads reads 21 this summer so you know a lot of these guys they come in a little bit older now but um Yeah, I think I'd still go Shepard just because of the shot making. But McCain, you're right. I mean, it was the only good story of the Sixers all year long.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Like, I guess I just don't feel like in March after the draft of saying the only guys that produce have to be ahead of all of the prospects that aren't even getting opportunities and just shuffling it based on shot attempts.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I think what's really interesting is how early the Dalton Connect story was. Are you kidding me? They got this guy at 17. And the fact that they traded him that soon is alarming. That they were like, we're good. Now, you could argue, hey, it was Mark Williams. Mark Williams version 2.0 has been better. We know the injury history with him. I could argue they should have still made the trade.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

and their need and thinking, okay, well, they've added Luka. Like there's a glaring need. Can you really make it through the playoffs with Jackson Hayes? But Jackson's life isn't entirely better now because you're playing with somebody like Luka. And it's just like, look, just show defensively, attack at the rim, run the floor all night. He doesn't rebound, though.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

The fact that he's turned into somebody who might be a backup for a long time, though, is a complete win considering how lost he had looked for multiple seasons. But I think back to the connect point is... those first few months and right. You know, he's a mess on defense and yes, he's older because of his, his college travels, but it's like, I can't believe this guy got him at 17.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Are we sitting here at the end of the year thinking he actually probably went based on the names you've already listed here. We hadn't even gotten to him that he kind of went in the range that you would still put him in today. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

The Klingon thing feels a little tough just because... When you look at Portland and the number of guys out there that want to shoot, Sharpe should be shooting. Simons is somebody that still bails them out of a lot of possessions. Denny's going to get his shots. Scoot isn't shooting. Nobody wants to be Chris Paul their second season of their career.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Banton had that stretch last year post-Boston where it was like, man, this guy can actually really score. He couldn't crack the rotation for Boston. And you'll watch him where I don't think anybody gets happier when the game clock is with the shot clock off. Banton's like, awesome. Now I don't have to pass this to anybody.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

So Klingon's in a really tough spot as far as like, you know, he might be the sixth best option when he's playing on the court offensively for them. So it, it, look, I think the considering like it went from, could he go number one to then he goes seven, you know, being stuck behind eight and Rob Williams update. He's got three to four weeks.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

It's like, Oh, there is Portland. Get this guy. Yeah. I know what you're saying. Like, you'd like to see some higher, like, ceiling moments from him offensively. But I don't know that it's entirely fair to, like, go, oh, you know, this might. But maybe those guys are right. Because I hear it, too. Like, this is, you guys were nuts. He wasn't this good. This is why he went where he went.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And, you know, he's a rotational big that they took this high. You know, like, man, that'll suck.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

No, but unfortunately the scattering report tracks on him. You know, he had some okay months as far as shooting, but he's also shot at 11% from three. He shot at 15% from three.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And in March, March, he's at 7%. Now he's, he's, he's not really taking them as much anymore. I actually think that's like one of the funniest things about young perimeter players. And they come in, they're like, Hey, you can't shoot. And it's like, well, Time to learn NBA games. And they just start taking threes because everybody just takes threes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And then you can see it get to some guys where you go, hey, maybe you shouldn't be taking even three a game. So the percentages are even worse now because he's taking even less of them. But I'm with you. I love the aggression. And that's what you saw before the draft. There is a no-nonsense part of him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Isaiah Stewart, I don't know if that's the best teammate for him to have or the worst teammate for him to have.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But Detroit has spacing around Cade. And that's what's opened up Cade. They defend. They shoot. So the Holland minutes, I'll admit, I love... the aggression that drives the body size of like mixing it up with guys. And like, there's never a moment of him where he's like deferring at the rim. Like he's trying to go for it, but you know, there's no way he's closing with the Pistons.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I would imagine in a playoff game. Cause he's just not going to provide any spacing. Like everybody imagined in a playoff series, how he would be defended. Like it just means there's another guy in Kate.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Wait, he did as a rookie? Yeah. Oh, I was thinking Jimmy Butler. My bad.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Because I loved him so much at St. John's.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Kaishan George? A lot of size. A lot of size for a perimeter guy. Quentin Post. Could have like a 12-year career. Yeah, I mean, incredible. Incredible scouting job. And now he's the preferable pick.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I think he has a really nice handle-drive combination stuff with him, but Utah has another group of guys that all just think, you know, here we go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I mean, he just... You know when he's out there, so we'll at least give him that. But, you know, it's just a lot of running around.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

You know, the knock was he couldn't shoot. He shot it better in the first half of the season as he's played more minutes. He shot it worse, but strokes there. but I would say he... Yeah, I don't know. Look, you don't have to listen to me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

You can listen to scouts because whenever you first started watching him, I mean, if there was an end one mixtape and that's all you were allowed to look at, he's the number one pick in the draft. Okay? So... The more you watched him, and scouts are like, we've been waiting for this guy to shoot for years, and he's never really been able to shoot it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But it wasn't just the dunk that he had on the baseline of Luka last night. There was another play later in the game where it was just really smart, like that secondary cut, which again, if you're playing with Giddey, Giddey's one of those players, it's like if you just stay active in the possession, if you just keep thinking that there's an option for you, you're going to be rewarded.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And he had a cut off the left side on a giddy drive on the right side where he was rewarded for staying active. And at that point, too, the Lakers... Yeah, that whole team moves, though.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

They're 31 and 40.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I thought we did a role play of that where I was like, we're still in.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Our pod got a little too white. We had a stretch there where I was like, dude, can you, do you guys want Doug McDermott? And I was like, yeah, I love Doug McDermott. Let's have him on. And they're like, you heard her.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I'm telling you, man, things are changing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

That Best Buy ad with that rapper, that woman, the buster, and then they went to her.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ,,,,,,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

,,,,,,,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Nope. And the Suns, who we started last Sunday with after that Lakers loss, they smoked the Raptors. They beat your Bulls. And of all the Cavs' losses, that was the most alarming one. The Orlando one, again, still shocked that they came back in the fourth quarter when you're looking at Orlando's offense. The Clippers game, the Clippers played so well that you just go, okay, you know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Sacramento's weird, like whatever. Yeah, I don't know. Sacramento wasn't great. Like, I know they didn't have Darius Garland in that game, and they didn't have Mobley for the Orlando game, but... The Sacramento's down Sabonis. They're down Levine, which is kind of a hit or miss anyway. It's like, would you rather play them with Levine? So DeRozan was terrific at the end of that one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I thought the last Phoenix game was the one with Cleveland. We were like, what are you guys doing? You've just lost three in a row. And the effort, especially in that third quarter, the rebounding stuff, like if you go through it, like none of these stats mean anything because it's only four games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But the Cavs of all teams in this four-game stretch, they're 27th on defense, not who they are, 13th on offense, whatever. They're 29th out of 30 teams in rebounding this week, the Cavs. And granted, Zoo had 20 and Mobley had three. Zoo demolished them. Just killed him like that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

That was one of those games where I wasn't watching it live, and I knew I wanted to go back, especially once they had lost. So I was like, okay, I want to watch this one tonight. And then it was like Durant had 19 in the third quarter. Like, what happened? So then it's like, okay, we'll make sure we get all this. And that was the smoothest – He looked like you were counting it up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And then at one point, I think it's 11 or 12 and be like, how is he going to get to 19? It's like, Oh, he's just going to make everything else to close out this third quarter. I did hear some of the defensive player stuff about Mobley in that one. And you can get into the switching against a Rosen where he got them twice. Um, And look, he got him once and then Mobley played the other one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And sometimes DeRozan is just going to make better shots than any kind of defense you can stretch in him. I guess Udonis was knocking him a little bit on the defensive player of the year thing, which just makes me think that Udonis is up there making sure people talk about Bam. But Mobley, Durant did not get 19 on Mobley in that third quarter, which I think is important.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But look, they were 56-10 when this thing started. They're 56-14. With two giant win streaks. Right. They were 18-3 against the West until this weird stretch. They go out West. It's almost April. Even without a deep playoff run with this group, this is not who they are. I don't know that you can point to this week if they lose to Boston and be like, oh, see, we knew. I think that's fair.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I think against DeRozan, And some of the minutes against Durant, like because I've talked about the Hunter trade too much, but I'll just say it one more time. At least there's an option for a big guy against the Jalen Brown Tatum, even Derek White. you know, Drew Holiday thing. Because that was four guys that you always felt like, hey, they're going to find somebody against Garland here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

A couple things. The Bulls were incredible last night. And the Lakers' defense is terrible, but it's the first game back with LeBron. Those games when he was out, their net rating was negative. Their offense was 21st. Their defense was 19th. They still went 3-4, I believe, is the record. But that was like an all-time game. I mean, Bezelis is so much fun. That baseline move he had on Luka was...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Like, no matter what you do, there's going to be a way to attack Garland. And if you're helping over that, now you're leaving Derek White or you're leaving Drew in the corner. Or now, you know, obviously Tatum kind of attacks Allen a lot in that last regular season game that they played against each other. So Hunter at least provided some kind of option.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

So I think he has to be the fifth in that playoff series against Boston. And that's really the only one that matters. I think there's other games where maybe they'll want the spacing of Struis against a different team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

May not matter. You know, I don't know how Ty Jerome fits in closing minutes of a playoff game next to Mitchell and Garland already out there. It seems a bit redundant, so you may not need it. but I could see Strews closing or even Dean Wade, who's so good defensively, man, like constantly watching him get hunted because he's a white guy. It's like the Hauser thing. It's got a Hauser-itis.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Except he's even taller than Hauser is. And, you know, he's another guy that provides you some kind of spacing. So if it's a bigger unit, so like, look, we've been over all these different rotation combos. I've talked about it too many times, but I'll admit on this West Coast swing, as I'm excited about the Hunter option for the Cavs, I also see him getting a little too upright.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I also look at him defensively going, am I giving him the benefit of the doubt of some defensive option against Boston? Just because he's tall. Exactly. Just because he's tall when in reality you can attack him too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I don't think it matters at all.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, of course.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but I mean, the standard that you're holding Cleveland to and saying this could be something that's alarming, then you're ignoring all the Knicks stuff. Unless, you know, look, not having Brunson clearly.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

The Phoenix game was alarming. The Sacramento one, you're supposed to win that one after the two losses already, but it was actually a close game. Like it came down to the final few seconds in that one. It was an old school DeRozan.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I think they've been too good. They put together that absurd streak. We know who the players are. It feels like this is their time. Not saying in their time, because some of the playoff seasoning shit annoys me. Where OKC, it's like, well, they haven't done it yet. OK, well, maybe for OKC, their seasoning was just that Dallas series last year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

was awesome. I mean, Giddey was close to a quadruple double, the first one since David Robinson.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, because I feel like we've always heard it over and over again. It's like, oh, the Pistons had to lose to the Celtics, and the Bulls had to lose to the Pistons, and it's just like on and on and on as if it never. Like, Golden State was rather new. Maybe their San Antonio series in 14 was enough seasoning for them to get through everything in 15 and the Cavs' injuries.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But, you know, did Toronto have seasoning, or was it just a really good year, and then they had their injury luck?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I would expect, too, like even when you watch OKC, if teams try to trap SGA, and sometimes they'll save it, right? Yeah. Whoever they play, especially early on, they'll probably just sell out and be like, let's kind of do this. I trust that there's enough playmakers, shot makers, and options off of that trap

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

that even if you're slowing SGA down, you're selling out and sacrificing something else that usually in NBA games, if you do it too long, like you can't ever go into a game. You're like, this is what we're going to do. Cause then it's like, all right, seriously. No, but you can mix it up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

It's been a good half-decade, a rocky start, but...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I have like 12 of them. You think we'll have time? I'm just kidding.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

No, I have three because I spent too much time on one, but I knew you'd probably have five. All right. So Houston takes Mobley number two instead of Jalen Green in the 21 draft.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

why not?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. I think this is going to be your favorite one. I mean, I know you have ones that you've done. So let's do it. So I ran through a couple of scenarios. There's plenty of, you know, as, as the ripples go through the lake off the pebbles velocity here. Uh, so that would mean no Jalen green.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

So, you know, we wouldn't be kind of stuck in this, what is Jalen Green riddle that's gone on for a really long time? And I think the nice way of talking about it is that I think he's still really important to their offense because he can, what he can get on his own. Like in today's NBA, him being able to get what he can on his own.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I still feel like I fell in love with him on those non-Shingun games at the end of the season last year. It was almost like exactly a year ago. I was like, this dude is figuring stuff out and it is a little weird and maybe worrisome about the Shingun part of it. Remember, Houston, so they take Mobley, too. So now there's not the green part of it. They took Shingun 16 that year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

So if they take Mobley, too, they probably don't take Shingun. So he's not on the team. I don't like doing just whoever is good after the pick that you selected. Shingun means you would have gotten this guy. But look, there's a Trey Murphy conversation who goes 17.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Even if we talk about bad teams and not wanting to draft based on need, I have a hard time believing that a team would take Mobley, then take Shingun going, we're just going to roll into it. Although who knows, like maybe Mobley would be the best thing to play next to Shingun.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Right. Because he was, it was a 22 first and a 23 first draft.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I got to tell you, I feel like I need to spend a weekend in a cabin somewhere and go back through all of the crazy, like, here's four or five first-rounders and just do a final tally. Maybe we need to do that on a slower day. It's like in August. I'll admit, there's just some I go, you've completely lost. Like, Marshawn Beauchamp? Like, what? What happened there? And I'll... Like, I'm sorry.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Like, I know I'm supposed to know all of this stuff, but...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I'm on it all the time. There's just some of these deals that like once all the picks are done through, I think we might even be a couple years away from it all. But going through like what the cost, like two trades that felt like the exact same cost and the price that was paid are two entirely different worlds based on how the picks convey, didn't convey. Anyway, so staying with this theme here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Cause I think we liked him so much. It was on the path to stardom, but yeah, it's pretty clear. He's not going to be the worst player that plays minutes in the NBA and he might stick around for a little while.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

You know, who knows what happens with Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher, because those are later first rounders as well. But I think the other side of this is, OK, so Jalen Green, not part of the equation. No shangoon. Maybe they take him. Maybe they put him next to Mobley. It's terrific. Who knows?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But then on the Cleveland side of it, does Cleveland sit there with Jalen Green going, we can't trade for Donovan Mitchell in twenty two?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Okay, okay.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that's the thing, right? So there's two swaps in there. That's pretty good. Yeah, because I don't think teams would take a Jalen Green – and then go, let's do the Mitchell trade now too either. And they would have Darius Garland on the team already too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

When Murray was potentially the most annoying human being in the world during the bubble on the sideline. Right. Well, that was a weird couple of weeks. I like that he's no longer doing that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Man, watching the Lakers broadcast is really funny because you would have thought the Bulls were the two seed in the East. When Patrick Williams comes off a curl on the right side and hit that three of all people, you're like, okay, I mean, Chicago's just rolling. So back to your blueprint thing. You might be right. You might be right. I think when the Lakers went...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Is this a weird way of having the Celtics win it in 23?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

That's a good one because that Warriors team in 23, it was... 22. 22, excuse me. That was... That was like this story. But as it was happening, it's still kind of like, I can't believe this team's going to win the whole thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I don't know about that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

How about this? Does Memphis have playoff seasonings?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

No, like when you think about Memphis and who they've been, where they've been in the seating, where they've been in some regular season moments, and it feels like they're on the cusp of like, are we getting a Western Conference Finals appearance out of this team?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

what, 18-3, and their defense was like a top three or four defense in the NBA. I was like, are they really this good? And now that they're leaking a bit defensively, LeBron in and out of it, you know, like now that he's back, let's judge them based on this. I always find this time of year, these last 10 to 12 games, this closing stretch of the season,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I think there's even the moments this year when you look at the standings, you're like, you know, if Ja is right, do you love their closing five? Like what's going to happen? By the way, nobody. I think people obviously with Denver, which I think Denver has actually become a little overrated in this OKC conversation. More than a little. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And I even guilty of it, probably going back less than two months ago, I was like, hey, we still got to include Denver in that one. And then the more I just kept watching, I go, you know what? It needs to be the three teams. And then it's Denver, maybe in their own group that Lakers push, maybe put Lakers with the Nuggets.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Houston, I think we all look at the offense going, what is that going to look like in crunch times of playoff games? But now with the Clippers resurgence, with the Timberwolves prior to those two losses. There's a lot of stuff in there where you get through a ton of teams before you ever get to Memphis.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And you could argue that they've had playoff seasoning, but you could also argue that they haven't really had any, whether it be injuries or getting blasted out so soon with this group, also because of injuries.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Over Harden? You would trust Harden more than Ja in the playoffs?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but I mean, is not knowing what you're getting an improvement over what Harden has been for his playoff career.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Now, you're right. He's honestly due. Because even as I've talked up the Clippers a little bit, I purposely left out that part of it because I didn't want to be negative again. I do it far too often. I can't help myself. He is one of my sliding doors, though, so I guess I'm not going to be able to help myself one more episode here. But honestly, like,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

If everybody were healthy with the Clippers and flying around, it's kind of the thing I used to do to Van Pelt. He would go, we don't do this enough. We don't do this. I'd be like, oh, really? Pick them. Then pick them. Pick them to win the series. Pick them to win the West. And he was like, I bullied him into it one time. He picked the team and then they lost. And he's like, you asshole.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And I was like, well, this concept of...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

anybody that talks for a living there's a lot of like transition into hey no one's really talking about this team but watching the Clippers be this awesome version of themselves again and that Cavs game and going through all the numbers and how everybody's making shots and Kawhi looking like Kawhi and Kawhi getting after Mitchell defensively in a couple huge possessions I was like holy shit and then I'm saying to myself like so you're gonna pick them you're gonna pick Harden to get to the Western Conference or you're gonna pick Kawhi to play for six straight weeks yeah

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But to finish the Denver thing, you think Murray healthy, they get the one in 22.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I don't want to say all of it is irrelevant, but I really feel like this is the time of the year where you can get tricked and it can be really misleading. And there can be just effort nights. You know, whether it was that San Antonio Knicks game a couple nights ago where Mama was insane. And the Knicks were trying, like you kept watching that game and being like, all right, enough of this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

There's you could do an entire like this Celtics stock. You could do maybe a 20 parter on all the what ifs with the nets over this because I went deep into the hardened contract stuff this morning and I did it last week and I was double checking with somebody on all the numbers of the extensions that he was turning down. Yeah. I like staying. Let's stay on on this side of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Which ring do you think is more important? Giannis getting that one or Jokic getting his in twenty three?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Like the Knicks are going to put together a run and then they're going to figure it out. You have Cleveland who's lost four in a row, which I don't know if we'll get to that with some of the Mitchell stuff. Oh, we will. Continue on the blueprint because, I mean, is OKC the blueprint to the Lakers or are they just a lot better than the Lakers?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I think it is, but I'm not, I'm not lumping you in with everybody else. Cause my first thought was it was Jokic because we were talking about Jokic with all these MVPs and back in the conversation and Giannis, you know, unfortunately it feels like no matter what he does, he's just not as much of the conversation, um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I think one year I was looking back to my MVP voting because I was looking at some other voters who I'm just like, you want to talk agendas? This is such a joke. And I don't know if I'll have a vote again this year. I hope you have a vote. You put in the work. You watch the games. You should get a vote. Well, I appreciate you saying that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But I look at it as something when you get done with it, I don't know how you could ever be like, yeah, nailed it. Because whenever you try to slot in Giannis... I bet you if you averaged out my MVP voting years, I would have Giannis higher than whatever his average finish would be. And yet with Jokic... I think it's a different tier that he's chasing. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And I think he would get more shit without a ring than Giannis would.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

It's a pretty simple formula. If we have... These conversations about you, the same thing with the quarterbacks, where it's like, OK, this guy is one of the four or five best quarterbacks with all these different things. When you lose in the playoffs, it's way worse than the 10th or 12th guy. And for Jokic, we're talking about like chasing top 10 in history.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I don't think we're talking about that anymore with Giannis. We probably were during that final stretch. I also think there'd be a part of this with Giannis. where it would become, can you win with this approach when it's like, well, dude, I'm so glad that he won because I see somebody that reads defenses really well. He stopped taking threes. I think he's a more efficient person.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Right. He wants to kill everyone in the other uniform the entire time he's out there. And it just, it's a bit like the Garnett thing because he keeps losing in the playoffs. You have to start questioning him. And I think the only thing that was fair.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

If you were doing the full scope of it, it's like, look, as great as Garnett was, he probably couldn't have always been the number one scoring option to close out a tied playoff game because he was always probably a little bit more apprehensive offensively than I wish that he was. But to suggest that he was a loser because he was losing all the time, was wrong.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I mean, those teams, you just go through it and you see who's like... I always like looking up who took the third most shots for this team. You're like Trenton Hassel.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But I want to finish the point, though, only because it would crush me as a basketball fan to watch the way Giannis plays and with all of the great things that we just talked about, right? All of the great things that it would then lead to... there's something wrong with him if he didn't have the ring.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

So I think you could make a really good argument for which guy would take more shit sans a ring here because Jokic is... like touching a totally different historic tier. I think Giannis is when it's all said and done, like, what is this guy going to be? Because the standard for him would be higher because of the way we're talking about him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Again, it feels a little dismissive of Giannis, but we're talking about like, Hey, top 10 of all time in this sport versus Giannis, who probably lands in the top 20. You know, I don't know. I mean, you know, this stuff better than I do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

They would get, it would be a good segment to do that too. Like we're just rank, we're just producing shows here right now is who are the most like go last 20 years, the most important rings. Like how important is Steph's fourth ring?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I think Steph's fourth is more important than Jokic or Giannis's first or only.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I voted him second last year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

You were, I enjoyed it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. And I know that I went back and looked at it a bunch of times and I was like, you consistently have him higher than other people do. And look on some stuff I'm impossibly stubborn. I will not change my mind. I don't care what you have to say on this. I'm not stubborn. Like I, I might be wrong, but I just felt like

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I don't know if the list is very long of dudes that are more impactful this season again than that guy. So, you know, we'll see what happens this year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I still think it has to be one of the three most horrifying things in basketball when Giannis has decided he's going to go to the... Well, that's the thing with the playoffs here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

You know, I still would rather play, you know, there's an argument to be made because the Pacers are like a mirror version of you as the Knicks. It's like, who knows what happens in that free for all.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I don't know. I just feel crazy picking the pace. I'd rather play Giannis than the Pacers, but I understand the part of it. And especially knowing the Knicks and who they are and going, Hey, the Pacers is going to run and not defend with us for seven games too. And then who knows what happens?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I'll just keep it with this off of the Nets thing, because I think it's a really good point, especially when those guys were playing and you were sorting the stats going to people. Because I think a little bit gets overstated in each season. We're like, hey, do you realize that this team is now on pace to be the greatest offensive all time?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Like Dallas had it a couple of years ago for this stretch. It's like, OK, but at no point do I look at this team. It's the rising tides thing as offenses get better and better every single year. But there was some net stuff that was happening with that group and they were winning all of those games. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

There was that stretch before the two threes that made it a 23 point game when JJ just was like, all right, enough of this. There was a stretch where LeBron was actually like, I was watching for that to be like, if he's just going to, hey, I'm going to get some cardio in. There was a stretch where you could tell on that one drive before it got to 23 points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

It's like, okay, he still thinks they have a chance in this thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

That's a little too harsh.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Hey, just full transparency. Have you tried to get him on? No, I had him on a couple of years ago. You haven't requested him on recently? No. Last year? Why? Well, I thought maybe with the Celtics in the finals.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I know we're doing sliding doors, but we need to stay on this because there's a bunch of things that you said that I totally agree with. But I've also noticed the podcast that he's going on, Is he going on with podcasts knowing that sports guys that know the story a little bit better... Wouldn't hammer him on it. Right, right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Because it's like, hey, when you sold the team... Again, if the Mavs go for $4 billion in Dallas... It wasn't $4 billion.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But if the Celtics go for 6.1, the Mavs should have gone for higher. Yes. It's my point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

They own their arena.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And then which so many NBA teams and I just heard McMahon on with Windhorse and Bontemps on this. And he was talking about just the wording of the transition of the front office of like, OK, this group is buying it, but I am going to run this team. And there's all these very specific quotes about how. Cuban's going to keep running it. I don't know. Was that to a piece of the fan base?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Nobody believed it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

McMahon was using like quotes and they were all like, they all sound ridiculous. Listen, a year later of Cuban go, okay, this is how it's going to be handled. And then, you know, I'm going to run all these different things. And as I made fun of it in the moment on this podcast, and there were so many people around the NBA being like, why does he keep saying this?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Like, this is definitely not going to happen. And it's exactly how it played out. So when the Celtics, Sale was announced, which I want to ask you more about. The first thing I thought about in that press release was I wonder what isn't true. Now, maybe they're telling the truth, maybe.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And I still think despite some of the blips that you're you're hammering Cuban here for, I think it's a it's a much better track record than a lot of the other options that you've had. But you'd look at long term ownership. There's no way you're giving Cuban a failing grade at owning the Mavs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Jalen Brunson signing with the Knicks is not in the first paragraph or whatever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Or the Mavs. There are some memes going around that are like a reminder of Mike Tirico's greatest lesson that he ever shared with me was the points you don't make make the points you do make that much stronger, which is still something I struggle with. But it's really good. If you have one point, sell it. But don't sell it with .567 points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

that aren't really as strong and almost hurt the strength of one, two, three, and four to hammer home your point. So, hey, Luka's gone. So it was like the Mavs fumble. Have you seen this meme? So it's Luka, and then it's Brunson, and then it's Grimes, who single-handedly is like screwing up some of these lottery odds for the Sixers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But then it's Przingis, who, by the way, they couldn't wait to get the fuck out of there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Derrick Jones Jr. was over there. You're like, okay, well, I mean, you know, he's a nice player, but there's just some dudes in that picture where I'm like, actually, you're kind of ruining the point, but you just thought it would look better with seven players instead of just three. Do you believe the transition plan for the Celtics and WIC?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Because I could see where a group comes in and goes, WIC has been, again, I think on that short list, we know that he's cared. We know that I think he gets it in the way that fans would want your owner to get it. They have always spent money when they've had to spend money.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

They're staring down the barrel of this massive tax bill, which I think would be sort of weird for WIC to go like, hey, now that you have to pay this bill, I would recommend not trading any of these players and keeping this window open.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I don't know what the- Or it was played the way it's supposed to be played. Is it when somebody writes you a check for billions that- Guess what?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

If Luca is drafted by Atlanta and he stays with the Hawks, does that mean no Dyson Daniels? I didn't know you had a Luca one. So I had another Luca one with Atlanta. I don't know how different it really is. He's probably still on Atlanta. Trey is with Dallas. They likely don't have a finals run in 24. But I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

That one's not nearly as exciting as the Luca one that you did with everything else. So why don't you just share your last one that you think is great?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

An Ayton trade probably happens, though.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Dame's been better offensively this year. There's no comparison.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Let's stay... What if... They do the Miami deal. Does that mean Butler gets extended? Does it mean that Miami's still in the mix? Does it mean that Butler's happy? Does it mean that Golden State has no other option?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

You don't think Miami wouldn't just like, hey, we'll just run it to pre-agency and see what's out there for you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Well, having another like all NBA, not that Dame's making all NBA this year, but... having somebody like his, his shot making would certainly help him a lot easier.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I think there's some assumptions in that though. Like what if Dame comes in, gets his 30, isn't playing defense and becomes a sun situation.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. It's not Miami suns. Like you just assumed a lot about what they would be doing in the East.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

All right, fine. Then let's say it's Butler and Dame. With Bam, no hero. Is that a top six team in the East right now?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Is he still second row Joe to you guys?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I imagine Mitchell, Mitchell would have started getting loud. I think at some point, I don't think that was going to be up to just Utah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Does LaMelo... Does LaMelo... Does he actually look like a future Hall of Famer? 16, 17 a game? Wide open threes all the time? Yeah. He's passing over the top. Like, could LaMelo actually... I know he's a stat-filling guy, but would he look like a really nice... Turns into this amazing winning guy. Complimentary, fun, winning player?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I'm not ready to put Castle one. even though I know he's Rookie of the Year, and there's just a toughness and maturity to his game that feels like a really good bet as far as the floor. But I like what I've seen from Risa Shea, so I still think he's number one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I had Bob Myers on and talked about that pick after. And then was like, who would you have taken then? Because I was like, it's just Kaminga felt like the competition he was going up against. And he was like, well, who would you have taken? I go, it's totally unfair for me to say like after Franz has had to start to his career that, oh, you should have taken Franz.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

So we came to some kind of agreement with that. But I think it's a lot like these conversations that guys will have and they go, okay, but if it's a lot like the Jalen Brown thing with Ainge, if with this body type and this kind of athleticism, is there enough there that we see that we can build on? that this could be like a really special perimeter player where you're taking him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

That's what I think breaks a lot of ties in these war rooms. And then we look back being like, how do those guys fuck that one up?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

It was such a bad fit, though, with Embiid. It just didn't work. Can I give you the trades? Yeah, because they had to get... Well, this pick, by the way, that we talked about before.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Tough one. Tough one, but it was ugly and you felt like at the time it was worth moving. They had to do something. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, which I think is to be expected. There are just nights where I see him in his activity. I think what you always worry about with somebody who's just still an unknown is, like, is he going to be overwhelmed by all this stuff, you know, physically? Is he just going to sit in the corner?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, right, because it's two transactions there where it's a negative because you're getting off of Kemba's disastrous thing, but you're including the pick to take him back. I'm just so glad that Al got that second act in Boston because it was this

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

deal where you know he's just not going to be appreciated the right way when he's signed at a max contract but it's so hard to sign any free agents like you should be thrilled especially at the time and age that Horford was at it's like you can get this guy like I hope he says yes to our max offer and then you know look the counting stats aren't going to be good enough for a lot of fans when it's Al Horford and then right for him to extend it this far like even a couple years ago I was like when is this thing going to be over like can you really ask to run him and

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

this way. And I mean, thank God for Horford because without him, I really wonder what they would look like to have, you know, have that kind of insurance against Przingis where you need, you need somebody who's really good to play all those games that, you know, Przingis is going to miss.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Um, not really. Not really. No, not with St. John's. Most anticipation I've had for St. John's at 25 years. Already told that story about St. John's last Sunday. I did not leave my apartment and leave guests behind this time around. I knew that shooting thing was probably going to really hurt him. I didn't expect that it was going to happen in the second game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

against Arkansas but Lewis was just really bad and you could even see at some point Eduford grab him be like you need to wake up you need to wake up so I think on the whole you need to look at it this way if you're a St.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

John's fan you've had nothing to be this excited about for a quarter century Patino is everything and that as advertised considering he's won everywhere he's gone so it's disappointing but they won the Big East they beat UConn twice they're back on the map They're likely only going to get better until Patino probably gets back into like, you know, who knows what job is open to him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Because, I mean, look, even when you did the draft tape of him, there was plenty of games you're like, is this guy just going to sit in the corner? Like, what the hell's going on here? And it's not like I was watching 20 full games of him before the draft, but... it was pretty clear early on that his, his comfort level was a little bit higher despite, you know, his physical disadvantages.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

You never know because Patino will just take him. But if he's content and wants to stay in St. John's, I think that they'll be even better. So it was a really fun season for a program that... At some point during every year when I would watch them, I wouldn't really talk about it all that much.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I just wanted to enjoy it as a fan because there's very few things that I still have in my life that are just about, hey, this is going to be a fan experience. I don't really have to talk about it. I'm not breaking down St. John's after a bunch of those games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

It brought me so much joy this year to feel like you were a part of it again, the way I did when I was a kid, the way I was in college, the way I was in my 20s, that there's just too many positives for me to be too upset about losing to Arkansas. Because they also can't shoot. They were like 340s out of 364 teams. So you knew this game was coming. Again, I didn't think it'd be after one round.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And if he did, he'd be old and gray. I would imagine a lot of guys are going to be walking through that door, though. And if they had one, even a bench guy who was a five who could stretch the floor a little bit. I know Florida just escaped UConn today.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Because I think he's one of the most crazy competitive people ever. I think there's another level to him that's even beyond the most competitive people that you know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

But I don't know, man, I've just seen it too many times. I've seen it too many times with him where he's just like, okay, what's the next challenge? And I think that's just kind of the way he's wired. It doesn't even matter how old he is because the guy is, you know, arguably the greatest college basketball coach of his era. You know, I know there can be arguments made for other people.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I mean, this guy went to Greece after Louisville and you were like, okay, we're never going to hear from this guy again. And then he shows up because Iona's like, we'll do it. Yeah. And then he went early cross in two years. He has St. John's as a two seat and winning the big East. So yeah, look, man, I would think there'd be a lot of people that would want to go there. The New York thing for St.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

John's has always been a little difficult because you'd always think this is automatic, but then for the longest time, the New York kids actually didn't want to go there. They wanted to go somewhere else. The setup wasn't necessarily that great. The NIL part of it, you know, you can get into the USC thing. Like why wouldn't

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

why wouldn't must be able to just get whoever he wanted to in LA and the marketability of LA and SC and all that stuff. And it's like, man, I actually think it's a little bit more complicated. I'd also argue the SC campus situation is, is better than maybe St. John's over the years, but I don't care. Like I'm not, I was bummed out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And I just think at that size and that kind of shot making there's a, that's the reason why that guy goes number one. And that's why even through a rookie season, there'd still be a lot of teams. It'd be like, give me the ceiling of that guy, not just his spot of ability, but off the dribble at that size.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

They lost, but I was so happy about this year that I'm going to let that part of it. I think there could be some kind of memo to Spike Lee though. Like we're good. We don't need you decked out in St. John's gear.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

You don't get enough attention. The Knicks thing has been great for Spike.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

There's no way he was rooting for St. John's when he was playing Georgetown. Is my guess.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Which one am I doing? What time?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Thursday. Thursday. What time is the theater open?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I got so nervous when somebody sent me the itinerary and they're like, they want me to do the town again. I go, I'm not doing that. No, no, no. I'm never doing the town again. We're doing Good Will Hunting on Thursday. I was on the rewatchables this week. So I got that coming up in the schedule.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I was in the car too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

See you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And yeah, I mean, it's overused, but he appears to get it in a way that you hope when you're drafting somebody this high, like, okay, like, You know, there's certain guys that come in and immediately, you know, like, oh, and I don't have any of those concerns when I watch him. So I don't like even if Castle would probably be the popular pick and maybe everybody's right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Do you understand the ceiling part of it for his size and shooting?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Well, you're probably driving home thinking Bozellas last night. Am I right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I guess that's the SAR part of it is he's just getting so many more opportunities because they don't care. But for the last four months, he shot it really well from three and he takes those threes. I do worry a little bit at times when I've watched the Wizards where if it's a close game, you know, I don't know that they really care.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

And I'm like, Hey, SAR is going to get into his bag and pull up. Right. But he also might think like, if I don't shoot it, Jordan pool's just going to shoot it. So I might as well do this. So, you know, I think always the fear is whenever you're drafting kind of these unknowns and even research, when we were doing the draft, I was like, this is just crazy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

When you think about this draft, like somebody like this is going number one overall, but then it was, you know, right back to the argument of SAR or Reed Shepard, who can't even get minutes with Houston right now, who I think of Reed were playing somewhere that didn't care about, we would probably still be leaning Shepard third.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, yeah, or, you know, whatever team. Like, Veselas is just not going to have... Veselas is just not going to have the opportunities that Saar has. And Saar's rebounding, three-point shooting, like I've talked about. He's really only had one bad month with all of this. You know, it wasn't a great start, but you could say the same thing for Risa Shea.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I mean, Risa Shea's shot really, really well now the entire second half of the season. So I'll still go Saar third because... Just at that size and that shooting and how much I personally think that you're a completely different team when you have a five-out center, when you have somebody that can stretch the floor a couple years down the road projecting what you can do in the playoffs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I think it just opens a lot of stuff up. As much as we all like what the Clippers have done that went against the Cavs, I kind of get back to as great as Zoo is and we all appreciate him, does it kind of limit your looks when you don't have a guy that can stretch at the five? And Sar is... That is the hope is that they drafted somebody like that that can play defense. He runs really well.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

A 2024 NBA Redraft, Plus 2020s Sliding Doors With Ryen Russillo

I mean, he runs the floor all night long. And I think that was that's why that guy went to even if it was really choppy watching him. He took the shots, which I guess is good. But now he's hitting them enough to justify like four to five attempts a game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So it changed the title. It used to be this thing where the NBA withdrawal date was so much later than the NCAA one. Yeah. And it was done on purpose because the coaches would just vote on it and say, we want to know ahead of time. And then I think they changed it where either it's the same date or it aligns. I think the unknown part of it, like if it were a franchise, you go, absolutely not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I want nothing to do with this. Um, Maybe, but you have new ownership in Charlotte. You have a wing of running things with the Wizards. So there's at least things that you feel like, hey, the guy's making these decisions. It's different than what it was before. So even though these teams aren't exactly... So if you hated one of those scenarios that much...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

would you actually delay it for NIL money that still would probably be close to what your rookie scale would be as a first? Again, I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

No, I mean, I was looking at it this morning where I was like, which team, if we're just being honest, be like, they don't deserve him. Like how you used to get mad when Cleveland, you just said Philly. Philly. Philly is the answer. It's the only answer. They don't deserve him. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, because you did a Cleveland rant. I think it was the third time they had won the lottery and you were on TV. Oh, on TV.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

The most positive thing that you can say about him is that he's actually not going to need the ball to impact games immediately.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So whenever you think about a draft pick that could be the face of your franchise, I mean, because if we're talking like best case scenarios and him being this prospect that we've all been hearing about, even though there was a chance, I think there was conversation beginning of the year of like, could the Rutgers guys surpass him?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And then the year plays out and you're just like, okay, well there's obviously everybody's on the same page. Now there's no question that he's the number one guy, but, Your Tatum thing, at least now, I think actually rings true because you're like, hey, Tatum's playing point guard for this team. And Flagg initiates so much of their offense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But he also, one of the things I loved about Paolo is that Paolo could have taken every shot and been justified when Duke was in those tight games, but Paolo still wanted to set up other people.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

He had what I think is like star quality shot making stuff, but yet a deferential thing that actually works well with other talented players where I think young guys have to get to a point where like, hey, you just can't Like, cool scoring, bro, but you can't just do all of this on yourself and ignore everything else that's going around you. Cooper cannot take shots and impact the game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

His passing is insane. His instincts are great. His footwork, all the athleticism, the body control, and the shooting ended up being even better, I think, than people thought this year. So he's really like a plug-and-play guy. I guess the only knock would be almost like the Wimbinyama thing where you go, okay, in five years, is Wimbinyama, like,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

figuring out a way to score on his own in the Western Conference Finals. I think clearly, you know, that's like being really hard on Wimbanyama. And I think with Cooper, because if you're going to be one of these, there's not 10 guys in the league that probably fit this standard. I don't know how many you think there are, but... OK, we have a real dude. We're actually like in this not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Hey, every year we have a chance to win a title, but we're at least like we look like a conference finals team because that's the hope when you get one of these guys. And is he somebody that can score in all those busted up possessions? And that would be maybe the only thing where you go ceiling wise, like he projects to maybe do that. But that's what will make the difference.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Are you saying MJ and Magic, could they have been better had they lost their title games?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

We're saying two different things, though. We're saying two different things on the Cooper, how this sticks to him. I'm looking at it as he's going to be at the gas station in Maine when he's 60. And some guy's going to come up to him and say, I can't believe you lost that game as if he hasn't heard it his entire life.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

When I was watching him and like, I think, I don't know if I was reading this correctly, but when Shire had him in the timeout and they were getting ready to inbound, I think he said to some, like, it's your time, right? Like, go, like, go make it happen. Yeah. And how different now, granted, they still have to be Florida, which is, you know, a really good college basketball team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So maybe we're assuming a lot. But he's going to be reminded of this probably every day in some fashion for the rest of his life. And it's going to be brutal. And you're right. I think the thing that we're separate on is that it's not going to stick to him as if it's a knock on who he is as a player. And he's, you know, he has this great NBA career. None of this is really going to matter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Plenty of guys have lost, they've lost, but this was just such a dramatic loss to blow it this way. And to have somebody.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Is this the Memphis, Kansas one? When they don't make their free throws?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

older, not jump off the screen, that's your athleticism. So I think that's where I look back at some of the mocks and there was one in the beginning of this month where he wasn't even a second round pick. Right. And that's where again, late to this, but the Tennessee SEC tournament game, I was like, holy shit, you know?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And then he's basically been that the entire time we talked about the Texas Tech shot. But what he can do, I'm not comparing him to Steph, okay? But what makes Steph a great shooter is that Steph can have a bad foundation, that Steph can change the release of it, even though it all kind of comes back. You know, it's almost like a Dirk thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

If you looked at Dirk's foundation, you would never say, hey, do what that guy's doing. but everything was always adjusted for whatever the release was going to be. So there's some guys that are just catch and shoot. They can never move.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

They develop the muscle memory enough that if they catch and shoot in a certain spot, they put up like a really good number, but I don't know that it makes you a well-rounded shooter. And what we see with Clayton is that he can be that, that corner three that he hit from the left side or excuse me, it was the right side. So right corner,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

He's adjusting all of his like arm and release point to get away from the contest. And then it's natural. He also had a drive in the left side where he had read it and he knew what was going to happen and he knew he was going to get fouled. So he's preparing himself to even throw the ball up at the rim. And it wasn't even an and one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But there's just stuff with him that even if he's not off the page, or I should say off the charts athletically compared to some of the other guys, he seems to keep getting past everybody the entire time. And there's some players when you're doing the draft, you're like, I don't know if he's the most dynamic or the most quick.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And it's like, okay, but he just keeps getting past everybody every single time. And his pace and his comfort in the biggest moments... I haven't done it, but I guess I'd have a hard time believing that there's 30 guys that go ahead of him, even at the age.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Just to add to it, though, because I've been doing it now where like on FanDuel, I hedged it with a Florida-Houston, Florida over Houston plus 750 title. So I was like, I love Duke. I love them in this game. And then you're sitting here going, I still don't feel like I was wrong. There's plenty of games where you're like, I'm just wrong on this one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So yeah, I got a little title game insurance, so we'll see how it goes. But doubting Houston is a dangerous sport right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I still can't believe they lost it the next day that I'm sitting here. I know you and I both bet it, and I don't bet a ton of games, but when I saw the line come out and I had watched, you know, look, I'm certainly far from an expert on college basketball, but I just thought based on the size...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I'm not. I think it's the hardest award to vote on, to be honest with you. With no Wendy? Well, yeah. I mean, he was just going to win it. But there's a lot of stuff that Draymond does do that is really important that may not show up. His switchability, that stuff's crazy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Defensive player of the year, clearly watching all year, I have thoughts, but I definitely make the rounds with coaches, assistant coaches.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Uh, and then the numbers, when you start looking at some of the matchup stuff, which, you know, at times I think can be packaged to be a little misleading. Um, but it's, it's a Dortmobile thing for me right now, but I'm going to make the calls and, and figure it out. But I, I just think it's such a hard thing to vote for.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

advantage that do CAD and three lottery picks, you know, like, okay, four isn't, isn't that bad of a number in the whole game. I'm like, you should have bet more. You should have bet more. Like you were so right about this, you know, and anybody that, you know, gambles enough, you just have games where you go, wow, I saw this the worst possible way. And immediately, you know, you're fucked.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I mean, Unicorn is like... Who was the OG Unicorn?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Hey, I saw something the other day. They're trying to say you could bench 500 pounds. Did you find that in any of your research? That would be really impressive.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

No chat? Didn't play enough? Not eligible? What do you need, 35 games?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

If they have a playoff run and he plays as well as I think he's going to play, there's going to be some real chat conversations. I don't know if they'll get as absurd as DeAndre Ayton potentially being a top 15 player in the Suns finals run of a few years ago. That seems inaccurate with further information.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But the rim protection numbers, the fact that he can play five out, the fact that he goes coast to coast the other night against Detroit and then three point shooting. Yeah. So I, I just, Hey, just telling the world, prepare yourself for some big time chat projections. If OKC pulls this off.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But just an aside, a man's like four of these for me. And then I had to figure out how to whittle it down. So I don't think a man's a bad choice.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And on this one, I sat there the whole time being like, I'm so smart. I'm so smart. I would say there was two moments that hinted at what was going to happen. That barrage of threes at the end of the first half kept Houston in it. So they did good. Despite being outplayed in the first 20 minutes, they went at halftime feeling good about themselves.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Not that this team necessarily needed the confidence boost, but being the dogs, but they're a super aggressive team with a lot of confidence. And then really, I think Cryer... And those guys, like the two guards just hitting threes, you're like, how is this game not 20? How is it not 25 points?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And then I think once you saw that Zion James just could not, he was not comfortable inbounding the ball. And they kept going to this same flashing thing to the corner where they were running the inbounds catch to the corner.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. ,,,,,,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I guess I was shocked. And some people even said, like, after James hit his head. But it was very clear he was freaking out trying to inbounds it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

,,,,,,, We didn't want to give him up. Right, right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And Shire was just fine with it, I guess. I know. Then it actually happens, and then you have the foul on Cooper. But look, this team was up. They gave up a 9-0 run with 35 seconds. They didn't hit a field goal for, like, the last... What, 10?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I was like, that guy doesn't like passing. That's a really good one. He really doesn't. But then his assist percentage number on the advanced stuff was so much higher than I thought it would be. I was like, all right, that's not. The numbers don't back up the eyes on that. But I'm just telling you that guy's not. He's thinking shoot first. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

If you've watched enough Portland, which some of us like watching Portland play. So then I looked at top 15 in field goal attempts, not per game, just raw field goal attempt total. I did the same. Jalen Green's fourth. He's taking the fourth most shots this season in the league. Is that true? Yeah. Jalen was awesome the other night against OKC. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

They need him. But if you go by the 1,394 shots, that's, again, 1,394 shots this year. So I looked at it. I was like, all right, let's say top 15 shot attempt guys total on the season this He's the only one under 300 assists. DeRozan is the only one close to him at 316, and Jalen's at like 260-something.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Now, you could also say, hey, scale it out to 16 field goal attempts, and then Jaron Jackson Jr., who I love. But then I go, okay, but nobody's giving it to Jaron Jackson Jr. saying, all right, now set up the offense. Maybe we don't have a black hole.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I was surprised. But what are you asked to do? But when you start getting into like 7% assist ratio, like Jordan Clarkson had some years. You're like, man. Not a lot of playmaking there. So some of it feels a little bit like, okay, but once the ball is passed to me, meaning you and I, what do you morons expect me to do? You realize how I fit into our offense?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I'm not getting the ball to set it back up. So I think it has to be on somebody who you're still expecting to maybe make a few plays here and there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Actually, if you were playing 36 minutes a game, I feel like any rookie playing 36 minutes a game is probably in the running for rookie of the year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And I kept thinking like, Of all the times that I'll admit the disconnect of me never playing in any game that ever mattered in this sport that I'm in love with and is basically my career, And then somebody who did play is capable of suggesting that because one guy gets triple doubles, it's the same as the other guy getting triple doubles. I just... It makes my head explode.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Okay, I can't... I still don't have an answer as to how it even happened. So Perk's been on a bit of a heater. He had SGA and the Defensive Player of the Year conversation the other night when they were talking MVP. Oh, no. Yeah, it was like, why is SGA... not being mentioned for defensive player of the year. And I thought like, well, cause it's March and we know that he isn't.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And he's actually, if Wallace isn't on the floor, like the one guy, not to say that he's a bad defensive player, but he's, he's not even like one of the three or four best defensive players on his own team. Although he's gotten defensive, all defensive team votes. I think it was a couple of years ago.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

He's a good defensive player, but yeah, he's got, he's on the same team with Dort and Caruso and Wallace. Right. So yeah, That made me like I had a relapse on the Jokic Westbrook thing when I was watching that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And so then I saw the Marcus Morris stuff with Jokic and I was like, you know, first takes probably sitting there going, is there anybody that we can find that's kind of in the mix, played, not playing? Maybe we can figure out if he fits in to what we're doing. But like back different background than Jokic. Like, is there anybody available who could come on and just shit on Jokic a little bit?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Right, it's his brother. But is there anybody that would fit into what we're doing here? And it's like, I've got the guy. I've got the guy. And they must have been high-fiving him, being like, you fit in perfectly to what we're doing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Could you say not top 50? That was really good. Because when I saw the clip, it was like, no way. Marcus Morris kind of shit on Jokic a little.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I'm going to blame myself for this one, but I wrote out a Tumani Kamara open that I didn't do on my pod.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. I probably would have led with the guest on the tweet of that episode. Kamara. Underrated?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

You know what? Off of that, though, I think we could bring it back to the Luca thing that we haven't even brought up yet, is that when it happened, all we were doing with whatever contacts you had was like, did you know he was available? And it was like, no, no. Did you hear this? No, no, he wasn't. He wasn't or whatever. And then it like took a couple of weeks. No calls.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

It took a couple of weeks for us to be fed the idea that he was offered for Ant and that he was offered for Giannis. And then it became, again, it depends on who you believe, because I don't know that any of this stuff was officially reported. But the sense you got from it, I think you and I would agree.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So I'm assuming a bit here where it was like, yeah, a team called us about a trade, but they didn't say he was available.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

We had bad years for this. Yeah. Yeah. That's why I just gave you that timeline. What's been going on. Let's see. I'll go Chet ceiling. But if you want to ding him for not playing what he's at 29 games and Reeves has had to really carry.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

There's such a recency bias with awards. I think Jimmy Butler needs to be recognized here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

It started in the playoffs last year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

He was slow, though, in that Lakers game. And it was something that maybe I wouldn't notice as much if I wasn't there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I've learned to love Shaq. I didn't really appreciate him when I was younger. I guess I did from a basketball sense, but I was never necessarily rooting for him. I think at that point, once he was at the Lakers, I was certainly more into my Commonwealth phase. So it wasn't likely that I was going to root for him. So I've learned to love him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

he feels incredibly sincere, you know, somebody that's a public figure, his honesty, the way he's talked about stuff. But I mean, just, I'd say you think you're better than me would be Shaq against anyone that's currently playing. Like he just can't help himself and we'll have these games that are just incredible performances. And then somehow the conversation just pivots back to that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

They couldn't guard him. And if I were a producer, I'd go, dude, you have figured it out. You're great on this show. It was a really tough show to come into. You know, in the beginning, I thought with Shaq that first year is bad. Yeah. Is this going to work? Is he looking at those other two guys being like, I was a better player than you. So I should be a bigger star than you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But it's like, hey, Charles, it's just the star of the show. And then everybody kind of plays off of that. And for whatever reason, it almost feels so important that they developed him. He's done a great job developing himself on television. Everybody behind the scenes, it's really important that he's there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And I would say to him, if I were on the show, just be cautious of playing the same note over and over again. Especially when you have a night in the NBA that should be celebrated.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

No, the guards killed him. And yeah, it's one field goal, that Cooper three with the last 10 and a half minutes. So that's really the headline. We can talk about a call or inbounding. It's like, how does Duke go 10 and a half minutes with only one made field goal throughout of it? I think there's also different discussions. They don't double Cooper on the last play.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I'm saving Ingram for something else. That's totally fine. Um, marketing surprise. You would nominate, although it's a bit alarming, but I think that team had just so many on ball guys that were young and they were like, we want to lose anyway, so we're not going to worry about it. Uh, the Patrick Williams one sneaky deserves like a lot of credit here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. And he's just, He had a dunk that the other night and I was like, this is awesome. They're also down 30, I think, to Oklahoma City within minutes of the game. But the Embiid and the Embiid timeline of it is really why there shouldn't be anybody else receiving votes for this one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I have a really soft spot for Andre Blatch. We used to talk about him all the time when Van Pelt and I did Wizards Daily, because if you go back to those Blatch years, that group, and then I followed Blatch on Twitter. The Blatch years? That was your first book. Yeah, I didn't get... I mean, I still have to pay the advance back, but...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

They had a thing where they would be on the road and I think one guy on the team complained about having to pay a cover charge going to a club. They were just constantly sharing with you everything you could assume about where their heads were at that season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So Blatch's profile pic was incredible. So I followed him immediately. And then every now and then he would just drop these gems and then like they'd had a bad losing streak again. And I felt bad for him because he was like just walking around trying to figure it out. It was like late at night. The other thing, I don't know if this could ever be a category. I don't know if it's a segment.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But it could be horniest guy on Twitter because I'll tell you with the for you feed, you know, look, if you see somebody cute, you might look at a profile picture. Right. And then next thing you know, you're like, hey, this guy likes cute girls, which I think makes makes, you know, checks a lot of boxes for a lot of American males out there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So then you'll see like a picture and you'll go, oh, this guy follows her. And then if I'm being honest, I've kept track of it a little bit. Oh, I'll go. There's a few dudes that are not afraid to hit that follow button. And it just does circle back to the wizard. So I would like to have you keep it Andre Blatch forever just because I like talking about him. I made a great case.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

If he hits that shot, does everybody go, hey, Houston, how do you play that straight up when you know that the ball is going to him? That didn't hurt him. There was also the debate of after the technical free throw by Knipple, Houston played it straight up. And my thing is always at home, it's kids, although some of the guys are a little bit older now. But I would foul.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

We'll see. He's your guy. I understand. We've been through this before. Okay? We know how it works. He's your guy. He's given you a lot of special moments. So you're going to defend his guy. But I would say to the Memphis fans that are confused on why Jot would be fined versus other players doing the same salute, like...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

All you have to do is go through the timeline and all the stuff and the Jalen Rose interview and all the things that he had to go through, which, again, he brought on himself. And it's fine. Like, I'm not watching him going, oh, I don't like this guy because all this shit in the past.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But it's fairly common sense that you end up being punished based on how often you kind of fall into this category.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So Detroit's the only team in a full season to triple their win total. So 14 and 68 last year. And I probably said too many times last season going as bad as they are. How are they worse than Washington roster wise? Like this team has so many other things that I like about it versus what the Wizards had. And they still ended up finishing behind them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

which speaks to the money thing which you may never get a chance to change that at work because it's not just going to be on record it is about a dude who took a job who apparently had no interest in learning about his own players like it isn't a it's a comical and they're still taking shots at him a year later anyone associated with that team is still pretty bummed out about how he approached the job last season

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. For a variety of ways. There's a technical thing historically on tripling your win total because the Bobcats in 2012 finished at seven and fifty nine and then went twenty one and sixty one the next year. But remember, that was a shorter season. Yeah. So they had less games to play, less chances. There's not a Bob. Are you going to do a Bobcats documentary or would that be straight to?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Is anybody going to do that? Have you been probably one?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Seems right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I would delay the game out as much as possible because I would expect the younger guys to just miss free throws. And Houston plays it straight up, which I think We could debate it, and granted, people will just play the results and say, hey, it's smart now. But in that moment, maybe Samson's going, hey, these guys have been tight for a half an hour. So let's not foul them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Without knowing the nominees, I had Beal and that you're dealing with somebody who seems totally happy just going, I don't care. Yeah. And that's dangerous.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Do you think there's any scenario where he goes, all right, I know you don't want me to be here and you guys brought me off the bench for this stretch and this hasn't been a good season. I mean, I don't know. I mean, what's the market for him on top of everything else? Does that fix their problems? Probably not because he's at this point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

By the way, when he also was out for that stretch, there was this kind of tease Phoenix moment where they were... I liked the way they were playing again for like 10 days or something like that. Yeah, and then they got killed and Durant got hurt and the moment was over.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Off-arm drives from the offensive player. It's, you know, this isn't my big rant like last year where I just kind of lost my mind on that podcast, but I think we're all better for it. But this is just, there's certain players, it's kind of the PJ Washington where guys are hitting the hole like a running back. and they have that forearm locked out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Davion Mitchell had one the other night where he drove and hit a defender so hard and then got the shot up, and there was a little bit of contact coming back towards him. And Davion looked at the refs like, are you guys kidding me? He touched me. And you're like, dude, you're mad? You off-armed this guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Let's let them run the clock out. They're going to run it down. They're not going to get a great look. And if we play them straight up, at this point, maybe it's better than... Because they would have been down six points. If they foul, who knows? He makes it two. Then it's probably over.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So I think there's a little cleaning up that has to be done on how aggressive the off-arm is of the ball handler on drives.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

If you care about your field goal percentage that much that you end up seven to 15 instead of seven to 16, don't ask for the fucking ball on the inbounds. How about one of the guys who doesn't care? Right. That's what drives me crazy. He's like, so now you're going to pretend that you didn't get the shot off in time because you didn't want to hurt your field goal percentage.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Stop getting the ball in the inbounds. Let the other guys that don't care and understand like as absurd as the shot is that they're not more worried about a couple percentage points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I'm cool with that. I don't know that we're ever going to get shorter reviews. We might pretend we are.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, he had a push shot the other night. It was a couple weeks ago where it was pretty ugly coming out, but then it went in. And then based on the confidence from that first one going in, he had hit back-to-back shots within a few minutes of each other, which I think has to be one of the highest output. Moments we've had in a rotation.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I thought it was that until last night playing Dallas to Anthony Davis is on the left side. He has a primary defender on him. Simmons is the low man and Simmons rotated to double Anthony Davis and then communicated in a way that you don't see where it was almost like, hey, you see Davis over there. This is like, wow, the clock is going. I'm going to now go over here and double team him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But to decide to play them straight up, which goes against everything I'm saying, but maybe even in the moment, it's like why some of these coaching philosophies don't apply to every single game because things are playing out differently. Houston, look, in the Tennessee game, Most teams, I think, would have blown that lead to Tennessee.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So you've got to slide over if somebody cuts behind me. And everybody's like, great. That's awesome. And then Davis ran. So I thought it was great communication, even if it felt a little slower than what I'm used to.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I mean, if you're just going Jimmy, but like any great drama, he's got that kind of redemptive arc right now, as annoying as that may be. And I would expect Miami fans should be annoyed. I guess it's hard to pretend that you're in, but I'll never understand lacing them up, going to play basketball. And then going, I don't care if I look bad.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I can't imagine having that inside of you where you would go, well, that guy scored on me because I don't care. Or I didn't try to help us win because I don't care. And I'm just not going to... I'm just not really going to play that hard. I've already made my money or whatever. Like...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

You'd think some of that stuff, like at least with all the bullshit that Durant has gone through, where some of it I think is unfair, some of it is certainly fair, and he's brought it on himself, so I'm not absolving of blame here, but it's been a pretty soap opera-ish second half of Durant's career. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Because Tennessee was one of these teams, when you watch that first half against Kentucky, where you go, oh my God, this is overwhelming. The energy, the effort, how hard these guys play. And Houston's the same thing. And Houston's like, fine, you guys want to do this with us? We'll do it. So...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But there's never been a moment where I've seen him going through all of his stuff where I haven't... I've never questioned how much he wanted to play basketball. I think once he finally gets out there, he wants to beat you the entire time. And look, there's 450, 500-plus players over the course of a season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

There's going to be a couple guys that actually don't really love basketball and don't really care. But I can't imagine actually being really good. Beal's an incredibly talented player. We all know how good Jimmy can be. It'll... forever blow my mind that somebody has that ability. And maybe that's just a disconnect of them looking at it as a job.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And I'm still just in love with the game of going like, I don't care if I look bad in front of all these people that came to see me tonight because I'm getting paid and I don't care. So my tiebreaker would be Beal because... Yeah, I think that's the right answer.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I don't know what Beal's excuse is. And look, the metrics are the worst he's been at since his third year in the league. The last time he's played, I think, more than 60 games is 2018-19. So even when the trade was made and we understand how talented he is, because I remember I had said, like, if you go through this, this guy's missing like 20-25% of the season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And there was some pushback because I was using total games on the shortened seasons. It's like, OK, but you're still you're making an excuse for a guy that doesn't seem like he's available enough. He just doesn't on top of everything else. Yes. Again, you know, if you're Phoenix with the effort that you get from him on certain nights, you'd almost rather him not be available.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I don't want to, like, look, my least favorite thing ever is when the topic in the pre-show meeting is, did Duke blow it or did Houston win it? And it's just stupid. TV shows do it all the time. Duke clearly blew this, but it's also ignoring the fact that this is who Houston is. This is a team that was down six with 10 seconds to go against Kansas and forces a double overtime game. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Sounds like somebody's leaning Jokic.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Pretty bad one. This isn't I can't believe I called her. It's like I can't believe I married a cocktail waitress in Thailand.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But I at least think you should bring up Masai. Because Masai is now... Oh, with all the extensions.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Right. So Masai's sight unseen with Ingram gave him three years, $120 million guaranteed. And you could say he hasn't played a game for him yet in sight unseen. Obviously, he knows what he's doing. Look at the free agent thing that we teased earlier. Like, maybe there's a number out there for Ingram that's higher than we could imagine, which is usually the lesson that we hear.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Or I should say experience every time we start going like, oh, why is that guy going to make that much money? And then he gets signed to it. But... it's Scottie Barnes, Ingram, quickly, R.J. Barrett, and Pirtle next year for a combined $156.4 million.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Maybe with Dark, who knows? I mean, they've outperformed everything you could possibly imagine in the second half of the year. So maybe they're just developing all they got. Maybe they'll be the deepest team in the league next year. It's just an expensive five. It's an expensive five for that five.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

They believe it all the time. And so I want to credit him for that, but I still cannot believe that a team like Duke, that's this good, that this talented couldn't figure out the inbounding thing. Cause James was rattled those last four or five.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I'm just advanced scouting Yoko Chait. There was a fly in front of me for those watching on the clip. I'm advanced scouting it because if he loses in the first round, then it's going to be like, can we get Marcus Morris back in here?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I don't know what's going to happen in the West. Okay. Other than I think OKC is going to beat all of these teams. And I'd be really, really surprised if they're not representing the West. I think they're that good. Me as well. And they have all of these options and it's hard to find like a flaw with them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

What would you say that is?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Honestly, I think it's going to hang on him. I think the people are going to ask him about this game for the rest of his life. Really? Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, this is awful, man. This is all time. Like, I know what you're saying. Like, oh, I remember in the tournament, but whatever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I think this was so big on this stage for a Duke team that so many people dislike, but yet here he is, and I'm watching him in this game going, I don't know where the flaw is. Where's the flaw? Right. The more you watched him, and I know we're late to this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Considering how all-in they went on the Kawhi stuff and how he hasn't been healthy at the end of the playoffs or the end of the year for a bunch of seasons in a row. The Paul George part of it and then what you've given up and then watching SGA become... I mean, there's just a lot of shit here where you go, man... Imagine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Imagine if they had some moment of like a 2-2 series in the Western Conference Finals where you go, you know, those guys, Lawrence Frank and the crew, the strategy was the right strategy and it couldn't have gone worse.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But yet, is there this redemptive arc where they repaired it on the fly and let Paul George just walk because they knew better than anybody else, although they still did offer the three years. Is there some part of this where... We're being brought into game five, and somebody's written a Wright-Thompson essay.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

The turn by Nuggets fans on Westbrook here is amazing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

This is what I've thought the entire time because Westbrook, has been more accepting of this role with them than at any other point. But there may have been, even for somebody as stubborn as he is with his approach to basketball, like maybe even he had a realization of going, I need to change this a little bit. And when you're playing in the same minutes, the same lineup as Jokic,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

You can see him almost in a hurry to get him the ball back that could lead to some of those other problems. But on the year, considering how bad they needed somebody to play these kind of minutes, a guy that was never really going to question his own value, the ego of a player that you kind of need as a foundation to even play in this league,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

they needed... Like, it's been a win because of how limited their options were. It's like, okay, well, we're going to get this guy cheap because he's been on six teams here in a very short amount of time because he hasn't fit in and maybe hasn't accepted what he needed to be. So I think there was an acceptance part from Westbrook here that was admirable.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But I think anybody that kind of knew where his limitations were, you were like, is he actually going to close? And I'm with you. And it's not just the mistakes in that Minnesota game. There's just a lot of times where... You're like, what's the spacing going to look like? Is that going to screw up some of the other stuff they're going to do?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I also think there's something with Westbrook too, depending on the matchup, like it's going to be, if I get to play the Lakers, I'm going to prove to them that they're morons. If I get to play against the Clippers, I'm going to, there's a revenge factor with like four of these teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I don't know off the top of my head. I mean, he's played... Who would your guess be? I'll just tell you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

If you were scouting him, you would be in the room? No, I'll let him flag.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

No, he's been really important throughout this season because of their lack of options. And so it has worked out, but the hesitation I always had with it was, Let's see what happens here in the playoffs. Cause I think this could be the kind of thing where the game log now, who knows, maybe it could be game and score and foul of trouble, all that kind of stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

But like, if we're talking real close games, the first round for Denver.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

He's not out there in the last 10 minutes. You look at some of those game logs and it's like, okay, 19 minutes, 15 minutes. And then you're like, Oh, like, so who's your white chocolate was a problem guy. I would say if you took Isaiah Stewart clips from today and then ran them and said that this was the 90s were like, then everybody would just say, oh, Steph would have just had 12.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

That's good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

My least favorite con. The Stewart pulling down Giannis from behind play is indefensible. That's fucking nasty, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I don't know what age that the red cheeks thing goes away. He's awesome, by the way. I think he's even better than maybe we realize. Maybe get him the ball a few more times last night. But You get older, everybody looks younger. There's a weird thing that happens.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I don't know what it is with the science of it, but if you look at fraternity composites when you're in college, all of the guys from the old pictures look like... You're like, how come that guy was 40 and he was in college? That's just dudes looked older And then when you're older and then you're watching college hoops, like every year, guys just look younger and younger and younger.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So I don't think he's on the Mount Rushmore of Duke face. I think that's early Cherokee Parks, maybe a little Quinn Snyder in there, maybe Grayson Allen, maybe Danny Ferry. So I don't know if Knipple can make that, but there's just a face. And it's not the same thing as Shamit face, but I'm just projecting him maybe to be there one day.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And it doesn't even mean that, you know, you can be good looking and have Shamit face.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

It's really the only winner, but I would offer up Ant if I had to offer up somebody else.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

If you can't have Jokic, they go with Ant. Even the Sixers closed the other night. It was awesome. The shots that he was hitting in the double overtime win against Denver, I don't know what it is about the threes when they matter the most.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

It's almost like a pitcher who cranks, and it's not what he's doing, but it's like the shot goes in with more velocity than it's supposed to on the ones that really matter. There's a crispness to his shot and his athleticism and the way that it goes in that's visually appealing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

23.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

That's where whenever I hear anybody just knocking him, I lose my mind because you go, he's in control of everything that's happening. Like everything that's happening. And then the understanding, I forget what the number was. I don't know if it was hardened to Zubat for number one, but it was like who has the most field goals that are assisted or something.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

And like Christian Brown is number two in the NBA.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Christian Brown, clearly because Denver hasn't done a good job with this roster, maximizing it. Maybe the way others should. I also wonder if Jokic were different, would there have already been some other star player that went through AAU with Jokic and goes, hey, I'm going to come up there and play with Denver?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Because it's getting alarming because of the rings rule for Jokic, where it's like, are we going to be allowed to appreciate him? I know we've already touched on some of this other stuff, but... He's just orchestrating all of it that's happening, and he doesn't want to shoot 30 times. He doesn't want to pull up from three as much as he did.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

It almost feels like Nash, where Nash would have these games. You're like, how come you're not shooting more? Like, what's going on? And it's just the way he's wired to play basketball is still somebody that wants all of it to kind of connect and work together. And that's why I can't fathom why guys who played can watch these games and then find a way to shit on it. But you know, whatever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I mean, this kind of normal now with the former player stuff, but yeah, look really good. Not top 20, 22 to 20. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, we got Lakers Thunder here. Are you watching the studio yet on Apple?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Are we saying two different things, though? Because I don't, I mean, yeah, I don't know that you're going to be having Kevin Harlan on a Thursday night TNT broadcast four nights from now going, well, 30 from Cooper, but they blew that game to Houston.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

No, I guess I'm still shocked that you thought he sucked the last two minutes. I'm gonna have to go back and watch the tape again. You have to watch it. I think giving up a rebound or getting caught in rotation and somebody hitting a three, like that's basketball. I don't know what that means.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

You watched it a couple of times? I did.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I don't know. Look, I think they ran down the clock too long on the knipple miss. I think that Proctor missed the free throw. I think Sion couldn't inbound the basketball, and then he turned it over. I think the three that made it... The sharp three that made it 67-64, that's a free-for-all. And... you know, it's, it's kind of like, wait a minute, the sharp three.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I think maybe I'm thinking about the other three. There's another three in here off the tip where it's a complete free for all. And I don't even know how, like anybody, you know, it's kind of like one of those offensive rebound threes where you're just like, everybody's so scattered the whole time. Um, I was surprised. Did Rick Buecher try to argue that Flagg was fouled on the rebound?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

He was kind of saying, we don't know what his... I think he went with a mystery third arm defense. Classic Rick Buecher. I haven't seen the Rick Buecher. You could see his hand, and I didn't want to like... You know how it is when you're tweeting out stuff and you go, well, did you not factor in Sri Lanka's GDP in the tariff? Then you're like, I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

I just look, they screwed up so many different times. It's not about that call, but I can't believe an official in that moment is like, I think I'm kind of ready to call something on this box out. Like I think I'm ready.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that's what's always left out when it's like, well, look at the rookie scale stuff for the NBA guys and look at what you could make and who knows what the NIL stuff. But I always think the NIL stuff, although lucrative, is can be really misleading. Like contracts just get announced like a lot of NFL stuff. It's like Russell Wilson, 21 and a half million or like or 10, you know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

So I think the NIL stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, right. That's a really good one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The 2025 Made-Up NBA Awards, Plus Duke’s Collapse With Ryen Russillo

It's exactly your point. The agent, the family, everybody else is like start the clock for the rookie max extension.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Luka Gets Traded to the Lakers… What??? | With Ryen Russillo and Rob Mahoney

When you move from prohibition to legalization, it takes time to significantly reduce the size of the illegal market.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ich habe gestern Nacht ein Nimhart-T-Shirt gekauft nach dem Spiel. Ich bin nicht überrascht. Ich habe gar keine Ahnung, ob es cool oder faszinierend ist. Ich bin so, ich bin eigentlich verrückt. Es hat uns so lange gedauert, um über ihn zu sprechen. Ich habe keine Ahnung. Schau, er ging sechs zu zwölf. Er hat ein paar späte Schüsse getroffen. Und es war schrecklich früh.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Er konnte nichts schießen. Er war offen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Oder drei und ein halbes Spiel. Ja, du könntest auch sagen, dass er darüber nachgedacht hat. Wie, okay, lass mich hier einsteigen. War das der Hitsch, bevor er den weit öffnen drei schoss? Ja. But what he had to do against Brunson in the absence of Neesmith. And I always wonder, you're always sitting there thinking, what would you do against Brunson?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

How do you handle this guy whose handle is so tight? He has this low center of gravity. He's like a bull. He's so strong. His footwork is perfect. Just when you think you have him. And then to add in his foul baiting stuff, which is, I'm not going to miss watching that. Because with Brunson, it's not free throws. Maybe.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Es ist, wenn du wirklich, guck, ich weiß nicht, warum ich das zu mir selbst mache, weil ich ihn so viel genieße und ich habe das Sixers-Knicks-Serie so viel genieße, aber ich habe auch beide Fanbases genieße, dass die anderen Teams starren und das Spiel so arbeiten, wie sie es tun. Und Certainly if it had been a Brunson-SGA matchup, I was a little worried of how that was going to be received.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But the problem with Brunson is that Brunson is doing it off the ball. He's doing it on inbounds. He's doing it whenever a screen is set. He is trying to do it the entire fucking game. So if you decide you want a hate watch... Wow. Put that on eBay. Wow.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, like a private company that's acquired or something like that. But so when I'm thinking about how hard it is to deal with Brunson, because then you're still waiting for him to get you and he's going to get the call. And at one point I was like, maybe the best thing is just to be as physical as possible with them the entire time. And then you're like, well, that isn't really going to work.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

What Nembhardt did, his physicality, that inbounds play where Brunson pushed him first, Nembhardt pushed him back, the retaliator ends up, Tyler Ford hits him. We love Tyler Ford, but I'm like, Tyler, how could you do that after where Brunson kind of flops on the retaliation from Nembhardt here?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But like whatever Nembhardts approach was, it was more about his mentality of like when he hit the layup and then gave Brunson the ball back before all this happened, where it's like, I'm going to be here all fucking night.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ich glaube nicht, dass es so ist, weil wenn du mit Leuten sprichst, die auf der NBA-Seite arbeiten, die Anzahl der Jahre, wo es zum Beispiel so ist, als wäre es ein Sommer, in dem man in den Fall eine Konversation macht, wie hey, was geht da los, weißt du, was auch immer. Und vor allem, wenn wir über diese Dallas-Szene reden, wie sie den Westen sehen oder was auch immer.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Die Anzahl der Male würde ich von verschiedenen Stäffen hören, die sagen, naja, sie haben Carlisle, also das ist gut für eine andere, wie auch immer. Was auch immer du denkst, was ihre Flur ist, schiebe sie ein paar Ziele hoch.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ich schwöre, Mann, ich wünsche mir, und ich weiß nicht, ob er derjenige ist, der es macht, obwohl er, hast du ihn jemals getroffen?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ja, wir hatten ihn damals in den Brüsseler Tagen. Wenn er reingekommen wäre und du eine Beziehung machen könntest, würde er dir einen reinen Lächeln geben und dich ein bisschen öffnen. Aber wenn du nicht wirklich etwas zu bieten hättest, dann wäre er nicht jemand, der einfach reingehen würde und gesagt hätte, was möchtest du darüber reden? Lass uns gehen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und verschiedene Leute haben verschiedene Persönlichkeiten. Aber das ist der Teil des Spiels, mit dem ich frustriert werde, weil ich gerne wissen würde, was Carlisle mit seinen Assistenten zu sprechen hat. Ich meine, wir können hier sitzen und sagen, hey, sie wollten das besiegen. Sie wollten versuchen, Cat zu verabschieden, ob er kommt oder ob er im Drop ist.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und wenn er raus ist, werden wir mit Brunson hier gehen. Also es gibt einige einfache Dinge, die ich denke, dass die meisten von uns, die dieses Spiel gesehen haben, sehr gut identifizieren können. Aber ich würde gerne wissen, wann er fertig ist. Like this is what we would do. And these are the conversations that we would have. And these were the debates that we would have.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And here's something we did that we knew didn't work. And then here's how we corrected all that stuff. I feel like there's still a massive disconnect with this sport that we all love, where I would like to understand that stuff at a greater level. Finishing there, because as an aside, how many years do you think you're going to reference the second round Celtics next thing?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Because this one is going to haunt you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Game seven, yeah. That's the worst.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

There's been some other bad ones. Watching Gasol not be able to get a rebound in person pretty close.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I remember when the trade happened, there was something that I wasn't good on. wo es so war, okay, also Seachem, das ist eigentlich wie eine Nix-Konversation, weil diese Zeit im Jahr oder sogar nach dem Transaktions-Stuff, es ist so, okay, aber ist das gut, mein Euro-Championship-Präsident? Es ist so, Jesus, wie viele dieser Deals denkst du, die jedes Jahr noch vorhanden sind?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Also, was ist falsch mit nur besser zu werden? Aber er war ein freier Agent, erinnere dich, in dem Deal. Also war es ein bisschen wie, du wirst diese ersten geben, und es fühlte sich wirklich so an, als wäre einer von ihnen nicht mehr so groß ein Deal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ja, und es war der Bruce-Brown-Deal, weil er den Vertrag hatte. Ja. Und das Vertrag war so lustig, weil er all das Geld auf all diese Sachen gemacht hat. Also war es der Jacoby-Walter-Pick. Und dann ist es ein 26er. Also denkst du dir, okay, gut, die Spieler meinen nichts. Und du hast den Brown-Vertrag so in den ersten Momenten strukturiert. Aber du musst auch jetzt Siakam bezahlen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ich wusste nicht, ob er da bleiben würde. Ich sagte ihm, wenn sie ihn gut halten, aber wenn du das tust und er ausweist, was tust du dann? Und sobald ich das gesagt habe, hat mich jemand getext und gesagt, er macht eine Ausgabe, das hat er schon verstanden. Es ist fertig. Die Partie, die ich mich selbst mit dem Siakam-Ding kritisieren würde.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Well, because I've seen him have playoff moments where I'm like, where is he? And then I think he becomes a little predictable at times. And then I felt like all of that was reinforced where he was relying on game one. And then from that point on, the guy was a stud. So I give it to him. And I think I've even said at times,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

like debating, like a couple years you're like, man, am I gonna vote this guy third team all NBA and looking at it and it's like, I probably don't give him enough credit for the stability level that he is at, knowing, you know, he's never gonna flirt with some of these other guys that the guys were paying all this attention to. Anyway, the other part of the criticism was just that

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Well, alright, Siakam's pretty good. But then they were like, hey, we're the Pacers. Like, who's demanding to be traded here? Who are we saving our cap space for?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

So now we're playing Siakam 37 minutes a night, where the guy who's had a track record, who's done some things in the playoffs, despite this weird stretch where he didn't seem like he could hit a three in the playoffs for like a bunch of years in a row. That was the rub against him. Yeah, I think the part that we all need to do a better job with is like,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You're assuming a lot that you're supposed to wait around for the better option in Siakam.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Lakers-Celtics. Seven games. Do you know how many times the 4th seed has won?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

One time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah. Which is one of the weirder finals. But there's just some similarity. Well, there's actually no similarities because that's the Boston team that has this legendary run. And it's like, okay, they're done. But yeah, I think there's still a lot of meat on the bone of who the Pacers are. Because as we sit here all impressed with them, I am impressed. Das ist normalerweise nicht so, wie es geht.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Kannst du mich hier für einen Moment einstellen? Ja, willst du Brunson-Stil gehen? Nein, nein, nein. Ja, es könnte schwer sein.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Geh aus meinem Weg, Daniel House. Also, die Celebrity-Schlüsse, ich werde es zugeben, ich schaue eine regelmäßige Saison von Nick's Game und sie machen Celebrity Row. Und du bist so, okay. Oh, wow. Hey, Bernard King ist wieder da. Und dann haben wir mit Spike Lee beendet, der viele von uns ist, wie wenn er versucht hat, sich an die St. Johns-Sache zu schlagen. Wie, Alter, bist du ernsthaft?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Wie, komm schon, was machst du? Aber dann, wenn du das nächste Mal merkst, ist es so, hey, es ist wieder derjenige. Und für irgendeinen Grund, wie unser Typ Miles Teller, ist er direkt neben Chalamet. Und sie geben ihm nicht mal einen Grafik.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Was ich mir vorstelle, wenn du an einem bestimmten Niveau bist, wie ein ziemlich großer Schauspieler in Hollywood, wenn sie den Grafik an eine Person wie Chalamet geben, von der ich verstehe, an welchem Niveau er ist, aber du bekommst nicht mal einen Grafik. Das ist der Art von Sache, wo du mit deinen PR-Mitgliedern sprichst. Und ich mag Chalamet.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ich war einmal neben Chalamet nach einem Lakers-Spiel. Und ich war so nah dran, dass ich gesagt habe, hey, Just so you know, your PR people keep turning down Bill Simmons and we know it's not getting to you. Here's Bill's number. Just go on the pod and talk some hoops. But I was like, I'm not going to do that because security might come running over.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I don't care. I don't need it. These celebrities that have to stand up fucking courtside, you don't have to stand up. There's nobody in front of you. It's like having a beach house and complaining about an obstructed view. Fair point. There's this massive sideline courtside bullshit that goes along with this. I felt bad for the people. Mike Epps was like, I'm around.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Because the Pacers just didn't have any balance when they were going with Celebrity Row on some of these broadcasts. So yes, I am guilty of wondering at times during a regular season broadcast, but knowing that the finals was going to be just... We were going to see a lot of it. And I don't know what Oklahoma City was going to do. Because You Just Can't Hang was still in this lineup.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

My other thing is... Yeah, we get Chenoweth out there. I can make that happen. Eric Chenoweth. But... The NYX, the MSG crowd, whenever they would do Celebrity Row, very anti-Jam Bands. Trey was always right there on the baseline. Trey from Phish, you can't fucking give him a graphic. Derek Trucks is over there. So I noticed a lot of anti-Jam Band stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I noticed the same five or six people over and over again. And if it had been NYX OKC, it was going to be really one-sided and kind of annoying. And it's like, we got it. The lady from Law & Order is there again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I thought it would be a close series between them and New York. I wasn't 100% sure. I picked the Pacers and then as you saw it play out, Es gibt nur noch ein anderes Werkzeug, das die Knicks nicht kapabel haben. Und sicherlich mit Brunson's offensiven Fähigkeit und dann, wenn OG es geht. Ich glaube, jeder ist ein bisschen zu nah dran, wenn er weiß, wie wichtig es in der Boston-Serie war.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You in on that lunch? I probably will be.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I want to talk about David Lee Roth with him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Was ist das? Du hast morgen Schule?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I feel like I added some tension here with Van. I think he's

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Also ich weiß, dass es einen Knicks-Obit gibt, den wir wahrscheinlich ein bisschen später machen werden. Und dann, wenn du die ganze Sache ausmachst, ist es wie, wenn die Pacers wirklich rollen. They they felt like I mean, this is not a fluke. They're the better basketball team of these two teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Most wins since 2013. First Eastern Conference Finals since 2000. They were 0-10 against Cleveland, Boston and OKC. It felt like it was pretty clear that they were a step ahead. Ich glaube, das ist das, was mich am meisten interessiert. Der Grund, warum OKC in Minnesota ein riesiges Ei in der 3.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Saison legt, ist, weil sie in den 2-3-Quartals in der 1-2-Saison herausgefunden haben, dass sie besser als diese Jungs werden und dass es gut wird. Der gleiche Grund, warum die Pacers 3-1 aufgeben, in der 5. Saison verlieren und Siakam sagt, hey, sie haben schwieriger gespielt als wir.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ja, sie waren in der Elimination, sie waren zuhause, du hast gewusst, dass du einen zuhause in deinem Hinterkopf hattest und dann hättest du wahrscheinlich noch eine Chance gehabt, wenn es in der 7. Saison gehen würde. So, there's definitely a way you could talk yourself into the Knicks maybe being ready for a Game 7 if that shot from Halliburton doesn't go down and send it to overtime.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But this was a boring team that got a lot of coverage for a long time. They pieced it together in a really calculated way. They were smarter than everybody on Brunson. You know, he's a nice player. Nobody thought he was going to be. I'm not even sure they thought he was going to be this. There's no way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And the fact that you can dig into some of this next stuff with the starters and you always had the cat or Brunson option to attack where when you get Halliburton going and once he starts seeing like what you want to do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Rick, Rick, his dad is like, shit, I didn't know he was this nice.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Er hatte auch eine schlechte Playoff-Serie, aber ich halte das nicht dagegen. Das ist etwas, was du mir, Bill, gelernt hast. Besonders mit diesen jüngeren Jungs, die diese großen Profile haben. Und eine schöne, regelmäßige Saison und all das Counting-Stuff, das wir alle lieben. Und es ist wie dein erster Schmerz, wenn es nicht eine Konferenz-Finale ist.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Du siehst Jungs, die nicht super komfortabel sind. Du musst das durchgehen. Ich denke, Brunson hatte sogar ein bisschen davon. Und jetzt ist er einer der komfortabelsten Jungs jemals in diesen großen Momenten. Die Katze ist ein Risiko, aber es ist lustig, weil jedes schlechte Randall-Spiel und jedes gute Katze-Spiel, du sagst, wie könnte Minnesota diesen Jungen aufgeben?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und dann siehst du die Katze, die manchmal kämpft. Du sagst, das ist, weshalb Minnesota gesagt hat, wir sind gut, von diesem und dem Fakt, dass er 60 Millionen in dem letzten Jahr dieses Deal ist, geht noch ein paar Jahre.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

53.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

57.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Seine Vergnügung mit dem Gegner, und das kommt in einige der Previews der Finals, sobald er anfängt, die gleiche Mannschaft zu spielen, wieder und wieder für diesen Mann und wie brillant er ist als Spieler. Du wirst nur zu einem Nachteil sein, weil seiner Größe und seiner Anpassung. Und dann, weißt du, wenn er den Schuss in den Kopf nimmt. Ich kann es nicht glauben, um ehrlich zu sein.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, but you're probably sitting there going, when Brunson also took what seemed unfathomable at the time, a four-year deal for 156 instead of the five-year 270 deal, which is like peak Brady going, yeah, that's fine. I'll take way less than everybody else. Oh, we didn't bring in any receivers again. Why did I take a pay cut?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Look, when this team got rolling and you saw the pick and pop and pick and stuff, like all of the different combos of Brunson and Kat, where you've got these two great shooters, Kat for big is fun. Even when it's ugly, it still works way more than I ever want to think that it's going to work when it starts. You're like, this is going to work. You're like, it kind of worked again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Their offense by month, let's go over it right now, October 3rd best in the NBA, November the best offense in the NBA, December 11th 3. Best Offense in the NBA. January, the 6th Best Offense. February, 13th Best Offense. March, the 21st Best Offense. April, 18th, I think it was only like 8 games. Pre-All-Star, the 2nd Best Offense in the NBA. After the All-Star break, the 11th Best Offense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So really this becomes a conversation of like, what's going on here with this group? How much flexibility do they have? The other problem is, if you look at their starting 5 from January 1st until last night, That's a negative group. Negative 1.4 points per 100 possessions, okay?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

In the playoffs, their starters, out of the 16 playoff teams, they were ninth in net rating, I shouldn't say plus minus, in net rating here of all starting groups. You know, number one is OKC at plus eight points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, I mean, Reggie Miller had a few last night. He even wondered out loud on the broadcast. He's like, will Schammett take Bridges' minutes? You're like, no. And by the way, Tibbs, when he tried to figure this out, get back in, he closed with the five guys again, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So, number one and number two in net rating again, for starters, OKC's plus eight, the Pacers are plus five and a half, and the Knicks were on the negative side of things with that starting group. So, I think this is a huge win. Celebrate it, Knicks fans. Who you've been, what they've done, building towards this, all the transactions.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But there is a hard conversation about who they are and what Cat is or isn't. And that's the whole reason why a really smart front office in Minnesota, and I know some people argue it's more about the contract, but a really smart front office was fine moving him for Randall and DiVincenzo.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ich kann es nicht glauben, dass Siakam die Finals-MVP über Halliburton gewonnen hat. Ich war so überrascht wie Halliburton, der einen Schritt nach vorne genommen hat, um den Trophäen zu holen, und es war nicht sein.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Viele Schmerzen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Wähle deine eigene Abenteuer. Willst du, dass dieser Teams beste Spieler nicht spielt? Willst du, dass Porzingis ein Zombie wird?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Let me tell you about... Ben, I was just listening to Brand Newbian. First of all, people sleep on that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Bill can't win right here. Either you're dismissing a complicated history amongst our people or you're not doing your job.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Okay, und Siakam, der, du weißt, nach Spiel 1, ich war wirklich auf. Und ich denke, mit Siakam, meine Geschichte ist, dass es manchmal schwieriger für ihn ist, es auf seiner eigenen Seite zu machen, auf der anderen Seite von Dingen, wo er so ein perfekter Fit für dieses Pacers-Team ist. Und du denkst, du hast den Angle auf ihn, weil er so groß ist und er seine Schritte perfekt mapst.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Na, ich auch.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, I think I'm more into it if I'm on the Knicks side of this thing. And I think it is worth in this kind of like, I think we're all being pretty positive here about the Knicks, because I don't really know how you, I mean, you can be disappointed, but I don't know that you can be mad about Anything that's happened this season. This has been a great season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Look how it played out with Cleveland falling apart and then the Knicks taking Boston out. And you get to take Boston out on top of everything else. Literally out. Maybe for the decade. Right. That'd be long, but we'll see. I wanted to add in just the Mitchell Robinson part of it. I think I get why Embiid stepped on him last year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Vielleicht war Embiid klüger als alle anderen und hat sich erkannt, hey, wenn dieser Junge da ist, ist er ein Problem, obwohl ich mich wahrscheinlich darauf konzentriert habe. Ich mag es einfach nicht, wenn Leute, die auf Offensiv sind, Null Threat haben. Und dann habe ich immer gedacht, es wäre seltsam mit ihm, wenn er auf Instagram klagte.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Jedes Mal, wenn Van da ist, würde er einen Post haben, wo er sagt, ich bin nicht nur hier, um einen Rebound oder so. Gib mir einen Bock. Lass mich kochen. Ja. Ja. I don't like dudes that don't have a kitchen asking to cook at the NBA level. And I saw him, what, in the LA Fitness Run. He looked really good. I think my dad was playing in that game. So, look, I... I would be more into this thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I think this is really interesting because you're like, all right, Mitchell's there. Durant, I think, is probably a better happy destination because I think I'd always be worried. He's like, all right, I'm getting Durant. Like, what's the expiration date on his happiness here? Because there seems to be a bit of a track record with that. Sure, he's a little bit older.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und es gibt dieses Euro-Ding und seine Stride sind so lang.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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the cat 61 million years from now, I think it's alarming, but it's also what will it look like in relation to what other salaries are going to be if this cap goes up 10% every single year. So that's another factor with that. If I'm Phoenix, I'm probably going to have to reset this around Booker if he's cool with going through that, which again, it seems like all indications that

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You know, he's probably a little bit more bought in than you would think from the outside. But that might be something where you're delaying it all around him because you're bringing in a more expensive, younger, flawed player than what should probably be a quicker reset on Phoenix. Like Phoenix seems like they don't want to get this over with.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But it probably means Durant's moving out and then they're rebuilding around this whole thing. I don't know that I'd want to be in the cat business for four years. And look, as an aside, I'll just tell you. Can I make one case for the cat business though, quick? I can't stand watching him play a basketball game. And that is unfair to him and his production. I mean, his plus minus regular season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

He is the most frustrating guy. I can't fucking stand it. And I know it's better than I'm giving it credit for.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

An objectively good basketball player. He's really good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und man kann sich denken, oh, dieser Typ dribbelt nicht so viel und es ist nicht wirklich wichtig. Und er ist einfach perfekt für das, was die Pacers tun wollen, wenn sie auf den Break gehen wollen. Ich dachte einfach, zwischen Halliburton's Game 1 Heroics, was wirklich mehr Neesmith war, seiner eigentlich schrecklichen Game 4. Ich meine, 32, 15 und 12, 0 Turnovers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Before the Combine, you and I, your statement there, I have absolute agreement with. After the Combine, I would just get it over with now. Because I think at this point, you can get a ton for him. I think if it gets weirder, whether it's before the deadline or it's next summer, I don't know that the value is going to be the same.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Als er diese Sache letzte Nacht entfernt hat, war es ihm. Und ich denke, die Verteidiger sahen die 3-Punkte-Zahl, die für Siakam gewonnen haben, und sagten, okay, Siakam hat es von 3 gewonnen, ich gebe es ihm. Es gibt zu viele Zeiten in diesen Finals und Konferenz-Finals, MVP-Awards, wo ich denke, es ist zu viel Stattenkonten auf die Vote.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And we could talk about the timeline of the contract and control, which is also a factor here. But I'd say of all the topics that I discussed with people, more than half of it was what's going to happen with Giannis. And it was kind of all over the place with different theories and different meetings. And here's what the agent's saying and here's what he's not saying and all this stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I'm like, this is just way too much noise about something. Wenn ich Horst wäre, würde ich einfach vor ihm kommen und versuchen, auf all das zu laden. Denn du wirst wahrscheinlich mit ihm handeln und es wird in einem depressten Markt ein Jahr von jetzt oder im nächsten Februar sein. Normalerweise bin ich total in Ordnung mit dir, Bill.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Wenn er glücklich ist und zurückkehren will, ist das alles, was ich wissen muss. Du hast absolut recht über den Osten. Ich meine, wenn Giannis in den Westen endet, nach der Lotterie und mein Gott, dieses Ost-West-Ding. Wir brauchen einen Summit für das.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und du siehst nicht wirklich, wer in diesem Zeitpunkt durch sechs Spiele das Wichtigste für das Team war. Und es ist fast wie ein Verteidiger mit Halliburton. Also bin ich wahrscheinlich zu beeinträchtigt für jemanden, der in Kontrolle von all diesen Verhältnissen ist. Ähnlich wie Tatum und Jalen Brown in den Easter Conference Finals. Ich war so, was?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

They did pay a lot for the NBA. So then to say now all of a sudden you're not going to have all that commercial inventory. Because we've talked about the halftime show ESPN with people that we really like that are on the show. Maybe others that aren't necessarily our favorites, but I barely catch it. Like that's the 15 minute timer to get something done around the house for me. And

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und wenn ich etwas erhalte, dann ist es einfach ein Locker. Es ist wie, oh, der beste Spieler auf dem Team ging 2 für 10. Okay. Jemand muss aufstehen. Ja, er wird geschmolzen. Okay, hier gehen wir. Es ist ein 30-Sekunden-Schmolzen. Und dann, ich weiß nicht, wer okay war. Vielleicht war es, weil jeder versucht hat, die TNT-Show zu sein. Aber die Analysts sprechen zu brechen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Niemand ist gut daran, Leute. Nobody's good at it. It's just confusing. You're like, are we in commercial or are we doing Carl's Jr.? I don't understand what's going on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

That's it. Little history lesson. I actually think the people that are at the very top with ESPN know this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Alright, but if it's going to be on the model of like, we bring it in, but you get to do your thing, then don't you think that's the negotiation? Don't you think that's part of it?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I don't think they're going to do that, man. I don't think they're going to do that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

This has been a weird thing, though, because

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

all this stuff said and you all know barclays my forever number one there's never never gonna happen greatest guest of all time too well he's my favorite athlete there will never be anybody that i'll care more about as an athlete als er. Ich denke, es wäre seltsam in dieser Phase meines Lebens, wenn ich sage, okay, nein, ich bewege diesen Mann auf.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ich meine, unless ich ein Kind hätte, aber sogar er hätte einen schwierigen Zeitraum, weil es ist so, dass ich glaube, du wirst so gut wie Barclay sein.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Chris weiß. Wir haben darüber gesprochen. Ja, ich habe es ihm gesagt. Er ist in Ordnung. Er ist ein kompetenter Typ, aber ja, er ist es. Aber Barclay war so, ich könnte signen, ich könnte nicht signen. Barclay war nicht dumm darüber, aber er machte fast eine Buch-Tour mit seinen Vertragsverhandlungen. Erinnert man sich, wie die Live-Tour involviert wurde? Und das war das, was passiert war.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und das ist, wo einige Leute mit ihren Agents, sie werden es mehr und mehr rausnehmen. Und jeder beginnt, darüber zu sprechen. Dann ist es wie das Scott-Boris-Ding. Wir haben nur 200 Millionen Dollar bezahlt. Was für eine Verhandlung. Du merkst nicht, wie es alles funktioniert. Ernie hat gesagt, er würde nie woanders arbeiten, außer bei TNT. Und wenn das Show nicht auf TNT war, dann war er fertig.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ich habe mich so oft über dieses Show verwirrt, wo ich letztes Jahr dachte, das ist es. And then you have to look it up. Then there's another year left. There's another year, but the rights. But now if it goes here, and then it's like, no, we're just running it back.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Because they keep saying it all the time. And so I'm totally with you being on top of everything else. And look, I would laugh about it, but Barkley dumps on ESPN all the time. Kills them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But it also speaks to like Jimmy Pataro running the thing going, hey, this is a great product. This is better than anything we've had. This has been the gold standard. This is what every single new studio show when you sit in on these meetings and I would be in tests of these shows and be like, we want to be more like TNT. We want to be more like inside the NBA.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

It's like, all right, yeah, well, good luck. How about you let somebody be on these shows more than 12 months? und dann sehen, was passiert.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

What if they replaced Kenny with Mina Kimes?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Alright. Just thinking of crossover appeal, like off the Stephen A. point. Like, there's no way Stephen A's not sitting at that desk with those guys at some point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

It's the lock of the year. You can't even bet it. He's going to say, I'm going to go on that. And it's going to be really interesting. I'm not saying he's going to now be a part of the show all the time. But like, the dude wants stuff. And it's worked out. And he's not going to have that show exist without him stopping by for a cameo.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, but that'll be the part that's unfair. There'll be no juice. There's no remnants of any juice whatsoever. And like the second something, it doesn't even have to be different than people are going to get on ESPN. ESPN gets actually too much shit because it's on all of the time. And all of us were on pontificating 24-7.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

212 Yards receiving 3 touchdowns. There are certainly cases.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

We haven't seen this one yet. Somebody's dead. That guy doesn't say shit about Tibbs in his minutes. Bones.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Okay, but we're ignoring a piece of evidence here that tells us that they're gonna leave these guys alone. The Bill and myself, ESPN Experience, again, they're different experiences because of who we were with those companies at the time, but the people that we were dealing with

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ja, und ich denke, du würdest Heat für das sagen, dass jemand gegrüßt werden sollte, basierend auf seinem Status. Und ich weiß, dass du das nicht sagst. Du sagst, dass Tatum in Kontrolle von jeder einzelnen Besatzung wichtig sein sollte. Und ich werde nie über 2015 mit Iguodala es über Curry bekommen. Curry ist die einzige Grund, warum sie diese Serie gewinnen. Und Clevelands Verletzungen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

What McAfee is allowed to do on that show is the antithesis of what all of the people wanted to be on the air when we worked there. So he has freedom of movement with the licensing part of it. So that should be the model.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ich denke auch, dass Jimmy und Burke unter Jimmy klare Leute sind. Ich weiß, dass Bill und ich manchmal in die Erinnerungszone gehen und uns über all diese Sachen verabschieden, aber die Stelle am Top fühlt sich jetzt viel strenger an. Und ich kann es einfach nicht fathomen, Leute, die wirklich gute Track-Rekorde haben,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Wenn du mir sagst, dass es in der Vergangenheit andere Leute waren, die noch verantwortlich waren, dann sagst du, wie ist dieser Typ verantwortlich? Wie hat dieser Typ diese Entscheidung gemacht? Oh shit, dieser Typ wurde sechs Monate später geändert und jetzt ist es ein neues Game of Thrones-Deal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und jetzt ist diese Person, weil sie in dieser Person's Wedding oder etwas anderes passiert ist, hier. Du denkst dir, dass diese Person Entscheidungen macht. Du denkst dir, was ist hier los? Du denkst dir, oh, du musst mit dieser Person treffen. Wer ist das? Dein neuer Boss. Du denkst dir, was? Ich meine, das fühlt sich nicht mehr wie die Struktur an.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Was it a good game? No, they smoked them. I don't know if you guys want this, but the Pacers were 35-28 on March 10th. Now granted, we know that Nembhardt missed time, Neesmith missed two months. As you mentioned at the beginning, they started 9-14, 10-15. They went 15-4. They had a loss at Milwaukee. The one point loss to the Lakers on the tip-in by LeBron.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Aber Steff zu haben, sich doppelt zu teamen, und dann die Doppelteam herauszufinden, und dann öffnet sich alles um sie herum, und sie denken, ja, aber Iguodala musste LeBron verteidigen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

They had an off day before they lost by 21 at Oklahoma City. So they went on this great, OKC didn't have Chet, defensive assignments, Halliburton had Dort on him, Neesmith had Wallace on him, Hartenstein played Turner, obviously SGA played Neesmith and Jalen Williams played Pascal. So there you go. We'll see what happens. Yeah, I'm kind of out of season with all this stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Van, I'm bigger picture. I'm doing a big Tuesday college football thing. Bruce Feldman's coming on. This every year, every year now, a sport I love disgusts me far more than any other sport. This sport is fucking gross.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You don't ever know what the sport's going to be? No, it's just the new thing where we shouldn't have had 12 teams. Now we're going to have 16. And the SEC and the Big Ten... I don't understand how the Big Ten all of a sudden after two national championships is like, yeah, we're awesome too now. Because the depth of the conference is not the same as the SEC. But that's not really the point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Because I'm mad at both the SEC and the Big Ten for doing this. Alright, so you... You ransacked everybody else's conferences. Now you're pissed about how deep your conferences are. And now you want four auto bids apiece. So it's 16. You guys get eight. And then I don't look. I haven't read through all the different proposals, but it's just sucks that the sport has no like David.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

They need a David Stern. who would just go, yeah, actually we're not doing any of those things. And I don't mean to sound like a guy who's, you know, at a neighborhood meeting here at an HOA thing, but for the greater good. And this sport is not about the greater good. And it's fucking gross that Stanford plays Wake in an ACC game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I mean, you've heard all these rants from me before, but all the latest news cycle stuff with college football, it actually gets in the way of my excitement for Nussmeier. Dialing it up. Taking chances on 3rd and 12th. Yeah, third and twelve? Fuck it, we'll probably be out here for fourth and seven.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und das ist nicht so unangenehm. Ich war nur überrascht, weil nach Game 1, du hast recht, Seachem. Und du weißt, er ist einfach, es gibt Zeiten mit ihm, wo ich mich frage, ist er mit seinem eigenen Ding initiiert? Und es fühlt sich so an, dass es wirklich lange Gap gibt.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, I mean, I was watching Carter Bryant, the Arizona kid, for the draft last night, and it was the Arizona-Oregon game, and I was like, oh yeah, good old, and I even stopped myself, like, not a good old Pac-10, Pac-12 game. This is a Big-10, Big-12 game. Yeah, this is fucking stupid.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You could talk about, you know, the Big Eight part of it was a disruption, but at least all of it still made geographical sense. And the Big East, there was a couple of different things that happened. They screwed themselves. ESPN offered them a really like straightforward deal for their college football TV rights. And they pushed back. And it was like, well, cool.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You morons are like fifth on the priority list.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Aber die Art, wie er in Game 2 herauskommt, weil klar, er hat wahrscheinlich gefühlt, als hätte er viel auf dem Tisch in Game 1 geblieben. Und er beginnt, richtig, wie wenn du Steppbacks in den OG schiebst. Dann habe ich gesagt, okay, hier gehen wir. Du kannst es auch am Anfang des Spiels sehen, wo er klar nach Hause ging und darüber nachgedacht hat.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You knew. Das ist das, was ich verpasst habe. Und ich habe das schon zu vielen Mal gemacht, aber für Bill's Audienz. Wenn du ein Spiel verpasst hast, wusste du, wie es aussehen sollte. Und das war für mich Spaß. Ich will nicht fahren. Ich war fast in Nebraska am letzten Tag. Weißt du was? Es sah aus wie fucking Nebraska. Ja, ich mag das. Ich habe mich umgekehrt, aber ich mag Tommy Frazier.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And that's why they're already doing this stuff to be like, and we already get all these automatic bids and you just go, like part of me understands the stronger conference. Like some of these schedules, you look at them going, you've got to be kidding me. How do you get through this with three losses and you could be considered a top 10 team in the country, but

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

All the conference stuff on the realignment part of it, as Indiana fans hate me, because I was like, you didn't play anybody. And you also, of the 16 teams, the Big Ten, I think they played one of the top seven. And they, of course, were one of the top seven.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Er war so, ich werde rauskommen und viel aggressiver sein. Ich denke nicht, dass das die beiden Dinge so zusammenhängt. Ich habe nicht darüber nachgedacht.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Well, I'm an Angel Reese guy. That's what I'm talking about. Ryan knows what's up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Great Rebounder. Great Rebounder.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I never believe any of that stuff. That's right up there with the videos. I don't believe videos anymore and I don't believe NIL. That's a lot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Oh, those are out of this question.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

This seems pointed.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

What was baked into the number? I didn't see the piece. 28 seems like a lot. 28 seems high. I would have guessed like 6.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, see, now we're talking. Because what is she like at $87,000 or something? And this is the part of the WNBA conversation where I would stick up for their salary plight is that it's like, well, you make all this money off the court. It's like, okay, but what the fuck? So you're admitting like, hey, we're not going to pay you anything an hour, but you're going to make a lot of tips. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

It's like Todd Chrisley getting out of jail.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Man, er sagt, ich konnte TV sehen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I'm going to watch the March game again. I like what you did. You're so happy about the Pacers, you didn't want to talk about the finals.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

So the opposite of mucking it up?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But I don't think that's going to work. So to put it in perspective, minus 750, it was minus 375 against Minnesota. And I was like, man, that's pretty aggressive there. Because I thought Minnesota would be more competitive in that series. They were not. But I didn't think they were going to win the series. This is... I'm looking at it right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You would remember this better than I would, Bill, but were the Lakers minus 2,000 against the Sixers in 2001?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Team. Team versus me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, I mean, the NBA clearly made a push here for more awards and to name the greats of the past. And so, that's fine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Die Pace-Parte ist einfach so erstaunlich, wenn es anfängt, von dir wegzukommen. Und ich weiß nicht, wer den Kommentar gemacht hat, aber ich habe es vorher bemerkt, wo ich etwas verändern wollte und dann, ich fasse weiter, wie in der Nachhinein, wo du weißt, okay, es ist aus der Balance, ich kann vor 10 Sekunden springen, ich brauche nicht all diese Sachen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Mit den Pacers-Games kannst du es nicht machen. Nein. Weil du fast vorwärts auf etwas schaffst, wo du denkst, es ist tot, wenn ich hinter mir bin. Das Nächste, was ich weiß, ist, dass die zwei Jungs von den Pacers nach einem Make an der Defense zurückkommen, die sich aneinander bewegen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Und so früh in der Serie ist es so, dass man sich nicht erlaubt, wie in fast jedem anderen Spiel, dass man immer noch vor den Inbounds fast forwarden wird. Und die Anzahl der Transition-Buckets, die nicht nach dem Make passieren sollten, Of all the things you could be disappointed about with the Knicks, which generally on this season I'm not disappointed with the Knicks at all.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Wir machen eine kulinarische Reise.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I thought this was a really good season for them and we'll get to it later. They won 11 playoff games. Exactly. The thing I think is really frustrating and it's something that's happening at the NBA level that's weird. You remember how like backcourts all of a sudden just overnight, it just felt like overnight nobody cared about these dangerous potential backcourt passes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I never remember seeing that for 40 years of watching the NBA and then all of a sudden like a couple years ago it just decided guys were like, Yeah, I don't care. Maybe he's backcourt. And then we'll see what happens.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Something else that you know very early on, whether it's you're playing or watching it, is that on the shooter side, if you're going up against a team that runs, the opposite deep player, not meaning deep to the basket, but deep back to the half-court line, he has to be completely locked in. Makes or misses anything.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

um die Pacers zu kämpfen, in diesem Fall, ihren Mann, der leuchtet und will, dass er jedes Mal läuft.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ja, wie nie aufkommen und helfen und Unterstützung laufen. Du musst. Und wenn der andere Mann schießt, That's on you, because it's really hard on the shooter being the furthest away to then try to get back into transition defense. But sometimes that's going to be on you. And so wherever that communication breakdown is like, hey, you have to be the person that gets back.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Indiana’s Incredible Finals Run, a Knicks Summer Strategy Session, and the 'Inside the NBA' ESPN Fit With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You'd think you'd get more familiar when you're playing the Pacers every other night. And the Knicks never got more. Like that must have drove. Ja, genau. There were times the Pacers guys were catching it and it wasn't even in stride. It was just like, throw it up there, Argyle win the ball and then let's see what happens.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

He shot over 31% one time out of the last five years. I mean, you really want to compare him to Jalen Brown. Like, you think you're hurting my feelings, but you're not. Yeah, that's it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Jalen was 31, 40% in his second year from three. I mean, look, what I would say is the point is at 27, guys change.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

What do you mean by really good? Give us what you think the ceiling version of this group is.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I've been a little harsh here, but every now and then I have to be honest with the thoughts I have from five months on the couch. And if I look at the job part of it, his third year in, he's seventh in MVP. He's 22 years old. It's the only year he shot it well from three. He was 34% his rookie year. He was 30% his second year. Then he was 34%. And from three since then, 31.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Granted, you could throw away 23, 24. He played nine games, so he was under 30%. But this year, 44 games. He's 29% again from three, and he's never played more than 67 games in a series. That was his rookie year. It's 63-57. Yeah, in a season, you're right. And then this year, it's 44. My issue is this. It's a couple of things, and I'll make them quick.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

When he got into trouble, and this is, again, me only reading everything else everybody else read, so it's not like anybody talked to me about it, so maybe the NBA had more information. I thought it was an excessive... punishment. Okay. As dumb as it was, whether he did, I did too. I was saying at the time, I actually think this is pretty excessive in the NBA is like trying to set an example here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

So you have this shoe deal, you have the max contract. I mean, he's getting paid major guaranteed money the rest of the way. Like this guy's about to be, he's on the cusp of like being one of the faces of the franchise. And I think everybody felt really good about it because he was so goddamn fun to watch. And when he did the interview with Jalen Rose, I was like, Oh yeah, That scared me, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It scared me because there was like, oh, you actually think everybody else is the stupid one here? And so as I continue to watch which direction it's gone, four straight years of the advanced stuff going in the wrong direction, and when I've watched them this year, and maybe, look, you know this team a hundred times better than I do, and the frustrations with the offense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

But I also felt like his play led to more frustration where it was just this high barreling, like, let me in the half court, them trying to figure out a way to get him free led to him just being like, I'm going to I'm just going to barrel into dudes and then I'm going to bitch and I'm not going to get back in a defense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And when you start doing that kind of stuff and you're distracted with the game, even though I know a lot of guys complain, I just found it like unlikable. And I'm sitting there thinking, if this is the face of your franchise now at twenty five, I do think you have major problems in a way that I was hopeful for him three years ago. I am not today.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Great veteran leadership.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

No, but I'm just saying, like, if you're going to Marcus Smart to solve your locker room problems, you made a mistake. Derrick Rose is a different conversation because I think people love Derrick Rose. And I think Derrick is like awesome. And everybody loves that, too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

No, you can't. That's not a title team because there's a problem. And it's interesting that you talked about Taylor's relationship with John. Again, Verno knows this stuff way better than you or I do. So I'm deferring to you on this. But like knowing how Zach is and how, by the way, he's been awesome. Like if you just go through all the transactions, like he's generally been really good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

He's kind of ahead of people on some stuff. There's so many players on this roster that I do like. Like I like Aldama this year. I always liked Bane. I fell in love with Triple J this year just because I feel like he took it to another level of just All of his offensive stuff. I think the ED thing's pretty much the way I thought it would go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And, you know, there's been some nice players here or there. You know, Vince has been hurt. Gigi's been hurt. Shot selection's an issue with those dudes. But there might be something. Like, if I go through the roster, there's a lot of stuff that I like that the front office has done. But if they're as analytical about it as people suggest...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

then how is Ja as a high usage, no defense, hurt a lot, can't make threes for four years, how is that even... It's like when Daryl was running Houston and he traded for Russell Westbrook. And you go, the only reason he did this is because of Harden. Because there's no way... Ever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

There's never been a day in Daryl Morey's life where he looked at the Russell Westbrook profile and was like, I want to sign up for some of that. So I think Ja and Verno, maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like it's a little bit like I'm not comparing him to LaMelo. I'm not comparing him to Trey because Ja at his best was in the conversation for one of the most impactful players.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Like kind of, you know, again, that third season, what we thought he could do, even though Trey's put up the numbers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

But I would be worried that the decision about Ja would be about what a huge star he is in your hometown and how important that is that, all right, maybe if we're not winning the West, at least we have something that everybody's excited about and everybody's buying the jerseys because I think he falls into that category.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

They only lost by nine, but they got in it. They got back in it in the fourth quarter. They were down 25.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It's kind of crazy because it's really only one bad year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

He's that much fun. I mean, when he is right, it's one of the most fun things in the NBA. But... I, I can only share like personally, like how I felt watching. And I, over the course of this season, I went from hopeful to, I kind of couldn't stand it anymore.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

that's not every night you caught him on a good night maybe i just caught him on a good night you did because he's he's been back to pretty much normal now he's all over the place once he got back in his shape he was more that was the funniest thing about him when he came back with the lakers he was just so exhausted he didn't have time to complain about anything

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

So you understand, and the listeners understand, this isn't about me talking about off-the-court stuff. I mean, I'm sorry, but I think there's a lot of guys that are probably really immature that we never hear anything about, and they're some of our favorite basketball players. So I'm not even really putting this into it. What I'm saying is, I think there's...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Again, because of who he was in that third season, I understand how he sees himself, right? He should. I'd rather have a guy who's confident out there than second guessing himself. But the more I've watched this year, when I think about like, hey, it's another year where he can't hit any shots. It's another year when it's the wrong night.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

He's just flailing into the paint, hoping somebody fixes it for him. And there's just a lot of possessions that I don't love. I go, all right, well, if this team's in the playoffs, like I'll tell you right now, I don't care which year you pick them to be the two seed.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I bet you if you went through it, I think all seven other teams, one through eight, would want to play Memphis in the first round this year, at least this year's team. I don't know that anybody's ever been scared of them. Maybe you take offense to that in 22. You might be right because that was a pretty good team. But...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It made all the offseason stuff make sense. When you blast out a guy's entire assistant staff and don't really consult him to bring in the new assistants and then run an offense that I don't think he wanted to run, that they won too many games for them to do something ultimately that they really wanted to do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It's just going for this young group that is right now supposed to be scaring some teams. It is going in a direction I did not think it was going to go to when 22 finished out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And for them to do this when everybody thinks he's a pretty good coach and considering the injuries, for them to do this, this means they've wanted to fire him for over a year is my outside take.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Well, right now, I mean, that group for the two seed is Golden State, Minnesota, and the Clippers. Nobody's going to pick Houston against them except people from Houston.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

There's an argument if Kawhi is healthy that they should be, they should have the second shortest odds of any team in the West and make the Western Conference Finals.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

No, he's a big wing. He's listed at 6'4". So 6'2", short dude.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

He was shorter than SGA. I love it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

You're going to need him to close some playoff games. So, you know, this is your guy and you're going to have to let him make his mistakes. And then also the nights where no one can stay in front of him. And you just hope that there's enough spacing around it. And that's where Emei is going to have the Shingun situation.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

He's probably not going to want to close double big and clog up some of that stuff because that's all he's going to run. They're going to run some pick and roll for green. And, you know, last year, you're right. I mean, to remind everybody, when Shingun was out and hurt, that's when I felt like the light bulb went off for Jalen Green because it wasn't just the scoring and the efficiency.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It was the playmaking. It was understanding the help and all that stuff. And now this year, you know, it's been kind of up and down. It's been better lately. I think the key for them is that even with Van Vliet and the numbers where, you know, they had some – there's some numbers out there that are strange with clutch.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I haven't looked at it in a couple weeks, but Oklahoma City had one of the worst clutch defensive numbers in the league. And then you go, okay, what does that mean? Do they get tight defensively? Like they said, they're just not good enough. They're not old enough to play good defense. It probably just means that that's what the numbers are. It doesn't mean anything.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And the same could be said for Houston's offense, where when you looked at their clutch closing numbers, you just went, well, this actually, this is what it looks like, except they had a really good record. Like when you watch them in some of those moments against a good team, you're like, what is it here that I like? Is it a Van Vliet Hail Mary?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, or do I want Jalen Green going, I'm going to take off, and I have no idea what's going to happen on the way there. But look, with Van Vliet, they're 38-17. And so part of it, believe it or not, thinking because of his stature, he's going to get targeted, the deflections and all the stuff that he's always done going back to Toronto, he's just better.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

He impacts them in those moments because he's just somebody who's a lot more trusted, who's played a lot longer. So I love watching Houston. It's just going to be hard for me to pick them. against one of those veteran teams because Golden State feels like a new version of it. With Kawhi, it's a new version of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Although, as soon as you want to throw at me Harden being like, wait, Russillo, you're picking Harden to make sure this team gets to the West? Well, it would be Zu, it would be Norman Powell, who is terrific again today. And again, it's healthy Kawhi with all that stuff. And then on top of that, Minnesota. Minnesota just feels better now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Even with those Pacers losses that were kind of crazy because Obi Toppin didn't miss any shots against them for a little while.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

The Minnesota part, which makes me like – they're 11-3 in their last 14. If you go through the March numbers, DiVincenzo's – it's a real thing now. He's hit threes. This is the best I've probably felt about Jaden McDaniels offensively because it's not just the shooting, which has been great in March. But there's a lot of times with him I was like, I have no idea.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

If you get zero or 18, totally, like the odds would be even on both of them. And – A lot of series, too, if like you want to do this, because I know we're probably going to do this with a pacer. So I don't know if we're doing it now. But if you're looking at series and being like, how often will this team have the best player?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And there's some series and there's some matchups where it feels like Minnesota is going to have the best player. And that Denver game, it was before taping. I was super fired up. I was going to open my show with it because I felt like, all right, let's see what Minnesota has there. and there's certainly fluky results. You're like, what happened there?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

That game felt like this is going to matter tonight. And for Minnesota to beat them by 20 in the way that they did, it has me where we've all just assumed like, hey, it's the three teams with OKC, Cleveland, and Boston, and then Denver has to get the benefit of the doubt because they have the best player.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

With Jokic, which is where I've been for most of the season, I'm really worried about Christian Brown fighting against SGA. and fighting against Ant and being the primary guy. Maybe they'll throw Peyton Watson at them as some size thing, but Peyton Watson's best defensive stuff to me is at the rim, helping.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Look, if he was that great on the ball, then they wouldn't be playing Christian Brown so many minutes against these dudes as the primary defender. Nothing against him, but he's fighting for his life against these dudes. That's the thing that I've seen from him in some of these more high-profile matchups. So,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Sure, there's some weird results we have every night throughout an NBA season, but that game in particular felt like something and a bit of a reminder. And now the fact that they have all of this outside shooting working for them, Minnesota is, and it's not that they were bad. It was that we went into this year thinking, can this team win a title?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And it hadn't looked like they had any chance for months and months. And I'm not necessarily putting them in that group, but it's now the best that I've felt about them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

No, no. But I think Finch will look at it. No, but there's certain coaches, like we were talking about Emei there a bit. You know what he's going to do? He's going to look at how the last five minutes are going in a playoff game, and he's not going to give a shit about anybody's feelings. And if it's Amin Thompson out there instead of Jalen Green because he likes it, then fine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

If it means Benzing Shingun, fine. He'll do it. And I think Finch will do some stuff here too, whether it's a weird Gobert night or a Randall night where it's not working out, where they can –

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Oh, no.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Hey, the Lakers, the Lakers that night where they beat them, where they just packed the paint and they were like, let's have guys keep one foot in the line. When it was like weak side going, if there's two over there, we don't care. And even if Aaron Gordon shooting 40%, we don't care. We're ignoring him. We're ignoring Westbrook. We're ignoring Watson. We're ignoring, uh,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And certainly Brown, even though like, you know, there's some nice numbers there from Brown, who I think a lot of it can be influenced by Jokic. And so if you're running that two man thing and you don't really care, like I'll never forget watching that Golden State series against Houston in 18. And you're like, wait, Houston, could they win this? And I loved it. They were so aggressive in that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

They just said, we're guarding three people and we do not give a shit about the other two. We're guarding three with five. And that's the best part about the playoffs. And honestly, to your point, Bill, like when you watch Houston or you watch Minnesota or all these different things, I wouldn't trust anybody that tells me they know what's going to happen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And they know definitively, like, this is what Houston can do or what they're not, what they could do, but what they're going to do. because there have been... We thought we knew it. Of course, we were surprised by sports all the time, but we thought it felt pretty clear going into this season of like, this is kind of how deep the West is.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And instead, it's just OKC with these coin toss teams, depending on the week.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Good luck. By the way, though, good luck getting a starter, like a starting five NBA guy. Be like, hey, you're picking up 94 tonight.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Sure. But in regular season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And they got to play small against you guys, too. That's the other thing. They love being like, seriously, we playing Jackson 15 minutes tonight. We can go with Rui. Like, I think that's the preference. And that will be when we see these matchups once the season's over, you know, we get to play and stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

That's going to be a huge part of like the Lakers path for me to be like, how long can they go small? Right. And who's going to push them hard? I think they'll go small against Denver too. I think it's going to be on Rui just to be like, look, we know he's stopping him, but you're just going to stay in front of him and he's going to get his numbers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

But at least he's, look, I don't want to say contained, but I thought Rui fought really hard in that game against them when they were matched up. So credit to Rui Hachimura.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I'm telling you right now, you guys are going to win.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

No, this pod will come out. You'll win. Jaws is going to have a great night. And there's going to be like an immediate, like in the moment, like, oh, my God. And then he'll get traded to Atlanta in two years. And then you guys will be like, Ursula was right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Clayton Jr. of Florida. The shot that he hit, the three, where he ended up taking it out from the paint, sprinted to the three-point line, and then turned around, won. Not only had the Stones take it, but make it. Look, I'm late to college basketball. Because of St. John's, I was watching more this year. Free time. I'm not going to be watching it instead of NBA. We already know my deal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

But I really got into all the conference championship stuff when they played against Tennessee in the SEC tournament. I texted the team and I said, hey, I just looked at ESPN.com. I understand Clayton Jr., the argument against him, but he's not even a second round pick. And they're like, no, he's a pro. He's a pro. He is an absolute beast. beast of a player as far as just the confidence.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

So Walter Clayton Jr. was at Iona, goes home to Florida, and now the Gators are in the Final Four. That shot that he hit in that game and that comeback against Tech And that was that was big time stuff. And look, he had a couple of the shots earlier. How had some big threes as well. So I think that comeback when it looked like it was over with only a couple minutes to go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I've loved watching this tournament. I know, you know, look, the next three games in Elite Eight weren't really exciting, but this has been I've watched a ton of this tournament.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

He's older. He's been around. So that doesn't help. He's 6'3 as a guard. He's not necessarily the most athletic dude, but he just, I love the way that guy plays basketball and it's not just that shot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Do you want a little timeline of it? So DiVincenzo pushes Stewart on a rebound. go to a dead ball, Stewart walks directly at him, bumps DiVincenzo, and you're like, that seems a bit excessive. Then, DiVincenzo, moments later, when we get back to action, off a miss, barrels in to Fontecchio, And Stewart doesn't like it, stands over DiVincenzo, grabs the ball away from him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

DiVincenzo probably said something, but he was sitting on the ground. As soon as he goes to get up, he shoves DiVincenzo, right? Yeah. Gets the technical.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I don't know. He's third in text, though. I was surprised. It seems low. Yeah. Ant's number one, actually. So then we have Ron Holland, who is just a young apprentice Jedi to Isaiah Stewart.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I don't know that anybody said it before you of like, look, local people that are on the Pistons are all over it, but Holland has a switch. And so he got knocked down on a screen again, which was that whole Bickerstaff game when he freaked out and said, we're not going to be disrespected.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I think he is a bit of like the head of the snake thing where it's, he's so hot the entire game that some of the other guys pick up on that. So Holland gets knocked down. Then the next time he has the ball, he drives it Nazarene and hits a really nice floater baseline over him. Okay. So then they come down the other way. Nas wants to take it Holland. And I was like, man, this is fun.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

That was a fun fucking Sunday afternoon game for us out West here. And Nas totally overreacted to the Holland part of it. So then he starts going at it. DiVincenzo, third man under the ring. Holland pushes him off. DiVincenzo goes for the massive like neck push down. And all I'm watching is there's a scrum right in the baseline courtside seats, Bill.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

No, they're like... I don't know if I should say my least favorite team, but I have to get all the way to Dallas before I'm as not as excited about another team. And depending on how the scene goes... In the West, you mean? Yeah, if you look at the West and you say, you know, what's the best case scenario? Because it's just crazy that it feels like not that long ago...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

All I'm waiting for is who's going to punch Gobert. because it's this extra target. It's like there's a skyline, and then there's Gobert. Who built that? Like, oh, this Japanese guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

But the problem was that Stew was already like, I still need to mess up DiVincenzo, but Sasser was trying to get to him. And it looked like DiVincenzo was on a ride at some point. I would say this. For a Pistons team, and I think we touched on it in the very beginning, This team's like, I know we're going to do this others group, but they were nine and 15. They're 33 and 17 since that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

So over 50 games, they're 33 and 17. Their net rating bill over these last 50 games is fourth best in the NBA. So yes, Isaiah Stewart is looking for a fight all the time. You really, I think every team needs one guy like this. If you have two, it could be an issue with Holland.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

No, you love having the one, though. Yeah, so I could tell you there's some... Stewart completely overreacted. Nas overreacted on his part of it. But damn it, this team has sucked. And so if this is part of it, I couldn't believe it when I saw fourth best net rating in the NBA over the last 50 games. Then let the boys watch, you know?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

This was before today.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And you have to almost throw out every Dallas stat prior to the acquisition of Gafford and P.J. Washington.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Well, I think this was always the idea of Beasley. I was always shocked. A team would bring him in and be like, oh, we need him for his spacing. It's 3 and D. Where's the 3 and D part? And I know that the shooting numbers will tell you that over the years, but I just never felt like I ever trusted him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

This is a team that was a two-seed back-to-back seasons. And you're like, man, what could this team do? And this makes sense. And we're all excited about John. They've got all these nice young players. And you're like, okay, these playoff losses, these are their... We've talked about this a lot the last couple of weeks. These are their seasoning seasons. And then they have their injury issues.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

You know, there's certain guys, I can't even write it down and say that this is true, but there's guys that I know, like Andrew Wiggins is hitting the three in the corner with four minutes left. He's not hitting the corner three with two minutes left. And there's a bunch of guys, like Beasley has been so huge for them, spacing alone.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I mean, when you start sorting out what their numbers are, they're seventh in offense in the last 50. They're fourth in defense the last 50. They're ninth in shooting. They're also playing a million guys, which I don't know what that means for them in the playoffs. But in March, they played 11 players, 13 or more minutes, which we've already touched on with the Pistons. But I am with you in that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

You've got to throw away the first couple months because it was new. By the way, Cade, as I keep saying, by the way, here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, Cade's missed four straight with an injury that shouldn't be that big of a deal. But the Pacers, if you want to do the 51 games with them, because I was doing it like, all right, what's your low point record-wise, right? And then what are you since then? So the Pacers, at one point, We're below .500.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I guess I don't have the record stuff in front of me, but they are 34-17 since December 5th, the same number. I guess now the Pistons are 33-18. Some of their ranking stuff isn't actually as impressive as Detroit's is, but that expanded standing stuff that I always like looking at, like how do you do against those teams over .500,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Other than Cleveland and Boston, who have really good records, if you look at the East, the Pacers are 16-15. The Knicks are 12-18. Detroit's 10-20. Milwaukee's 11-20. This has been a really good team since that stretch as well, but the wins against the 500 teams tells us the Pacers are better, but I still think it's open for discussion, which I'm now going to pivot it back to you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Do you like one team?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And remember, Hardaway was just out of the rotation last year, too, and at times, you can't roll him out there, just see what happens. They weren't done with him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And then when you watch them this year... They still had a decent enough record. Even 11-14 isn't really that bad, but when you look at, as Verno says, the record against any of the good teams, if you look at where they stand in the West in the expanded standings, they're 11-21 against teams that are 500 or better. Oof. You know, Golden State's 500. Minnesota's 14 and 20.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Okay. Uh, just for the record, I think game three hard away played like 19 minutes and missed every single shot, but they got killed in the third quarter. Um, I don't know the answer yet to who I like more between Detroit and the Pacers, because that Pacers record against 500 or better, I think, is a very telling thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It's one of the most important things I look at when I'm getting ready for the playoffs and be like, hey, are you actually beating any of these good teams? I mean, this is a perfect second part of like the Memphis like, OK, what's your seed? Oh, you have the worst record against 500 or better teams of the top eight teams in the West. Like that's something.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Right. The Halliburton part. Remember last year, pre-All-Star, his splits, 22-4-12 shooting splits, 49-40% from three. After the All-Star break, you're like, oh, what happened to this guy? Now he's dealing with a bunch of different injuries, 17 points, four boards, 10 assists, the shooting splits. went down to 45 and 30. That's in 26 games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Pre-All-Star this year, 18, three and a half, eight and a half assists a game, shooting splits, 45, 37% from three. And you're like, this is a really long stretch of Halliburton not being the All-NBA guy. Almost an entire year. Right. Granted, it's only 15 games, but since the All-Star break, he's 22 a game, almost four boards, 11 assists, 54 and 45% shooting splits.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And so that, again, it's only 15 games. It's a reminder of this dude that we got so incredibly excited about. It was so bad during that long year, we almost did a pod of, was everyone wrong about the Sabonis trade? You know, kidding around, but it's just how many times we kind of litigated a bunch of different trades that have happened.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

But even with that, there have been times where I go, do they... Maybe it was prior to the All-Star break, but I'd be like, do they trust Nembhard a little bit more? That's not the case right now because Halliburton's breaking the paint. He's just flying around. He's doing all the stuff that we fell in love with when he was in college. You're like, this guy just sees the game in a different way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

They clearly have a Neesmith-Matherin decision. I think that they like Matherin better. And the funny thing is with Neesmith coming back, because they had all of these injuries that really held back their depth, I would think that Neesmith would be the primary defender unlike the other stud, and it looks like they may like Nembhard better. I don't know what that means.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

The center rotation problem. So if I said, hey, I like the Pacers because of the record, and then you go, okay, but... The Pacers, defensively, the numbers are a little bit better than you would think because they were a disaster last year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

They're better, but then it's a bit like the Knicks where you go, okay, I've got these other defenders that maybe give me a chance, but if it's Turner, who's been in decline... as the back line of the defense. And then, I mean, they've had to play Thomas Bryant 15 minutes a game in March. He's got a massive negative net rating. They've even played Tony Bradley like five minutes a game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

So it's still marginally better. The Clippers with their stuff are 14 and 22. You got to get to Sacramento, who's the 10 seed right now, to have something that resembles how bad Memphis' record is against those teams. So, you know, look, is it Jenkins? No. You know, Jotz supposedly in that piece from The Athletic talked about how he didn't like the offense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

So like the center part They don't really have any other option at all unless they want to go Siakam and play small in a certain matchup. But again, back to my Knicks comp here. It's like this fun team we all really like, but it's like, do I really take them seriously enough when it feels like the head of the snake in Halliburton can be hunted and then your center is somebody that...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

people feel like, you know what, we're probably going to have a really good chance attacking them over the course of a series. And I know Pacers fans get really upset of us maybe nationally being dismissive. It's like, hey, we made the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Well, let's go through it, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I mean, Milwaukee had the injuries, the Knicks had the injuries, and it was a fun four games against Boston. Those were really fun games. but it's always going to fall into the category of kind of like Atlanta's Eastern Conference Finals and Portland's Western Conference Finals. Like, congrats on getting that far, but no one expected it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Right, but if they win game one, then Boston's going to, they're just going to, the series is going to feel different.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I mean, the irony of this is that the Finnish guy now that's the new head coach, This was part of the offense that he brought from Europe. And I know when the NBA thinks, where do we go for head coaching? It's like, let's start in Finland. But I think LaRoche, the other guy who was let go with Jenkins, he was big on this offense too. Here's what I know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

You can run whatever fucking offense you want with this team. I know exactly what it's going to look like in the last couple minutes. And I'll be honest, this is like the first season with Ja where I go, I think I'm out. I'm not all the way out right now. I don't want to make that official statement because he's still young enough.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

But when he's the face of your franchise and leader, like, look, man, Verno texted me a single-tier emoji on a face after I did an Open a couple years ago. It's the Whoop That Trick game where they beat the Golden State Warriors. They're down 3-1. They won by 39 points. I think Recency Bill had a take that you can't win an NBA championship having that kind of loss in the playoffs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Recency Bill came out big that day. Right, right. And... I know it was fun, and it's probably a memory a lot of Memphis fans will have because that was a lot of fun for everybody that night. Ja, by the way, didn't play in that game, if anybody needs that reminder. And look, it's going to be a little mean, but my initial thought watching that game was these guys are losers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

,,,,,, Uh, look, if Colorado state doesn't give up the queen game winner, then I don't know if the headlines are different, but since it's all blue bloods, not necessarily blue bloods, but like the power for conferences now, and it's 16 for 16. And then it's all chalk all the way. Like this was an historic.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

If you looked at some of the Ken Palm stuff, the top four seeds going into this tournament, their combined, whatever his ranking system is, it was the, the highest four quality teams you'd had in tournament history for one seeds since they had expanded this thing. Um, and not to 68, like we're going back almost 40 years. So we knew on paper it was going to be really good. And, um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

You know, the way the Duke-Bama game played out, like, Bama was a really good basketball team. They couldn't... It wasn't shooting variants and not making threes. There was no good shots available for them for 40 minutes. Like, what Duke did to those dudes? A good, a really good basketball team in Alabama that felt like they were in the mix or the same tier as a Florida or an Auburn.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And I wanted them to get their asses handed to them in game six. And they did.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

You know, look, you're going to dig them a little bit because Auburn looked like the best team all season long and everybody fell in love with Florida as they won the SEC championship bill. But to watch Alabama...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

go the whole game being like i guess i'll just shoot it from here again because we can't get past the perimeter guys we're never getting into the paint we can't post it up against these guys even if we get a screening we get some angle malawatch is coming over here this dude started playing basketball four years ago and he's seven foot two and he's altering every shot at the rim um

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, look, I I've loved watching this tournament, even if it hasn't been the buzzer beater and the drama stuff. So and I need more than I always say this kind of stuff, but like I need more than one year results. Just say this is now the new normal. Now, it's very clear the mid-major programs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

The strength that they had, the advantage that they had against some of the other higher-profile programs was that they had continuity, that a lot of their guys were playing together multiple years, maybe even a little bit older, and sticking around. We ignore that in basketball far too often. It's the same thing in the NBA. Like, have these guys actually played together for a long time?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Like, that's a massive advantage that I feel like is never, ever talked about. Or at least we've diminished the importance of that continuity. And so maybe this is the first year of the new normal, but I would need it to be like this. And in a single elimination, like, we're definitely going to have Cinderella teams again. We're just going to have weird scores that'll happen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It just didn't happen this year. And the top of the field, as we knew going in, was historic anyway, and it's played out that way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

You know what? Perfect transition. Because then in the next year, they lose to the Lakers. They lose in six. They lose by 40 points in game six. And everyone blamed Dylan Brooks.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, Tech almost won. I mean, it's going to be tough for Tech fans today going, you kind of blew that one. But again, we've already been talking about the Gators and the shot making. They just, everybody between Houck and Clayton Jr., they hit every one of those threes when they needed to, and then they missed the front end of the one-on-ones on the other side twice. But Tech...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

was looking like they were going to run away with that game with post-ups, old school post-ups. Somebody, somebody was sitting on a couch. A young man listening to us right now was on the couch with his father, maybe even his grandfather. And he was like, that guy reminds me of Adrian Dantley. Although Adrian Daly probably had a little bit more face up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Like I could have just gone real old school post-up guy. Uh, and I don't want to use McHale here, but they got back into it because Florida could not handle the big guy Williams, I think from, from tech who just was destroying them. And it was space.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, right, because you could see Florida's like, we don't want to double here, and then they finally had a guy overplay his shoulder so much that it kind of screwed him up a little bit. Yeah, look, man, even Tennessee, what Tennessee did to Kentucky in that first half was horrifying. It was, I mean, the energy, the effort.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I think because as NBA guys, whenever I dig into the college stuff, there's this abruptness, this shock part of like, oh, my God, like who's actually going to score? Like, do they have like we're just so used to the NBA now. It's weird if there's two guys that aren't offensive threats on the ball.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And in college, you might have lineups where it's always three guys that aren't really a threat with the basketball. And they play so damn hard, especially in these tournaments, they're just going to play harder than anything you're going to see in the regular season in the NBA, for the most part, which would only make sense. I don't even think it's a criticism of the NBA.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It's just the reality of it. That once you get past, like, what the hell are they doing? Is anyone ever going to score? That's a terrible shot. Or where are the shot makers? Like Lanier, I know Tennessee gets eliminated today, but that guy's like one of the... just pure shot makers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

right well dylan brooks brought it on himself a lot too like that was this that was the off season of where it was like get ready to learn china buddy and it was like you know i'm saying that wrong on purpose but you know he was like i'm gonna be the bully with lebron and then no no he said i poke bears right but i'm just saying he wanted to be the bully in the series against lebron and then he didn't want to do a media availability what twice after like two of the losses right so

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I watched all season in college hoops, like, damn, like this guy's getting into this kind of stuff as a college player. And so you have Tennessee just swallow up Kentucky. And then they go up against Houston where you're like, I don't know, like, are a couple of guys going to get their careers going to end in this game? Because you know how physical it's going to be.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And granted it was 29 to eight with three 38 to go in the first half. And Houston was, basically reminds Tennessee, like you think what you did against Kentucky, you're going to be able to do against us.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And the Kentucky even has, or excuse me, I think Tennessee had the ball down 10 making this run and they played so hard to close this game, which is a credit to Rick Barnes and everybody with Tennessee. So I'm going to say nice about something about the team that lost here. I don't know how many other teams in college basketball are able to hold off the effort that Tennessee was playing with.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And yet Houston was able to get it back up to 20 because there was about this six or eight minute stretch where I'm like, is Tennessee going to find a way to actually get back in this game? And if you can appreciate the effort and obviously the pageantry, which we've always talked about in the past, it helps you get over

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

some of the moments where there's just such a gap between the shot making ability and you know how clunky the college game can look at times because a lot of it times like these guys are busting their asses every single rebound is a wrestling match I think the shot making is I just wonder if basketball is just going to another level as we're watching it just at all levels like you watch some of the drives and the finishes that the college guys have

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Now, wait, if you're missing Bobby Hurley, do you feel like you didn't spend enough time with Steven Ashworth this year or Creighton?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

So I did a little exercise. I was going to save it for my pod, but I'll do it now. The Cooper stuff. Now that I feel I'm caught up on him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I asked... I asked, I think it was, I don't think I got 10 responses. So maybe I'm not as cool as I thought. I think I sent out 10 texts to NBA teams being like Zion coming out, Cooper coming out. So I have eight responses. What do you think the vote is for Cooper or Zion?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

No, we can't do that. It's a little hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube because we have all the Zion information, but go back to when Zion was coming out. What's the number one pick? What's the question?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

If they were both coming out with only the one Duke year behind them, how would you rank Cooper Flagg and Zion Williamson?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

5-3 in favor of Cooper. So, not the most scientific polling. I don't know. Interesting, though. But it doesn't represent, it's just, you know, you could have five guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, right. Because I mean, you know, clearly when Yama was generational, but not a college background. Right. Doesn't count.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Hey, look, and Brooks has proven he was worth the contract. My overall thing with this team, Verno, is that it went from this really likable underdog, we don't give a shit, this is who we are, you know the Grizzlies' identity, to... You guys haven't done shit in like four years. And I know injuries are part of the story. And it's like, I'll watch some of these games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, I mean, he's definitely there's way more anticipation for him than there were Anthony Edwards.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I don't know if it's because I grew up such a passionate hater of Duke. And then once I started working in the business, I just started respecting it a lot more. And the weird thing was that Zion year, I found myself doing the impossible and like not hating Duke and wanting I wanted him to advance, which is I don't think it's ever happened. And, you know, it's a it's a big East ACC thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It's very natural to fans. I mean, I know you're sick of hearing it. But when they're killing Alabama and then they start sharing the notebook and it's like, hey, you lost last year in the Elite Eight, NC State, and John Shire's like, I had to examine, re-examine the entire program top down. And we needed to re-emphasize these things and we needed to build this team in a certain way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And I'm listening to all of it. It all sounds incredible. But I also think that people have a habit of, in certain industries...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

making their job seem like it's more challenging than it is or complicated perhaps is the right way to say it because we all know coaching this kind of program is complicated for everybody it's going to just wear you out but i'm sitting there i'm in my hotel room and i'm listening to all this stuff is they're killing alabama and i'm thinking like so you had to have a philosophical adjustment to want to bring in three lottery picks yeah is that the whole goal every year

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah. You know, we examined everything. We did the work. We triple checked everything. And we thought, hey, we have a chance to have three lottery picks. They're all huge.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Should we do that? Phil, does it match our new philosophy? And it's like, you know, I bet it does. I looked at the mirror.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Now it's like, let's soup up the barrels? I have no education on it, so let's start there. But I found it a little weird that I didn't know that you could just make your own bats now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

It's like, dude, you guys carry yourselves like you've done something in this league. They do not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Did you see Nestor came in and gave up three home runs on three straight pitches? Yeah. Torpedo bats or did they hate him?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

What could you have named it to prevent the pushback, though? Something less hostile, the human bat? Like big barrel bat.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Josh is insufferable right now, Chris. He's insufferable to watch right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, dude, we've talked about Stephen A. How many weeks on this pod?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I didn't. I think some quotes, like anything with me, I thought some of the quotes made sense. I thought some of the quotes were ridiculous. And I'm sick of talking about them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I read Tim McMahon's Wonder Boy Luca book. How was it? Which I really enjoyed, and I enjoyed having him on. It was a sports book. It was like 380 pages. I was like, oh, right, Tim. Here we go. This guy's not sending out a little pamphlet with Luca on the cover. No mail-ins for Tim. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I was like, because, you know, some of these sports books, I don't like reading them that much anymore just because in my free time, I don't want to do more sports. Yeah. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And she was awesome. She was so nice. And then I was telling her because she lived in Maine and I was telling her, you know, what we did for work. And I was like, well, I'm pretty aware. I know what you do for work. Because I was like, do I play it that I don't know who she is or do I say, hey, I know who you are. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And I said, hey, look, I'm not going to pretend that I don't know who you are because I figured it out. And then we were talking about Maine and I was talking about Martha's Vineyard and I was talking about Vermont. And then she was like, I don't really know that much about basketball. I said, well, funny enough, I'm like this guy right here. And it was during the Duke Alabama game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I was like, this guy's from Maine and he's the best player in college basketball and he's going to be the number one pick in the draft. And she was like, that can't be normal that he's from Maine. And I said, look, you're already on your way. So, but yeah, really nice. Like not, you know, she's a huge movie star and she was like totally friendly, normal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And then I was like, Hey, I got to get back to the game headphones. And she's like, you headphones there. But she was ready. She was like, I'm going to watch a movie. She's like, we'll check back in in a couple hours. And I was like, deal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I have a pump cassette tape that I was wondering if I could get autographed. So you had phones there. That's a really interesting move. Yeah, see, now that's going to be the part. I didn't really realize that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

What's your best famous person encounter on a cross country flight back to LA? Cause you never know. Like when you're, when you're leaving another major city and you're on that direct, that big boy flight, maybe you're sitting up close, a little closer to the guys driving the plane.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

2003?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Look, I'm going to give you credit here because you would find a way to get past the awkwardness. Because like you, let's not kid ourselves. You've been in this role.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I don't know. I've seen you. I've seen you in settings where I was kind of shocked at how... How I could navigate stuff? Yeah, how cool you navigate, like, different stuff. And I remember even asked. It was, like, another director. I was like, he's just going to sit over with those guys the rest of the night? And the guy was like, I've never seen anybody like Bill.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Like, Bill can hang out with those guys. He can hang out with those guys. And, like, look, we're talking... different backgrounds. I think it was the documentary. Was it, was it the juice world documentary? And I was, I was like, he's just going to hang out with those guys all night. I was like, that's, and it was like, yeah, man, Bill, Bill can just, he just can move. He can move.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And he navigates all this stuff really well.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

That's amazing. Yeah. So she then she then told you that he was texting her like I understand him. He was texting her.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

You're literally text. You're telling the one person that you shouldn't. I mean, other than the people making the decision, but if they had already offered. So I guess there's I'm trying to think where you were ranked on the worst possible people in the world to have that information. So I guess there's probably like four decision makers there. Right. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, because I remember, I remember you being really excited in support of that signing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

i uh i'll be honest any encounter i had with rick in person was fun yeah he's a good guy i really ended up liking him i ran into him a couple different times and he was like incredibly cool to me um and the first time like i was a complete nobody yeah so he had he had no reason but i think he thought i think he might have thought i was somebody else maybe that's why he liked me but um

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

That's really, really funny. Didn't they put him on SportsCenter too? Wasn't that part of the thing?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

The best is that she told you that then she was telling her stop talking to him. I think he was yelling at her in text. I would have been like, you can't, you got to stop. And then she was like, well, now it's too late. I'll never forget like in my stretch of like the skipper meetings that I would have, you know, like when you were lucky enough every now and then.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And he was, when you had your first skipper meeting, As an on-air person, you were like, oh, okay. Now I know why this guy's in charge. Because he fucking kills it in those meetings. He's just so good. It's not even that he's just folksy. He's making all these points and you're kind of like, I thought this before.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And then now I left and I totally get why you did that and why you did this and why you did all these things. Because then he'd also like try to make you feel like you were in on something he wasn't telling anybody else. He'd be like, I was watching SportsCenter the other day and I saw someone on and I didn't know their name. I didn't know their background, Ryan. And I thought, that's bad.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

I'm here every day.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

And I was like, I do not know this person. That's not something that should happen on television. So when the Riley thing, because there's a lot of people that are pissed off because Riley that always felt like, hey, is somebody who doesn't work here? Let's pay them way more money than somebody who doesn't work.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Right, and I didn't even bring it up. It was almost as if he was just like, I'm going to let Ryan have this piece of information, and then if he's ever at a cocktail party with somebody, again, I never went to any of that stuff, but like, you know, like, well, Rick Riley was a great signing, because he was like, we spent a few million dollars, we destroyed Sports Illustrated.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, it's also like, yeah, because print killed it in every other avenue. Yeah. So was that a Rick Riley thing or was it a print thing? But it wasn't even whether or not Skipper was right. The lesson was...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Sharing your strategy in a very clever way where you would gain allies for a decision at the time that was very controversial internally because on-air people are maybe the pettiest people ever. And if somebody comes in from the outside and he was going to surpass so many different people salary-wise, people were just going to be pissed because that's what happens. Well, I was one of them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Yeah, no, I know. I remember.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Uh, yeah, no, thanks for having me. The Goodwill hunting thing was awesome. It was, you guys are so good. You shouldn't see our, ah, you fit in great.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

No, I was really good on the pod. I'm not being humble. I'm just saying you three are also very good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Memphis Lowdown, and Forgotten NBA Playoff Teams With Ryen Russillo and Chris Vernon

Is that what he's going to learn to shoot?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

34.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

It felt like this was that it was the right move. It just it to be honest with you, you know, I never get mad at coaches when they tighten up rotations in the playoffs. Everything is so high leverage. You go with the guys that got you there. You trust the guys that that got you there. That was a tough rotation. That's a super tight rotation. It's a super tight rotation. Tighter than tight.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

No rotation. It wasn't a rotation. There's no rotation. No rotating. No rotation at all. So I never get on coaches when they do that, particularly JJ, who... is really in an interesting situation as a coach, right? He gets a team that has the bones of a decent team, then he gets Luka, the expectations ratchet through the roof.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Now he's in the playoffs against an opponent that everybody expects him to beat, and they are not beating them, and They are getting outplayed, out-hustled, and to be honest with you, kind of out-coached as well. So the fact that he decided that he was going to kind of go with the guys that he could trust the most didn't really surprise me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I am really, really impressed with Anthony Edwards, though. Like, ridiculously impressed with his ability to figure the game out on the fly and really be like a dominating figure for the Timberwolves to rally behind.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I felt like he had kind of outlived his NBA usage, his usefulness at like a high level. Playoff level. I didn't know that we... Yeah, I didn't know that we would ever see him being a difference or a difference maker in a playoff series again. It just seemed like it was petering out. And when you look at it, the trade looks like... It looks now like a trade that worked out for each team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You know, you see... Kat and the Knicks have a big win and he's playing really well. And Randall has really found a way to fit in with the Timberwolves in a way that I did not think that he would be able to. I thought that he was going to stop the ball. I thought he was going to clog things for Ant. I thought he was going to be someone that Ant would get frustrated with.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And you did see that at times this year, but once they kind of figured it out, And once the pace of the game slowed down a little bit in the playoffs, you kind of seen his usefulness. He really is. He's an athletic guy who can guard a lot of different guys. Yeah, he's decent in the night. So you can't leave him open. He'll make the shot every now and again. So and he's tough.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Like to Rosillo's point, they are a tough team and the Lakers are kind of soft. They're a little Hollywood getting pushed around by these guys. It's depressing to see. Wow.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But he's just been over the course of his career. He's just been so bad in the playoffs. He's been so bad in the playoffs where teams have been able to force him to his weak side, completely neutralize his scoring. You just did not expect for him to contribute in any meaningful way

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

When the stakes got to their highest, and of course he would do it now that he's skull-fucking the Lakers, and I have to watch him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You don't. He'll fuck up three times in a row and then dribble the ball out beyond the three-point line, call a defender out, and just like he's going to get in his bag. And I'm like, you're watching. You're like, Randall, you're still in your bag, huh? Get out your bag for a second. But he'll do it anyway. But it's working. Look, you know what?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You know what I was thinking as I was watching this game? I was thinking in years past, this would have been exactly what the NBA wanted. They want Ant in a series with LeBron where young dude beats old guy and becomes heir apparent to face of the league or whatever it is. They want this. I'm wondering if they want it right now. I don't think that they do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Like, you know, this is probably with the Lakers and the Luka thing and everything. I think they probably want the deepest run for the Lakers that they could possibly get. But I mean, really, all NBA fans should want the coronation of Anthony Edwards and they should want it for him to take it from LeBron James in the way that the Timberwolves are taking it from the Lakers right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I mean, I'm looking at it. I'm looking at the series and I keep waiting for the Lakers to show that they have an edge over the Timberwolves. And that moment has not come. Even in game two, where the Lakers get the win, It's one of those wins where you go, oh, we didn't figure very much out in that situation. It was a weird hand game. Yeah, we didn't figure very much out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And it seems like when the Timberwolves need to make a play or when they need to batten down the hatches, that they have things that they can go to They have easier ways to get stops and easier ways to get buckets than the Lakers do. And the Lakers seem like they're operating on a real high degree of difficulty with everything that they're trying to do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And it doesn't seem like over the long run, they're going to be able to mount anything to tip the scurries. the series back and get on their side.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Ant never plays. He always plays fearless, but he does sometimes play passive. And for whatever reason, he's not passive now. Like, you've seen him before the soft double comes out there and he kind of doesn't know what to do with it. You see games where he's too reliant on taking high degree of difficulty threes or high degree of difficulty long twos. You see that. None of that now. And also...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

he's playing mind games with LeBron James. He's getting into him physically. Like, these guys are rallying behind him. It's a big deal series for Ant right now. For sure.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

It ended kind of with a whimper, which kind of like, you know, makes you forget about it a little bit. But I mean, at this point, if you're a Lakers fan or if you're the Lakers organization, we're going to have to go to some desperate measures to get him out of here, to get him off of his game. We're probably going to have to Shannon Sharpe him, send somebody into the DMs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Get him off of his game. Never heard that word before. I'm scared. Would history prove that that doesn't get off his game? Well, maybe. But it's our only shot now. Okay? Because he's not going to stop. So we're probably going to have to send somebody to him, get somebody, distract him in some kind of way. It's Los Angeles. There's a lot of people that we can send waves and waves.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

We might not be deep. We might tighten the rotation on the court. But as far as the rotation in Los Angeles, the ways we can send right to them DMs to get Ant's mind off of the game, we deep. We deep.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Maybe a different type of double team we'll throw at him this time. We'll see.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Hey, Taylor Sheridan's in there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Rosillo, but that I'll be 1944. Rosillo, that's a positive, though. Like, you know, so you know where you stand. And let me tell you what I mean. I have a theory, right? Because they have all these private members clubs in L.A.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

The question is, who's famous enough just to show up at the Soho House and not be in a member and just get let up? Like Will Smith is probably not a member of the Soho House, right? But if he shows up there and goes, hey, I want to check it out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Whatever. I think I did once. Whatever. Like you go there, they're going to let you right up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Come on in. Yeah. Going to let you right up. Now, you know that you're not quite there yet as far as all privileges. Ryan was still a little face card. It's me. Let me up. But that just makes that drive to get close, though. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You're right there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And if they see you in the lounge a couple of more times, you're hanging out with Taylor Sheridan, it's you, it's Jessica Alba, it's the whole deal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

No. No, not at all. Is there any reason? No, no, no, no, no, no. Like, he's too real for TV.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, they might have tried. He's probably my favorite basketball player since Kobe. Wow. I'm telling you, I love him. I love the realness. I really do, too. I fucking love him. I love the fact... Like, I love the fact that even the shit that happens off of the court, which some of it is really fucked up and stupid and like just really stupid. But even that, he just doesn't let it bother him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Even when he kind of looks like an asshole or something, he just doesn't let it bother him. He doesn't let it bother him. And there's something to be said for someone who is not hung up on every single opinion that people have about him on social media. He's a hooper and a dude. I would say something else, but I'm in mixed company. I think you can say it. No, no, no, no. Just a hooper and a dude.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And so I dig that. It hurts watching him do it to the Lakers, but I like him. But no, they are not ready for Anthony Edwards to be the guy that they're building their league around. They're not ready yet.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

That's so funny that you think that. I think Luke is terrible at it. He's annoying, though. Is he bad or good at it? He's just so annoying about it. He's... To have to watch like Luka, to be a Lakers fan and have Luka come here, the one thing I hate is bitching. More than anything, I hate bitching, which is crazy because I'm one of the world's leading bitchers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But I hate it when other people do it, right? Tremendous self-awareness though, man. It is what it is. But I hate it when other people do it. So I don't think that Luka works the rest very well. I do think the Lakers will win. And then I think they will be smacked in game six. I don't think game six will be very close.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Interesting. Interesting.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You mean the Shadur Sanders situation? Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

So I had a guy, a very high up football guy hit me. And when he heard me on your pod the last time after day one, and it was interesting the way he put it. I'm going to read this. He goes, on Shador, he's never been graded that high by the scouts, which is something that I don't think a lot of people are paying that much attention to.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

When you hear about Shador Sanders, you hear about media assessments. He goes, he was a creation of the media, but mostly a creation, uh, of the machine built in Boulder. Then you have to ask yourself with the organization, do you want to deal with his father criticizing your staff every week from his CU press conference?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

If he's the backup and your starter has a bad week, do you want to have to respond to what's being said a thousand miles away? It's a lot of baggage that's surrounding an average player. So I think people are trying to make it either or.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

They're trying to make it a completely cultural thing or a completely football thing when really what I'm hearing from people that are involved in the NFL, that it's a combination of the two. That if Shador Sanders were more of a can't-miss prospect, then you probably wouldn't be having a lot of the conversations around him that you're having.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But if he's just average or just good, I mean, not transcended, just average or just good, then the things that come along with it, and we can't act like... that there's not going to be more scrutiny with drafting him. There just is. Fair enough. Hullabaloo. Hullabaloo. And a lot of people, it scared them off. And so...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Look, I think there are a lot of people that are going to take what happened with Shadur and they're going to use it for their own interests, whatever agenda that they have. I think that Shadur Sanders is a much better quarterback than a fifth round quarterback. But also, I'm not an NFL scout. I'm a guy that watched him in college.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And I'm starting to realize that a lot of these guys don't care about that. They really don't care about your college tape. The assessment that they do of you starts. It's partly because of what you did in college, but then it's really the measurables and the stuff that they get and all different types of things that they're watching beyond that. So I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

We're going to have a lot of conversations about this, but I think there's a lot of stuff going on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

He was the best pass blocker I've seen at LSU in years. Maybe ever in terms of just a guy that just, I mean, we didn't run the ball that well. I mean, we had some problems in the interior line and all that stuff. But Will went up against the most athletic blocker

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

determined pass rushers in the country when you talk about SEC pass rushers, and they just simply couldn't get around him, couldn't get to his quarterback. But when they came out, they looked at the measurables and they were like, oh my God, maybe we have to move this guy around. So, you know, I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Yeah, I think Deion is beloved by the media, and rightly so. He's been a major star for the last 30-plus years. As far as the football culture decision-maker guys, I don't know if those relationships and sort of how he's revered, if that carries on there. I think that we're probably all seeing that now. I will say this, though. I remember back when we was on the bus one time

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And this girl had tried to holler at this guy when he was in high school, and he didn't like her. And then he went around to everybody in school being like, hey, man, Toots tried to holler at me. Toots tried to holler at me. Toots tried to holler at me. And after a while, we started asking him, like, why are you telling all of us that she tried to holler at you?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Like, why is it getting around the whole school that you don't like her? The thing that I was struck by with Shadurah Sanders is the amount of negative experiences and highlighting every single negative thing that was wrong with him got to a fever pitch in a way that I don't remember seeing. And I think the question is like, why is that happening?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Was that happening because Shadurah Sanders was such a notable and forward-facing athlete? Was that backlash from all of the rapping and the chains and all of that stuff? Was that a referendum on Dion? But it did turn negative. in a way to where we're hearing, well, I looked up all of the old interviews, the interview stories that we've heard of.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And typically when we hear an interview story from the draft, we've heard about bad interviews. But when we hear about bad interviews, we normally hear about bad questions from franchises. We hear about somebody asking you if you're gay or somebody asking you about something with your mom or somebody asking you that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

We don't hear really about how a prospect with an interview as much as we've heard about this bad interview with the Giants. And I can't put my head around why that is. Either that's people... saying that, okay, he's a fifth round talent or a second or third round talent and he did terrible in his interview. Let us explain, let us quell the outrage and explain why he's not being drafted.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Or there was some kind of hate for the kid that in some way they didn't have for other prospects based upon something outside of his control other than, you know, how he acts and carries himself.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

So, OK, so a lot of people say race and they mean culture. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not talking about you. So a lot of people say race and they mean culture. Right. It would be. it would be silly to look at the draft after a quarter, a black quarterback went number one and went NFL owners are, they don't want to draft black players. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But there is a thought that there is a specific type of Black player or Black man that is a specific affront to power structures. And that's someone who doesn't walk in and isn't artificially humble or... who doesn't walk in and doesn't mute himself, is big in a room and is lighting up a room and knows that he has it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

That there's a specific feeling from some people that that guy has to be broken down and cut down a peg, right? It's interesting. When I was listening, when I was watching Shadur Sanders, I was thinking about Adrian Broner. And a lot of people aren't going to be able to make this connection. Adrian Broner is a legitimate four-weight world champion. like a legitimate boxing achiever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

However, in order for him to carry the type of bravado that he did with him, he would have had to have been perfect. If you're going to be Floyd or if you're going to be Ali or if you're going to be Deion Sanders, you can almost never lose.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

You have to be perfect because if you are not perfect and you have that type of confidence and that type of bravado and that type of oomph with you, then they will cut you down. And so when people are saying race, they're talking about Black man. They're saying Black man. But they're not really talking about Black men. They're talking about one specific type of Black man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And it's the type that they seem to always want to go at when they're trying to make an example of someone. Now, I'm not necessarily saying that that's what's happening with Shador Sanders. But there's an uncomfortability and attention there because of what we've seen happen to athletes like this in the past. Now, if you got the goods, it don't matter, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Because all of the guys I was just talking about, Deion, Ali, whomever you want to name. And if you got the goods, it don't matter. But it does kind of seem like sometimes they want you to, if you're black, they want you to be great. They want you to be amazing, but they don't want you to put it in their face. You know what I mean?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

The second part is the entire part of it, right? Because, you know, I'm a huge LSU fan. Nobody had more swagger than my vanilla champion, Joe Burrow. Nobody had more swagger. We smoking cigars. We flipping the ball. We boom, boom, boom, boom, the whole thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Beautiful.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But we also threw 60 touchdowns, right? We threw 60 touchdowns. We won the Heisman. We got to the league. We... I don't know. I've never met the dude. He took a team to the Super Bowl. I'm probably... So that's the whole deal. So there's two parts of it. The first part of it is... I think a lot of people, the conversation is this. Is he good enough to comport himself in the way that he does?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

That's the first question. The second question is, does he have to be? Can't he just be confident about himself? Can't he just be happy to be Shador Sanders? Can't he just be, he ain't never been in no trouble. He ain't never, does he have to be as excellent as people would want him to be in order to be as big as he wants to be?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Oh, shit. Ole Miss? See? That's what I'm talking about. Do you know this? Do you know that guy? Personally? No, I'm talking about Bill. Do you know who he's talking about?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

That was my favorite white for many years. Did you, bro, for Ole Miss, had a, see? See, for Ole Miss, had like a Checkered story had been to a JUCO or whatever, whatever, or been to a different school. Just used to come to, we'll shoot 39%, but score like 35 and flip off everybody in the crowd. I loved that guy. I can't believe you just pulled that name.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Tyler Shuck, yeah. To the Saints.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

That was a bad one. It's okay, LeBron. It's okay. Ben Simmons is here. I love him. So this is what I'll say. First of all, I'm one of those weird people that talking about this stuff just doesn't make me angry, right? Because even if it's not the thing or if it is the thing, it doesn't hurt us or there's no skin off our neck from just talking about it, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Like investigating the culture, investigating the things that might be undergirding these topics, whatever, just don't be so precious about it. Talk about it, whether it is or whether it's not. I think we're probably learning in a real way that the NFL minds just weren't as high on Shador Sanders as a football player as the rest of us were. And that's a real thing, right? That can't be denied.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

It's like, it's just bonkers. But really, the circus is only beginning because now out of him and Dylan Gabriel, I mean, one of those guys isn't going to make the team. You know what I mean? One of those guys might go to the practice squad.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Well, first of all, by the way, people think I'm a homer. I'm very honest when it comes to the LSU players. I know. That's why when you were excited about each guy we took, it made me more excited. The only guy you guys missed on Mason Taylor, he ends up going to the Jets. I know. I think he's going to be a Jason Witten type security blanket for a quarterback.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

But I am shocked, and I hadn't been following it as much, because once again, I'm a college ball lover. That's another thing about Shador, I'll just say this before I get, like, I watched him get annihilated. Killed. Not missed games because of injuries. Tough as can be. tough, make throws, stand in there, stare defenses down, and just make plays and make throws.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

And I'm like, that's what you want out of a QB. I've also watched him, like, 98-yard drive to tie the game with a two-minute drill. Just, that's what you want in a QB. And I guess, you know, I wasn't seeing the ball rotation right or whatever. But Brayden Swenson from LSU. Just for an edge rusher. Yeah. Eight and a half sacks, a legit hell raiser. You guys get him in the fifth round.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I have no idea how Braden Swinson fell to the fifth round.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

After freshman year, you were like, who is this dude?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I give Henderson a lot of credit, though. I give Henderson a lot of credit because... I give Henderson a lot of credit because he... when they brought in Quinshawn Juckins to split carries with him, I was like, Jesus Christ, what kind of bell cow, bellwether bat wants another guy? And Juckins had had some injury problems at Ole Miss, and it wasn't quite, but

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Everyone that had watched him in the SEC knew that he could flat out play. But Henderson handled it really, really well. Never complained.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

I'd be delighted. It might have cost him in draft capital, though, right? Because the guy had had such an amazing freshman season that if he sticks around a little bit longer and continues to put those numbers up, then maybe he's a high or mid-first rounder, you know?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Okay. The things that that young woman must be doing to Bill Belichick. You guys are worried about him. Curling toes. I'm happy for him. Belichick got ready. It's Bill fucking Belichick. It's Darth Vader in a hoodie. He got ready to answer a question. She said, no, we're not talking about that. And she's using we with everything. And Bill Belichick.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

Bill Belichick stood down, turned around, and looked like this. Like a Stepford Belichick. A Stepford Belichick. But the stuff she must be doing to Belichick must have his just blowing his mind. He's got to be happy. He's got to be happy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

How does it end?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

He was wearing a distressed Navy pullover. Okay, but that might be in.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Dame Goes Down, Jokic-Curry Beauties, Ant’s L.A. Takedown, and Shedeur Theories With Ryen Russillo and Van Lathan Jr.

He was wearing a distressed Navy pullover. Like, I'm telling you, man, this is just the beginning of it. Bill Belichick, TikTok is coming. The whole situation is coming because she is putting it on his motherfucking ass. That's what's happening right there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You can have an OG game. Hart can go off. Brunson's still going to be the focal point on all this stuff. He's a stretch five, which I think is almost mandatory if you're trying to be a title contender. But we know their defensive numbers are not good. We know what they are against those other top teams. And today wasn't really close, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Did it feel like it was anything that was happening to them? Because Brunson got off to a really slow start, and then those guys go nuts. I mean, what was it, 38 points in the third quarter?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Because Brunson got coronet a couple times. And then I thought there was another time where it was like the same movement where they're going to get Brunson down the left side. And they brought Tatum over as like a third defender. And just were like, fine. So I thought there was these little moments in there that kind of back up what you're saying. So go ahead.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

No, my thing with Tatum has been pretty consistent that as much as I loved him, and I think I appreciate him, that there was never going to be a time where that guy's the best player in the world. That seems like an impossible goal to accomplish.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, he's... Look, this is the most I've ever appreciated him. Me too. His passing... The way he beasts guys, like a team the other day, we were just kind of like bullshit because Goldsberry and I had done constructing our most complimentary starting five of today's players, right? Yeah. And I just, I put Tatum on it because I felt like he provides so much.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I mean, he's basically playing point guard at this size. And I don't know that that gets talked about a lot nationally.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Right, which is what he did in the NBA Finals. Now, granted, the game's different, so it's not like he's down in the post against Moses Malone for 40 post-ups a game. But he was a center on defense. and he's playing point guard. And, you know, maybe somebody else brings the ball up, but then they bring it back to him, and it's his decision-making.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And so, you know, maybe there's some output stuff that doesn't line up with the SGAs or the nights where Ant goes fucking crazy, you know, which is just so much fun to watch. Like, Ant having one of those nights is probably still my favorite thing other than just a reminiscent Curry flamethrower game. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Honestly, I'm probably... I would tell you, like, there's certain moments with Ant that I probably still like more than any other single player in the league. But... Tatum just has more options around him. I still would say Boston at its peak has more options offensively than even Oklahoma City does. I don't know if there would be much of an argument there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So even though you're not getting that peak output that would maybe put him in the belt conversation, I am so happy with his approach. that it's, I'll take this. His assist ratio on the advanced stuff has never been better. You know, a lot of the advanced metrics are like peak for him, but there's also, it's not just a counting thing. It's not even the metrics.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

There's just an eye test thing with him where how steady he is. Like he had a baseline drive on OG where he went right into him and moved him off the spot and got the free throws. And I'm like, how many other guys 20 plus feet away would have the balls to drive at OG and look like the stronger player? So yeah, I've never been more in love with his game than what I've seen this season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You really think it's... Well, I think you've already answered that it's kind of a closed case, but... I mean, at any point, do you think, I mean, I guess he's got a couple years to go, but is he going to surpass SGA?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but, I mean, aren't they, are they 12-3, 11-4 in the last 15? I mean, I know it was 12-4. Yeah, but I'm talking about, like, the stuff they were doing last year where they were just, like, ripping people's heads off for three straight weeks. Yeah, they're 10-2 in their last 12. Yeah. This kind of feels like it, other than the start. Maybe we're in the middle of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

They also had that, I don't know, what is it, seven-game stretch there in November. So the weird thing was just a couple games against lesser opponents, a Toronto game. They could have lost a New Orleans game. And the standard for them is so much higher. But that first quarter was so impressive overall.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

that, you know, I was just a nice little reminder, I think on a national stage for everybody of like, this is what this team is capable of. And I don't know that there's anybody else. I've granted you talk about the OKC defense, which I'm sure we'll get to a little bit later today. Might be the tiebreaker for a lot of different people, but those first 12 minutes were just awesome.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I agree. And it's the defensive numbers. Like you mentioned it. If you go back the last 15, that's the number one defense in the league. They're 12 and three is the best record over the last 15. Do you understand that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Well, I think having some of the pieces... I thought Rui played his ass off last night, both. I mean, you can look at the points, but it was what he was doing defensively. Now, granted, Vando comes in and just hacks the shit out of Jokic, but it's like they're not going to call all of these, although they tried to call all of them on Vanderbilt because he didn't play a ton of minutes. But...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You know, the Cam Reddish thing seems over. The Dalton Connect minutes are limited if you start looking at these things.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So I think we gave Vincent being healthy with Vando being healthy with them liking this Rui center matchup stuff because they're basically forced to figure this out because the Jackson Hayes minutes usually aren't that great because the longer he's out there, the longer there's going to be something that happens. Yeah. And specific to last night, Bill, I loved that game. OK, me too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I thought it was really impressive because we look at the playoff and you go bracket wise, like how far can L.A. go as well? They're going to run into Denver again. So that's not going to work. And last night's one result. But I thought this coaching staff showed the difference where it's always about the roster for me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But there are little times like Kenny Atkinson this year with Cleveland, like clearly there's something better with this, with his approach to basketball. I think JJ and the staff did such a fantastic job of last night's preparation. the possessions when you really looked at what they were doing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

There's these non-spacing lineups that Denver runs out there outside of Jokic where the Lakers are like, if this is what you're going to run out, we are not going to pay attention to Aaron Gordon. We're not going to care about Westbrook. They had a play, and I'll finish here, but LeBron was on Jokic kind of in the paint, left side. Dalton is in the dunker spot, ignoring Aaron Gordon.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

He's basically under the rim. The other two wing players to the right the Lakers defenders are in the paint. So that's four players in the paint against Jokic. The only one that was providing any spacing was Michael Porter Jr. At the top of the key and Rui was defending him, but Rui was only a foot beyond the free throw line.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And you saw possession after possession where you could see the Lakers, like specifically the way they prepped that game last night. I think that's a credit to JJ and the staff going, we've got to come up with something new. That's Jokic specific and, And it worked in, you know, really wasn't much of a game on top of all the Lucas stuff that I know you want to get to.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So are you in? Are they your fifth team? Are they the first team outside of your tier one playoffs? Like title contenders?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Campaign was nice, though, that first shift. He was. He made three in a row. That's probably the best thing ever for a Knicks opponent. Be like, hey, don't forget, like, tight game second half. Campaign made three in a row in the first half, so that's good for us.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, he has been good. I think some of the worst anti-LeBron content that I've ever seen was Luka's stat lines those first three games with LeBron. Like, I get it. If you hate LeBron, you hate LeBron. But come up with better evidence than that. Because I went to Luka's first game that he had played in like two months. I went to Crypto that night to watch him play against Utah. And...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

He was so tired, like four times up and down the court. I'm like, oh man, I'm like, he's so tired. Like he doesn't even, you know, he hasn't been complaining. He's on a new team. Like you haven't seen him. And it was kind of funny. Like obviously last night's the best that he's looked with the Lakers. That first half was incredible.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

The way he was kind of getting into a shot, not like basketball is funny, man. you can be this incredible player. Here we are talking about somebody who has a chance to be the best player in the world. And it's like, I'm, I'm new here. So I'm just trying to fit in for a little bit. Yeah. And if, if you're a coach and you're, it's Luca, you're like, don't be trying to fit in to just do what you do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And then we'll figure it out around you. And just because the stats were bad and then they had the weird breaks, like all that stuff was so stupid. He was great last night. It was funny too. Cause he, he made a play and then he cycled out of the three point line was wide open and he didn't get the ball back. And it's the first time I've seen him pissed with the Lakers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And he put his hands up like, you idiots. Like, what are you doing? And I'm going, this is great. That's what you want out of this dude. You want him pissed that he didn't get the ball back. So I'm shocked the defensive numbers are that good the last 15 years. It's been a big part of this turnaround. They finally beat Denver, so I'm not ready to say that they've solved Denver.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You know, there's just going to be some spacing stuff in the playoffs where if it's Westbrook or if it's Brown, and I think even Michael Porter Jr. 's like such a coin toss game. Gordon is a matchup specific guy, but they're going to ignore him even though he's shooting like over 40% from three. They just did a great job of loading up on all this stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But look, man, you're closing group in a tight playoff game if the three perimeter dudes are LeBron. Luka and Reeves, I have a hard time believing that defense is going to be just living on stops, though, in the playoffs. Right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I would say if over 50% of your tweets are about LeBron or Jordan, then you should just be banned from the platform.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I don't know. That sounds great. Thanks. What is it?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Weren't they below 500, too?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

It feels like the Knicks are on the Lakers' line of this, though, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Okay, but here's something that I like about the Lakers because I think this is always an important thing. Because I think guys play more often now, because this could get really misleading sometimes. You're looking at matchups against the better teams. You're like, okay, who was there? Even when I go through those Knicks seven games, it's basically everybody played in those games for the Knicks.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I think OG missed one. There's different times where you go head-to-head and you're looking at it and getting ready for the playoffs. How do they do against each other? You're like, all these guys missed these games. Again, like I said, it's been a little bit better. The Lakers are one of three teams in the West with a winning record against teams 500 or better. So clearly OKC is 20 and nine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

The Rockets are 20 and 15 and the Lakers are 15 and 12. And I think that's important. Memphis is under 500. Denver's under 500. The Clippers are under 500. Minnesota's under 500. So again, like I said, only three teams. The rest of them are all under 500. I think for me on the Lakers part of it is we're totally aligned on the Luca thing. Like, give me a break.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Like this guy at this age with his track record and because he hasn't played in two months. So you're like if you were watching these early games going, what's wrong? So this is what you think it's going to be now. You just think this is going to be like, it's going to be a mess. You know how absurd that is. So it's we're not even at peak Luca. They're putting together this performance.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

They have this defensive profile the last month or so. But, you know, bracket it out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I'm great. A lot of reading, a lot of history, the beginning of civilization. If you have any questions, we'll get to them maybe after the basketball. I'm ready.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

four or five they're playing houston you're probably picking the lakers because you trust their offense more than you trust houston's offense right okay then then guess what's waiting for them on the other line sadly i sadly i did this and as you know i hate the lakers and this made me sad okay but how i mean by serious i was like oh my god they're gonna fucking make the western finals so they're beating oklahoma city in a one four matchup you're crazy

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Right. And then you think they're going to beat Oklahoma City?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Well, I want to see more of the Chet stuff, but defensively, the Chet stuff has been really good. It's not the same as the Luka thing, but we're looking at Chet missing three months and then trying to come back. He's not taking a ton of shots. I can't wait to see what that guy looks like and what this team looks like. They still have a massive issue with certain matchups and bigs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Normally, I would say, what are you going to do against Jokic? Do you really think you're going to survive seven games against... Rui was great last night. But let's not lose our minds about who this team is.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

No, I'm on this huge Susan Wise Bauer kick. But again, I think we should table it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

It isn't a very long list. I mean, Pat Bev really went for it last night. I think he tweeted out they have the best one through four in the NBA. And I was like, who's the fourth? It was like Rui. I'm like, all right. I think you're forgetting about Boston. And then OKC with Chet. I think there's a lot of guys that you could pick from there that would be in the conversation.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But as far as like number three guys with Reeves, I mean, is it Derek White?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Is Mobley Mobley? It's just a completely different kind of player. Like I'd rather have Mobley than Reeves, but offensively like initiating your own stuff. It's not even a conversation. Reeves is so good at it. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I wasn't shocked. Yeah, but the other starters are Dorian Finney-Smith, who, by the way, we hadn't even mentioned yet for the defensive part of what they've done. Huge. Getting D'Angelo Russell away from this basketball team. I try to tell you guys, Lakers fans, I know, I get it. He makes a couple threes and points, and you guys are super into that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But getting him away from this group has also been a big transition from who they are right now. I feel bad we didn't even mention Dorian Finney-Smith at this point. I mean, he made one shot last night, and he was a plus 20.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Why?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I know. I just don't think Philly was ready for the Keon Johnson-Watford two-man game to close. They had no scattering report on that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I tried to turn that game off like four different times last night. Yeah, you couldn't. I hate watching the Sixers play basketball. Yeah. They are disgusting. Okay? I can't. But I can't turn it off. And then I was like, that's close. And I'm like, look at Brooklyn. Look at this team. No, they can't stop. Now they're ahead of them. They're ahead of them in the standings in the East. They flipped it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Exactly.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

What's his F per 100? Do you know?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

His life looks a lot easier having somebody like Jimmy Butler out there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And the shooting numbers would back it up. The three point shooting would back it up. Even watching the beginning of today's game, even though it wasn't just super aggressive, like having Butler just be somebody else that people are worried about. And of course, they ran some other play where it's like Curry's the lead block on the cut.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So everybody freaks out and then Butler kind of slips a screen and then he's the second cutter behind it and he's wide open. in a way that, you know, he's probably like, this must be, I just can't imagine playing basketball for a living and then getting the chance. Like, no wonder everybody's in a good mood. So like, this is what happens. Like when he moves, all of this other shit happens.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And then now my life is like this much easier. Although I do have to point out on a couple of broadcasts, like our memories can't be this short. Like Butler has a nice game. He's super aggressive. I mean, he was taking 10 shots a game for Miami. It was the lowest field goal. Not going to foul on at all.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, no, he was actually still was like not he's he's one of the most like hyper free throw rate guys in the league because he pump fakes at the rim and guys just go for it all the time. So like if you played him in a series, you go, you guys going to stay down.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

against him now he's shooting a million free throws but he's just more aggressive now you can tell he's taking 13 shots a game again the shot count goes down because he's taking so many free throws right but he for all the stuff that he talked about in miami like they took my joy from me like he broke up with a quarterback uh you're just going like we just saw this guy

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

destroy his value around the league. And he makes a couple of cuts and hit some free throws. And it's like, man, golden state, like, you know, everybody who's golden state is probably still scared to death of like what the longterm thing could be here. But in the short term, it's, it's awesome to see, you know, some of these possessions late in games where you could just see step being like,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I'm running around, I get the ball, I'm trapped, I throw it to somebody else, and I don't even want to take some of these shots. And then you have people being like, oh, his shooting is dipping. It's like, well, no shit. So I think his life is going to be a lot easier now. I still don't even think they're in the Lakers class, though. Do you have them in the Lakers class?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

It reminds me a bit of when Brian Heideck was cast as the pool guy in Melrose Place, and he was like, look, I'm just happy to be here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Heideck. Who's that? Brian Heideck? Yeah, he played the pool guy in Melrose Place. It just reminds me a lot of that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Google it. Right. Hi, Nick.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Late bloomer list? Is there any hope for a healthy Orlando?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Their offense in their last month, they're the third or fourth worst offense in the NBA. And boy, when it's bad on offense for the Magic, I'm surprised it was that high, that they were only 27.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

How many people do you think right now know what seed Detroit is?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You want to do a little Clippers profile or do you want to save it? Want to take a break? Yeah, let's take a break.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Well, I'm glad. I don't think we spent enough time on Minnesota because I think we did 10 seconds on it. And I know they lost in the Houston game. That was just kind of a frustrating game. They didn't have Rudy, but sometimes is that play to their strength now when you look at some of the declining Rudy stuff?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But then that also means Houston can go small because even Houston against Utah last night, they lost because Utah's size bothered Houston. And granted, Houston's kind of rotating some guys in and out, so they're not playing with like the full cast of guys. So, look, sometimes you're just going to lose to Utah when George decides to go all first team NBA.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But let's just say, OK, open, like open to the idea. Like, I feel a little bit better about Minnesota maybe than I did because in the beginning of the year when it was frustrating, it was like this team's healthy and these other teams are hurt and they're losing to these teams. Um, but there's just a Randall stretch here where it's like, man, this, they might just be better without this guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

He doesn't care. I mean, I'm sure he understands it. In the brief time that I had access to him, we were at ESPN together. He's so smart about basketball. Like, I think I left the room just going, do I know anything?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And they haven't had DiVincenzo for a month either. You're going to go might for that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

He's good for 20. And it's like, okay, but there's just a lot of other stuff that we need from him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

25, 28.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

No, they've done a good job. Like Terrence Shannon's been playing well. Clark, this other young players coming in, he's been good for him defensively. And, um, yeah, like I'm not disagreeing with any of that stuff. I just think there's certain dudes that maybe I defend because I like them, but I think I like and dislike players for very valid reasons. Um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And for the high-volume stuff with him, I think the ball just ends up back in his hands. And he's getting trapped, he's getting a ton of attention, and it's up to you to figure all that stuff out. I mean, he had a play against Houston where he split the screen, and it was...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, because, I mean, I've told this story before, but we were watching a game together. And then it was an inbounds. It was a simple inbounds play. And I just went, what? And they ran through like seven different things that you could do defending this inbound. And I just was like, Jesus. And look, this is what everybody says about him. We know that he's brilliant, but yeah, he doesn't care.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

it was two defenders that came with him and he just split it in a way where I just couldn't believe and believe like it was physically possible. And then he almost throws it down from there. And so because he's capable of doing some of that stuff, I don't know that he wants to take those shots. Like some other players, like again, you just go through the list of guys I don't necessarily like.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I think they're totally fine being like, cool.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Per 100, he's like 2006 Kobe. Yeah, like we haven't seen somebody take that many shots per 100 possessions. That guy should be in the all-star game. He should be. Well, the other reason he got so many all-star votes is somebody pointed out to me after the fact, and they're like, do you realize like if you...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Well, the voting was still open, but if you went to the voting tab, it was done by points per game. So he was like the first option when you went to the page to vote as a fan. Also, he's popular.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

We are going to have a lottery ones as well.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I really, really enjoyed it. That was one of those deals where it's like, whatever I'm doing tonight, I'm watching Minnesota and Houston.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Are you serious?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Do you remember him in that Lakers series? Where people thought his career was over?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Well, he did it to LeBron in a way, but LeBron was just not going to fall for it. But the thing that turned everybody off... Yeah, LeBron was way older and smarter. Right, and then Brooks couldn't make a shot, and then he didn't do a media availability, and it was like, what? Yeah, I didn't like that either. Nobody liked it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

it was an awful lake. It was like, people were going, get ready to learn China, buddy type of stuff. Yeah. I mean, he was a China meme dude. And then all of a sudden he gets a huge contract from Houston and to Houston's credit, like they desperately need him. And yeah, you know, I, what I liked about that game is this amend Thompson, uh,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

progression is like nightly man you have to watch him every night to see it and you know you and i were talking about him we did that pod for the trade value thing i was like yeah doing this at the worst possible time because you're gonna lose your shit about thompson but i feel good about i thought we were properly careful while also respecting the moment where was he again he was like 19 Okay.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And I think when you looked at the earlier part of this week, because New York, we know the record against the top three teams, Boston, OKC. In Cleveland, they're 0-7 now. But they played in Chicago on Thursday, and it was an overtime game. And here are the minutes. Precious, 46. McHale, 44. Cat, 43. Brunson, 38. McBride played 42. And then he played three other guys, 17 minutes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And I had said something and I remember I was pissed when we did it. I wasn't like mad. I wasn't like mad the next day type of mad. But I was like, you know, are you still going to run like pick and roll for him in a late possession? And you were like, well, they did on the game winner. And I was kind of like, I didn't want to get into it with you. I was like, there's four seconds left.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

They inbounded it to him and he uses athleticism and he hits the game winner against Boston. The stuff he was doing against Minnesota and even some stuff that I saw last night against Utah, like the drive and kick stuff that he's showing now. Granted, we know he can't shoot yet, which is the funniest thing about how much we all love watching him play.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

The joke is he's not even good yet, and it's this much fun. But he hit a shot because Utah just didn't respect him. He hit a shot late last night where it was like, I'm catch and shoot three. I'm not even going to dick around with this. I'm getting this shot up. I'm going to make you try to come out here a little bit more.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

There's more and more ball handling with him where they trust him, where there could be this amend Thompson reward of these Van Vliet minutes as disrupted as they can be because clearly they need him to organize them on offense, even though they have all these clutch wins, but all their clutch numbers stink, which is one of the weirdest profiles. Well, then nobody can create a good shot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But he kind of does know that there were these kickouts in that Minnesota game where it was a very clear, like, when he takes off, he's going, if I don't have this, I know where to kick it out. And it's also just awesome having Jabari back as, you know, the stretch option because, you know, it gives you some more flexibility with Shingun.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Because I'll admit, there's some, as I can't say it, some Shingun nights where, where I'm like, what's up with him? Are you there at all with that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, and Adams at this point is kind of... Do you know how old Steven Adams is? Isn't he like 28? It's like some crazy number. Yeah, he's 31. Right. But he's been in the league for 25 years? Yeah, I don't think he should be this bad. So having Jabari back is really important for them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I was looking at some of that schedule stuff in the expanded schedule where if you look at games against teams 500 or more, which we've already gone through in the record stuff, but Denver's played 26 games against teams with that, and Houston's played 35. So scheduling-wise, they've been a little unlucky.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But then when you look at the remaining schedule stuff, I mean, it's the top three most difficult remaining schedules. It's Phoenix, Denver, and L.A. Houston's like down at 18. So it should, because of that number in the record I told you about, it should even out. Like, I can't wait to see what L.A. does. Yeah. Torrey missed the game. So, you know, I'm not putting a ton into the Utah loss.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I put way more into the Minnesota win.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So they go into that Cleveland game fresh off of that. Where Cleveland, I think, was coming off a back-to-back. And you could see within that game, you're like, they're toast. Boston had the extra rest day. New York had the rest. So, you know, that third quarter was awesome because Brunson and Cat are awesome. But, like, I couldn't believe he put Cat back in after he left with the lift.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Give it to us. There's no other word. Body language, Bill.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, it's not Bud's fault that people can't come over to help on cuts. And Durant had a bunch of those. Swiping late, out of position. And if you don't believe me, I think Van Gundy was on the broadcast of that one too, being like, what? It was tough. What are you doing? And Durant puts up these numbers, but I mean, there's some stuff here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And look, the worst thing Durant did was tweet that the NHL has loyalty and doesn't trade his players, which is still one of the dumbest tweets I've ever seen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, it was during the whole stretch where it's like, why don't you watch something else? And you're like, all right, dude. When you look at their whole thing here, I don't know. Rebound is usually a number where you see rebounding decline. It kind of speaks to effort and all that kind of stuff. I mean, he's under five rebounds a game in February.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

The crazy thing is some of the other numbers are nuts because the guy can't miss a shot right now. The shooting splits are incredible. Right. Free throw attempts are down the last couple months. I don't know if this is part of this little decline here with him, but he still gets his numbers because the guy is so brilliant offensively. It's kind of up to you, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

It's kind of up to you to be a part of the solution here. They've tried some different things. And they're just not very good, even when they're winning games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

After he twisted his ankle. They were down 18. It's like, do you want to get stuck with some Tatum isos? Yeah, with two minutes to go, let's do it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I don't think he's wanted to be there, man, going back to last summer.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

No, I don't think. I think there was pretty strong indications that if he could have gotten his preference to go somewhere else this summer, he would have done it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You don't think so? You didn't hear anything?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Um, I don't really enjoy them. I looked at it last year. Remember, we kept waiting. Hey, I don't care about any of the stats. And the fourth quarter stuff didn't make any sense. It was so bad, it had to be an anomaly. And that part of it's been fixed a little bit. But even with last year's injuries and guys missing games, they were 38-28 through 56. They're 27-29 now after an 8-1 start.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

They're bottom third in offense and defense the last month. Katie's only missed 13. Booker's only missed three. The Beal bench thing, it doesn't matter because I don't think that dude cares at all. You know, I really, I just don't. So they're just, you know, they needed those three guys to be just top level, not to sound like a soccer analyst, and they've rarely gotten that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Although Dallas in the running.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I've done this assignment. If you go through every ownership transition, the new owners fuck up so bad within the first 12 to 18 months. Like even Cuban, when he brought it in and I never forget him being on with Dan Patrick talking about acquiring Rafe LaFrance. And I remember thinking like, what the hell is he doing?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And then Cuban just so good after 10 minutes of Dan Patrick, I was like, oh, I guess getting Rafe LaFrance is a good idea.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I would be so determined if I owned a team to not screw up in the first 18 months. I would just be like, say no to everything.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Well, the fact that he changed course so quickly after he'd already started like, you know, it's like digging a hole for a house and going, you know what? It should be over here now. No, you can't. I mean, even then, eventually you'd have a house at the end of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but the problem is there's no single piece that's as damp. I mean, I guess you could get into the Tatum and the draft picks and all that kind of stuff, but Tatum wasn't playing for that franchise and having everybody fall in love with them over the course of seven years. I saw a quote the other day on the Luka trade where somebody had said, we had underestimated the reaction to this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Multiple people said that. What did you think was going to happen? And it just sucks even worse because AD gets hurt immediately. But the other thing that I love too about this, and I'm going to make this joke throughout the rest of my career, is this stupid fucking timeline people do and talk about and how married they are to the age timeline of NBA rosters. Like,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

we need somebody on this timeline it's like so if cooper flag if you had like the number one pick would he be too young to put with kairi and ad now like he's not on our timeline yeah right like as if every rebuilding team everybody has to be between 18 and 22 and then any team that's like going for a championship it's like this guy's 25 and good what the fuck are you guys doing it's way too much of a gap with the rest of our timeline and all this stuff so

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Or when I thought you nailed it when you were tweeting out about that really good feature with the owner who's, what is he, the son-in-law? Married into the family. Patrick, is it Dumont?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

No, I go on Instagram and constantly like single daughters of NFL ownership, their pictures. I'm like, oh, killing it. Nothing creepy, just really tasteful stuff. Be like, oh, it's such a great sweater. That party looks awesome. Yeah. Oh, my God. You guys, that's so great that you guys reach out to the community like that. Keep doing you. He went through all of these players.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Clearly, Niko had gotten to Patrick. It was basically to be on brand here. The messaging should be like, we here at the Dallas Mavericks want people that are fully committed. And clearly, look, it's no secret on the Luka thing. He wasn't committed enough. I'm not going to make the argument that he was and was misunderstood.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But you can't then run through all the list of players and be like, Kobe and Shaq. When Shaq himself would admit that I could have done a better job, and that was the whole reason of the Kobe-Shaq divorce, is that Kobe fills line to him being like, your 10 is unattainable for everybody else. Your 10 is their 7, and they don't understand that there's a higher number. That's your gift.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

That's what makes you you. So holding everybody else to that standard is completely pointless. All you're going to be doing is wasting your time. So getting on Shaq's case, because he's not going to approach the offseason the way you are, that's unsolvable, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And so when he went through the list of players that he admired because of their work ethic and their conditioning and all that stuff, and as much as we all love Shaq, he'd be the first to admit that he didn't take it serious enough while he played. So it was an awful quote. He wouldn't have been in my top 700 list for that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Did he, did he say that to you? He didn't. What did he say to you? What's the most meaningful thing that he ever said to you?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. I didn't realize that until recently. And he didn't say he recommended game change the book, which I did enjoy that summer.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

It's a good book.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Let me ask you a Philly question off of what we just did.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Does anyone actually make a baked... I've never even seen one. It's the most referenced food item that I don't even think exists. Never seen it on a menu. I've never seen a presentation. I've never seen anybody order one. I think it's fake.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So you're shutting everybody down?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

There's no point. Why is this NBA thing going to look better this year?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

If I were a CEO of a company and I wanted to short my own stock, but I couldn't just say it outright, I would hire Paul George to run PR.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

See, the problem with it was is that on one hand, you have Daryl pulling a rabbit out of his hat in a way that very few GMs can. You know, whether it's having a top five player in the world when he's healthy in Embiid, because that's what he was. I mean, but, you know, even if you don't like him now and I don't like him now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Um, you have a guy who's going to make multiple all-star teams, most likely in maxi. You hit what? 21st pick. And then all these other little things and you delay the maxi extension.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You figure out a way to move Harden out because you knew after that playoff series, it's like, I don't really want to extend this guy to whatever was talked about and how many different versions of that story you've heard. And then you have this cap space that almost never works out for anybody. And then you have this rare instance where the, um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

In this case, the Clippers, the incumbent team, decide they're okay losing the asset for nothing and not giving this player who's all NBA level a fourth year. Like everybody just gives him the fourth year. Like, why are you not giving the fourth year? So you have this one team that's deciding to not give the fourth year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And it's not like they weren't going to pay him a ton of money in the three years, but they're not going to give him the fourth year. Like, who cares? Just do the fourth year. You'll figure it out later. It's better than just letting him walk. And they let him walk. So now you can use this cap space on a guy who in theory is all NBA, even if we would say that he feels like with all of his talent,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

like at the end of it, Paul George is probably going to be kind of a disappointing player for his, for his career. And now he's even worse. Like when they've needed him, when other guys have been out and you've needed him to be this alpha, he's just incapable of it. And then on top.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So like, it's all of this credit on top of, to your point, like is George personality wise, the guy that fits into Philadelphia and knowing what the standard is and knowing what the expectations are. And it's been, is it more disappointing than Phoenix?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

We've spent so many years, though, talking about guys not playing with effort, effort, culture. All that stuff came up big time this past week with the Four Nations Tournament, how great that was. And I spent some time talking about just like, look, the sports are a little bit different. But I think the NBA is a much better place than when you go back five years ago.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

If Melo had been in the East, I think he probably... If you go through all the Melo playoff stuff, for the most part, every time he lost to a team, it was a team they were supposed to lose to.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

That's fine. In that series. All right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, there's nothing. He doesn't even have a moment. That used to be my Vince Carter argument was like, where's the playoff moment? Because for the longest time, and I know you'll be right down the middle on this one, people were actually trying to argue like Paul Pierce against Vince Carter before the 08 title. And you would just go, come on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

There's a level to like, you've got to have some kind of playoff moment. And for Vince, for the longest time, he didn't have anything. I mean, it might have taken all the way until he hit a corner three for Dallas. So... Maybe it's just because Paul George at one point was in this conversation of like, could this guy be the best player in the league?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And, you know, I guess you could do the same thing with Mello because early on, that's kind of how you looked at Mello. And then the playoff part of it, I can't sit here and defend it because it's generally really disappointing. But I think for George and some of those Pacers years, you were like, is this guy? And then it took forever for him to have like a playoff series.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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You felt like you could trust him. And that, that was like Harden-esque, you know, for him, it was like, what is going on? And then they had, they had lost Kawhi. They had that Utah series where Utah, I think had that really good record in that two-year window. They, you know, they kind of got Gobert stuck in a spot where he's trying to defend everybody. So he was really, really good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

It was like, okay, well that's like, finally, like there's something there to kind of point to there a little bit, but. And he just needs to be, I mean, we're back to the beginning of this whole thing. He is incredibly disappointed, but he's so bad right now that I can't believe he's doing podcasts. You tell him to take a break. I would just be so embarrassed.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Obviously that's not going to happen, but I would be embarrassed. Being a dude who comes in with the four-year max and like, hey, we need you to be the guy throughout all this Embiid stuff. And Maxie's numbers aren't as good because I think Maxie was pressing and trying to go like, all right, I guess I'm going to take 25 shots and I have to raise the risk of what some of my shots are here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I mean, it depends on which snapshot you want to take of like, man, these guys miss a lot of games. And again, a lot of that stuff was team mandates. So I don't know that any of it like I know that actually the answer to it. None of us loved it. So I do feel guilty with what I think is Tibbs approach that, you know, when you're on his team, like this is what we do. Like, this is what we do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Is there any part of this that you would disagree with? Because even if he's older and all this different stuff, like, man, year one, this is what it looks like? It's just so frustrating.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but you know what, dude? I'm sorry. I'm actually going to re-push back on your pushback.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, right. Because if you look at the Thunder during those post-Durant seasons, they're getting blasted out in the first round. They lost to Portland in five games the year he was third in MVP voting. You know, and he has one of those horrible, horrible game sevens where you don't even notice that he's out there. And like, look, we've made this joke before. You know, it's a really simple test.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Like, do I forget you're out on the court? Paul George should never be somebody with his skills, with that contract, with Philly's injuries this year, where you forget that he's on the court in the fourth quarter. And it happens all the time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Let me just finish this Clippers point, though. Oh, please do. Because, you know, their defensive profile is incredible. Lawrence Frank in this front office, they deserve all the credit in the world for doing something that I just don't think a lot of teams would have done. Most teams would have given Paul George the fourth year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And to your point, like maybe that tells you something if they were so adamant of not doing it. But then again, it's like, well, it wasn't like he was going to play for free on the other three years. But I just laugh when I think about the Clippers transactions this year, because it's almost like, hey, who are all the players are still doesn't like, let's bring them in. The hardened one they need.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

They need his usage, the highest usage that we've seen from him in five years. But it's not just that. I mean, they have brought in Kevin Porter Jr., who they moved on from, who, you know, you want to talk about playing your own game when you're out there on top of all the other shit you can get into with him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

This is how hard we play. And this is this is the approach. And it seems like the players don't mind. It's just funny when they do those player surveys. It's like, which coach would you least want to play for?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Bones who couldn't make it work with Jokic like if there's hey man all you had to do was cut all you had to do was cut and you would have got second contract it would have worked out Mo Bamba who is going to just forever trick teams they brought in Kai Jones And then they were like, while we're at it, let's add Ben Simmons. This is an absolute anti-Rosillo heater of roster movement.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And they're pretty good. I kind of like the Ben Simmons move.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I tell you, that guy is like, all right, this Brooklyn thing's over. And then, you know, I just love that it was actually like a story of like, ooh, we're on Ben Simmons' buyout watch. And it's like, of course he gets to go to LA. Of course he does.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And if you want to make all your off-season videos, make them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Awesome question. Awesome question. Yeah, he's still young enough, but I've been worried this year. You?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

No, it isn't. And I do wonder if it's kind of like the, the disruptive pattern for him. Like, Hey, he's back. He's not back, but I know they'll rest them sometimes in there as well. It just, it feels like a 25. Like I'm not there yet, but watch. I'd like to. Yeah. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Jaw was really good against Orlando because Orlando never changes defense the entire time. So that was good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Right now. Are you suggesting a seasonal friskiness update ranking?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Last 28, I'll say 18 and 10.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Don't dunk the other night. What was it? Just... He almost got, like, horizontal to the ground. Like, at rim level. I don't know what was going on. Because I was watching... I forget which show I watched. Again, sports consultants available per diem. I guess you should say pro rata. But... There was a show the other day I was watching where they were showing like something from track and field.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

There was a track and field meet and they were showing the high jumper and he was like jumping over the thing where he would like there was no Fosbury flop. He just jumped over it. Oh, my God. Really? Yeah. So there was no one apparently on the set that would have been like, hey, you realize no one would ever do I jump this way. Yeah. And they didn't do it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And if you had had Dern out there, he'd be like, this is how you do it. Because it looked like he was trying to high jump the rim when he hit this dunk. I'm so happy. I think scholars will look back at the Zach Cram, Cade Cunningham tablets as the turning point of his career. Because Zach did a piece that was like lit him up. Like, hey, this is who this dude is.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

An incredibly high volume, inefficient dude. who may not have one go-to thing that's all that great. And it feels like from that point on, he became the player we all thought he could be. So I think the tablets will be a turning point on his... Interesting.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

It's amazing what shooting can do when you have a guy who's going to have the ball in his hands as much as Cade. Because I've watched an Orlando game recently, and we all love Paolo. I think that's established. And whenever I watch him, I just think of like, there's just not enough spacing. Because Suggs is out. This is too hard. It's...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Like if there was ever a team that would love a prime stretch five per Zingas to balance out all the other stuff the guys could do. And it's not like they had this massive overhaul this offseason because all the young assets essentially are still there. Although Killian, how about his possessions and passing the other night? Was KFC wrong or just early?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Killian back in the league. Just the simplicity of a little bit more spacing. You know, it's what every team, maybe there's just not enough shooting to go around, but every team should aspire to do that because it's just different. Your job is different now as his primary ball handler when there's just some people that you have to worry about.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And look, last night's Denver game is a perfect example. The Lakers did not worry about any of those other guys all night.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You realize, though, this top, they have the sixth-worst record right now. Imagine if they tank and they end up with the seventh pick and it goes to OKC.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, and everybody lost their minds because they didn't want to be a 10 seed when it was like actually smart for them. I was just one of them. Right here. Yeah, I'm looking right at you. I was talking about you. Right here. Who gives a shit? Are you still bothered? Do you ever drive around? Are you going down Sunset? You're like, I'll tell you what, though. Fucking Mavs a couple years ago.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Have you done zero times?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I think the criticism was outsized for what they actually were doing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And I don't know how they're going to fuck up, but they seem pretty happy where they are. Or then they'll run a play where Keontae George in that Lakers game that I was at. I almost tweeted it out. Like, will you remember where you were when they came out of a timeout and Keontae George threw up a left-handed floater in the lane? I think it was actually a left-handed jumper.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Maybe it wasn't out of a timeout. There was another play out of a timeout where I think they turned the ball over immediately. They have a lot of on-ball guys with confidence. I will say that about the Utah Jazz. But who do you want to have win? If you could go right now, win. Because, I mean, if you think Scoot and Cooper flag the next 10 years over under three and a half titles.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

There's it's still breathing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I'll probably like them better than the Clippers. When they have everybody? Yeah, I might even like them better than Houston. Here's the thing. I liked the healthy them. I thought they were better this year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

before all this trade stuff like they were always a team that i had to say don't don't lose sight of them with all of this lucas stuff like i think denver paid this weird aaron gordon price where people were looking at what they were doing or what they weren't doing and you go i don't really care like if aaron gordon's gonna miss this many games he's so important to what they do let's see what they look like when they get him back and clearly lucas even beyond that and 80s even beyond that for aaron gordon on that part of it

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So I, I think you still have to keep it open for them, even though, I mean, imagine having three centers like this that you would feel so good about. None of them are playing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I don't think it's going to be. You think it's going to be San Antonio in the 10?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I think it's Sacramento. I mean, at least with Sacramento, I kind of know what I'm getting. You know, I know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You're right, and it's not just today. I thought Boston came out with a great, just an awesome approach, just pushing the ball in transition. That's when they're starting five with those five guys playing, and you're going, okay, this almost looks unfair. Jalen Brown was awful. I know he has points. So bad.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

No, I care about you sending me a deep dive thing that you've been just YouTubing it out like a high school kid with no friends. You want to do that really quick? I do, because I have one for you, because you gave me the assignment. Mine will be quick, but I know you really want to do this, so go for it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I'm not. I mean, I'm, you know, look, who doesn't love a little Fleetwood Mac in the background, but go for it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Well, that must have made him want to get back together.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You just couldn't understand what his approach to the game was today, even though if you just box score, you'd be like, what are you guys talking about? It got better.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

That's evidence. That's usually good evidence. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I think that's time well spent. Thank you. That's good, because I'll get into a band, whether it's new or something I want to revisit, and I'll be like, all right, I'm going to read about Dwayne Allman for an hour. So I actually do kind of like this stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Anyway, because I'll go through some like talking heads phases. I love them. And I like them so much that, you know, again, it's I'm not going to get to experience it the way people get to experience when it first happened. But I always think like I'm having less Claypool of Primus on at some point here soon, who's generally considered one of the best players of all time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So, you know, you're down 27. I mean, we could talk minutes because you're right about the minutes part of it. But to get it from 27 to four is exhausting. Yeah. Right. On top of whatever Tibbs is doing in the sub pattern. And then Boston, you know, the the only blemish on the entire like two year resume of this team is that you'll go. Are you guys shooting the other team into this game right now?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And in the beginning with Primus, you were just like, what the fuck is this? And I'm, I'm so fascinated to think of like what it was like when Les Claypool was like, well, I want to make the bass, the feature thing, and I'm going to sing these songs and they're going to be a little different. And my voice is probably not the most traditional rock star kind of voice.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

But then once you kind of buy into the whole thing, you just appreciate how great the music is and how great he is. But I can't imagine how many people told him in the beginning, like, are you kidding? This isn't going to work. And when I think about the talking heads, like I just imagine was New York so cool. Cause I read that. Please kill me. Punk book about just punk. And I read that city.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. And I, I'm glad I read it. And I'm also like, it was so disgusting.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

that I couldn't you know what I mean like I'm gonna get through this it was so gross in so many spots and I certainly don't feel like a prude but after a while you're like alright I got it it was a weird time wait can I read you Silver Springs lyrics really quick and then you go to your deep dive yeah but you have to sing it just a couple samplings no I'm not singing time cast a spell on you but you won't forget me I know I could have loved you but you would not let me

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

She screams you man whore, I think, too, in there. No? I don't remember that part. Okay. Yeah, so I referenced her, I think, at the very top. I'm reading all three volumes of Susan Wise Bower's. The first one's The History of the Ancient World. And I just love it. She's a complete pragmatist about things. And I'm going through some of the early Egyptian dynasties.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And so I just finished the chapters on the pyramids. And I... don't understand why people love conspiracy so much. I know it was conspiracy bill. This may be offensive to you, but usually there's a very simple, the, the Occam's razor, you know, what's the simplest explanation? Be like, that's probably what it is. So there was another author, um, a Swiss author named Eric Von Dyn, Dynikin, Dynikin,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

who wrote this book about how aliens essentially built the pyramids. And he wrote this book in the 60s and it did really well. And then, you know, you always kind of wondered, like, what the hell is going on over there in Egypt? And if I had a kid and I couldn't answer that, I, you know, again, it's probably why I'm not a parent. You don't have a kid? No, but I feel like ill-equipped.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

If I had had a kid, it was like, what's up with the pyramids? I go, you know, shit. he's got me. I haven't done a ton of research and I want to just go based on the Swiss authors thing from the 1960s. But Susan's explanation of it, like after you read literally two pages, Bill, about the history of like how the pyramids get started, like, One small, it's six levels up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So the next guy's like, well, mine's going to be seven. And then the next guy's like, well, I'm going to do like eight, but then that one doesn't get finished. Then another one doesn't get finished. Then there's another one called the bent pyramid where, uh, They're just kind of like moving them further away from everywhere after the previous one was built, by the way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Like what the hell is going on? And a lot of that happened in the third quarter. But like back to your original point. Did you have an open mind before today about the Knicks being in that one line? Right. Okay. Because let's run through the resume. It's 0-7 now against the three teams in Boston, Cleveland, and OKC. And it's also not close.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And that's called the bent pyramid because they realize halfway through construction that their angles are off and it's going to be too steep and that it's not going to hold up. So they have to like flatten it out a little bit. So there is physical visual evidence to this day of what would be kind of man's attempt at building these great works. And she just goes like, look, this one was small.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Then they tried to build this one. It didn't really work. This one was unfinished. And then this one's like really screwed up. And yeah, they've done a good job with the corners and it's a massive undertaking. But they just basically asked their citizens based on the Pharaoh's power of like, no, this is what we're doing, dude.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Like we're building it and we're moving these stones around and it can take forever. But we're going to leave you some water and maybe like a sarong or something. And then they master. Like any civilization, they become better at building these things. And all it took was like a couple pages for me to go, okay, well, that's the answer. Like, that's it. So now you're set. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So I'm going to have a kid is my point because now I can answer that question.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

That's a really good, it's exactly, well, it's not exactly because I don't think anybody's ever accused despite some of the weird Vegas stuff of ever being built by aliens. But like, Yeah. Right. It's like, OK, now we've really got this thing locked in because we've been trying to build these things for years and years. And you go, oh, wow. All right. Yeah, that actually makes a ton of sense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

That'll never happen. No. They'll still mess up some pyramids. They'll probably still mess up some trades. It's 2025 and Luka just got traded. That should have been a 1975 trade. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

In those seven games, they're losing by an average of 20 points. And they're down big.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I think because they get older, and I'm going through this a little bit with my dad, where he'll complain about something sports-related, and I just go, what are you talking about, man? Do you not watch? Does your father not watch enough other games? Will he watch other NBA games that are non-Seltzers? No.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

These are blowout games. And they've allowed 125 points per game against those three teams in those seven games. So the data... Like, I really enjoy them. I think they're fun. I can't wait to see what happens with them in the playoffs. But... as great as cat has been, you can see against big wings and what Tatum's looking for.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that's what it's like. I think it's a common thing with guys past a certain age is they're just so much older. They're selfish. They're incredibly selfish about what they want from their sports teams. Yeah. I don't know if it's a counting down the years. I'm not trying to be like morbid about this, but it's possible. it like my father can be so incredibly difficult.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Like I went to a sporting event with him. And now, meanwhile, the guy hasn't had to pay for a ticket because I've helped him, you know, which I'm happy to do as a payback for all the years that he took me to all the games growing up. But, Like if the Celtics get up big, he'll want the other team to make a run for his soul. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And I'll just be like, Hey, you can't, you can't fucking be doing that. All right. Like you can't, you can't be rooting on the other team for this five minute window. And he's like, I only get to a couple of these a year. It's like, well, you know what? You didn't pay for anything. The seat is awesome.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And you need to not root for the Cavs for six minutes just so you get not only a win, but a close one. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

None.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Home row splits. These guys don't care.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, see, that's always like the funny thing with, you know, we're terrible because we live it, but Your dad, and I don't even mean your dad or my dad, but everybody listening to this right now, like your dad's advanced scouting is if the guy had two doubles in like a three-game series once.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Was there any part of you that immediately looked up Bregman's deal and then compared it to the average annual salary of Mookie Betts?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Well, I'm all over... Baseball America again. I renewed my subscription. It had been a few years. The Prospects? Yeah, Big Farm. I mean, that was my lunch reading for years and years.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Like Tatum had a couple, like end of the first half, he had two switches into cat where he drives right on. Right. Yeah. And, and I think one work, one didn't, they weren't like, one was a really tough make. The other was a decent look. And then that play at the very end when he hits the three, he knew like Cat was like, I don't want to run up because this guy's like attacking the shit out of me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. The Bregman thing pissed me off just because I can't think of any transaction without Mookie. I'm surprised. I would say 38-year-old Bill probably have 7,500 words on the Mookie Luca thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

No, there was a lot of preparation on the Mookie thing. And I know it's not fair to do average annual salary because the Bregman thing can be a one-year deal. But one of the things about these commitments for these position players that historically have been so bad in baseball, with him, you figure he was going to age right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And you just go like, look, what his deal will be in seven years, average annual salary, compared to what you're signing for now and then what it will be as salaries keep going up. Um, although, you know, that's another topic that we could probably spend a lot of time on. Cause I thought that ESPN baseball news was crazy. Like it was like, wow, you guys are actually opting out of live rights.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

You're going to do it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And if they're doing it, they're 60 years old. Do you remember when you used to do it? Because I did it religiously. It didn't matter who was playing. It was Sunday Night Baseball and I couldn't wait. Yeah, days are over.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

That'd be good to get some Celtics content in the pod. Fire it up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Good to see you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Tatum comes off the screen knowing he's pulling up because Cat is so far away from him. And that's just what they're going to do. And you're right. Like maybe Mitchell Robinson helps. Of course, he'll help if he's healthy. But solving this seems like a massive ask of that guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

They were so lucky with the injuries last year, and then facing a Dallas team that wasn't going to be able to exploit some of the weaknesses to the point where they didn't even really need Porzingis.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

So the whole design of this Celtics team, the whole reason why you move the assets you do at the time, and then remember the contractual obligation to Porzingis, because even if you liked him in that Washington season where he's pretty good, you're like, man, that is a leap. That's a leap of faith, but they had to do it to get him to opt out. So...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

Look, when they're right, that first quarter, you're right. I don't know what it looked like in person, so I'll defer to you here. But that first quarter was just a nice little reminder. And they've been on a really good run here, by the way, too, after that weird 500 play stretch, which basically is going to happen to anybody in today's NBA. But that first quarter, I was like, man, is this nasty?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

And they just do a great job. And here's the most important stat. Like, I'll ask it. What do you think the most important stat from today's box score was in this game? What was it, rebounds? Brunson, zero free throw attempts.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I actually have to put him... The reviewed play or the inbounds when he was coming right to left?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

He didn't even get any free throws, though. I mean, this is a low free throw attempt game. I think at the end of the third quarter, there were 16 total. Or I think Cornette then took a couple. They were letting them play. Especially on the Towns drives, they were letting them play. Yeah, but see, Towns... You know, it's it's amazing how productive.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Celts-Knicks, the Sleeper Lakers, and 12 NBA Stories to Watch With Ryen Russillo

I don't know if there's anything in the NBA that I dislike more from start to finish that's more productive than his drives. And I think they're better this year than they even were at Minnesota. Slinging them up. The Minnesota tries are like, what are you doing? And he's been so good. This is the perfect role for him because there's all these other guys. You can have a McHale game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Well, he had to develop more of a handle. That was a major flag for him. And he had those guards from Auburn who didn't want to give him the ball a ton. But you looked at the best version of him going, if you can get a bit of a handle and get to his spot, his shooting, his defensive instincts, the rebounding, all that. By the way, I know he wasn't good tonight.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But he's been better the last few months. I think it's the most comfortable he's ever looked offensively. You know, I don't know that you're ever going to be running like a side pick and roll for him. And then if he gets cut off, he's going to reset with the dribble probe and then go. Like, I don't know if he's ever going to be that guy. But like that was the biggest difference is Paolo.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

He could get wherever he wanted to as a draft prospect at that size. And with Jabari, he felt a bit like a true dribble guy, even though I still really liked him a lot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I went last minute. Wow, look at you. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I'm hoping to get my upgrade material this offseason. We'll see what they offer. But I picked Minnesota. And look, I'm not taking credit for it as if I saw all these things. It just felt a bit like a zag. Because if you just felt like this overwhelming vibe decision by the general NBA public.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

where it was, okay, the Lakers, another run with LeBron, the Lucas stuff, that peak that they had, which we've talked about. I brought it up in my playoff preview on Thursday, where it's like if you go on the season defensive numbers for the Lakers at 17th, and sometimes the season's so long that that's a completely irrelevant number for a lot of different teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And then they have that 18-3 stretch where we were talking with that awesome Denver win at Denver mixed in there, and you're going, wait, they're the number one team on defense now for Lakers?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

for 21 games because when the Luca trade was made it was almost a thought of well they're gonna have to figure this out defensively those three guys in the perimeter depending on what you get from LeBron and then you know Reeves just gets hunted because of of a size thing probably more so than anything else because I think he at least fights for position and that kind of stuff so

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Like, we just didn't think they were going to be good defensively, and then they're off the charts defensively. And then after that stretch, when I ran the numbers again, it was like, hey, they're back to like 17th. So I think the truth was, is that was a bit of an anomaly, even if it looked like they were doing a great job prepping guys based on the opposition. So...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

You look at Minnesota on the other side of these closing groups. They closed since March 2nd, 17-4. They had the fourth best net of any team in the NBA. They're also the healthiest they've ever been. Do I love Randall as a number two for multiple playoff rounds? No, I do not. What? But he's played great. I mean, he's played great at least for them in this whole thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So when you're thinking about this matchup, you're like, is Rudy going to get exposed? Is... It's something where Minnesota will want to go small. Is that actually doing the Lakers a favor? Because the Lakers do not want to play Jackson Hayes. And I don't blame them for not wanting to play him. But they have no other move. They go with Rui at center.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And in the beginning of the game, it was like, hey, he's hitting those threes that we talked about last week. And then that cooled off. Then they have this other small group where they'll go Finney Smith and Vanderbilt and then figure out with the rest of the perimeter guys. And JJ's talked about like, hey, we're not small. We're big perimeter players, but we just don't have a traditional center.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Well, in this game, they were small. So the alarming part of it, when you think of it as a matchup, is what's the adjustment? The Lakers are going to grow. But then if I'm on the Lakers side of this, I'm going 48 points from Nas Reed and Jaden McDaniels, 48 points from those two guys. That's not happening again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I went through the three-point attempts because it was just out of control. The place is quiet. People are just laughing, being like, when are these guys going to start missing? And I have it at 40 three-point attempts. It's 42 for the game. I'm not counting the last two garbage ones.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But of the 40 attempts that I would say were in the time that we were still wondering, whatever, this isn't totally relevant, but I count it as 40 attempts. 27 are absolutely wide open, like not debatable. 27 of the 40.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I'd say seven more were open and then I'm going to give them. And I was being nice. I gave him six contests because some people will go through and sort all these different things. And, you know, there was one place that was trying to say there was like zero. And I was like, well, that's not true. There's a few contests. But 27 of the 40 are like nobody's even close. And there's a few things.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

One is they're packing it because they're worried about Ant hunting Luca. And so that means help. I think there's even a chance that Randall, even though he probably got a little emotional about at some point, like if he gets LeBron, it seems like he wants to get real physical with him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And that's one of the few guys that, you know, with the ball in his hands, it's probably a really good showdown physically, which is not something we'd say about LeBron a lot. So you packed it in and you're leaving these corner threes that are there. And Nas hit a ton. Jaden hit a ton. But then there's just other stuff where LeBron has to be better.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

If it was a second action where he was heading in one direction and then it's like, no, the ball's going over there. He just wasn't quick enough to go over and contest it. And then Luka, like if you run something to one side and then the guy Luka is assigned to away from the ball comes up, Luka just doesn't even pay attention to him off the ball. He lost, you know, numerous guys on those attempts.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So you could think G.A.J. could just go through it and be like, hey, dickheads, what do you guys are you ready now? Are you ready to play? Because it was so overwhelming and it looked so bad for the Lakers. You're going, OK, so if they're only small, like, why is this going to actually get better? But I'm not going to fall for I'm not going to fall for like a game one thing here saying that L.A.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

can't get back. That would just seem irresponsible because we've seen so many game ones look like just be so misleading. But the size thing was alarming last night. And I think you're probably a little it was probably a bit of a reminder me like, wait, are they good? And are they too big?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Side note, do you think when Anthony Davis was going off against Sacramento, Nico had like an inner dialogue where he's like, I'm going to be right about this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

No. Now that I think about it, I don't know that there's anything that happened this weekend. Yeah, nothing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It was, you know, because it's game one, and I think that that fan base has an arrogance that's deserved. They have a right to be arrogant. I think the more alarming thing, you know, as a Lakers guy, When the place was going nuts for Steph in the regular season, it was the Steph MVP chance, like big time. It was loud. I was like, boy, you don't expect that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Afterwards, it wasn't like anybody, because I was milling around a little bit afterwards. It was just kind of a shrug. Well, that was alarming. you know, but I still think like the same thing. If you were in Boston, if Boston gets smoked, granted, if they get smoked by Orlando, that's worse than getting smoked by Minnesota, but it's just all right. You know, they'll figure it out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

They'll come out. Let me ask you something though, because this was a thought that crap that crept into my head. Uh, A little too much Luka trying to figure it out on his own on offense?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Like a subletter that extends his lease? Like, this is how I really am.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I have one. I have a half one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

right you would go okay well he just runs his pick and roll until he gets the matchup that he wants and it's a lot of staring around and the design of some of those dallas teams for that specific reason, right? But when he was with the other really good player, it didn't really work out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But Kyrie needed a place, and it worked out for Kyrie, even though I felt like during that playoff run last year, the ups were celebrated and the downs were never criticized because that's usually what happens in the number two anyway. But there were some moments throughout that run to the finals where you were like, you need more out of Kyrie here, and it's just not really that much of a topic.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I felt like there were times watching where like Rudy played 24 minutes and I was like, all right, now I'm going to try to kill Rudy Gobert. And it's like, all right, but like Austin Reeves is pretty good. LeBron's got a pretty decent resume. I think that there's probably something to be said. If you don't, if you don't get the switch that you want immediately swing it, um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And I'm not like knocking the efficiency.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It crept into my head. Just a thought. We're also talking about one of the most efficient offensive players of all time, but there's also something to be said of everybody needs to touch the ball. I think they need to get going downhill, too, when Rudy's out. If they're going to have Randall and Nas hanging around the rim, then you should just be like, I don't even care if you make it. I'm going.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I'm just going. I'm trying to finish over and over again. I'd like to see them be more aggressive during those non-Rudy minutes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But you're so right. When Jaden's like that, it's tough.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Because Ant's playing point guard, basically.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

extra wrinkle they can bring in depending on the game and the lakers are kind of stuck with this roster and it goes back to the uh the mark williams trade can i give you a compliment yeah you said years ago we were talking about carmelo in the playoffs yeah and you basically said like look even though he isn't he takes the floor with lebron and wade and these guys and he feels like he belongs right

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Right. I'd say Ant's a better player in comparison to what Ant's contemporaries are right now. The gap between prime LeBron and Carmelo is wider than I think the gap between Luka and Ant, say, right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But Carmelo didn't take the floor going, oh my God, that guy's so much better than me, right? And Ant never taking the floor thinking any of these guys are better than him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

That has to be an incredible feeling now, like another year in with this group, with this team, having a playoff run where it's like, even if things are going really bad, at least we know we can get it back to a guy that you can't really do anything with Ant. Seeing Ant in person, by the way, I would put him on the very short list of people that are worth to see in person. It is...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

just another level of, of like impressive, not just cause he can jump and do all these, there's just movement shit with him, with the ball where you're like, what did he just do? And then, you know, you're not even watching, you're just waiting for the replay because you can't believe what you just saw. So I think that is, um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I just thought it was a really valuable thing that you had said about that. It's valuable to a team. And I think Ant, it's not the same thing because I like Ant more than I like probably Carmelo, but it's important.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Well, LA didn't get called for any fouls in game one is because they weren't near anybody. True.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I don't feel better. Well, I feel better because I'm up a game. So if we're just going with that, but if just what you watched and how it went down. I don't feel better. You? I think I feel worse. All right. So answer your own question because you're right on this. So stay on it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

No, no. I'm listening to everything you're saying. A bunch of dudes that you can throw at them. I think you even swore in there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

We agree. I thought the Clippers with 20 turnovers, so many of them were just... 20 turnovers, Russillo. Bad turnovers. Like, you're getting ready to inbound the ball. You can't inbound the ball. You know, it's probably more on the pass than it is on Harden positioning himself. And Westbrook's energy was just off the charts because I want to get to his timeline of events here. But...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

20 turnovers. They took way more free throws. I think Jokic was as good as he was overall because we all expect that from him. He was atrocious on defense in the first half. So I don't know if that's like a halftime wake-up call and that he's just going to play at a better level. But when he got caught in any kind of on-ball thing in the first half, it was a joke.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

There's a baseline drive on him where he was terrible. And then with Zu... no matter what, and you can sort the numbers and say Zubac, based on minimum number of possessions against Jokic, you can make an argument that he's better against Jokic than anybody else.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

get down 23 right and at one point you're going this team only has 41 points in an nba game like what's what's going on here but we knew that the offense was the more challenging part of it despite the great regular season and at least on paper the different options they have but jalen green's terrible tonight van vliet can't hit his shot he hits that three he had started one for ten so at that moment it felt like kind of a big three the question i would have for udoka after this is

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

The very least that you're getting out of it, because you're never stopping Jokic, is that there's about four or five shots, I think, from game one where that's a tough shot. He got even Jokic to have to take that shot. I feel really good about that. I'm mad about the turnovers. I don't think it was just because of

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

trapping you know every now and then if there's a double team on the guy with a ball like a cut would be nice from some of the other big name guys but you know Harden was really good he hit those two floaters he had a huge three so there's not really like a thing you can point to there with Harden I think it's this is whatever we want to do with this Westbrook topic the fact that he took 17 shots in a playoff game if I'm the Clippers I'm like good if he takes that many shots

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

the rest of this series, including the biggest shot of the game. Yeah. Um, second, I'd say second, the Brown three was the biggest shot of the game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

He had a good march. He was slow, I think. A little up and down, right? Yeah, right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I mean, we can keep going. L.A. 's bench got outscored by the Denver bench 23 to 13. It was that's weird. I mean, you want to start looking at how dumb plus minus can be. I think sometimes it's telling. Sometimes it's totally misleading. Zoo was minus eight and thirty nine minutes. Simmons, who doesn't want the ball in his fucking hands, was plus five.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

on the game so they're so desperate they have to play simmons in those non-zoo center minutes and even if you think okay at least he provides some kind of body that can move around a little bit he doesn't once he has the ball like all he's doing is trying to figure out how he can get rid of it and then he'll try to do like a pass that looks kind of cool or whatever so

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I can't believe he's playing. It's a legitimate zero. I cannot believe he's playing real minutes right now. But it really speaks like they just don't want to go with Drew Eubanks over it. And I guess if you're being as nice as you possibly could, is that once you give him the outlet, he can cross half court with the ball. Right. He looks good. Heads up. You're so right, though.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

When he takes off, you're like, oh my, this is going to be on the VHS. This is going to be unbelievable. Remember pre-COVID, Ben Simmons? Sure.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

You got back into this game being huge. And Golden State doesn't have a big lineup. They can run Looney out there for a little bit if they want to. Clearly, they're not comfortable with that. Post is a stretch five, and he's just going to foul everybody. How about Post is just a stretch?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So... We're we don't like there's just a lot from this game where the first half is playing out the way I thought it would play. I thought Jokic is even worse defensively than whatever standards you have from. He's in every action. They're hunting him constantly.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And a lot of times I think he doesn't get enough credit for how he's at least smart enough to know what position you're supposed to be in, which I think is more than half a defense. But at the rim, it's not like there's going to be a ton of contests or people are going to do U-turns, you know, like against the really good defensive guys. You can see it's like I don't really want to go in there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But I still was okay with the Clippers after this whole thing. Me too. Let's go with that Westbrook timeline here. He hits the three. He hits the three. By the way, Denver's offensive rebounding in the fourth quarter also won. They had seven offensive rebounds just in the fourth. So Westbrook takes down a huge offensive rebound when they're down 96-95. He hits the huge three.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But then at the end of regulation, he gets it back again, has a chance to take a three, and then decides to jump in the air and throw it off another defender as the clock expires. Sure, like, okay, what's going on here?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Here's the other thing that will be forgotten forever, and I'm going to forget it too. But up 108, 107, when they were trying to trap, Murray swings it to Westbrook to run clock. And then Westbrook was 16 games. Yeah, 16 seconds left on the game clock, 13 left on the shot clock. He actually drives. And they said it was a pass to Aaron Gordon. I think Aaron Gordon just ended up with the ball.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And it was almost a disastrous turnover when you factor in when all this Denver stuff started going south. And everybody was getting pissed. Right, right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

National broadcast, default, nice setting with that. I mean, there's another thing here that I wrote down, like Jokic misses those two huge... Like, when do you expect Jokic in that spot to miss two free throws? So, like, again, Ramona Shelburne had a really good note on ESPN.com in her piece today where if you look at the spacing...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

that la gave westbrook in this game it averaged out to 9.6 feet on his three-point attempts which is the most space he's ever had in a playoff game since they started tracking this stuff 11 years ago minimum five attempts so nine feet is almost nine feet is that's like two-thirds of the free throw line that's like second and six

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Draymond finished with a four, six, and three stat line because he's tasked with... playing Shingun and the way he was playing off of Shingun, it was the one thing that was actually working for Houston because I think Shingun deserves a lot of credit for going, okay, if this is how you're going to play me, I'm going to pull up. I've got a little bit more touch.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I love that play because I wonder how many people would throw it to him. in that spot. Now, the uncontested three shooting numbers for Westbrook this year are actually pretty good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I just would wonder if you could ever get a couple beers and yogurt cheers from now and be like, did you have just a moment of hesitation of going, this is the right read, it's the right basketball play, but do I really want him taking this one?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And I think that this is why you can't ever question this guy's motivations is because I think he just wants to play the game the perfect way and that he would make that pass again if Westbrook missed it. I think there's a lot of guys that don't pass it to him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

A criticism of Jokic, if you wouldn't mind.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But that stretch of the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, when Houston got back into this, they got back into it being huge. Steven Adams was a beast. And even if Golden State couldn't get a rebound to save their lives, and when they would contest anything, there were fouls. And granted, Houston didn't make their free throw. So I guess I would just wonder,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So the inbounding the ball thing that he does... All right, Denver fans, it's going to be okay. We'll get through this together. But this came up when it was the Ishbia thing. Remember when Ishbia had the ball and Jokic went to grab it from him and Ishbia was just like, whatever? I caught a ton of shit because I was like, I could totally see just Ishbia thinking, like, what are you doing?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Even though if it were just a normal fan, you've got to give the ball back. But the argument is... Well, Jokic loves to check it with the ref so he can inbound the ball ahead of a defense getting things sorted out. All right? Because there's numerous times throughout a game where you can see that he's doing it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

He's quick to get in a position to inbound, then get the ball back, and he's trying to catch the defense off guard. It's smart, right? He should keep doing it. However, there are times where it doesn't matter how quickly Jokic wants to inbound the ball. The refs have to sort some shit out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And on that play, where he and Van Gundy are battling for the basketball, there's no version of events where Jokic rips it from Van Gundy and then checks it, and the ref just gives it back to him automatically, advantage Denver. There seems to be these people that think that Jokic just gets to do whatever he wants on the inbounding. What would happen?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

The ref's like, oh, shit, he inbounded it, guys. I know we have a review, and I know we have all these different... But, you know... He wanted to get it in, so I just let him. So there seems to be this misunderstanding of who's in charge because there's plenty of times where it makes sense when the ref doesn't have anything that he has to sort out. There's nothing that they're worried about.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

There are other times where it's very clear and it's not as many times, it's clear the refs have to figure a couple things out before he gets to just start the game because he wants to start the game. I don't mind him doing it. I mind people defending the idea that he's supposed to be able to do it every single time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

The Ishbia play specifically, there was other stuff they had to get through and figure out. They weren't just going to go, well, we had some questions. about what happened, but he got the ball in and you know, so, uh, it should be a, it's the most positive. It should be a reference in a while. The idea that he's on pace to be the worst owner in NBA history. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Did he may do Golden State a favor by bringing in their best offensive player back into the game and getting away from the size that was just overwhelming Golden State? It wasn't pretty, but Golden State couldn't do anything with it. But then at 519, Adams is out. I mean, I'd love to ask her, like in a moment of honesty, were you thrilled when they took Adams out of the game?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Maybe it's an Ishpia pod. Let's pivot. Let's get in front of that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Did the OKC Memphis game make people feel worse voting for SGA? That seems totally unfair, so I retract that. Cheers. No, look, I was totally comfortable.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Well, I love the idea of this, but they're never giving up the television. No, I know they're not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. If you get it to 60, does that mean you're up to? Oh, we'll see a game three. It's a double win. Yeah. I think if you get up 16 in an NBA playoff game, there should be some... Like, it shouldn't just be 1-0 on the graphic next time Memphis plays basketball. All right, so before we do any of that, though, because I don't know if we're going to spend a ton of time on that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I'm not done with it yet either, buddy. Great. Go. But the Jokic MVP, yes, I voted for him for MVP. Anybody listening to this podcast knew that I was going to do it. I felt totally fine about it. I don't want to sit here and argue against SGA because he was awesome. SGA was awesome.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But you got there too, huh?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

If we're not done, are you done with the series? Because we haven't talked about Michael Porter Jr. We have to do a minute on that. Go. Benched at the... Where do I have it here? 814 mark of the fourth quarter. During my note-taking exercise to try to remember stuff of all these games, I did have a first half third quarter MPJ WTF question mark. Just notation.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

That's code for... Sometimes I'll just write down a guy's name and I'll go, Andrew Wiggins question mark? Tobias Harris, three question marks? Hey, not in the first half. Not in game one. Yeah. The lack of urgency from that guy is... It's not new. This isn't breaking news, but it's like... It just blows your mind. Like if you really try to like, hey, I'm going to watch him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Like, where is this guy been? Like, let me watch what he's doing out there. Doesn't fight for rebounds, doesn't fight for positioning. If it's an offensive rebound and he's on defense and then the guys in front of him, he just kind of like is there. There's there's no contest. There's no effort. So they bench him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And it's funny too, because you're thinking about like, how's Westbrook going to play? Does this mean because Adelman's now coaching that we're going to see pick it out there closing? Cause that's the sample that we got in that Sacramento game where it was like, Oh, wait a minute. Westbrook is going to be on the bench.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But then it's, well, now it doesn't even matter because it's going to be Brown, Gordon, obviously, who would be one of the three main guys with Murray and Jokic. And then Brown's going to be out there with Westbrook because there's no Michael Porter Jr. And so Adelman covered for him a bit saying, hey, I didn't think it was fair to have him sit long stretches and then bring him back in.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It's tough to get back in and see him play for a while. What does that tell you? That tells you that he cannot, Michael Porter Jr. is either somebody who does not respond to the criticism or responds poorly to it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Because I always think of like, if you're that bad and this is not new for him, as I've said, like he's, he's a classic, like, Hey, he hit a bunch of threes and I had 21 points, grabbed a few boards. Like he was really important for them. Hit some awesome shots in the fourth quarter. Like clearly he's already done that in playoff games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But then if he has zero, you know, like a lot of these guys that we talk about, you're not shocked. Hey, how do you end up with three points? Like you get the other version of him. But Jokic's quote here was pretty incredible. Now, again, three points in 26 minutes. And Jokic was asked about it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

He said, quote, if you're not going to be engaged right now, then you're not supposed to be playing this sport. So you had the coach probably knowing like I can't get on him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

We'll see. He's going to be back out there. I'm sure he's going to be back out there with the closing group, and he's going to get another opportunity. But it'll always blow my mind watching guys just not care. I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Two years ago, he would have. He wouldn't play over Chet. He wouldn't play over Dort. He wouldn't play over Wallace. He wouldn't play over SGA. He wouldn't play over Jalen Williams 1. He wouldn't play over Caruso.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Isaiah Joe or Wiggins.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And knowing what they prioritize, he's the antithesis of what they're about.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

The problem is, the off-the-court stuff is significant, right? Because it's not just his brother. Yeah, he's got a lot of shit going on. Right, it's a lot of shit going on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

would be more of, of like the conclusion that I've come to. The problem is, is this is kind of who he's been. This has always been. It's just even crazier to like thinking back to all of the stories that work their way out of like the divide between Calvin booth and Mike balloon. And then booth at one point saying, Hey, we need to trade Michael Porter jr.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Cause there probably still be some kind of fake attraction to the idea of him. He's still really young. What? He's 26, 27. He's two more years. Would you trade him for Levine? I think Levine is a bigger losing player than even Michael Porter Jr. is because he has the ball in his hands more, so probably not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But there was this Missouri connection, and you just think, what are you guys talking about? That can't be true. He was barely at Mizzou. He was barely there, and so now it's like this guy that seems to be indifferent at the wrong times.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So, but just to review though, he played 53 minutes in college, 53 minutes. And we're supposed to believe because the Missouri connection to ownership, there's it's, that's like me being on Minneapolis Zillow because I've used the airport. Like, I like it here. Like, have you ever been outside of the airport? Like I've been to that airport probably 40, 50 times. I've never been to the town.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Detroit's up there, but I've been to Detroit. Minneapolis.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Well, I used to just spend a lot of time in Detroit. I'd leave Hartford being like, if I can do this, I can do Detroit. Canada's right there. I've never been to Minneapolis. I didn't even go for the Super Bowl.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

What was the odds? What were the payouts on that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I don't know. Ownership loves jaw. And Jaron had a great year this year. He was terrible today. It's an awful matchup for them because it's jaw going up against door and then Baines going up against J will. So then it's it's nine for twenty nine combined from your backcourt who physically has no chance against that group. And then on top of everything else, Jaron Jackson's like shit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So I get Chet or Harten Hartenstein against me here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Bane was just incredible. Bane was a minus 51. JJ was two for 13 minus 51. Yeah. You don't see that a lot. At one point I was rooting one 10 55 was in play. I didn't get there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

That sounds like something I would say. Don't you think that's a little sad? You watched this whole game and your mother wasn't down.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But here's the other part. SGA started this game one of nine, and it was 63 to 32. SGA had 15 points. It's his lowest total since Team Kenny and Team Shaq. If you don't count those games... The lowest he had had was very early in the season when he had 18.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So game one of the playoffs, they come out here and do this, and he only had 15 points, and he missed all of his shots until he hit some more a little bit later. This was so gross. It's the biggest blowout in the playoffs in 10 years when the Bulls beat the Bucs back in 2015 by 54 points. And it's so easy to say, but yeah, but this felt worse.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I think it's just because it's like, if I have to hear about the Grizzlies being a fucking two seed anymore, it's like, yeah. All right. Yeah. The standings broke one way and you were kind of a two seed and you were two seeds in that other year. And you guys really are proud. Like, when are you guys raising the two seed banner that started? Like we were a two seed at one point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

That would be. You start that if things don't work out for you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I guess, look, anybody that heard the Verno pod could tell I was kind of like running out of patience with this Memphis group.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It's a tough banner. I just, you know, the buildup and like Jaws looking around and it's like, all right. And then Jalen Rose is even like a shoe comes out today and he's wants to announce to the world that like, even though SGA is getting all this love, like I'm at this level. And then OKC is just looking at me like, what are you going to do? We're going to go under every screen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

You're going to hit the first three. You're going to miss the rest of them. And then you're going to do shit where you get into the paint. Sometimes it works. But against us, if you wait around against OKC, as I've said all season long, if you dick around with the basketball, they're going to make you pay.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And so breaking the paint and then just kind of dancing around, hoping you're going to get some angle against all these guys that are so much bigger than you. So there sounds like there's real dislike in my voice.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I know when I talk about Memphis, and I actually feel bad about it a little bit because I think they do do a really good job, and they've done a really good job on the margins with all these players where I'm like, Hey, nobody really liked this guy. They were smart about it. They nailed all these draft picks. Even Pippen Jr., that guy's going to play a really long time. I love his toughness.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But to come out and just get stomped like that, it should be, however the rest of the series goes, this should have been some kind of wake-up call of like, we might be lying to ourselves down here a little bit about what our ceiling actually is. But they probably won't do anything because Jha's easily the most famous guy in sports.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

In a bad draft, fine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I think John's the kind of guy owners love and will defend forever because he's their attraction. And if you're in Memphis, that's probably as important as, well, I guess they were a two seat.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Cause I don't think that. Let me ask you this. What would OKC need to do? Or is it irrelevant because it's Memphis for, before people start to realize like how special this team is.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, he was. I think OG makes you work a lot, and I think it kind of slows down the first thing that you're going to do. I thought they were doing a better job bringing him off the ball in some of the regular season games and then coming back to the ball. It seemed like they kind of abandoned a lot of that stuff. Hey, they were a mess.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

The five-second violation to start the fourth quarter, next possession, 24-second violation, turnover, turnover, turnover, campaign of all people going off. The missed dunk, although Asar made up for it. That was a disaster start. That's 21-0 run the whole time. You seem like you have something specific, though, to the Cade matchup here that you want to get to.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I think all that's really fair. That place is awesome. That's not breaking news, but it really kind of went the way I thought. I thought the third quarter was so impressive from Detroit. Yeah. When in that one, 36-26, I'm going, this is not what I expected.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I just figured Detroit's going to get reminded that there's levels to this and that New York, even though they had the injuries last year, they're just going to be way more comfortable in these games than Detroit's going to be. And if I look at a Malik Beasley, Who, you know, hit a ton of shots. I feel like. Do I want do I expect that those are going to go in in the fourth quarter?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Like he's he's in that group for me right now. We're like he's feeling himself. He's been awesome this entire season. He's so important to what they do. You know, just the idea of actually having spacing around K this year as opposed to what they try to do last year. But I don't know that I expect those shots to go in in the fourth quarter. And then you have another play where there's a turnover.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And it's, you know, look, this is a playoff game. New York's running away with this thing. The place is going crazy. Tons of momentum. Get back on defense. Tim Hardaway lets Brunson run away from him. There was just so many bad plays, turnovers, looking like they're not – They just weren't up to the task at all of the emotion of what that game was to close it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And I think the cat part of it that's great for him in this series is even if Stewart's going to stretch the floor a little bit, it's not going to lose you the game. So Cat doesn't really have to worry about that. Cat has to figure out a way to just be in position on some of the Cade stuff that he was out of position on in the third quarter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I agree with you on that one. I mean, there's going to be a night where Steph isn't going to be able to bail him out, probably because they put so much attention on him. If it's a close game in the step positions, two were staying with Steph. He had a turnover.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But if Duren's in, as much as he's going to make you work because he's a beast out there, you don't really have to defend him. And Cat's big enough and he's rebounded at a Hall of Fame level his entire career, so he's going to be able to fight for some of those rebounds.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I'm sure Cat's looking at this being like, okay, I'm going to get hurt on some of these where I come up to meet the ball and I'm going to get burnt. But I'm also not worrying about Porzingis as a stretch five. Or I'm not worrying about some super dynamic guy who's going to get all of these options offensively at center. So that's going to be a bit of a relief for him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And Cam Payne scoring 11 points in just a few minutes. They didn't even bring back Mikel to your point until it was kind of over. So... I don't know that there's a, if Detroit had done this, I just think they were completely overwhelmed, which the fourth quarter made way more sense to me than the third quarter did yesterday.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

He had another one where it should have been a turnover where he let himself get trapped at half court, but they didn't have a challenge because they were going to challenge the Pajemski drive. So there'll be times where... the stuff off of Steph is a bit of a letdown. Like Moses Moody hitting that three tonight in the corner was probably the biggest three because it's like, all right, finally.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I don't know. What other conclusion is anyone supposed to come to? Okay. I mean, this becomes, is this what you think is going to happen based on your analysis? Or is this what you hope happens because you have a poster home? All right. And I can't, I can't argue with anybody like that. The only evidence we have is that they don't beat the elite teams because they didn't beat the elite teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I mean, they basically want to fucking parade for losing an overtime to the Celtics. Like the reaction that I saw from that stuff was, Hey, this is a turning point and proves that they can, they can hang, uh, with this team. They should smoke Detroit. Detroit's not ready for this. And they proved it in the fourth quarter. But that third quarter was fun.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

There's also something with Bickerstaff in this one that I don't know if it's worth even mentioning, but I'm going to mention it because it's a podcast. Matching the Asar minutes with Brunson. Now, Asar should be plenty fresh. He's young. He's literally more athletic than everybody else in the league, except for maybe his brother and aunt. But

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

They actually had him out there when Brunson wasn't in in the start of the fourth quarter, and I was just wondering.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Because even if you expect no one with that profile and that age would ever actually get tired in a basketball game, I imagine the excitement and the adrenaline because of the stakes and the playoffs. I don't know if I'd want to waste a couple minutes of him being out there chasing other dudes around. And then Biggerstaff's clearly, too, a bit like the Ime thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

he was trying to figure out what he thought was the best lineup. Because it's like, do I want to have a star out there without any kind of spacing? Because spacing is like the number one thing with Cade. I have to find a way to get spacing. But then it means defensively, like, does that mean now we've got guys hunting Beasley, we have guys hunting Hardaway?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And by the way, if the Pistons get down 2-0 here or it's ugly, if it were ugly at the end of game two, I'm fully expecting like Avs, Red Wings, type of moment. Like somebody, Beasley is down for something. Schroeder's not afraid to screw around. I don't know if it'd be a sorrow.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Like it's always the third shot. Yeah, it's the third shot taker for this group because, you know, clearly there's nights where Curry can do what he did tonight and there's nothing you can do and he's just going to hit a bunch of ridiculous shots. That's not going to happen. You know, I don't know that you can bank on that for four wins. Maybe you can in a seven-game series, but...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Well, the problem is when Memphis, there was one miss on that Jalen Williams dunk, not the one where he dunked on everybody. I think... That was a little later. There was one earlier one where outside of, I think it was Pippen or Bain missed the shot and he was deep in the paint.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And then I looked at where everybody was in transition and all four other Memphis players were feet below the free throw line. Like a couple were on the baseline. All four were on the baseline. So they didn't even have anybody positioned to do anything. Yeah. It was, Jay Williams was gone.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But he finished better. He definitely finished better, man. I felt great about him as the season went on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Well, that play where Brunson freaked out and got mad and started clapping at the ref.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Asar had position on him. He just rode him right out of bounds. And maybe if I had said Alvin Robertson, you would have remembered.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I don't know why I used David Robinson's last name, but Spurs getting older. It's fine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Man, more Ty Jerome. 20 of 28 points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I look at the Pajemski minutes and he looks confused. I almost don't like the ball in his hands right now. And if he misses a few, this is a guy who has a ton of confidence to even get to this point. But I think you can see it happening on the court where it's like, oh, he's hesitant now. He's a little shot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Huh? Six. It's not 20.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Uh, the Orlando game was off the charts, right? This, this felt like a lot. I mean, he just comes in. First of all, 17 points in five minutes, Mitchell and Garland are taking turns. So that's all working. So there was never like that lull. And then if you're Miami and you're fighting, you're trying so hard. Like you have no chance in the playoffs with the construction of this team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And this is the best I've ever felt about hero is a shock creator, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

him being the one option that you get to see some of the stuff that he's capable of doing and it's really really impressive it's also really hard when the number two is andrew wiggins who has like three makes in the first quarter and then didn't have another make into like the fourth quarter i think he had like two more but it was just one was like sort of in the game the other one was completely irrelevant so part of the andrew wiggins experience as much as i love bam i love bam

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But offensively, there's going to be some limitations there. So that's your one-two if you're Miami trying to hang with Cleveland that feels like they have all of these offensive options. And Ty Jerome comes in to close the game scoring 20 of 28 points of Cleveland.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

How about him in the Atlanta? It's a little different when Trey Young is assigned to you, but Davion did have some more buckets because Davion feels like he probes a lot, and there are certain people that he doesn't want to challenge. So I've been kind of mixed on how much is he really giving you offensively, and he's been terrific for him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Oh, easily.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

For Hero to have to go up against this defense, knowing that even if you pull a rabbit out of your hat because he is like, there are some shots that hero gets into that are really high level shots. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And then if you end up with like a Gary Payton second corner open look, Houston will gladly take that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Pretty much, you know, I can't believe Portland said no to him and that Lillard trade. Cause this guy's awesome. But the rest of the guys around him, and even Bam, there's only certain places he can start with the ball in his hands to be like, hey, we need a bucket now, Bam. So then Hero's coming out of there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

That's why I just... You kept looking at the score going, when is this thing going to be over? When is it going to be over? There's no way Cleveland's actually going to lose. There's no way this is going to be like a possession.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

The argument for the play-in is there's plenty of teams that have had injuries and Memphis would say, hey, look, if we'd had Ja the full year... But I don't know. The West is so packed. Is it guaranteed that they're a top six? I don't think that guarantees it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that would have been a fun team. I'm with you there. But I just want to come full circle on this whole playing thing because this was the reason I didn't like it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Because you're going to have these teams. Like there was, I would think an eight game win separation based on the 10 seed in the West. And then what the seven seed or eight seed, I forget. So I guess I could pull it up right now, but the point stands is that why are you giving these teams that stink another chance to get into this entire thing? Now there's still had to be eight teams that,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But it just was funny when you had Lakers-Warriors with the Steph LeBron showdown four years ago. And it's like, oh, I thought the play-in stunk. And it's like, no, it's the principle. It is what the play-in stands for. If the games are good, then, of course, we're all going to enjoy good games. But guess what happened this year?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Now everybody doesn't like the play-in simply because of the results of the games and whether or not they were entertaining.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Right. They're going to play off of Draymond a ton and Draymond will have better offensive nights, but it's still like if he has another single digit night, it's not going to be that big of a deal. And Butler even had like a stretch where I was like, where are you? Like, where are you?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It doesn't matter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Miami-Atlanta was great. It was a fun game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Good job. I'm, I'm guarantee you Vivek wanted Zach Levine. He seems like the kind of guy an owner would be like, but he scores a million points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I thought we were going to lead with it. That's what you had said in the text, the show rundown that I got. Which one?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And then he was able to, you know, because even if he got Shingun or Adams in a switch, he's not the kind of guy who's just going to like fly past them. He wants to dribble to a spot and pull up and try to get away. with a clean look, like, you know, without much of a contest there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

No, I didn't even think it was a flagrant run. It all depends on how you land. We're in the playoffs, guys. Everybody's in their mind. If you want to tell me Wendell Carter had his hand in his back a little bit, okay, fine. But I didn't think it was like an extended arm thing out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But the standard of what we all now think is flagrant, it's like concussion experts on Twitter on Thursday Night Football. They're like, oh, no, dude. You didn't look very good. You're not even on the sideline, dude. You're home. Look, I didn't think it was a flagrant foul, but you're right. I mean, Tatum's 8 of 22, 1 of 8 from 3. Jalen Brown's 6 of 14.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And by the way, his foul at the end of the third quarter, which then restarted the end of the third quarter. He has got... I don't know what's going on over there at Harvard. But there needs to be a, hey, this would be a good time to foul. This would be a bad time to foul. Maybe it's a one-credit course. Yeah, maybe we get a paper. Somebody put a paper together.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Because he has these moments, man, where I'm like, what the fuck are you doing? Anyway, 6 of 14 today. So that's, what, 14 for 36 from your two best players? And you close this one out almost up to 20?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

There'll be no Paolo slander also because you got to see that tonight. And I thought Drew on Paolo, at least making him have to work to get into his stuff. But Orlando has no chance. We knew they had no chance. And I also thought if we're doing a Wendell Carter, maybe update he played today, you may not have noticed. He had like 12 rebounds. Yeah, but to see his effort level,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

against somebody like Al Horford's effort level when Al knew they needed to crank up the energy. And Al's fighting, and he's grabbing loose balls, and he's starting the fast break. And you're like, man, Carter was actually like, when I did his draft year phrasing, I was like, he kind of has a little Horford-ish stuff in there. That's even a word.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So, yeah, I think there's going to be nights where Golden State against this Houston defense is going to look really lost. But I wonder internally if the Rockets coaching staff is going, did we let them off the hook a little bit by going with Shingun, who was our best offensive player? Because it wasn't like they did anything great on offense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And then it's like, yep, there's no wonder look for desire, Bill.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

No, they're, they're so bad on offense at times. Just tough to watch. Right. So their third leading scorer with Jonathan, Jonathan Isaac with, uh, you want to guess how many points? 10, seven.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Well, they said he was off the medication.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Because he was off.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but we can't do that to the Bucs. You can't do that to the Bucs after one game. There can't be a Giannis. Where is he going to go after one fucking playoff game?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I'd like to submit like a weekly Nico Harrison award based on the quote that you're like, what? Yeah. And I'd submit body. Bobby Portis had some pregame availability with Katie George, who did the sideline for this game for ESPN. And she was saying, Bobby, you know, he's been around here a long time. And he said that this Bucks team is the best version of any of the teams that he's been on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

They just had multiple possessions and Golden State was just overwhelmed. Like you would see all this traffic happening. at the Rockets hoop and you couldn't see the blue jerseys because they were so much smaller than the guys in red.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And I expected, like, except for the team that won the title. Yeah. And no, no, no, no, Bill. Not so fast. He said even that team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Wow. The 22 team was better. The 22 team was really good. If Middleton had been healthy, who knows?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Start talking about it. Not the movie. Best player. Giannis was fantastic. Nobody else did anything else around him. I think at one point he had like 36 of the 55.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It's Tony Snell off the hook.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Well, just the meme. 22 minutes, 0 for 5, 0 boards, 0 assists, 0 points. You want to guess how many blocks and steals he had? None? Zero and zero.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, no breaking news there. I mean, you'd expect a little bit more out of Kuzma. Torian Prince also had zero.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I mean, it was just an absolute donut from everybody other than A.J. Green hitting a few threes and Kevin Porter getting to the free throw line. It's, you know, Giannis owns any of the numbers that you would look at. It's like, hey, what has he done against Siakam? All right, he's done this. What has he done against Turner? Okay, he's done this. He owns these dudes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But, you know, he's playing point guard now. I mean, you want to talk about a dude out there by himself. You know, this is, some people are calling it the John Popper of the NBA. And I don't know if that's fair to the guys in Blues Traveler.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I know how you were talking about just all the nonsense, but we have to be, because we're guilty of it too, but we don't do it, but we're guilty of referencing it. And I know I am, and sometimes I try to stop myself from doing it, but sometimes you can't, right? Because you see so much of it. But just like there's a whole anti-Curry camp, right? And they argue these points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

There's a lot of anti-Tatum people. And it's a weird one. It's, it's very strange. And like today would be another example of like, Oh, once again, Tatum needs to be bailed out of like a bad playoff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. 14 rebounds.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Well, you gave up 40 open threes last night, buddy. So all of that exists. So all of the Yana stuff exists, but you know, until I would see like, whether it was you thinking you've heard something or a wind horse or Shams, like there's somebody that really mattered that kind of like brought it out on a radar where it was justifiable.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I know that it's being talked about, but a lot of stuff that's talked about, it's just like, okay, but who are the people that are actually talking about this stuff, even if it's being discussed all of the time?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And there was a really funny one, because I would put this in the category of something that I've read, and I forget who wrote it, but I was reading a bunch of the playoff previews, and the person made the argument that was like, I like the Bucs in this series if Dame doesn't come back. I'm like, God. And after this game... Good zag. Right. After this game, I'm thinking...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

All right, well, whatever you think the low end of the Dame experience is, at least there's another score out there that also balances out the court, and it's some outlet that's better than all of these dudes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

By the way, how does your son handle, I would say over the years, the access of your friend group and some celebrity? Yeah. Let's not pretend. How does he handle himself? He's great.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Like a Gobert switch.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

That's good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Surprise. I think he did a really good job of the shoes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It's my favorite Steph game of all time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So he's the main union guy, Sabatka.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Yeah. He was great. I thought Sabatka... I know the storyline in season two, people don't really like it that much. No, season two is good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I like Sabatka. He's totally, totally believable in that role. I thought he did a great job.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Okay, but is there anything, is there any wrestling stuff that we need to know about, the world needs to know about?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I love those ads. Yeah, I love them too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I remember, I think when they first started the whole This Is Sports Center campaign, it was some ad agency in Portland, Oregon, I think. And I wrote them a letter. I was like, oh, you know, I like sports. I mean, you know, this is me doing my Douglas Copeland shampoo planet writing letter phase of my life.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

You would know better than I would. Yeah. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It was just, they were so good. The funny thing was, is then once I started working there, they actually kind of like made sense. Cause you could be in a situation where you're like, why is so-and-so in the salad bar line with me or something like that. But then there was like a real, like that guy's in one or whatever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, and then they just kind of fell off. I mean, they had a really good run for a really long time. I think there was always a little animosity that Van Pelt was in so many of them, but he was just really good at it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I saw warfare in the theater on Thursday, a couple of movie goers. It is so fucking good. Okay. It is that good. I love it for a bunch of different reasons, but I love that a studio let a couple of guys make a movie on an experience that they knew firsthand. And they were like, here's the script. It's going to be just one location for like 90 minutes going through this one thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And it's going to be really graphic. It's going to be very stressful. It's going to cause anxiety and it's going to have all these different moments, but it's going to be like the most realistic approach to a war scene you can possibly have. There's no girlfriend. There's no, does this kid betray someone? And there's a forbidden connection based on cultures.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It's like, Nope, these guys are in this room and they're fucked and they got to get them out of there and we'll see what happens. And we're going to stay in this room with them for 90 minutes and seeing it in the theater. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

yeah the the number of moments were like it was just the sound and you know it wasn't like a super complicated dynamic there's not some like memento like oh my god this is yeah i can't believe christopher nolan did this i just love that they let them do that now sinners everybody's raving about that give us the quick pitch cell i just think coogler's on the short short short short list of the best directors um

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

You're going twice.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. But it's really well done. So I've enjoyed that part of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

By the way, decent things. Yeah, I'm just about to start that one. May even do it tonight as I wind down for the adrenaline rush of this podcast. But this YouTube live warfare. I think I forgot I was live like five minutes ago. Warfare. Cosmo Jarvis, the lead in Shogun. When's the IPO? And what is the limit? Because I think Cosmo Jarvis might be next. Speaking of ESPN magazine covers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Shogun, I wasn't 100% sure. He was great. I love Shogun. It was awesome. I was surprised even how much I loved it. Maybe I shouldn't have been. History guy. Ninjas. Pretty much everything I need. but he wasn't like just bad-ass throughout that. He was playful. He was funny, but then he was dealing with like the romance part of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So he had to like do a bunch of different things because I think if he was just the punisher for 10 episodes, that lack of depth and storyline maybe gets a little bit old. He, for whatever reason, just in this he's, he's mastering the, I don't have to do that much and owns the scene.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Don't you have to defer to Kerr on this one, though? I do. I mean, he's had him a long time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Oh, it's Clippers. It's Clippers Nuggets game two. I can't wait.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

We were far too aligned tonight, by the way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Anybody that's watched them post Suggs, I think the only thing that you do is you go, hey, you have a real chance years moving forward because of Paolo. That's what today was. It was a reminder to Magic fans that already know that. And it's, I think, a necessary reminder because I'm sure Paolo wasn't exactly a guy a ton of people were watching on League Pass.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Franz is starting to feel like a recalibration nominee.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Adjusted ceilings?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

If we let Cerruti in right now, he would just start to say, oh, okay. We can't. It'll be another 10 minutes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

It's terrifying. It is. Yeah. He didn't have it in November. Cerruti tells the truth, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I'm always pretty excited, but I'm getting selfish as I get a little bit older. There's just a lot of stuff going on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Are you thrilled that Belichick doesn't have the pick just so he could not use it? And then he's like, we got a 28 from who? Cleveland?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

McShay called me. 7.30 Friday night. He's like, there's something in my contract. He's like, the number, length, hour shows. He's like, all this makes sense. He's like, there's something he said that Bill gets seven emergency phone calls per 12 months.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Doing draft stuff. He already flew here. He has a lot. The number gets different. Again, he's not the reporter or whatever, but he talks to everyone. So those phone calls with him are far more valuable than I think even he can provide.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, we're going to do a big recap. Oh, after a round one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

They closed the third quarter for four minutes. The last four minutes, they didn't hit a shot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I can't shake it. There's this collection of teams where you look at the Clippers numbers after a certain point and you go, oh my God, look at that. I know we're going to talk about him. I swear to God, TNT and ESPN love to throw up the Jimmy Butler trade graphic four times. It's like a read. I don't know if it's sponsored or not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

But they'll just say since the All-Star break, like and it's it is really interesting. But you always have to remember, like, we're not the normal audience. So they're getting everybody up to date on like what the story has been. So you have this Golden State thing that feels entirely different. The Clippers thing that feels different.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

I think Minnesota, for whatever reason, has been completely overlooked as we'll get to that game because I can't wait to talk about that one. But I haven't really looked at Golden State, even with that split post the Butler trade because of some of the limitations there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

And because of their preference to be small and not have any big option, like you're talking about, I'm going, Hey, you only have to win 11 more games to get to the final. I don't even, I don't know. I'm surprised you're even like mapping it out that way. Do you really think they have a chance to win in the West? Did you think that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

That'd be too early. This series, I think there's going to be a night where Houston looks so much better than Golden State.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I don't know. Who looks bad when they're up 20? Like, who looks like they're having a bad time? The Celtics. Is there any team?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Keep these guys in check. And look, they're down 23 to this group with this offense. And I cannot, I'll say it again. They didn't really even do anything that was that great on offense to get back into this. It wasn't like they got hot from three. It wasn't like, oh, okay, this guy's cooking or they can't guard this guy. They're hunting this dude. It's just, hey, we were big.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

So that's something that they can go to. That's not shooting variance. That's something that they know when they watch this film. They go, we might want to go to it earlier. You know, there's also something to when you're down 23, the effort that it takes you to come back and cut it to three points. And then you start timing it out. Can they sustain this for another five minutes?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

NBA Playoff Reactions and Overreactions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, like that'll happen a lot, too, is like you're right there. You're right. You're just about like four at one point. It was three points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Well, he's definitely... So I'm at seven.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

OK, see. I'm going to say higher.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

And the fifth best guy was probably Porter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

Uh, whatever, man, I'm ready to go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

As great as Jokic is. I know we're probably going to fall on a lot of this of like, what do you do?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

Bradley Beal? That was a joke for people not watching this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

All right, the Celtics. So I haven't talked to you. We haven't talked on a pod since the Tatum injury.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

Well, you know what it gets back to, right? What? If you were, all right, you just bought the team and you hit me up, you're like, what should I do?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

What do you think?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

What are your expectations for next year? Not good. So why play it out another year?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

You don't.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

I'll stay with Milwaukee. Okay. I'll be the Cleveland GM. I'll be Kobe Altman. Hey, Kobe. Hey, Mobley for Giannis, straight up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

Call it in right now. Done. You're done if you're Milwaukee. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

I mean, what else would you want from Milwaukee? There's no picks, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

We need more offense in today's game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

When I don't think Tatum's on the, on the table. Okay. Is there, do you think if Nico hadn't traded Luca, he trades the number one pick for Giannis? I don't.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

No.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

then you have to do it. You have to do it for Dallas. Yeah. But why would Phoenix do it? Durant, Beal, and AD.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

Be AD plus for Booker? Yeah. Really? Well, I shouldn't say Booker doesn't get hurt because he's had some time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

I think that's a mistake.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

What if there was a... Wait, you think Phoenix would have to... Who do you value more right now, AD or Booker?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

New Orleans moves into that top four that I think all of us really like. And I would include Ace Bailey in the top four, personally. Man, I love myself some Herb Jones.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

So I would have a hard time not taking him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

It's interesting. There's 4 million. Hauser to Detroit, just trading him there. That would save another 10.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

But anyway, it's a tall task. Can I give you my list of,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

I vote for leaving a lot of people. But yeah, that was unfortunate. I agree with you. I'm glad you said that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. And we started talking about 2009. I think it moved. Really? He was that excited.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

OKC Ends Denver, "Whaddya Do" Second-Round Losers, and Knicks-Pacers Predictions With Ryen Russillo

1969, 1976, 1981.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

No, I think my favorite stat, too, for Steph is that he was 22 shots a game in February, and now he's 17. And it's because... It's scoring more. Right. He doesn't want to shoot 22 times a game. Yeah. And there's some guys that'll never understand not wanting to shoot 20 times a game. And he could shoot 25 if he wanted to, and he'd probably be justified.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But you can just tell when they were really... just grinding offensively, it was like, all right, you're running this first thing. Steph is cut off. He's coming around the back. Oh, he's coming this way. Oh, now he's coming around. So at least with Butler, you have to respect him even if you're not being as aggressive. And it was funny because I was looking at his numbers against Wiggins' numbers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And just the points per game are about the same. But the rebounding, the assist stuff with him, and Butler's metrics have always been really good this year because he's still getting such a ridiculous free throw rate because we've covered it. I mean, he's just going to get you once he seals you at the rim. But you're right. I think last night Moody was getting into guys defensively.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I just think there's a ceiling on what they'll be able to do. I'm surprised you would think the OKC series would be competitive because what they're unveiling with this Chet Hartenstein thing, Thank you. Maybe I'm trying to talk myself into it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I can't wait for Milwaukee's week, like going into the night and everything. Like I'm really excited about the Bucs for the next week. looking at that schedule. Yeah. Okay, but back to the original point, though. Are you playing the results on the Butler fit and also playing the results on the current Durant fit?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Where there's a, is there still a version of Durant where say, you know, the reason I always look at Houston is if Houston goes, okay, look, we've done a really good job here. We built probably as deep an asset chest as they're in the league, you know, maybe outside of depending on what you think of OKC in the high end. I think everybody understands what I'm trying to say here. Options, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Option depth. I'm like, oh, if we did this and this for this guy. Could you see... The Durant happiness thing is real.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I guess I could play Jabari. No, they're going like Jabari-Adam-Shangoon right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Okay, so let's go back to this. Is Booker kind of the Pierce phase guy? for Danny Ainge, say 2005, 2007 stretch, where Pierce is 28, 29. Remember, that's the only real stretch of Pierce's career with Boston where he didn't play, right? Because they were like, all right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

At that point of their careers. Right. So the Pierce year you're talking about is the 06 year. You're right. I mean, he's 27 a game, 27, 7 and 5. You know, he's taken 18 shots a game, which actually isn't even the high because he took a lot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but he took 20 shots a game when he was 25. But granted, that Boston team. Yeah. you know, was six over 500. So that was kind of like the Jim O'Brien was like, you guys can do whatever you want. Yeah. Do whatever you guys want on offense as long as you guys play defense. And so I just know you're right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So what was the point that Ainge always made? Cause you know, again, I was doing TV back then. I had a good relationship with him. I would ask him whether he was on the air with us or the times I would run into him with wall fam and just bullshit. And it was always cool that he would do it with me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And I was kind of in the mindset of like a younger guy that we always want everybody to hit the reset button. Like two years of not going in the right direction. We're like, yep, get rid of everybody. Hit the reset button. We all do it in the media. We do it as fans constantly.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I don't want to do that. This is why this is good, because then angel just go. I want more players like Paul Pierce. Paul Pierce is he wouldn't swear, obviously, because it's Danny. But he's like, Paul Pierce is awesome. It is my job to build around Pierce. And it's basically the exact same age range that we're talking about with Booker. So there's one crucial difference.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I know what it is, but go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So if Booker tells you, you're Ishby, and Booker's like, look, I get it. There's no... wiggle room here. And that's the biggest difference between the Pierce Booker comp that we're coming up with here is that there were at least outs. There was stuff on the horizon and with Phoenix and the new second and all of the stuff, the restrictions, it's far more restrictive.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

This current situation, if Booker goes to you, you're Ishby is like, you know what? I know this, but I don't want to go anywhere. What do you do?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I would tell you that Reeves Camp really appreciates you bringing this up probably every six weeks.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Grant Williams is hurt.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Clearly the Spurs could not have thought he was going to be this good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, if you want to tell me there's some misses in there. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

He's an asset. The biggest thing to you is make him the offer so that LA has to match him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Odds are. Yeah. Yeah, I felt like the public stuff about ownership being like, you know, weren't sure about this one. Ridiculous. I mean... It's ridiculous. These owners run these teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

The number of trades they want to do, don't... Just over the years, you're like, what happened with that? And it's like, oh, the owner. Like, what are you... I remember how long it took me to finally just accept that... The owners are, they don't let somebody just go, yeah, what'd you guys do today?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

You know those.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Because like when Gaston, before Wick and the guys had bought Celtics, which is honestly one of the greatest things that could have happened. Yeah. Gaston would apparently just say, here's the number. And if it's a dollar over, it's coming out of your pocket. And that was it. Like as hands off as you could possibly be as an owner. But is that awesome?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Or does that actually suck that you can't go to your owner and say, hey, we have this on the table. And here's, you know, we can... Work with this, you know, if you allow us this and then maybe next year we cut it back down here, you know, I don't know if being that rigid, at least you kind of know where you stand and what your parameters are for a team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But I specific to the Embiid thing and I like Josh Harris a lot, but you're not you can't tell me like you didn't want to do it. And. Daryl and the staff convinced you to do it. And Josh has been around sports.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that one, that one I'm going to have a hard time believing because then it spins it back on a Daryl. And, you know, the difference between your relationship with Daryl and mine is pretty wide, but I think I'm always fair about it because I think he's really good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

It's been a rough year. It does seem like it's one of those dumb cultural things

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

organizational like we pay Paul George 200 million we max maxi out at his number and he was nice enough to wait so like let's get everybody on the same financial timeline and you're just thinking to yourself and clearly like the announcement of it being that close to the start of the season means that they probably had already come to some kind of general agreement maybe before the Olympics even happened and

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But the way we're seeing it is like this many weeks after you saw him laboring during the Olympics and you don't even have to do this extension and you've got it under player control.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Why would you be in a hurry to hand this guy that kind of money? But I think it comes back to a lot of that stuff. It's like if you're going to pay these other guys and what he means to the city and all that different stuff. I think the Embiid part that's a little curious is that I don't know that he's actually a blast day to day.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And it doesn't really get talked about a ton, which, you know, good for him. And I know there was the part of it where it kind of leaked out last year and then he was upset that he was late to stuff and that people were talking about it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But I have a feeling like It's it's like a lot of organizations where if you have one of these guys when he's right, it's a top five player in the world. You do whatever he wants, but you just hope that him doing whatever he wants is in line with you trying to win as many games as you possibly can. And I'm not even really, you know. I'm trying to be fair about this whole thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Cause it's not like an Embiid only situation. Cause we always hear about this kind of stuff, but it's just, it felt like there was a lot of things that probably could have told everybody involved. Like, do we want to wait on this? Maybe just a year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

At one point, Wisconsin had outscored Phoenix through like 24 minutes of real basketball. I was keeping track of it. And rarely will I ever be at home going, when does Atlanta-Brooklyn start? Cause that's, that's where I was with, with them. And I know they kind of pretended it was close bill. They fuck up on defense so many times that I can't even, sometimes I can't figure out who was wrong.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Wow. So you're coming off the Wizards game last night.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Like I have too many suspects. Yeah. Like I'll have these plays written down and be like, what happened on that one? And then at the very end, there's a, I think it's a Dorian Finney Smith three where it looked like youth league basketball where three guys were on Luca. And, you know, they don't, I just, I hate watching them. I've obviously expressed that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

We don't need to spend a lot of time on this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

They hate playing together.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

It should never be this bad. It should never be this bad. Like as bad as they are, people can make fun of it or whatever. It's ridiculous. They're this bad.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

a in

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I don't know. I mean, it's... It was a weird part of the schedule. It was going to be really tough.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, the video started going around him at the high school game, and people were checking the depth of the thigh separation. I loved it. Yeah, like that's a sturdy stance, and his groin's probably in the middle. But then if he goes to the workout this morning, then it all kind of makes sense. It's like, well, yeah, I felt good last night.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I can't believe Orlando won. You want to talk about a game where I'm like, when's this going to be over?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

You've always been a huge streak guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

That Mitchell dunk today.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Well, then I was just expecting Orlando to lose because they have become unwatchable on offense, and I think it's turned into bad habit Paolo where I give him a pass, but I think he knows how screwed they are most nights. So he goes 6-22 tonight. I thought his decisions based on some of the switching matchups that he had, I was like, why are you going to that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But ultimately, Anthony Black hits two corner threes late, and you get a ball game, Orlando. So this team is 32-37. The offense, when they're bad, I know we've covered it before, but they shot 42% from three today. Cleveland shot 25, and it still came down to the last few seconds of the game. Right. So beautiful.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I think it's amazing to think of these two teams going to a Game 7 first-round series last year, and then... just the rocket ship distance that Cleveland has gone from them. We can get to the injury stuff with the record and the time Paulo's missed and the time Franz has missed and that Suggs, you know, looking at the on-off stuff and how important he's been.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But they still shouldn't, since they've had everybody back during this stretch, they still shouldn't be this bad offensively. So this is a team I'm frustrated with that's different. Like Phoenix, I resent the time I've spent with them. I still enjoy Paolo and Franz when it's right so much. But yeah, I'm not telling any Magic fan that's watched this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I mean, you've watched your team go for stretches where you're worried if they're ever going to score again in the game. That's how bad it can get.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

It was tough. Yeah, it was tough having this game up with Michigan and Wisconsin, too. That game, you were like, when is there going to be a good shot? They interviewed the guard from Michigan, and he's out there just strutting. I think he was two for seven. Hey, can I ask, though, a quick clarification? Did you take something from this Cleveland loss that infected your playoff brain?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I don't get it. Last year, remember they had that ridiculous fourth quarter point differential that was so absurd. It was so bad. It was historically bad, and it still didn't really make any sense because you're like, well, it can't actually be that bad. And then there was an injury part of it where you could point to how often have you had the three guys there –

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Well, Mobley didn't play, which we should have already mentioned.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Curry and Poole.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Did this take a lot of time to research this?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And they were so mad about the year before.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Well, I have to come up with something else. I don't think Mobley's going to be somebody that you're running late possessions for and having everybody space off of him. His passing is really good, but it might just be an adaptability, which is the same thing with OKC. You're pretty sure you know what boss is going to run out there based on every matchup.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

They're probably going to run the same thing. With OKC and Cleveland, I think the fun part is knowing that they can mix and match a little bit. And when he closed with that Cleveland lineup, he went Hunter, Mobley, and the two guards. I liked it. I love it. I know it's kind of funny. I'll never forget when... Golden State beat Dirk and that Dallas team in the first round, right? We believe.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And this year you can't point to any of that stuff. And it's like, look, I actually probably watch them more than I should because I'm still amazed. And I'm not talking about them not being like a four seat or whatever, but this team sucks.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And everybody on TV was killing the Mavs for adjusting. It's like, you're the one seed. You're supposed to make them adjust to you. And I always thought it was like the dumbest thing. I thought it was like so stubborn. So what are you supposed to do? Like, Just get annihilated every quarter? Yeah. We're the one seed. We're not subbing bad matchups out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

We built this record through six months of hard work and stubbornness. So, you know, I know what you're saying. Could you see this all-time... Do they complement each other enough through four rounds? I just love that team, and I don't like the default, well, the Celtics have been through the wars and Cleveland hasn't, so that's why Cleveland can't beat them. I don't... I don't see it that way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

We'll see how I feel when they're playing each other. I certainly could change my mind on this, but I just feel like league-wide, it's the most open-mindedness I've had about those three teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So you have Boston third out of the team hierarchy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

They have nine guys, man, that I really like. Yeah. That I understand what all nine guys are supposed to do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And even when they had that winning streak, which we've talked about in the past, they had that stretch, but they'd lost to Charlotte, and they barely beat Charlotte, and they had a weird Wizards game that they almost blew, and they were putting together a decent record. And even then, I'm like, I don't like this team at all.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, because there's no Boston in the West, which is why the FanDuel odds... I think it's still plus 185, plus 185, Boston, OKC. And then since we talked about Cleveland the first time a couple weeks ago, it's gone from plus 700 to plus 500. That's simply because there's just another team. And as we keep talking about this West, good luck figuring out how those standards are going to go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And I think it was great to bring up some of the Denver thing, because I would imagine people are going to start getting on that a little bit more, where there's just default of Jokic, he'll figure it out. It's like, man, but... Again, I don't know that it's ever fair to really judge him unless you get a nice runway of Aaron Gordon games because I think he's just incredibly important.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

He might be – well, I can't say he's the second most important guy because of Jamal, but he's definitely the third most important player on a team here that you still have expectations for. But couldn't you look at the history too on some of the point differential stuff, the defensive differential stuff? Yeah. OKC and actually Cleveland have these similar profiles where –

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Because I did the Cleveland thing a couple weeks ago when I did that disastrous 15 teams in 45 minutes with the East. It was supposed to be 15. But I just kept trying to find something on offense that Cleveland was bad at statistically. Like, hey, catch and shoot this. Pick and roll ball handler this. Pick and roll man this. Every single number.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

The only one I found was like 15th in the NBA out of all the different things you could sort and try to figure out what it was because everything else was like first or second. They're just that good. But it's also happening on the point differential thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

When you look at that, it comes up, speaking to the Boston number that you're talking about last year, it's like, hey, these teams, when they have this, they'll win a title. And we have two kind of at the same time, right? Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And I think a lot of it's just the defensive effort, the lack of competitiveness, the point of attack defense. Whatever their help rules are, they don't know what they are. They don't care to know what they are. They're just an absolute mess. And you're right. People can point to this and be like, oh, this is why you shouldn't do this. You shouldn't do that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

This would be a wine bottle season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, they had to play, what, Przingis 32 minutes last night because they held off that late Brooklyn rally. And I want to watch that game because I was really into the schedule last night just because the, you know, not just because the Sunday pod. There was just a lot of different stuff. I want to see what Przingis looked like coming back.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And then they ended up having to leave him out there for a good chunk of it. But. Yeah, man, I can totally see a version of this, too, as much as I love Cleveland. And I think it's kind of surprising that both of us are kind of leaning towards, we feel like we pick them right now against Boston.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

That the funny, like, and I still don't know what I'm actually going to think when they're facing each other, right? How they're going to look through the first couple rounds of playoffs. Like, I can totally see myself changing my mind on it. I just don't know how you watch Cleveland these last couple months and be like, no, I'll pick somebody else. Right. But I think I know what'll happen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

It'll be... hey, the guards still got stuck between, you know, whatever version of Drew you're going to see. You hope that's a bit ramped up in the playoffs or it would be by then. He'd just be better because I think it's kind of hit or miss right now. Yeah. But it's,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

hey, look, those four perimeter guys out there with a spacing big that took away whatever big they wanted to keep out there, or the times where Tatum gets on Allen and he's actually beating Allen off the dribble, it's like, hey, cool DeAndre Hunter trade, but they still got caught up in way too many mismatches on the perimeter, and those guys were just too small.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

There were too many times where it was Garland and Mitchell having to go up against... these other dudes with the ball in their hands, which is why I would have never, ever picked him. And I think that maybe I'm overrating the Hunter part of it, but that would be what it is. You're not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

John's awesome, by the way, so I should have made that. He's one of my favorites.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Teams are never going to say, oh, you know what we're going to do? Not bring in stars because of what happened at Phoenix. But this is so bad. I actually do think it's more than just when the Nets were messed up, those guys didn't really play or they were hurt. Yeah, it was Durant, Kyrie and obviously Harden. And then, you know, the Simmons part of it's a different factor altogether.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I know that you can go back to the Knicks series stuff or some times where I think it's being a little too critical. You're trying to have me come up with an answer. I can point to a series a couple years ago. But this dude, he's played in 54 playoff games. He's never played in more than 11, and that was actually that first year when they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

They lost to the Rockets the second round. Who are you talking about? Mitchell. He's played 54 playoff games. The guy averaged 28 a game in the playoffs. I mean, he averaged 36 a game the third year he was with Utah in the playoffs when they had that awesome Phoenix series. We both think he could be the best guy in a title team. Denver. I always say Phoenix. Yeah, it was the Denver series.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I think I don't have anything negative to say. I don't have anything negative to say about any of those teams. I don't know how. I have no idea of sitting here, not being around either team's day-to-day, of understanding the pride of the champ versus the hunger of the challenger. I don't know how anybody could come up with it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

That's why I picked OKC in the summer.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But I I watch in amazement. But I'm I think I'm done after today.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. I think I'd have to see. I'm with you, but I think you'd have to see just maybe two straight months of it. Fair. Fair. Ron Holland is not on this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

No, but that whole Pistons thing last night, it kind of started with him. Yeah. Which I know no one's going to believe me on. Do you want to do two minutes on the Pistons? Please.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I was so excited to watch that game last night, OKC in Detroit. And, you know, Cade was struggling a bit. And it's OKC.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And so there was a play where Dort was going to set a screen and Haaland embellished it. And... Holland got the call. He got the foul on door. Yeah. So now you're like, door, it's going to be looking for it. Yeah. So not that far after there was also a play earlier where it looked like Jamie Williams and Isaiah Stewart went to kill each other in the paint with just elbow box out shit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So that, so like whenever I see an Isaiah Stewart altercation, I rewind for possessions to try to find what's happened. He's like lamb beer. Yeah. It's like the seeds to the altercation. Yeah, anybody that's ever watched Hoops, you just know, okay, wait a minute. If I'm late on a game, something else already happened. Let me go back and check this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Although Plumlee and Adams had a good one the other night. The funny thing is Adams is in the middle of an assault with a seven-footer, and he's smiling the whole time. So I can't tell what's scarier, that Plumlee wanted to go and his forehead was bleeding, or that Adams was completely unfazed and is laughing about it two seconds later. That might be more horrifying.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But remember how mad I got at him during that OKC Houston playoff series? And that had a lot to do with Chris Paul going up against Harden. And I was so upset that P.J. Tucker's playing center. And I'm like, how can Steven Adams not? And I was like, I'm questioning his toughness. And it was like the lead on the 6 o'clock news in Auckland. I remember that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Right. I was like, how can he be the scariest guy? And then when he gets an offensive rebound, he can't just turn around from two feet out with a 6'7 center behind him. So is there part of that going to the equation? Probably not. He might be so good at altercations, the physical part of it, that it bores him. And that's why he was laughing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Although, again, it's still another seven-footer and an athletic guy in Plumlee. But anyway, back to this. So Stewart and Jalen Williams, too, have a thing. Holland sells the call. Dort then gets him right back where he embellishes it. Then he gets the call. Then you have the Dort groin thing where he actually stepped on SGA's ankle.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So at this point, Bickerstaff is really mad about the Holland thing. Whereas any coach or any competitor, he's completely ignoring that his guy got one just a couple possessions ago. All right? Yeah. Then they review it because Stewart actually threw Jalen Williams two out of the way on a box out. But then they didn't care about it, that it wasn't a hostile act.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And then obviously the Dort part wasn't a hostile act. And Bickerstaff was upset about the Holland part of that call. He was also upset because he said all this in the presser. He was I could watch it. I could see like him just he was getting to a point. Well, you know what? He was really he was also getting to a point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

where he was only seeing the shit that was happening to his team, which is the most human nature thing ever. I don't know why Chad got thrown out. I was watching Cade. Chad is not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I don't know why Cade got thrown out. I watched it. It seemed like he got his technical and then kind of wouldn't let it go. But I don't know what he was like. Clearly, it was enough that the rest were over it. And at that point, I think another thing I've spent too long on this SGA is so incredibly frustrating. And yes, there's that layer of bullshit with him. That's not as bad as the other guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

All bullshit. All NBA for he's not. He may be second team. But it just gets so frustrating that it's this boiling point. And the bigger staff is just like, basically I'm going to stick up for my guys here tonight. But I thought he was also ignoring some of the stuff that was going their way too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but Draymond actually doesn't get thrown out. Like if Draymond was doing what Cade was doing last night, I don't know why the hell I called him Chad. It's going to bug me for the rest of the night. Draymond doesn't get thrown out. He's allowed to do whatever he wants.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

He had two moves last night where I was surprised that he did them because he had this spin dribble back into the paint where he was still totally in control. And that was always the first thing with him, just watching. It wasn't that he was Westbrook-like bounce. It wasn't that it was the D-Rose change of direction with him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

It's just that he's this figure skater out in the court with the ball just attached to him. Full speed stop.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

He had two moves that I don't remember seeing him have before.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I know bigger staff also pointed to, you know, how mad he was that they didn't review. And it was like a respect thing. Like, Hey, they're disrespecting us. And I get where he's coming from, but I mean, Detroit also fouls, I think the fifth highest rate of any team in the league this year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And there were possessions at the end with Thompson getting in the mix and, and Schroeder getting in the mix where I couldn't believe they actually weren't calling fouls. Like I'll watch some guys with SGA 30 feet away from the hoop. And you know, Thompson comes in and, And you're like, why are you sticking your arms inside of his arm? He's just going to get you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I mean, shit, if he was doing that to Dame, Dame would have just pulled up and then got pissed at the ref being like, you didn't think I was really trying to shoot from 38 feet?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

When we had Ty Jerome on and I was talking about him getting calls, right? Yeah. And we started talking about like the working of the officials and everything. And he just basically said what you would expect of anybody when they're out there is they kind of lose their minds. It's like being a high school kid in the woods and the cops show up and they're like, what are you doing?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And you go, nothing, you know, like as if the cops like, oh, okay, we'll leave then, you know? And Your first thing when you watch these guys spaz out about the calls and, you know, look, I don't really love it, but I also kind of just have to accept what it is. And Ty was just going, dude, I can't help myself sometimes. He's like, I can't help myself. Like he's like, I'll bitch and I'll complain.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

He goes, and then I'll see it. I'll feel bad. But like in that moment, I don't even realize what I'm doing. Yeah. And I, I just don't know. Like if I were a coach, it was kind of funny too. Cause we had Will Hardy on. I was like, did you have a moment where you were like, Hey, I'm a head coach. Like I get to you. I should argue one of these calls soon because some of these guys can't stop.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

They can't. There's nothing that's not their possession. There's never a moment like they cannot, like whatever it is, that competitive moment when you're in there. So I would think it'd be such a waste of energy to just keep working the officials the entire time, but I don't think they can do it. Like I'll give you one other example. The second time UConn played St. John's this year,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Danny Hurley, who's just a maniac the entire game, there was some kind of tie-up, and I think it was a possession, but it was possession UConn, and they were going to inbound it from the side, and he argued that they were inbounding it from the wrong spot, but that would have meant his team was inbounding on their own end at the baseline, which is a way harder inbounds.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

You would never prefer to be inbounding it from the baseline corner. It's just a harder place to inbound it, and yet...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

danny was he couldn't pass up the argument he was right so i don't have i don't know if i have this right but like i want to ask him were you so incensed in that moment that they were wrong that you actually argued something that was like a negative for you guys on the inbounds and that's what i think we watch we watch these guys and they only see when it's happening to them they think they're getting screwed for two and a half hours and i like to try to accept the human nature part of it but sometimes you're just like dude you're

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

you're not paying any attention to the stuff that's actually going your way. But against SGA, no one ever gets done with one of those games because he is pushing off. He is grabbing with the arms.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Again, I don't think it's as bad as like the first round draft picks, the guys that bullshit their way through a game who, you know, like there's certain players, if everybody played that way, the ratings would be zero. But I don't know that anybody, I don't think a coach can actually watch a game and go, you know, we've gotten a few calls here tonight. I don't think they can do it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I don't know if I'd say the Leafs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Because he's a former player.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Reddick, with him, you're like, are you going to cry? Because he gets so incredibly intense, which is not surprising because Reddick was the kind of guy in first take when it started going in a direction he didn't want. He wasn't going to be like, hey, let's just all have fun. We're on TV. He's like, you're a fucking moron and you shouldn't be on TV. You're like, fuck this shit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Let's go to commercial. Fuck you. No, that's a good question. Because like, Doc, I remember you can ask him about this next time you have him on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Okay, but the thing was with Doc, and he would admit it. I asked him once, I was like, do you ever think about how much you work the refs? He's like, I complain too much. He's like, I complain way too much. And it's from the initial tip. It's just on. And when those Clippers teams had Chris Paul, Blake, DeAndre Jordan, and then Austin Rivers was like, fuck it, I'm in the mix.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Those guys just hammered refs the entire time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

That's where I'm like... I understand the working the refs, like you can't just be quiet the whole time. But I think there's this element of like you've expended so much energy into this. And now every one of your players is thinking about the refs because our guy, our head coach, all he's doing is thinking about the refs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And there's a point of absolute diminishing returns where it just may come back to like the guy cannot help himself. There's too many guys that can't help themselves. I would think the best way to go about it is to like lay out. Like Stevens.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Tatum's approval rating right now has never been... It's crazy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I do. I do. You know, today was a bad shooting game, you know, but I also watched him in so many of these stretches in the fourth quarter where he starts the fourth by himself with whatever role guys they're trying to mix and match with him and whatever his efficiency is supposed to be in those moments. I mean, it's just shot to hell because there's no spacing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

That was another one who had it. Richard Jefferson had that story that he had on the broadcast. And by the way, shout out to Richard. I think he's been really fun on the ESPN call, but he had this story where Kobe was going up and then everybody was complaining and they were like, he was passing. He wasn't shooting. It should be side out. It shouldn't be free throws.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And Kobe was like, I haven't passed all night. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

How crazy is this banana? You want to just, you know what? The other part of this is this, these are the names that we have. When you talk about the, uh, the, the league and the lack of the big three stuff that we were always so used to there for a while. Um, Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Paul George. He's pretty deep these days. Still in the mix. Yeah. The league is deep, but I'm just saying, I think for this to be the group... Is Mobley, so Mobley's two to Mitchell, so that means Garland's three? Then I think it's Garland. Garland's three.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I'd say Garland ahead of Chet just because he's done it all season long. Garland one, Holmgren two, Derek White three? Would you rather have Mikael Bridges or Derek White? I'd rather have Derek White. Suggs doesn't count. Nope, he's out for the year. Brady Dick?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Reeves is definitely in the mix.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Dude, I don't know. I might put Jaden over him now. I'm loving what I'm seeing from Jaden lately.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Like, remember when Ryan Dunn hit threes for a couple weeks, and everybody was like, how did this guy, how did he last so late? And then everybody's like, because he can't shoot. And guess what? He can't shoot. The Nick Richards thing, moving out, Nurkic is supposed to help a little bit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I mean, we've covered all the stuff where I felt like with their restrictions, they actually did a really good job on the margins of all of this stuff. I mean, you can sit here and keep blaming Beal for all of it, but at some point, like, Booker and Durant just have to move on from the fact that Beal's not available. He's not competitive.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

You know, I don't know that he's as prideful as you need to be from a guy that's getting paid that much money. And maybe we had all the hints when he was with the Wizards. And it's funny, we get on these guys' cases about asking out of situations sometimes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And not every case is the same, so I don't think you should be married to every player is wrong or every player is right, which, you know, other people, you can find them doing that. But should we have known when Beal was like, oh, I'm good in Washington? Yeah. Right. This is great. Was that the all-time clue?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I don't know. Because, you know, Ishbia's quotes, I understand where he's coming from. But you can't just grit your teeth and be better in the NBA. Yeah. Yeah. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

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The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, the year they got them, 66, 67 season. Loaded Sixers team, yeah. Yeah, they had 68 wins. So I remember growing up, and again, it was all just kind of legend, right? Before you had access, maybe somebody would buy you a book and you'd go back and read some of this stuff, but... It was always, oh, Wilt didn't have the same guys, didn't have the same guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And then you're like, well, they won 68 games one year. And then they won 62 the next year when everybody thought Boston was done. And then Boston beats them in the playoffs again. So I don't ever know what to do with Wilt because all the numbers look make-believe. But it would feel incredibly dismissive to look at Russell's size and go, he would just be this rotational guy that...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

would, you know, match up in a, he'd be your small ball five center. You know, it just, it seems wrong. And maybe there's just no point in even doing it. Cause it's, that's probably the answer.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I think what I like the most is the last title that they got against the Lakers. Yeah. Like that one where people think it's kind of over. And I also loved in the doc where it was just very classic. And this is another example of things never change is that post red stepping down. They make Bill Russell play or coach.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And so if you do something different and it doesn't work, it's way worse than just doing it the same and not having it work. So then it's a Russell thing. And then it totally works out. And then as Russell wins a title, there's a press conference two days after. And someone asks Red, like, hey, what did you actually think about the coaching? And the tone of it is they won.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And Red's just like sitting there. And I think the access, all the different historical stuff that you guys have put into this, and I know there's so many people involved in this project, but of all of the projects, I think it's just good to remind people of what that run was and for it to be partnered with your platform and with HBO.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

People are going to think I'm kissing your ass here, but I just think it's the truth. The same way The Last Dance, it was just nice little reminders. And when we didn't have games during COVID and we were watching those Bulls series and you and I were going through them, I'm really glad that I did it because it helped me have a completely different level of appreciation.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And it was the first time I was watching the Bulls as somebody that just talks about basketball, not just a guy in college that was pissed that Jordan was winning all the time. I didn't really appreciate Jordan enough because I certainly wasn't a Bulls fan. And again, I wanted Barkley to beat him so bad in 93.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So to watch this, and I've seen a lot of this stuff, but to see it and then the added depth and how long this is going to go on, I do think that if you think of the worthy things of the 20th century that are worth reminding people of, 11 titles in 13 fucking years is a pretty good start.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

It's a lot of meat there. What is it like for you personally to be able to produce something like this? That's basically your favorite thing in your life.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Somebody will do it. First of all, somebody will do it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I loved Cousy admitting he'd never sniffed or snorted or shot up. He's like, Bob Cousy sitting there north of 90 going, I never considered myself hot. They show some campaign of him and Frank Gifford. Right, where they were like supposed to be these heartthrobs. Yeah, Gifford, a looker. Great job by him. He's like, I did drink beers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

We did drink a lot of beers because, you know, in season, you didn't want to be drinking the hard stuff and have somebody go, why are you drinking that? You're an athlete. He's like, but I never sniffed and I never injected or I never shot. And it was just the thing. It's always like the couple chances I ever had any access to stuff when I was still living in Boston.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

There's just like it's not even my generation. I don't even know if it's your generation. I think it's our father's generation of like the reverence. And the holy fuck. And, you know, it meant a lot to me and I certainly appreciate it more now having the Celtics Comcast station just invite me to be a part of that studio stuff. And I remember how much it meant to my father when...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

He's like, you're sitting on a desk with Tommy Heinsohn. Like, you're sitting next to Tommy Heinsohn kind of arguing about what just happened in a playoff game. And I'm kind of like, you know, Tommy was a little tough to me at first because he was like, who's this guy? And then he was a big teddy bear. And we were great. And he was so awesome to me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And, you know, maybe this doesn't resonate with anyone outside of the New England area or whatever. But, like, these dudes were gods to our fathers. And... At least the accomplishment, you know, it matches it. Like, how else would you have ever thought?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Like, think about these guys as you have so many of the people in the dock going, you just went into every summer assuming the Celtics are going to win the world championship. It just, it was expected.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I mean, honestly, it sounds like my dad might've grabbed you. Cause that's, And look, my father played and, you know, he was, he was a big guy and he used to, for these high school all-star teams he was on, they used to have those barnstorming things for the athletes in the off season. Right. So Will actually told my father, he was like, Hey, cause he was, my father was always the tallest.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And he was like, Hey, do you, uh, how many points you score? You know, he'd be like 16 or whatever. Yeah. He's like, he goes, when the guards, when the guards go down the court, do you run after him? And he was like, well, you know, he's like, never stop running. He goes, it's extra eight points a night. Like, don't. He goes, wow. He's like the guards, they always miss the layups.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

He's like, so when a guy gets out on the fast break, but it's one-on-one or it's two-on-two, you always run. He goes, it's just extra points. Like, and Wilt wasn't even thinking of, like, it's winning. It was...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

it's extra points right um you know i don't know if it's a thing where you know our our influences are so celtics heavy based on what our families grew up rooting for but the wilt russell thing to them is like embarrassing and yet you pull a basketball reference and it would seem embarrassing to think that russell was better than will so um you know i can only defer to kind of like

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And look, I'm not even going to say I can defer to it. I can read everything. Montville's most recent book that really got into that finals and the part where the comeback happens. There's just a generation of people that would look at Wilt as this guy that you actually wouldn't trust despite the resume.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And it's just hard when you're not living it every day today and you're only going by other accounts.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

All right. So I wrote some things down. So if we're just in it now, let's get to it. Because, you know, last year we were watching Dallas and the Clippers play in that playoff series and we were talking and it was kind of like a fun series, but it was also weird. And it was just, you didn't really know what to expect. Kawhi goes down and, you know, Dallas gets through it or whatever. And then,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. I love the dynamic of that book because you have Bobby Knight who thinks like Feinstein's in on it with him. Right. Right. He's like, yeah, you know, this guy's just like, you know, a big fan. Um, but he's young and he's ready to kind of make a name for himself. And then Bobby Knight looks at it as a complete betrayal, but it was like, well, what did you like?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

However that was accepted or what the understanding was, it was two personalities where it actually made sense that after that book came out, like everybody was pissed, but it put John on the map. And I definitely enjoyed, like he had a, trying to remember, um, I think the open inside the ropes at Bethpage Black on the 0-2 U.S. Open, I love that one. The punch is awesome.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. I mean, I kind of kept going back to him. Like, he was one of those guys that just was benefit of the doubt for a really long time because of his season on the brink. Yeah. It predates Friday Night Lights, right? Yes. It was one of those things where you couldn't believe you were getting this kind of information because we just never got any of it. We never got any of that kind of stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And Knight was really the number one guy as far as if you could ever spend a season with the coach and getting to know him, he'd be the first choice. And I think because John was so much younger, I believe is the way the story goes, that Knight just was like, oh, whatever. Yeah, he can hang around because he's not established.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

You've got all these guys out there where it's like clearly you would do anything to get Kawhi and then you double down on all of it to get Paul George because Paul George gets you Kawhi. And, you know, we've been over with Lawrence Frank and Balmer and like in the moment, you'd be like, hey, we can get Kawhi if we move in for Paul George. It's like, all right, done. You know, what are we doing?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I mean, you know... Bobby Knight was, was this guy that again, at the beginning of the generational stuff that we're talking about with the Celtics is like everybody's dad would have wanted their son to play for Bobby Knight, which probably surprises a lot of younger people who are listening right now. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Like Bobby Knight's where you would want your son to go play because he would turn you into a man. And I would argue the more it continued, like Knight was, he was a great coach, but he was also a fucking bully and I hate bullies. and it started to cross a line there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But it's just absurd to think of how he... It was just so strained that Indiana was basically trying to figure out any way that they could move on from the guy. But it's pretty clear, even though John was with the Washington Post, I think the story goes, and I'm looking it up as we're kind of on the fly, because the book came out in 86, right? Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And I remember my father never being able to put it down. I mean, Feinstein was doing like a story on him and it was the week that he threw the chair. Yeah. And Feinstein didn't kill him. So it makes me think that maybe Knight was like, oh, I'll give this guy access and he's like an ally. And John was hoping to become like an author and get bigger book deals and everything. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And I think knowing John, not that I had a lot to deal with him because there wasn't I don't know how much you dealt with him with your overlap at ESPN because it wasn't like he was coming up to Bristol doing a ton. He would come on to promote a book.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I helped him promote a book with Red, actually, the Red Auerbach book that he did, which was the worst time promotion of any book ever because Red came up to the Kowloon and Saugus and John. The Kowloon? Yeah, but it was the day after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. So we had planned this all out. Actually, Eddie Anelman planned it out, and then he went to Hawaii.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And then they make the hardened deal and they're like the only team that's going to pay him. Maybe. I hated it. On the Dallas side. Okay. But on the Dallas side, you have the Kyrie bet, which at the time. Hated that too. Right. You're going, what are these guys doing? You want to talk about breadcrumbs to clues for Nico Harrison later on. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So then Eddie wasn't on the air at the local station when the Red Sox broke the curse of eight decades. And then they were like, hey, we got to put you guys on. And we were like, okay, no problem. They're like, if it's a sweep, it's going to be the day after. And then people were calling in going like, are you guys the dumbest radio station ever? And it was like, yes. The answer is yes. Yes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

The answer is yes. But it sucked because Red's there in person. And, you know, it's Red. Like two years before he died. Right. And so John is really thankful at the time because we're promoting the book. And the book was fun. It was a little different. It was kind of like this lunch thing that he would tell these different stories, but whatever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

It's like, Bobby Knight has been hired. Oh, Bobby Knight has now been fired. I wouldn't say he was the easiest ESPN employee they've ever had either. No, I don't think he was. But, you know, there was sort of some grandfather status there. And they kept putting him on TV. And look, I mean, you know, Bobby was, he was like the best for his era. But you're right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Like it was, he couldn't fathom seeing the sport evolve. the way that it would. And I think there's something to be said of being like, hey, when everything's even, I'm going to be better than anybody else I'm going up against as a coach. And for a really long time, you could definitely make that claim with Knight.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

The Johnnies, baby. We're back. It's pretty funny. I was... thinking about St. John's. I grew up a big St. John's fan, as a lot of people know. So, two seed going up against Omaha.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that's the bigger reason. The last time I cared this much... They were the two seed against Gonzaga, and they lost in the second round. I think it was Santangelo went crazy. And at the time, I was not in the business. I was just a 24-year-old kid, super fired up. I cared about this more than I cared about the NBA.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Who also after the Luca trade said that they don't do scary transactions. It's like you actually did the scariest transaction that you could have done in the league at the time. And it's been awesome. Kyrie's been awesome for them. It sucks. He's hurt. Cause it's just been fun to see him be kind of happy as a basketball player again. Anyway.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And my buddy and his girlfriend and my girlfriend, we were like the Gatsby's and they were like, Hey, we're going to come over and watch the game. And I was like, this is a terrible idea.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And I had like a studio and I, you know, you know, when you're, you move into a studio apartment with no actual bedroom and the mattress is still there and you're like, when that's kind of the place I was at in my life. And so my buddy kind of knew that, And then his girlfriend was foreign. And I think the reason I said yes is because the girl I was dating was a teacher.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So it would have made sense that next game would have been like maybe the Saturday or whatever. So I was like, OK, I guess like I have to do this because you can't see each other during the week all that much, which I actually was great for me. So I was so fucking mad. about that game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Because I love that team so much in 99, the run that they made, the regional final against Ohio State, which, by the way, I watched that in Jamaica, and I was at a table. I told everybody just to leave me alone for a little bit, and then a busload of Ohio State fans showed up to the grill and cheering on Ohio State as St. John's lost the regional final.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So I had a terrible time that time, so then I was just going to watch it alone. Anyway, Gonzaga beats them, St. John's loses, and I was so mad, Bill. I was so mad I left my own apartment and had to walk down the street. I had to go for a walk down Church Street by myself. And then the German girl was like, I think in her accent was like, I think you take sports too seriously.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And I was like, yeah, but now is not the time. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Well, my buddy thought I was kind of being a loser, but he understood.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

So the point is, is that we were talking about that series. I'm like, this series is an example of why GMs are just like, yeah, I know what all you guys are saying, but in the playoffs, we need dudes that are at that level that can find a way to get buckets. And I think the Jimmy Butler lesson is another reminder of think about his market. Think about how much we talk about it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, right. Just like you guys decided to defend a peninsula in the ocean.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, it wasn't in no form at like 24 years old. It's not rational in any way. Right. There's no way that I'd be like, one, my apartment was disgusting. Yeah. But again, we're all young, right? So we're young enough to think like it would still be normal. And meanwhile, like his girlfriend, my girlfriend kind of knew, but she didn't really love that version of me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But again, she was actually kind of a sweetheart and like just she gave me a lot of rope. And looking back, it was like, man, I was such a dick. But... his girlfriend was annoying the shit out of me. Cause she would be like, do you have any more Chardonnay? You know? And I'm like, are you trying to focus on the game? Like, is this guy going to miss a three? Yeah. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Like, and there's like one couch. There's not a lot of room again. It's a studio. So I don't even know if it was 200 square feet and I'm sitting there and I cared about the outcome of that game. Probably as much as like,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

maybe the suns bulls in 93 um well some of those a's series with the socks you kind of knew they weren't going to get it done so it wasn't like this massive the dave stewart era dave stewart yeah but maybe maybe the comeback against the angels in 86 like i'm just trying to think of like the outcomes of games that i cared about that much because it was like the very end of my run of not being in the business and being desensitized to it a little bit

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

But it was the worst possible setup. And then I was convinced the only reason why St. John's was losing is because I allowed this to happen. So that's on me, really.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

FaceTime twice.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

All of us that aren't working in leagues. And then all of a sudden it's like golden States. Like, yeah, we'll do something for it. They didn't give up a ton, but then we'll also throw a hundred million at this guy. And it's worked and it's been great. But I think there are constant reminders as we talk about Durant for however down we can think everyone is on one of these players.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Everybody loves Florida. They're on it now. That Clayton Jr. kid, the kid that was at Iona that apparently Patino was trying to get to go to St. John's, he was damn near perfect in the Alabama win. He was really good again today. He's a real point guard. I don't even know if he's on the draft list or whatever. And then they've got two huge guys they can go to. They can play defense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

They can throw a lot of size at you. And they kind of ran away from Tennessee. Tennessee had a lot of foul trouble today. Look, I think St. John's has seven to eight guys where you all feel like they bring something to the table. The knock on them is they're not going to be able to shoot it enough to win six games. 29-1 on FanDuel. So is Florida's favorite?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Duke's the favorite because apparently Flag is coming back?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I don't really look. I started watching the last. I've been watching St. John's now pretty regularly. But, you know, I watched all the conference tournament stuff, but I could barely get through that. I don't even try.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I don't really have anything. Anybody that's been watching all season long, I'm not going to offer them anything. But I did enjoy watching this week. I enjoyed watching Florida a lot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

What's that? You ran on flag. Oh, yeah. No, I mean, it just sucks you got hurt. But watching, I think it was the last regular season North Carolina game, and I watched the BC game where it looked like everybody in BC wanted to punch him in the face, which was a good sign because flag responded well to it. Yeah, but it's not like I'm not your guy to ask anything of.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I know what the Johnnies look like. That's about it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Oh no, no. I was, I mean, who wasn't in on that? How could you even call yourself an American back then and not be excited about it?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

These guys that are all going to go to the Hall of Fame. And granted, there's an age where it's no longer worth it. But Durant's still probably in the window where another team goes, you know what? Maybe we're a 48 to 52 win team, but we're probably not beating anybody in the second round. Definitely not in the third round. So does Durant increase our ceiling despite his injury history?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Does the wheelchair race scene not hit as hard?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

I'm watching it. I am on it. I needed something after the Ruby Frankie documentary, which I would suggest maybe not watching.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And I think the unhappiness history is the bigger point that you bring up. So I'm with you, but I think these guys constantly remind us that the pursuit of these players, as tarnished as they can be at some point, even at their lowest lows of approval, there's still a market for them, right? Haven't we learned this lesson enough yet?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And also once Butler knew he wasn't going to get his way to the last day, then he's like, all right, now I'll go here if we do the extra year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

And who knows if he would have been happy? We already have his answer. He wouldn't have been. Yeah, right. Because he clearly didn't want to go there. Right. So even if he had said yes, I mean, I guess if you're playing it out some alternate universe where he's excited, let's do this again. But I don't think that's who he was going to be. And I'm with you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Phoenix in Shambles, Cleveland’s Ceiling, Best Third Bananas, NBA Refs, St. John’s, and ‘Season on the Brink’ With Ryen Russillo

Like the Butler passing part of it, somebody that you just trust in some of these big spots. You know, Kerr's talked about just how smart he is and how good he is in the assist turnover stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Rory’s Special Win, Beware of the Clips, NBA Playoff Gut Reactions, and the Luka Trade Part 93 With Ryen Russillo

Let's definitely do that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Rory’s Special Win, Beware of the Clips, NBA Playoff Gut Reactions, and the Luka Trade Part 93 With Ryen Russillo

844.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Rory’s Special Win, Beware of the Clips, NBA Playoff Gut Reactions, and the Luka Trade Part 93 With Ryen Russillo

I

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Or is this a team that's just been cruising to the one seed the entire time in the East?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. So, I mean, there's ways you can look at that saying, hey, the Pacers number feels more real because they're closing and they're kind of fighting for everything and the Cavs on the other side of it, like whatever. But let's just say the Pacers get through the East. Okay. I mean, have you ever thought of Halliburton as a top 10 player in the NBA?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So it's kind of like whenever I looked at the Pacers, I'm like, man, there's a lot of stuff to like. I don't know if they're really going to go with this rotation. Are they really going to play this many guys? And the answer is yes. The defensive part of it has been real in the way that they've closed because last year I just thought they were complete. Like, all right, whatever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Like, cool, you're in the Eastern Conference Finals. But I mean, I don't really take you seriously defensively.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Right. This would be unlike the blueprint. that we have all the things that you think are real in the NBA. Yeah. You go, all right, well, who's your best guy? And like, who's your second best guy? The Pacers, even the biggest Halliburton fan, like don't check that box.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but we know who their best four guys are. That was the whole point of this team, is we know who their four were.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And then it's like, I don't know that I'm ready to audit the Cavs and that those four guys just aren't that good now. I mean, who cares who their fifth is when those are your four?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I just don't care who their fifth guy is when it's that good of a four. Or at least it's supposed to be that good of a four. I think you're right about the Mitchell part of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I don't know how you could feel any other way after what we just sat through for two hours. So, you know, I didn't expect you to start sitting here and be like, you know who's awesome is Jared Allen. I just think that there was like 82 regular season games where this team was historically really good. Now, maybe that's another part of this conversation. Home, road. Do we care?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Doesn't matter anymore. 20-point leads.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Don't matter anymore. Your net rating doesn't matter anymore. Like, all of these things now, are we just going to decide? Yeah. that the things we've always believed in, none of it matters? Because, I mean, Cleveland is checking a lot of boxes being down 3-1 here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

there was three guys though you could throw into that conversation of like who would be now granted you probably wouldn't play jerome with garland and mitchell but um you know merrill's played a lot hunter is supposed to be better than this you know even dean wade who gets attacked defensively all the time because it's like oh i got him and then he holds up really well uh there's there's a lot of little pieces there that even if you're saying like hey i don't know who the fifth guy is

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

a lot of teams would take all of those options, but this is like, go ahead.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Are you sure?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

It's 30 shots, two shots for Pritchard in a playoff game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I just can't believe they would come out that bad. Like normally, even if you're going to lose this game, like get it to 12, get it to 12 a little later.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Do you see how it goes? A couple of things. One, that Hawks team that won 60 games in 14 and 15.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Uh, I think it's just 60 that one year where they made it to the Easter conference finals and they got swept, but a seven part documentary about them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

No, that's going to be exciting. Let me know when you want to do the Kevin Willis. Okay.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So, you know, when that Hawks team comes up short, you're also going up against LeBron. Yeah. Um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

No, I remember that team annoyed me because they wanted like five guys in the all-star team because they were in first place. Yeah. Like, yeah, that's probably not a great way of doing the all-star roster. Five, maybe an exaggeration. Maybe it was four. But then if you look at the Celtics part of it, I mean, that's why we're sitting here like this is going to be ugly for Cleveland.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Like I said, like it's going to be really ugly going, OK, this it goes from, OK, there's new coach. He figured some things out. They're even better now. Coach of the year type of stuff. And then no one's going to care. No one's going to care about any of it because now they're going to say that this group just is incredibly flawed.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

But, you know, the thing is, is after this series and the way this has looked, they shouldn't be saying that about anybody. True.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

healthy enough to be out there. I mean, he's made some plays falling down twice, not being touched probably isn't a great time. He fell down and got a foul call in today's game where I'm like, he just fell down. And then he had a play in game three where he like lost the ball. He just tried to cut forward and then, then fell down again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So, you know, I don't know if that's in the flow of the game or whatever, but I thought at least game three, it's like, okay, you know, he's out there. I, you know, I don't think maybe he's marginalized a little bit, but I don't, you know what, I don't see multiple moments where I'm like, Oh my God, this guy shot. I can't believe he's out on the floor.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

This might be the times we've argued about it in the past, but even with the health luck that they had against the opponents during the playoffs last year,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

just getting the eastern conference finals and you know probably feeling like you were a lot closer with boston than the series played out i mean getting swept kind of separates the men from the boys in those closing moments you're like okay you're not actually at this level despite running around for two hours but maybe that's all they needed and the strong clothes and a guy like halliburton who does not care which is why i think so many players despise him but

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You need somebody like that. You need somebody who thinks, especially when you have that many times with the ball and everything that you're controlling there, you have to think you're better than everybody else. And he carries himself that way. And look, I mean, depending on where he is, I think I voted him all NBA. I know it kind of came down to like the last few names.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

There's like three for one spot or maybe four names for two spots. And I know some people probably split. So I don't know if he's going to make 13 all NBA, but I voted for him. I'm pretty sure I did kind of forget some of this stuff. You did. I didn't. Okay. I didn't mean to do it to you that way. That's not why I brought it up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Should the NBA hit us up a week or two into the playoffs and be like, anything you want to tweak?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I swear to God, every time like somebody it becomes public and then it's like, oh, this guy did this. And sometimes I think it's because the person just does it. And then there's just that moment where like, well, somebody left Franz off of all NBA first and second. And then I'm like immediately going back to check my ballot. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Because you're just horrified that you're going to make some mistake. But I don't think the NBA can go over our ballots and go, are you sure about that, dude? Although I'd love it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I would, I would be defending, we would be defending ourselves against the ratings argument that would come out then. That probably wouldn't be a great time for some of the current back and forth. Pacers, T-Wolves. Like, hey, they shouldn't have, shouldn't have. Shake your butt. Shake your butt a little early. You see some of the players' tweets?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I guess I don't look at Minnesota as surprising, but they're another team. Western Conference Finals, same as the Pacers. Eastern Conference Finals, I felt like Minnesota had a much better chance in that series than the Pacers did last year. Maybe, I don't know, this sounds stupid, but were we just due? I mean, we're not even there yet. We're not even through the second round.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Instead of every year going, okay, it's this team versus that team. All right, well, they have... one of the five best players in the world and they have two of the 10 best players in the world. And that's the way the sport works.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I mean, it's just, is it the most impressive win of any game in the playoffs so far?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Not yet. Vince Vaughn, Joe Manganiello. Yeah. Excited.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I just saw it because it just came out, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, the assist number at one point, it was 20-2 in team assists. And, you know, they're just flying around. I mean, this game is, like, overwhelming. I'm still a little in shock. Now, look, two things here. If Cleveland goes 82-0 and they lose this series, do they go 82-0 next year? No one's going to care. Because people are going to say there's this fundamental flaw with this team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I did. I got a little, I got a little feedback on that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You've never told me. I even missed the Blues Brothers one and I was upset because I was like, I used to love that movie when I was a kid. Yeah. The Corn on the Cobb line to this day. You know, my dad and I will throw that one at each other every now and then. And I called back and you were like, you missed your window. So it's a very rigid system.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And after the Blue Chips one and now this one, people are accusing me of having all this prepared, which, you know, look, I'm probably due for a dud.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You start ad-libbing. I just start getting stuff wrong, like Kawhi's injury. So I'll just be like, yeah, I don't know. Endor thing and the Ewoks. You're like, dude, that's the third one. But it's just in the back going, it's the sixth one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

That I cannot believe I didn't have every dollar in my account assigned to the under in this

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

It was 227 was the number. And by the way, that Aaron Gordon three, it was OKC minus six at 94. So I'm sitting there and you and I had talked after game three. I've had anxiety. I don't even care who wins, right? I've had anxiety watching both of these games. I've never really quite felt like this because they're such grinds.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

If you're Cleveland, you're going to probably run it back and you'll start to make excuses, which I think are worth bringing up. You have game two, we're missing Garland, we're missing Mobley, we're missing Hunter. And you still, if you inbound the basketball, you could win that game. Mitchell leaves. They weren't coming back in this game, even with Mitchell being out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

and game three was just a grind and of course because of what we do you're watching the game constantly thinking about all the different things you're like at one point when okc was down i'm wondering if you're going to start sitting here saying is there an usman jane jalen brown match at some point or something like you know who knows where this is going to go because of okc's down 3-1 like we start talking about all the different storylines which i still want to get to but knowing that they had to play that game

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

and then play this one less than 48 hours later. And in Denver, I just kept thinking about legs and who would have energy. And it's the worst scoring first quarter we'd had in the playoffs, like a tide for the worst ever combined. I mean, it's an absolute grind. And Denver gets the three-throw line.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

it was so bad, but it made sense. It made sense. And then when they talked to Chet you know, even him, this young guy, great athlete. And I thought, you know, I know the sideline stuff gets a lot of grief and maybe we're guilty of it at times too, but I thought there was a lot of really good sideline stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And Chet was incredibly honest being like, you know, 48 hours, maybe even said 36 hours later. And so the start of his game was not surprising.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And that's what I do love about this because we closed the season with Denver, you know, being the worst defensive team going into the playoffs to change over their coach. You're curious about what the rotation would be. Remember when Pickett closed against Sacramento in the regular season? We're like, okay, this is what Adelman's going to do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And you're like, oh, he's not going to do any of that stuff. But so you're left with because there's so much that I want to get to here, but you're left with just a, I don't know if it's a sinking feeling, overwhelming feeling that Denver can't get two more against the Thunder.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And you're like, hey, Garland was never really right. Now, I know I'm not sitting here suggesting that's the only reason you're here, but that's probably what they would do, wouldn't they?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

There's some parallels here with, and we'll see what happens in game four with New York and Boston. But when you think about Boston, the regular season against the Knicks, you see those first two games go the way they go. And then when it looks right for Boston, you just go, OK, this feels like the significant gap that would lead you to pick Boston against New York in a playoff series.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And before we had the final, so these are before the final numbers from today's game, but when they ran through the regular season and playoff results between Denver and OKC, OKC in the wins is like plus 27.5 better, and Denver in their wins are plus 6.5 better. But I'm glad you brought up Caruso because...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You know, the overtime thing and the clutch scoring in this series for OKC has been a mess up until today, where Denver, I think, had when they put up the clutch number, it was like 453 left to go. And they had five points up until the Gordon free throw because he went one or two and then he hit the three. off of the violation.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So those points, yeah, technically they count as clutch points, as they all do, but it was pretty clear Denver just wasn't going to get anything offensively. But Caruso, I kept wondering, and I think Dagnall was looking for this, was who's going to give me energy? Who is going to fight?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And Caruso had an incredible offensive rebound, kept the play alive, they get to the bonus, he had the strip on Murray, they were just constantly getting in there, tipping and active, and I think that's part of the decision of

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

everybody's dead in game three so he starts overtime with chet on the bench and i'm with you i love the hartenstein chet combo for yokich because it's just one is always going to be on you and the other one is always going to be lurking even if aaron gordon is going to be hitting threes so i understand what dagnell's kind of like trying to figure out you know because he does have all of these options which made me like the thunder so much but sometimes that can almost get in your own way

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And so it's funny, the thing that he probably felt like with Caruso's energy and defense, he was going to try to get away with it, and then OKC falls apart in overtime. Denver's just running away. They end up going up in the series. You're like, how is this happening? And yet I think the same thing that he was hoping would happen in overtime actually happened.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I thought Caruso at the start of the fourth quarter – It's hard to say he's the story of the game because there's all these different things we can point to. But his effort level, when you could tell, like, this is the youngest team going on this kind of title run.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

If OKC were to pull this kind of thing off, you're thinking, don't their legs, despite Denver, you know, having this Bain approach, like we grew up in the darkness, like this is what we're all about. Like, you're going to be running around mile high approach.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but you think we're going to be uncomfortable at home with our resume and what this group has done, even though I still think them blowing the lead to Minnesota is one of the most surprising results in playoff history.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I think Caruso was that guy for the Thunder because even a really young team, I still think these teams were just dead today considering what they went through on Friday night.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

When the two-man game with Murray and Jokic, which everybody knows is coming, but all the variations of it... In game three, it's just funny because you'll watch and go, how come you're not doing this the entire time? Well, you can't do it against any NBA team, let alone the Thunder every single time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

But when those two guys get into a rhythm and they're figuring out the switches and they're figuring out the help and then Murray uses one screen and then he uses the second screen on Jokic, he had a three at the top of the key.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I mean, this is the same thing that we've seen here for years, but when it's working, even at times, again, against a team with a defensive profile like Oklahoma City, you almost feel helpless.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I can't believe we talked about it Friday night. I know. It's like a lingering anger I'm having with myself. It's fine. One quick thing, though, on Jalen Williams. I would push back a little bit on how flexible he would be about subbing out somebody like that. Because he still needs to be your number two. And in game three, he was incredible. And he was incredible offensively closing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

There was a silver lining to it of... you know, if this team's going to win a title, I mean, he needs to be a lot more than he was last year. Even with all the, you know, the crazy thing too, is about OKC when they get stuff kind of going side to side and Denver's in that zone and they're loaded up to one side and there's all these kickouts to the other side.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

These guys are not making these shots nearly enough and they're all really good looks. So if you're on that OKC staff, you know, I, Look, I've thought about all sorts of things, and I don't know how ridiculous you were getting thinking about, like, okay, what's the SGA conversation?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I'm not with you on benching Jalen Williams because he's your second best player. He had the huge game three. I mean, you could even talk about like what you're doing to him if you want to play that game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Your second best on ball guy, you know, as good as Dort is. Hmm. You're really just giving him spot ups. Caruso's got more drive in him. But again, a lot of his looks are just open looks. You know, Wiggins was out there. Joe had a brick in the first half. You're like, that is your shot is wide open. You know, Chet looked a little hesitant to shoot on a couple of those catches.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So I think they ran a really good thing once they get SGA to collapse, get the defense to collapse around SGA. Like one time he got caught, got tied up. And I'm like, what the hell is going on? And then another time he kind of like was ready for it. and they swing it, and they had a Caruso three off that. They had Jalen Williams drive on it, but granted, he only ended up with 10 points.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I think we should stay on the Jokic thing, though, because you're right, and it's funny because we're having this MVP off series and all the arguments about these two guys, and I think sometimes we build them both into Superman. We can't believe they're missing any of these shots, but since game one, Jokic is missing too many shots for him, but every time you look at some of these possessions...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Game three, there was a possession about six minutes to go in that game. And it was the eighth turnover for Jokic. And he had Chet and SGA right on him underneath the rim. And the other three players all had one foot in the paint. They don't care. I mean, this reminds me again of that Lakers regular season game where they won at Denver. And they were like, look how prepped up they are.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Look how much help. is coming to Yo Kitchen. Look how little they care about all this outside shooting. Like Westbrook's had some really nice energy moments. And to your point, he's not afraid, which is really important this time of year, but he's not making enough of these shots and he's taking a lot of them on top of everything else.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So you'll see times where his defender doesn't even care where Westbrook is. And there may be somebody else. Yeah, and then there's somebody else on the other side. They had one play where Watson and Russ were in the same corner, and no one cared. Their spacing next to each other was so terrible. So when you look at these Jokic possessions, I think they're speeding him up because he knows.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

He's like, all right, these guys are swarming on me. I have no time, and I'm dealing with double bigs, and I have all this length. Yeah, it'd be nice if he made some more shots. It'd be nice if he stopped missing some of these huge free throws that we even saw in the Clippers series. But just their stills were all laugh.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

going, look at what is happening as soon as Jokic stops his dribble and he's in the paint. And there's just, you know, whether it's Porter Jr., who was the difference in game three, there's still like just a lack of respect for any of those guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And it's almost like handing the ball off a few times, even if you don't think the reward is there, is you have to get him into those switches. You have to be attacking him in that first half. I mean, look, he always looks tired. He's probably far more conditioned than most people because he's in Colorado year round.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So, you know, even though he looks exhausted 30 seconds into every single game, the end of the game, it just doesn't seem that it wears on him as much. So I think it's both things. I mean, you'd be denying.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

the level of detail here on trying to make sure there's like a third guy there all the time i mean jay billis called it like a line defense it felt like to your derrick henry point like a goal line defense on that one play that i was looking at yeah i thought they did a great job on the broadcast and i really loved a lot of like useful graphics and hey here's what's the clutch trends there's a lot of good stuff um which i think doesn't ever get we just complain too much and then we never compliment enough so here we are a couple positive guys uh

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

What would you have done? If OKC's down 3-1 and you're doing a pod, what do you allow yourself to do?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Look, I do think there are some real positives with Westbrook's minutes. Just for his comfort level. You know, there can be moments. Look, when they got down huge in game two, it may not have mattered. But it felt like he was like, all right, I can fix this. Maybe it's a compliment that he thinks that he can.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

But, I mean, if you just run through the totals here now, I mean, we're talking about somebody who's at 23% and he's taking a lot of threes because they're there for him. By the way, the three-point shooting combined in the first half, 13.6%. Worst percentage in a half in a playoff game since 1998. The SGA stuff, had they lost, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

If they're down 3-1, because I think it's worth maybe doing some of this stuff. Now, then it becomes a little bit of like, hey, this is what those other players remember. Windhorse was sharing this and then we both talked about it. It was like players do not fear this OKC team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And then what were some of the like the default defensive things that other teams are doing? You saw Minnesota do it. One of those awesome regular season games against them. It's like, look, we're just going to force the ball out of his hands. We're going to trap him. We don't trust enough of these other guys because it's this SGA thing at the top.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And if we can clog that up, then guys that aren't as comfortable taking some of these shots in the playoffs, it's going to lead to success.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You know, there was a real, like, moment there where you're like, would you allow yourself to have some of these conversations about is SGA's regular season approach too much like some of these other guys that have the ball in their hands the entire time and then it doesn't translate necessarily to the playoffs?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I think in the past, sometimes, with some of the guys we've talked about, it's totally fair. With SGA, it felt... a little unfair if they had been down 3-1, but I think those things would have happened. You know, I looked at the regular season drives per game. It's 20.6 going into the night, 19 drives per game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I think the Memphis numbers are sort of weird, but he's still taking, because it feels like, is he taking as many shots?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Well, it definitely shows up on a few plays, but the overall numbers are right in line with where he is in the regular season. I was surprised. Is he not driving as much because he's getting cut off more? No, that's the same. Are the touches per game the same? Yes, they are. Now, granted, the Memphis series may be takes away from some of that stuff. Free throw attempts per game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I mean, he's in this series now taking nine free throw attempts per game. After today, he took 12. The regular season, he took nine free throw attempts per game. So I'm with you that there's probably a few moments where he's like, man, I get that call in February.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

It's like, sure, now. Oh, yeah. So he's not a small forward. Yeah. No, he's been awesome. I think the other SGA part of it, just to complete that part of the conversation, is Maybe... You know, this is actually really funny. I'll never forget like how interesting I thought this was when A-Rod signed with the Rangers, right? Sort of going back 25 years ago now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And he said, you know, when you fail in big spots, everybody's surprised. Like your home fan base, like he signs with the Rangers and all you've ever seen is highlights of me doing amazing things on SportsCenter, especially back then when that's all you had.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And so when you see me fail, because you've never seen those things before, you almost think like, wait, you're not supposed to do any of these things. And so the way, I mean, the fitting thing is that we're seeing both Jokic and SGA struggle in a very intense, very physical and Denver's defensive level.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Again, I wouldn't match it to the Thunder, but it's not what it was at the end of the regular season or going into this whole thing. You're seeing two guys have a really hard time with as much attention on them. And maybe it makes sense the series is 2-2. I have a question for you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Do you think Malone is rooting for the Nuggets?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, there's a tweet. I think it's right. I don't know. Then double check it. But if you look at where Cleveland was this season, right? So 14 teams in NBA history that won at least 64 games and posted a margin of victory of nine or points, nine points or better. 13 reached the NBA finals. The only team that didn't was the 15-16 San Antonio Spurs, right? Zaza, Kawhi.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Mad at the, well, the front office, the main guy isn't there anymore. Um, you know, maybe take 10 years with Joker and this is my guy and these guys all want a title together, but I would never trust anyone's answer, especially when your whole life has been just competing. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So if they were to win a title, right, especially considering the odds going into this year versus the year that they did it with him, um, I wouldn't blame him. I just don't know too many people that have spent their professional lives.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I don't know if I would want to hire a head coach that would be rooting for the team after he was fired by them. He can't answer it honestly, by the way. I have an OKC question for you. Yeah, OK.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And, you know, you look at the net rating, you look at the point differential on what they did this season. This wasn't just a really good. I mean, this team could have won 70 games if they wanted to. Uh, you know, I was looking back at it, you know, you go back to like some of these other regular seasons, right? Utah and 21. I mean, that was a team that projected is like a 59 win team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So, all right, it's not 68, but they were number one in the league net rating plus nine points. that Phoenix team after they had lost. Remember how good they were in the regular season? But 64-win team, net rating was less for them. And so I'll admit, is OKC struggling? Because with the way this game started, you go, how is OKC not up 20 already?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And part of it was free throws, and obviously OKC couldn't hit any threes either. Yeah. And so, yeah, I'm allowing the down 3-1 thoughts to creep into my head back to what I kind of hinted at there is Windhorst saying players are not afraid of this OKC team. And I thought that that was dismissive.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I started thinking about the way players GM and how wrong they are about guys they actually want to play with. I started thinking about some of the results from the player polls. And I don't even know if all-star voting is even fair to do. But I'm like, there's so many times we have access the way players think. I'm like, how do you guys do this every night?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And the X-Player podcast, don't leave them out. Some of that dialogue. That's the best example because, you know, as I've admitted numerous times, like I spend my life talking about this sport and, you know, You're in rooms with guys that have done it. They're like, well, how can I disagree with them? And then after you're right, you see a few clips from the pods.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I go, I'm going to keep disagreeing. I'm going to feel it even more emboldened because this is fucking insanity what you're selling me. And so when I heard that coming out months ago, I'm like, oh, here we go again. They're new. They're young. It's a smaller market. Everybody's just being super dismissive. You're just going to stop.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

SGA's had one of the most productive guard seasons we've ever seen. You're just going to shut all the faucet up. And so I was allowing some of that stuff to creep in my head where I'm going, they're down 3-1. you know, is it the randomness of playoff basketball or is there some real truth to like this team isn't as good as I thought they were. The numbers that are historic, they're not just good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

These are historic numbers and they have all these different options for like that guy's coming in and it's like, Is there something to be said that this was going to be another year of seasoning for this group? Because this would have been a massive disappointment. Who knows?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

They still might lose this series because I'm probably, no, I would say I'm way more impressed with where Denver is at being 2-2 in this series, which then I think the other side of that is that, yeah, maybe I thought OKC was going to run through this team and they're not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I thought there was no way you could watch them all year and be like, they're not going to be as good in the playoffs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. I just going through Yoko just numbers again, but go ahead. Keep on listening.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

It was 17, so... Yeah, yeah. Look, I mean, this is pretty ridiculous that you would be this good, and then all of a sudden, like, is it just a bad matchup part of it? You know, the crazy thing about Cleveland, like, going into the year was, how are you going to figure out a way to win in the playoffs with the Alan Mobley piece of it? Well, Mobley got better. Atkinson staggered them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

especially when you look at the free agents this year. Yeah. But, you know, this thing that we touched on last week where you can just go through the cycle of, well, who has cap space? There's Minnesota, go find. You want to sign with Brooklyn? There's one of these other teams with like 19 million. Figure out a way to get creative. Does that make more sense to you?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I mean, it probably feels like, hey, your role has worked here. It seems like it took a while, but he's figured it out. I mean, I guess you could also argue that in a way, like Golden State, as hard as they fought last night, at no point did I think they were winning that basketball game. And there's probably no version of this Golden State team without Steph. I mean, who knows?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Maybe he comes back in game five. I mean, this is asking a lot of the hamstring stuff. But it just never feels like Golden State. You're never worried they're going to run away from you. the way they normally with the team they have.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You know, I always think about that Cleveland comeback against Boston and Boston where they closed with Hunter and Mobley and took Allen off the floor because they didn't like the way Tatum was getting out of the switches. So I was like, oh, because this is something that we'll see in the play. Like all of these basketball things that you would think that are part of the conversation.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Golden State.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I think I would. I like that they have the good Rudy moments and the non Rudy good moments. It seems like Butler clearly if Rudy's out, he's trying to get momentum. He's trying to get downhill and he was able to go off at times. And so it probably feels good for Rudy to come in and be like, OK, now you're going to sell it. Even even if you don't like Rudy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

during their struggles in the regular season, you could see other teams get so excited when he was taken out of the game. But... Instead of feeling like you're playing into the opponent's hands by going small, their small is still so big. Yeah. And you're going up against Golden State where, you know, good luck on the non-Butler minutes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I thought everybody kind of leading into that game was right. Like, hey, if Curry is out, you're going to have to start taking some shots you may not like taking because it's probably better than a wide-open Gary Payton second three. But he's been pretty good for the most part. I mean, Kaminga was incredible in game three. Potts was awful yesterday.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Can't hit a shot. Look, once again, I mean, Kerr, these guys must be thinking they're like starting a startup company with the way they go into these lineups. It's like Trace Jackson Davis. People probably forgot he was on the team, right? It's like he's starting at center. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I don't think... Look, I didn't pick them with them playing it out. I still like Minnesota better. But that was a grind for a Minnesota team. Look, they were turning the basketball over a ton. The three-point shooting for Ant had been a disaster other than that third quarter. But once you wake that dude up, I mean, it's just a different level.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

you know, it doesn't really apply to now you're sitting there looking at, Hey, are they ignoring, ignoring any of these guys in the space? It's like, no, Indiana is actually getting anything they want.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

No, there's probably one he got away with. It was funny because Legs was great. Legs was like, you know, he's used to playing with fouls. I think it was 525 when he had had the fifth one somewhere around there. And Legs goes, like I said, I would have taken him out. But the funny thing is, is Draymond, he actually can't be trusted. I don't mind Kerr going, well, look, this whole thing is...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

completely new and without Steph now everybody's asked to like step step up like not just one role like two roles it feels like like hey you're gonna have a ball in your hands a lot more and you're gonna end with the decision and you're gonna have to shoot in spots that normally you'd be waiting for him to cut and by the way all those cuts where you guys are wide open all the time none of those are gonna be there so Draymond had the bad foul against Kawhi

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

He had the terrible foul against Memphis where he fouled out. He had a moment in the Houston series where he was in foul trouble. It's like, OK, do not give away a cheap one. He did it. And so the JD McDaniels drive, it's hard to tell Draymond like instinctively somebody who's in the conversation, the defensive player of the year to not try to find a way to come over and contest.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I think the most impressive thing from this game, which is also part of what I think is absolutely correct is the Pacers have this real edge to them is whatever they did from game three to game four in preparation of this three, two zone that Cleveland runs, they figured it out. And the coaching staff prepped these guys. Great. The execution of it was terrific.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

But he had no shot on that baseline drive. None whatsoever. Yeah, but I don't. Look, I don't feel bad for him. Put your hands up and don't touch him. Yeah. So he actually can't be trusted in foul trouble. And that all pales in comparison to his whole story and performance in Game 3. Because I thought Game 3 was so incredibly... Oh, excuse me, Game 2.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Game 2, when it looked like he wanted to get thrown out of the game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I defer to Kerr on this one. He's needed him. Fair. They've invested in him. And I would admit, yeah, you're right in game two, the shot making starting game eight for eight, the pull up mid range, the finishes when he has momentum. It's bouncing off dudes on drives. But you know what's funny about that game is he actually was screwing up when he first came in. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

He had a switch where he switched off of a worse defender into Ant. And I was like, OK, again, sometimes teams will just switch for the sake of just trying to get bodies moving around. But he wasn't thinking that way. Like he is only good when he has the ball in his hands and he's thinking, I don't have to give this to anyone else. And then after that, he decided, oh, I'm going to go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And you could see that Cleveland was scrambling and, because, you know, really the zone stuff that we're seeing constantly throughout these playoff games, everybody knows this. You just got to figure out a way to get it to collapse. You got to get away to attack the middle, and then you can attack off of that because you're trying to keep the ball out of the middle.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Oh, I'm like I've seen these Luca cuts. He kills Rudy. He's like, I'm going to go at Rudy. And then that didn't work, and he got stuck underneath the basket by the baseline, and that was kind of a mess. So there were a few things that jumped out, and you'll see it over the course of him because the scoring by itself is very impressive.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

At his age, his athleticism, and at that size, the biggest win, if they were to lose this series, may be getting people to think he's worth a flyer on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I mean, he tried to pick up, he tried to like get into a stance.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

For your first one, a lot of people are nervous. So where are you, though, conference-wise? That's a good, sneaky joke.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Defensively, I think Boston's been terrific in this series. What they're doing to Brunson, how they've contained him. Granted, Brunson started getting it going. He closed Game 2, obviously, really well. Maybe it doesn't matter because they're down so much in Game 3, but there was a couple moments. MSG was hoping, can this thing get to 15? That was the great Joe timeout when it got to 17.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, they had a pick and roll with Toppin at the free throw line. He rolls and then guess who he's finishing against? Because Mobley was at the top. Like when this thing was working in game three, you're going, my God, Mobley is chasing everybody around and contesting and trapping and screwing up the first thing that you want to do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. But if you look at the Knicks, regular season, 117 points per 100 possessions. Granted, it's the playoffs. It's going to be different. It's only three games, but it's 101 for the Knicks offensively against the Celtics defense. And it was 110, I think, against Detroit. Brunson's 38, 39% splits. The free throw thing has not been a big part of it. They tried maybe a little bit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but the overall free throw numbers, I would say for Brunson, even though it turns into a conversation about his baiting, the numbers don't show up the way it does for maybe a couple other players. He took nine against Detroit, and Cat has made one three in this entire series. I mean, his splits are atrocious. He's shooting 14% from three. 43 overall.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I also think he's getting incredibly frustrated because it's the default go-to. If Boston's looking for something, hey, just get Cat in the action and he's probably not going to be here quick enough. I mean, it's just asking a lot with his body type and the way he moves to be able to contest all of these threes. But I think my favorite part of that game

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

was that even if you're going to make more threes, which they clearly did, they're wide open numbers. I think Shulman had an NBA.com on wide open. No, I like him. Right. 25%, 12 and 48, whatever tracking they were using. I went through the first two games combined in game three, 12 and 19. So, I mean, you could, you could simplify it and say, Hey, that's the game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

There's like two things that I'll look for They would get Jalen Brown into Brunson post-ups. And it's not necessarily the shot that I want, but you have to send help. And even if they have different rules of like, maybe this far out, we have Jalen getting to one of those weird shot attempts.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I don't know what Zach Lowe was talking about at the end of the game too, where he was fallibating Brunson a bit. And Zach was like, oh my God. And the crazy thing is, to me, Jalen has had so many shot attempts that are like that, that I can't believe he's taking them. And it feels like they've gone in more than they haven't.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

that I almost just give him the benefit of the doubt on some of these tougher looks, but it was much more like, there's two things with him on those post-ups. As soon as he gets help, he was really good. And they're swinging the button. It's like, okay, this is something you're starting with as opposed to just the hunt switch ISO three that I think drives even the hardest core Celtic fan.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You have the luxury of having Evan Mobley at the top of a 2-3 zone or excuse me, a 3-2 zone. Because Allen can play underneath them. Well, in these minutes where Toppin was destroying them in the first half, Allen was out. So then they switched it to Mobley underneath. Then the Pacers got another good look. And then they brought him back. And then they went to Mann. And then Turner hit a three.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Absolutely crazy. The other part with Jalen is you have to get him with momentum with the ball, because if he stops, then it's totally different. And I think his aggressiveness at the start of that game, even going back to the Orlando series when no one could make a shot, it feels like he is more aware at times of what they need on offense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And I really thought it showed itself when they put together that huge first half.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So I still avoid him at all costs with the ball.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Three man, three big. up front winning triple bigs it's also the first game Mitchell wasn't like a huge plus on the net side of it and I'm with you like you can talk about his defense I think Pritchard got him a couple times in isolation it's like man you know like hit step backs on Mitchell Robinson from three and Pritchard was just feeling awesome he was he was great um

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And then there was another play where... They were like, OK, I think we have this again. They're down so big you can't say, hey, now we're settled on defense. We know we're going to do. And then Nismith hits an end of a shot clock. So like everything that possibly could have worked out, I think, started with them having a much better plan and being way more comfortable with a 3-2 that even T.J.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

But I don't know how, you know, Reggie Miller in game two, there was an air ball where it didn't hit any. It wasn't just an air ball. It went under the net. It's an impossible free throw attempt miss. Like even the worst free throw guy in the league. It was almost like, hey, aim it right and below the net to win some sort of prize.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And then he had another one. He injured the cameraman that we don't see that too often. And you wonder how does that not? Cause I mean, every emotion Mitchell Robinson has, he wears honestly, there's, there's no poker face about how incredibly frustrated he is. And he had tried to say something like, hey, it's a compliment that they want you out of the game this bad.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I was like, that's one way to process this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

0.3 for me. Yeah. Considering his free throw percentage. But you wonder how much that bleeds. And look, or it's the simplicity of the team we all think is better is down 0-2. They've been through some wars before. It is a team that does seem to like to make things really hard on themselves. Yeah. And it was going to be really surprising if they were down 3-0.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

On the road? Yeah. Better than OKC. It was 32-8.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I don't get it. come on you gotta have something else some other Celtics thought like is this did you ever allow yourself to think they were losing the series I still I still don't feel comfortable I don't know if comfortable is what I'm looking for here. Did you have a moment after game two where you were like, they're going to lose to the Knicks in the second round?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Weak. He's...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

McConnell admitted. And that screwed us up a little bit there in game three. So Cleveland thinks they have this answer. They have this defensive thing they can do, especially when it's those two guys. And yet they got destroyed in a bunch of different versions of it tonight.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

They've been great with Brunson. I've been really impressed with that part of it. Not to say you're going to completely shut this guy down, and I know he had a ton of points in Game 3, but it doesn't feel like he's had those long stretches of, oh no, now he's the best player on the floor and there's nothing you can do with him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And Cat not providing the spacing is probably a big part of it not being a little bit... Easier for Brunson.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Where would you put Tatum in superhero mode? Get us a basket.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Nothing worse than playoff pee when in the Gatorade ad, he's making the shot and then they came back from commercial and he missed it in the game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Okay, let's do this though. Tie game. Shot clock is off. How many guys will you name that you feel better about than Tatum?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I thought about it more since we had these back-to-back Mitchell performances. I can't wait. Can't wait for him today. So it's Jokic, right? It's Luka.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Some of these guys take terrible 2-for-1s. So let's just say shot clock is off and it's tied.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You just get excited or scared?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

50 points per 100 possessions on the first attempt on the two-for-one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

But people would yell at us on the math side of it being like, yes, but you guys are forgetting the payoff of the extra possession. All right, maybe. Okay, but it doesn't mean it's like... I've had two horrible possessions. Does that add up to one possession? It turns into Seymour Hoffman, like, rain, man!

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You know, it's just like, what is... You didn't even give your... You know, it's actually... I don't know if it's worse, but it's bothering me more. There will be a time where the shot clock is still on. So you know the other team is getting the ball back. So say it's like 34 seconds left in the quarter. full shot clock 24.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So they're getting it back probably with 10 and they're, you know, maybe 10 seconds. I would say what 14 seconds is the best chance at like a full look.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So when I see these possessions and I promise I'll explain this, there is a moment where you just have to accept they're going to probably be able to run something and it's going to be a halfway decent look, but the team that has the ball will still run the shot clock down to one and as if they're preventing the other team from having time that's already in there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And yes, you could talk about offensive rebounds or a ball that goes out of bounds. Oh no, we got the ball back with 11 seconds left. There are a ton of shit attempts in this scenario because guys are acting as if they're running down a clock to a point that like doesn't exist. The other team is most likely in all the scenarios you run going to have enough time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And so, Hey, if you had a good look with five seconds left on the shot clock, and that meant there's 15 game or 19 game clock and their game, their shot clock is off. Like it take the shot with five seconds left on the shot clock. You don't have to run that down to one because they're still getting the ball back with plenty of time for a decent look anyway.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And guys have really emphasized running that down to the last possible second when there's still going to be time that you can't work off of the clock other than offensive rebounds and the other stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I will not be invited.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I need to find on Synergy, because we don't have a second spectrum anymore, I need to find how many shot attempts he's defending. And sometimes, again, you'll see the number, you see the graphic, and if you have time to look at it, you're like, all right. But I would imagine that the staff is going, we do not want to switch into him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And granted, if it's the end of the shot clock and you don't have really any choice and there's nothing else to do, but we need to avoid ISO on-ball attacks against this dude. My favorite part of him, Bill, is during that Detroit series, they're trying to get him off a Kate as much as they possibly can.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And he would still find, it also helps if a big is somebody you don't care about as much and popping out, which was supposed to be a big difference in how some of these teams are matching up with each other to your Prezinga's point, but his fight to get back into the play and challenge, even though he's been kind of run off with the screen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I mean, he's, he's at that size, man, he's, he's really special and it's just kind of fun to get to watch it at this level of the season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I mean, it sounds like you were pretty on it. It wasn't like you were breaking down Minnesota Golden State.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

What does it mean? Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Ethical tanking, what you're saying.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

This is your Cleveland point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

By the way, just a quick aside. When you would lose your mind to a non-receptive audience on TV, I enjoyed it. Thank you. Because you weren't really even talking to anybody. I don't even know if you were talking. You were just so mad. It shouldn't happen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I thought we were going to do 30 minutes of Giannis to the Thunder today. Okay.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Is Wiggins for Reeves? How does that work? Go ahead.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I'm just going to crank up our ceiling. Would it behoove the Bucs? Which I've said from the beginning. If Giannis goes, hey, I'm fine, then you just keep him. And if it means you win 50 games, you get a chance.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Go, I don't want to do this again. The stunning trade? Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I'm not hanging up unless he's in it. Well, you need good players because of the draft stuff that you laid out. But Holmgren has to be in the trade. Well, I imagine you have to get somebody good. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I would rather have Chet, too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I'd like him to be a little more confident in that three if he misses a couple early ones. But, you know, we can get there at the end of this round. So, who knows?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I can't watch the Pistons all 82.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

At least there feels like there's a plan and direction. But Winger is a stud. Everybody's talked about the stuff he did at OKC, but he's done with the Clippers. So he is... He's a guy that I know privately that I would... I guess I'm saying it publicly. If the Wizards end up with it, good for him. Good for Winger. Good for this fan base. Because no one's... That fan base...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

That was a fun team that you never took that seriously. But it's kind of a sneaky, awesome fan base. And they have had nothing. Think about the Caps. Think about the Commanders. Those are some of the best fan bases in their respective sport. And this basketball team, going back to Jeff Malone and when they had Ruland, Cliff Robinson, that terrible 1986 trade with the Sixers. But...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

It was a team that you're always like, oh, you know, they may bring it tonight. And it was I don't know. They always felt like a little bit more on the radar. And this is a very, very long time, you know, flirtation with the Westbrook Beal run that year when Beal probably showed us enough of like, oh, is that guy going to be a dude that checks out on the team?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I think it's a really because I think of the fan base, too. I think of the fan base a little bit and what they deserve. And I think that fan base is long overdue for some good news.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

But think about this. Think about what you're reaching for.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

By the way, real quick, I'm putting you on the spot. What do you think their highest win total was in the 80s?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

That's why you're the best. Is that what it was? 43 and 39 in 1982. Yeah, they've been horrible. They won the 78 title?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

They won 48 games that year, too. That's weird.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I like it, except for I just feel like does that diminish Scoot's star?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. It gets tough after the top three, Ursula, for the lottery karma rankings. So you think it's a clear tier one of those three teams that deserve it, done it the right way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Utah, Toronto. No, they had it with Bargnani.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

El Magico.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I believe they should be in tier one. I mean, we sit here, we want to play the tanking game and say the Wizards did it the right way. And then Utah did it the wrong way. And I'm sure plenty of basketball people would agree with you. But look, Mitchell was going to want out. They cleaned up on the Rudy thing. They hit reset on a team that, you know, we just pointed out earlier in the pod.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Remember when they won all those games? It was a 59 win profile team. And then immediately they're like, hey, boys, this is the playoffs. It's going to it's not going to translate like it does for other teams. You know, sometimes you regularly see in the playoff. I think the most important part of this, you've got me on whatever tier of ethical tanking you have these teams rank through.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

But as far as what Utah needs, okay, what they need is a guy that may want to actually stay in Utah for 10 years. Yeah. I think the only way they're ever going to get somebody who's a franchise changing player is to get a Cooper flag in the draft. They're not going to be a destination for free agency, even though I've heard Ryan Smith, the owner, laid it out. Like, hey, we're not small market.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Look how great. All these things. I think if you're a simple guy... you'd actually like to play in Salt Lake. I think Salt Lake's oddly confusing to a lot of different people. Like, it's just, it's kind of more convenient than Denver. Salt Lake's awesome. Right. I'm buying Salt Lake stock. I am with you. I'm buying Salt Lake stock.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Never made it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So you say, hey, we want to suppress your value. No, don't try. This is a terrible analogy. It's not going to work.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I mean, that might be I mean, I'm open for anything, but to come out that flat and to let it get away from you that much. And, you know, you still felt like the front line depth Cleveland versus Indiana. Like at what point would you have gone? You know, I think Miles Turner is going to be able to hold up here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

We're going to have to have you to do everything still over the phone.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

If you're trading for somebody, you know, that's probably a small target of like who gets traded for. That's a franchise changing player. That's like, I'm here and I want to stay. You're probably not going to be able to use your cap space on anybody. So you need somebody to come through, which I think this is a great organization, whether it's ownership, age, Zanuck, Hardy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I am probably a little too like I do wonder of Hardy in a private moment with a with a beer with a couple of friends. It says, well, it looks like I'm not catching Popovich anytime soon. Right. Because all of those numbers are when you pull up his basketball reference. It's like, that's what my winning percentage is. And that's what my record says it is. You could also argue, too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

It's like, we're going to give you this shot at a very young age to be this coach. And maybe there's a different path you're stuck in as a second or third assistant somewhere else. And you don't even get this opportunity until seven or eight years later. The Spurs coach.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

My argument for Utah and why I want them to win the lottery is this Cooper flag in Salt Lake would be the most important piece for a franchise that needs it, considering all the challenges that they have faced historically in transactions.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Do you think you have a Jordan Poole quote? Be like, this guy's going to be all right off the bench, like Twan about Pierce. Remember that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I mean, every backup center minute for the Pacers this year because they lost so many guys injuries. You're thinking like, how are they going to ride this out with Turner? Because it still felt like Turner was somebody that you could attack. Granted, the shooting that he gives you in the spacing opens up a lot of the stuff that you're talking about and how they're able to attack.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I think for all the same reasons that we, I don't know, Utah still has more challenges than Brooklyn would. Right, because we've seen Brooklyn lure guys already. Right. There's nothing on this Brooklyn roster that even gets you excited to the point of like even Lowry marketing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Mark Williams has already been traded. Miles Bridges is a different conversation. Grant Williams Leadership Council. Your guy has Saloon. I don't know. Diabate? Saloon? Salon? Whatever his name is. I don't know. That's how bad this year went.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, Salon.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I told you I liked watching them. I didn't know if it was going to be any good or not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

But it's just crazy to see 48 hours later, this look like a completely different series, especially when, you know, the Cavs should be able to win a game on the road, which we saw. They've got to be kicking their ass still from game two for allowing that to happen. So there's part of me that still thinks like, man, if they just inbounded, okay, then today happens and then it's 2-2.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Wait, wait. Make the case for Chicago. Isn't there something to be said of like,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I probably would like them to get it a little bit more. I don't know if it hits a reset on the franchise. My guess is most owners wouldn't win the lottery and be like, okay, cool. Now let's be bad around just winning the lottery. And maybe... I don't know what to believe on...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

whether or not there's a everybody's all on the same page about keeping zion i just don't have any more years you can keep going into a season like hoping this thing is going to work out and even if you traded him ended up being a star somewhere else because i think there's a history there where it's like well look at baron davis did when he left what could happen with chris paul when he left look what happened with anthony davis when he left if that's bleeding into your decision making then i don't think you are making the right decision with this but

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

We all realize how special Zion can be when it's out. I don't even care if I traded him and he was awesome somewhere else. I could not go back into another season having every one of our hopes tied to somebody where it feels like it just ends bad all the time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And if you win the lottery with Cooper and Trey Murphy, I would start... Again, nobody likes when the media is just sitting there telling everyone to blow it up all over again, but... They might be the perfect candidate for it because they have drafted well. There's other players like we didn't even mention Herb Jones anymore because he's been hurt. I would just try to figure out what I could do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Murray's out for most of the year. Yeah. And, you know, CJ is a nice player. There's probably still some value there. It doesn't mean you're going to have like seven guys. Yeah. Aspiring this offseason?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

So, so where are we going with all this stuff? But I mean, Cleveland, if they don't win this series, which it doesn't look like it's going to happen down three one now, they are going to be like completely written off. And if they run the same group back, which is usually the default of what a GM would do, be like, Hey, we're really good. This is what we did to the regular season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

No, because Shams brought it up. Remember when he wasn't playing? By the way, they could just go ahead. To me, that's insane. There's always another team. That's thinking if we get him with us, the ceiling version of Zion with us, that guy is not for free. I know what you're saying, but I've heard the argument before. There's no way you would just go out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Okay. You're saying it's in play, but it's, you know, what else is in play?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I just don't think that he is at that point where you would want nothing or acquire him to get off of money to then waive him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Sounds like somebody was having some down O2 thoughts.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

You can't win with the Admiral Duncan- Wemba Nyama and then get Cooper flag. Sorry, because I know everybody was listening like, hey, the Spurs, they do it the right way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Now we're going to get Duncan Wemba. Stop. No one's going to agree with us. We're right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

We had our hiccups that we mentioned at the top, which I'm safe. I'm sure they would say internally with each other, but this was just alarming to start a game that matters this mode matters this much. and just at no like hey it's 20 okay well now it's 30 and then it's 40 it just was an ass kicking um and i'm well i'm still kind of shocked me too well then if you're the celtics

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

that was wanted to happen people are gonna be so pissed off like people are gonna be so mad because it was this is how it played out right what it wasn't just that this was on the table it's when everything was falling apart and then you were looking at their record and then the sixers are going to those games being like you think you're fucking tanking we're fucking tanking boner

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Oh, hey, Nets, you want to play hard in the fourth quarter?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Well, Toronto kept winning these games because their defense was somehow incredible this late into the season. Or they had that stretch, I would say. You're like, how the hell does Toronto keep winning some of these games? But Philly... And see, I think Philly, like, in a way, I... I like what they did where they're like, we're not screwing around. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Even though Quentin Grimes for that, that stretch, it's like, are they going to cost them this top six protection on this thing? So we were chasing the top six protection. We're following all that stuff. Like, are they going to actually lose this pick? Like the worst case scenario of what could happen here, considering how bad the season is like on top of everything else.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And guess who else has the pick? Oh, great. It's okay. See what a shocker to then getting Cooper flag. I think that'd be a lot. for people to handle. I think people would rather the Spurs than the 76ers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

What about San Antonio?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

That's almost why I appreciate Daryl and the Sixers were going, you guys want to act like there's these rules of engagement shit. You guys want to have one of those operations where it's like, yeah, we're sort of invading this area, but we're kind of not.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

because we gave it a title like you ever want to go through and just laugh your ass off look at some of the military operations titles just the branding of them to try to make everybody feel a little bit like nothing's even called a war anymore and when i think about what the sixers did you can call this whatever you want label whatever you want there are no rules like we're doing this and it was the right thing to do nobody remember in a year

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, and look, whether it's that Dallas argument years ago where it felt like it was terrible or the Doug Peterson Philadelphia Eagles thing where it made sense for the Eagles to lose that game, but because it's the national broadcast and we're seeing it happen in real time and everybody's got their phones out and there's no other games on to distract us from it, then it becomes this act against humanity.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And I don't like... I know what you're saying where the Spurs did it in the decent way, right? Utah wasn't perhaps as decent. Yeah. Again, we keep using that word that everybody loves about ethical tanking or ethical hoops. I don't know. That just feels nasty to have Dallas last. But I know you're thinking about Nico. And maybe there was some after Luka and the Lakers lost in five games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

The people in the media that suggested somehow we needed to revisit the Nico Harrison conversation. This is like watching a 4x100 relay and seeing the first handoff and going, well, that's over. This is not when you're evaluating this. And by the way, again, it has nothing to do with what the Lakers or Luka didn't do in the playoffs this year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

It has everything to do with the execution of this historically bad trade. So even if it turns out in five years, like Lucas heard, like, hey, was Nico right? The process will forever be wrong.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

I know, I know it's a TV show and this is somebody who's done this for a long time. You know, what's happening in those pre-show meetings. We're like, Hey, do we need to revisit the Nico conversation? It's like, I don't know. What's the rest of the rundown look like? Like, ah, we're kind of light. You know, there's no football stuff. It's like, all right, you know, maybe we'll throw it in the D's.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. And then sometimes that itself is the segment. Ask the question and then you just shoot down the entire idea. But anyone that really is paying attention, again, and I shouldn't even phrase it that way, sane people would go, this is not a conversation that we can have right now because of an elimination in one year of the playoffs. So go ahead. We have to go? Yes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

When Okoro got in there, it felt like it was kind of already over. Yeah, they were down 30. Ty Jerome comes in, and you're hoping he can kind of... Be Ty Jerome. He's been awesome. And even in the game where he had a lot of points, I mean, he took 20 shots. You're like, man, a playoff game with Ty Jerome taking 20 shots? We like him, but I don't know if I like him that much.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

And you would have thought, can he at least... Not to be TJ McConnell, but can he be somebody who gets you into some really good stuff as you're trying to figure out the Garland situation with him being out? And then that turns into a disaster. Hunter today, five points, five fouls. So that acquisition hasn't paid the dividends that you'd expect it to have.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

The rebounding numbers, granted, Indiana didn't miss, so there weren't a ton of potential rebounds. But 47 combined minutes when I wrote it down, when it was 98-64, those guys combined had seven rebounds. Again, it also speaks to how well the Pacers are shooting the ball. But I'm going to ask you this because... As much as we're talking about the Pacers, like, hey, they're a feisty team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Floundering Cavs, OKC-Boston Gut Checks, and Lottery Karma Power Rankings With Ryen Russillo

They're going to be a tough out. Defensively, you're right. Like, you start looking at the defensive rating as teams are closing the season. After the All-Star break, the Pacers were eighth. You know, it's a team that went 20-9. Some of the Cleveland slip-off, I think at the time, we were like, all right, is that real?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I couldn't believe when it was, what, 89-85. I'm like, how is Denver still in this game? Right. Getting nothing from Jokic for two quarters. Right. And then Aaron Gordon, who's out. And if you look at the numbers for them when Aaron Gordon's out, I think they're 14-11 now, if you include today's game. And I think they're 26-12 with them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Those numbers could be off by a game here or there, because sometimes it's a little misleading to look it up. But... When you think about the switches, they were attacking Jokic, and that's something you're still going to want to do. I always wonder if we would look at Jokic a little bit different defensively as if he were an issue for them if they didn't have the title already.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I know I'd probably look at it and go, hey, he's at least positioned right, but at least it's somebody you can think of attacking. And then if it's not going to be beating Christian Brown off the dribble, which you can do without the screen, you can switch into Murray. Westbrook's kind of hit or miss.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

There's just a bunch of stuff that you can attack out there, and a lot of it changes when Aaron Gordon's not in the game. Not that Gordon would be defending him one-on-one like 30 feet away, but I think the way you described his different ways of getting into his offense...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

is is the other part the shot attempt is still available later for him with all the stuff that he does then a lot of high volume scores because yeah he can kind of slow it all down It's not like Luka, but it's almost the same thing where you don't really speed them up. They play with this incredible pace.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And whatever is flying around them, they're still completely in control of all of their options. And at his size, and then to be able to pull up from mid-range, even those zone possessions where it felt like Malone was slowing them down and clogging it up a little bit, which I love when teams do. Like, hey, something's not working. Why don't you throw some zone out and make them think about it?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Now, some of these teams fall apart when they face a zone. But ultimately, the more you keep doing it, especially with a team like the Thunder where everybody's good with the ball in their hands. They should be able to figure it out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

So if you're talking Celtics part of it, they're clearly going to have better matchups against SGA, and they're going to have a better rim protector if Porzingis is playing. If you have four different perimeter guys that you can throw at them, that's great.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah. Yeah. And size, too, on top of everything else, because Denver doesn't really have any perimeter size other than Porter Jr. Again, Porter Jr. and Gordon against him. That's probably guys that are too big. So it's really coming off of the corners.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And I think part I don't like the assumptions like what if OKC doesn't hit those open corner threes as everybody helps off of the corners to go to SGA. You're like, all right, well, welcome to the league. Yeah, but at least they have like Wallace hit one. I think he was one for four. Dort hit a couple. Caruso had one late. I like OKC's chances if those are the corner guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Isaiah Joe, throw him in there. That's the way the team is built. So, yeah, there's not somebody else necessarily at like SGA's level as a two guard or a two option, I should say. And no one really has like another MVP waiting.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

like that so it's not really a fair criticism of OKC but I've heard that talked about as like what happens with those secondary shooters in a tight playoff game and I'm just like well that's that's kind of the league so I don't know why I'd be specific to them I mentioned the three different ways it seems like he scores I should have mentioned the fourth way too which is this team's just a really good transition team

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Something else to add, though, about this team. Your Kobe thing with SGA. SGA is totally fine getting rid of the ball. Right. So that's another part of it where, you know, if he's out there and he's going like I still may be alive in this possession. I do think some teams get used to their number one scoring option once they're past a certain moment of just being OK.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Now I'm not really in the play. I'm not going to cut. I'm not going to relocate a perimeter. Uh, these, these guys feel really, really connected maybe because they all came up together and because they're young and last year felt like, wow, they're already this good. Uh, I think there's, I think there's a personality to this team that also, you know, makes me like them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

This helps, you know, national broadcast head to head. Jokic has the great first quarter is not enough of a factor. SGA closes it out. I imagine more people are probably paying attention to today's slate of games than maybe a late Friday overtime win against Phoenix where he goes 30-20-20 in a Jokic's 7th-15-15-15 game this season, which is the most, I think, since Oscar Robertson.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Did you see the stat?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, the momentum part for SGA with voters, my guess would be SGA is going to win it because of how good the team is, because of a head-to-head. Look, they go back at it again tomorrow night. Right, Joker could be awesome tomorrow night. I've never once thought SGA was better than Jokic. I still think Jokic is the best player in the league.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

So if it's close at the end of the year, I'm going to remember that if I still have a vote. We can get into some of the advanced stuff, and depending on the day you sort it, it's SGA or Jokic. And it's really, really close with all that stuff. I think there's always a part of it, too, of like if Jokic took more shots. Would we be more enamored with his scoring output?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But it's just not the way he's going to play. I also think OKC is just a better basketball team. So, yeah, I'm still leaning Jokic. And I want to remind myself of that. If it's close, who do you think is the best player? I don't know that... Even with this season, and what SGA's done, I'll ever actually think that he's better than Jokic. And that will factor into my voting.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And I wonder if Jokic, depending on seeding and all that kind of stuff with the West, it will kind of matter. You think for Denver with their home court, it should kind of matter. But I think Jokic cost himself one in the Embiid MVP season because towards the end of it, it just seemed like he didn't care about it as much. So I wonder if that'll happen again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I'm sure it will. You know, I even saying some of the stuff I've said already, but if somebody says like, you need to explain that to me, I would just go, no, I don't. You need to explain Jokic.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

It'd be one thing, too, of like Jokic was having a down season at SGA. There's just a huge gap between the stats. And then you kind of start leaning towards, okay, well, this guy's had such a better season that I can't actually... Because I think there's some Curry stuff with LeBron where I don't know that anybody thought Curry was actually better than LeBron. He was just having...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Those seasons and part of the story, which I think is always a huge part with voters because voters like stories, is that when it's new and it's kind of this next level of accomplishment, at least for the regular season, because that's what the award is, that player is going to have a ton of momentum. So I'm with you. I'd be surprised if SGA doesn't win it. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Okay, great. And I'm glad that you asked because I like watching alone. It's a good fall asleep show.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

It's just like ocean sounds. And there was a guy in the most recent one who checked out after one night and I felt like there should be some kind of fine music. He checked that after one night? Yeah, one night. He was like, I'm out. I'm tapping out. He really missed his family. So I think I'd be geared towards doing better because I would have no one to miss.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

it's just incredible that this guy is doing what he's doing and, uh, at this age, you know, you start thinking, okay, how much more does he have? And that was probably a couple of years ago. Yeah. And you're thinking out, you know, remember that year he was lightened up from three from the regular season, which he's done a couple of times. And then in the playoffs, it was just kind of over.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think it's just really fitting to considering he was such a huge free agent signing. And then I think a lot of fans were like, I thought this guy was like a max player and how come he's not like doing more of these things. And you're just going, well, there's, there's just more to it than just the scoring for Horford's being positioned the right way. It's,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

it's a guy you want on your basketball team. And then he goes to Philly, he gets flipped to OKC, speaking of that pick, he gets basically sat down because OKC's rebuilding. And then he comes back to Boston and he's a huge, huge, the luxury of having an Al Horford to step in when Porzingis isn't available is incredible.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And it was very clear that Boston had their hunting strategy, because we talked about that hunt-happy approach to basketball that, look, is a big part of everything that you're watching every night. But the Lakers, like, let's kill Al Horford tonight. Okay. So I don't know if you saw the numbers afterwards of tracking. Bontemps had it on ESPN.com. They targeted Horford 23 times last night.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Oh, my gosh. Yeah. According to Second Spectrum, the second most isolations against any player in a single game since the player tracking started in 2013, 2014. Wow. He allowed 0.39 points per direct play, the second best efficiency by any player to defend at least 15 isolations in a game the last 12 seasons.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

The Lakers deciding what we like here is attacking Al and watching Al spread out one-on-one, 25 feet away from the basket, getting down into a stance and fighting through every one of these hunting switches consistently.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Like I lost track of other stuff that was happening in the game because I was having, you know, you never noticed like something in a game and you go, Hey, I got to start watching the game. Yeah. You're focused. I couldn't stop watching him and just like out. I couldn't, I was so impressed with him that he held up that way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And then I thought, okay, are they going to get like, are they just wearing him out to the point where this is going to become a real problem later on? And look, they got the huge lead. Lakers make a big comeback there, but Horford was a story.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But I would get so upset about how skinny I would be coming out of it that I would never ever do it. Not that I would do well anyway. Like, I might have a decent fort. But when I was thinking about it, I was like, you did all this, like... build up and I've, I've done this. I've trained, I've been in the Outback. I've, you know, they're in Tasmania, so it's definitely challenging.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think leading into this, to be fair, the Lakers have that overtime win against the Knicks, which was an awesome game on Thursday. They had been home since the last week of February. So they started a homestand. I think they would have been home from Denver probably the 23rd of February if they didn't come back. So it's their first time they're on the road. That game's March 8th.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Boston sat a bunch of guys against Philly. Boston should have been up for that game, should have been better rested. And when the line came out, it was like five and a half. I remember thinking, I don't know, this might be a spot. I guess the Lakers part of it has been really hard for me because... I can't believe they're this good defensively. And they've won all of these games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And then he was done after one night. And then I thought, is that the best thing ever to get over? Like a fight with your wife is you sign up for a loan and then you say you've missed them so badly. You tap out after just one night. It's probably the best relationship repair move possible. So maybe he's actually playing the game ahead of everybody else. Castaway.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And the one thing that you thought when they added Luka, you go, okay, well, how's that perimeter going to hold up defensively? And then LeBron cranks it back up after having stretches this season where it looked like he was a liability defensively. But you'd imagine you've got to give him the benefit of the doubt in a playoff series. But I'm with you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I went to, as we talked about last week, a bunch of Lakers games in a pretty quick amount of time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I know. It's you, Diane Cannon, and Lou Adler. Just go to the Laker games. One day. One day, Bill. But watching LeBron's shot making, this is not why you're listening to the pod. Like, here's a little say that LeBron's good at basketball. But the shot making in the angle stuff and these fadeaways that he's incorporated, where you expect it to go in every single time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Like, I can't believe how often he's making these shots, the takeoff and the starting point of it. Like, that's going to go in? Yeah. So, you know, whether we're talking all NBA stuff and then you look at like the points per possession and what he's done and his life should be easier.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

His life should be easier now with Luca, where I think, you know, there's a version of it going back to peak Miami LeBron. where you just never wanted the ball out of his hands, even though Wade is an incredible player and what he would offer in here. I think the Luka part of it makes his life a little bit easier.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

So I don't put a ton of stock in last night's game because I think the way it was set up, you would expect Boston was going to win that one. Well, so they dialed up the minutes. I mean, they went for it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I was going to ask you this about the Boston part of it. Yeah. So the Bob Ryan thing is really funny, right? Yeah. It's really funny. And clearly, you watch him a ton. I watch them a lot. And I started to have the same feelings again, where it's like, why are you guys waiting so late to go into your offense? Now it's shut down. Now it's Jalen Brown pulling up from this 15, 17 foot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

These are tough shots. And honestly, it feels like Jalen makes more of them than I expected. He was really good last night for most of the game. But there's just a lot of those shots. You're like, that's what you guys are going to settle with? Four people watching. And I think I did it when I did my horrible 15 teams in 15 minutes. It took 40 minutes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Because the whole gag is that it's supposed to be 30 teams in 30 minutes. And I try really hard to keep it to 30 minutes. And I think I did an hour. So I'll try to fix that next year. But every time you start going through this Boston stuff, you're like, OK, well, let me look at the offense. All right. Top five offense. Let me look up the clutch offense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

OK, it's third in the NBA behind Cleveland and Denver. So do you think you watch the Celtics too much and you take it more personally when they get bogged down into bad offensive sets, when they have a lead or it seems like they're settling, they take too late to get into stuff, maybe get a little hunt happy when there's really no number that tells you it's that much of a flaw?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Like I understand the bugs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Do you think it has anything to do with Przingis in and out, though? Or you get into a flow? Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Some people know when they know they're just out, but then you have to watch, you watch the people after like 24 hours going, what'd you think it was going to be? Yeah, it's going to be really hard. And there's not a grocery store. Like, figure it out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, I wrote down, Katie, there's so many names that I had to write down where I think we've had other years where you're like, I think it's like 17 for 15, and then there's the line, and you knew. The LeBron push would have been interesting if you wanted to put Tatum at guard. Right. Now, would you have agreed with that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Now it's kind of taking care of itself because a groin injury, especially being older, already with a one to two week thing, like you hope this doesn't linger, that it changes because I really want to see what LA can do. Like I'm excited about them now. being raised to a level of actually having expectations where I don't really think I had that many expectations for him a couple months ago.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But you could if you wanted to do that, because Tatum basically plays point guard. So I don't think it'd be that much of a stretch, even though he's not going to be listed as a guard with Drew and Derek White out there and even Jalen Brown. So forget that. I think you're right with Mitchell rewarding Cleveland. He's the best player. So I think the LeBron thing kind of takes care of itself.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I'm not even saying I was, I just thought at least like being creative. What was the other argument? If we wanted to try to play around with the idea that it wasn't like set in stone first team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

He's at 58 games, though, so it'll be interesting. He's got seven left, right? Yeah, he's going to get seven more out of the, I don't know how many more.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah. I would say, though... I get the Ant thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

They're the same record. I mean, Minnesota has one more win. They both have 29 losses. So I think you could probably, if you really wanted to push and say, well, Ant's doing it 36-29 with this team... In the West, I had Cade third team. Okay. But I think Brunson, it seems like we're both. I think it's kind of interesting that both of us start with Brunson and then it's the other spot.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, see, I'd be toast.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, but I think, you know, look, what he's done over the full course of the season has been pretty remarkable, especially if you're going by traditional center. He's actually played center 54 games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

So were you doing four, are you doing three forwards and two guards then second team?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

At least like I wrote the name down.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, I watched it after the Lakers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

You just kind of expected Golden State's going to put together a few nice possessions here, and it's going to be a wrap, and it just wasn't. I mean, Draymond Green hitting a three of all people kind of closed the game out. Comfortable three. They made it really hard on Golden State.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Those possessions towards the last, I don't know, six minutes or so of the fourth quarter, and this Beasley story's been unbelievable. Unbelievable.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

all those guys want to get into it with you and that's why i feel like big stew was left out it was a massive overreaction getting upset with steph feeling himself a little bit yeah he was in front of their bench but it wasn't he was falling down on the guys but stewart doesn't care and teams need guys like that he's gone after steph and lebron in his career and that has to be the only person

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I hope there's not like a magic appreciation night for the next time the Pistons play the Lakers. Just walk right up to them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

We're solo sun alone. I won't though, I won't, because I'd be like 185 coming out of it and I'd never be the same.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

You could be asking a lot of Looney against OKC because you'd have to go back to that. And they've liked using Quinton Post here just to space it out. That makes sense. Because last night... Big air ball last night. Yeah. It's interesting, though. Looking around the league, you're seeing teams go with some of this double big stuff. Boston's been doing a little bit more when Przingis is playing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Oklahoma City basically admitted, hey, the rest of this year, we're kind of experimenting with what we have here. And there'll be times where I think, okay, they're going to split Chet and Hart up again, and then they bring them both out. And that speaks to just, you want to talk about an organization that's okay night to night going, let's see what we have and what these combinations look like.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And have we found something with this double big? Houston's been doing it. where it's a little bit different depending on how you want to describe it with Shingun or Jabari, but they've been doing Steven Adams with Jabari. There's been some of these teams that have tried some of this double big stuff, but then I've also watched nights where teams are just closing it out really, really small.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And I don't know if some of these teams that would prefer to close small are going to run into something in a playoff matchup where it's just too much, like where P.J. Tucker was trying to play center for the Rockets. I don't know if it'll be that extreme.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Okay. That's great.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I'd light the entire island on fire within 24 hours. I think that's the best chance of me being noticed. I've thought about it. I think that's the only move.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Right, but they're just gone. Whereas now with the Mavs, they're still here. And I'm so glad you brought up that Cuban quote. He has been on a bender of quotes the last couple of years. There's just no way that you were like, you know what? The number one priority is my offspring avoiding criticism, being faced with the task of something like this. At least he had said, make a better deal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Like finally he said what everybody else had said.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

collectively agreed to here because whenever that trade i mean like i still haven't gotten over it you just see people on tv like hey people are acting like anthony no one's acting like anthony davis is bad we can't believe this trade happened is the only point in the way that it that it happened which we've already covered a million different times um so i was glad to hear cuban say that just do a better deal we still don't know why cuban sold

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But it wasn't covered that way to Curtis's point. It's crazy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, I'm not saying it's going to work, but... I just, I think in those first couple of days is your only chance of being noticed or say the first week or whatever. So if you, yeah, you got like a 10 day window. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think it's a win for LeBron, though. I think it's a win for LeBron in that moment because it looks cool. It does.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah. See, I think he's a pretty theatrical guy. Yeah. And it was a moment to kind of look like this whole thing gets really, really weird because if somebody's like, hey, that's just a father carrying around his son, like you don't tell somebody that they're wrong about it. But the reason why the rules for this have changed is that ultimately once Ronnie has an NBA uniform on,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

This is this is what we do. And we're going to talk about it. And he's going to get way more criticism than somebody else who's not playing because of the lead up and that it felt like the most important thing was to show the power of clutch. People get this guy a guaranteed contract for three years because I think the fourth year is an option. So it's a big win. Look what we can do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

We pulled this off and. And all this stuff. And it's kind of celebrated by the Lakers. Like, look at this. We're going to make history. They were smart. Get it over with. Have him play with his father immediately. I think there's elements of it where you can go, OK, I understand that part of it. But they I think they misunderstood that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

how nasty it was going to get if he continued to look like the player that those of us that did the draft tape for his USC thing, where it just felt like he never really stood out. But you remember the selling point of Brawny was that he was a glue guy. Like, well, who takes glue guys in the draft?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Okay, but I don't know, Curtis, if you're probably a little bit more tuned into it than I am, but do you feel like Stephen A had crossed a line that deserved that showdown, that stare down with LeBron?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

What I loved, though, was the lead up to it. And then he was drafted. And then you had people on TV all of a sudden.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, but they were pro-nepotism. They were just like, this is a good thing. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And I just always felt like it was a really simple explanation. Because this one gets a uniform. This is different than going to the back and being in charge of travel.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I've argued now for years where I felt like I finally figured it out, is that the audience gets what we want. So I think the audience actually does like this stuff. I had more friends ask me about whose side I was on between LeBron and Stephen A than any other basketball question I've been asked by my friends this entire season. So I think it is a win for ESPN.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think it's a win for Stephen A. I mean, you can get into whether or not somebody should be doing this on TV. Remember four years ago when he went at Durant and looked at the camera? He was like, give me the solo shot. I was like, you don't want to go at me. And I remember watching it going, would I ever, would I ever be at a position where I was threatening somebody else on TV?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, I can imagine if you were the new husband and if Helen Hunt were like, look, you know, he's kind of my soulmate and I owe it to him. And then just years later, you just, you just put in hours that irks just constantly drinking and guys would be like, he's, he's the guy he's the, and then he just kind of turns and goes, what are you supposed to do? You know, like bad, bad beat.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I don't know that I'd ever really want to be that way. But I mean, this is all, whether it's good or bad, it's all a win. It's all a win for Stephen A. We spent 20 minutes talking about him and this is exactly what he would want. So that's what I think. I think that's how you keep score of this. Yeah. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

If you had said, hey, do you think this will happen one day?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

right like no what like how would perkins ever be relevant enough for somebody to be doing an impersonation of him in saturday night live so there you go that's the win for him so i i think all of these things are wins not that you know hey all pr is good pr because i think i'd push back on a few stories uh from famous people like i don't know if that's good i don't know if that's going to help that person yeah the tnt countdown deal like tnt gets to be a show

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

There can be plenty of shows that I like or don't like on certain nights. If I want to sit here and bash TNT, I could and go, you mean the show that in this in this world where the NBA is trying to figure out where it fits in and all the criticisms of it and the projections of different ratings arguments that I think some are valid and a lot are terrible.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

where you have all of these players from previous eras just shitting on the product all the time. But then that's why everybody kind of loves the show. But at least they're allowed to be a show when they're done with the second game on Thursday night. Those guys hang out all night and it's loose and they get to be a real studio show.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And when I look at what ESPN asks of its on air people, I don't even think it's a fair fight. Even if you don't like anyone that's on ESPN, which I wouldn't say, that's my position. There's some people where I'm like, okay, you know what? I like where this person's coming from. All right, this one, I probably know what I'm going to get here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I don't watch a ton of them because I have to watch so many games that I don't want to spend extra time watching studio stuff. When the second TNT game's over, I'll probably go and watch another game that I wasn't really watching that closely. But whenever anything's compared to TNT, I don't know that people in television... Well, people on television should understand.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I don't know that we talk about enough of like the room that they're given to be the show that everybody else wants to emulate, but never lets their people on air have the same opportunity and same structure.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, but, I mean, it's also a group on TNT who takes pride in not knowing who any of the players are. So, like, spare me the fucking deep dives, guys. Like, how come you're not talking about who's better in half court? How come you're not talking about switches more? I mean, those guys don't talk about any of that stuff. So, I don't... And honestly, I don't know that anybody really wants it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Hasn't everybody tried this? Haven't all of us that are like basketball and football nerds, haven't we always talked about how much we would love the idea of all these matchup shows and these deep dive stuff and film study and let's show it? Like we've talked about it. Nobody ever wants to do it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And when they had it on the NFL, when I used to watch that before the countdown show back when I was a kid and Sal Powell and those guys, I loved it. I love it. And check this out. Third and seven. The interior feet of Hunt at 22 are too far inside the hashes. And Neil O'Donnell knows he has the go route to the outside.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

So, you know, maybe I was a moron and just thought it was all brilliant shit, but I liked it. And there's nobody does it. No, I mean, there's people on YouTube doing it and some breakdown. So I don't know if their numbers are really good. Maybe there's some people out there that are doing some really good stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But as far as like brand name networks giving you that, is it because everybody in TV is stupid or is it because people are going to tune in or click on the tab of Stephen A responds to the brawny disagreement? Well, everybody's clicking on the last thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I also think that ESPN actually, and maybe you'll be surprised, they get so much... unwarranted shit just because they're the one partner that has all of these other slots to fill. Yeah. If TNT didn't have charmed reruns. Okay. And bones, uh, And they had the next guy coming on to talk about something. You know, same thing with like CBS and NFL and the network partners.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

If those channels were actually just 24-hour sports stuff, then you would find more stuff that you would have a problem with. Look, I don't I don't love all the coverage that I see. It's not for me. That's fine. I know I'm not I'm not really the person any of that stuff is targeted towards.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But I think that's always lost in that there's so many more things to criticize with ESPN because there's just so much more real estate compared to all of these other partners.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And the fact that it's on so late, too, I think leads to the goofiness. You've been there all day. You've gone through the two games. And then you're on those long stretches. And that whole postgame is on so late. I think it actually is an advantage because it just gets so loose. Because it's almost like none of them want to be there. But, you know, Bill, I think you're right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Like, Barkley has been... has been on this thing for a couple of years now. Like I might do this. I might do this. I might quit. They're going to shut down. And then you were kind of like, wait, are they not going to be on the air and 24, 25? And then you looked it up. Nope. They're still going to be on. So I'm like, why are they talking about it this way?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And then as soon as it transitions over Barkley's Barkley's going to make fun of ESPN within 30 seconds of them going on the air. Okay. And since it's going to be licensed or however, I don't know what the structure is in comparison to some of the other stuff, Curtis, you would know better than I would. is the understanding of just keep doing your own thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And that might be the ESPN model and that they're not really going to worry about it the way they would worry about a studio show in the past. Because who could ever, who could ever on the TV side of ESPN show up to those guys and be like, love what you've been doing. Here are some tweaks. Don't even, I don't even know if anybody would bother doing something like that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

That was the marquee sports center. I remember they used to offer it to Scott all the time. And Scott would just say, I'm a games guy. I'm a games guy. I want to watch the games in the studio with the staff. I want to figure out how we want to talk about the games once the games are over. I don't want to do the six. And they wanted him to do the six all the time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And he was turning down what was thought at the time, like the marquee slot. When's the last time you turned on the six o'clock sports center?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I don't, I don't remember the last time. Well, they're not already on obviously because it's six o'clock East coast, but I'm, I'm gearing up for the game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I'm waiting or I'm waiting until the last possible moment to turn on the TV, knowing that the TV is going to be out of my house for the next six hours. Uh, I think you're right about the Kornheiser-Wilbon thing being early. Would they want to do it? I also think a huge advantage they have over every other show is if they launch that show brand new tomorrow, would it have any traction at all?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Because it's almost like radio where it's so habit forming that there's such an older generation of people that have been watching that show for 20 plus years. Because I'll hear people talk about it like, hey, this is the only show I trust anymore. This is the only thing. There's all of this equity with that show, this buy-in for the show. And again, I'm the wrong person here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But when I catch it, there's never something where I go, oh, I hadn't thought of that NBA angle. Well, you're coming for the two guys. Right. It's because of their chemistry. It's because of their personality. But I don't expect Kornheiser to say something about the Oklahoma City Thunder that I never would have thought of. Because I doubt he's staying up late watching Thunder games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

So there's this buy-in with those two because of their personality, but also the habit-forming thing that you have with radio. And that's what I think is so different about that show. It's almost like this audio product that... benefited from being in one of the best slots that you could have because it was leading to the six o'clock that used to matter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And, you know, Curtis knows this, but one of the biggest things with audio is just habit. Like, why are you listening to that show? I don't know. I just like it on in the background. Oh, I throw it on in the car. And then you might not even like the person.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I had a matter, though. Sorry, I actually just want to ask her like people in my position can get really entitled about this stuff. I'm never going to work there again, but just that all of these landing spots exist for different people. You're like, how can they get rid of this? How could they get rid of all these shows? How are you getting rid of around the horn?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Well, I don't know why it's not fun because I think they're a lot of fun to watch. Just their aggressiveness. You look at the blocks. They have 14 blocks in today's game. San Antonio leads the league with six blocks per game. So there's just things that I've always noticed against Oklahoma City. If you screw around, if you wait around, you're just going to be in trouble.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

You know, why wouldn't they have done this? Why wouldn't they? Do you think ESPN ultimately got to the point? It's like, OK, first take, we get a half a million viewers. We actually kind of own this slot here. There's not there's like there's a ton of competition midday in sports from anybody else. Obviously, Fox tried to do that at some point that hasn't worked out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Do you think the right answer, even though on air people would never want to hear it, is that why do you have all of these resources and do a bunch of shows that for the most part, like there's not many of these shows are like killing it with the ratings.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Now that they've rolled out this double big thing they're doing with Chet, experimenting with that, and then they bring Chet back in. Watching Phoenix play against Denver in comparison to watching Oakley's seat, it was, hey, do you want to sit up here, Jokic? Do you want to get a catch here? Do you want to be able to just turn and face the defense without any kind of pressure on you whatsoever?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I used to watch the MLB trade deadline stuff. Like I had a job in a front office. I would, I worked at night, so I wasn't really taking a day off or disrupting my normal routine, but I would sit there with a notepad and I would have my scouting books that I bought from borders and I have baseball America ready to go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And I would just sit there being like, Oh my God, that's that lefty who, you know, he was just incredible against the Cardinals gave him up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Did you see a split to Chattanooga? This is incredible. I love those shows. And I love that you had a moment where you got to feel it in real time. But I just wonder if anybody's going to that anymore.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

If they're thinking I need to throw on a studio show, like I still love the NBA trade deadline stuff because it's my every day, but I don't, I don't know if I would go to it with the same anticipation. And look, it's funny. gammons could make up 25 years ago and i was entertained i was all in i'm like you know we've already talked about my attraction to diamond notes in the past but

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I just wonder if it moves too fast now where the value of the Woj stuff and the Sham stuff was making sure you had their Twitter feed. Like, I wonder if Elon, although Elon's been busy, should he actually suspend Insider's accounts that are only reporting breaking news a minute after somebody else has? Because I've noticed a lot of that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Is it worth it just to stay in the game to be like, I didn't break this. Fuck it. Sources confirm. And then, like... has that replaced the immediacy, the need, you know, it would be great.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

It'd be great if there were three or four people out there that I felt like I trusted to put the work in, maybe a Zach Lowe, obviously a wind horse with all of his sources, somebody that's good at both the information and being good in a studio and stuff. Like I still love that stuff. And I would watch that stuff. I'm not taping with you during the trade deadline, but,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Will we miss it, though? Because I've thought about that with podcasting and radio. I did some interview where I thought, well, look, the Luca trade is a perfect example. Luca trade happens. Bill and I were with Mahoney 10 minutes later. So we're replacing the live part of it. But I do wonder... if there's, and I think I'm wrong.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And Jokic was great in the first quarter. I don't know how much the elbow injury played into him missing his free throws on top of everything else. But there's just not a lot of room. There's not a lot of time. and you just cannot screw around against the Thunder. So I don't know why it wouldn't be fun because SGA, okay, is he not as fun as Ant? All right, fine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think I'm wrong to wonder if there's ever a moment moving forward where people go, you know what I kind of miss is just knowing this show was live and they were acting in the moment because I think it's all replaced.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But see, I like that you brought up the wind horse thing because at that point you're thinking, all right, who could actually be on TV that I would want to hear from, okay, that I know is going to have something that I don't know? Not that you or I are at the same level of reporters or whatever, but I think we're probably pretty good on it, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

If Luca gets traded, you and I are going to be able to explore this space.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

The beauty of a Windhorst, which seems to be where all of this is moving away from, is that I know in those few minutes he's going to kill it. And he's going to have something the rest of us don't have. And he also had that rant

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

During the playoffs last year, which he also said after he did the rant, nobody actually came to him to be like, hey, you're taking you would have thought somebody would have gone, hey, leave our guy alone. Even if Windhorse was right, which it was. And so Windhorse had all of these awesome moments in that spot that I fear we're going to lose forever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Like his approval rating would he, after that, it was like, everybody's like, I love this guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But I mean, this guy's on an absolute tear.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

The final thing I would say as we kind of go through this is that I've always said, I just think we have a hard time with new. We have a really hard time with new, maybe even more so in the NBA. Like when's the last time something was new, a team that hadn't won a championship players that hadn't won a championship where you thought, you know what, I'm all in on this team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Have I ever gone to it?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

No, we never did it. Ever? McShay was trying to get me to go and do it, like, kind of before I think he had done his own thing. I think last year he'd asked me, hey, do you have any interest? But it just, it hits at a really bad time. Like, it's just when the basketball cranks up. I mean, I'm pretty sick of football at that point. Yeah. And so I think from... Needed to decompress.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, I think from a networking standpoint, it's really great if you have anything going on in the media because everybody's just kind of around. You're making a lot of contacts and everything. But... I don't know, man. I can get a little selfish about my schedule.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

That's pretty cool. I put Bill on a thread with my college roommate, which is incredible.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Every time there's a text, I'm excited about it. It's great. Because the Boston guys, because he's not from Boston, but the Boston guys are like... Bill's on a thread with you and Walsh. I went, yeah. Like, how did that happen? I go, yeah, it's, it's rarefied, rarefied air with all this stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Cause for me, it's been a long time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

He'd probably struggle a little bit. I think if you just dropped him in the time machine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, I think they go under the screens 33% first career from the floor. But I don't know if it's because of the Holy Cross thing because of my family. Obviously, you went to Holy Cross, but there was a version of events where I was going to go there. My family on my father's side loves Holy Cross. So there's just this absolute admiration for Koozie. Veneration.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, it's just, you know, there was this wasn't a bad word spoken about Bob Cousy my entire upbringing. Right. And so then once you get Internet access and you start digging through it, you're like, what? What the fuck is this? But that's where I think this is becomes a real mistake. His rookie year was 75 fucking years ago. OK, so like the game was a little different. But they ran up and down.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

They shot it immediately. And he was the best point guard of his generation for a really long time. If you want to get into the Oscar Robertson stats thing and all that kind of stuff. And yes, the team was always better. And there was just a different element of what sports were back then because they were able to keep the team together. And Red was just better than everybody else. I just...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think it's entirely unfair to look at his shooting splits and the fact that he dribbled with one hand and then dump all over the guy when his rookie year was 1950-51. I mean, can we, can we, is that okay?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Will we see it again, Rossella? I just don't know that you can survive having somebody that you can just ignore. Whether it's a big... I mean, you can have a non-shooting center, but it puts you at a disadvantage. You could have a non-shooting point guard, but it just puts you at a disadvantage. So I think you're just looking for shooting at all five positions the entire time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Rondo, at his best, was... Was terrific, but he still was thinking, you know, kind of went under the screen. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I also thought there was something with Rondo that that took away. I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I don't want to turn this into a Rondo criticism, but when he would scream for the outlet every single time, I think there were times where it was like he wanted to be in charge of the possession. He's drive some of the other guys crazy. He's like the guy who has wanted to drive on the cross country trip. Yeah, that's fine. Go ahead. You can drive. I'll be back here studying. I don't know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think the Koozie, I think guys that get really nasty about Koozie, I just want to be like, can you pick something else to be upset about?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But, uh, I was thinking about that though, when, when I was, you know, look, cause he was just such a legend from the area that we're from. So maybe people aren't really understanding it, but when they used to be on the broadcast, uh, they would kill players, okay? Kill players. Could not care less. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And if there was an opposing guy that stunk and had a big... I remember there was this guy for the Nets who like went for 30 or something against the Celtics and Kuzi would just be like, I've never seen this. You know, he...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

i can't even do the accent it's so it's so tough but it was just like this guy's never done anything his whole life like what is this and it was kind of funny like coming off of last week about the positive negative stuff of it there is no broadcast you could talk studio shows and you know whatever we saw from first take at different times and in the nastiness that he can get to and be like how different is this from other times the broadcasts

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

you are not going to hear anyone criticized in an NBA broadcast, especially a national broadcast. But even the home broadcasts are just so positive about the home team, they don't really have that much time to even be negative. I mean, look, the fouls, it's all homerism. We get it. Back then, they would just destroy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Like, it almost, you'd look forward to a koozie game because it was going to be so unhinged and funny.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think the Walton stuff, though, was just the theatrics of it. that maybe didn't play as well on a weekend afternoon where i just remember there would be like a turnover and be like that's gonna be the worst that's terrible the worst pass of poo richardson's career poo richardson you just be like i don't know it's 67 64 a lot of time left in this one

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I just think Van Gundy was the best to have done it on the NBA. And I thought there was a huge gap after him because even no matter what was happening, people got really annoyed with the Breen, Mark Jackson, Van Gundy thing because people were like, oh, it's like a podcast or whatever. But sometimes... Within the game, it's okay to stay with a talking point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

The real chemistry is knowing when Breen needs the room to do play-by-play to get you through the stuff that matters, but then finding a way to circle back to the talking point. And then if you've got a blowout with that group, then again, it turns into, oh, they're doing a podcast again. Um, and maybe it was a little too negative on the NBA stuff, but at least I felt like it was authentic.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And then Van Gundy would have a moment that he would pick up that nobody else would pick up. He would, he would just pick up these little things that was happening within the game. It just meant that he knew every little detail of why is this guy, why is he coming in here?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Sub here, like Van Gundy would give you a couple of those moments that I just don't know that anybody else has given you enough consistently. I really like Richard. I know it's tough because he's coming into an already established thing with Doris and Breen, but, um, I don't know. I think they'll be fine. I really do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I know three-person's hard.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

The guys today are great, by the way. Passion and Legs are terrific.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Legs has a lot of moments in games where he is on it. Like, he is seeing some of the stuff that I'm talking about. There was a game... I forget. I think it might've been a Phoenix game or something, but he basically had figured out like this coverage isn't working. He goes, look for them to bring two on this next one and try to meet him on the catch. And he just, he predicted the future.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

It was perfect. And the next possession of the thing that the team was running on the catch, the other team brought two defenders. And I just, I just think that's really important stuff. Like just give me a couple of those, you know, just a couple of game that,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

tells me that you know because you played or because you coach or you've spent your life in the sport there's going to be a couple moments that i may not be picking up on all this stuff because i think even tv sometimes at home i can find myself like losing track of some of the stuff you're like oh i didn't realize that they they haven't contested or this is the guy that they're ignoring as you're trying to keep track of all the stuff that's happening in the game the big moment stuff i

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think you're right. I think football needs it a little bit more. That overhead shot of a stadium, 100,000 people, people losing their minds. I think that's why Musburger lasted as long as he did. I think Brent would be the first. He even admitted it in some of the interviews. He's like, I stick to last names. He almost wanted to find a way to be more efficient and limit the bad shots. But...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

When it was Saturday night and it was a big college football matchup and you heard Musburger bring you in, it just sounded right, even if he might screw up a third down. Because I think there's some football guys that if I'm really paying attention, I'm like, is this guy screwing up all the time or whatever? But I don't know that we care.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I think part of it is, is it a voice that I feel familiar with? And it's hard to become that. You just have to keep getting all those opportunities. But I think that's a big reason why they went back to Musburger later in his life, because it felt right when that camera shot opened up and the first voice we heard was his.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah. Rosilla, what do you care about this week? Did your dad text you that they could, he could kind of understand why they traded Luca after watching him up and down the court.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I love how dumb we all are. Like, he couldn't just go, oh, I didn't know they were going to pay me this. Yeah, let's go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

But instead, they have to craft something. Like, as if he was sitting around being like, you know, really love this place.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I mean, the spikes every year, it's gone up like seven, eight. It went up 14% one year and 24. It went up 13% against the previous year. So the salary cap for 2025 is 279. In 2015, it was 143. So the cap has almost doubled in 10 years.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

And so every time you're structuring these contracts, and by the way, there's another lesson in there too, is like, why are you waiting to do any extension with anybody like a Jamar Chase or like a Micah Parsons? Like, get it over with. Do your quarterback early.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

So a lot of the times too, when you see the quarterback numbers come out and you're like, that guy's getting paid that much and it's that guaranteed, you go, dude, year four of this deal is It's going to look like a steal based on percentage of the salary cap. So we talked about some of the NFL NBA part of it. I don't know that that's ever addressed enough.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

You can't really be in cap hell anymore in the NFL.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I'm not saying it's impossible, but if you were to look at these projections and where the cap is ultimately going in the NFL, there's just more leeway.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

On top of the other cap rule with the NFL that I don't know that anybody ever really talks about, like carrying over some of that cap space, which we've always talked about with the NBA, because the NBA cap thing that I hate is that depending on when your rookies are due their extensions, you can have this cap room window

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

and then you have to spend it on somebody that you probably don't want to, and then it ends up that everybody's spending way too much on a free agent signing, the non-tier one guys, just because you're hoping somebody takes your cap space because all that cap space disappears just because the rookies have a raise.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

In the NFL, sure, there's part of that with the quarterback, or maybe you nail it with an all-pro guy who's a non-quarterback and some of that stuff, but looking at how much this cap has taken off, it fixes a lot of problems for teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

17 years? Can you imagine if NBA GMs are allowed to do that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Yeah, because I think when you look at his three-point shooting, even though he didn't hit any today, it didn't really matter. That was maybe the final piece of him being this unstoppable scorer. But he's... You're right, though.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Whenever you think about the polarizing part of who we talk about, whether it's the Lakers being at the top, you know there's just going to be a lot of people that don't like the Lakers. There's obviously going to be a lot of people that don't like Boston.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Maybe Cleveland falls in this category a little bit, but maybe there's a little bit more hesitation on what Mitchell is, even though what I would always defend with Mitchell is say what you want about some of the playoff exits. At least you know that his ceiling is these legendary playoff performances where he can just go for 45 and take over a game. And he has zero fear with Boston.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Did you know he passed Jordan, by the way, for most points per game against the Celtics in franchise history? Seriously? Yeah. He's ahead of Jordan now. Wow. With that game, with that comeback. Jesus. Two Fridays ago. Yeah. So I think you're right because there's nothing to hate. If anything, people be like they might be a little boring. Yeah. Which is maybe part of the problem.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Right. I do not find them boring. I mean, think about how deep this team is. Granted, it's one game, but they shut everybody down, right, for this game. And, you know, I don't know if they did it strategically knowing they had Denver back-to-backs here. Maybe everybody was due. They play...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Jalen Williams, the Arkansas Jalen Williams, Usman Jang, Kenrich Williams, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins goes for 30. All those guys played 30 minutes. You know, Brandon Carlson's playing 14. And they beat Portland by 20. So this team, it's probably the worst if there was an expansion draft. Presley would be like, God damn it. Yeah, you're right. I'm so impressed with them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

If you look at them night to night, they seem to kind of figure out what you're trying to do. Even the zone possessions, they did a good job against SGA slowing him down a little bit. Eventually, great players are going to kind of figure out your zone. Denver has really no perimeter matchup for SGA on top of everything else.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

Maybe the SGA free throw things upset people, but he's number one in drives. He's averaging 21 drives per game, 15 points per game off those drives, which is three more than Zion, who has great drive numbers considering his minute totals. And there's plenty of guys that hunt free throws that I can get frustrated with over the course of the game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

SGA vs. Jokic, Celts-Lakers, and the State of NBA Media With Ryen Russillo and Bryan Curtis

I don't even know that I find him as frustrating as some of the other people. I just think he's that hard to defend because of the size. So it really comes down to the number two guy. Is there a number two guy that you trust enough in the playoffs for them to get through four rounds? And I think there's still enough people out there that maybe doubt if Jalen Williams is that guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

remember oh i do i remember i got a couple phone calls yeah i don't know so i i don't know how minnesota you know i would have thought they were a healthy favorite in this one other than maybe the public yeah minus 166 on fandle right now because but that's factoring in they're almost definitely going to win game one i would assume they're just going to have what's the line in the game

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It's funny. When you play really high-level defense and you're just called a two-way player, and I think there's an argument to be said that he's actually still a one-way player because there's not a lot of offense there. I'd say the layups, it's almost in his head a little bit. We saw some of it in Game 6 where he had... probably a better opportunity to just go at it and then see what happens.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And then when you start contorting, when you start doing this stuff on the labs, I mean, plenty of guys screwed up trying to play for contact or whatever. And then he's always good for a few passes or like where, because some of the, some of them are, you know, look, he's a great pastor. He's, he's one of the best passing kind of like hybrid guys, uh,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

of his era, but there's also some passes, I think, as he's gotten a little bit older, where it's like, man, you were really forcing that one in there, or he's just like swinging it to guys. It's like, did you think you had an angle on any of that stuff? So look, all of that, the offensive side, whatever you get from him is a plus. He wasn't on the ball in this game tonight much at all.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

There wasn't a lot of playmaking Draymond stuff, if anything, because it always felt like they were playing five against four when Draymond had the ball. There just wasn't a lot of room for him to find some of the stuff that he maybe would normally do in a regular season game. But defensively, to have to go up against and just look, we know he's a tough guy. We know he's strong as hell.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I think there's probably a Shingun conversation if he's a little bit more polished and a little bit more aggressive, even though he's incredibly skilled. I felt like tonight's a disappointing Shingun game because there's so many possessions where you're like, dude, you had just all you had to do was be big and go to the rim. You had to switch.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, like just just go for Draymond to hold up when he's battling Adams and Shingun as much as he was for those minutes. And him not getting a foul trouble tonight was a huge part of it, because then Steve didn't. I don't know. I call him Steve. But why Kerr didn't have to kind of manage his minutes at all.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Poor Mark Davis did a Christian Brown one. He called him Christian Braun. Oh, yeah. If you're him, you're going to be thinking like, man, I've been in the league a few years.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

That's what his gravity is like, though, even if he's not playing. He's just in a building.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Just even street clothes gravity? Yeah. Well, I think it's at least worth mentioning because when I think of like we get to these points, the playoffs where if you don't like somebody and you have a platform, there's a really good chance that the guy you don't like gets eliminated and then you just get to say that the guy sucks.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, it's almost this video game where there's just different tiers of like all you're trying to navigate is a way to get to saying the guy you don't like sucks. And the chances like the odds are in your favor that you'll get to say it about certain players. And my contention has always been like some players are really great and they're great in elimination games and they still lose.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And when Steph doesn't have any points up until the very end of the first half, I'm watching it going, well, this is going to turn into one of those moments where when everything that's happening offensively. There's a few possessions where he just doesn't have it on cuts, but the Buddy Heald left side first half three, and Van Gundy called it out. They ran Steph through.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Everybody shifted to the right side, and then Buddy's fine. And then there's a Draymond drive on the left side where they run Steph through everything. Everybody, it's like a wave of people just going to his side. So by him just being active, because I think there's a lot of stars in those spots, especially a little bit older, are just so frustrated. They're not going to cut.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You know, they're, they're probably going to put up a few more shots just to say, at least I took a few. And he, he really wouldn't even take the bad shots if he felt like it wasn't a good look.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I guess I don't feel like you should have to defend the guy anymore at 37 years old, and I'm not picking them in the next round. So this has been kind of nice. Oh, you're getting off? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So he called one at 942 when he didn't like it immediately and he wanted to get Butler back in the game. And I love that timeout because I do think, especially in this game where it was low scoring, there have been games in the past where you're watching a coach and he wants to make the substitution and then they don't have a stoppage. He doesn't want to burn the timeout.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And you're like, okay, but what's more valuable? This timeout, which again, I'd always want to have one in my back pocket, especially in an inbound in a close game. But There's also some math of, okay, we just went three possessions on offense without this guy. And in game six, where Detroit beat New York, Brunson left the game, and then he went to go to the scores table at about two minutes left.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Game five, you mean? Yeah, excuse me, game five, right, because they eliminated him in six. So game five, when Detroit won, And granted, they were dealing with a Brunson situation that isn't normal. But Tibbs is thinking clearly he's going to get some kind of stoppage in there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And when I was watching him, like you, you just gave up multiple offensive possessions with him at the scores table because you didn't want to call a timeout to get the guy in there. And really, when you think of the game and how close it was and who Brunson is.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. So it doesn't happen very often, but I'm with you, especially on that one at 942. I have one other big storyline from this game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

10 years from now, probably not much, but it is not exactly on par with my favorite Steph game of all time in 2019, scoreless in the first half, and then 23 in the third quarter, so it goes for over 30 in the second. It's probably my favorite Steph game. But yeah, he wasn't getting it done. He was making other plays.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Well, I think the way it's discussed, I would say you're right. I resist all of that, though. I think that's the dumbest shit you can do when you start planning based on like, hey, we won a first round matchup, but we lost in the second round. So if we had lost in the first round, we would approach our team entirely differently.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I would try to figure out a way to move some of these younger pieces because you have so many. There's younger guys that have value that don't even play. And I think the damning part of this series is the Jalen Green conversation.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Well, I think there's a real conversation because the highs, whether it was the end of two years ago, which I always call the Gerald Green season, when Shingun was out, he was so good. I felt like he turned a corner. I felt like the light was kind of going off with him in some of his playmaking. And then, you know, he's had his moments. We know what you can do scoring wise.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Certainly his movement alone opens up other things for other people, but when a men Thompson...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But, you know, the game when he had 38, it's like, see, you know, everything's fine. Everything's fine. Well, that was the aberration. I mean, he had seven, nine, eight, 11, 12 and eight in the other six games. That's that's not just like, hey, he's young. And and I know this is early. And yes, he is young and all this stuff. But like a man clearly needs to be the priority here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

for him around whatever they do with van vliet whatever they do with brooks so green is taking away shot opportunities from men next season that's getting in the way of his development because you know again a man isn't even like fully formed and just some of his reads his aggression his confidence and jalen's just kind of this wild card guy who drives and the decisions aren't great and

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

couldn't contest on that three point to the right side like the first thought is like he actually got an open look against the men like it actually happened and then we realized it was a continuation of the calf injury they had on that layup attempt and so i think if you're a houston fan you're probably not going to remember this in 10 years but at least this week you're wondering how the game goes if a man is able to just stay in there because it was

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

you know, if they had made it, I would have thought all of these things, by the way, if they had won this series. If they had made it, to your point, you wonder if they go, okay, hey, we took a step forward as an organization and, you know, a couple things break our way or whatever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I would be really, really aggressive about adding to whoever you're keeping here and trying to get out there in the market. Because we're talking about Giannis, who's never lower than third best in the world in the conversation. And you wouldn't do a men for him. You would say, hey, I'm sorry.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Okay, so if it's a bidding war, because if we're doing any kind of Giannis conversation... You can't put Thompson in the deal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I have it up in front of me right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

No, because you would still hope for like the unknown of hitting on somebody to cause control of the whole thing. Where are you as a team? Like, I wonder if Miami, but what would Miami be able to offer that would make sense? You know, is there some three team thing where Miami goes, you know, we'll bring him in here and we're in transition anyway. And we still think he's a really talented guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Cause I think we have seen that talent, but this is a really, and if you're doing local Houston radio this week, You know, it's a bummer of a Jalen Green conversation because now he's just in a men's way. If you bring him back next year, he's just in his way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

That was honestly, I think one of the most defensively challenged series that I've seen from Steph in his career. And granted he's older now too, but it was just a grind to even get open looks.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I still hold out some hope for him, but he also showed that the handle thing's a real problem in this series. You know, and Steph had a defensive play against him on the left side in the baseline where Jabari's like, all right, I'm ready to start going to work. And like Steph knew he couldn't dribble. So he just stayed straight up with him and he held up great against him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

and he had another play i think it was in game six where he like went to kind of create on his own i was like damn it you know because i i really like him and i'm with you i think there's a role for him where he's playing 30 plus minutes a night and he's hitting threes and he's playing really good defense and all that kind of stuff even though steph got him on a switch she was so happy to get him on a switch and not have it be a man on that layup in the second half but

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

The only thing I would say about the amend thing is if it's a bidding war, which I don't know why it would be that, right? Giannis has to go to them and say, I'm good, but then also feel free to send me anywhere. That doesn't really seem to be the way any of this stuff works for stars. It's not just open for Milwaukee to decide where they want to send them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So if Houston's not necessarily bidding against anybody and they put together a sexy package, then you're right. They shouldn't have to throw them in there. But if it's somehow turned into there's four or five teams involved in this, Um, you know, then it becomes the kind of conversation of like, really, you wouldn't include in men in there for somebody who's as good as Giannis.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

If you label it just as the two losing to the seven, I think you're losing sight of how ridiculous the Western playoffs were. Yeah. So other years you'd be like, well, what a huge disappointment because they were on the cusp of it. It fall apart a little bit at the end of the season because they were one of these great stories.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And for two years now, they've been one of our favorite teams to watch because all these guys and wondering how it's all going to shake out. I still feel like the entire season is a, is a positive. I know it hurts right now, but it's positive. And you lost the staff, you know, you lost the staff, you lost the words. The history is terrible.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

As you mentioned now with this group, this warriors group going against this franchise. So, Even though it's the 2-7, I would throw the 2-7 part of this out because all of these teams, 2 through 7, were really close.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Thank you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So the game seven stuff is crazy too. Like NBA history, we grew up with that 80 plus percent chance of winning at home. And now is it nine of the last 13 road teams have won?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It's absurd. You know who didn't win yesterday? It was the Clippers. Oh, wait. So, yeah, it might be nine of the last 14.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

By the way, I think you're right. I think you're right because, you know, I think that's why we didn't see Quentin Post a lot because even though the idea of him is a stretch five to try to pull one of those bigs away, I think Houston was thrilled every time Quentin Post ended up taking a three in a playoff series.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And almost all of these were high leverage moments. And when you factored in when he was at the rim for rim protection, you know, a man's like, this is unbelievable. I think Post still doesn't know what a man did on him on that drive a couple games ago. So I think Peyton was probably one of those guys. The ball ended up in his hands a little bit too much. Post was one of those guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So now they weren't really even options tonight. And by the way, I know that in the regular season series, Golden State has the 3-1 advantage. The last time they played, double-checking it, was January 15th. I feel like Minnesota closed as the healthiest version of themselves and was still just a weird team because three of the games were in December.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You know what's really funny is everyone from Minnesota has played in this. Has what? Played in the four regular season games. Is that true? You just looked that up? I knew it was going to happen because you're right. Your general point is right. There it is. There's the 5%. But see, there's just a lot of times, whether it's who played, because Draymond missed a couple.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So Golden State has a 3-1 edge. But I don't know that you can look... And this is the thing I always struggle with every single year is... So you're watching Golden State, and they have this great closing stretch, okay? Houston felt like they competed throughout the entire year, so those felt real, like a closing month. If you'll give me a month.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

The Clippers felt like a real closing month. Okay, well, does that mean that that was all misleading? Because Denver went into it as the worst defensive team in the playoffs. The Timberwolves closing the way they closed felt real. That's why I picked them, and also just because I felt like, how is no one... picking them. This isn't that daunting to go up against Los Angeles.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

This isn't even a LeBron thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

We're getting updates on injuries. We're like, hey, the normal time frame for this Michael Porter Jr. shoulder thing would be four to five weeks. He looked great in game seven.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

They did it with Austin Reeves. They did it with LeBron. So LeBron's not the only one. We've got like a first team of he would have been out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Please do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It looks like footage from some sort of like pharmaceutical ad. Right. during the commercials or you just go, if you're experiencing growth on your right thumb. He got stung by a stingray in Cabo. Although, I'm Chris Finch watching the tape of this series being like, are we also not going to get called for anything off the ball with Steph like this series?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

When they called the off ball on Shingun, Kerr, he may just run that on a loop and they'll have like a celebratory dinner and just be like, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It was only round one, but I think we should all get together as an organization, cake and champagne, that there was actually a foul called on Steph at some point in the series. Because it was un...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It's going to be one of the most disrespectful star whistles. And I know the off-the-ball stuff is just never policed the same way. I just thought at some point the rest might be like, let's call one of these early to see if they... I didn't know you were allowed to bear hug somebody off the ball.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

If you're wrestling with your younger brother and he's just weaker than you, unless it sucks and he's just Kyle Long and you're Chris Long, but you hold your brother's arms out and you're like, not necessarily making him hit himself in the face, but you're just holding his arms and there's nothing he can do and the wrist control and all this stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

There was one play where Van Fleet had both of Steph's wrists. As he was trying to like get off of some sort of screen, they were setting off the ball and he was holding both of his arms.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I'm glad they won so that it doesn't sound like it's it's making excuses.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

If Minnesota can get away with that. But they also have one of the least respected stars whistle wise and Ant. But it's for different reasons because Ant plays to avoid doesn't play to contact like Luca plays to contact. Some of these guys are really smart, like knowing Brunson. Hey, if I just play into the contact, like it's going to go my way. Ant is so dynamic that he's avoiding everybody.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And everybody's just in awe of his athleticism. And I think a lot of the stuff with Steph is he's not going to get the foul calls because they're not just traditional drives towards the hoop. Granted, if he's fouled on three point attempt, that's different. But the off the ball stuff with him in a playoff series and good for the defense for getting away with it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But it when you really lock into it and watch it for a few possessions, you just go, dude, I can't believe somebody wouldn't want to retire. Like this is this is what I do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

No, you've been on it more. I know that I'm labeled as more dismissive, but today was tremendous.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Okay. Now I'm going to, I'm not going to you guys you here, but there's something with the gambling world that I actually get annoyed with. Did you pick the Pacers to just win the series though?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Right. But what happens if you pick the upset, but you put a ticket on a five to one payout or a 10 to one payout, then I've noticed, I don't know if it's you, but guys that I follow that are really into gambling would be like, well, you know, I picked him. And it's like, no, you picked the odds. You picked the value. Fair. You didn't pick it straight up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

We were talking about what's real, right? As teams close out after the all-star break before, let me just do it this way. Before the all-star break, the Pacers are 21st in defense in the NBA. After the all-star break, they were eighth. So the thing about them that always bothered me against another talented team was you're just going to be able to score against them whenever you want to.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And last year's playoff run, that was still true. There were injuries against teams they faced. We've covered all of this stuff. But if you want to look at a team where you go, hey, something's a little different there. Now, I don't know if the Cleveland closing numbers for that team are as relevant because they were at such a ridiculous pace through so much of the season.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

They knew they weren't going to lose the one seed. I felt like a lot of the Cleveland games I watched, like, I don't know, maybe they're... They're still too new to feel like they're taking the foot off the gas. But it felt like that might have been a misleading closing part of it. But that Pacers defensive thing is real.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And I wondered also, too, like in the series against Milwaukee, I'm like, Carlisle is really going to play 10 or 11 guys. I think he put Ben Shepard in the game as the 11th guy in the first quarter of a playoff game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Who does that? And yet he played a ton of guys. Again today. So there's a lot of stuff that I really like from the Pacers today and the Garland part of it's totally true because as much as we both love Ty Jerome, he can't be taking 20 shots in a playoff game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You could argue three-point variance in this one, too. 19-36 for the Pacers, 9-38 for the Cavs. The alarming part about the film, if you were going to go back and watch this, the Pacers' shots were open the majority of this game. And part of that's Hal Burton's brilliance. I know people...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

he's a funny one too, because it's like, man, when he is really rolling, do you realize how special he is at breaking the paint, getting past the first defender? Then the help defender thinks that maybe he's giving up on his drive and then it's too late and he's already by you, but people are collapsing. He's finding open shooters all over the place.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I think he could have attacked even more if he wanted to today. Um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You know, a lot of open looks, um, Because you could tell when Cleveland cranked up its intensity and Atkinson did the in-game interview, he was almost sitting there like a fan going, this is awesome, isn't it? But he also felt better because Mitchell was just driving at will, which I think there's going to be a lot of that in there. Like Miles Turner being pulled away is a problem.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

They don't have any depth behind that against the two bigs for Cleveland, although Atkinson did separate those guys the way he normally would. But I was really, really impressed with the Pacers. And I don't know if it's just the three-point shooting. I don't know if it's that even though the Pacers are better than Milwaukee, this might have been a wake-up call for the Cavs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

That Heat series was about as garbage a series as you're ever going to see in the playoffs. Do you know that was the highest point differential ever in a four-game sweep? Really? That was the biggest point differential four-game sweep in NBA history. That's how disgusting that first-round series was against Miami. So you've got to wonder if Cleveland had a moment where like, holy shit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that one I watched where I think the league's letting guys change their pivot foot a little bit more than I ever remember.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

The backwards travel thing, I've never, and I guess it's legal, but I don't understand how that evolved into something. But look, everybody does it, so I'm not even making it specific to anyone. But Halliburton got Allen on one. Yeah, he got Allen on one of those. And then the drive where he like delayed it mid-drive and then went, that was straight. That was two steps.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

That wasn't even like an NBA two and a half or whatever. That was like a real drive. And it reminded me a bit of when... The Celtics. I can't believe you're not doing this and I'm doing it. But Tatum, I think the Celtics preferred Allen against Tatum in a switch because they like Tatum.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Look, it's just a lot to ask any seven foot guy, even as great defensively as some of these dudes are to hold up. That's what made that so special is it's just like, oh, you're going to switch into me. Like, what are you nuts? But Tatum likes that matchup because it's also pulling Allen away and everything else. And I'm with you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I thought Halliburton was in complete control every time he had the ball to the point where it was like, I think you guys could actually do this more. But the balance was so incredible from six guys tonight, including all the starters. I thought it was just off the charts impressive because then you blow the lead. Mitchell's going nuts, although he can't hit any threes. That place is on fire.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, Kaminga got out there, and he had some interesting possessions. So if you look at that with Moody, he only played 11 minutes in this game. Yeah, I mean, Draymond's 40 minutes, and he hit a couple shots early, but you just know offensively it's not necessarily something you can rely on. He had two shot clock threes in the second half. I think they're both in the fourth quarter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

The announcers are basically saying, hey, man. Greg Anthony's like, I think this is the loudest building I've ever been in for a playoff game. Yeah, so do I, Greg. To be on the road and blow, well, not blow, but you just expect that the Cavs are going to have some kind of fight in them and then still respond and close it out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

As impressive as a win is, I'm not going to say today, but I think it's just up there with anything else we've seen. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I feel like Kobe had everything. He splits the screen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

J.R. Ryder, maybe?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It was, it was 80 68 and he drove six straight possessions, just drove. And with him, uh, He's probably as good as anybody at splitting the two defenders, which is when Kobe... I think Kobe's probably the best I've ever seen at it. Wade always wanted to reject the screen a little bit more than you expect.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But with Mitchell, you don't even necessarily need... Sometimes you just screen to try to get people moving around and figure out where the help's going to be all this stuff. It's not as much as it is hunting the big all the time. But Mitchell, he can beat the guy off the dribble, and then he can beat the help defender. He can split a double.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You know, he can do anything that you really ask of him there. But if he is not going to hit his threes, you know, I mean, you don't expect him to shoot that poorly.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You're like, oh, my God, because there's all these plays where the entire defense is designed to we want it to end up in the wrong guy's hands. And if you're thinking of Houston and Ime's game plan and the players executing it, they actually executed it perfectly. You just don't expect Buddy Heal to go for 23 in the first half.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Carlisle, even though he plays a ton of guys, he knows what he's going to do over the course of a game. And then he can kind of figure out how he wants to close. Kerr doesn't know who he's going to close fourth quarters with. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, you like Jairus Walker.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

After that Minnesota run, yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Watch this. Doesn't that mean, isn't Thomas usually the 12th guy?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So if you don't have that second guy, even Jimmy is going to go a little bit slower. There's even a few moments with Jimmy before that outburst where you're like, Van Vliet got him on a turnover, and you're like, man, you've got Van Vliet ISOed. You've got to go with this guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I thought the Clippers were going to win the series. you know, back to that closing part of it. It's like, you realize how bad Denver is defensively. I didn't like their defensive options. And I think we're going to see those exploited again on the perimeter against the OKC team that has its shit together. Certainly more so than the Clippers do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You know, I watched the third quarter again this morning because you asked me to. And you're like, what happened to you guys? Like, I know they were kind of like trying to figure out how to like the done parts that were good defensively. Clearly, he was the guy that was getting exposed as they ignored him offensively. Yeah, I think Zoo is a great story this year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I thought Jokic fought him way better in game seven. than maybe you'd expect. There's some really good Jokic numbers as far as like defensively what the averages would be for the Clippers at the rim against everybody. And so, you know, that's the thing with him is he's at least positioned better.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And it was funny because, you know, he was just so bad defensively in that first half of the game they ended up winning. But, I have a lot on Harden if you want to do it. I just don't know that any... I have stuff specific to the third quarter, but it's just crazy to see the cycle of the Harden conversation happen all over again. It's like, who's even... What is the debate anymore?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

They didn't score a point for four-plus minutes until you had that Jimmy layup, then the threes, and then you had the review on the layup after Beal forced a turnover when Van Vliet pushed Butler, and that pretty much was the game. But it's incredibly frustrating for a Houston team that probably feels like they did a lot of things right tonight. But they ended up with six made threes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

At this point, I actually have sympathy for...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

He played, so I went through it, and I was really focusing on him. You knew it was bad. You can just tell. If you've watched it enough, you can tell. You can see it and go, uh-oh, this is a problem. His first actual shot of the game was about 55 seconds left to go in the first quarter. He had gotten free throws on that bullshit arm hook thing that he does at about the two-minute mark.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

He had let Watson get behind him after a make. There was no one else in the area other than just, I'll let a super athletic guy just kind of get behind me because whatever. He played the entire 12 minutes. I counted the number of times he actually got inside the three-point line. And I'm not talking like a foot over the line. I'm talking like got into the offense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Of all of their possessions in the third quarter, he stepped inside the three-point line three times. One was an atrocious lob attempt. There was another play where he was on the right side, and there was another one where he played for free throws. He was hoping to get fouled on this layup going back against Jamal Murray, and he lost it. So, all right, he doesn't want to shoot. Fine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

He doesn't want to move. Fine. I mean, he's standing by the ball. And they're killing him on defense. Right. He's standing on the ball arena logo, which is like by the coach's box. He just can't. There's one play where Kawhi gets totally shut off in the paint. He's like at the free throw line. He's at the paint. Denver scrambling on defense. And he looks to Harden.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

All Harden had to do was take two steps just to get there as a possible option to catch at the three-point line. And Harden couldn't even move in from the five feet there. There's something that happens with him where his regular season brain and his approach to dissecting everything... There is a speed difference.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

There's a process because obviously, look, Austin Rivers was just on with me last week saying he's one of the three smartest players he's ever played with. And I'll give it to him because you see the moments where he's diagnosing everything that's going to happen and how the help and which matchup makes more sense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But there is something that happens to him when he is in these high leverage moments. that he's just clearly uncomfortable. So it's like, okay, you don't want to shoot. You don't want to move. Can you at least be positioned somewhere? The Aaron Gordon tip in. He just lets him just step right in front of him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

That Sixers series against the Celtics a few years ago, he saved their ass a couple of those games early on. And as somebody who's been well-positioned on this, like, I remember being on SportsCenter 10 years ago going, yeah, something's wrong here. And... You know, people were like, oh, he had a concussion. It was like that Spurs series. Remember? Yeah. And you're just like, what?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Three of those were garbage time. So over the course of the game being competitive, a team that averaged 11 threes per game, games one through six, had three. So technically they had six in this one. But when you and I were talking this morning, it's almost like,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You think he has a concussion? So that's that's what happened. It's like, OK, what about this year? What about this year? What about the Warriors series? What about the 18 closeout game? What about the 19 closeout? Like it just goes on and on and on. And I don't I don't know why it keeps happening, but it's like, OK, so you don't want to shoot like whatever it is. You're not comfortable at least.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Do something else. And I think it's a really good lesson in the first half tonight of where Steph is struggling and nothing is easy and he can't get an open look. And it's like, okay, but there's still a bunch of other ways I can impact this game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Buddy healed, even though less is expected of him, took on the Van Vliet role that we've seen in the last few games because that was a huge difference. We can talk big lineups, rebounding edge, second chance points, points to paint. All these things are real things. But Van Vliet was playing out of his mind for three straight games in the series.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I wasn't even, you know, the reason it used to get, me more passionate was because what he was doing in the regular season, people were like, you know, putting these numbers up there going like, look at this. I mean, top five MVP or top three MVP finishes like five straight years. Maybe it was top four finishes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And so when you look at those stretches, you start going like, okay, where's this guy going to end up? And without the ring, you know, we're pretty resistant to let you hang out at that top tier neighborhood, but make the finals.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, look, I think the other thing that we learned through those years, too, is that that's where the usage part of it comes in. It's an entire season is dedicated to you having the ball every single minute to like absurd historic levels. And you're putting up all these points like that's cool.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, is that going to translate? Is that going to be the best thing? I mean, again, I don't mean to bring up the Westbrook stuff because he was great. He was great in the elimination game. Tons of energy. Good for him. But there was this regular season thing that was happening in those OKC games that once it got into the playoffs, you're like, oh, so now we don't just stand around?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

and wait for him to do something because Westbrook had such an advantage because of how athletic he was. And Harden had the statistical advantage because he was going to make threes. He's terrific. If you send help, he's terrific on the lobs. He lives at the free throw line. So like those prime years for him would give him the profile of somebody really, really special.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And I figured at some point he would probably just have a great elimination game because he was fucking due. Yeah. This is over a decade, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Even when they beat OKC in 20 before they lost the Lakers in five, he was 4-15, one of nine from three.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And you could see from the first drive where he had to make a decision with the ball. You're like, Oh, he, I don't think he kind of know right away. Yeah. And this is a series where he had 45 in game one and won the overtime game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

He was awesome. When Embiid wasn't even, I think it missed one of those games, right? Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. The bench for the comeback is one of the all times.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But see, that's what's so crazy is all of these other games, for the most part, I mean, granted, you can argue Embiid's importance in the 23 series. The funniest thing, too, is because I'm looking through the game log, too. When they swept Brooklyn... In the game four closeout, he was 418 in 40 minutes. He was, you know, like they didn't need him, obviously, because they swept that Nets team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But I at least felt with this one, because I knew when I had said it, I'm like to pick. And it wasn't like I was picking Harden against Jokic, because really it's about Kawhi and it's about Zubats and it's about the team. It's about how great they had been defensively. And it felt like they had really figured some of this stuff out. I'm not, I don't even know who was left to argue with.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I mean, you could find somebody over the years. There was always people from Houston arguing about this stuff all the time. You're just like, all right, cool, man. Like whatever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Okay. And I think to be fair to Harden, you've got to admit that they unloaded the clip in game six and then to turn around and play in game six.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

He's playing in altitude. I get it. I would not lead my show with this today because if he were 30 and he were the number one option and get MVP votes, then I would be like I was a few years ago. But I I'm pointing to the stuff that's frustrating because it's like, all right, if you don't have the offensive part of it doesn't mean you don't have to do any of the other stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You just decide I'm going to stop moving. But I'm again, like I said, I'm more sympathetic this time around because he's not the number one option. He's not in the MVP conversation. I mean, he might make all NBA, but they really they really needed him, though.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

They needed a catalyst. If he was spent, he's played this game long enough. He needed to figure out a way to be like, okay, I'm going to, I'm like, dude, it looks like he's saving himself the entire time he's out there, but be calculated about what your team needs from somebody who's been in this many playoff games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And, you know, you want to wonder if Ty Lou is watching this going, do we need them out there for all 12 minutes?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And the grandkids come to visit. Yeah. And they go, Pop Pop, tell us about James.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Do it in a grandfatherly voice if you could.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I'm pushing back on this. I agree with Carmelo. I think he's an incredibly likable guy, but Carmelo doesn't have the failures at the highest moments. Like this is like not making fun of the Broncos before Elway.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But I think you're missing my point, is that failing consistently with this many eyes on you later, those Warriors failures, everybody missing threes. I mean, even though he had 30 in the closeout game at 18. Two for 13 from three. Yeah, I don't know that you felt great about him necessarily in that game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, if you go through the Carmelo thing, because I used to argue with Knicks fans that turned on him big time. They ended up really turning on him. I think it's that Pacers series, speaking of the Pacers again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But if you go through all of Carmelo's playoff exits, and I promise, I don't know how many people would actually do it, more often than not, the team they were going up against, you weren't going to pick that Carmelo's team to beat that team. I think there's a Jazz series in there maybe, or the records were pretty even.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Game four, maybe with Harden. Cause that's what I like to remember about Jim. Well, Jim Harden. Down 115, 113. Sixers need it. Harden, three-pointer, wins it in overtime. I think he ended up with, what, 42 in that game?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Are they going to have the option to overreact? And I would say this is just the headline to all of this offseason stuff that I want to get into with you that I know you're excited about, but just in general. When you look at the free agent list, it's terrible. Okay.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You're right. That's the exciting part of it. There's a really exciting version of this summer for the NBA. But more often than not, like history tells us, it's not just all of a sudden every GM's like, let's just get wild with this and start changing our dudes and we'll just keep running back. So the fact that you have Kawhi under contract for two more years at $50 million...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

you know everything still kind of revolves around him because i don't even know what the market would be for him and as you pointed out they're not like they can't just like tear this whole thing and necessarily start all over i don't know if harden's gonna opt out because of the over 38 rule if they extend him like is he probably thinking in the back of his head this league still owes him money because of the philadelphia thing i just think he's gotta opt in at the 36th

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But he could opt out and go, fine. You can't do that again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

No, but if he already understands, like, all right, how about I figure out a way to give us, because I think last season was, you know, they were smart about the Paul George thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I'm talking about opting out of the player option of $36 million and then doing a three-year extension and then having the number be less each year. So it's like, okay, James, why don't we do it this way? And maybe there's more flexibility. But they've done a good job of kind of resetting the financial restrictions here because depending on... the options and who they want to keep around here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But you seem to be completely either not being with me on this Harden thing at all. Do you not understand just opting out and taking a less average annual salary for a couple more years?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Well, I know we didn't make a compelling case of wanting to be in a long-term relationship with him the last few minutes, but I don't know what their options are.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I don't think they have a lot of options though.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

What if he says, I'll opt out, I'll do three years, 70 million?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

That's what I'm talking about. Would he do that? Do you think he would... What do you think he signs for after another year? He'll be 37 that summer. Do you think he's making $30 million a year?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Just silence. I want to read that on The Athletic. The flight home.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

We're landing in Barstow, by the way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

think it's one of those guys you have to find your own way home denver reports over there so you're just you're you're trying to do 370 for harden i mean maybe that's maybe that's nuts but like harden next year 37 coming off the 36 million who knows does he does he look at it as like i'm gonna get another 40 million guaranteed on the books right now maybe he thinks hey that's ridiculous i can do another three for 75 after that keeping this high average annual for this one

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

The chances are is that he's on the team. Kawhi's on the team. So that's whatever this is. It's like 80 plus million with those two dudes. They don't have a young player that you're really excited about that maybe can entice a vet to say, I want to be traded there because it's LA and it's a great coaching staff and front office ownership.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

There's a lot of stuff about it that feels really attractive for the next guy that's mad, but it's not a great group on the court to be mad enough to be like, I'm going there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I mean, unless you wanted to trade zoo, can you get creative with a zoo norm? Zoo's like...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So basically, we agree, though, on the Clippers. You didn't have some magic, crazy scenario here. Because when I was doing it out this morning, I'm like, I don't really know how different it's going to be.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And the double big thing that's been such a huge part of this series where I think there's a version of how we talk about this and similarities to how we talk about Minnesota and Los Angeles, where it's like running the football over the course of seven games. If we play big and you play small, it's just going to hurt more. We're going to get extra opportunities.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

My, you know, we were talking about, hey, how do you feel about the Rockets, right? What's the grade you give them? And it sucks right now, but the season was a success. Detroit? You got to feel great about this. And I think they battled with New York to even a higher level. You know, there's a couple of things where this breaks maybe to a game seven.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So I thought they competed to a level that I didn't know that they were going to get to against the Knicks. And I'm totally with you. Like, I think because of the free agent class being so bad, but then, you know, are the Nets going to sign Malik Beasley to a huge contract? And then after the Nets, you look at who has available cap space. Detroit has cap space, but with Cade's new...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

deal because he's going to make all NBA. It's going to be 19 million in cap space as opposed to 24. Chicago's got 20 million in cap space. Memphis has like 17 and a half. There's like five teams that have between 15 and 12 million. And then you kind of run out of teams. So you start going, okay,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

If we know something about this year with Detroit, it's that spacing around Cade is really, really important. And as much as we all love Dern, he's not going to provide that spacing ever. So you really have to make sure rotationally around that you're doing those kinds of things.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But Beasley's season this year, I'd be scared to death of what that price tag ends up being because another team may just say, screw it, let's throw him a crazy contract because he was so good this year from three when I don't even know that I necessarily trust him. So Hardaway was a bigger number. Uh, I I'd have to keep one of those guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

They can get creative because of their own cap space and how they want to structure those contracts.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I'd rather pay him six to eight than pay Beasley what I think might be a scary number from the one other team that goes, ah, we've got this cap straight, so let's just use it on somebody, and look at all the threes that he made. The biggest part of this is that Ivy's going to come back, and it's easy to forget that Ivy in 30 games shot 41% from three.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

He was terrific, and I think in the playoffs it shows. As tough as Schroeder was, and he was big for them, and he fights like crazy because clearly he takes the Brunson thing personal, Yeah. Ivy being a second on-ball creator and getting his own at his size and his athleticism, I think that's actually going to solve some of the problems, especially if that three-point shooting holds up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

We're going to beat you on the boards. And over the course of a series, like having to do this every other night with us, you're going to pay some sort of tax. And you'd wondered if that's how this series had shifted. Because when we talked after game one, I remember thinking, like, remember, they started hacking Adams and they yanked him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So we know Cade needs spacing. I would not be in any kind of hurry to mess with this. Houston, I think, is on a different timeline because they have all these different guys that they still probably don't even know who they want to make decisions on. Maybe they do, but... There's not necessarily enough assets for Detroit to have to get as creative as Houston could potentially get.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I would really just be steady here if I were Detroit, making sure I don't let all of this shooting leave. But I think I'm probably going to be scared off by the Beasley price tag.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I still think you have to have... You have to have a meeting even if a man is asked for in the Houston one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

What is it again? Fontecchio, which obviously gets me excited.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I was like, I wonder if he may is talking with the staff after the game being that we should not have given in to them on that. You know, maybe it's worth it for us because of our defense to sacrifice whatever we're not getting from Adams, the free throw line. So guess what happened? They actually defiantly kept him in when they did it later in the series. And it felt like.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You could have the Tigers too. I mean, if you're talking about Cade and Giannis on pick and roll, lobs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But yeah, I don't... The Durant thing really hinges more on like, hey, what's the history here? Is he super happy everywhere he goes? So I think I'd be a little cautious if I were Detroit. You know, granted, we're talking about a team that just won their first playoff game since 2008, which seems just impossible.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

The first thing is going to be LeBron's number. Because depending on... Now, granted, he took just a sliver to keep them away from the most restrictions. And then there's a bunch of people being like, see? It's like, well, all right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It felt like that was like this real turning point in this series that we're going to stay big, we're going to stay in this zone, and it doesn't really matter. And then Ime clearly just didn't like what he had. I think the Looney minutes probably changed up some of the calculation on that because Kerr probably felt like he could just trust Looney a little bit more.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Right. If he stays at around $50 million... They're going to be, I would say on the practical things that would happen here, they're going to be six, seven million below the first apron. So if that puts them as this tax team, I don't know what kind of big you're signing for a five to six million dollar tax mid-level.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Well, they're a little emboldened right now. I mean, basically Jokic, once the coach was fired, was in the Lakers jersey and now Giannis has been in one. And as much as you like to say, yeah, like I don't even know how they get Miles Turner. I don't know how they get anybody.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Okay, but what is going out that's exciting? Because this is where it comes back to the Austin Reeves thing, which I don't think they would want to do because he's really good and he's 26 years old. But if they thought, okay, what can we do to shake things up?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It is nasty.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But if you get the year you just got from him, he's worth it. I mean, I know the playoffs didn't close the way everybody expected. I think that's another reason of like even talking about Houston Golden State that you can sit here and make fun of. Oh, look at this Lakers group. They didn't even get out of the first round. This first round was all of this stuff was on the table.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And granted, it was five games and it was felt over the course of the five games. They weren't even close. I think it's a bad draw for the Lakers now that we saw it actually play out, even though nobody felt that way. Very few people felt that way at the beginning of it. I don't really know. I mean, you know, we keep writing these teams out. Like, what would you do? What would you do?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

They were huge because they were too... You know, when you trap Steph... Like eventually he's going to figure it out. And they had two in the first half where Looney was the release on that. And he had a layup and then he had the free throws. That was back-to-back possessions for three points. And then they started trapping him in the second half too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I think they need to figure out a way to try to get cheap rim runners, like a baseball team that doesn't love their starters three, four, and five. And then just all of a sudden you're like, Al lighter still around. Like you signed, you signed this guy. Like the Walker Kessler shit doesn't make a ton of sense. Um, I don't think Dalton connect gets Walt gets, gets Kessler done. Um,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

They already have Filipowski.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Could they Hoosier it out if they get Cooper Flagg?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Just Will Hardy going teams on the floor.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You're with me, though. It's an automatic no from Miami, as much as we love games. Yeah, automatic. Okay. Automatic. Can you think of anything where, if you're the Lakers, you go, now I have to think about this a little bit?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I heard Embiid was available at the trade deadline. It'd be irresponsible to not even ask. Yeah. Oh yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It may have been a, would you? Yeah. But I think this happens all the time. So it shouldn't be something that's that big of a deal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But I don't know that you're doing your job. How are you doing your job?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Are you talking about Obama? I'm talking about a bead. You think it's surprising that Daryl would potentially float the idea?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

And that was turning into four on three behind him, which doesn't guarantee open shots or anything, but yeah, I, it really just comes down to the shot making. I think that's what's so great about a man. Like I feel I'm with you. I feel even better about him now going like that was actually the only dude with the bonus hands or is like, fuck this. Like I'm just going to see 23. Let's look it up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Tommy Shepard's like, I'm not in charge of the wizards anymore.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Fuck.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So not Reeves.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I think what they need to do is figure out a way to... I don't know what's going to happen with all the decisions here, but if they're below the tax, can they use... The non-taxpayer mid-level is a decent... It's like $14 million. So could you go after... I know nobody likes Clint Capella anymore. He's 31 years old. You put Clint with Luka, does it work? Now his numbers decline.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Some of the advanced stuff declined. He also played less. It also felt like Atlanta was waiting forever to have Okongwu be the guy. And clearly he balances them out a little bit better offensively. So maybe Clint isn't worth it at this point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Was it in the last three years? Jackson Hayes catching lobs from Luke in the beginning was exciting to Lakers fans. They're like, unlock Jackson. This is awesome. What about Jonathan Isaac? Is there a Jonathan Isaac? But I don't know if Orlando wants to be in the Gabe Vincent business.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Batase. I'd be calling about Batase. What about DeAndre Ayton? Batase. Now we're talking. 35 now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Is there a Rui... Because there's nothing that screams Lakers more than... I love the DeAndre idea.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Right, right. So all this talent, still really young. Yeah. He's at $35 million, so you load up Rui, you throw in a pick, maybe a little Dalton Connect action in there. Ooh, Dalton. Right. So you start going down a trade machine right now. What's the point? Right. Why does Portland want Rui? Well, maybe they don't want Rui. But is there some version of this?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

They're grabbing an asset of getting somebody out. Culture wise changes. The change of scenery pieces for DeAndre Ayton in a Lakers uniform alone. Those are going to writers are going to have beach houses. People clicking on those fucking things.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Right. Aiton's never played with Luka, and Luka's never played with a stretch five like this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Made it to an NBA Finals. It was too soon. Payton, you know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So just a first round pick.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

23?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

20... He just turned 12. 22 in January. Remember, those guys are a bit older coming out of the pre-draft thing. Maybe like a year or two.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I don't trade him. I don't take any calls.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

My goal would be to keep Giannis. The forgotten zone of this league is... okay, we're screwed. And you laid it out perfectly last week. Like when you really dug into how bad the future draft stuff is for them. So when you're married to having none of that coming in, then you can't. No one ever wants to hear it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But there's a lot of like honest conversations where teams, believe it or not, are opening the season going, all right, we have Giannis and we'll probably win like 45 to 48 games. And that's probably who we are. But at least we have Giannis. I mean, hell, Atlanta's been doing that with Trey this whole time. Charlotte's going to keep doing it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

At least Giannis is one of the best players in the world. So if Giannis doesn't want to go anywhere, that's enough for me. And I just be like, all right, hopefully we can get competitive. And then one year is a short amount of time. Who knows what happens? The problem is for Giannis. Look, this might be a league-wide thing,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But you know how we always talk about like, oh, this guy likes this guy and that guy wants to go there. And Glenn Davis is now in Orlando because of this. And they brought in Jarrett Jack because Chris Paul likes him. Like all of these things that we used to talk about. Granted, it was the big three in Miami. And then everybody trying to figure out how to team up and all that stuff.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It feels like that doesn't necessarily happen as much anymore. So there's more animosity than we've had in a while. But Jokic isn't going to be somebody who's going to be coming up through the AAU ranks and having those relationships with the other stars. I mean, every star who's like on the fence about sticking around should want to go play in Denver.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But I don't know that he has the relationship with other players. I think the same goes for Giannis. And I just don't know a norm of this league. It doesn't feel like it's as normal as guys being like, hey, let's like Paul George and Kawhi and all that kind of stuff. I don't. I don't know that we have that as much anymore. It doesn't mean it can't happen again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But if Giannis is just happy there, then that's enough for me if I'm running the Bucs. I don't care. I know we're not going to win the title next year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

That's a huge, I mean, he's like 23 million in these two years. Or excuse me, 43 over the next two.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

All their guys are under contract. You want to go through a tough book here. It's brutal. The Hero and Bam, fine. The fact that you're only going to be paying them, I think, before the Bam extension kicks in here, or, you know, because it's going to jump up. He's going to be like a $50 million a year player.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

He should be a third option, I would say. But, you know, sometimes we look at guys like, OK, cool. It'd be awesome if we had two dudes that were better than him and he would be our third option. Bam is not enough offensively as much as we all love him. They're on the books next year. They've got Wiggins for 28, and then a player option, probably going to pick that one up, 30.1 million in 26-27.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Terry Rozier's 26.6. Duncan Robinson, one of the few remaining early termination options, just at 19.8 million. Kyle Anderson's on the books for nine. So they have a bunch of contracts of dudes that probably are not in demand.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Unless somebody said, I am so mad. I have one year left. I'm only going there. Why are you going there? Because you love Bam and Tyler Hero?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I'd be happy to be in the Jaron Jackson business, even with his limitations. Well, I really started to like him even more this year, even though I know you get mad about his fouls, which you should get mad about his fouls.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I would say down 30 to OKC and running Jaron Jackson post-ups. Clear out. I don't really know what was going on there, but that series was such a mess.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Well, this is the impossible number. They have 14 to three in the offensive rebounding edge. They only took two more shots. And normally that's like a massive turn. You're like, okay, where's the rest of the math? Like we're after figure it's only four worse turnovers on the Houston side of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I do wonder about that, because I would say that that's kind of the lingering, you know, as much as Bucks fans hate all the Giannis trade stuff that's gone on forever. And then he signs an extension. I mean, this has been going on for a long time with the Giannis speculation. And then sometimes when you hear the speculation, you wonder, like, have I heard anything specific?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Is there anything new that sounds like it's very specific? Or is it everybody just repeating everybody else and thinks like eventually he's going to ask out? And it's been going on for such a long time. And again, in this time, he actually signed an extension. So Bucs fans, much like Cavs fans with the Mitchell stuff, because they were hearing the same shit from all of us over and over again.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It's like a nice little victory lap. We were right. Hey, guess what? We were right about Mitchell. The OKC one is like, should it matter? I know it's kind of back to the beginning conversation about Houston. Should it matter? On where they're at in the playoffs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Is there a trade built around Chet or Jalen Williams and all the draft picks that you'd have to sift through, which ones you thought were the more valuable ones if you were Horst, where...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

So normally when you're doing something like that, when you look at those Minnesota Lakers box scores at times, you just go to this point in the game when it still matters. They've taken six more shot at 16 more shot attempts is the point I'm trying to make. Cause you just go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Wait, if you're Presti or Stone, what's a quicker no? Them asking for Chet or asking Stone and Houston for a man?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

The injury thing, I can't throw a counter argument to that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

I don't know. Did you watch that third quarter against Memphis?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

You know, it's a thing. Yeah, but when you were talking Houston, you're like getting to meet Shingun, Jalen Green. It's like, can I have any of the other guys? So you would do Jabari, Shingun. Now, I don't know what the salaries are.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

you know even if you're not even shooting it that well that many more attempts it's just it's just hard to beat a team that has that many more opportunities and that wasn't even the case even though it felt like they were beating them up i also felt like golden state really battled around the paint on those balls where it's like oh man they're deep again they've got a seal they've got all these bodies they're just taller and bigger than them everywhere but they were fighting like crazy it was like the clippers yesterday same thing like just so much fight on a

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I have a small piece of stuff here. Yeah, let's hear it. You know what? Why don't you start, though? Because I got to look up... I got to make sure I got my facts straight here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

This is how life goes. I don't know that I care about the personal part of it all that much because I really do kind of want to leave people alone on that part of it, even though we spend our entire careers talking about people.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, that's all true, too. And I think when you probably look at him evaluating players and being like, what am I bringing into the locker room? Right. He didn't want free thinkers. He wanted people that were single minded. I mean, when you played for the Patriots, you weren't supposed to live in fucking Boston. Like that was thought of as a bad thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

If you were on the Patriots, you lived in Boston. No further than Attleboro. Yeah. Could stay right here in no offense to that part of the state. But Providence too far. Yeah. So if he were evaluating Bill, the person as Bill, he'd be like, what's going on here? I remember Stoops telling me the story about Gronkowski where Belichick called about Gronk before the draft.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

what's this guy an asshole that was it and he was like no man he's the best he's the best and you know look you picked him hall of fame super bowls later like it all worked out but Bill always was very big on prioritizing like I don't want any extra shit so if he were a booster with those values that he would take from his time running an NFL team

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

if he were a booster running a college football program and the money guy behind it, and then was evaluating the situation of the head coach being involved in something like this, like Bill would be the first guy to be like, this is all stupid shit. We are giving people all the, like the reason his brilliance was so. Intentional distractions. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

To think how simple his brilliance was, and even in the times I didn't like it, where he just couldn't answer a question because he knew if he answered a question, it just opened up another question. And then he's like looking around at the world going, why do you answer any of this stuff? So I may not have always loved it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And again, it wasn't like I was a reporter who had to deal with any of this stuff, but there'd be times I didn't love it. I didn't love it. Some of the press conferences where there were really serious issues and it was like, you're going to play this card again like you want to be. But I admired the tactic because it was actually really smart.

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It was like I remember when the Feeding the Monster book came out, Felger and I, Felger had his radio show at the ESPN affiliate. Right. Yeah. And so I come in and it was one of the funniest. So it's Seth Mnookin, I think was his name, the author. Yeah. He did Feeding the Monster. It was like this all access thing that John Henry wanted because everybody was jealous of Moneyball.

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So Felger has Theo Epstein ready to go. It's the big Feeding the Monster interview. I'm powered through the book. I've written out all my questions because I filled them with Felger for a month. And I promise there's a point to this story here. I know you love these long winded ones. So I show up to that radio station because I didn't really work there. It was just this month that I was there.

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And you know me, all prepped up, all excited. I think the world of Theo, so I'm excited to even talk to him. And Felger looks at me and he goes, we've been mapping out the interview. I don't think we're going to have time for you to say anything. And I was like, great. But it was Felger's show. It wasn't mine.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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By the way, get up. Just absolutely dissing the combat odds for Schrager. Schrager's a big dude. They had like Schefter as the favorite in some Royal Rumble and Schrager had the lowest odds. What?

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Yeah, he's a big guy. So anyway, so Felger looks at me and says, we're not going to have any time for you. And I'm like, oh, OK, fucking awesome. Of course, you know, back then, insecure and pissed. And but it was it was the right thing. It was Felger's fucking show. And he wanted to map out the interview. He wanted to control all the the timeline of things. So we cracked the mics.

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We bring in Theo. We're back from commercial. And Felger's like, all right, you know, Theo Epstein, GM or whatever. He was OK. So, you know, on page 14, it really jumped out. Theo's like, you know, I haven't read the book. He ruined Felger's entire plan because he thought he would at least know when the book was about him. And Theo just stopped him and was like, yeah.

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And then Felger's looking at me like, you got anything? Do you have anything in there for somebody that's not going to acknowledge that the book even exists? And that's Belichick's playbook. All right. So that part is really interesting because it completely contradicts everything that he's valued. The last thing that I would say about this, and this is the part that always pisses me off.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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is whenever – Bud Selig used to do this constantly. People would be like, hey, baseball, it's kind of losing momentum. And by the way, all of those people were right. What's going on with baseball? What's going on with baseball? And Bud would point to the TV deals. Like, look what we renewed for. Look at the growth on this TV deal versus the last rights deal we did.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Conference commissioners all over the country do it every single time they – look how great of a job I'm doing. Look at what our new deal was compared to what our last deal was.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Belichick in this email actually says, I will say again, quote, that I want this book to be presented as a look at my professional life and how I did my job on the way up to and as the leader of an organization that grew from a $500 million franchise to an $8 billion organization that played in 10 Super Bowls. The Super Bowls, awesome.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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If you're suggesting that your run in New England increased the value of the team from $500 million to $8 billion, then what the fuck is Brady worth? And by the way, you were awesome. Maybe you've done it better than anybody else. No one would ever deny that. But that way of thinking is if you have as much to do with the value of a franchise in the NFL... as the TV rights growth does.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Like, that's insane. That's delusional to think that. Like, you write that and be like, oh, wow, are any of the other NFL franchises worth a lot more than they were in the 90s? Well, of course, the answer is yes. That's a really... Even the Bengals are worth more. Yeah, like, that's a very... Most people may not understand that. We understand it. People listen to this podcast, understand that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But to get to that kind of closing statement of like this team was worth 500 million before me and now it's worth 8 billion. Dude, you were awesome. You did it again at a level that is unsustainable in the NFL. But the value has way more to do with TV rights than it does you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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The only one that really... The Kraus stuff at the end is crazy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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It made me wonder, too, if he was thinking he's owed more.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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11.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

But the funny thing is... I'm not diminishing his value, but I'm talking... No, I know what your point is, though. The value of all these franchises has way more to do with television rights than even the accomplishments.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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He's played 11 games in his career. This was easily the best one. So wait, so that's just the series last year with the Sixers where he didn't want to shoot?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, that's 100%.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

It took us two hours to get a porn reference out of you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I just don't understand somebody that understands how the media works as well as they do, which clearly he does what he thought that was going to be like, Hey, this is the deal. You come in, you promote the book and we ask you questions about it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I'm not ready to go there. We'll see what kind of defense they're running.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Joe Pronte, maybe.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Five guys, most likely, that you would expect that to happen to. That would be good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, I think Brunson having to go through the gauntlet of options as opposed to being able to switch into Beasley, Hardaway, and Dennis Schroeder, even though Schroeder, I think, competed like crazy against him. I think it's a little different challenge, and I think Cat is going to have to cover a lot more ground than he did against Duren. I'm still holding out hope.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Garland's going to come back game two, but today was super impressive. I'm totally with you, and you've been higher on the Pacers than I've been, and you might be right about it. OKC, no issues, and I have Minnesota.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Uh, I mean, you know, I could sit here and say, Oh, you know, the craziest thing about even the elimination game is Jokic and Murray weren't even going crazy. I think by Jokic is our standards for Jokic. This wasn't some like Jokic best for seven games. Yeah. Well, you don't think they were the first team with six players with 15 or more points in a game seven in NBA history.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, I'll admit, throughout this series... You know, even wanting the Steph thing to keep going because I just enjoy Steph. You know, granted, they weren't going to get OKC unless they were to advance, right? And OKC advances, but it kept coming back to me. And then even so with Minnesota's options and their size, I just was like, this is a nice little Golden State story. But, I mean, come on.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, I mean, they're playing in 48 hours, man. Yeah, they're actually playing in 48 hours. So that might be one of those game one. You know, I don't know what the line is yet here, but I'm sure it just got set. Yeah, I really want to.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Minnesota minus 165.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Buddy Hield Game, Indy’s Dangerous, a Clips Collapse, and “Whaddya Do” Teams With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, I used to be really, really into it when I was younger. Oh, there you go. It was dormant. It was... Van Pelt beat it out of you. No, luckily, I didn't have enough money to ever get into too much trouble. But it was definitely something I look forward to a lot. And then once I was at ESPN, it was a thing that you weren't actually supposed to talk about.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But nobody's going to do that. There's 30 of these.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So you would disagree with my tweet about this being the second worst thing a front office has done, unless you'll allow me the...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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the leniency that i'm including ownership in that because you're right i mean nobody nobody goes as an owner like there's so much stuff that happens with ownership making the final calls and these things i think even sometimes i'll forget that not that i don't know it but i'd like that you're reminding us of it because it's never happening without him saying yes okay i'm in

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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It's three years, $192.9 million. He has a player option in three years for $70 million. He's out for the season. And then when you start hearing about breaking a bone in the leg to help recovery, and I think there was a lot of stuff that was kind of nasty about this where, I forget who it was, but basically laid out all the options for the 76ers.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Then it got turned into the 76ers looking into the retirement exemption if he can't play again. It's like, look, we're not even there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Right. My point of the entire extension was I remember when it happened. All I could think of was you have him... I know there was all the Knicks stuff, but you have somebody who's basically missed half of their career. Yeah. And you haven't really done anything with him. We know what the playoff regular season splits are. You made the second round twice. Right. So... What's the rush?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Well, you know, Luke is on the Lakers now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I'm Mr. Laker right now. Yeah, you're just going, you know, just seeing him progressively get better and better, which I know is shocking to some that he had missed two months. A big guy who weighs 270 didn't look super crisp right out of the gates. Yeah. And just seeing his progression, uh,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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continue and the comfort and what comes with him being comfortable like as soon as he starts yelling and getting pissed off you're like okay this is this is heading in the right direction that's why i thought that first game that he played against utah was so funny because he was so tired yeah he didn't have time for any of that stuff and i think a lot of basketball players even the greatest ones

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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they'll try to just find a way to fit in a little bit. And with Luca, it's like, no, don't try to fit in.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Just go ahead and play your style, which I know we're going to do some Lakers stuff because I saw your clip this week and I'm with you that the biggest compliment is that now I don't even know what the ceiling is on the possibility for this team, which I think a lot of us thought when this trade happened, it's like, okay, that might ruin 25, but it makes all the sense in the world because now you get to reset your franchise.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And now I think that conversation has shifted quite a bit here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Like he's as active as he's been in a couple of years, but the defensive stuff that LeBron is doing, cause I think it's totally fair. We're, When they're bad defensively, a lot of it, you know, there's stuff that I know that we'll get into, and I don't know how much rotational Lakers stuff you want to talk about between now and where they were, they were a bad defensive team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But, you know, he's had ups and downs, but they're, I mean, this group where you went Luka, Reeves, LeBron on the perimeter, now no AD behind it, like how good can they be defensively? And they've been incredible defensively. And I'm actually going to give a little credit here because Greg St.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Jean, who's the son of Gary, the longtime Warriors exec, he was with the Lakers when LeBron was there before. Then he was at Dallas with Luka. Then he comes back on a JJ staff. And I know him a little bit, so certainly I'm biased. Be like, hey, you doing anything tonight? And he'll be like, I'm installing our entry passes against the Utah Jazz.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And it's like, all right, he's just one of those guys. He'll be a head coach at some point.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, we're working on a lot of side-out-of-bounds stuff today. Yeah. I think his relationship with the players, like in the fact that these two superstars, you know, been there. I think JJ has a lot to do with it. They're just so much more prepared as a basketball team. And there was also stuff like at one point when the record wasn't that much better. We're like, oh, JJ read it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Because let's face it, like most people were rooting against JJ being successful because of the background. But NBA head coaching paths are...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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are very non-traditional okay i mean this has been going on for 20 plus i don't even know maybe even longer than that you would know better than i would how many times you're like okay i guess they're just going to make that guy head coach and i remember when the records are similar there was a bit like oh well this isn't any better than darvin ham and you watch them now and how prepared they are and whether it was the denver game we were talking about just a week ago this team has has figured some stuff out on den on defense that i just didn't think was possible

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I agree.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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The crazy thing about the Suns group is normally you could point to lack of rotational consistency last year, and yet they still hadn't. You look at last year's season, And you thought last year was a disappointment because you just go, imagine if they had all three guys. They were the sixth seed, weren't they? They were like 47, 48 wins.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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You have this quirky clutch stat that doesn't even make any sense of how bad they were offensively. And you're just like, well, there's no way that'll happen again. And then when I was looking at it for my show, you look at the three dudes and you're getting this elite shot making this incredible output.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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It's almost like 80 points per game, I think, in February when I did the numbers for those guys. And then it's like, yeah, but everything else. Like, does it work? I know Bull Bull's had a really nice run here, but let me actually Laker minute rotation you. Scattering report. If he has a clean look on the catching three, he's probably going to reset himself and move. All right. Long.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Long length. Which is one of my favorite things I've ever seen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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In November, the Lakers were 25th on defense. They were 8-6 that month. They were 25th on defense, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah. You're looking at it going, probably going to be their thing. They're just not going to be very good defensively. Why would that be? Well, D'Angelo Russell for that month, 26 minutes a game. Cam Reddish, 21 minutes a game. He's making threes, but he's playing 26 minutes per game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, I don't know. I was looking at some old pictures of myself. Well, I usually break this out a couple of times a year and I did it when I got my license picture taken last summer. And the picture of my license is just horrifying. And so for whatever reason, I don't know. I just I used to do when I was in my 20s. I usually do do it every now and then. So we're we're back.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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You look at where they're at now in their last 10, and then if I give you their number two defense in the NBA behind your Detroit Pistons, who are just their own story.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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When you shoot it well and you play defense, you're going to win a bunch of games. So the February minutes, look at the breakdown. So you're replacing D'Angelo Russell 26 minutes a game, depending on the month. Again, I'm just using November. In February, Dorian Finney-Smith, 30 minutes a game. Vando, who just hacks the shit out of everybody, but he's in there for 15 minutes fighting his ass off.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Dalton's only playing 13 minutes a game. He's also not shooting great in February. Then Jordan Goodwin comes in and wreaks havoc on everybody. And LeBron's had the second or kind of tied for second best defensive rating of any of the main regulars. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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That's the point. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Do you want to do some reckless speculation?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I just wonder if there's a playoff exit from Houston that motivates them to go, okay, look, we have... A one-timer? Houston has done a really good job here. I don't know who I'm picking them against in the playoffs. Again, we could sit here and go through all the seeding stuff, but I feel like we'd just be changing it every couple days.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I wonder if there's a Houston exit where they went, you know what? Like we can't pay all these guys. We don't even have minutes for all of these guys that we've hit on. Yeah. And it does feel like, you know, you talk about the two timeline thing that it's just hard. It's really hard to thread that needle.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And you go, is the two timeline Brooks Van Vliet with the young guys or is the two timeline Jalen Green and Shingun with a men Thompson emerging? You know, is that, is there any version where, Green and Shingun are totally fine realizing that like Thompson might be the best player.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I like the Luca Milwaukee, Minnesota one. There's more, there's more reporting on the Minnesota stuff, but like a couple of times that I had heard was like, yeah, they called, but weren't offering Luca.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Even if I hated you, I would have to admit that you're right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Honestly, if you went clean shaven, you're just getting ahead of where this is all going. That's a couple of years because there's going to be a stretch like anything that's whether it's fashion or hairstyles. I mean, this is not insightful. It's all cyclical. But there's going to be a stretch years from now where you're like, what the hell was going on?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I just have a followup. I mean, why, why would you make that claim? Why would I make that? Why would you say? Because I don't know if I agree with you. I need convincing on this because my whole point is no one's ever had more access to hate, which I've talked about a lot. And I think a lot of these players just consistently think that they're hated all the time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I think anybody that does anything that is publicly consumed is

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Sell me on the point of those decades being more negative towards their stars.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Everyone just had a beard like everybody just had a beard. I remember being so early to the beard that I showed up to the national championship game with it when it was Oregon Auburn. And Todd McShay and Jesse Palmer on the sideline being like, you, you didn't shave. And I'm like, I'm at a football game. I'm not even on TV. And they're like, yeah, but dude, like you look terrible.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Oh, yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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There was so much. We've definitely progressed with you go all the way back to the strike in the NFL in the early 80s. Right. And how much society there wasn't one person going. You realize you're arguing for the owners to make more money. And that's what always pisses me off.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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It's like, okay, you want to look at these players and look at their salaries and say that they're selfish and they're entitled and all this shit. But ultimately, what you're saying, when you hope they get paid less or lose at the collective bargaining agreement table, you're hoping these owners make more money.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, look, I know enough about those timelines. Like, I just remember, you know, when Jordan scored all the points against the Celtics and then lost, and you'd be playing a Little League baseball tournament, and every coach is sitting there in his bike shorts, you know, shitting on Jordan. Now, granted, growing up in New England was the wrong place.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Because all these guys are going home to worship their Larry Bird altar. Maybe you should add 68. Yeah, right. The collective, yeah, cool scoring, bro. But the lack of respect for who Jordan was because he was losing to these older, more superior, battle-tested, well-rounded basketball teams. Jordan would have had a very...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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People would have destroyed him if he played now through the first seven years of his career without winning anything. Because it's like, if you're the best, you have that kind of attention on you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But here's the thing. We don't even do it with baseball anymore. So like that's... Because I was thinking about this face of the league stuff. Yeah, I want to get to that too. Right. Like LeBron, when you are... As great as you are, unfortunately, part of that deal is you're held to the standard where everything is dissected.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And Ant got a little taste of that because Ant was coming up, approval rating through the roof. He's so much fun. He starts talking a little shit. And then they get eliminated. They get eliminated on May 30th, right? I looked it up. And then he had the receipts commercial on May 31st. Like they had that one ready to go. where you're showing like how much this is impacting players.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And I know Silver talked about this years ago where he just said, look, we have a league where our stars, and I'm paraphrasing here, so I hope I'm not too removed from the tone of what he was saying, but I think I have it. And then it was like, you kind of have a bunch of guys at the top that are pretty miserable. Like a lot of players that are really miserable.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Right. So, you know, Ant has had probably this shift because the Olympics didn't go the way he thought it would go. I mean, he wasn't even out on the floor for some of that stuff. He didn't look super comfortable after talking a lot of shit. And again, I don't look at it and go like, oh, man, now I have to reevaluate what I think about you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But Ant is very predictably going to have if he doesn't have some kind of playoff success here in the next couple of years, it's going to turn back to everything you just said in your timeline of like, hey, I thought this was supposed to be the guy. You hope you're one of those guys in this sport. Because I was thinking about Ant relationship. Has anybody ever talked about De'Aaron Fox?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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De'Aaron Fox is a really good player. Makes a lot of sense for the Spurs. I think it's a bit like the Donovan Mitchell thing. Where it's like, yeah, it's not perfect, but he's really good. And if we keep waiting around on what this magical acquisition will be, then we might be waiting forever. But De'Aaron Fox has never talked about that. So there's this group outside of these...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I don't know, seven to eight players we obsess about every single season. There's this group that's not even part of that. And again, baseball, the sport, we don't even have any of those dudes anymore right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Basketball is just way more personal than the other two sports are.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Don't you think? Doesn't it feel like the attachment? I mean, sure, we could pick a bunch of quarterbacks that are as big of stars as any NBA players.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I don't think I've, I've allowed you to go for it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

That was really the home run PED phase of beards. We were like, Luis Gonzalez has how many home runs? It's the early 2000s. Yeah, because then it's a bit like the arm sleeve thing. Like the early arm sleeve tack guy, you're like, all right, I probably don't want to mess with that guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

He has the belt. He had the belt there for a little bit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Hmm.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Just so you get the most attention. I think we know it without defining it. You think Steph's the face of the league over LeBron?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I don't know, man. I mean, you could point to all those individuals. It's really a talking point, okay? And I think what happens is there's this cycle of Ant going, I don't necessarily want it. Because then it's like, what are you supposed to do? What does he want?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Don't you also have to be the best player, though? Because even if Tatum... I mean, that's a lot of work to do, by the way, for Tatum just, hey, let's add two more titles to this. As great as he is, he wasn't very good today, which I know we'll get to later, but I don't know that he would ever be... To face the league, because I've never thought of him as the best player in the league.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

At least with Steph, there were seasons where I thought he played better than LeBron. I never thought he was actually a better basketball player than LeBron. So to be face of the league, you also have to be at some point, because I know you've done this in the past with your belt hole. It's just a really good way to look at the league. Like who has the belt? Who had the belt then?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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How many belt transfers are we talking about? Jokic just had the belt for a really long stretch, which is really hard to do.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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What did you think of LeBron's quote?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Basically, it was like, I didn't ask for it. And then it pivoted into everybody that covers the league just shits on it, essentially, that we're all too negative.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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You know, it's like somebody who's really friendly, but they blink a lot and just go, I might want to stay away from him. So overblinking is a fair thing for you a little bit? Yes. Certain size, a guy that blinks a lot, want nothing to do with it. Never thought about that tip. No, it's a good tip. Yeah. It's a good tip for everybody. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

But I do wonder though, like the negativity thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Like I'll have pods where I'll think, are you harping on the same stuff? Yes. Um, but again, if we're doing a basketball pod and like whatever the headline was that week, like you're going to stay topical, you're going to play the hits, but there'll be certain players. I'm like, there's just nothing else for you to say anymore. Like it's established how you feel. There's nothing new.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Right? Like I've liked to rant for such a long time, but this past year plus, uh, And not to bring up the hockey tweet like a third time, but he's just like, how could you possibly think that that's a good point? How could you think just basically telling everybody fuck off when it's like, man, you're the one. And that's also like part of it, too.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

It's like this league is so different with how powerful the players are that. you know, did you think you were going to get no criticism signing contracts and then asking out before an extension and I kicked in?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, it's like, okay, the window is finally shifted. Like, you are outside of the football shadow. So, like, own this week. And it's like, nope.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Not only are we not going to own the week, we're going to embarrass the league again. And I don't care about that week. I haven't cared about it for years. I think I've watched the game once in the last 15. This is not new that the players don't necessarily care, but they're not making the most of our opportunities. I think all of us are more negative than we are positive, okay? I think that...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

So anyway, I think the sleeve, the sleeve thing turned into, I just felt like there should have been some prerequisite. Like you're going to get double sleeves. You're getting arm sleeves. You know, now I don't. And so I think the beard was some kind of transition off of that. I likely will never be clean shaven. Like I cannot even remember the last time just full up lather.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I think it's going to be low. I mean, the way you're leading this, I have to pick a massive split on it. So I'll say 80% negative.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, getting a fan removed. And then it becomes, because the player has the power to have that happen now. Yeah. And it'll become kind of like a topic. And then, you know, if it's a really slow day, you know, you'll discuss like, what, what does this mean? Yeah. And I think there's some players that actually like look for it a little bit more than other players. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And you realize like this thing that is definitely an improvement to the experience for the player, a massive, because you're completely right about that. Like going to some of these crowds, going to baseball stadiums, going back to Foxborough in the day. I mean, just, you wouldn't even want to bring a kid.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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The bleachers used to be about how drunk were you going to get and how many fights were there going to be.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Right. So then when a player has a fan removed, then it becomes kind of this think piece of the dynamic of respect and all these different things. Like, what can you have happen? And you're like, yeah, but... no one was ever removed in the past. So it actually happened at a much greater rate.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I don't even have shaving cream at my house.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

The players call way too much shit for that, though.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Absolutely. I'm not saying like that's going to be the worst experience, especially you don't have the budget to go to more than one game a year. And then you bring your kid and he's all fired up. He's got the jersey on and they're not playing. I think there were certain teams like I really think what the Spurs did. in a very Belichick way to just be like, Hey, you know what? TNT Thursday night.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And remember, remember the ABC game, how bad it got there for a while where you were like, are you guys seriously serious? like giving the league and your television partner this much of a fuck you just, Hey, we're just going to sit everybody. Yeah. And I understand like what the science, and by the way, the science has proven very little because it's not like we go into the playoffs.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Like every playoff story is littered with like two or three major injuries. So I'm not sure. I'm not expecting that everybody was just going to be healthy all the time, but I don't know if that's had the positive impact that everybody thought it would be when they wrote about it for nonstop for years, wrote about it nonstop for years. But that, That's part of it. I don't know, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I guess sometimes I wonder, you know, clearly with this pod, we've got a large audience. Sometimes I feel like I'm too negative. And instead of like having LeBron give this quote or some of it, like, look, with his quotes, I don't love all of them. All right. But he's been giving us quotes for two plus decades.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So which public figure would I ever be like, you know what, everything he said for 20 plus years, I've liked everything he said that that person doesn't exist. It's impossible to have the Chalamet approval rating after the two decade plus run for LeBron. But when I started thinking about like just negativity, him saying everyone is too negative. Well, no, that's not the case.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

But then I'll know like of all the games that I watch, especially when it's on like the national broadcast and like Bronny comes into a game and then the broadcasters start talking about like how hard he works. You're like, dude, he's got an NBA uniform on and he's not good and he shouldn't be out there. And this whole thing's kind of a joke. So let's evaluate it that way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

But there will be no like that won't happen. So it actually strengthens your point. Whenever those broadcasts like that's when I feel like, am I being negative or am I being like just a basketball fan that's frustrated? with the way that the national broadcast is discussing a game or discussing certain players when you just go, Hey, this person.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And again, maybe I shouldn't even use Ronnie, but that was just one that jumped out. It's like, you guys are going to do four minutes on like the positives here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

It's just... Are we supposed to be positive about Embiid? Are we supposed to be positive?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I just like calling out the bullshit because I think there's a lot of it, whether it's another media members quote, because then there's some guys that are just only positive. And I think, are you just this much of an ass kisser? Like what, do you think you're going to hang out with these guys?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

You know, is he going to be able to like the next time they have a, they rent a boat, they're going to invite you like what?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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fuck are you doing and so I know I'd never be that guy but you know kind of your point about like Philly or even the Durant part like I think I've I mean I didn't even really get on his case during the Golden State thing because I thought he wanted to get away from Westbrook and he wanted to play perfect basketball and he wanted to he wanted to like you know back to the joy topic he wanted to experience like absolute pure basketball joy

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

But when you have a four year extension and you want marks and Nash and everybody fired before it even kicks in and then you come back and play and then you ask out and now you've put together a season, I would say more so this year than last year. But I mean, they got killed against Minnesota. Like that's when the Suns died. And I was dumb enough to think that they weren't dead yet.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And they were already dead, but they just had another season in this season. So. What does Durant expect? Did he expect that people are going to be like, man, he's still getting you like twenty nine thirty every single night? Because if you look at the little stuff in between, it doesn't always show it. This is not a locked in group. This is a group that seems to be really down on each other.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I thought the coach Bud stuff admitting that he had told Booker to tone it down. Like I, I just wondered, I was like, man, I wonder if that'll be.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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the sideburns thing is again just the cycle of let me see how low i can bring these down and it was fine and then everybody was like all right get rid of these but i remember the first moment i mean i couldn't even shave like who am i kidding but the first moment guys in junior high for like travel basketball you know there'd be a couple early bloomers if you know what i'm talking about and you're just like what the hell is this guy doing he's got a shaving kit

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

So you really disagreed with Arenas' point. I think that's fair to say.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

It's just the rate, man. It's the rate of it. And I do not understand. I couldn't believe the first time a coach told me, he's like, yeah, players come in and check their mentions at halftime. You didn't know that? And I'm thinking like, what a ridiculous, but then I thought, okay, well, every single ESPN host, as soon as you go to break, does the exact same thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

That always, I could never believe that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Maybe somebody will say I look ugly. Hey, I'm guilty of it. I used to do it. And then I stopped because I realized you were coming back from break, like talking to one person. You're arguing with Motorcycle69. Every single guy did it. Every one of us. And it made all of us worst hosts because... You know, you're you were distracted. You were talking to this one person.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

You were focusing on the one negative because nobody was going to be like, hey, you know what? Really good job making a point and a really solid conclusion. No notes. Can't pick holes because I mean, everybody's favorite hobby now. Like even if I do a monologue on something for 10, 15 minutes, usually 15 means it's too long. I was like, oh, did you think about this?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Like, well, I could have done 30 left out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

like that is everyone's favorite hobby right now at least for what we do is that well here's the point that you didn't make and then a lot of times it'll be so obvious it's like well i didn't even point that out because i don't even know why anybody would even bring it up and what we do isn't even fucking cool so when i think about players basically doing the exact same thing elected officials do the exact same thing i remember i got into it with van pelt that was like why are you arguing with somebody right now you're broadcasting the fucking masters you were broadcasting the you're on like the seventh hole and you know he

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I realized like kind of no one can help themselves to different degrees. And what I like about our age group is that we know what it was like before this. And we certainly are in it deep now for years and years. So we've experienced both of it. Imagine being a 20 something basketball player. So like you're always going to be more impacted by the negativity, the access to it, the rate of it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I think it just fucks a lot of guys up. So it's hard to tell players you're wrong about the negativity when it's all they've ever experienced. They're not going to do what you did because they weren't around when you did it. They're not going to go back and read Sports Illustrated articles from the 70s and go, you know what? I have greater perspective on this. I don't have it too bad right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

So I don't think anything LeBron said was necessarily wrong.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. Yeah, the X player thing...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And like, is this guy from Willimantic? Like what's going on? And so then dudes who couldn't even shave me being one of them, you just felt left out. So guys started shaving their sideburns up as high as possible. Right. That was really, I didn't like. Yeah. I hope that never comes back. But yeah, there was also there was just a lot of chin shit in the early 2000s out of boredom.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

That was so good. That clip was so good with those guys because Max respects them. And look, Barnes is a wild card. And Steven Jackson, I think people would say is a real one. So that was, I'm totally with you. I mean, look, if you want to talk ex-players, I don't know if I trust anybody more than Jeff Teague right now. Jeff Teague's been great. Every Jeff Teague breakout is incredible.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. It doesn't happen without... We don't decide. No, and there was that push to try to figure out who the post-Jordan guy was, and that void did go on forever.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

It was the Kobe All-Star game where it just was going to be too early for Kobe to take that on after some of these other misses, and Iverson didn't have the playoff success other than the finals run, but the team just wasn't good enough for this to be like, oh, this is phase one of this sustainable thing with the Sixers. It was kind of just this...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

remarkable defensive run with an offense built around one guy just hopefully going crazy enough to get you some playoff wins so I think the lesson in that is that that face never like that face storyline never developed like that person did not present themselves and whatever that void was it didn't mean the league was just going to swallow itself up and cease to exist and I mean we can get in some of the rating stuff the popularity whatever which I there's one piece though which is different there's a personality piece that I feel like

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I thought during the broadcast today that was really interesting because it then turned to another face-to-league conversation and Doris was talking about Tatum and essentially saying, if you're that person, then you shouldn't even have to address it. And I love that Breen was like, okay, but he was asked about it. While there was also a game...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

where there was an ad that started with Tatum in a press conference in the commercial where the reporter, again, it's an actress going, you're on top of the basketball world right now. And you're like, okay, he's got the title and he's the best player on a title team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And I think you're rounding up a bit on like what's possible for him because I know we're going to get to Cleveland and all this other stuff. But I liked it. Breen was like, okay, but of all the superstars, Like, this guy is incredibly polite, and he also plays, like, every single game. So, yeah, I think there's a personality thing. Yeah, there's a personality disconnect.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Like, Iverson was the coolest thing ever, all right? Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, but he kind of lost me a bit there towards the end of the Philly stuff because it's just... Mid-2000s on, we're not awesome. Yeah, there's an approach to... Like, if you're setting the tone as the best player on a team and then you're taking off and doing your own thing all the time and just can't be bothered... Like, I don't know how that's good for the team.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And I don't know how that's good for yourself. So once we had access to a little bit more of that stuff, I think that's also something else too, is like guys used to be able to hide. Guys would be able to hide. We didn't know what was going on with them. We know what's going on with these guys literally every single fucking minute. So the relationship is so much more intimate.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And when it is that more intimate, then you're much more likely to find things that you don't like about some of these dudes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Think about how many people impress you in the first five minutes and then ultimately let you down. Like, if you think about your professional career, the number of people that once you had more exposure to them, I mean, I know that's the case for me, so I don't want to speak for you, but then you were like, oh, man, I had high hopes for this person.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

That's why now, seriously, if somebody nails it with me in the first five to 10 minutes, I'm more worried. You're suspicious. Yeah. I'm like, you were so good in the first five to 10 minutes. I thought, now I'm like, what's wrong with this person?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

What is her favorite podcast?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I can't imagine though, not wanting to be the face. How could you be a pro athlete?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I was not surprised by that part of the quote, but whatever. I like that he's candid, though.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I know that I care a lot about what we talk about on this, what I've talked about on my pods and the shows in the past. I mean, I really, I mean, I really cared about putting a lot of thought into what my opinions were going to be. And yet I always knew like, Oh, you don't, Like, do you know what the help rules are? Do you know what all the terminology is? Second April? Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

The white beard call is right though, because now I'm at the point where if I let it go, it's patchy in areas where it's not colored. And then I have buddies that are dying their beards. And then I, all I can think about is Richard Kimball. And I just think like, I don't know, man, like I might, I might want to like at this point,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Well, no, that kind of stuff. I used to really, then I realized it's like, you're spending way too much time on this. Like I would, I would study the CBA pretty religiously because I wanted to have it like down and I used to have it down and now I'm like, I think I'll be okay.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, because I felt like, you know, there's always the like unintended consequences thing that is just hard to factor in. I was thinking about this the other day, like the timeout for three minutes to go where you lose the timeout because it was like, hey, here's Silver and the competition committee. I don't even know if that's what they call it. It's what the NFL does.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

But they decided, yeah, there's too many timeouts at the end of games. Like, let's take a timeout away from them. Okay, what's happening? Yeah, no kidding. Everybody just calls it now. So you could come out of commercial break. One possession of the other team looks up and goes, oh, we're going to lose this time out anyway. Yeah. So let's make sure we take it now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And so we're not getting any time back because the unintended consequence was that you ended up with coaches going, I'll take it before I lose it. So now my solution would be just give them one less time out. Um, and then you'll be fine. And back to the original plan.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Anyway, the reason I use that as an example is that whenever you're on the fly trying to read his CBA and the highlights from the whole thing, like we were kind of going, this feels like a hard cap. And I was almost scared a little bit to go, is it a hard cap? Like, is, is this going to be a hard cap? Um, but yeah, back to the original thing. Like, look, man, I, I do put a lot of thought into this.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I, um, always wondered if I could get to an age where I'd be like, you think at this age you'll just go like, ah, fuck it. I watched the fourth quarter. I'm good. I haven't read anything. There's definitely ways to cheat. Yeah. Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And then I think about the guys that played and I think about the coaches and a lot of the people that work in our industry, you know, whether it's, you know, it's, it's not perfect parallel to it, but there's so many players that I'll listen to and go, okay, wait, you have a problem with me and I didn't play. Like, have you heard your shit? have you heard how dumb all your arguments?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I mean, there's one person in particular that I'm thinking of right now. Like if I really wanted to do a 10 minute monologue, destroying this person's takes and how fucked they are. And I don't know what the motives are behind him, but like I could, but I really don't want to get in a fight with anybody about that kind of stuff. But that's, it almost brings me back.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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It's, it's like being a screenwriter where you get really discouraged and then you're like, holy shit, they greenlit that. Let's open up the laptop. Uh,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I don't know that you're necessarily hiding your age, but there are definitely dudes that when they go full beard now, I mean, even though you've got this salt and pepper thing, you're going way more salt than pepper. Yeah. And you've aged yourself so much. So, you know, I don't I remember when Cowherd's contract was up. I think he had red hair and I was like, well, he joined FS1.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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That's the only thing. I love them. I absolutely love them.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Right.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Yeah, the only thing I would say, and it's not fair, and it's probably because I watch them too much, but I think they get almost too hunt happy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I get it. Expose the weakness. Find the bad matchup. You have these two incredible on-ball wings. You have a third guy in Derek White who can do some of that stuff too. When it is clicking on offense, the offensive numbers are outrageous. They're terrific. Who am I to sit here and criticize any of this stuff? I criticized some of it last year. It did not matter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

But they can get so hunt happy that I wonder in the way basketball is connected that if other players are just watching somebody hunt the entire time, at least they take turns with it. Some teams will just have their main ball handler hunt the entire time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And it's a minor thing that I notice, but I'm probably too critical of it because there's no offensive number that tells you, oh, yeah, like, uh-oh.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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They have lineups that they run out there where, and maybe it's a regular season thing. Look, no Aaron Gordon today, who's their best defensive player and has been shooting it well from three, but he's still somebody that I think teams are going to test and

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Um, but you know, so it's not entirely fair because Gordon's missed a couple of games here, but they had a lineup where it was Michael Porter jr. Surrounded by Westbrook Brown, who was great today. But I mean, what was his shot total? Like if you go into a game 22, he took 22 shots.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So if you're sitting there prepping out what you want to do against Denver, you're like, Hey, if Christian Brown takes 22 shots, it's probably a win for us today. Right? So it's Michael Porter Jr.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

who I think is, you know, if you dig into his advanced stuff, he's not the same guy that he was the first couple of years on the scene, even though defensively he was such a disaster then that Malone didn't really even trust him. I wouldn't say he's a plus, but I think he's a total coin toss guy. If he had 21 or he had three, I wouldn't be surprised.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I also think he plays a little soft, but back to this lineup. So it's Porter Jr., Westbrook, Brown, DeAndre Jordan, and Strother. And when you're looking at some of the three-point shooting against these guys, like Westbrook's going to be open. And when he hit his first three, I thought that was a bad sign for Denver with this stuff. You can also see Westbrook decide he's not comfortable shooting.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

You can also see Westbrook, you know, it's great that he's probably understood his role better here than a lot of the other places as he's tried to become a role player. Like I'd say, what, this is stop three as a role player because Washington, he still was clearly the guy.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

you'll see him be in a hurry to force it back to Jokic, which is showing him being deferential in a way that we weren't used to with so many of the prime Westbrook years. But I think it can also mess them up a little bit. So whether it was the Lakers matchup or the Boston matchup today, again, without Gordon, isn't entirely fair.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I know you weren't expecting this long, so I'm not going to go this long on the other ones, but I've talked about it being four teams because of the respect for Jokic and Denver was fourth in the FanDuel title odds. It's those three and Denver's in a sliver tier by themselves because I just don't think they're as good as Oklahoma City, Cleveland, or Boston.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And I don't see how they are going to be as good as those three teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I had a really hard time having that ball patch in my head. It was just brutal.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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They were two for 11 on their first 11 wide open threes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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On the game, they got it back to 34%, but they're last in the NBA in points from the three. So their percentage of points, however many they score a game, they have the last or the lowest total of points via the three-pointer of anyone. And so then they come to a game like today. That was going to be really weird if Boston had blown this because approach-wise, hey, here's the plan.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Here's what we want to have happen. It's exactly what you would hope to do to Denver. Like, yeah, great.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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The high camera shot. Yeah, I mean, if I see John Barry to this day, it might be on. Oh, he mentioned it? My buddies wanted to kill John Barry. Did he make a joke about it? He talked about it the entire fourth quarter apparently. I can't even go back and watch the tape. It's too traumatic. Wow. I wonder if that's on the YouTubes. Oh, it's all over the place.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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It'll be interesting if Shea gets his points, Jalen Williams gets his points. Chet, as you'd expect, taking a little time. I thought he was so great in that Brooklyn game when they gave up, what, 76 points to the Nets of all teams with this kind of defense, this historic differential defense based on the league averages. But it might just be, does Isaiah Joe Dort Caruso, Aaron Wiggins.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I've joked about him being one of my favorite players, but as far as a role guy and stepping up and then what he did in February, every time I watch a Thunder game, I'm always like, man, there's Aaron Wiggins.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I, too, am fond of Ty Jerome. We have him on the pod coming up this week, by the way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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There was a moment when Ty Jerome was playing and trying to figure out where his basketball life was going to go. Van Gundy was on the broadcast. And this is when I knew. And again, anybody that watched him in college, he's very different in that the play is open. There are options open on his plays. that are longer, if that makes sense.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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It's almost like a quarterback watching routes develop and he finds a way to give the receivers the extra beat to do whatever they need to do so that you're still defending more shit than you want to defend with Jerome. And that's why he screws up so many of these defenses because you're like... there's no way this is going to work.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And it's a lot of that Nash wrong foot thing, or it's the takeoff to pass where guys started. Remember like almost running out of the way of Nash's drives. It actually opened up things for Nash because people were closing out and so freaked about his passing skills. And Jerome has these runners where everything is kind of wrong. And then you don't really know what's supposed to happen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Anyway, Van Gundy was on a broadcast and it was almost like your grandfather watching Christina Hendricks on an episode of Mad Men for the first time. Like just this erotic, slightly, like the way Van Gundy talked about Ty Jerome's game, it was like he needed a breath. Like he needed a moment. Yeah. And it makes all the sense in the world.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So my friends, I'm talking about, again, Massachusetts friends that aren't exactly the most supportive people. Scholars have argued. They don't even argue about it. And so they were like, hey, what the fuck is up with John Barry? And I went, I don't know. Is that beef? I just got done with the game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Like Cleveland, when they came back, what was really interesting about their game, they went to 10 guys, I think 14 minutes into the game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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They were at 10 guys. The Friday night game you're talking about. Right. depending, maybe you take a coral off the table, shot selection, some of that stuff. Let's say nine. Nine of the guys for Cleveland now are really good.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Set the tone.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Even when they were arguably the greatest team we've ever seen, they turned the ball over.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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They played better defense than everybody, too, on top of being unguardable.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I've watched him a lot. The last, I don't know, 10 plus days, I watched the Clippers loss. I watched the Phoenix win. I watched the Phoenix win in overtime. The Knicks lost, which could have gone either way. And they lose to San Antonio. But Ja didn't play last night, right? I don't think Ja or Bane played. That's right. Yeah, because Bane was in a sick, sick hoodie. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I want to be fair about Memphis, you know, because I think that the most dismissive thing you could say is, hey, they've never done shit. Because I hear it a lot. Like, if I talk to teams, like, hey, who do you like? Who do you not like? What would you think about this matchup? Whatever. There's a lot of never done shit. About a million different teams.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Because you know what it's really hard to do? Win. It's hard to actually do shit. Like, you could even... I don't even know how Wynn Horst... Again, it's not a criticism of Windhorse, but I was a little shocked at how often he was talking about how disrespected the Thunder were. Whereas once they get into the playoffs, that a lot of this stuff isn't going to work.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And that one, I don't quite understand. I don't think it's even fair to judge the Thunder as some finished product. Did he say that about this season's Thunder? He said about, I mean, do I have to bring up the quote? Because I brought it up with Slater. I brought it up with Slater this week.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I'm sitting here trying to ISO against Hunger Games, and I got the secretary of education telling me to calm down a little bit. And then I had to sub myself in. Which Hunger Games person? Was it a Josh or something?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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where he was basically saying, again, it's not like he's pulling the entire league, but it's like a player thing. There's just players that look at the Thunder, look at their regular season success. Now, last year, you could point to it and go, hey, look at their health and look at their available guys. They had basically played.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Sacramento had one of those seasons where it's like, okay, you basically ceilinged out this entire time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I don't understand. Why wouldn't Shea? Shea's just going to be as good. Maybe he has a couple games.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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What do you mean?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So which team has not won that people were like, hey, that team's going to get it done?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Are you ready to pick them over Boston in a series?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Did you see what else they did too? They sat Allen to close.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, but think about that sentence. Did you think you would be saying that, I think Boston could beat Cleveland two months ago?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, I pushed him pretty hard at one point because I just wasn't playing well. I'd actually had like a crack in my leg and Um, you know, whatever. Now I'm making excuses.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So Mitchell, this season in three games against Boston, is averaging 36, 7, and 4 on 50 and 38%. Feels even better.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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First of all, he's just that good. The best version of him. He also rejects the screen in that Dwayne Wade way where I think when you're really good at that, because I just don't know that there's enough guys that understand when you turn the screen down and you go the other way. He also splits it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Again, I'm not trying to compare him to Kobe because Kobe would split screens in ways you were just like, oh my God.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Well, it's probably not Hauser. As good as Hauser holds up, that was one of the things that I was looking at the last few days with Boston where every one of these Hauser minutes or every one of these curl handoffs where you're getting Cornette trying to figure out which side of the paint he's going to try to Contest a shot on like those are Porzingis and drew minutes.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So even if drew doesn't end up on him, you're now switching into whatever version of this was. And now pre Deandre Hunter, I didn't care what Mitchell did. I didn't care about what the regular season stuff. And again, it had gone Boston's way. So you could at least point to that as evidence of,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But there was always a bad matchup waiting for Cleveland, whether it was finding Garland or Strews having to start on Jalen Brown or, you know, Allen is on Tatum. They clearly like bringing Allen all the way out away from the rim. And then if the Mobley lineup is out there with Allen trying to keep him pinned to a three point shooter.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I didn't play Russell Westbrook. I didn't look, I shouldn't, I was not a celebrity. Um, ESPN was usually pretty good about trying to get somebody on air involved in some of that stuff. I liked it. A little cross promotion. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So like basically you can't have Allen or Mobley ever freelance to the rim. And I actually think in the matchups where Tatum had Allen, like he did a really good job with it because if he wasn't going to be able to finish at the rim, he kind of knew. And he had a massive game there.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But now that they have these Hunter minutes and they closed with Mobley, Hunter, and then the guards because Garland played and had his moments even though he's been hunted. And then you have... So Cleveland now has put together spacing options and the Hunter part of it, even though it was expensive, I love that they did this because...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Now it's like, look, nobody's stopping Tatum necessarily, but at least you have somebody size-wise who has a defensive thing to him. It's a chore to score against him, and he can shoot threes. Look, the point is, even without Przingis and Drew in there, maybe it feels like a mistake. Cleveland's the favorite.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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On the road.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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and i think atkinson has a real feel for what the team is but um and he has all these different options i guess i just don't like the default and i'm guilty of it too like we have a really hard time with new it's hard to be ahead of everybody going you know what like but if i were to listen to somebody like cleveland hasn't done it boston has and that be the reason that's not a reason it's ignoring a lot of basketball stuff there's not a reason now

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Obviously, I'd want to do it, but I clearly wish I had gotten a play before that because then when I went back home to talk to buddies that I played with regularly, they're like, you're terrible now. We talked so much shit about, they were like, look out, he's going to go off in this thing. And I was like, yep, I know.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And if they want to go double big, you still have to respect... you obviously have to respect Porzingis. Like you feel like Boston has the stretch options and we might be both making mistake declaring Cleveland the favorite right now. The whole point is being out, but I just think they're that good, man.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I got my pen.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Well, they went to seven games at Orlando. Yeah. And Orlando, who, if you really want to have a bad time, watch them on offense this season. It's funny, too, because Cleveland ran the zone where they had Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill at the top of the zone. Yeah. And you're looking at Orlando's options and you're like, I know with the zone it can mess you up a little bit.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And it also screws up Orlando's offense that their top two usage guys are 30% each from three in Paolo and Fran. So that's going to put a dent in your plans. But I was watching this going, how can you guys not figure out a way to attack front of the pod Sam Merrill and soon to be front of the pod Ty Jerome? Like how...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I know they're in zone, but teams will stop screening with zone or they'll stop cutting. They just get freaked out. Orlando's offense is terrible against everybody in every incarnation. But this is...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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this is one of those deals where you're like, everything seems to be working out for them and they can be a really like, you know, we could say how depth is overrated in the playoffs, but there's nothing to me that's overrated about options and they have depth and lineups, lineup options. Yeah. And okay.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But then on the other side, it was a bit like when Kyrie was having his playoff run last year, where even if he went four for 20, people be like his joy is back and it's unbelievable. Yeah. So the threshold for like a good Kyrie stretch was pretty low. And I think it was the same. And so when I got back to ESPN, people were like, oh, you played really well. And I was like, yeah, not really.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I just don't know how the Knicks defense is going to be enough. It's too easy scoring them. I know they have Mitchell back now, and the lack of depth isn't really an issue.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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That's a massive leap to be like, that team is going to get through. Unless somebody does them a favor, so they only have to face one of the two top teams to get through it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I love watching the Knicks, though. Like, even with my doubts, that Knicks-Memphis game the other night. That was awesome. We didn't really do a very good job on the Memphis thing. So let me just end it this way. Yeah. There's so much that I like about the team. I think Bain is just solid all the time. I don't know that Aldama gets enough credit. You know, they're working a couple other pieces in.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I think the Edie thing is still not necessarily great. And I don't know if it's because Bill Gurley.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I was shocked. Bill Gurley had kind of a tweet that was like, I'm really smart and you draft guys are kind of fucking morons. And it was like the general premise of overthinking something and ultimately becoming wrong when he was taken. And it's like, look, man, I think you're not really...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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understanding the NBA part of this, where there's a lot of teams that'll sit there in the war room going, Hey, the guy we're about to draft is not nearly as good as the guy we're passing on. Right. Yeah. Like they know this, these teams are not as stupid as people want to make them out to be. But if you're a team that doesn't have a, a track record of attracting free agents, right?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So you're not a destination franchise. You never use a cap space on anybody. Maybe you don't have necessarily trade assets.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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The reason why players like Edie would go a little bit later in a draft, which we've already covered some of this stuff before, is because you feel like they're already close to their ceiling and you're like, hey, I know that Amin Thompson is this or Sir Thompson is this, but what if this raw... like one percent athlete who we like his personality, like what?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And then you got called bald, I guess, for a straight hour or so.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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And I'm not comparing like Thompson going where he went. You know, it's also different draft classes, but. There's something you have to understand with teams that when they're selecting guys, they know the mistake they're potentially making, but they're thinking about the high ceiling part because the addition of talent is so incredibly challenging in this league. More challenging.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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It's tougher to be a GM in basketball than any of the other sports. So for teams that are watching, what's that?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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No way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Do you want to do this? I don't know that you're prepared to do this with me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, but the cap thing is the same for everybody. There's no soft part of it. There's no like... there's no massive advantage in the five destination cities in the NFL that you have in the NBA. So if you're a have not in the NBA, like Utah can be putting together the best plan ever. Is anyone ever signing there? Right. The NFL doesn't have that.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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You don't even have real, you don't even have real free agency in the NFL. So on top of like when a guy wants a trade, uh, Or we'll just franchise you and you can miss out on like a top five salary at your position.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, but he can't drive receivers. So that's not a good argument.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Right. Because then it becomes a debate. Is it easier to draft in the NBA or are they better at it? And I just when it comes down to the quarterback part of it. It's something that we can't criticize for an officer getting wrong. It's the process of evaluating these guys. It's just no one's figured it out. It's too flawed of a thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I'd like to be watching somebody run really fast in basketball and his dunks are awesome. And then being like, look at all that athleticism and quick twitch stuff. Now he'll be good at quarterback.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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We thought he was a rotation guy, but a closing guy for the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah. So you're drafting him and you're asking him to post up 1.6 times per game.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Another thing for my NFL NBA thing, we have seven conversations going on at once here, by the way.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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You can't bring in a new coach in the NBA with basically the same roster and then just be a completely different team. And there's also the math of the games where a team, a couple of one-score possession games go their way. All of a sudden, you're a four-win team and you go to like a nine-win team. And you're just like, man, we really figured it out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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It's like now actually just recover more fumbles. But there's very little that you can do

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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um and then also look in the nba with the way the drafting works the second round guys again the second round thing was like the most overrated thing ever and people just love that hanky was stockpiling all these second round picks but it was so fucking stupid there's no nba draft part where you're like oh in the fourth round we grabbed an all-pro middle linebacker right that doesn't happen so i don't know maybe we can maybe we can do this on the hit show ringer.com

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Because you actually have to factor in the pre-miserable. Yeah. You can't just pick somebody who's happy all the time. You have to get somebody who's a really moody dude. Yeah, that's tough.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Wait, so now I don't even know if we're arguing the same Zach Eady point. How about we do this? Do you like Memphis in the playoffs?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But is it too early for Memphis? Because that's something... This has been a very weird three-year stretch for this team. To say the least. Yeah. So you go back to 22. And I always like Memphis. I like their rawness. Their anti-establishment. The next generation of...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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of grit and grind and then when they played whoop that trick in game five against golden state you never got over that yeah yeah and i i actually i think i did a monologue because chris vernon sent me just a tear emoji after the open where i went i want golden state to beat their fucking brains in yeah when they play in game six because i was like you guys are really really feeling yourself

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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You're down 3-2 in a series. Maybe don't play. It was an elimination game, 3-1 to 3-2, but it was a lot. It was a lot from those guys. And so then you have the Jai issues, then you have the injury issues. And so that was a... They had a seed not that long ago when they were hurt against the Lakers, right? Where no one gave them a chance necessarily in that series. That was the Dylan Brooks thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Everybody ended up not liking him all that much. So this is kind of like year four of this group. But I don't know that it's like, oh, they're incapable because they haven't done anything when they weren't really fully formed in all these versions except for 22.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I mean, wherever Durant ends up.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, but they're defensive numbers because I looked it up the other day.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I just, I'm still on the pyramids to be honest with you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, just because like the last guy that built the pyramid after his, you know, the lineage of rulers, he was like, okay, well, my grandfather did this and then my father did this. So how about we do this? I'll build a slightly smaller pyramid just because the other guys, like, you really had to sacrifice.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Because basically people were like, hey, these pyramids take a fucking long time and a lot of resources. And maybe this isn't the sweetest deal for your constituents, right? Yeah. So I like that it was almost like an ideological shift of the pharaohs that it was like, if we're going to do a pyramid, how about a little smaller? Yeah. It felt like a real transition of like, I still got to do one.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I still got to do one. But I'm going to take it easy on you guys.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So is there a pyramid? Is there a pyramid version of OBP that matches not putting the ball in play in too many relievers?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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They never perfected? Right at the end of the third dynasty, maybe. I could have my tables wrong. But yeah. I'll check on that. What do you got?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Could there be Kyrie joy is back voter fatigue? Cause he would have won it last year.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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I saw the couple of beers thing. I haven't watched it yet. I did watch the monologue because I mean, he even talked about the first monologue. I think he was nervous. Like it was. Yeah, he was. So I've seen him, I think, four times now whenever he's around. Like, I want to make sure I can go check it out. And look, I like him.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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But last night, I think there's still this disconnect of people can't understand where he's at.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Yeah, like there was obviously like peak time. Whatever political lines you want to argue SNL was aligned with, I think there was a peak where it was probably a lot for anybody. I remember they did a weekend news thing or whatever, and they went to some correspondent that was talking about

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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the movie lineup and that essentially every movie was centered around white male rage right yeah and so whoever the correspondent was that was doing the spoof was just yelling like white male rage white male and i wasn't offended as a white male i was offended because it was so stupid it just wasn't funny at all yeah i felt like because of

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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wherever we were at in our discussions at least as a country at the time it was like almost a cool thing to try to do and it just didn't didn't work it wasn't really funny and now i've looked at different snl clips it's like oh you can see the shift a little bit be like maybe 100 maybe some of this pandering stuff that we were doing or maybe it was people internally that worked on the show we're like no these are important things like we're gonna do you can see there's been a very clear shift of like let's actually start making fun of

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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both sides a little bit more than we were so then i don't know if that sets the tone for like what gillis is walking into but i think some people look at gillis and think was he talks about trump when he comes out says i'm going to miss trump being in debates that for some people it's like this massive red flag that goes off like oh this guy's a trump guy you know he's yeah white he's from pa like clearly he's a trump then he goes right for biden right after

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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Right. So I don't think first of all, I don't think he's conservative. Some people think he is. And the way that like that'll like it'll happen with certain people like they'll already be like triggered to go. Oh, no. Like this is a pro Trump comedian out here because he just said, I mean, and then he makes fun of Trump the whole fucking time.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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When MB is on another team, when they do the joy is back, sit down feature for.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

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So he's kind of just making fun of everybody there the whole time. I'd ask you this, though, like him getting bounced. I knew who he was, but not as good. And then pretty quickly, I was like, man, this guy is... He's probably my favorite going right now.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I think he's really smart on top of being like... The guys that play the goofy thing, but also are incredibly smart with the way they structure the stuff that they're doing is always going to make me want... I'm like, okay, I'm in. This isn't just set up, set up joke or whatever. I think there's some layers to the stuff that he's doing that's really impressive to me. But do you think...

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Do you think that changed? Cause it, at the time it felt like, and I'm doing a bad job with this. That was the best thing that happened to him. Cause it put him on everybody's radar, but you think the long-term ceiling for him back to the Zach, I don't think it was the best thing.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Okay. You do go.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. You can't even.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

The ISIS thing. When I saw the ISIS thing live in Arizona, uh, I mean, he just had everybody. I mean, his whole premise was, and again, like, that's a pretty good example of what we're talking about. I don't think he actually is cheering for ISIS. Right. But his whole story and playing it out of getting you to understand why he's rooting for ISIS for all of the reasons that he's laying out.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Like, that's brilliant shit, man. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And now you think he has a Sandler like potential Sandler timeline. That's not reachable now. What do you mean? Well, if he's the main guy and he's really funny, he's on SNL for 10 years feels long today.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Every Jimmy Butler quote, I feel like did Aaron Sorkin write the perfect like recovery? Like every quote, it's not just one good quote. They're like 12 for 12. They're all perfect. Yeah. And you think like, hey, Sorkin, come up with a script of this player that basically sabotaged himself, destroyed his own market value, destroyed his own free agency.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Oh, Les Claypool. Primus, Tuesday. Already taped it.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Keep it a secret. Who do you want to win the Oscar?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I thought she was great.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I only watched those two movies. Oh, and I saw Dune. I saw Dune. I saw Chalamet at the Lakers game. I know. He was sitting a couple rows in front of me. I wanted to go up to him and be like, hey, here's the deal. It's not about me. Will you go on with Bill?

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Yeah. No, no. I want you to just I want you to ice. I want you to hunt him like Darius Garland. I think it's very clear. Chalamet would come on with you if he knew the request was in. I feel like people don't know how big I think there's a pretty big PR armada. Yeah. Yeah.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I'm not worried about it. They're turning down everything. But any kid that waits outside MSG to meet Amari Stoudemire when he's 10 or 11, that guy wants to go. He already name-checked you. So this is an auto. So I thought, is there any way I'll get him? But as I've gotten older, I'm like, I'm never going up to anybody anymore. Yeah, it sucks. Because it just doesn't work. You can come up to me.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

I'll be over here.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

See you.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Like, this isn't new, even if we could get into some of the debates, which I think there's some fair criticisms of Sorkin.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

some of the miami stuff but i mean ultimately it was butler that just checked out on the whole thing they're like okay but when he goes to this new team and everybody starts making threes and they win a bunch of games like give us perfect quotes every quote butler has for like two weeks has nailed it it's one of those situations where you're like oh i forgot this guy had teeth we hadn't seen his teeth for like three years because he hadn't smiled since like 2021 2021

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Just all you have to do is play with them and then go when everybody, this is what happens when you cut. Yeah. Like you cut and then all of this stuff is just wide open. I mean, still even at Steph's age with this. So, Butler, it was funny because we had Anthony Slater on who, you know, from the athletic, he's national, but you know, his background is the Warriors.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

And he made a really good point because I think anybody that knew about what was going on before the trade deadline and all the different conversations you hear, like the Warriors are a little split.

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Well, ultimately it matters if Lakob or Dunleavy care, probably more so Lakob because Lakob is the one that's going to have to, as they have them void out the player option, you give them north of a hundred million bucks and you're like, all right, you know, like I would never want to be an owner or a GM in that situation. We're like the way we can,

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

take a chance here is giving jimmy butler a two plus you know 100 million plus over the next two years but slater was like whatever the internal debates were it was what are we disrupting now a maybe non-playing team so who cares uh yeah and that kind of ends the argument really especially when you see these results yeah i said on the on the pod right after that it wasn't a hail mary

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Talking Basketball, NBA, and Hoops With Ryen Russillo

Are you saying, I'm just to interject quickly, just are you going off of like the rumbling of like Josh Harris really was like, Not sure that he wanted to do this.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Yeah. How about you, Sean? Celtic pride and fever pitch.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to not respond.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Like, what does he even, he already won.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Ryan, you tell us.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

I'm one of four.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

I mean, yes. So imagine if I was like, ah, there's one rotten one, you know.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

You know, every four seasons. 30 games into the season. If you don't have one. Can I zag on this?

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Are we sure Dr. Sean McGuire is a good therapist? Oh.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Okay. You're going to lose the crowd again. Let's go. Let's just start here. Commits physical violence during a therapy session.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

He pivoted to therapy?

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Yeah.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

They're done.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

97?

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Can I suggest a better title? Good Milf Hunting. Good Milf Hunting. Good Milf Hunting. Oh, interesting.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Oh, Ronan.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

I'm just saying that Shakespeare and Love is probably the most juice they have. They beat Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Cruz. Cruz.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

I got some applause.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

The crowd's back on track.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

Yeah.

The Rewatchables

‘Good Will Hunting’ Live From Boston With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

It's not your fault. Dr. Bill.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Trade Market Check-In With Bobby Marks, Plus NFL Divisional Round Preview and Picks With Ted Nguyen

Every runner knows this moment when it just clicks. When your legs just go with it. When the pain stops, the doubts are gone, and you just feel the runners high. All right, let's bring it back around to Biel. He is an interesting player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Trade Market Check-In With Bobby Marks, Plus NFL Divisional Round Preview and Picks With Ted Nguyen

It's like, that's fine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

What's going on, man? Good to be home with you again. Yeah. Not like it's a slow news day right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Yeah. So, well, first we weren't even supposed to be there. Um, we were, I had done, done a game, uh, that week and we were, Dave Pash and I were going home. And then, of course, that happens. And we want to get an opportunity to do that first game. So ESPN moves mountains to create that window of broadcasting time. Because we don't do Saturday matinee games on ESPN during the regular season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

We don't do that kind of thing. So they created the space. Of course, Saturday, excited that he's not playing. Major letdown, obviously. And that game was actually kind of weird because Indiana is red hot coming into that game. Lakers don't play LeBron. They don't play Luca. They've got one big. And of course, yeah, of course they go up 20 in the first quarter on the Pacers and win that game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

The Austrians went off, but then we didn't even know Saturday night. Like, what are we doing? We sticking around here for the game on Monday. They finally, again, that was, that was way above my pay grade to make that happen. We did it. But even as late as Sunday evening, we didn't know if Luca was going to play Monday. And if he didn't play Monday,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

I'm saying, well, then he's probably not going to play Wednesday. He's going to play after the break. Why would you play him one game? So we didn't know, but they created the window. We were going to we were prepared to do another Lakers game without Luca playing on Monday night against Utah, which was a terrible game. And it ended up being even worse than we expected. But at least he played.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

We got a chance to talk to JJ Saturday leading into the game. And, you know, it was funny because he's it was as if he hadn't, in his words, been able to put a lot of thought yet, even to what it was going to look like with Luca. Monday going into the game when now it was clear he was going to play. We met with JJ two hours before the game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

And again, you know, JJ is a he's kind of like a subdued guy anyway. He's not getting super amped up or giddy about it. He's just very businesslike about what it's going to be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

I'm sure internally, knowing that it's a limitless number of possibilities of things you could do offensively with these two players, I think I'm sure his head is processing all of that and thinking about ultimately what this could look like. And then we got our first sample of it on Monday night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Well, one of the things that JJ talked about, and I did see it come to fruition in that game, obviously to a very small extent, he only played 24 minutes. They staggered their minutes a good amount during that time. So that's something that's a work in progress, like how they're going to, you know, when he ramps up full speed, those guys are going to play 34, 35 minutes a night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

um along along with austin reeves so how are they exactly are they going to do that you know you figure the first six seven of the game they're going to play together the first six seven of the second half they'll play together and then the last five or six minutes they'll play together so do the math on that that's about 20 minutes guaranteed they're on the court together

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

So then he becomes, what about the other 28 minutes? How exactly are they going to do that? Now, the luxury, and, you know, Costa Riz, he's got great command of his handle. He can get his own shot. You can run stuff through him. You know, to have two of those guys on the court pretty much the entire time, that's now the luxury that J.J. has. But here's one thing that I did see that J.J.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

talked about, and he kind of got excited thinking about this. So the third defender, the third best perimeter defender for every one of these teams is now going to end up on one of these guys. And he was talking about, look, he's obviously not putting Austin Reeves in the category with LeBron and Luka, but Austin Reeves is a guy that has shown JJ. He's got a lot of game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

And so even thinking about him getting an opportunity to operate against the third defender, because you can't have them on all of those guys, and very few teams have three great perimeter defenders, so somebody is going to get a weaker guy. And when you run the action you want, And you call horns action.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

And for people that want to know what's horns action, horns is, you know, there's a ball handler in the middle of the floor. And then you come up with a screen to be set on either side of a high ball screen. So there's two guys up there setting screens. And then the ball handler gets his choice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

and you come off and you pick which way you want to go, horns action, every team runs something like that. And then after you come off the ball screen, those other two guys, the screeners, there can be an additional screen set there for each other where one of those guys dives to the rim.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

When you run all that kind of action with those three players involved in ball screens and then off ball screens together, you're going to end up with the matchup you were looking for on that possession. And that is what had JJ very excited because now you're like, well, what if the third guy ends up on Luka or LeBron? What does that mean?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

That means absolute downhill breakdown, collapsing your defense in the paint. And, you know, that's going to be a major problem. The other thing I saw was, hey, you run action for one of these guys, LeBron or Luka, on one side of the floor, comes off of it, There's an entire defensive shift to that side of the floor to deal with that ball screen action with those guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Now when the ball, there's nothing there because there's too much traffic. The ball comes out, gets to the other side. Now it's going into the side of another elite level, all-time great creator. With closeout defenders coming at them with more space to operate because the first guy did most of the work on the other side of the floor. So that's the other thing now that you're going to see.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

So I did see some of that, very small sample size of it, but that kind of gets your head around what this is going to look like. You're talking about a guy in LeBron who this year is fourth in the league and points directly off of his passes. last year Luca was third in the league in that category. They're playing together now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

So let's just, let's wrap our head around that and the facilitation for, of the offense for everybody else. That to me is one of the biggest upsides to this entire thing. And I saw some of that, at least on Monday.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Oh, yeah, there's no doubt. And you talk about the way he looks. And then, you know, I've done four Lakers games this year, so I've been seeing it quite a bit. The thing that was amazing to me on Monday was how hard LeBron was playing defensively with containment of the ball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

it was kind of amazing to watch because that's the one thing that people will, you know, if you want to nitpick the guy, some people will nitpick that. Well, he kind of picks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

And it's really good. It's fair. Like, you do see it. He does pick his spots when he's 40 years old. Like I, you know, he does. I mean, that's the bottom line. He didn't on Monday. And like, and I was wondering, he was playing so hard, right? Like defensively to, to like pressure up the ball and like slide and use his strength.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

And just really, I mean, he really disrupted some possessions and look, it's the Utah jazz. You know, you're talking about guys like Keontae George, you know, handling the ball against him, you know, and Isaiah Collier. And like, you know, you're not talking about elite level offensive players in this league, but still.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

And I was like, kind of like, wow, part of me is like, is this part of this like for Luca to watch? You know, Luka's never played with a presence like this, a profile like this, a guy that casts this kind of a shadow. He's never had this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

So now LeBron at 40, expending that kind of energy, I'm not saying Luka's going to grind it out defensively, but I do think there's going to be a little bit more accountability with LeBron as your teammate than anything Luka's ever had. And I think that could be something that's beneficial. Something else ran through my mind during the game I thought about.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Luca is different from LeBron in that LeBron I've always viewed as more of a facilitator first, which is kind of crazy because the guy's the all-time leading scorer in history. But I do think he, he thinks more about just putting pressure on defenses with his, just his power and his force, but thinks more like a playmaker before the scoring comes. Luca is the opposite. I think Luca is,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

dips his toe in the water first every night like he sticks the thermometer in his own mouth every night first he's done it in Dallas since he came into the league it makes me chuckle and I appreciate it respect it because he'll come out it doesn't matter if he's playing with Kyrie or whoever he's just like I'm gonna at the first these first six minutes are about me I'm gonna try to see how hot I am because that'll dictate my night so the reason I bring that up

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

When Luka was in Dallas, like at no time was Luka able to just go like, I'm just going to score right now, man. And I'm just going to totally take playmaking off my plate right now. You guys just don't worry about it. Just watch me for the next six minutes. He had to facilitate for those guys. Can you imagine now a situation where like Luka, because he's more of a raw scorer than LeBron.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

gets cooking early, but LeBron's like, fine, man, just go because these other dudes, I'll make sure they get shots. I can run point here for a little bit at the highest level and just go. Don't think about anything else. You don't have to worry about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

It'll come organically out of some of his action, obviously, the lobs and the cross-court threes that he kicks out for because that's just the right play to make and he can make it. I think the thought process behind it of not worrying about Getting anybody easy looks, if he gets cooking early in a game, that's kind of a fun thing to think about as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Yeah, man, look, I think this is like something that they might never get over. I'm not exaggerating that. And I've said this, and I've kind of talked to some people around the league about their own teams that they like and follow and the players that they're fans of.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

And I'm saying, would it even matter to Dallas fans if the Mavericks won it this year or next year or the third year of this Anthony Davis-Kyrie pairing? Would that be enough to... to salve this wound? I don't think so. Because number one, you may have won it with Luka too. Like, you'll never know that now. They got to the finals last year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Now, look, I don't know that anybody's beaten OKC this year. So maybe it's just one of those years like you're not beating that team. But we'll never know it. They did go to the finals. And I do think they actually improved their team. Now, Luka missed a lot of time. There's downside to that. You're a 500 team now with a stretch run to try to position yourself.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

That's a hard thing in the West to go on the road for three rounds. I get that. But at the same time, you know the benefit of it? Luka, once he gets himself into shape over the next couple of weeks, he will be so much fresher at that time of the year than he has ever been. There's something to be said for that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

The year that Golden State won the title a few years ago with Steph, Steph missed a chunk of time in the second half of the season that year. He was fresher when the playoffs came around. It matters to guys with that kind of usage. So we'll never know. But here's what I do know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Whether you win it or you don't win it or whatever happens to Dallas the next three years, and I thought it was kind of almost mind-blowing that Nico Harrison said, I'm talking about the now and the future, and by that I mean three to four years. That's the future? You have a guy that's 25 years old. That could be your cornerstone for the next 12 years if that's what you wanted it to be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

You've shrunk this down to three or four years, and you start using words like culture and things like that, and we're talking about guys like Kyrie and AD. So the whole thing was kind of surreal to listen to it. So he shrunk it to that three- or four-year window.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Okay, let's say that somehow you think you're a more viable threat, or you even make a deep run, or you win a damn title in the next three years. I don't think that is enough to satisfy the Mavericks fan base because of who Luka represents. This is one of the greatest offensive talents to ever come into this league, and he's 25.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

And he's already been to a conference final and a final by the age of 24. Go look at the history of the league. The guys at the top of the food chain have done that. They're all-time great players. And so Luka's already done that. And so I'm like saying to myself, well, how bad can this stuff be with the conditioning and your concerns organizationally when he's that good, that talented?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

And by the way, that entertaining, that's the other thing that the Dallas fans are having a hard time wrapping their head around, man. Going to a Dallas Mavericks game was an event because of Luka. You just took that away. That's gone. So to your point, will they, it's still bad here? It could be bad here for a very long time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And look, if you win, obviously, if they make a deep playoff run, people get behind that and they're going to be selling out. The crowd's into it. They're going to be a parade and they'll be there. I'm still not sure it completely heals the wound of losing what was a generational player for a generation of fans, particularly like younger fans in Dallas.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So that's what this organization is coping with, dealing with. And now we'll see what happens once they get everybody back and what it looks like at the end of the year. This year is going to be very difficult because of these injuries. We'll see over the next two or three years. Does Dallas make a run? And does that even matter as much to the fan base?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Because Luca, by the way, could also go to L.A. and do the same thing, potentially. So they're going to have to live with that for maybe the next decade, watching whatever success he has in a Lakers uniform. So the whole thing, you and I, I think, are in agreement on this. It's inconceivable that a player this age of this talent could become available by the team's choosing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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without some sort of a scandal that they're involved in, without just being an unbearable human being on a daily basis to be around, without him forcing his way out or leaving in free agency. This just doesn't happen in team sports. It just doesn't happen. And it has now. And now we got to wait and see what the fallout's going to be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Yeah, I would say probably Denver. I mean, look, I've been really impressed with Memphis and Houston all year. And I've seen Memphis, I think I've called three of their games. So I've been impressed. And every time I've seen them, I think they've been shorthanded. So I've even seen them at full strength. I like them a lot. I like Houston a lot, man. They're tough. They compete.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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They're taking on the identity of their coach. I mean, a man Thompson is a guy that just blows me away when I watch some of the stuff that he could do on the court. I don't know that. Memphis is complete enough, and I don't know that Houston is ready to take that leap. And Houston, you know, listen, six-game losing streak they just went on. People make too much of that sometimes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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They hadn't lost more than two games in a row all year, and they only did that once.

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You're right. And I watched both of those games and it's like, that was actually what kind of stood out to me. Like, okay, how do you close games? Because it's not going to be Jalen green. that you're going to trust in that situation. Ahmed Thompson is not a complete enough offensive player because he doesn't really have a perimeter shot, so you can't do it there. And Shingun is a nice player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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He's not on that level. So that's definitely a concern for Houston. Tight game, playoff spot. What are you going to right now to make sure that you've got the ball in the hands of a guy that's going to get a good shot or make a great decision? That's a problem for them. And you saw that rear itself during the losing streak. But in general, the six-game losing streak, you're okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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It's just a stretch. It's a tough stretch. Tough time of the year. It's just, you know, whatever. Get to the break. Hit the reset. And I think Houston is legitimately a very good team. I don't think either of those teams represent a real threat to Oklahoma City. I think Denver would be the team that you would look at. And now, obviously, the Lakers, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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We got to wait and see because maybe it's the Lakers when it's all said and done. Maybe it is them. And they added Alex Lynn, which is important. They got some size. That's going to be a problem. But I think their small lineup is going to be a problem for teams.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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When they play Rui and Dorian Finney-Smith with those three perimeter players, I think that's going to be a very tough lineup to guard for teams. You'll see more and more of that, I think, deeper into the year. So maybe it ends up being the Lakers. But that is kind of how I see it. Right now it would be Denver. Watch out for the Lakers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I don't think that Memphis necessarily and Houston are good enough in those tight spots that you're going to have to be in a playoff series.

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Well, the thing that's going to be very interesting, ultimately, and it always is in the West, is how do these standings play out? what does that look like? I mean, I think that getting into that three spot is very important for Denver or the Lakers. You know, obviously you don't want to be four or five. You get Oklahoma city in the second round, if that's the case. So that's going to matter.

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So one of these teams is going to get there. So I think, you know, if Denver or LA can get the three, then I think they're going to have a really good chance to beat whoever that is in the two spot. That's Memphis. Hey, maybe Denver-LA end up 2-3. That's possible. Lakers got some work to do to get there, but that's possible. You get those two teams in the second round.

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But I think the key is to avoid Oklahoma City as long as you can. Memphis is a good team, man. The one thing I like about Memphis is When I watch them, they consistently play very hard. And their role players, on a given night, it's different guys, but their role players have an impact. I love Aldama. I have for quite a while.

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He's a guy that I think is very underrated, what he does in this league. GG is a big component getting him back. He's still not close to, I think, what he can be by the end of the year. So they're deeper than they've been. But ultimately, it comes down to, do you trust one possession game, three minutes to go, what are they going to run to guarantee that they get good action and get a good shot?

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If they get into that situation and you've got the Lakers or you've got Denver, I trust those teams more if that's who they would end up playing in a seven-game series and the winner moving on to Oklahoma City in the conference finals.

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There is no question. And I think, look, I think part of the trade was looking at the team that's the measuring stick, which is the Boston Celtics. That's who they're comparing themselves to. When you look at those two forwards in Boston and what you have to do to guard them, what they were going to be rolling out there in their rotation at those spots was going to be tough for them.

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I think DeAndre Hunter answers that. So I'm a big DeAndre Hunter fan. I think this primarily came down to his ability to guard some of the longer guys that can get their own offense in this league on the perimeter. That's what he's going to answer. And he can also give you supplemental offense where he can spot up and shoot the ball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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But there are going to be nights he'll have a playoff game where he gets eight points and takes seven shots and he's got tremendous value because of what he's doing to guard. It won't matter as much. I think the Mobley component to me is the biggest reason why they've moved this forward.

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Guys in this league, when they get to a certain place in terms of their confidence, it's amazing how all of a sudden they anticipate being open. He never anticipated being open the last couple of years. I'd watch him and it was just like he wasn't in the mindset of running out onto the court from the tunnel expecting to do damage. He was a good player, a nice player, but he blended in.

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A lot of nights he blended in, and he doesn't blend in anymore. He's out there, and he's anticipating getting the ball. He's thinking about his next opportunity prior to it happening, so when it does open up a little bit of a window for him, he jumps on it, and he took... 19 shots in their last game. I mean, go back and look at last year. How many times did he even get to 19 shots?

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And their team has got more firepower than they've had, and he still gets that many shots on a given night because he's expecting it. He wants it. That, to me, has really changed the profile of their team, in my mind. To where, look, I think for me, they're going to have home court against Boston if that's what the conference finals ends up being.

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Look, I'm not trying to dismiss the Knicks because I think the Knicks can go toe-to-toe with these teams, make it a very interesting series. But, you know, it's a coin toss to me, Ryan. It's a coin toss to me now between Cleveland and Boston. And Boston, I think, still has another gear that we're going to see after the break. You can't replicate hunger.

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They just didn't have as much hunger this year. They satisfied that last year. That was a quest for their organization, for Brown and Tatum. They answered that. You can't just automatically think you're going to show up the next year with this driving hunger to win. You'll get it later in the year. Denver went through the same thing when they finally broke through. They'll get it.

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And they might have the most talent and depth ultimately when it comes down to it. And maybe they're right back in the finals again. But Cleveland has really shored up that gap with them to where I think now that's an absolute coin toss if they were to play in a seven-game series.

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I think the one thing that I've seen they've reverted to a little bit this year are those nights when Tatum and Brown aren't great on the same night. Like that kind of reminded me of the years before they broke through and won it. When you would look at them some nights and go, man, you know, Tatum and Brown, it's such a tough pairing, but they operate completely independently of each other.

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And so some nights it'd be one guy, some nights the other. And a lot of their action run on opposite sides of the floor. And I didn't think they were maxing out the pressure they could put on defenses when they're both involved in some sort of action they run. And it just felt more complimentary last year. And this year there's been nights I watch them and it felt a little bit like last year.

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One of the things I've done with Boston all season is I just keep telling myself, This just doesn't feel the same in their head as it did last year, going for this thing and trying to get this thing across the finish line. It's just a different mentality around that. Their offseason was completely different, not only because you're a champion now. Team USA played into that.

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You got three guys there. It wasn't necessarily the best summer for Tatum, obviously, with what happened. You know, Jalen Brown was probably not thrilled that you got two teammates who are role players, more like role players on that team or on Team USA. And he's not like there's a lot of stuff that happened over the summer that made their whole offseason different.

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And then you come back in and you start playing. But again, it's like, man, it's a long year. It's a grind. Everybody's trying to catch up to us. So we'll show you our best. when we have to, which is going to be March, April, May, June. And I think that's probably what you're going to see.

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I think you're going to see just an uptick in intensity in everything that they do after they get this week off at the All-Star break.

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I think I think it's a very apt description of what we watch every night. First of all, there's no question. The number of high-level shot makers in this league, it's silly to even say more than ever because that doesn't even do it justice how much more than we've ever seen in this league. The number of guys on a given night that are capable of making incredibly difficult shots

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on threes of the kind you're describing, but just there's escapability to get it, to get the shot off. Everybody's got to step back. Everybody's got to sidestep three. In the league, they practice this stuff. They work on this stuff in the summer. More guys can do it.

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And so just maybe sometimes there is a lack of appreciation of how good it is because it can be a little monotonous some nights when you watch.

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you were talking to me about Boston before and anything I'm seeing, that's probably another thing I would say is just like those nights when it's, they allow you to guard them because they they'll take any one of those shots they get with the slightest crack of daylight immediately. Cause all the, all of them can shoot it. They'll take it.

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And you're just like, man, imagine if you just wait a team work and, for eight to ten seconds and guard you guys off the dribble when you get into the lane and you're getting your dribble drive kick action. You're never catching up to the ball and eventually somebody takes a three, but it's a better three. Imagine if they played like that all the time. Nobody could deal with Boston. They don't.

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56 and 52. Okay, and it's just like... You know, it's just like, it does get, that's why when I look at teams and, excuse me, it's up my throat. I look at the team numbers going into a game and I make it all my notes and I'm like, oh, this is great. Like these two teams are in the bottom 10 in attempted threes. So we're going to see more tonight than just that.

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So to your point, yes, I think that you're not necessarily always getting the best shot you can. You have to weigh that with,

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It's incredible to me the number of guys that can make good shots out of those attempts, that they are reasonable because they go in enough and they shouldn't because they're incredibly difficult shots and they're not really putting a lot of pressure on the defense a lot of times. That is pretty much what we're watching every night in this league right now.

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And for Boston, I do think there are nights when I go, man, they're making it easy. You know, they take six, seven in a row. off of one pass, two passes. First, remote daylight. Let's get it up there. And I'm going, man, you're not... With all the talent you have, with that kind of versatility, four guys in your starting lineup that can beat anybody off the dribble, get into the lane.

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Then you got this freak, Porzingis, and how difficult he is to guard. All of you can catch and shoot threes. And yet you don't make them have to guard you first before you get the good three. Because I don't know that anybody could beat them if they played like that every night. And maybe, hey, maybe they'll get closer to that when it really matters.

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Hey, listen, I do want to make a point. I'm sitting there watching these games, especially when I'm calling the game, because I can really see the bench and the coaching staff and all that that's not shown on camera sometimes when you're watching at home. And I see shots like you're describing. I don't know how many at night.

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My first thing is typically when I see one that I just like, it makes you kind of like sick. Like you ate bad food. When you see a shot like that, like you're talking about, I'll look immediately at the bench, the coaching staff. There's almost never a reaction to it. And I'm just sitting there going, man, like, What would that be like for a guy like myself that could shoot?

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If I knew legitimately there is nothing I could possibly do that would be a bad shot in anybody's mind in the building, I don't know what that freedom... between the ears, like where you just, you remove all thought about good shot, bad shot, you know, playing the right way. I said, no, no. If you get any daylight legs, let it fly.

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I don't know what that would even feel like, that level of empowerment, but that's kind of what we have in the league now. Anybody, anytime, any possession. Take it if you want it. And there's no reaction from the coaching staff whatsoever. It's incredible to me. But that's where we're at.

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And look, a lot of it is because the skill level is so off the charts that I think they run the analytics and they think that this is going to pay off in the end. You're taking that many because there are a lot of nights where they make enough of those that it becomes very difficult to guard them.

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You know what's wild, Ryan? And I can't remember the player. I was watching a game. in the last couple of weeks, there was a two on one fast break where the ball handler came down and, you know, and there was a couple of defenders, you know, maybe eight, 10 feet behind running back to try to get back into the play. So you had to make a quick decision on this.

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Two-on-one, we were obviously always conditioned to take it right at the defender, force them to commit, and then if they don't, lay it in. If they do, you drop it off and the other guy gets a layup. If it's a standard drill you do in middle school even, that two-on-one fast break drill. And this particular ball handler started to fan out.

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He was going to pull for three from the slot or wing-ish type area. The defender... kind of committed to him that it came out on him because he thought he was going to shoot. And by that time, like that, getting that pass to the guy underneath the basket was going to be hard because there were guys running back.

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So the ball handler then dribbled all the way to the corner on that side of the court and then shot it. So it was like, it was like, it was like literally weighing like all the scenarios. This is the worst case one. And I'm going to go ahead and let that go. I'm gonna let that fly right now because this is what I processed in the moment.

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And what also I'm noticing is the reaction of the crowd in the arena on like really bad shots is also non-existent because it's kind of like what they watch every night. It's just like, this is, this is the way the game is played now. This is what we do. So, But again, I think your original point's the best because it doesn't want to come off like we're criticizing players.

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The bottom line is there are guys, more guys on all of these rosters capable of making these kinds of shots. than we've ever had. So as a result, there's a lot more leeway given to the players, man, to be able to sort those things out.

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The one thing I like now is true is like when guys come on the floor there in whatever minutes that you're a 15 minute player, like for those 15 minutes, like for the first time you touch the ball, go ahead and shoot it. And that is also a different mindset. Like it used to be, you're going to play 15, 18, 20 minutes, right? You're going to come in the game.

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You're going to, you're going to go up and down a few times, man, touch it a couple of times, right? Get into the flow before you would really think about shooting the ball. Cause you've been sitting over there for in real time, probably 20 minutes by that time, the start of the game. So that's what, that's what you're meant to. Now it's just, I like the fact

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that coaches allow guys, Hey, maybe you play 15 minutes, make the most of those 15 minutes. If you're a shooter, go ahead, let it fly. Every time you get it while you're out there. And if one of those nights, you know, you missed your first six, then maybe, you know, that'll be the coach's decision. I'll go somewhere else for those last few minutes, whatever. But for the most part,

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you're empowered to do what you do. And it's immediately, as soon as you step on the court, no one is blinking an eye. If you check in, you're still tucking your Jersey in and you catch the ball and shoot it. Like no, no one cares if that's the case anymore. And I, I kinda, I kinda dig that man, as a role player and a guy coming off the bench, shooting threes, like that would have been nice.

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Yeah, I can't wait to see them tonight. I've only seen tape. I want to see the game tonight. I'm anxious to call this game to see exactly stylistically what this does to them, how it changes them. Look, he gives them an edge. He gives them some toughness. He's got a lot to prove. He's definitely highly motivated right now. He got crushed.

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in terms of the perspective on Jimmy Butler with the way it ended in Miami. And look, it's ended like that in a few places. But right now, he's definitely highly motivated and anxious to get out of that situation. He's found himself in a very healthy situation. Great guys, great coach, great system. great joy for the game and much needed.

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Like his particular skill set, get to the line, win the tough mid-range stuff, battle, compete, give you more defensively. So he's going to address all of those things for them. And I think one thing that Steve Kerr talked to me about earlier this year when I did one of their games, it was interesting. He said a big reason why Steph's numbers are kind of down by his historical, you know, norms is

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Because of the lack of three-point shooting they had of their bigs. So he's like, every night we're getting a big guarding Looney, Trey Jackson Davis, or even Draymond at the five. All they're doing is standing back in the lane.

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A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

As a result, a lot of the action they run where they get cutters and they get slicers, and a lot of it's not even designed to get necessarily a catch for a score in the lane. But it does force reactions out of guys. And then the next thing, here comes Steph off a dribble handoff because there's space on the perimeter. That was taken away.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

He's like, it's so congested in the lane because these defenders of the five are just standing back there. So all that stuff we run just has no purpose. So now teams are high-siding Steph. They're hard on outside hip. None of that action is he getting open on. He's working so hard to get freedom and space. Well, now all of that attention paid to him, you can't.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

If Jimmy Butler is gobbling up all of that extra space that's available when he gets to basketball, it's a totally different way to have to guard them. And I'm very curious to see now the impact on Steph. Even in the first two games, I can see it's energized their team. And so I'm like, and it stinks. I'm not going to get a healthy Dallas team tonight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

You know, I won't get to see what that looks like, but we'll have a lot of topics on Dallas that have nothing to do with how it looks tonight. So I'm sure they'll get their fill, but I'm just as excited even more so about seeing what Golden State looks like with Jimmy Butler and his impact on Steph Curry specifically. But I do think Look, it's going to be a tough road for them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

You know, they're coming from a 500 spot, trying to climb some rungs in the ladder in the West. There's other teams in the same boat. So, look, they're a team ultimately could get their act together, play really well going into the playoffs. It would not be an easy out. Can you expect right now, as we sit here, a deep playoff run for the Warriors? Probably not.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

But, again, with question marks around Houston, around Memphis, Lakers, this all has to work for them. Like, you know, There's other teams right now that are still also figuring stuff out. Let's see how the Warriors look in comparison.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Full NFL Offseason Preview and the Chiefs’ Future With Mike Sando. Plus Tim Legler on the Luka-LeBron Combo, Celtics Worries, and More.

Thanks, man. Appreciate you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Excited about today's show. All right, here's how we did it. We got Jim Harbaugh. He's moving product, but he's also talking football. We're going to talk about his path and why he set out on a very definitive plan at five or six years old. I want to talk Super Bowl matchup. This Doncic trade leaked into Super Bowl week. That doesn't happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Okay, so what's different about what Mahomes is facing in Fangio's approach?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

When Matt played, I imagine that the entire crew go up to Detroit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Is a spy a waste of a defender?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Because that moment's going to happen. I mean, a spy against Hurts, a fully healthy Hurts, can almost feel, like, pointless. I think the defender, it's kind of like the Milano stuff that they were doing with Lamar Jackson, where they were rushing from one side and make sure Milano was on the backside.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And it wasn't just the absolute trust that Milano's going to make a one-on-one tackle with Lamar Jackson. Like, I don't know. who I would have on the list of like, yeah, this guy's got it, no problem. And as good as Milano is, that's asking a lot of him. But at least it's showing you that that side of the field isn't wide open.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Where with Hertz, you can put one of those guys, like there's a bunch of dudes, linebackers that I like for the Chiefs, but are you really going to contain Hertz if he fully decides? Like Hertz decides, he has more like definitive, I'm running, where Mahomes kind of sees how it all plays out. And then it feels like you almost have one less defender, but you know what's going to happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

He's going to scramble out to the sideline, third and seven. He's going to reach the ball. He's probably going to do it two or three times in huge spots. And you don't really know when it's coming until everything else is broken down. So it's like, is it really worth it? Like when he gets free, you're at home going, how come nobody's on him? Like, how come they don't have a spot?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

You know, it's everything's everybody's favorite thing to yell. You're like, do you know how many times you have to leave that guy in and take him out of the rest of the defense just to have him in there in that spot? Uh, That's, I think, more of a sacrifice than I think people realize.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Yeah, as you're talking this out too, like, the old Vic stuff where it's like, once you get your pass rush past his tackles, then you've actually screwed yourself. Like you think you're making this progress. Hey, look, I might get him. I might get him. It's like, no, you've just actually taken yourself out of the play and he's running past like whatever your alignment was.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

There's like two guys left now that, that are on the, that they're even involved in the front seven that are even a part of this thing anymore. So, you know, part of me was like, would the chiefs be more disciplined in this spot against Hurts, whereas some of the younger guys for the Eagles front, are they going to be so amped up that they get upfield a little bit more?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

But I think what the difference is is Hurts can smoke you with a 60-yarder where Mahomes is just converting third downs. Mahomes isn't out there just flying around like Lamar. It's just those painful, painful, we did everything right. We actually got a little pressure on him. Um, and then there he is scrambling out and just reaching over with the football. All right. Last thing here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Uh, you, you said for the obvious reasons here, I mean, nobody has to sit there really. It's not like when you pick the chiefs, it's like, really, why are the, why the chiefs? Um, but something that you'll be looking for early in the game that you think will kind of dictate,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

the rest of the game, which I know is saying a lot because these guys are probably, I'd say both sides are really good kind of on the fly, certainly Andy's side of it, but just something you're looking for being like, okay, this is how they're doing this and that impacts the way you feel how the rest of the game plays out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Hey, man, say hi to everybody for me back in Connecticut. And I'm sincere about that. It's great to see you again. And I guess we'll call you week two next year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

What was your record this year?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Who'd you lose to?

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I just, well, like, I don't know. I, you know, after, after the vineyard Nantucket stuff, here's what I would like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Yeah, I could come in, outside consultant. Like, well, the first issue is head coach and OC are just on different pages. Yeah. Enjoy the game, buddy. It's great to see you. Superbowl 59 is your chance to hit the jackpot on FanDuel, America's number one sports book, because with FanDuel's $5 million touchdown jackpot, you can win a share of $5 million in bonus bets.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

All you have to do is place an anytime touchdown score bet before the game kicks off. And if your player scores the first or last TD, you'll win your bet plus a share of bonus bets. All right. So I was messing around with this a little bit this morning, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

If you wanted to, if you liked Kansas City, I know this isn't exactly totally what it was, but a lot of these bets ended up working out where we found an alt spread on the side that we liked and then reasonable touchdown expectations. So when I was looking at FanDuel earlier today, if you wanted Chiefs plus three and a half, which you're like, okay, so I get the Chiefs plus a field goal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Do you get a Saquon TD out of that? So that's plus 146 on the other side of it. It's against minus 205, which you really wouldn't want to do. So Saquon, first TD I like. If you wanted to get really adventurous, you go Casey plus three and a half. Saquon, anytime touchdown. Kelsey, anytime touchdown. That takes you plus 371. Kelsey, huge against Houston.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Only four targets, two catches against Buffalo. So maybe you're scared off by that a little bit, but Hey, maybe he's due. But what I'm telling you is FanDuel has all sorts of options. But I think that Saquon first one or maybe Saquon last one, if you think Philly is down.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And it's a little bit easier running into the end zone because I think the Hertz tush push thing is still kind of like not what it normally is because of the injuries. It doesn't matter if you're watching your favorite team or rooting against your rivals. FanDuel is giving everyone something to cheer for during Super Bowl 59.

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

He's a national champ, and he just spent his first year as a head coach of the L.A. Chargers. You know him as Jim Harbaugh, and he joins us here on behalf of InVivid. He's doing the rounds, so I want to talk more about what InVivid is doing on the way out. But thanks for doing this today, Coach. Good to see you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I love the college pro thing of like, you know, when you're in charge of something that's this important, understanding that transition, you know, and you've done it now twice. What are the things that you kind of remind yourself of, of like at my core, I'm a football coach, but these are the things that I have to be a little different about as you change between the levels.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Yeah, there's always I always get a little nervous whenever I ask about like, hey, do you ever have a story like this? And then you're like, yeah, actually a terrible one. So that was that was better. That worked out a little bit better on this one. I picked against Mahomes in the Josh Allen game because I just felt like it was it was time to do something a little different.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

One of the things that I know is constant about you is as soon as you're in the building, I like, whether it's the genuine joy that you have right now, I'm getting a little fired up. I knew this was going to happen minutes into talking to you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

i want to run through a wall but whenever i look at your stops it's like okay first season massive improvement you know again again again uh i'm always trying to figure out how you guys do this but is there something to and i'll use a little story here i remember when i first time i ever started using a personal trainer like he just started saying like you can be like that guy you can be as strong as him you're tougher than that dude and i was like looking at my scrawny body thinking

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

what are you talking about, man? Like I'm looking at this trainer. Then I realized that his job was to make me feel better about myself and what my outcomes could be. Is there something as simple as when you first step into the building and you're at the facility that you remind yourself because you played, I need to tell these guys how special they are all the time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And that's kind of the payoff that it seems like everybody responds to you eventually.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I don't do it very often. I think in the 20 playoff games that he's played in, I think I picked against him four times. So I didn't feel like making a habit of that second time around. Give me the Philadelphia argument, though. I don't know who you picked. I'm sure you can tell us here or wherever you want to, but give us the Philadelphia argument.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

All right, that's a perfect transition because I want to talk a little college. Did you have time to watch the national championship?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I wanted to ask you about a parallel between your experience in Michigan and then Ryan Day's at Ohio State. Because when you first get hired at Michigan, you look at what's going on. They're 8-5, 7-6, 5-7. Then you win 10 games. You win 10 games through the first four seasons. You were ranked number seven or higher, at least, I think, in four of the five seasons.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

But you weren't beating Ohio State. So then it turns into, at least the way I saw it, the people that do my job, like, this isn't good enough. And I'm like, well, I look at things differently. I understand sometimes look at me and be like, well, how can you not understand that this is so disappointing to all these different fans? You figure it out. You beat Ohio State.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Let's talk matchups, stuff we should be looking for going up against these two different defensive coordinators with friend of the show, Tim Hasselbeck. Life advice, there is no open because we're all waiting on this Durant thing. So if something happens this day, you're going to get a little bonus monologue.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

You win yourself a national championship. Ryan Day, on the other hand, comes in. It wasn't the rebuild that you had in Ann Arbor, but they're doing everything right except they're losing to Michigan the entire time. And then in another year where they lose to Michigan the fourth time, they win the national championship.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Do you think, as somebody who's lived it, and I don't know how you can answer this one, do you think as somebody who has lived it, the result of that rivalry game gets in the way of an honest evaluation of how the head coach is doing with the program?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

When I was reading about, there was an article earlier this year about the end of your run, the end of your playing career when you were in Carolina, right? And I think it was, you were lighting it up on the scout team but you kind of knew like this is probably the end.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And I mean, these are your own quotes and I'm paraphrasing a lot of this stuff and you get to know Greg Roman and you started mapping it out. What was that like mentally for you to transition from, I guess it's over for me putting the pads on. Let me start attacking this from the perspective of somebody preparing himself to be a coach. What was that shift like for you over 20 years ago?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Do you think you've ever done bad in an interview?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Did people just not get it? Like they didn't get the horrible deal. Like, why do you think someone bad?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

That's funny.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I'd rather you win the game than win the press conference.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I've seen a lot of coaches just kill it in press conferences and everybody gets so excited. And I'm almost worried when the guy is too good in the press conference, like this guy is so polished. Now I'm worried about the rest of the stuff. And that is, we've seen, we've seen a lot of NFL press conferences from head coaches look terrible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And it's the first introduction the public has to really getting to know a head coach. And then everybody freaks out about how awkward it is. And then you realize like none of that really matters as long as the 53 guys inside respect them. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I have one more question and then I want to jump into what you're doing with InVivid here. I was in New Orleans when you went up against your brother in the Ravens Niner Super Bowl. It was a really good guy. I picked you guys, by the way. So I think it was at that point, like the Kaepernick thing looked completely unstoppable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

So my question, I know you've been asked this question, like different forms. I've interviewed you a bunch and sometimes I'm never quite sure like where the answer will go. And that, does that loss really bother you because you're the competitor or are you so good at like mentally moving on from things? And then I can't imagine, like, do you and John ever talk about it casually?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Like where, where is that memory in the family dynamic?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

So we're in New Orleans and you're luckily back in L.A., but I do there. I know. I know. Well, yeah, I don't mean it as like I just miss L.A. L.A. is the first place. Manhattan Beach is the first place I've ever lived that when I land on the plane, I'm so happy. Like the plane lands and I go, OK, I'm back.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

You know, and I've had some other stops that weren't bad necessarily, but this is the first one. But I love being in New Orleans. I spent a ton of time here. And I know, hey, look, part of the deal is you've got something to tell us and inform those that are still wondering about non-vaccination options. opportunities for people that are more compromised.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And I know that's what you're doing with Vivid. So tell us more about that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And again, that website is expandtheiroptions.com. And that is a national champ. And hopefully one day I'll be rooting for you, a Super Bowl champ, and get another opportunity. It's Jim Harbaugh. So thanks, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

It's good because I've had a few with you. You know, I remember going back to the days.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

No, we had a couple. But I respected it. Like I had to kind of ask. And it was, it was really funny because it was like a phoner at ESPN and it was, you were rumored to be leaving and I, I had to ask it. And so then I, I didn't really get what I wanted. So I was like, I'll, I'll try it again. You were like, ah, you're badgering me a little bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And then Stanford Steve, you know, is my guy. So we all would go to the hotel and we would do those little standup interviews and I'd have to hold the mic up and, and do that stuff with you. And I just never, I was always looking forward to it cause I never knew what I was going to get, but I never, there's never been a moment where I would say like, Oh, he's, he's, I don't like him or he's tough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I, I'd love that. I respect the shit out of what you do, man. So I think you know that, but, uh, I was just good to catch up, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Today's life advice is brought to you by Amazon Business. And before we begin, here's my first piece of advice. You absolutely need to try Amazon Business. Amazon Business offers smart business buying solutions so you can spend more time growing your business and less time doing the admin. I can see why they call it smart. Okay, let's jump in. The email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I would say full squad today. We've got all the ones.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I wish you would wear it now. KC. I love that. It's a great logo. It's a great hat. It's not my favorite blue, but it's a good blue. Really good one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I'd argue Seattle Mariners won. That has to have been done.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Fair. I think I don't know that I would ever put anything above the Yankees logo. Wow. And that's coming from me who would feel instant

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

hatred i think it's the coolest fucking logo in sports and i hate that it is that cool i guess i don't really hate it anymore i don't care i used to hate the logo so much but i knew deep down i was like that thing is so dope i'm looking at recently this is well i'm sorry but like i kind of know bags i'm like the ownership suck they're moving but i think the hat's sick like the you know the yellow and green it's just a good looking hat i had an ace hat i had a white socks hat

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I love just the right baseball hat.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I go back and forth between Cardinals. Yeah, I did reorder the old Boston white bee thing because it's the one I wear to the gym and I couldn't wear it like anywhere because it would be disgusting. But yeah, fitted 5950 at the gym. I tell you, you're going to sweat a little bit more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Just went a little bit more. No vents in there. Yeah. You can feel it. But yeah, I've done, I even did a giant's hat. I think at one point that was a, that was a very short window. Cause I love that hat as well. But you know what, Kyle? Well, the blue Jays ones, I have like seven of them because Bushman was with the team and there's still two.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I really like, but that white one, so Rudy despises, he really doesn't like that one on white hats are tough. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

All right. I could be done with this. It's fine. What I would say is, Kyle, great instincts to ask about that because I wanted to ask about that at some point. And I love that you did it. I love that you just jumped right in and you got there. I also think my favorite thing is that Borgon shuts down all of his communications, video and audio. kind of knowing that he just lays in the weeds.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And we go to him when we need him, and his comfort level is not at a point where he goes, yeah, four wide now. It's unbelievable, his instincts. Love it. Okay. Let's read a couple emails. We have gotten more emails in, I'd say, the last couple months than ever before, so that's great. Keep them coming in. We also get a lot of follow-ups to having Will Kane on. I do think that

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

is it, I would say X is different, a different experience and predictable. And I also think the motivation to criticize versus the motivation to stay neutral and then followed in, in way, way behind the pack. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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motivation to say something complimentary so i get it will's uh aggressive about his politics he's very right wing he's on fox news we talked about the maps because he's a huge mass fan and he's my friend so i my advice to you if like that bothered you so much that you had to send in an email about it find other things to worry about do better do better our favorite

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

So good. All right, let's do a couple different ones here. Stats, 25, 6'3", 200, pickup comp, Warriors, Iguodala, bench 205, Smith machine only, so probably actually 150, not sure of the conversion. I know that you're losing 55 pounds on a 205 Smith, but you are losing something if you just go straight back. I am recently married, and my wife started Ozempic three weeks ago.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Since then, I've noticed her breath stinking most of the time. At first, I thought it was just a coincidence or something we ate until I Googled it and saw Ozempic breath is a real thing. I had no idea. Changing lives. One Ozempic breath email at a time. It's allegedly because of the changes in your gut bacteria.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Nevertheless, I'm now holding my breath whenever she whispers to me at church or when we are kissing. Oh, bro. So you're going to have an in shape. I think I'd rather have a heavy wife with good breath. How do I tell her that her breath is now consistently bad and she has to stay on top of it because of her meds without hurting her feelings? My current plan is to leave the Ozempic breath.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Search is my active Safari tab. and just wait for her to Google something on my phone. But I want to act quickly because I don't want her to get a bad rap at work. I'd say if you did it as your last search on a Safari tab on your iPhone, sometimes the iPhone, when you go to Safari, it just offers you up a new page. She may not even see it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I mean, you could just go full-blown. Like, yeah, I had a 20% off thing at CVS. It's like seven different breath products. I don't know. That's a tough one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Yeah. Kyle, got anything here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

that have watched Saquon when he was healthy and just how spectacular he is. But there have been a few reminders on some shorter runs this year where you know the play calls to a certain hole. He's supposed to follow something. And then his lateral quickness, his lateral cutting that gets him outside so fast.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Um, and a kid in the land, man's pretty hot though.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I do wonder if, granted, when you're that physically gifted, it's like, okay, figure it out and do whatever you want. But I felt like we used to see more of that. And now I wonder with how controlling play calling is, where you almost have to earn the opportunity to take it outside, where the play caller would rather you just run into the hole, get stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I always feel like when I see an adult with gap teeth, I'm like, did the parents just go, no, we're not that. Down the budget. Yeah. He's like the fourth kid and the other braces, he didn't wear his retainer. And so like, we're just not doing this all over again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I don't think her gap is, well, the gap teeth. I don't think it's...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

that egregious you know it's not like stray hair and by the way her and jack absolutely stunned at the grammys red carpet i don't know if you guys saw that no that was a joke he was wearing like a hat and a jacket and she looks great and it was like they stun at the grammys right they just run out of words they don't know how else to tweet out stuff And they couldn't say like he looked average.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Yeah, look, I think there's a nice way to do this. I think there's a nice way to tell somebody. And ultimately, as Saruti said, you're kind of doing that person a favor. But we're also talking about the emotional fragility of the person in the relationship. And we all know there's plenty of people you just can't say this to, and it's going to turn into some big thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

If it doesn't, we'll just have it maybe Thursday, maybe roll it into Friday's full episode. So that is the plan as of today. Good time to catch up with a guy I really enjoyed spending some time with, Tim Hasselbeck, ESPN, across the street from Bristol headquarters, getting ready to drop knowledge on everybody. So he's going to hang out with us for a little bit. Good to see you, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

So, yeah, I think it's going to be a hard conversation where maybe you open it up and be like, hey, look, I got to ask. You look great. Nines across the board. This has been a complete win. I'm happy about you. I'm happy about your confidence and everything else. I'd like to shatter it right now, though, by letting you know you have absolute malware breath.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

So how good are you at discussing difficult things? And if you're bad at it, you know, you got to go into this as soft as possible. Know your wife, know the opponent, know what's going on. How has she reacted to stuff like this in the past? You know?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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There you go. Okay. This one's intense. What's up fellas. Six, four, two 30 checking in from North Carolina. Pretty solid pickup Hooper. Well, 6'4 and from North Carolina, I would guess so. I catch at least a couple of Jokic comps every time I play. However, I'm fully aware that's more of a reflection than I'm a big white dude with good vision and footwork and some MVP skill set. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Because I feel like, again, we saw more of that when we were younger with running backs, just freelancing a bit more. And seeing just, again, it's a few Saquon runs. I was like, oh, that's what it used to be like with somebody this talented. They were allowed to figure it out on their own, and he certainly can do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I've heard you all mention good times in Chapel Hill in a couple of pods. So first, I would like to inquire about a potential live show in North Carolina. I don't know that we would ever... It's probably a no. Forever's a long time, as I like to say, but it's probably a no. But thank you for your interest. All right, getting into the reason of the email.

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My personal life has taken a complete nosedive in the past year. I have a good relationship with my mom. I've been dating the same girl. Let's call her Sarah for four years. Wait, Sarah? I think I know. Up until recently, I assumed all was well between them. We've taken a vacation together.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So I imagine he's talking about not just his girlfriend, one vacation, is the way he explains the rest of this. It's with the mother as well. Taking a vacation together, double-digit meetups throughout the years. They were never best friends necessarily, but there wasn't any notable tension. By the way, have you guys ever done a vacation with your significant other and your family?

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They have free approval, Brody. Yeah. Right. So Saruti, you did it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Was it with your wife and it was just like known? What do you mean known? Like that she was your soulmate, your life partner.

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That you were hitching your wagon to her.

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What are you going to do? Look, I mean, you can pretend that there's those of us that have a conscience or are just so freaked out. Here's something I thought about this. And I watched two episodes of Landman on the flight. So this is top of mind right now. So Billy Bob Thornton is the main character. His daughter is just unhinged. Come on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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You know, just... everything like a nightmare daughter because she's gorgeous and you know she's i think she's like 17 in the show and she's got this boyfriend who's you know just a stud and the whole thing and basically he's divorced from the mother of this daughter and The divorced, God, I suck today. The divorced wife is Allie Larder, right?

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So all she does is like FaceTime and throughout the, I'm kind of over that part of it a little bit, but she just gets on and does these FaceTimes with Billy Bob and they just complain about the marriage or whatever. And so then she's like, look, you have to take care of my daughter. I'm going to Cabo.

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Like she's going to stay with you because I don't want her to stay here because she has a boyfriend. And if we leave him here at the house, like it's just not going to happen, especially if you see the boyfriend.

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and so billy bob's like all right fine so they send her to his side of texas and she gets off the plane i guess it was a private plane or something she gets off the plane with the new boyfriend right and she's like meet my dad and the dad's like he was not part of the deal and then it made me realize like all of us that were the guys in the relationships that were brought home to the girlfriend's house for like a stay over in that college age range

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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It's the worst thing you can ever do to a guy. There's a standard for chinas, but I remember my freshman year was dating a girl that was conveniently on the way to me getting back to Martha's Jr. Me getting back to Martha's Jr. was just a pain in the ass all the time during college breaks. And she was like, no, just come and stay, and then you can get the bus the next day.

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And I was like, I really don't want to stay at your dad's house. I just really don't want to stay at your dad's house. She's like, no, he's great. He'll love you. I was like, he cannot by law love me in that situation because here's this dude who comes rolling in fucking his daughter's 18. I'm 18. We've been right.

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Well, right. I was holding out hope. But like the reality is, is this guy is 18 and she's 18 and they're on their own and they're having sleepovers. And like now you're going to walk this guy to my fucking house right before Thanksgiving. And I have to like realize how real it is, even if, you know, your daughter was doing stuff in high school or whatever. So I don't know.

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I was always decent in those settings, probably because all the estimates. And then I... I, I'm like on the couch and he's like, you know, you're staying on the couch tonight. And I was like, I want to stay on the couch tonight, sir. Like I am, I am on the couch. I love this fucking couch. Don't worry about it. I'll own this couch.

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Yeah. Right. And then he goes to bed and then no, please don't. You know, she like comes in. She's like, I want to watch law and order with you. And I was like, all right, but don't like, come on. Like, I think I can take your dad. Although then shit, I can take anybody. Um, I was like, I don't, I was like, I don't want to, I don't want to be in this spot. And she was like, oh, they're old.

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You're the only one who wants this.

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Yeah. Like you're fucking me here, but Like you can't. And then, of course, it just ends up being like, well, let's just go for a ride and like whatever. I was like, all right. So the parents knew we left the house after they went to bed. And then, you know, everybody goes their separate ways. And then I'm on the couch in the morning and I'm waking up to a hot, hot living room.

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Like you're the bad guy. They're so pissed at me. They're so pissed at me. And I was just like, all I could think of, and I guess I didn't quite understand it as well at that time. But now when I was watching this TV show, just to the women out there, I doubt there's a ton of college age women listening to this podcast. But you thinking like, oh, I can't wait to introduce him to the family.

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Just wait until 25. You're going to break up with this guy anyway. You're going to break up with the guy after this anyway. Just wait until like 25, 26 when it's a little bit more real. Because that guy doesn't want to be there. Your dad doesn't want that guy to be there. And all they're doing is speaking in a language without words.

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They look at each other knowing that the answer is yes to all of this stuff. Like they're having some telepathic Charles Xavier type shit. So, all right. We had an email here, right?

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It was the beginning of the email.

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All right.

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So a couple months ago, on a recent visit with me, my mom expressed that she didn't think Sarah liked her and asked if Sarah would come over so that they could get to know each other better. Sarah had a friend's birthday dinner that night, which is why I had not asked her to come over in the first place. However, I figured she could come over afterwards and told her about my mom's feelings.

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Sarah insisted that she did not want to cut her night short. Kyle, thumbnail this one. Even after I expressed that I thought it was very important and a favor to me. So you wanted your girlfriend to end her girl's night out birthday party thing early so that she could come over to your house and work it out with your mom and talk about each other's feelings? Dude, that's the wrong call.

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Eventually, Sarah broke down and said she didn't like my mom and included quite a few reasons why, controlling, manipulative, irritable. I didn't necessarily disagree with Sarah, but I insisted that this was a favor to me, not my mom. Sarah did not end up coming over, but while my mom was disappointed, she did not say anything.

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The next day, the situation exploded and went from a three to a 10 in severity. My mom insisted Sarah was a horrible person and that she wanted to tear our family apart, eventually demanding I break up with her. I was incredibly confused what escalated the situation at this point.

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However, today in an argument over the phone with my mom, she revealed that she had read my text messages that night and was appalled that I had let my girlfriend speak about her in that way. As y'all could expect, I feel incredibly violated. I'm not sure what to do at this point. Sarah means a lot to me and I love her very much.

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However, it's very hard to envision a future together with this cloud looming over me. At the same time, I feel incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of succumbing to the situation and demand my mom has now created. My relationship with my family is severely declined and things are pretty awkward when I go home.

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In the effort of being completely transparent, I was already unsure on if Sarah was, quote, the one prior to this situation. Please let me know what y'all's thoughts are, and thank you for creating something which brings me joy. Sorry for the long email. Details that may answer questions if they arise. All right, you want to bang these out ahead of time?

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I am not overly worried about my girlfriend, my mom, finding out about this email, as I'm pretty confident that nobody they regularly interact with listens to the show. Never know. I'm very close to my mom, but fully recognize their flaws. Both Sarah and I are 22 years old. Okay, that's important. I have a small, immediate family consisting solely of my little brother, my mom, and her boyfriend.

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They've remained somewhat neutral throughout these events. My girlfriend and I live in separate apartments in the Raleigh area. My mom lives in... Wait, wait, wait. Now we're... All right, she lives hours away.

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Um... They, okay. All right. So there was just a lot of details there going on. All right. Look, man, you're young. So, you know, whether or not she's the one or whatever, like I still think it's super important for young people around this time to kind of like figure out like what your path and what your priorities are because things are going to change.

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You're going to learn all these different things about yourself, all these things that you've assumed that were so important years later. You're not going to know that you were wrong about a bunch of this shit, but there's nothing you can do about that. I can't help you. There's no episode for that part of your life. A couple of things that I don't like here.

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Your mom going through your phone is fucked. All right. And that is like for her to sit there and then get on your case because you didn't defend her to your... Well, by the way, it's like, hey, mom, I didn't know you were going to be reading these texts.

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And there are plenty of people that we all care about in our life that if somebody said something about them in a text, you wouldn't sit there and act like Camelot being like, I... Need you to immediately refrain and, you know, like strike that comment from the record.

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You know, so if somebody were that were being insulted were to read it third party and go through your phone and be like, oh, he had my back here. Nobody talks to each other that way.

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There was, I think, a wife hack amongst the dudes at one point, and the wife was like, I can't believe you said this about me. And it was like, yeah, you were being a pain in the ass, and I said you were being a pain in the ass. You seriously want to put your hand in the Bible and say you've never bitched about me to any of your friends after bar?

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Right, right. So... you asked your girlfriend to leave her friends at a super inconvenient time to come up. She should say no to that every time. Actually, she's more of a keeper because she said no to that.

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Cause it's an insane request for her to have to be like post hanging out with her friends, leave early and then be like, let me kick it over here and have this weird emotional showdown with this guy. Um, Also, I think at 22, your mom's probably very possessive.

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So, like, you're pointing to your girlfriend's critiques of your mother who says, like, all of those three adjectives, which all become incredibly true towards the end of the email, and you agree with your girlfriend that your mom's doing a lot of this stuff. So, look, Sarah may not be the one, but your mom is probably in this weird, like, extended parental thing.

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You're 22, but you just graduated college. She thinks you're 12, you know, and she's probably a little too invested. And at some point, all of us have to get to a point where it's like, I don't want to marry my mom. I want to marry that other person.

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Okay, but you guys just said something like, you know, it's your mom. Can you fix it? Well, can you fix it if you've never attempted to fix it? And I think that's the conclusion that I have on this email is that, all right, so say Sarah isn't the one or say that this dynamic is all messed up. All right, that sucks. And eventually you won't care, right? You just won't.

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You'll move on to the next thing. But this needs to be a moment that your mother remembers. This needs to be a moment where you go to her and you go, hey, guess what? Like, I get it. You know, you're protective of me. You're my mom. And you're always going to have my best interest.

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But the fact that you feel like it's okay for you to betray me, to go through my phone and then use these pieces of information that I don't even realize you have against me. How long do you think that's going to go on? When do you think that's still acceptable? Because you seem to think it's acceptable now. But at some point, that's not going to be acceptable.

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At some point, it's not going to be for you to determine who I end up spending my life with, who I date, and ultimately who I marry. And even if she tells you no, and like, I don't know if she's smart enough. or to figure it out. Or sometimes you argue with somebody who isn't that smart. It's even more frustrating because they're just like, no, no, you know, and just like, all right, whatever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

But like, think about it. Your girlfriend is accusing your mother of the thing that your mother is admitting to executing. So can you tell your mother? All right, fine. Sarah doesn't like you. You don't like Sarah at all. But the thing she's accused you of, you just did. You just did all of those things to me. You are this manipulative. You are this

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

like overpowering so fine okay that's what it is with this one or whatever but like do you think there'll be an age where you don't think it's right for you to do this anymore because it's already happened and you need to accept it because that day is coming like you you're pushing it off but like this whole thing needs to be a moment that alters the path of the river okay

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And that's what I think the reward is in all this, even if you lose the current day. But you're 6'4", dude. It'd be fun. Today's life advice was brought to you by Amazon Business, the ultimate time-saving tool for business buyers. Visit business.amazon.com to learn more.

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Okay, so the plan is if there were some big Durant trade or whatever by the time we were taping this, we would have thrown it in. It seems like everybody thinks he's going to be on the move here, but there's so many different versions of this thing that I think have gotten shot down. Um, so I don't really have much on that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I'll add something, but if we don't have anything, so Rudy, I think the plan would just be full episode on Friday. I may jump in. Bill has a two-parter tomorrow. So everything's been kind of on hold just because of the Durant rumors.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I think Middleton can still play a little bit. Um, Kuzma, uh, A little more dynamic probably at this stage of his career, but really this has to do with the financial ledger, which most of these trades will be about the next, I don't know, 24 hours. So 27 hours. Yeah, that's all I got for you. So again, that'll do it for us. We have a full Friday show.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Troy Aikman, Brian Curtis, Trent Dilfer will be on Monday's show after the Super Bowl. So we'll have a normal schedule. And maybe I jump on the Thursday thing if there's something significant enough to do it. Or if something happens later today, I may just post it separate or tack it onto this pod a little bit later. So that's what we got. That's the plan.

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

If I'm looking at, um, You know, some of the defensive matchup stuff here where I've thought about like, OK, well, clearly with the receivers, the Eagles have the defensive responsibilities for the back end of Kansas City are different.

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Where if you're looking at Kansas City's receivers, I think people kind of fell in love with Xavier Worthy, but it still feels a little gimmicky as opposed to just, hey, go go beat somebody one on one on a third and seven game.

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Hollywood Brown, maybe there's a deep shot to get you thinking about it, but the idea that he's going to just have a million catches and kind of control the game, there's just not really that guy. And then Kelsey has the huge game against Houston. Buffalo, in that matchup, did a great job of containing him there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

So where are the things that you can attack if you're Kansas City with this Philly defense that's just loaded from a personnel standpoint?

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

I love the Juju reminder because the first big play, You go, oh. Then he added another one. And you're like, this guy hasn't had two catches or more than two catches in a game since October. And I know there's probably some people that think I'm being dismissive of what Xavier Worthy is. And I think he stresses the defense out, especially with how creative they get him going.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

No.

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A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Let's stay on Spagnuolo and then the Vic Fangio part of this, too, because, you know, the Josh Allen throw on fourth and five, which will be forgotten to history. And unfortunately, just how absurd it is that even gets the ball off to Kincaid to be like, you know, you see the back end zone angle of that throw and then where the ball is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And, you know, Kincaid just kind of like out of step for him to have to come back and correct it. You still think in that spot, you hope he catches that football. You know, the pressure's coming.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

whenever you watch a chiefs game and it's close you're like when's he going to dial it up but we know when he's going to dial up what's it going to look like and then he brings two defensive backs off his throwing side totally unblocked it disrupts everything like the plays over immediately so here's josh allen who's had an mvp level season and i think we'd all agree like at this stage of his career he's aware of what he's supposed to be aware of

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

And yet, you know, it's coming. And then all of a sudden, everything that you're doing is completely disrupted, which again, I think it's remarkable even got a ball off in that situation. What is that like? What is that like? Like, I know it's coming, but I don't know what it's going to look like because Hertz is going to be facing those situations at the end of the game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A Super Bowl Deep Dive Preview With Tim Hasselbeck. Plus, Jim Harbaugh on Year One With the Chargers and What Makes Him a Great Coach.

Well, I don't understand where that's coming from because it was great joy when somebody said, hey, what about Tim? And it was just four people going, great idea. Biggest game of the year. So that's how I look at it. I think it's all positives. All right. Speaking of the biggest game of the year, I always like to do a little memory lane with you.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Uh, it's easy to say, Hey, they should just leave them in there. But if he's at the free throw line, missing a million free throws, I think social media is like, I can't believe you kept him in there. Um, I think he had them on the floor when they needed a three at the end. That's not great. That seems like just a mistake and not staying on top of your substitution patterns.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

It does feel like the Adam Shingun-Jabari lineup is probably their best bet. Even though Amin Thompson has had moments early in the series, I'm thinking, is there enough polish there? He was so good on some of those drives. He had three plays. There was one left side bank shot. I can't even believe he took it at the angle he was at.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Like, this is a really good game. That was a fun, entertaining game, and it was kind of like going to junior high wrestling. Like, these guys are pretty good. And then it's like, okay, now you're going to play a really good team, and it was a disastrous series for the Heat. So, I don't know what it means. I mean, I guess if I were doing local Miami stuff, I could

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

He had another drive from the top where I thought, oh, this is the problem with Quentin Post. There's just no rim protection. It wasn't even Post's fault. It was a spectacular athletic move where a man looked like he was going to release the layup in front of him and then somehow still was gliding through the air and finished behind Post.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Then Post had to be like, what the hell just happened to me? And then there was a side Euro step against Draymond, who he basically froze Draymond as a defender, because Draymond's like, what the hell is actually happening right now? And Amman hits that one from the left side.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So I don't know if it's Van Vliet, Amman from perimeter defense, and then those three bigs, because it feels like you only have one really true ball creator you can trust. But Amman showed some things last night that maybe he may well feel better about. Because the problem is, once again, Jalen Green, and we can have this story about how

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Royal Ivy in him manifest the idea that he's a top five shooting guard. And it's a really cool story and anecdote to share during the broadcast after he has 38 points. But like there's too many games like last night and you can tell email just wants to pull the plug on it because he's just not getting enough from him. So look, the last point that I would make about Butler is a good reminder of

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

You know, me sitting here talking about these players, right, and the guys that piss me off at times, and not because of makes or misses, but because of, you know, I do think at times I've looked at the lack of commitment to a team and wondering if guys are about the right things or the wrong things. And you guys already know. You've heard me talk about a lot of these players.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And Butler certainly, I think, of his own doing, falls into that category. But I remember a year ago, Bill and I were doing a pod. It had to be one of the Sunday pods. We had just probably watched Clippers, Mavs, and Harden was making some plays, and Kyrie's out there making plays. And look, I think Westbrook at that point had ended his tenure with the Clippers. But

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

It dawned on me, as we talked about, for all these dudes that you just get kind of like, why would anybody want this guy? Why would anybody bring that guy in? Why would you want that in your locker room? Yeah, because they can get buckets that other guys can't. That's why. That's why there will always be a market. There will always be a market for the bucket getter with some baggage.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

get really bent out of shape about it, but it's not like any of us thought they were actually going to play with Cleveland in the series. It's just the historical part of it. In the four-game sweep, Cavs outscored the Heat by 122 points, the largest margin of victory in a four-game sweep in NBA history, and it was that ugly. So we could talk about what is BAM actually or what is hero.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

If it hits, that's a bigger payout for you at no extra cost. All right, let's get into it. All right. Clippers at Nuggets. Right now the line is Clippers minus two, total 208.05. Let's stay away from a 208 total. So I was going to do Clippers... Jokic to score 30 points, Norm to score 10 or more points.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Norm is heated up here after a slow start, but he's been over double figures every single one of these games. Jokic, you feel good for 30 because they're going to need that from him. But if you still like the Clippers, so if you like Clippers minus two, that's plus 294. So that is our official release. Now, if you want to avoid a side, which keeps you in it the entire time, and we're just

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Rooting for Jokic points and Powell points. How about first team basket score? Because if I throw in Jamal Murray, maybe they try to get him going, run some sort of action where they get him off the ball, get done off of him. He's currently, I can see it right now. He's left side, pull up bucket. So you're going to have to figure out Denver Clippers in this one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

You just need Jamal Murray to have that first sucker go in. Plus 705 if you're feeling a little bit more motivated. But, you know, the downside... you know pretty quickly where you stand pretty early in the game, and that's not as much fun. So, yeah, we're going to go with Clippers minus two, Jokic 30 or more, Norm 10 or more, around plus 300 right now. Three legs. Sound good?

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

three-leg parlay required bonus issued is non-withdrawable profit boost tokens restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount see terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling problem call 100 gambler or visit rg-help.com had a couple days since the draft but i wanted to recap kind of everything that happened just talk with our good friend here booker mcfarland espn part of the draft coverage all weekend as well what's up man it's good to see you what's up bud how we doing

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I'm good. I'm good. There's a lot to get to here. Let's just start with something simple. Who's your favorite player in the first round? Who's the guy you're like, I love that dude. I would put anything on him being a stud.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I just don't even think – Honestly, all of us are going to forget how bad this series was. We'll forget about it pretty quickly, and then maybe it'll be mentioned at the start of next season, 25-26, and then we'll forget about it again. So it's an ass-kicking, but if it goes to six games or they got one extra or one of the losses was closer, it's just embarrassing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

His interviews apparently were incredible, too. We've not talked about this, but I've been on the Jalen Walker thing, the entire process. And I still think that Texas, that first half, what that unit did is the most dominant 30 minutes of any unit, I think, of college football the entire season long. And they're wrecking NFL guys. And again, it was like three dudes with Georgia.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I wanted to ask you a question because I don't know if it was like this for you when you were at LSU, but if you're at Ohio State, you think all the NFL talent that Michigan had on its roster last couple of years for Michigan to have that many players go that high.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And if they had just had a quarterback, like what their season could have been like when you start looking at some of the higher ed talent, um, Is it when you know you're at an NFL factory, how much is the NFL draft process even discussed as you're trying to win games on Saturday?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

But knowing that a lot of the coaches either worked in the NFL already and are telling a guy like you being like, OK, you know, this is what we're doing. Here's the game plan. But here are the other things that you need to be thinking about because we think you're a first rounder.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

When you look at O-line prospects, what's the first thing you look for?

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

The kind of embarrassment, though, you're going to be able to get over as a fan base because most everybody nationally is going to forget about this. What I won't forget about is Jimmy Butler last night. that was all time stuff from him coming off this pelvic contusion injury where you could clearly tell he was hurting. So I'm going to,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

This Edge class was loaded. Thinking about how close you are to the college game, because you covered it all season long, was there – I don't want to put you in a spot to be like dogging somebody, but at the same time, we're talking draft. Was there somebody that went in the first round, one of the Edge guys, that you don't think matches up to maybe the first round projections?

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Get to Butler at the end as I run through some of the stuff from last night's game. So 13-2 start for Golden State really quickly. Houston turnovers. I'll admit watching it, I was thinking, like, is Golden State just going to run away with this one? Is Houston just not up for the moment?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

My thing with Pierce is I just feel like he didn't show up enough this year after last year. I watched a lot of Tennessee games just because they were in the mix as a playoff team, and I kept looking for it. When I'd watch South Carolina's edge guys, I'd be like, there he is. There's that dude again. I know it sounds really simplistic, but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Based on where Pearson, maybe I was looking at him with too tough of an eye because he was projected as a top 10 pick and all that kind of stuff. And I don't know if the character or film has more to do with him dropping, but I get the intangible speed. I know he's a little undersized and all that kind of stuff, but I just felt like there was a lot of Tennessee games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I was like, man, I haven't heard his name called in too long of a time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah, I look, I can't wait to watch them again because I know some of those guys are gone. But all right. Let's let's do this. The Giants. Yeah. If you like Jackson Dart that much, great. What is that going to be like? Have you been with a team? You had a really good run. Whenever I ask you these questions, maybe I don't get the answer that I want.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

You've never been in a team where you've had two guys that think that they're the one between Winston and Wilson and then Jackson being the first-round pick. It doesn't make a ton of sense as far as reps and development. I think it's inviting a more challenging scenario in for a guy that probably doesn't need it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

This younger team, despite Van Vliet's playoff resume, Brooks being through his own battles, but needing a lot from Shingun and Amin Thompson, Jalen Green, who was terrific in game two, but then it's basically... I mean, the variance on his games is alarming. So maybe we'll spend a little time on Jalen Green, but probably not a ton.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

No, it's 11 guaranteed. It was announced as 21.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

People were not happy with your post about the almond latte with you and Greeny. Yeah. What was going on in Green Bay? People felt kind of sensitive about the big city folk coming in?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So the point is, is that it's a bad start for Houston, but they righted the ship, especially if you think of the talent level between two teams. This isn't Miami and Cleveland here. I think the talent level is very comparable here. But you're just wondering if Golden State being a little bit more battle tested was what we're seeing in the beginning.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah, I think people miss the Reasoning behind that is that that was Greeny poking fun at himself, which he's done his entire career. And some people in Green Bay took it as if, oh, I mean, you're you're about as country as it gets, despite those fancy suits and all of your investments and the way you can carry yourself in any room. The idea that you'd be some sort of big city coastal elite.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

is is like the furthest thing from the truth i was surprised how sensitive again it's not all of green bay so you know again the polling of one uh theory on this but it felt like there were multiple people that were really upset about i don't know i i thought everybody loved it it felt like everybody loved it and for green to be upset about coffee not being there wasn't that he was upset it was him pointing out his fancy tendencies

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I think he's a better receiver than corner.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Sounds like no. That's fine.

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NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And it wasn't the case because then Golden State goes through a five for 25 stretch. Adams checked in at 550 in the first quarter. Golden State was up 1611. He checked out at the very end of the first quarter. It was 2824. And it was a 28-26 first quarter score in favor of Golden State.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

There's something that happens with basketball. And it was funny because I was thinking about Contavious Caldwell Pope the other night watching him play. And it's like, look, at some point, like when he came out of Georgia, he could handle, he could attack. I think early on in his NBA career, he was somebody that you could trust on the ball a little bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And then you start to get stuck in the corner and you provide spacing and he's a really good defender. You're not going to have the ball a lot with Jokic. I don't know if the NFL has a version of this, but there are a lot of dudes that came into the league expecting to have the ball in their hands, and it just doesn't work that way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

If you're not a one or two option, you're going to spend a lot of time off the ball. And so if you're not doing anything in game, you can kind of lose your on-ball talent. It's crazy. It happens all of the time where you'll look at a player and go, remember when he used to do this or do some of these things? But now he's been in real NBA games for multiple years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

He's not asked to do with any of those things. So I don't even know if that talent is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I love it because I worry about who he'll be because, look, he wasn't a great ball handler at Auburn, but the idea of the best version of him was can you get this guy the ball in his hands at any point? Can he develop into being one of those dudes? And now he's a defender and a stretch three. And so you're putting a real cap on like what you can be as a player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Look, hell, and people are going to tell me I'm wrong on this. I saw it. Ray Allen went from an on the ball, running screens, pull up all this stuff to he like lost his handle at the end of his career. And it just seemed crazy to think, but he had had this, he just went from somebody who always had the ball in his hands to not having the ball in his hands.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So the reason I bring any of that stuff up, because it's a real thing is the Travis Hunter corner thing. I think it's six, one in his physical traits, like six, one in a corner. You don't necessarily have to be able to jam Nico or some of the bigger dudes, but, You go up there, you contest. I think his anticipation and his ball skills are terrific. So he definitely has a chance.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And if you told me he's more valuable a corner than he is a wide receiver, then I'm totally for it, even though I think, again, this is me also trusting the people that do this for a living. There's too many guys like Daniel Jeremiah and McShay who are just like, look, I think he profiles better as a receiver.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

If you come out of the gates, you're like, we're going to worry about him being a dual threat guy a little bit later. That might be the worst thing you could do of the idea of him playing both ways. You probably have to get him out there getting snaps and reps immediately, and I hope it happens.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Houston's offense, which has been the second worst of all of the 16 playoff teams only ahead of Memphis, is also the worst shooting offense in the playoffs still, even after last night's game. They outscored Golden State 31-22 in that second quarter. The defense of Houston... is so impressive at times just because of these dudes they have everywhere.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I like the pushback on the idea that this is never supposed to happen because it's too physically taxing, but maybe that's it. Or maybe he ends up having to find a way to protect himself in the game, which has that become a liability on the defensive side of the football? Does that mean he's not running every route the way he needs to be running routes?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So you could be trying to do both and actually diminishing – the special things that he does. But I hope they try it. It's just if they slow play it, then that doesn't really speak to developing him getting to an NFL level on the other side of the football. That's not a priority.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I think this is about the hunted, the hungry. It's all about mentality. You're absolutely right. To watch the first 20 go down, it may be like Patrick Ewing in the NCAA tournament with Georgetown, where even though they were goaltends, it was like, dude, I don't want to go in there. And it can really damage morale. Because is the fifth wave... going to be able to finish the job.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

It's like any fight. How mad is the other guy? How mad is he? Does he actually want, does he like to do this stuff? If I have 100 guys that want to kill the gorilla and not just win a bet, if they're like, it's time we take it out on this guy, it's all about the mentality. I'd like to think if you had 100 guys with the right mentality,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And it's, I don't actually, cause I've never watched a gorilla fight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

horrifying the reach i mean people getting on will campbell thank god this guy's not playing defensive end uh it is it is horrifying watching physically like what they are capable of but a hundred a hundred guys i mean i might i don't know i'm sure again i'm trying to have an open mind about this like travis hunter playing both sides of the ball

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

When you see the gorilla hit the first dude and knock him 25 feet in the air... If that happens and we have a group that's second-guessing, then it's a mopping. I need guys... I need it to be a bit like, okay, we're grabbing 100 guys from prison, and if you win... You have years taken off of your sentence.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And look, Van Vliet, if you think you're going to hunt him and it's going to work, he's stout. The deflections numbers for him throughout his career are always like you have to look at him again and be like, God damn, that guy's on it. Brooks is somebody you don't necessarily want to switch into. Shingun, you probably would like to try to attack.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah, but if he doesn't have a sword, he's too small. That's not going to do much for you. I mean, if you had 100 absolutely juiced out of their minds, Lyle Alzado's.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah. I think I need somebody meaner. I think I need, I think it might have to be special forces. It might have to be like MMA stuff. It's not that I'm thinking like Lyle Zeta is the toughest guy of all time. What about like a hundred boss rootings?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So like he goes, the first 10 boss rootings are going, I just love saying his name, but if he says, okay, the first 10, all we're doing is we're going low. We're going low. We're going to try to get him. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, that first wave is going to be destroyed. Van Lathan had an unbelievable post, our guy. He posted a whole whiteboard breakdown of how it would happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And he was like, the first wave of 20 is just all Vince Wilfork types. Just mass. Just as much mass as possible. It could take the blows. And then he kind of went with like John's Jones types as the finisher at the very end. But here's why I at least like wonder. There's a number where you go human, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So that's, I think, what we're really trying to figure out here. And 100 gets thrown out, and then we all are just married to the idea that it's only 100. Okay, that's fine. And then everybody shoots it down. And it probably is the gorilla against 100. But there does exist a number where it becomes too much. So that's where I allow it to be gamed out a bit more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Okay, speaking of stupid conversations, there were a few theories suggested about why Shador wasn't selected until the fifth round. We spent some time on it on Sunday night. Some people were really upset. Some people were reasonable about it. I don't know. I think it seems pretty clear to me that Shador and Dion played this wrong. Their approach was wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

But you could see, especially if they went with the Adams lineup, it's like even if you think you get some kind of angle here, Adams is just big enough. And this whole Adams story is incredible because when he first started getting regular rotation minutes with Houston, I was like, I don't know, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

the wrong approach for somebody that wasn't an elite top tier quarterback prospect. Your thoughts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Like, how are you going to play this guy in the playoffs if everybody's playing off of him this much? Well, he's impacting these games in a really big way. And it's a credit to Houston for experimenting with this, staying with it when I thought there were some early games where I maybe didn't understand the point. And it's just getting him ramped up, getting him back out there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah, I knew you were going to do a good job on it. And maybe I'm looking at it because we agree. So, you know, I came into this on Saturday. I was still pretty shocked he hadn't been drafted. I think a couple guys went ahead of him. So then it's like, okay, so if he wasn't – because it's also – it's probably the biggest gap between the mock speculation and where a player who's drafted.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I can ever remember. I don't know that we're ever going to have something like this. Cause you know, people can kind of do the, that now, you know, like play the result part of it. Like, it feels like a lot of people now are saying, wow, he never really was a first rounder. Like, dude, I give Quincy Avery a lot of credit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

He came on this pod a couple of weeks before the draft was like, look, if he's Shador Williams, he's a six round pick. And I thought he was like being a little too harsh on the whole thing, but he was, breaking down specific things to his tape.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And then he said, on top of everything else, he goes, you know, if it doesn't go well, then you've got Dion using his CU press conferences to shit on the NFL staff because it's not working out for his son. So if that's part of it,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

um i don't know that that's necessarily a lesson i think it kind of speaks to everything you said you add all of these things up it's not a great pre-draft process it's not the best tactic game plan like hey what's our strategy we're gonna do all these things and we're gonna do it with somebody who's probably getting more second and third round grades and then maybe the third to fifth round drop was the tax uh that can seem personal it can seem unfair but these teams can

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And he's had a real big impact, which then led to a later Adams decision for Imei Yudoka, what he wanted to do. So... Houston, much better in the second quarter. The on-ball defense, again, I think is worth mentioning just because even if Golden State's scoring, Pajemski had a big night, Butler had some stuff, and Curry was – he just had a – I mean, he was bad last night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

kind of do whatever they want. And if there was one of the 32 that thought he was really special, they'd be able to get over all of this other stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I mean, we've seen it time and time again, unfortunately. And, you know, teams will justify any of it. I mean, I remember like... do you remember that story with Leonard little? And then it was a photographer and it was his wife and they actually interviewed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And I mean, it was such an unbelievably heartbreaking story that you have this photographer who was basically like, I just asked that I don't have to show up to photograph the games that he's in. And it was like, yeah, I think that's a fair request. So, you know, I don't, I don't know. You know, like, I don't think anybody's necessarily going to change their mind on this stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

You know, I always try to wonder like, okay, what could I miss about it? And I talked to Van about it a little bit on Sunday where, cause I saw a lot of like, well, his confidence, you know, I've seen that from NFL media members that I like, you know, I would consider people that I've gotten along with. And it's like, oh, his confidence.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

If it's a confident young black man, then society doesn't like that. And I can look, I can kind of understand that conclusion with some things, but when it comes to football, like, Cam Newton's one of the most confident human beings I've ever seen in my entire life. He went number one. You want to know why?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Because he probably had the best college season I've ever seen a quarterback, depending on... I'm talking about how much his team relied on one player to win a national championship. So, all right. If you're telling me that there's... Maybe there's just an inherent subconscious part of it where if you're white, you're like, oh, am I reading this one wrong?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Is there something to this that I'm oblivious to and that I'm not understanding? Is there an older guy who's a decision maker who sees Shador and sees the tape and sees him feeling himself and sees him how he carries himself? And he's like, I don't like any of that. You know, is that... Is there something else there that's really nefarious and that anybody pushing back has a really good point?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And I'm arguing something that I can't see. Like, I wonder all of those things as I've thought about it the last few days. And it's like, yeah, but we have dudes that are feeling themselves at that position all the time. All the time. And if they were good enough, the teams had no problem handing in that card.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

The on-the-ball defense by Houston makes the ball handlers for Golden State get stuck at times in ways that you just – You don't want to get stuck. And you would think NBA players like, well, why would you get stuck over there? How come you let yourself get into this situation? Why did you pick up the dribble there? It's all a credit to what the Rockets do on the ball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Those two gloves really bother you, huh?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I definitely thought he was better than a fifth rounder. Uh, there's some stuff that I like from him. There's other stuff where I don't like, but I love his toughness and I love that. It felt like he rose to the occasion and he did it behind an old line and a lack of running game for two years that, you know, if you, if you're a franchise, like, Hey, we don't have a good old line.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Like, well, this guy's used to getting the shit beat out of him for, for an hour out there. So, um, You're right, though. Like if you're as good, if you're going to tell everybody that they're wrong, like what a great opportunity to beat out everybody else. And it may not be week one. Right. But you're going to get a chance with that group in front of you because Flacco is not part of the planet.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

If you're. If you're getting good reps in practice and they're going to give you that chance, I would think – I mean, I guess there's a bunch of different scenarios. Like, hey, Pickett makes less mistakes and he's been exactly who he wants. I don't know. I mean, there's a way he plays. There's a way he doesn't play.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

But it's not like there's some massive roadblock in his way where the team felt like, okay, even though we've taken a guy in the first round five years ago, he's clearly our guy for the next five years. But Sanders was too talented, had to go ahead and take him at the fifth round. Like, this is ridiculous. If he's stuck behind somebody, then maybe we don't even get that kind of answer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

But if he's as good as he says he is, his father says he is, then here you go. You're going to get your opportunity and you can prove everybody wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And these guys are just on it, which we knew. So the offense works for him as well in that second quarter. And then Curry on some of these turnovers, he had three just bad turnovers in about a minute of game time to close out the first half. So Houston has all the momentum now. Start of the second half, Golden State out of the gates, getting buckets. They're up 68-58.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

If Dylan Gabriel starts in games and then throws a late pick, though, I am bracing myself for the Dion commentary. Because it would be nothing easier than just saying, hey, my guy would have done it better than Dylan beats him up. Right. That's where it's going to be nasty.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Well, look, he's already started. I mean, he had a quote the other day where he was like, I'm not going to give you more headlines. I'm going to keep it. It's like, oh, really? You want me to write that down? This is the part where you're going to say that you're not going to talk about this because you're not going to give everybody headlines. And then he sent out some other tweets.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So whatever, man. It's unfortunate, I think, that the kid, even though, when I say kid here, but pro athlete, it's unfortunate that Shador, as much as he brought it on himself, I think also paid a heavier tax because his dad saying, this is how it's going to be done. And when they started saying, hey, there are certain teams, it's like, you've got to be really special to pull that shit off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

All right, last thought. Are you worried about Bill Belichick?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Well said. Booger McFarland, ESPN.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

That was incredibly efficient. That was... Joker-level efficiency. You just got it all out there. You're 100% right on the Lakers thing, though, of like, all right, well, this is 25's a wash. It's like, no, they're going to win the West because nobody respects OKC enough. And you kind of dissed him a little bit there, too.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Adams checks back in at 721, leaves with 19 seconds left in the third quarter. The score is 80 apiece. So the plus-minus stuff for Adams, even if it's not always pretty. At one point, I thought Houston was better off when they went with the Jabari-Shingun-Adams lineup. Like, have somebody be a driver.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I would submit to you Chet Holmgren's third quarter against Memphis the other night as a reminder of what he can do. And Jalen Williams is, I think, one of the most underrated. We'll see what happens when it's a real opponent in the playoffs. But, like, I'm watching – Golden State, OKC, or excuse me, I'm watching Golden State Houston.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I said this in the open and I'm thinking about like, OK, Golden State say they get through Houston here. How's that offense going to stabilize enough into a seven game series against the Thunder and beat them like that's that's not going to happen. I liked a lot of what you said, though, because the Lakers full circle moment, like we're right back to the first 24 hours after the trade.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Like, OK, well, you know what? It wasn't really about this year. Like when they went 18 and three, it certainly felt about this year. Thank you so much for the time, man. And when are you out in L.A. ? Never?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

We're playing. Don't even worry about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah, I got to figure out where all these people that comment on anything I wear and everything I do, whether it's international documentaries or... Nine-inch shorts, brother.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Look, the ones that I wore on part of my take at my house a few years ago for that thing, I blame myself. Right? Full accountability.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I'm doing my favorite athlete thing when it's like the person only can be blamed. It's like, you know what? Hand up. That's on me. Like, no shit. It's not on anyone else. I'm just surprised how many people haven't sat in a chair before. At 230 pounds, when you sit in a chair, if you want to say I'm fat, you're going to think I look fat.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I've been, I've been in the 220 to 230 range for a long time. Okay. I mean, you wear it well. Thank you. Appreciate that. It's the nicest thing you've said to me today. I just think if you sit on a couch for two hours and you're entertaining people all over the world, the shorts hike up a little bit. And I hate that couch. That couch came with the house. It's leather. It's not super comfortable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I think it's a custom thing. And so it doesn't fit anywhere else. But I got to talk to my couch people. Speaking of, yeah, I got to say goodbye to you now. This is awesome.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Even if they miss at the rim, you're probably going to win on the rebounding margin, so that might be one of your best plays. Van Vliet was terrific, finally got going from three, 8-12 last night, 25 points. That's 8-12 on threes. He was 6-29 from three in the first three games. Then with Draymond having the five fouls, and we'll get to Draymond here in a second, Shingun

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Golf, it's on. No question whatsoever. By the way, I don't get mad. I have a blast. I mean, I would like to play better than I'm playing. But just so you know, I know what the scouting report would be on me. I go, if I'm not playing well, hey, we'll get them next time. There's always the next hole. I have a great mentality now for it that I didn't have when I was younger.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Some people say I play too fast. Like, hey, you might want to take a little bit more time to set up this next shot. So that's what we're working on now. You're the best. Thanks, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Warfare is one of the best movies of the year. I was lucky enough to check it out in theaters. I would urge you to do so as well. And joining us now, director and writer of, again, a great film, Ray Mendoza. Ray, thanks for doing this. How are you? My pleasure. I'm well. So there's a few different things that I clearly want to ask you about to reach out and talk about the film.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

But if we can just kind of go into your background a little bit and when you first entered the military and what led to being stationed in Iraq.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

When I wrote it down, it's like, hey, this guy's unstoppable right now. The shooting splits do not present the case of somebody being unstoppable. He was 12-28 last night, but he was 1-6 in the first quarter. So that's 11-22 the rest of the way. Probably too many misses in the fourth quarter. I'm going to go through those fourth quarter shot attempts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So I'd like the answer, for a few different reasons, but you end up working in Hollywood as a stunt coordinator, post-serving, and yet, even as a little kid, the two things that have motivated you, the attraction to the military, but then also being like, hey, I'm from LA, and the movie part of this. So after this experience, which is the story that we're going to get to, I mean, had you been...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Had you been working on this, knowing deep down that you had this story? Like you may have wanted to tell it, but did you feel like your story in this mission was something you were like, I think there's something here. There's something in this that I would like to tell if I ever got the opportunity.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

But there were two plays that I thought were really special from him where at one point when Shingun was missing everything, you start projecting out like, okay, what is Shingun long-term? Because Sacramento, I give them credit, and I don't think they should have moved on from their general manager because I do think that they've done a better job than they've been given credit for.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah, and it's very clear. And I think, you know, hooking up with Alex Garland in Civil War and then having somebody who has that resume, if anybody is ever trying to get anything done, it's like, okay, cool idea, cool script. But now I need somebody who's aligned.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And I wonder, as you went through the process and kind of sticking to these rules of building out the story, it feels like Alex was 100% aligned with you immediately. Yeah, sorry to interrupt.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

But Sabonis, as great as he is at stockpiling the assists and having an all-star vote every year and me wondering, like, look at those numbers. And then you start doing all NBA, and you're like, look at those numbers. And then you see certain matchups. It just doesn't work because if you're a big who is not giving you any rim protection and can't stretch the floor – then what do you have?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Loaded podcast for you. We're going to really break down the Warriors in Houston. A bunch of stuff there. Not spend a ton of time on Cleveland's historic sweep of the Miami Heat. We've got Booker McFarlane talking draft, talking 100 men against the Gorillas. Somehow that worked its way in. maybe even a little golf, but we'll do a lot of draft as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Uh, maybe because it's Alex and, and a 24. Cause I just was, as I was watching it, I can only think of like how pitches work. Right. I'm like, Oh, here's what we're going to do. It's this one objective and it's essentially one room, uh, and then some outside shots, and it's only going to take this long, and there's no love interest. There's no third act conflict.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I guess the resolution is getting the guys out, but was there ever any... Part of you was like, you know, maybe they're not getting this, right? The ups and downs of getting any kind of project done because it is, I mean, that's what's so special about it, I think, is that, hey, this is what happened and here we go for 90 minutes and we're never going to let up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

You're never going to feel relaxed as an audience, which I really appreciated because it's not just a really great story with effects and great acting. It's an experience for those 90 minutes. and I could just see so many people thinking like, okay, well, this doesn't work. Like this is actually, isn't what the audience always wants. So can we actually pull this off?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And Shingun, when it's bad, is a guy who provides zero rim protection and can't stretch the floor. But when it's good, especially when Draymond's out because of style trouble, you can run your offense through him. His passing is terrific. I thought...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

being in that experience in 2006 and knowing that everybody's life is on the line and it's like, okay, I wanted to be in the military. I wanted to prove my toughness. I made it through SEAL training and now I'm fucking here. And like, this is, this is bad. Um, we don't know if we're going to get out of here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

What is that, that first moment like for, for you and your team members of going like, I have no idea how this is going to go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Maybe I was giving him too much credit for how many good looks and how many good situations he was getting himself into because there were probably too many misses in the fourth quarter to write down that he was unstoppable. But he was such a mainstay of the offense as they were battling this thing out that I still felt good about Shingun.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

In the down moments, I'm like, man, what is going on with him? So I know the shooting split overall, 12-28, that's not exactly going to get you any All-NBA votes. I'm just going to give him more credit than maybe the 12 of 28 would show you the next day in the box score. But yeah, two plays.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Okay, but I think I realized something, though, now I'm even talking to you about it. And, you know, as you talked about each character's art.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

that I do think you do a great job of that where, okay, it's the overall shot and it moves so fast and there's all this stuff happening, but you kind of allow the audience to see what's going on with each team member in different moments where we check in on them for a second. And then we check in the guy playing you where you're concussed, yet you're still trying to communicate.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And I think the thing that I always wonder about is,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

is you can go through all this but you don't really know how everybody is going to respond but you're also trying to take care of yourself and when you think about that moment i just wonder how you you balance like okay i'm right now but that guy might be more than me and then now we have two guys that have maybe fatal injuries like what is it like trying to be part of a team yet still wondering how how you're doing as you look around the room

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

He had one play where he got Gary Payton into a switch at the three-point line, and he backed him all the way down. And then Moody has a man Thompson in the corner, and he doesn't help off of a man. And it happened again with Butler later on. Same deal, a man in the corner. So I don't know if they were worried about a man on some kind of drive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Did a guy really shoot himself in the thumb with morphine?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Now that I've read enough prep on how you went ahead and told the story, I think there's something else I want to ask you about. You can read some books, whether you go back to historic wars. I was reading something about World War II and shipping off all of the equipment to Africa.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

and basically the things they needed to get the jeeps off they packed onto the ship first so just logistical shit of the ships are ready to unload and like we can't get these jeeps off because the ramps are all the way in the back and they should have been the last thing that was packed and then you know you read it and go okay and then you know look i've read all the modern stuff and i think there's a lot of

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I don't know if it's, oh, well, once you're out there, the bureaucracy of it all and logistical stuff, and there's all of these communication headaches. I remember, I think 20 years ago when I was working in Boston and I was at the small radio station and there was a guy that was active military, but he was coming by the radio station because one of the hosts was like really cool about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

He'd have guys in active duty come on and talk Red Sox with us and stuff when they were back. And I was asking him about it and I think we're probably about the same age. So I grew up like in an era of this world, the Gulf war, like that's only going to take a few days, you know? And I remember asking him, I was like, what's going on over there?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And he's like, the way we're fighting, this is going to take us 20 years. And it was amazing that he ended up being like almost to the year on it. He's like, this is going to take us the way we were doing this. This is going to take us 20 years. Is it as simple? Is that your experience with,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Really, if I looked at the plays again this morning and I think you have to crash down on Shingun, and if he kicks it out to a man, then you'll deal with whatever that is, but especially with the size advantage that Shingun had in some of these switches.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

was that leadership has different things that they have to answer to, but that actually gets in the way of the most efficient way of executing these missions for guys that are on the ground.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

He was trying to just get Post to retire at one point because Quinton Post, although having a nice night making some shots, just isn't going to hold up right now defensively. So Draymond comes back in with five fouls at 751. Golden State's down 91-90. And Shingun had one make from the time that Draymond came back in, and that was on an offensive rebound.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

What was it like for you the first time the guys from the team saw the movie and talked about it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So once, and you go through the misses here, and they weren't all on Draymond because there were some other switches there. It's just the fourth quarter stuff for Shingun, I think out of the nine shots, eight of them, or I think it was 10 shots, there was only one that wasn't great, and that was the game-winning attempt that we'll get to a little bit later.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

It was great seeing Elliot at the end too. And look, man, I just, I know how hard it is. I know what it must feel like to have it be this personal and then to complete something like this even once is an incredible accomplishment, man. So thanks for a great movie.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

The email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We have Kyle back in the mix. And Wargon here, too. So, Saruti's going to be out for a while.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

now so we're just you know whatever the lineup is we're adjusting and i feel like the heat no i don't feel like the miami heat honestly i should say it the other way around to do that against the heat without garland for a couple games cleveland just doesn't care at all so yeah i feel like cleveland right now we're just gonna whatever pieces we have we expect to dominate it's good to see kyle how are you i'm great rested rejuvenated feeling awesome crowd jewel was perfect spring just started when i stepped off the plane it was awesome real spring yeah

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So we went through some of the defensive stuff that I didn't love from Golden State against him and just helping out. The game winner that he tried against Draymond was 10 feet out. It's a one-handed push kind of floater. It's a really tough shot to begin with, but you just knew that Draymond was going to hold up and be better positioned.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Wow. That's great. Uh, how long were you gone? Two weeks? Yeah. Two weeks, two weeks. And we didn't even check in with you once.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah. I don't know. I think it's important if you have time off to actually give you, I know it's super easy to jump on a zoom and, and do 20 minutes of life advice. So we've certainly done it in the past, but I don't know. I just feel like if you're off, uh, See, I don't want to say that because there could be another time where we do ask you to come on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah, you're right. I don't want to commit to it. But when Saruti brought it up, I was like, I think we'll be fine and we'll just see how it goes. I was hoping maybe there would just be a Wargon Rosillo special at some point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Wait a minute. Wargon, did we have one with just you and I or no?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Okay. Yeah. There wasn't just a war gun because I think I was wondering as it was mapping out, like who's going to be around. I'm like, I'm doing it. I mean, obviously we'll give it a shot. And of course, war gun, I think is more than capable. I just think the idea of war gun and I hanging out for 20 plus minutes, just the two of us. I don't know if I'm ready for that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I'm not saying I don't want to do it. I just don't know if I'm ready for it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah. Right. I mean, all, all possibilities. I mean, we did get, maybe I'll read this one cause I did flag it when it got sent to me. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah, that was happening. Is that true? No. McShay wasn't going to ask me to do any of that stuff, actually. There was no way to even do it. But I got a call during the week. We did a live show at my house, McShay, Steve Minch, and it was just a live broadcast to wrap up kind of the last few rounds, but then cover everything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And at that point, he's not worrying about the sixth foul because that's kind of the game. Now on Draymond, we could ask why was he even in the game? He had already gotten a technical earlier. I think there's a lot of... I love the rough stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And so McShay had asked me over a month ago, and I am really bad with long-term scheduling. I mean... I'm a Hall of Famer when it comes to just being absolute dog shit at the process to the point where I end up saying no to stuff that I probably would be able to go to or want to go to. But I'm just so afraid of like, look, everything changes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Like sometimes I'll wake up and think I know exactly what my day will be and then it'll be something entirely different. So when somebody says like, hey, can you do this? They're like, I don't know. I don't know if I can or can't. So if I commit to it and then tell you I have to cancel, so I'm better off just telling you I can't even do it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So McShay, because we're so close and I wanted to try to help with the draft a month ago, he was like, will you do this live show? And I said, you know what? Fine. But I thought it was going to be a bit more straightforward, just like, hey, we're going to tape something at your house and we're in L.A. and it's not that big of a deal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

So as the week starts to work itself out towards that Saturday, I realized I'd committed to fish on Friday and that there were three playoff games on Friday that I was going to have to catch up on while there were four more on Saturday, knowing that there were four more on Sunday. And then we go live with Bill and I. So, you know, this time of year, It's just what the job is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And so for me to say yes to fish, which I normally would have said no to because the playoff games, then I get a call from one of our behind the scenes guys being like, we need to show up. Yeah. They were like, are we going to have parking? What is the elevator access? We have a couple of cams, lights, sound. And I'm like, what the fuck are we doing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Right. So I I'll admit I started MFing myself. There was no one else that I was mad at except for me just sitting there for the couple of days of the realization of why would you have said yes to this?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Knowing that it's a brutal time of the year and on top of everything else, like I thought I was doing myself like as the last I'd say year or so, I'm trying to say yes to more stuff that I just defaulted to no on always because of the job. Not to say, oh, I work so hard, all that kind of stuff. I just...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I really am like, hey, man, find a way to get more stuff done that has nothing to do with work because, you know, the years are flying by here. So get some more experiences going. Have you considered breaking your day into three days like that guy? Yeah, no, that's I can't tell if those are when I see those videos.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

what's a skit anymore who knows right yeah right anymore what's a skit is it not i saw some french teacher beat up three kids and i'm like this guy's a badass and i was like i think this is fake so anyway uh yeah it was a lot it was a lot and it was great the show was great i had a lot of fun everybody behind the scenes i hadn't worked with a lot they were just awesome efficient right on it showed up with a dozen donuts you know because they knew

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I think everybody had a vibe of like... Because they knew you weren't putting shit out. Well, I think he knew... It felt a bit like they were like, deep down, Russillo may absolutely regret that he said yes to this. So... And I wanted to be like, look, now that I understand what it is, the show is the show. Let's just have a great show. But I was... I was spent.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

critical here but i think some of the rough stuff is just unnecessary i think it's just guys deciding like oh this is the playoffs i'm supposed to get pissed off i'm supposed to grab somebody i know everybody's sick of each other after playing multiple games uh against the same team but i think some of it just becomes like i'm just going to show how tough i am and i'm going to be in the mix and i'm going to do some of this dumb shit um steph got a technical earlier because he taunted

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And then fish was like, that's about the tamest fish show imaginable. Cause the whole time I'm thinking about like, I'm getting texts about your Sanders all night. I was like, Hey dude, I'm waiting on Piper. All right. Not worried about this right now. Uh, so yeah, a little recap. Do we have anything else to get to? I don't think so. I don't think so either. Okay. Yeah. There's, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Some people are concerned with the way I'm treating Wargon. I can't find the email.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Wargon, do you feel like you're being treated differently, unfairly?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Anything that's like on the cusp of HR. Could you just give me a heads up and then maybe we can work it out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And Warfare, one of my favorite movies I've seen in a theater in years. It's still out now. Ray Mendoza, the man behind the story who wrote and helped direct this movie, is going to talk about his background in the military and what led to getting something made in Hollywood and life advice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah. We'll just tape it. We'll make it a segment. Okay. All right. I can't, I can't seem to find it, but there were some people that were a little upset. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

uh somebody wants a fish check-in maybe we'll make this quicker because i feel like we already sort of did it skipping stats to get right to a very important question what the hell was riscilla doing at a fish show last weekend i went to my first fish concert or should i say experience at the bowl hollywood bowl on saturday which is just an epic venue man i mean every single time i get to see a concert there i just kind of look around and appreciate like how special that place is

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Well, I had an idea of what I was in for. It was still way more than what I expected. For those who've never been, you first walk through a parade of people dressed from the plate Joseph and the multicolored coat while seeing and smelling every substance available. As you get settled in, the sun goes down. The experience begins.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I found myself surrounded by a generation who only grew up with black and white television doing what can only be described as a Caucasian rain dance. Black and white television is a bit aggressive, but I will admit I did look around. I was like, God damn, is this an old crowd? And then I went.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

you're not wicked young dude um anyway as the air was filled with uh potpourri scented smoke i found myself asking what the hell does rosillo do with these shows does he get a seat in the corner all the way by himself and people watch as he partake in channeling the weather and the leather skin fishies i don't know about that yeah or does he simply lock in on the 25 minute vibe sessions i would love to hear what draws into these shows and how he experiences the

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

carnival that takes place also, uh, exiting the show and seeing a mile long flea market of people peddling ice cold balloons of nitrous is also a first time experience for me. Um, last thing for Friday feedback, you should consider doing a war gone deep dive session. I don't know. I think, uh, I think everything's on the table of Oregon. Uh, yeah, look, uh, I, my first show was in 1992.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I was in high school. I've told the story before, but I, you know, when I came back at that point, I was, I guess considered cool in high school. And then I came back and, you know, it was pretty typical high school questioning. Like I was, I was like this outlier. Cause I was like the first guy that went to a fish show, right? It's like, Oh my God, you know, went to fish show. So we're kicking it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And guys are like, how fucked up did you get? Um, you know, because what you care about, although you'd be shocked at how much Later in life, people will still ask the same question, even though when you're a teenager, you're thinking like this must go away at some point. Definitely more cachet than when you're younger. Yeah, right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Dylan Brooks for getting his second foul for knocking him down after a man had been crushed by Draymond on the screen. I don't really know if that was dirty or not. And then it turns into this whole thing. So Draymond already has a technical from this. So then he gets stripped by Tara Eason. He's pissed, grabs Tara Eason. Then his legs swing over and hit the back of Tara Eason's head.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Like, did you hear about how screwed up fill in the blank at that concert? Yeah, that's awesome. I didn't even drink anything. I mean, granted, it wasn't even legal, dude. So that's its own topic. But yeah, I didn't even want to drink. I was just like, I was into it. And granted, because I worked in a restaurant and I had access to music that I would have never had access to because of chefs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Like, whatever you want to say about chefs. And I think there's a lot of interactions with chefs that later on in life, I'm like, oh, wait, that's what that guy was all about. But at the time, you don't realize. But they're really good for opening up the doors to music. And I do just absolutely love music. I have a pretty wide variety of tastes. And insults sometimes. Creative.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I never heard that one before. Oh, chefs? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean... I could do an hour on chefs in a kitchen and I'm glad I did it. And I'm glad that I had the experience. And I'm also pretty happy that that ended up not being what I wanted to do, but good for you. If, uh, if that's your deal, it's just a different working environment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I mean, we've talked about the construction working environment, but a kitchen is its own thing. Um, it's just hard to explain unless you've worked in a kitchen, but yeah, when it came to the music and I would hear stuff and being like, what is this? What is this? And at that age, I'm super impressionable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And so, yeah, I think there's certain music that all of us have, if you really love music that, the first time you hear it and you just start thinking about things, you're just so inspired because again, I think it's kind of cool, even though you are super impressionable about everything at that age, like there are things that it is cool to be impressionable about.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So fish was definitely one of those things. But then when I got to Vermont, it was more like, wow, you guys really like them. I almost felt like I wasn't, I wasn't, I was like, I do not aspire to be this into them, even though I was still very much into the music. Saw him a bunch of times, but not like a staggering amount of times.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So for them to get back together and then to get to see them three times in the last year and a half or so, I just enjoy it. And so I thought Friday was was a fun show. But yeah, like if you want to make fun of it, I'm not going to argue with you about it. But I think the important thing is you get older.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And I've kind of felt this like, why would I care if something's fairly harmless, if something if people enjoy it? Like, why would I care? Like, why would you care? Like, you can make fun of a ton of it. And yeah, the dancing isn't great. And it might be the whitest thing you could go to. Like, Van texted me about Shador on Friday and was like, hey, I'm at the fish show. Where are you sitting?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

He liked that one a lot. So, yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

we can, it's a really easy thing to say. It wasn't deliberate. I never know what Draymond, then Draymond grabs his Jersey while Tari's over him. And then actually this was kind of lost. I thought on the broadcast, he went to kick Tari between the legs, but he misses, or he actually somehow find some composure where it's like, maybe I shouldn't be kicking dudes in the legs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

What is your experience? You guys have any experience with nitrous?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Wasn't that a little bit more Fast and the Furious than Say Fish? Yeah. That's some marketing right there. Like, hey, if we can figure out a way to just translate that button that dudes get to hit on their car. Did you know anyone in your town that had nitrous in their car, Kyle? It was like one of those rumors things. Like, my cousin's got it. It's like, sure. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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My girlfriend goes to another school. Like, okay. Yeah. Oregon. Any car or balloon nitrous experience?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Yeah, look, I couldn't believe the balloon thing because I remember when it was in the mix and it was kind of like, you know, hey, a guy's got a tank or a guy's selling balloons or whatever. Nobody really cared, but they still sort of cared. And then walking to the Hollywood Bowl, walking up, I was like, oh, this is just a free-for-all. And I'll admit, too, like I –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

it's just weird when you get older and you're looking around and you're like, Oh my God, look how old these people are. And then you're like, well, well, newsflash buddy. Yeah. Right. I just appreciated people were firing darts because it's a smoking generation. Like I haven't seen this many smokers in one place since the bullfights. So I was like, this is, this is just a lot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I was like, okay, that makes a lot of sense. Cause you know, everybody from my generation on, you know, still, I don't know. They're not smoking now, but for fish, you know, you get a few in you and you're like, Hey, you know what? Let me try one of those.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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That's going to take me 10 minutes. Yeah. So, uh, I had two Mick ultras and I'll admit that probably during what's going through your mind set to a yawned a couple of times. So yeah, but yeah,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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uh carini in the light you know there was some stuff happening there piper piper brought me back to life so uh there you go okay cool man thanks thanks kyle glad you got out there such a busy weekend and then i i'll admit that when i woke up the next morning it was like how are you gonna get all this shit done you haven't even watched lakers timberwolves yet and you love the timberwolves so

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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uh okay slow start almost feels like a monday pace right now all right i'll do better no i'm talking about myself right now but do you have uh any experience with the juggalos kyle have i asked you about this before you keep doing this and i is it should i stop wearing black i'm trying to figure out what it is that's like got that in your head uh I don't think it's a crazy question.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah, I've asked it many times. I think I saw a clip of it the other day, and I was like... See, you're too mature now. But I think a few years ago I said, if I give you all expenses paid per diem, you hit me with an hourly. I'll just pay you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

The last time I did this, we blew a three, one lead. So, um, They gave him a flagrant. And it was funny, too, because later on, Draymond's lined up at the free throw line, and he was telling Tari, like, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kick you in the back of the head, which means that Draymond clearly has more respect for Tari than he would other players because he would go out of his way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I don't know if I get a weekend of you at the gathering, but I'm tempted. I'm really tempted. There's got to be a number. There's got to be a number and you could be a correspondent.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

for us yeah maybe if i could bring like one of my friends just actually seeing your crew in action i would hope you'd spring for that all right yeah all right if you spring for that then we could talk about it could you tell your wife like hey it's content it's for the show yeah it's like ryan made me do it i blame you for stuff like that all the time it's totally fine morgan any interest if kyle doesn't want to take this not even sure what we're talking about

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

That's maybe better. Okay. Maybe better. A little more in our lane here. A girlfriend sleeping with her boss. 32, 5'10", bench 315. Comp, poor man's Jerry Schichting. Love the Schichting shout outs. About a week ago, my girlfriend, photo attached, revealed to me she's been seeing and sleeping with her 40-ish year old boss for the past two months. A little bit of backstory.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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We started dating in February of 23 after I came out of a divorce where said ex-wife cheated on me as well as got pregnant with the same guy. Sure know how to pick them. Fast forward to now, the most recent ex and I were initially up and down, made it official fall of 23.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So they started dating February 23, official fall of 23, had a brief breakup in there between about two months, but I met together since last summer. In December of last year, I made the very idiotic mistake of having a very drunk one night stand with a woman, told my girlfriend and was honest. It ate me up, as you can imagine, made me and still feel horrible as I should at that moment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I got a second chance. I do everything I can to try to redeem myself. In February, I began to notice a shift And something was off. Little did I know what the fuck was actually happening. Details aside, the why has so many variables. Quote, it just happened. We have a lot of common. I did it out of spite.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

She told me she's looking for a new job and currently it is no longer occurring, but we aren't together. So she is free like me to do what she wants. I know this is a hard situation to come back from because obviously you don't continue to do what she did if there isn't an emotional connection. which she does have feelings, but not in love or wants to be with a guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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She's told me she still wants to be with me, sees a future with me and wants to live together. And I feel the same in the end. I have no fucking clue what do and what to believe. And I realized that, uh, the weight that this isn't a random person, uh, But her boss, she sees him every day, has feelings. And so that connection doesn't stop overnight. What do you guys think I need to do?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Trying to do no contact, but that's going about as well as KD and Phoenix. I want to ultimately be with her, but am I an idiot to do so? Am I naive to think this can be salvaged? Should I just leave it and move on? Truly just a lost guy. Appreciate the show as always. And he sent a picture of her and she is hot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

They're not together.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Well, it sounds like you've got a nice little backstory to a main character in a TV show here. I mean, look, we don't know you. So that goes without saying. I would wonder. Do you not want to get back together with her for the wrong reasons? Would the wrong reasons be, would you be judged? Do people in your circle know this? Do your friends, your family know the deal?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And then a man came over and thought Draymond was – getting into it. And so as Draymond was trying to apologize to a player, which felt rare, he still found a way to get pissed at somebody else because the men Thompson, I think was just third man in, didn't know what they were talking about. He shoves him, then yells at the refs. And like, it was just kind of chaotic the whole time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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what is it about her that makes you think this can all work out? Because I would tell you that is some incredible maturity if everyone involved here can all get past all of this stuff and move on. Do you have a pattern of always having shit going on in your relationships? Now, maybe you just shared two with us that don't seem to be great, but are you attracted to chaos? Are you

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

you always in relationships where there just always seems to be something that is disruptive, right? How bad is the trust going to be? Because I think even if you get through this and make promises to each other, human nature is that you're still always going to kind of wonder a little bit. And because of what you've done, she's still going to try to wonder a bit. And I don't,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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It's pretty childish to be like, hey, you did it, so I'm going to do it, but I can at least understand getting there. I think what you really have to do is figure out what it is about her that makes you think that this can still work. What is it about your pattern and who you spend your time with?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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if it's not just the two that you shared with us, but this also happens because you may have grown up in a situation where you think chaos is kind of normal. So then when you're in a relationship and it's chaotic, it's ups and downs, you're taking breaks and you get back together and all this shit. Like it's amazing what will happen once you're in a healthy relationship.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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You're like, Oh, this doesn't have to be insane. Like, you know, so I, I'm a little concerned that maybe, uh, So all of these challenges in relationships are normal for you and you think it's kind of normal. So you're expected to just get back together because this is, this is how some of these toxic relationships work. So again, credit to you if you can get through the whole thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So I'm not going to sit here and say, Hey, no way, dude, she cheated on you because you cheated on her too. And it's not even about taking sides. It's just sometimes you can have two, I'm not saying you're broken, but I'll use that term.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

in a, in a loose way, not specific to the email, but sometimes people that are kind of broken are so attracted to other broken people that they just kind of go through this cycle. And then the next thing you know, it's like years before they have any clarity whatsoever. So I would be really like, if you're having these moments by yourself, you're like, what should I do? What should I do?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Like go over your own history, figure out what you're attracted to. And then, um, understand like, are you really going to get over this? Or if you rack together in the next bad stretch in eight months, does it turn into Armageddon when you guys start letting these things fly back and forth? Because no one's ever going to forget when it's this serious.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I think because he had the first technical, they weren't going to give him a second technical and because they gave him the flagrant, whatever. But yeah, This is a theme here with Draymond, not just because of some of the playoff stuff, but his fouling at times has been atrocious in the worst possible time. If you go to the play-in game against Memphis a minute ago, Golden State's up 117-111.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Whoa. Yeah. You ever been cheated on, Morgan?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Fair. Fair addendum. Okay, couples massage. What is the right matchup? This is good. Monster fan of the show. Wow. I've had this thought.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I was at the 23 Live show in New York City. Had an absolute blast. Please do another one in New York. That was the best one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

That was an awesome show. The Chris Paul part of it was just... I couldn't have gone better. Allison. And Elizabeth. Also pronounced Elizabeth. Here we go. Please do another one. Should you get up to the New York Athletic Club for pickup run while you're in town? A little worried about the hoops game right now, to be honest with the audience. For context, 26 years old, 6'2", 195.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Solid numbers in the weight room. Can throw up 225 for a few, but nothing crazy. Depending on the competition, my player accomplishments can swing between. Eric Diebendorf. This is the second Dievendorf shout-out that we've gotten on the emails today. Dievendorf with some lava-type takes on Shador Sanders not getting drafted earlier in the fifth round. And Nate Lubbock. Is it Lubbock or Lubbock?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Memphis is inbounding the basketball, and he fouls Bain on the inbounds. It was a terrible gamble. and it was his sixth foul, and Memphis shoots two free throws with no time coming off of the clock. That game's still in the balance. Last regular season game against the Clippers, Draymond's got Kawhi. There's 17.5 seconds left on the game clock, but nine seconds left on the shot clock.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I forget. Big East. I'm one of the better guys on the floor. I'm pulling confidently and spinning into traffic, trying to get to the rack. If not, I'm setting hard screens, moving the rock, crashing the glass, and yelling, good luck, after a miss to keep morale high. Good luck. I like this. I didn't lean into the comp here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I didn't love how long this was taking until we get the good look part of it. So now I'm all the way back in. Here's the situation. My girlfriend gifted me, I guess both of us, smart move, with a spa day just outside of New York City. High-end place. Great amenities. The package she got included a couple's massage for us, which I had never done before.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

We're greeted by a man who brings us in the massage room where he and a woman are standing next to massage tables. They each subtly indicated which bed they'd be working on. Kind of you pick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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who goes where situation my girlfriend casually mentioned it might be weird if i had the male masseuse but i started thinking masseuse just the masseuse industry in general if any of you are listening you must be like hey are you guys still doing this like you can't have a dude massage you um but again when i did a couple's massage i picked the girl too so i don't know i don't have to tell you

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Um, they each suddenly indicated which bed they'd be working on. We recovered that. Um, but I started thinking, would it be weirder if the woman, if I had the woman and she had the guy and I'm just lying there four feet away with my head in the donut pillow.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So I zagged, I ended up going with a man figuring man, figuring it might make more sense in the context, but now I'm second guessing the whole read of the situation. What's the right call here? Is there a known strategy for couples massage matchups? Did I overthink the switch or make the right assignment? Um, Would love your take. Thanks again. Yeah, I mean, was this a bad switch?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Like, I get the point. If we're all being childish about this whole thing, it's like, wouldn't I rather have a woman giving me massage than a dude? Right? Like, I don't think I'd have to explain that much. But if you're right next to your gal and Sven is over there just working the moisturizer from that little hip pack pump thing that they have, just dangles.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

yeah that guy looks like the dude from white lotus i'm probably yeah yeah i don't like where are you in relationship like the other emailer who fucking knows right or said i'd be like hey so who's your team right Yeah, right. Like, I took somebody on a date for a surf lesson, and the next thing you know, this fucking Brazilian surf coach is getting her phone number at the end of it, you know?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Is this a hypothetical, or are you telling... Oh, no, this is true.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I was sitting there. I was like, are you fucking serious, dude? So, I don't know. Sometimes, you know, the bald community, we understand this, or a shaved head. It's like, you just assume that it's this fragile. I'm just going to do this right in front of me. Anyway, what do you got working on?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

You know, I had that thought as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Kawhi gets him going to his left a bit, and Draymond fouls him. And at the time, they were like, oh, that was smart because it's not free throws. It's like, no, it isn't because there was three seconds left on the shot clock. The differential was eight and a half seconds. So you were forcing Kawhi into a really tough shot. Then you bail him out of the possession. Shot clock resets.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Have either of you guys ever done the couple's massage?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I need more context.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

No. A couple spatial. Interesting. Yeah, the couple's massage, depending on where you go, it is pretty awkward. And it also depends on where you are at in the relationship when both masseuses leave and be like, feel free to enjoy the serenity of our room as we pour a hot bath for you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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You have 15 minutes. You're like... Anyway, let your imagination run wild with that one. All right. Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Kyle. So Rudy, you know, he'll check in again. He's just watching. He's got one more magic game to go, I guess. What? I mean, come on. They can't score. Jonathan Frias.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I want to thank him as well because I know we had... I just didn't want to make sure I get all the credits right here. Check out our podcast on the Spotify app and as well all of our stuff up on YouTube. The Ryan Russell Podcast. Bring your Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

They're going to close with the last shot. So it was actually the way they played it out defensively. He would have been better off just letting him shoot defensively. because he had Kawhi at a disadvantage and fouled him. So the fouling stuff for Draymond needs to tighten up if this team is going to go far.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Because there's also a moment, as I'm watching last night's game, as Golden State's struggling, Curry's just everything about their defensive priority, and he's not being able to fight his way through it. Butler, Pajemski, all these other things. I'm watching that team going... Like, hey, as much as I like these guys, it's been a really good story.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Two games last night in the association, and we're not going to spend very much time on Cleveland dismantling The Heat. By the way, in these four games, I mean, just so impressive from the Cavs, not even playing Garland in two of these games. I mean, I could sit here and do some sort of obit on Miami, but it's funny when you watch Miami and Atlanta play in that game towards the end of the season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And it looks like they're going to close out Houston here up 3-1. I do think these teams are fairly even. Do you watch Golden State through these four games and go, yeah, they can beat Oklahoma City? I mean, I don't know if too many people are trying to sell you on that out there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

But, man, that seems impossible for Golden State to go through some of these offensive stretches to be able to keep pace with a team like the Thunder. All right. Jimmy Butler. Now, look, I'll always be skeptical of the guy that has the baggage, the bullshit part of it. And Butler has a lot of it. You could talk me into a couple stops where I would take Jimmy's side. There's a couple other stops.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

I'm like, you know what? This is a dude who can turn it on and off based on his own happiness and essentially the financial commitment that he seems or would deem worthy of what a team should be doing for him. And that's not necessarily a guy I would want in my foxhole, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Dunleavy, though, to his credit, and Anthony Slater shared this with us when we talked about them acquiring Butler, he was like, look, Sure, all of those things are on the table when you're discussing Butler. I don't know that it was like 100% approval on the Golden State side of like, let's get this guy in here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Butler didn't even want to go there until it was his only option to go there, and they gave him the extra year on the contract for a massive number. But Dunleavy, I think, kind of nailed it. He's like, fine, okay. And I'm paraphrasing here a bit of what Slater had told us, but what are we really disrupting here? This team got off to a great start. It was depth. It was defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

The offense is falling apart. It's Steph running around, and nobody else can be counted on. Every other night is the number two. So if we bring Butler in, are we actually derailing something that's really awesome? No, you're not. So let's go for it. Let's give it a shot. Because all of it's irrelevant, at least right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

The Butler part of it towards the end when his contract is expiring and him feeling unwanted and all that stuff, it's probably going to happen again. Maybe Golden State finds a way through it. But again, all of it is irrelevant because of who this dude is in the playoff games. His effort, his intensity. He takes three shots in the first half.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

Again, that eliminates some of the free throw attempts as the field goal attempt is not tracked. He was 4-6 in the fourth quarter. He hits the three free throws when it was 104-104. Dylan Brooks putting his hand into his hip and just an awful foul. You want to talk about bad foul decisions by players. That was a trick, like let Butler take the three. He's not necessarily great at it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

He's in the corner. You can't give him the three free throws because he's great at the free throw line on top of everything else. And then as Shingun goes up for the game winner, Butler grabs the biggest rebound of the game. And I love the replay of this rebound because Butler is just on it. He's sizing it all up and he's got a clear lane.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.

And granted, the ball's going to go his way and he's able to grab the board and step up offensively in a night where Curry did not have it. So, look, we could talk about there's a lot of like different things in here. The Adams substitution patterns, he may taking Adams out when they were going to start hacking and putting them at the free throw line.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

On today's episode of the podcast, we get up close with Alex Bregman, the newest third baseman of the Boston Red Sox, what his offseason was like, patience, the whole deal. We're going to talk tournament, we're going to do some Big E story, of course, Louis Carneseco with our guy PJ Carlissimo, and life advice from

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

OK, let's stay on that because the roster change and we know the transfer portal, it's not new this year, but it's let's just say a change in the last five years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

OK, so if you look at the Sweet 16 field, you go, OK, it's all the power conferences. What's going to happen now? Great. You had Maryland, Colorado State. So if Queens shot doesn't go in, then I guess you could shoot that down. But I think it's a bigger concern. Right, right, right. It's a bigger picture concern. Cause I think the Cinderella's, the thing they had is they had continuity.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Like if you have continuity and especially to like the extra years that are being, um, like sometimes I'll look at a guy and I'll be like, man, I really liked this dude. It's like, oh shit, he's 24. He's on his 16th. So like, I hope he's good. So, The transfer portal crushes some of the smaller programs' continuity. We can get into the NIN and all that stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

We have the result of 16 teams from the power schools. I'd have to see this play out multiple years to think that this is the new normal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I want to ask you about your run. Um, because when you were with Seton Hall, I'll get the title game against Michigan. You know, I could talk to you about it for just two hours. I can do, I could do a three part special on it. Um, You know, you look through the run, you beat Indiana by 13, you beat UNLV by 23.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

You're actually down at the half against Duke and you just smoked them in the second half. So I guess you could argue the Duke game was your test and it's still you made it to the final. But like if I look at Florida, the benefit of being tested by UConn and maybe how that resets them coming off as everybody's kind of hottest team, as opposed to maybe Duke running through everybody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I don't know that we can look back and look at your run and say, because you had to get to overtime to even get to that spot against Michigan. So your guys were testing everything. But was there part of it you thought, man, I would have loved to have had UNLV or Duke be tougher games?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, Juju Watkins, for those that don't know, as of this morning, tore ACL on that play. So she's going to be out the rest of the way for a one-seed USC team. I want to end on this because you knew we wanted to reach out when St. John's legend Louis Carneseca passed at the end of last year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And knowing how close you were with him and, and what a big thing, like you and I, that's how we connected, uh, talking about this stuff. And you always tell like some people probably listen to us. I just can't wait to get to Biggie stories all the time, but I just wanted you to kind of go anywhere you wanted on it. Just talking about Louie and maybe your favorite stories.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, man. I mean, he was, uh, he was the best. I got to meet him at the hall of fame, the induction, I was doing a live show there and they brought him over and they were like, Hey, this guy is like a huge St. John's fan. And he, you know, the way you would expect any of you guys has been a life of recruiting and relationships and building all that stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

But I mean, he just sat right down and he gave me like the full car to second experience for 10 minutes. And he knew exactly like what I wanted and everybody else, like everybody else just stopped talking. Because it's probably the biggest smile anybody's ever seen in my face. And it was the best.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Why is Kelvin so good? Because, I mean, here we go again. Reloaded Houston. And with the health questions about it, but obviously this is kind of what's expected now of Houston in a way that we're not used to really going more than five programs deep in college basketball. They are expected to be here now at this point with him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, that's – you just see Raph. I can just see him right now laughing his ass off through the whole thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

They were phenomenal. PJ, thank you so much for the time. And, again, you'll be on the West Region calls on Westwood. So give us a sense here. We've got Maryland, Florida is the first one, then Arkansas, Texas Tech. So if people are in the car, what time can they check you out? 440.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Can't wait, man. Enjoy it. Thank you so much again for the time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

We were taking a look at it this morning. I was trying to see what my guy, Jaron Jackson Jr., would do against Utah. Lit him up last time for 28. But the problem is, is Utah obviously not very good. And Jackson's been playing less minutes this past month. So to put him at over 25 points. The beauty of this, you don't have to lay the 10 and a half

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

that you're laying with memphis um going up against utah so let's go with the jimmy butler revenge game golden state at miami golden state's favored by five and a half let's just wipe that out of the equation you're picking golden state to win and for butler to get eight or more rebounds if you go through the game log he said it's a big rebound games this month you think he'd just be motivated enough you could go to 25 points if you think they're going to iso him the entire time they're not going to do that because that's the way golden state plays basketball so

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Butler, revenge. Basically, straight up, you're picking Golden State and you're hoping he gets eight boards. And whether you want to ride my pick or make your own, FanDuel is giving all customers a profit boost exclusively for these bets on Tuesday. So just go ahead to FanDuel.com slash Ryan, R-Y-E-N. To get your profit boost, make every moment more with FanDuel. America's number one sportsbook.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 plus and present in D.C. Opt-in required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable. Profits boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wage or amount. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. He is the third baseman of the Boston Red Sox.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

It's Alex Bregman who joins us now. So look, let's start with this. It's new. This is a new thing for you. The Astros have been home for a long time. So what's this like being with a new club?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I love reading spring training stuff because it's like the best possible scenario of any every team. Like you read everything and it's incredibly positive. But the stuff about your club, you know, it's been like these guys have really connected. So I want to ask you kind of like about your role because your resume is great.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

You've been in the playoffs every year that you were in the bigs full season on. Right. So eight straight years of being in the playoffs. And you come in and you're like, I guess I'm kind of this vet now who's this established dude with this resume, but I'm also like the new guy. So how do you figure out like what's asked of you as somebody with your resume, but also realizing like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I don't want to just come here and pretend like I'm in charge now either.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Do you remember an older player with the Astros like talking to you? Because there's probably part of you in the beginning, like when a World Series, your first full season, be like, all right, this is normal. Like the plan, like this is normal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

But was there somebody that you remember in the way they talked to you, what they said specifically, a teammate that you kind of think about now in your role and how they handled you as a young player?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Did you have to talk? And the reason I even say third base is because those of us that were following, it's like, okay, so Bregman, this incredible third baseman. But again, the irony being that you were a shortstop coming out. So the Astros have Correa. It's like, all right, so I'll move. And then I think a lot of people were looking at Boston, whether it was Campbell or whether it was Devers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Do you have to talk to your teammates about like, look, I know... I'm coming in and maybe this changes up the expectations of the season. I know since Devers has said like, Hey, whatever the club needs, I'm good to go. But is that something you needed to do?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

What was the offseason like for you being a free agent? And I know having Boris as an agent also means like you have to understand patience because that's the way Scott likes to play the game and it's and it's work. But I wonder what that's like when you feel like, hey, it is a month later than everybody else has already signed. Like, I want to know where I'm playing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

How did you handle balancing, which I'm sure is like patience and impatience during that time?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I imagine it had to change a couple of times though, right? Cause like we knew there were other teams involved. We knew that Houston still had a long-term deal on the table based again, I'm just going off of what I read. So I'm sure some of this stuff is maybe off when it makes it out to the public consciousness.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

But I had to imagine there's a couple of days where you're like, I guess I'm going here. I guess I'm going like, did it, did you have moments where you were almost like mentally committed to an option that did not happen?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

The structure of the contract. The average annual salary based on what was out from Houston, it was longer, but it was less money. Boston steps up late, and they also give you the freedom of being able to opt out after this year or next year. Does the option structure of this give you more pressure, or is it both?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

It's like, hey, I can either step up in what's a pseudo-contract year, but at the same time, I have the security of the multiple years at a big number, too.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, look, I get it. I mean, it's always a little weird talking to another dude about like, so you were offered this many millions, but then you went this way. I can just tell by your answer. I also love the Boris Klein answer of like getting a little of the qualifying stuff in there and be like, you know, this long term, we need to look into this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So it sounds like you spent a lot of time with Scott. So that would make sense. All right. Let's let's have a little bit more fun. What's it going to be like being at Fenway and not being booed?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

The Fenway numbers are nuts. I, you know, I was looking at him again this morning. I mean, I knew, I knew what kind of beating you put on that part, but there has to be your swing, you know, the, the profile of you as a hitter to get to play 81 there. What is it about that park for you?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

No, I would say the back of the baseball card proves that. But last year is a down year for you in some respects. How much of that was the elbow?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

We're going to talk now with one of our favorite guests, a man that understands the tournament, former Seton Hall head coach and now part of the ESPN and NCAA tournament broadcast, PJ Carlissimo. What's up, man? It's good to see you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

It's a bit like a golf swing, right? Where you can watch a video and see something that you don't like. You're like, oh my God, I can't believe that's what it looks like. But at the same time, the golf ball is not adjusting to you the way major league pitchers are adjusting to the tendencies they see with you. So

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I've always wondered, you know, how much can an NBA coach really tell a great NBA player about what he's doing right or wrong out on the floor? Like you can have a system or you can say, hey, we want to do this tonight. Quarterbacks probably a little different. But what is it like for you being this good, but also having an open mind in hearing from new voices and guys on staff about like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Hey, maybe this is something you need to think about, because I imagine that's that's really tough for some players. And then some players are probably listening to too many people as they try to figure things out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

This team, they know they've had a massive offseason. It's also a team that that fan base is not used to not being in the mix after a really long run of success. Have you had any time back in Massachusetts?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Do you have any friends that have played there, you know, that are there every day for multiple years that have just kind of alerted you that like what a big deal it is to be a member of this team in that city? Because I look, I know Houston was awesome. I know New York and LA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So I'm not necessarily knocking, but I think it's so important to people in Boston that it kind of takes it to another level that isn't always for everybody. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Do you think in 18 when Joe Kelly drilled you with a 100-mile-an-hour fastball... Because it was a 2-2 game. So it's the playoffs. But I always felt like Joe felt like he was policing the game a little. So I don't know. It was a 1-2 pitch. And you seemed so pissed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah. I... He's like a hero out here in LA, and I don't know. I've always been like, when he drilled you, I thought, why are you putting somebody on? It's a 2-2 game. But then I guess the argument... Go ahead.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Uh, I want to ask you about the Red Sox thing. Cause yeah, you were 29th round pick. Was there any chance that you were going to sign at a high school with them?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So let's do that. As you know, I love being down in Baton Rouge for games. I go every year. uh, it's, it's one of my favorite things, just being a Northeast guy and getting to experience that. Cause if you don't experience it, you can't understand it. Uh, let's go back to a high school, Alex Bregman. What's your best recruiting story? Is it at LSU? Was, is there something else?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

There's another place you thought you were going to go? Cause we like to do this with all the guys that played best recruiting story.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

That'll happen. That'll happen to people that go down there. Look, man, I'm pumped for you. I know it was a long offseason and it's probably weird. Like, has it even like to not be a member of the Astros anymore? Has has it sunk in yet or is it going to be the first time you're Fenway in that uniform?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Well, I can't wait for the start of the season. It's been a fun offseason. And I'm happy for you, man. So look forward to 25. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me. And now it's time for today's winning bundle segment presented by State Farm. There's something to be said about a strong coach-player relationship. When that bond is solid, you can see the magic unfold.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Players have the confidence to take risks and show off their skills, knowing their coach is in their corner. A few standout winning bundles definitely come to mind. I know what you're saying. Are you seriously going to do Mahomes and Reid again after the Super Bowl? No, I'm not, although I've used it before.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

for this illuminating piece of information i'm sharing with you how about jared goff and man campbell think about it makes sense jared goff good not great with la not great enough to be the long-term guy they move him out they send him to detroit like how long is this going to last well it's going to last a long time based on one thing and that's belief belief From his head coach, Dan Campbell.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Dan Campbell wants a captain as a backup. That's hard to do. You don't see that a lot, but that's the kind of leadership that he inspires around him. It's a coach that treats every fourth down like a parking ticket when you don't have any money in your checking account. He's like, you know what? I'm not going to worry about this right now. That's the kind of belief from the top down.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Life advice. The email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Before we get to helping the world, let's at least talk about our Johnnies here for a little bit. Bill allowed me the space at the end of Sunday's pod, but we have not heard from Kyle. I did order I couldn't find the starter jacket because I think Spike Lee bought all of them. And so I was looking for it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I am just, I've had the worst luck with these starter jackets. Like I want this LSU offensive line one. It's like LSU, Louisiana state and cursive. And I've seen it and I just can't. And there was some, I think some weird Asian company that was like, yeah, we can get that to you. And I was like, I don't know about this. Um, Again, you'd have to understand the email correspondence.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So do not judge on my assumption. So then I ordered what I could for St. John's one. And I knew it was going to be cutting it close. But I figured, hey, if they get through the first weekend, I can wear the jacket. And it showed up yesterday after they've been eliminated. And I ordered an XL and it showed up as a small.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So I did put it on, sent the picture to Kyle and Suri, who I noticed that that's our first ever text thread, just the three of us.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Well, I thought maybe Wargon or Allison were always on it. So then when I sent it, And so I put the jacket on. I took the picture. It is too small. And we're going to return that one. But the problem was I couldn't get that thing off for 10 minutes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

No, I won't go in the elevator because I live by myself. And so, or I won't go in the elevator without a phone. And, you know, that'll be a weird way to go. Did almost die installing a squat rack years ago. We know that story, but I had a moment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

It wasn't panic, but I remember one time I put on this wetsuit where I had to get into the top of it and I could, I could not, I was fighting for like a half an hour, best cardio you can ever do trying to get out of a wetsuit that doesn't fit you. And I was like, what am I going to do?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Like, am I going to have to go to a neighbor and be like, you're going to have to just cut this thing in the back. I don't even care if I'm wasting however much cost of this wetsuit. Like I can't go through life this way. And so I put on this jacket and I could not get my arms because it was restricting my arms so bad. Once it was on, I couldn't. And I was like, is this an issue?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And you have that moment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So finally got it off. But again, I'm taking up too much time. Kyle, how are you doing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, it felt good to care again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I do try to figure out where you are on the loser spectrum, and I know guys are getting paid now in the NIL, so maybe that's justified for some people, but I still think that's the same person. It's the same person that would go on Facebook and get mad at a high school kid for turning down his college. As far as the seeding of losers in society,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I don't know if it's a one seed, but it's a good seed. Yeah, it's up there. Guys, it's like I'm going to MF. You're a Final Four favorite. Right. I'm going to let Lewis have a hard time here after a terrible shooting game. All right. So that's Talking College Hoops. We already did a lot of BJ already. A little Friday feedback. People just... The support of swearing is unbelievable. Oh, really?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah. I didn't see that coming. Nope. I'm shocked. Like people were really upset. So we'll probably let it fly whenever it happens and whenever it needs to happen. Okay. All right. Let's get to some emails here. Brother didn't like the road. Five, nine, two 40. No gym stats to speak of, but I do have a membership if that counts. accounts in the checking account.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I was listening to the podcast where you're talking about reading the road and your Kurt Vonnegut phase. I do a lot of driving work and listen to a lot of books. I just finished the road and was the middle of sirens of Titan. Uh, thinking that was interesting. I told my brother who had never read the road. So I told him to check it out. It was fantastic. His response was quote, it was okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And he didn't care if the characters died. Long story short, should I disown him as a brother? Also wouldn't mind some more hockey talk. I do think you guys would be bummed out if I try to talk hockey more often, but I appreciate it. And we'll have Bucci back on before the playoffs, maybe a little Ryan Whitney. Who knows? Let's see. We've never had biz on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I think we talked about, I think there was some DM correspondence about maybe having biz on one day. So maybe we'll try to do that this year. Yeah, I don't know. That's pretty much the all-time... Anything that's dramatic, not comedy, because comedy, yeah, normally you wouldn't care. I mean, I guess Weekend at Bernie's, I don't know if anybody was emotionally distraught that he was dead, but...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Not caring if main characters die in a very dramatic thing or just in general. It's kind of the test that I'll give myself. Do I actually care about any of these characters? I think whenever you're trying to write a TV show or a movie, you would want to be able to create characters that people cared about. Not caring about the father-son dynamic in the road is alarming.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I honestly don't know that you can do movie book on this one. And I know everybody says like, read the book.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, but don't you think you now have the imagery from the movie as you'll read the words? So you're not creating when you're reading the book, you're creating these visuals in your head because you have nothing else to go on. And if you've watched the movie first. that's just going to replace like you're going to be reading it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Well, yeah, well, true. There's a lot of gray.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, whenever I watch Houston 2, I'm always like, there's so many guys that are just dogs on this team. And it's a Kelvin thing. It's a recruiting thing. It's a philosophical thing with that program where it's like, man, they're going to scare teams. And maybe they won't as we get to the higher profile thing. But I think there's like real wake up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And you want to talk about, like, not caring. Those kids in movies kind of suck, though, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Just terrible. Left of Us. Uh... yeah i just to stay on this point because i i can't let it go because i remember we had again i think the one film class i took uh in college and then i remember because i was like finishing up school and the guy was like what's next i was like i'll probably move out to la or not um took 20 years but i i remember him arguing

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

in the class that you should always watch the movie first before read the book. And we were just like, what are you talking about? But I think, again, his life was... you know, whatever level of dedication it was. But I mean, the guy was a film professor. So, you know, it kind of gets back to like, yeah, what, like, where are your interests aligned? Like, this is your opinion.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah. Let me know more about like what you're in. There's like, of course you want this to be, I think we should get more sec teams in weird.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Uh, so yeah, I would never, I personally would never, I don't even want to watch trailers, you know, I don't want, and I don't want to know about, you know, uh, anything as far as the story, but then I guess you could argue, well, if you don't even want to watch a trailer for a movie, why would you want to read the book ahead of time? I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Uh, the book is a lot better than the movie there. So yeah, I don't know why your, your brother said that, but we can't help him. It's a strike, but that wouldn't decide.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Far worse, far worse to criticize RJ Lewis. Where? Right. Okay. All right. Let's get to one. My wife lives on Reddit. Please don't use name. Okay. No problem, man. Six foot one, 195 player comp, slower, wider, less aggressive. Steve Blake, wider than Steve Blake. Sorry in advance for the lengthy email. It's always great when everybody does that. This is like literally two sentences in a paragraph.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

It's been weighing on my mind for months. I would love everyone's take. My wife constantly lies on Reddit. I don't know what my wife's screen time is, but she spends several hours a day on Reddit. I don't have Reddit, nor do I fully understand it, but she will send me some comments from other people on shows that we watch that are funny, et cetera.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

A few months ago, we were sitting next to each other, and I happened to glance over at her, and she was on Reddit with her username in big, bold letters at the top. Months later, she sent me something from someone with a funny username. I asked her, If her username was clever, she said, no, mine is blank. She told me a different name than what it actually is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I looked up her actual username on Reddit and there are countless posts. A lot of them are her complaining about me, which is fine. It's a pretty mature dude, which is fine, right? I think I read it a little bit more dramatically. But a lot of her posts and comments are on other people's posts are just simply not true. She's made up so many stories about the most random topics.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

You can see teams in the tournament where there will be this wake up call moment where the intensity is not being matched, you know, whether it was. You know, some of the earlier games are like, how is this team already down this big already? And it's just they weren't prepared for this. And I always feel like Houston's just ready to go at the jump.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Some are variations of the truth that are heavily exaggerated to make them more valid. Some are just straight up lies that never happened. She's not normally a political person, but she's getting in back and forth verbal fights with random people over political topics. It's a very weird side of her that I never knew existed. And someone paints her in a new strange light to me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

yeah dude i bet i have three questions one do you only three uh a part of me feels knowing her screen name is an invasion of her privacy do you think it is two do you think this is weird as i do uh three where do i go from here cheers all right who's the most online like of the three of us kyle's last yeah i don't think they're you ryan yeah yeah

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, it's not that she's addicted to Reddit. And by the way, I can't tell if the For You page on X is the best thing or the worst thing. It's probably the best thing for the feed as far as getting people to engage in stuff that they may not see normally.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

What I always think is funny is when you see somebody complaining about the for you page being like, why is this happening? Because at some point you clicked on this thing that you hated and you wanted to see something because I do it. I'll be like, this is fucking stupid.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And then guess what happens? I have seven more versions of the thing that I don't like. And at least I think I was able to figure out why I was getting more of the thing that I didn't like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I want to talk like a bigger thing here because, you know, the SEC has all these teams that are in. And some of this, too, is just the expansion of what we're looking at here. And so towards the end, the committee's like, I will just throw another one of these teams in and it pisses everybody off. That's not in the SEC. Part of the map wasn't outraged by it because I don't follow it close enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

but then when people complain about it it's like you started this your whole thing so when it used to just be and you can click back and i swear to god when you go on the following tab for it it pushes you back to the for you like two days later it used to default before you too which was nuts right right and then they're like all right we can't be this bad okay so back back to this email because i don't know that we're doing uh much justice here for our guy uh

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I don't think it's an invasion of privacy necessarily. She shared it with you. It's obviously a bit of a mistake on her part. And now you know something that she has no idea that you know about. So that's going to be really tough. It sounds like you get along with your wife. You didn't mention any other things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

It sounds like you have a great disposition that you're able to see your wife complaining about you on some public forum. Again, where nobody's going to know it's your wife. We're going to know that it's you. And you've handled it like a champ. Like that's not even the premise or the main concern of your email here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So I, you know, look at a very short access to like where your head is at with this. Like, I actually think you deserve a lot of credit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I don't think I handled it that well. Yeah. Like I'm blown away by that part of it. So it sounds like she found a keeper and you were like, yeah, I started complaining about me on this podcast. But whatever, that's not a big deal. So the problem is, if you were ever confront her on this, like it's going to send her in a spiral.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Like, I don't know how long that spiral lasts, but that's going to shake you up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Even if your spouse were cool about the complaints like our guy here, which I think this is really, really rare. The other person is now realizing like, oh my God, my husband, my wife, like he read, she read all of these things that I've said about him where I thought I was just kind of like venting into the abyss.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, right. So I don't know that you can ever really like the only way I think you can attack this because you need to get her off. Like I set limits on it. And like the problem is I'll go to post something. I'll check something out. And then next thing I know, I'm like, I'm just kind of dicking around. And it's like I've been on my stairwell for 15 minutes. I'm like, I don't need this. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Is this going to make my day better or is this going to piss me off? Well, no, it was just so dumb. I wasn't even mad. No, I know. So Rudy and I enjoy kind of like industry stuff. Mutual hate of the same thing. It's usually always like an industry thing of like, well, that's not true. Like, I know what this person's doing here. And we just have our little chuckle and we move on about our day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So I don't think we're to the point of having it derail us.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

yeah this is yeah we're fine i i feel for the guy on this one because you want her off of it you don't want like it's only probably going to get worse so i don't know if there's a way that you could delicately be like hey you're on that a ton huh and it's not like hey you need to i know i know kyle you guys are the married guys here so you know what why don't you guys just take it like how would you handle this

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And so now you have seven SEC teams in the Sweet 16. And I always loved the tournament because I felt like much like college football, where there was a distinct style of play that was attributed to each conference. I felt like it was the same thing in basketball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Like, yeah, all right. I don't know that I would like me if I were removed to be like, that guy's pod? Fuck that dude. I just can't imagine just deciding to be like, hey, I'm going to start a thread on not liking Kyle. Anyway, that's just an aside.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Is the Reddit in the room with you right now?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And of course, I don't know if there's any more part of me internally that can die, but having it be a Big Ten matchup between Oregon and Arizona.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, I know. I mean, it sounds like, sure, we could sit there and now this guy's caught up in the whole thing, but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

big 10 big 12 matchup like you had that game like part of me just once again was reminded when you were back coaching at the hall did you feel like hey this is our style from the big east we like our style in the tournament against acc teams big 12 you know like i think there's times where i thought the big 12 was the best conference there were pack 10 runs that they had a distinct style do you still feel like there's anything that's a distinct style to any of the conferences

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Is there any way you could go on it? And she knows that it's your name and then you find her anonymous one. And then you knew it like a black mirror disagreement with her. on it. And then she gets so mad at you that she's like, I, she's like, why did you say that? And he'd be like, what are you talking about? And then she admits, she admits that it's actually her.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And then maybe it changes her tune. Cause now she knows that, you know, or like you would have to create this thing where you end up on a forum where you get into an argument where she knows that it's actually you. And does she admit to the whole thing? I mean, again, I was trying to side door the whole deal of, Is there a way to just go like, hey, you're on that a lot, like in a funny way, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Which again, never works, but I don't know. There's some self-awareness that keeps the anonymous thing like a secret. You're not admitting. I don't know, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

All right. That's enough. Sorry.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Logic. Don't air it if that's a real thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

All right. Spira Etiquette. 35, 5'7", 165, 170 bench, 225 squat, NBA player. Wait a second. I think I ran into this guy in Vegas, by the way. I met Kyle on Saturday in Las Vegas. Yeah, here we go. Here we go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

adremo certainly starting uh with him by simply saying kyle when i recognized him after ordering a starbucks we had a nice brief chat while waiting for our coffees i found this to be a funny chance encounter because just the night before i desperately needed life advice at the sphere and was thinking about how you guys would have handled the situation i was in especially rosillo because of his sphere experience i explained the situation a bit to kyle but didn't do the best job at details because of the night that i'd had before

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

This being pre-coffee, and I didn't want to talk Azir off that early, but anyway, here we go. Good encounter, Kyle? Yeah, totally fine. Okay. I was at Dead & Company on Friday night with friends. Amazing show. Mayor seems to have full mastery of their catalog, and now visuals have gotten an upgrade, and even better from last year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Seemingly the perfect night, except we had two guys right next to us in our row that were talking nonstop the entire show, and not about the show, just about anything else, be it work, wives, etc., Maybe a few comments about the visuals or wondering out loud when an actual song was going to be played again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

The guys, pretty standard 30-something bros, may have been in a biz relationship considering all the new info being covered. This guy in this email knows everything about him. Backwards hats, not leaders, according to Cowherd, wearing these light fishing sweatshirts that block UV rays. Hook. BFG. Definitely not Deadheads or even casual fans, which for the record, it's how I would label myself.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I've seen about four shows over the last few years. I feel like these guys heard good things about the sphere. Maybe they were catching a Grateful Dead Vegas style shut up and playing the hits, or a John Mayer concert. They were definitely not prepared for extended jams or quiet moments.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Now, I've run into this problem with people talking too much at concerts a few times at concerts throughout the years and generally ignore it. I feel like concerts generally are a party-like environment and there's always some chatter, but I feel like everyone knows when it's too much and just kind of mutually acknowledges it with eye rolls and head tilts in the talker's direction.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

But because of the high ticket prices at the Sphere and heavy visual elements, I feel like we were talking about a borderline... We were talking borderline movie theater rules here. It was clearly early on, and these guys were going to be an issue. My buddy gave him a look at one point in the first set. I'm not sure they registered.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Multiple people in the rows around us kept looking back at them, shaking heads. These guys weren't getting it based on their appearance, what they were talking about, and general vibe. I'm guessing they were from Mass or New England, where I'm from. Uh, and I knew if I said the wrong thing, I, Hey, can you shut up? It would probably cause more problems.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So when the second set started, I finally even over them and said, Hey, I just want to let you guys know you were projecting really loudly as gentle as I could gentle eyes close and a soft open hand in the air for effect. Wow. This guy really delivered a masterpiece. It seemed to work. The guy next to me seemingly genuinely. Thank you for letting me know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

My wife tells me sometimes I talk too loud. Appreciate the note. Thank you for letting me know that respectfully. By the way, not from mass. You just solve that. Yep. Thank you so much for saying that. Yeah. I appreciate you. He introduced himself and tried to start some light conversation, but I politely let him know with body language I wasn't really getting into it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

But of course, about 10 minutes later, they started going in and pretty much revved back up the rest of the show. Despite auditioning some more aggressive remarks in my inner monologue, I didn't say anything else then because I didn't want to start shit, but they definitely put a damper on the show.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I did get two big laughs out of it when a quiet part of drums and space, I won't explain it here for those who don't know, but spark notes, it's pretty meditative and usually has your full attention in that venue.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

One of the guys, this is actually pretty funny that during drums, he loudly proclaimed, yeah, she's kind of a pain in the ass, but at the end of the day, she's good for me in reference to his wife, big breakthrough for him. That's actually really funny. At another point, a dead head in front of me. Couldn't take it. They're talking anymore. Left to go, uh, watch from standing room.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Then came back later when these guys had gone to get more beers and thought they were gone and cheered toward the sky and high five me only to drop his head in sadness. When they returned a few minutes later, do you think they were just going to leave? Well, yeah, actually, if they weren't into it, um, Talking during drums, though, I can kind of understand a little bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

But what would you have done or said? On one hand, of course, these guys paid a ton of money to be at the show and be part of it. It's socializing. They should be able to do that to some degree. But on the other hand, they're kind of ruining the show for dozens of people around them. Yeah, that's a tough one. Again, the man-to-man confrontation. No one ever starts that thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Somebody the other day, I was pulling into a parking lot, and the guy decided to... move his car up and i had traffic coming behind me so like i couldn't just wait to turn in i had to make the move and i was pulling into the parking lot and a guy didn't even look just drove right in front of me just to move his truck from one parking spot to another parking spot

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I understood why he wasn't looking, but he had to know people were turning into this parking lot, but he just didn't look. It happens to everybody. I almost smashed into him, but I also couldn't stop because I had traffic behind me. So it was like this Indiana Jones move and I honked and then he honked back at me and like waved his hands up in the air like I was the asshole.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And again, what's the lesson there? It's not that it's just that you don't like being told that you're doing something wrong. OK, and I don't even think it's a it's a male thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

right i think there's plenty of people throughout even when the person is wrong like we all have to admit you've done something wrong you just didn't like the messaging yeah this is always thing about stop signs when you're like no the guy who screws up the stop sign never is like you know what you're right they just you know the middle fingers as they go through like no one's ever was like yeah i really screwed that stop sign up it's always everyone else is an idiot no it's a lesson in humanity when you see the stop sign thing happen is you just go no one goes

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Man, which I wish I could have that one back.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I mean, you talk in an insane clown posse concert, the ones you've gone to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

You've never gone to a gathering?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

The sphere thing, I think also takes it to another level too. And shout out to our guy, Brad Sands, who set up the Les Claypool deal and, you know, managed fish for a really long time. And so he's a huge NBA guy. And I was in Vegas for summer league and he's like, come to the sphere.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

going to U2 and I remember even kind of thinking like I don't know man I just don't know that I care about U2 anymore and to go to a concert and I even though I like my jam bands I have a limit I'll go okay like when somebody's like I hope these guys play for four hours I'll be like I don't nope I I don't want us to be like, oh, they're going to come back and do this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Like, I'll look at some tapes. I say tapes shows where I go, would I have wanted to have been at this knowing that it was like this long? Um, and I'm not a drug guy. So, you know, I think that factors into all this a little bit too. So look, uh,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I mean, down in front, like anything, it's open area. And especially for this kind of show, people just noodling out, getting their wook on. So, you know, if you're down there, nobody cares. Like the talking part of it wouldn't. But I went to the fish show with Brad. And I went on the first night, which was just awesome to be able to go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And it's a really quiet kind of scene in between the visuals and the songs. And Fish actually played a pretty mellow set anyway for that first show. So if you were going to be talking like these guys, eventually, I think the strength in numbers thing is the move. And you can start like this guy does and be like, hey, I don't want to be a dick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

But this is not the kind of show you sit here and talk about. And maybe you say it loud enough that you have other people in your regiment that are just going to go, yeah. And now all of a sudden it's like 10 people looking at him instead of just the one guy. That should do the trick. The concert thing is always a little delicate.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I think as you get older too, you actually, as much as we can joke about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's always like the, if you get that kind of response, you know, like I had something with it. with a neighbor like a year ago where I had never seen them. And I said, Hey, just so you know, like you realize like this is a thing and everybody hates it. And he starts right in on like, he's already at 11. And I went, all right, fine. Yeah. You know what? Fuck it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

You can probably hear it during the podcast, but there's an alarm that goes off in a house that's like across the street. And if, you know, Postmates drops off food to somebody, it goes off. If an Uber comes to pick up somebody, if somebody walks by on the sidewalk and like everybody's houses are just on the sidewalk. It's not like we have driveways here. You're just in it in Manhattan Beach.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And so this alarm goes off. All day long, multiple times a day. And I guess it's because nobody lives there, which is I understand wanting alarm. I have all sorts of security all over my house, too. But this goes off if the wind blows. And so I had never seen it was like, hey, you know, I have to tape and sometimes it shows up. And he just was like, right out, chest out. Right. Like all about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Like, fuck me for even asking. And I went, all right. I'm like, all right, man. And then he just goes, oh, you don't want to hear the rest of the story? You don't want to hear it? You don't want to know what? I go, I definitely don't. No. I don't. That's tough. Now I know where you're at. And that's like, what am I going to do here? What's going to be solved? Nothing's going to be solved.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

All right. So there you go. Yeah, I think a strength in numbers move is there. But those guys didn't get it. They just don't understand. They don't even think they did anything wrong. You know, it's fear. Great opportunity.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

No, I think. All right. I think we got it there. The sphere thing adds to it, though. It's not just the dead show, like outdoor whole thing. I think the sphere thing, the theater rules do apply a little bit more. And it's not like they were just loud and like out of control. They're just sitting there like they're having coffee together. All right. That'll do it for the show today. Thanks to Suri.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. We are on YouTube. And as you know, also the video element on all the podcasts on your Spotify app. So please subscribe to Ryan Russell Podcast on your Spotify. Must be 21 and older. Present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Yeah, I remember, you know, again, I was getting caught up in conference championship week, but I watched Tennessee and Florida. And then I watched Michigan's Big Ten title run. And I was like, man, this kind of looks different. But then again, Michigan knocks off Texas A&M. So sometimes, you know, I can be guilty of the assumption of just visually of like what I'm watching.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

But I wanted to ask you about the officiating thing, because it's funny, too. I was looking up. The coaches in the early 90s voted for the Big East to have six fouls in conference games. And you did it for, what, three years? And I remember just as a kid, I was like, this is so smart. They're going to be able to tell recruits, come to the NBA league. You play here with six fouls.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And then I remember people were really pissed because they were like, they're only doing this because underdogs won't be able to beat them in non-conference games or something. It didn't. The whole thing was funny. And then it felt like once tournament time came around, it's like we already fouled the shit out of everybody to begin with. And now all of our kids think they have an extra foul.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

So you guys got rid of it pretty quickly. What were those meetings like?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Let's start with kind of just a general question here. Now that we're at the field of 16, is there – Is it Duke? Is it Florida for you? Is it Houston? Do you have the team that you go, you know what, I actually think it's them, and I don't know if much of that has changed since the start of the tournament.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

Okay, a couple things off of that. One note on officiating. As an NBA guy, when I go deep into the college stuff, and of course when I'm prepping for the draft too, it's just the annual reminder of as much as people want to complain about NBA officiating, college officiating is a level below it. I think there are certain calls that some of the college refs just love officiating.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

They love that baseline charge. They love it. They don't pay attention to momentum at all. I watched the St. John's-Arkansas game. And by the way, the whistle on that one, you could argue, hurt the Arkansas bigs more than hurt anybody on St. John's. So as a St. John's fan, I didn't look at that game and go, oh, they lost because of the officiating.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

They lost because their best player couldn't shoot for a night. Exactly. I think we were up to 40 fouls in that game combined at some point. It was still a few minutes to go. So there's a real tough flow. I feel like almost any contact at the rim is called. The rebounding fouls are incredibly frustrating. But then I was going, all right, let's be fair about this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

These kids are playing single elimination basketball. They are fighting for their lives on these rebounds. So there's actually probably fouls on every single rebound contest.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

And so even though officiating should be more of an art than a science and flow and all of these things, it was almost a sympathetic moment that I had for the officials, even though I can get really frustrated with just how many games can get out of control with all of the whistles. And it just becomes kind of a bad watch.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

It's just not that much fun to watch because it's being stopped all the time. The games are so intense. that these college officials are in a tougher spot. We're in the NBA game 61 with another one in Toronto. You're like, okay, he's already got the rebound.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Lack of Upsets and the State of College Hoops With P.J. Carlesimo, Plus, New Red Sox 3B Alex Bregman.

I'm not going to sell out physically for this rebound in the third quarter of a game in March where the college kid has no choice but to play that way the entire time because he's going to get subbed out if he's not attacking that way every single contest.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Stafford, Rodgers, and Cousins Futures and Pre–NFL Combine Buzz With Albert Breer. Plus, Whether Teams Fear OKC and More With Anthony Slater.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Stafford, Rodgers, and Cousins Futures and Pre–NFL Combine Buzz With Albert Breer. Plus, Whether Teams Fear OKC and More With Anthony Slater.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Stafford, Rodgers, and Cousins Futures and Pre–NFL Combine Buzz With Albert Breer. Plus, Whether Teams Fear OKC and More With Anthony Slater.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Stafford, Rodgers, and Cousins Futures and Pre–NFL Combine Buzz With Albert Breer. Plus, Whether Teams Fear OKC and More With Anthony Slater.

Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Stafford, Rodgers, and Cousins Futures and Pre–NFL Combine Buzz With Albert Breer. Plus, Whether Teams Fear OKC and More With Anthony Slater.

Thanks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Stafford, Rodgers, and Cousins Futures and Pre–NFL Combine Buzz With Albert Breer. Plus, Whether Teams Fear OKC and More With Anthony Slater.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

You break checking dudes. That should never be a foul. The fourth one was stupid where their arms got tangled up. The fifth foul was egregiously terrible against the SAR. He just beat him to the spot. Brunson fell down. And then they just give him the foul. And then he hit Brunson. When Brunson up fake from the three-point line, you're going to get that call every time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

That one didn't bother me as much. It was a little interesting, too, to see people kind of notice the Brunson foul baiting part of it. Dude, I'm telling you, last night's not even that bad. based on Brunson's standards. But because Assar's fouling out, it was like there was a heightened awareness for all of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And look, Assar in game one, when Brunson had that turnover going into the scores table, Assar just, he just got to the spot, man. And I think Brunson was like more embarrassed than he was mad about not getting a call. Although, you know, look, maybe he thought he should have had a call. I have a little bit more here on Brunson, but to finish on that,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

So you could think Asar might be the better spot there defensively if he hadn't fouled out. But it's very clear with Schroeder getting Cade off the ball. And Schroeder, even though now he's assigned to Brunson, he doesn't like him. He doesn't like Dennis. They don't like each other.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

That's probably good for Detroit because Schroeder's just so motivated to try to stay in the possession defensively against Brunson. Brunson, 27 shots last night. Very easy. I saw some of it this morning of that's just too many shots. You're right. But you know what's crazy about the 27? I went through him again this morning. I'd say 21 of the 27 shots are good. So that's not 27 and being gross.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

It's just, hey, this is what's happening, and he's so good offensively. I would grade out 21 of those 27 shots as good shot decisions. Now the problem is, it's what's happening to everybody else. What happened to the cat pick and pop stuff from three? He's taken two and a half threes in this series. Cat has also, like... You know, Tobias Harris is going to shut you down. That's a problem.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I don't know if there's anything to be gained from the cat Mitchell minutes together because that puts Dern on Mitchell. And then you've got Harris on cat. But Harris is winning more of those one on one matchups against cat than I think you would expect, especially when he gets cat turned around and cat is trying to post up from like 15 feet away.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

and then you get anybody to take a turnaround, that's kind of a win for you there. So for Cat, zero makes in the second half, zero shots in the fourth quarter. So, look, I still think the Knicks win this series, but...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Brunson taking 27 shots, even if most of them are good, it's just making them easier to defend because the whole point of Cat is stretching the floor and opening some of this stuff up. And if he's not even taking those shots, it changes who the Knicks are on offense. The Ryan Rosillo Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Incredibly efficient and a great response after the seven turnovers in game one, including the one turnover you just never expect. Like Jamal Murray's going to slap the ball away from you and it's going to be a turnover. So at 103, 102, just classic Kawhi, just how smart he is with everything. Not that

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I do not like the Pacers bucks. I don't know what to do with that line. I don't know how you take even the 14 and a half with Memphis at OKC. Honestly, forced to choose. I don't even think laying the 14 and a half. I like you could go. All right, I got this one wrong. The next day you be OK with yourself. Just because they may not even be able to figure out how big to make that line.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Do you think Memphis responds? I mean, SD didn't play that well. But I'm going to focus on the last game. Minnesota plus five and a half. This is a big number for how these teams match up against each other. And this is how I always look at the series where each game is connected. I don't think Detroit necessarily wins game two if they don't blow game one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

This is something that I would not debate with anyone. These games are connected. The... outcome of the previous game heavily influences the next game, unless a team completely is like overwhelmed. Speaking of Memphis and OKC, but I think this is a really big number for Minnesota. So I like the five and a half. So I would play that just straight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

If you want to do a little boost here, how about a two legger? How about 20 point scores to score 20 more points in this series? LeBron in game two is minus 330. So score 20 more points, but Minnesota plus the five and a half, that's plus 146. Sound good? Well, you can score an even bigger score W, because FanDuel is giving you a profit boost for all of tonight's action.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Bonus issued is non-withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook.fando.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Let's talk some draft, and let's do it with a couple of the best here from the Ringer. You can check out their podcast, the Ringer NFL Draft Show.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

You know, this makes him the most brilliant basketball player of all time, but just really simple things. He's got it at the top. He sees Westbrook sliding over to his left. He figures anything to that side. I'm going to be doubled. He's got Harden in the right corner. He knows the defender can't help off of Harden. So he figures out like, look, let me just get away.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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As I was listening, they do some good positional stuff, episode by episode, and also the Ringer Fantasy Football Show during the season. And you guys are going to be live in Chicago tonight. We've got Danny Heifetz and Danny Kelly who have been doing this for a little while. Is that true, the live show's tonight?

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Right. Oh, all right. That makes a lot of sense. Both have mock drafts that are up. I got to be honest with you, and I guess maybe I'll just do a Danny and then a DK here on this one. I felt, Danny, it was a little rude to click on your mock and then it would say, if you want to see Danny Kelly's big board instead. I just don't like the wording. It feels rude. Yeah.

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And it's like if you're a pick seven and you're on the fence about high fits stuff here, like, don't worry, we have this for you as well. I just think it needs to be phrased differently. It felt rude when I was on it this morning.

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All right. All right. Well, we got that out of the way. At least we could clear that up a little bit.

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Because there is definitely, I don't know, as I was looking at it this morning, let's try this exercise before I get like a little bit deeper to how you guys are seeing both mocks. Because we both know the mocks, the exercise is kind of like however you think how many players in your grouping should become first rounders. So let's start with something easy here.

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I want to go picks 1 through 10, 11 through 20, 21 through 32. Players in that range. Okay. So the one to two range, the exercise here is I'll be shocked if this player isn't a stud from the one to 10 range, you can't pick Travis or Abdul Carter. All right. So we'll start with DK.

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Let me get away from where the traffic will be. And if I can get to my spot, pull up and hit the shot. And he does so, 105-102. At 55 seconds left, though, sealing the... Oh, that was when he hit the shot at 55 seconds. A little later on, Denver just scrambling. Another offensive possession where it looks like a mess. Don't worry, I'll get to Jokic and his night here.

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Yeah. And the thing is, is there's enough film probably against, and I would ask you guys to jump in here with gentee. Is there enough in the Oregon game? Is there enough in the Penn state game that you feel like it's not just about the competition?

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Yeah, the Penn State game, I felt great about him after the fact. There was nothing in there. It was like, oh, okay. I mean, it really feels maybe with tight ends and receivers, it's more alarming when you see production against a lower level just because the separation, it's just easier to get off.

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And then when you'll see somebody step up and you're like, oh, like now he's going up against NFL corners. I think McShay and I have talked a lot about, too, with some of the tackles at the lower levels. Like, hey, it's just hard to look at all the film if you're not going up against any of the dudes that you expect to be drafted on day one. Like, what are you really evaluating?

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Because then you start getting into just technique and everything. I would throw in Jalen Walker. I'd be really surprised. And it seems like you guys are split on him and your mocks as well. But if I can't go with Carter, quarterbacks we know are still a coin toss. Clearly, Travis would be the pick here. If I'm going to do something different, I just love Walker so much.

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And I felt like out of that group of the Georgia guys, his pursuit was incredible. His ability to chase down guys you just don't think. So whether it's him being a little undersized and not being like the prototypical, look, not everybody gets to be Miles Garrett. But I would be surprised if Walker's not making plays if they just unleash him on Sundays. Yeah.

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And Jokic throws the ball up in the air. It's his seventh turnover, and guess who steals it? It's Kawhi, who Kawhi, because of Denver, one, it was either Christian Brown and Westbrook just watching and then losing sight of like, hey, you got to still kind of play to get into some space or give...

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Okay, let's go 11 to 20 range. We'll start with Heifetz.

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It's like, oh, what if he could catch?

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Jokic some kind of passing lane and look I'm not blaming them for the pass because the pass was terrible but Kawhi was basically able to cover two guys and read the pass which he had done earlier in a different play where Jokic facing a double team on one of his other turnovers was looking for Aaron Gordon in the left corner and Kawhi just read it perfectly so part of its instincts part of its bad spacing but ultimately it's the pass that Jokic cannot make

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Yeah, I think the thing you're talking about there is kind of the Xavier Worthy conversation because there's a reason why Worthy went behind other guys because he wasn't the complete receiver. And then you see Kansas City get really creative with them. I know I've talked about this before, but like everybody was losing their minds week one of the NFL.

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watching and being like how do you look and it's like well you know it wasn't he wasn't the most complete and i think there are a lot of dudes that are just incredibly flashy and they're off the charts numbers wise you just don't know if they're the most complete receivers because a lot of times in college and high school they can just rely on that speed the whole time so they don't have to worry about uh the rest of it but it does feel like he has been throughout the pre-draft process somebody that has become everybody's favorite receiver outside of travis hunter all right dk what do you got

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I'll go with Tyler Warren. I think it's insane. Kelly has him 19th in his mock draft.

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The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available at and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. On today's episode of the podcast... I love that the playoffs are here.

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Before I get back to Kawhi here, I think there's at least some time should be spent on what's happening to Jokic. Seven turnovers, five of them were awful. Looked at him again this morning. Four were against double teams. I mean, just strange stuff. Like the Watson one where he just threw it to nobody way over his head.

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Heavy sigh. I'm with you, because I think it's the floor part of it. But... He also feels like he's lost in all of these other high-profile Ohio State prospect names over the last few years. And from the jump, I don't know, it's almost like people got bored with how steady he was. So he's just not talked about like the rest of these guys. I went defensive side of the football.

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I'm going to South Carolina, one of my favorite units to watch. play all season long. And that's even worry who look, he he's in every single play. He's disrupting everything. He might not even go in the first round, but he runs a four, three, eight. It was at the combine. It wasn't a pro day 40 time. And I think he's a nasty dude on top of,

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whether he's getting in to, to break up passes is I wouldn't even call it like run support. Like sometimes just absolutely selling out and blowing up something you're trying to do on the sidelines. He was somebody when you watch South Carolina games and there was a lot of guys that get really excited about on the defensive side of the football, but he was just, it felt like constantly, uh,

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constantly being involved in a presence throughout. So look, I don't even know if he goes in the first round. I just can't imagine watching him and playing and having that mentality. And then I'm just sucking in the NFL.

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Let's be negative. Same exercise, same tiers of picks here. What would be the dumbest thing a team could do in the top 10? We'll start with Heifetz.

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Let's say it's a possibility that this could happen. Did I ruin your idea?

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He had another play too where the shot clock, he thought the shot clock was about to expire and then he just threw it up. He also is missing free throws. I don't know what's going on. He had two huge free throw misses, like back-to-back free throws. At the line, you never think he's going to miss two. He missed two in a huge spot in game one. That is forgotten because they win.

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I totally get what you're saying, but I'll just, as an aside, to continue what I said before the season and it looked dumber as the season played out, but the principle is still the same. What was the point of the Giants having Saquon Barkley? So good for him. And I know it's embarrassing for Giants fans and Eagles fans in your life are giving you shit the entire time.

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And he did something that is pretty rare in today's game, being a running back that was dictating wins, wins in the playoffs. That's really not how any of these teams are built anymore. So I am defensive about,

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Joe Shane and their decision to go, why are we paying a running back a ton of money when we're not really even that good is as embarrassing as it may be spending the pick on them and seeing ownership come in and be like, it's really going to suck. And we see him in and he was like, I understand all the punchlines.

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The fundamental point for me has never changed that they shouldn't have been paying Saquon Barkley for where they were as a franchise.

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Yeah. Well, I guess. All right. So if they take Gentee, then people are going to find a way to shit on them all over again. Yeah. Yeah. It probably will be what happens. All right. Kelly, what do you got?

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With the car injury, you're seeing this happen a little bit where you're seeing Shador in there. You just brought up Jackson. I got to be honest with you. This feels very dismissive of Spencer Rattler.

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Maybe he's the future there. Who knows? The dumbest thing already happened. It's the Patriots ending up with the fourth pick instead of the first pick. Yeah. I mean, of all the years for it to break out this way, and there's a team that is going to take a quarterback in front of them, so you still think, okay.

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And then it's like, no, I just don't envision any scenario where Hunter or Carter are available with that fourth pick. And Will Campbell was really good at LSU. I don't know if you're taking somebody that's going to anchor. You're expecting if you're taking a left tackle fourth overall overall. With his resume, you're expecting not just anchoring the left side of your offensive line for 10 years.

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But right now, he's 10-16 from the free throw line in this series. So, you know, he took a bunch of shots in game one. He only took 16 last night. His second two-point attempt in the game was in the third quarter. That was also when he was taking his first free throws.

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You're talking about somebody that you can game plan with because he's so dominant. And I don't know. I feel like the highest his hype ever was was the summer going into 24. Yeah. Really? And I'm not I'm not like knocking. It just feels like this is if you're at four, you really hope you're not drafting for need. And because they won that last game of the season, that's what could happen here.

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OK, 11 to 20 dumbest scenarios. Who wants to go first?

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Yeah, go for it, DK.

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Hi Fitz.

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So the double team part of this, and I'm wondering, you know, that's always the fear with Jokic is, well, if you double him and you keep doubling him, he's just going to read it and then he's going to pick you apart. So you're really, I mean, I think teams kind of argue about how they want to go about this and try to show him different things.

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I'll make mine quicker so we can get to the last. I think as a rock who being available at 21 would be a mistake. All right. The edge of Boston college. I think he's just a little off the radar in computers because it's such a stacked edge class. And maybe if we just stay on the topic and not specific to him, but.

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When I go through the mocks and look at the stuff and I just think about how I feel about some of the guys, I'm like, I think I'd be okay taking the seventh edge guy instead of – because you can kind of mess with yourself a little bit and be like, we're getting the seventh best guy at this position.

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Well, if there was a draft where you should still feel good about it in the late 20s, I would rather do that than maybe the fourth option to tackle here. Uh, and there's, there's very specifically like some positions here where there's just, there's a fear of like not having anybody available in the second or third round.

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I think some of the offensive linemen stuff is certainly true with a lot of that, but there's just so many edge guys. Um, you can maybe even just claim defensive line overall, if we're getting to some of the big dudes. um, that are going to be going in the twenties as well. I just, I don't know that I would let that bother me.

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If you feel like you're getting the seventh graded guy to position, because I think that specific position, there's just so much talent in this. Uh, all right, I'll go first on 31 or excuse me, 21 to 32. If Milrow goes in the first round, uh, I will question that team's scouting.

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I love having Quincy Avery on not that long ago talking about Jalen Hurts of like Jalen Hurts was a really limited guy coming out of college and it's okay to admit it. And I love that Quincy, because that first year when they were winning games, I was still kind of like, I don't really know how much she's doing though. And Quincy who has worked with them,

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who's his guy, was like, well, that first year, this wasn't the full palette. Even though it is odd that after a Super Bowl win, it feels like people are kind of dissing him all over again. Whatever he is, it's okay. It's a bit like I'm going to Bill Simmons you guys here and find a way to talk about Jason Tatum. It's okay that Jason Tatum's not the best player in the world.

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It's going to be okay, right? It's okay that Jalen Hurts is probably not really a consistent top five quarterback anymore. in the NFL, but on top of everything else that they do, I would be shocked.

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Uh, and I would say I'm surprised about Hertz and who he's become, but I would be absolutely shocked if Milrow is somebody who's starting like multiple seasons, you know, the guy that gets another contract, um, So cut this one if I end up being wrong, but I just did not see a guy at Alabama that I would be like, hey, let's trade into the first and risk all of our jobs.

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But what the Clippers are doing is they're doubling anything that's in the paint and they're doubling them on his first move, not on the catch. And he got stripped by Kawhi in the paint in the first half. You can tell that he's getting frustrated with it. I don't know if it also becomes a Clippers thing where, hey, if Westbrook hits a couple threes like he did last night, we're okay with that.

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Because the first year the offensive coordinator has him, if you're actually taking him in the first round, that guy, I hope he's running.

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Okay, that is perfect. You're basically saying no matter what happens, everyone is going to like the Eagles pick. Yes. All right. So we need one more from you, correct?

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What kind of grade do you have on Alan Bowman? It must be even worse. All right. Give me a player you are on an island about. Everybody thinks you're stupid for thinking this.

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I know what Aaron Gordon's numbers are in the corner. We're okay with that. And Chris Dunn's able to harass Jamal Murray enough that it slows them down. They're not just going to be able to walk into their two-man game, even though they're still going to run that a million times as Jokic and Murray because that's just been the foundation of who they are on offense for such a long time.

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I love it, though. I always think of the Otani conversation in the beginning. It's just... This thing that everybody said nobody could ever do, this guy's going to do it. And he's not just going to do it. He's going to do it at this ridiculous level. I do like to think that there's some people that were told too early on in the process, like, you can't do these things.

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And what Hunter just did proves that Again, I've heard the Champ Bailey stuff. If you go through the Charles Woodson numbers, you're like, that was not the Travis Hunter experience. There's no comparison for number of snaps and what we're talking about Hunter doing or what the team is asking of him. I would hate to think he would be denied that opportunity

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But maybe I'm wrong for looking at the assumptions as being just a little too wide of like, no, you can't do it in the NFL. There's no way that you would hold up. There's no chance. If you're going to take a guy this high, the big contract that you're going to end up giving him because it'd be kind of shocked if he's not off a rookie deal, getting a big extension. Would you be jeopardizing that?

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What if he can actually just do something that we've all been conditioned to believe that can't be done? And Otani is the exact same way. It was always, there's no way. Like we were told, pitchers can never hit because it takes too much time prepping yourself. You can't get the ABs. You can't figure out. There's no way you can hit at a high level in Major League Baseball.

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because pitching is going to take up too much of your time, or I'm going to win an MVP. Now, granted, because of the Tommy John, he hasn't pitched consistently the way he did when he first came up.

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So I would love, even though Travis is 100% insanely wrong for saying what he's doing is more impressive than what Otani's doing, I would hate to have him with a program, maybe I should just say system, that would deny us the opportunity to see if he could do the unthinkable. I think the Browns, if they take him, are going to give him a shot. I love it. Okay. We're building towards it.

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Like, it's still going to work sometimes, but we're not just going to let you ease right into this all the time. And then if Jokic stalls and makes some kind of move or it's dribble now, we're just going to help off any of these shooters. But even with all of that said, Jokic can't have the turnovers that he had last night. I mean, they were just – it's just shocking.

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We'll finish with it. War Room Fallers, where I put both guests in the war room with options for a team. And you have to make your case in the room here. All right. So let's start with Arizona. 16th pick in the first round. Tyler Warren is somehow still on the board. Now, you're saying, hey, Ryan, weren't you telling the nation Trey McBride is a baller and we should be paying attention?

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Yeah, I understand. But I'm also... Willing to think, could they get creative here? Jotty Brown corner out of Texas. Now, I think Heifetz has him 23rd in the first round, so he's probably going to be in the room being like, dude, this is a reach at 16. And Jenty, for whatever reason... is still there at 16. So, um, let's start with, let's start with Danny Kelly.

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Okay, let's make it weird. All right, last one. And then all these scenarios are thrown out here. You're the Tennessee Titans. You've done the work. You've made the phone calls. You've looked at the notebooks. You've accrued the frequent flyer miles. You don't care that Will Levis' marketability is probably going to take a bit of a hit here. You're ready to take Cam Ward, but God...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

a couple guys on your staff you're like you know who was the steal the draft last year was bo nix So now you're Sean Payton. And you're like, why is Tennessee calling? Why is Tennessee calling me? And then somebody from Tennessee says, do you want to dance? And they offer up, like, we want Bo Nix.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

We will give you this year's first, the number one overall pick in this draft, and two more firsts for Bo Nix. And to add into the scenario here, Kirk Cousins has just purchased a home in Cherry Creek. I do not know if it's a condo or a single family residence.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And I don't know where the frustration is coming from him. And again, maybe a comfort level as the series continues with the Clippers. Like, we can start helping off even more on some of this stuff. Or if Jokic is going to have some game where – He starts to realize what you're doing and then being more prepared. But he needs to be more prepared to take more shots.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And yeah, I'm doing that. It sounds like in a vacuum that you would trade Bo Nix for Cam Org.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

By the way, we're all kind of having the same Bo Nix conversation. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Okay. All right. I love it. I want to make sure that everybody gets all this stuff because our guy Craig couldn't make this. I don't know if I could go three wide, so I apologize to Craig because everybody loves Craig so much. But the Ringer NFL Draft Show, make sure you check out the pod throughout the week. Go back, watch some of the other episodes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

They're live tonight in Chicago and, of course, gearing up for the fantasy football season, the Ringer Fantasy Football Show as well. I have heard from the Chuck Bednarik family.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

i apologize on your behalf yes dude people i've watched so many pronunciations that one doesn't even register you know but i said yeah chuck bart bednarc and a lot of eagles fans so it's 60s bednarc bednarc bednarc there's an award named after the guy man right i mean you want to talk about i'll send you guys some pictures because when i was listening i was like i thought you were kidding are you serious

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Did the family reach out to me?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I'm kidding. God, I'm so stupid. Hey, any of us that do this for a living, there's so many times where you're like, you know, there's still a couple of Euro guys in the NBA. But you know what would mess me up is a league pass where I'm like, I thought I had this guy's name for two years. And I was like, this guy's doing this. And then I realized, I'm like, that guy was actually wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

He can't take 16 shots in a playoff game, not with this group that's around him. And he also needs to stop passing up the open threes. I know he's done it his whole career. We all wish he took more threes. There's that look where he gets it. But this is not December against Portland, man. Like it has to be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I think I've pronounced Zubat's name seven different things since he's been in the league. But that also is a big factor in most improved. Because if I was voting Zubat's, which I did for most improved in the NBA, it makes sense because not only did his game get better, more and more people actually learned his true pronunciation.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And that to me is the journey of somebody that stepped up what their game was. Have a great show in Chicago tonight. I won't be there, obviously. And I didn't think you'd expect me to be there. So I think we're all doing what we thought we'd be doing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Yeah, the guest of honor.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

That's exactly what you should do. There's got to be a cousin or a niece somewhere. All right. Thanks. Enjoy, boys. Thank you. Thank you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Life advice, the email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. I hope everybody's fired up for a great Tuesday. Today hasn't even started for me yet. I'm just on top of the world. Got the power washer showing up here a little bit later. I'll let everybody know in case you have any power washing advice. I mean, they gave me a quote and I was like, you're doing the inside of the windows too?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I'm like, man, that seems like a good deal. I mean, luckily this will post after they bill me, but we'll see. So. Uh-oh. So Rudy's like ready to go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Wargon, where are you with the maintenance stuff?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Right. But since you, if you're renting, we're not even talking about HOA is that that's part of the rent, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Wow. Wow. That's amazing. I'm blown away by that. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Yeah. For anybody asking why I'm not doing it on my own, uh, I don't want to store ladders. I would need some serious ladder work. I just don't understand. I think these guys are going to get here and go, hey, we screwed up on the price. I'm guaranteeing it that somebody goes, there's no way we can do this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

a moment when you have that space and you've shot it as well as you do from three this season, that's probably going to be the best shot. But he likes to play out the possessions longer. I mean, it's hard to sit here and be like, hey, maybe you need to tweak some of the stuff you're doing when he's the best player in the world.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

But I gave them the dimensions. I think they're, we'll say, we'll work with them. Quote to quote, yeah. If I got a guy that's his own little small business and he I think he went too low. So we're going to see how it goes. I like to be fair, stern but fair.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I could. Yeah, the tip thing's a little weird, though, on everything because now I feel like everybody kind of wants one. Like, should I have tipped for guys to have cleaned the grills because they had to redo the holes to get the gas out through the grills?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Yeah, I'm going to take care of it. They were looking at me a little bit at the end, and then I thought, oh, maybe they expected a tip here. Like, what can you pay for in your house that isn't supposed to be tipped anymore? But we're going to take care of them. We're going to take care of them. All right, here we go. Presumptuous wedding guest, 5'11", 220. Gym stats, 225, 315 deadlift.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Usually leg press, 275 for reps instead of squat. Currently training for my first marathon in August. Oregon, any tips?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

You're never going to do it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Okay. NBA player comp, Jason Maxill, an undersized forward, but good to contribute a couple points a game and will work hard on the boards. Great reference. We love the Bearcats on this pod. My fiance and I are both in our 30s and planning our wedding August 25. We sent out the save the date cards last month and have already had people RSVPing for the big day!

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

My fiance has played on a co-ed softball team with a number of her friends from high school and college for a few summers. Now, and most of them will be invited. This just screams of Chicago to me right now. But, you know, just good stock all around. Every time I think of co-ed softball and everybody having a good time, I always think of Chicago.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I know they used to do it in Southie, but I'm sure they still do it in Southie, to be honest with you. I remember when friends started moving there and they felt like they were like, yeah, we're out. It's like the pre-burbs. One of her teammates who is new to the team this year, that was the end of my softball theorizing. Let's call her Susan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

But in this series and the way the Clippers are flying around defensively, There's a couple last night again, and we all know what they are. It's like you got to get that shot off there. He also had a play where when the Clippers had the ball, Kawhi received the ball really deep and Murray was behind him. And then Kawhi turned around and made another shot. And Jokic was incensed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

She texted my fiance this weekend, quote, hey, I was looking for my RSVP card, but it doesn't look like I've gotten one yet. She is not invited. Being newer to the team, this is not someone that we've gotten to know outside of playing softball on Sundays, so she's a bit of a wild card. My fiance's initial reaction was panic, followed by a suggestion of just inviting her to the wedding.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

She's also concerned about the talk of the wedding happening during the softball season, knowing that not everyone is going to be invited. I do not want to just add someone to our guest list for sake of avoiding possible awkward conversation and our venue does have a limit on capacity for the event, as most do, I'd imagine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

How would you respond to the initial text of how and how should we proceed moving forward in the event the situation happens again? Thanks, Love the Pod. How about telling her she's not invited?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And then I'd come back. And that was another thing. And so we, and I talked off the air and I was like, Hey, I was just there. I was dealing with this stuff. Is there any chance? Like, do you care if I don't come right back to Connecticut and, everybody's pissed at me still. Yeah. And I do kind of understand. I'm not defending myself, although it sounds like I was doing it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

The problem is Suri gave me such a hardcore sign off on like, I totally understand. I did not care. Like I really didn't care. I really don't. But people, people do care and I understand why they do. And I'll admit as I've aged, a tinge of regret.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I heard it was awesome.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Well, I think it was part of it is he thought both were not citizens, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I did not expect that at all. By the way, just to add to the ESPN thing, there's not a lot going on in that part of the country. And so going away parties were huge. We're like, you know, downtown West Hartford. Who else is not getting renewed? Ooh, that'll be a good night at Cuvée. Yeah, the bar taco. Yeah, right. I remember looking forward to my going away party.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And he was still so mad as he was bringing the ball up, you know, after an inbounds after the make, he was kind of galloping and he was just that mad. And, you know, he's got his hands down and everything. So a frustrating night for him and from him. But with somebody like Jokic, when you're at that level, it's the same as SGA having a bad game one. Like, hey, is this guy that good?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And then once it was time for me to go away, all I wanted to do was just go away. So I probably just

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

went out by myself yeah we didn't throw you one i don't think right you probably i didn't want one yeah well i left and then i had to come back and so i was like back again i was in connecticut a lot longer than i thought i was and then i was just like i don't i don't want to be that guy because i there was a little gathering at the mexican place across the street with middle management which was not a bender uh by any chance and i think i wanted to leave that pretty quickly although i appreciated the effort from some involved so i don't want to sound dismissive but that was like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I think we had a margarita and some chips and I was like, okay, best of luck, dude. Yeah. Cause I felt like they felt like they had to do it. And I, I was totally fine to be like, we don't have to do anything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

absolutely uh not offended that's 100 what happened and why i was even more like okay you know i'm i'm ready but then it was always the hope that especially like hey who's gone and then it was just an excuse so my point is is there aren't a lot of those moments that's why the going away parties are such a huge deal because like at least we'll have some sort of excuse to pretend we're having fun even though some people are going away

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

not based on their own decision. So some of the times those could even get weirder, right? It's like, I don't want to leave. No, I don't know that that ever happened at last call, but the wedding thing, it's kind of assumed like, Hey, board up your push buttons. You're over here. You're cutting sound. You got some Padres highlights late last night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Like, of course I'm in the mix for Sruti's wedding, but I do think that it's always a bit weird. Like if there's, there's not a lot of a relationship there just because we're in the same room for three or four hours a day. I don't know, but there's back to the email, this presumption that we're all in this together. How could you leave me out? And I think it's very specific.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I know this happens a lot in a lot of different work environments, but very specific to ESPN. that might be the social highlight of the year for a lot of people, especially for a guy like Cerruti. Oregon, you were not invited, right? When you were at ESPN with Cerruti?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Yeah, yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Fair. What about you, Oregon? Oh, wait a minute. Cerruti's not done. Sorry.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

It's a draft board basically.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

You know, you can find maybe that content somewhere else. I did think we were getting the Jim Harden game. You probably thought it too. He started one of five in the first quarter. Some of the defensive stuff from like, come on, Jim. What's going on, buddy? I mean, in transition, if you're driving at him, it must be the best feeling ever. Like, oh, this is awesome. He's not going to do anything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

But I do think I know you well enough that you're just like, all right, cool. I don't have to deal with it. I guess numbers are tight. So we already nailed this, though. Anyone that's going like, where's my invite? You actually had to make a decision. You didn't talk this out with anyone else. You didn't talk it out with yourself and be like, is there a chance I wasn't invited?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Well, if I can't definitively answer that, well, I guess I should just ask them where it is. So this is a very aggressive person. And sometimes these people win, but I think they need to experience some losses more based on how hard they push it. And I don't know if she's doing this, but a lot of people who are this aggressive are Just assume nobody wants to make things awkward.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

So they'll give in to avoid the awkwardness to exactly what you're talking about here in the email. And I'm sick of those people winning all the time. There's a difference between being persistent and, hey, it's better to get a no than to never ask. A lot of fundamental things that I think are really important, whether it's relationships or in your career. But she's on your fucking softball team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

OK, it's not like you've worked with her forever. It's not like it's a cousin that's always been in the mix that you maybe don't like, but you feel like, hey, I got invited to theirs. I have to invite it. Like everybody knows that's ever gone through this. There's some deals that you're making. This is somebody who. I would look forward to disappointing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I think you need to change your mentality on this one. And I don't know if you're just going to lose the battle to the wife, but I think what you need to say to your wife is like, why are we letting her win something that we don't want to give her because we're afraid of it being awkward when she already just dumped an entire topping of awkwardness all over our wedding?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Yeah, she needs a loss. And you could give it to her. Yeah. Okay, do I have to fight my co-worker? Whoa. Gym stats, 5'10", 190, 205, bench, and a poor man's Ferkman Korkmaz on the court. I apologize in advance for the length of the story, but I found myself in a strange and unexpected work scenario that calls for a higher level of wisdom than my own.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Six months ago, I switched employers when an opportunity came along in advance of my commercial banking career. Commercial banking, okay, that's important. I live and work in a moderately populated and vaguely Southern Midwestern city where business culture is somewhat competitive, but nothing crazy like in the certain coastal cities.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Everything's gone great at this new job until about a month ago when some planned remodeling began at our headquarters. A unique aspect of the bank is the large portion of employees, including myself, who work in a communal working space devoid of offices or or cubicles. This is a challenge at first, but I've become used to the environment. I would hate that, by the way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Adapting with both a hybrid schedule and the help of private booths and conference rooms where I can take meetings or sensitive calls. All right, let me move around a little bit. Maybe that is great. However, with the recent remodeling, a few longtime employees who were grandfathered into their private office spaces are working in our area until the remodel in theirs is completed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

We don't technically have assigned seating, but I, along with coworkers, have taken to certain spots that we work from nearly 100% when in an office. One of the temporarily displaced office folk, let's call him Gary, tends to arrive around 745 each morning and work until about 415, while I, on the other hand, am more of an 830 to 5 guy. Uh-oh.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Now, Gary and I have had enough interactions to be fairly comfortable around each other, but lately these interactions have begun to revolve around me showing up at around 8.30 and seeing him in my preferred spot at the community table where I sit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

At first, I shrugged this off until one day Gary happened to come in late after a dentist appointment and I had already arrived and sat in my usual seat. Gary seemed to make a face where he came in, but I ignored it and he didn't say anything. Fast forward a week and the same scenario plays out again. I come in for the day to see my spot empty and take advantage.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

The times on defense are like, who are you guarding right now? What's going on? But. to James' credit, four threes in the second and third quarter. Did only take one shot in the fourth, but it was pretty clear Kawhi had it going that Harden was providing spacing, even if that floater game from Harden is just so frustrating because you're still not 100% sure.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Gary comes in, notices, except this time I hear him mumble, come on, fuck. As he slides past to an opening between two female employees, he does not seem to particularly get along with the following week. It happens again, but this time he's annoyed enough to say something directly. He tells me it's his preferred spot and that I'm clearly aware of this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And would I please just respect his wishes and let him have it? I gently say I've been in that spot since I got to the bank. And besides, he has his own office. He asked me if I'm serious in a manner that lets me know he is annoyed because he knows the answer. The following week, now only five days ago, Gary sends me a calendar invite to lunch for that same day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

That was out of the blue and not something Gary or I had done before. I don't know what the meaning of this was, nor did I want to accept the invite, but I unfortunately didn't have anything else on my Outlook calendar. A fact that Gary could probably see from our shared calendars. Gary and I go to lunch and it doesn't go well. He tries to be nice, asks how it's been going at the bank.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

We talk around that for a while until he jumps into the seating arrangement issue. I do love the... pointless first act of any conflict. Somebody calls you or they meet and you're like, what are we going to spend five minutes on that has nothing to do with why this is actually happening? But anyway, yeah. I think we just get to the second act, folks. All right, here's the deal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

You're in my fucking seat, right? So that's what's going to happen here. Wait a minute. So we talk around it. He says he wants me to respect his position and preferences as a tenured employee of the bank. I let him know I understand where he's coming from, but that specific seat is strategically beneficial. It allows me to work with my assistant who sits in the next seat over.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

When the waiter comes, Gary hesitates. When asked if it's one check or two before ultimately saying two, thanks. We both pay and walk back to the bank, though I slow up when I fake receiving a phone call. The following day, I receive another calendar invite from Gary, though this time the title is simply Settlement, and I have no idea what the reference is. The date is for Friday, April 25th.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

That's this Friday, with a note that reads, quote, subject to change per recipient's schedule. And the location he sets is the little used rooftop patio area we have access to from the break room. A little later, I run into Gary coming out of the bathroom. He sees me and jabs a finger into my shoulder and asks if I'm going to reply to his invitation.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I explain that I'm not sure what the invitation is for. Gary seems taken aback by my confusion and pauses before saying, quote, I think you know what it means. We need to figure this out. If that means what you know it means, then I'm down if you are. Let's read that one again. I think you know what it means. You need to figure this out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And if that means what you know it means, then I'm down if you are. Great opportunity to just cut all of his momentum off and be like, are you trying to make out with me, dude? But I'm glad you didn't do that. So either this coming Friday or a more convenient date of my choosing, my coworker wants to fight me to determine who gets to sit at what seat at a communal table at work.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Gary's mid-50s, 20-year employee of the bank. And he's a producer. I've also heard he can be an HR nightmare. Sounds like that checks out, which, OK, yes, that makes sense. But this guy has good rapport with senior management and makes the bank a lot of money. I have no idea why he'd be willing to risk something like a lawsuit or arrest over something so trivial.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

But I'm still left with the question of what to do. I know what you're thinking. Obviously, you don't fight an insane person or receipt preferences at work. Further, this should blow over in another couple of months when the remodel is complete and Gary returns to his office. But Gary's opinion of others at the bank is important as well. And that gives me pause.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I mean, I think it goes in more often than I think that it's going to go in. And it was also important that Norm Powell got involved a little bit because he only had two makes through three quarters and then Had some big shots there in the fourth quarter. So Kawhi finishes with 39, as we said at the top.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

He seems both crazy enough to actually try to fist fight me over this issue or bully me if I relent for not being principled enough to stand up for myself. I'm obviously leading towards pacifism. But I'm also shocked and annoyed by this absurd gesture from Gary. And I'm not entirely ruling out just taking it back to the old days to settle it. Oh, saddle up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

This is partly because I do have some martial arts training and would not intend to hurt Gary, but merely force him to submit or quit fighting once he realizes beating me is not in the cards. So what do you think? Do I have to fight my coworker? Really long email. Kind of worth it, though.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Do you want me to respect you tapping out? I'll respect it. But if you don't tap, I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to relent. You could just let him sit in the fucking chair, man. You know, he's been there 20 years. You've talked about it being important. He is getting there before you. He's been displaced. Your whole thing about it's more convenient for me to sit next to your assistants.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Why can't you just ask your two assistants to sit in the chair that he doesn't want to sit in and all this? Like, I don't really know what this is about. And I actually understand he may be unhinged. It sounds like if he actually wants to fight you on the rooftop, like that's in the corporate world, that's frowned upon. I don't know what's going on here with the younger guy in the chair thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

10 out of 10 times the older guy that, as you say, is a big time producer. And so even if he's irrational at times and tough to deal with, like he cannot fathom that you're doing this. And so it isn't about the chair anymore. It's about you being like a younger dude that he feels like is trying to fuck with him all the time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I understand that it was your chair before and then it sucks when somebody sits. But maybe I'm being a little too old school in the hierarchy of an office. But if he had a private office and then he's getting in there before you, like he doesn't understand any of this. He didn't know that you were sitting in there, right? He only sees this as you fucking with him

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

So that's his 36th 30-point playoff game in his last 81 playoff games, which I think is the important note because you know in the beginning he was not somebody they were looking to get 30 from when he was with the Spurs the first few years. But he always seems to respond. Not that you'd be sitting here doubting him, but it's a nice little reminder because of the Paul George transaction.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

in the times that you can sit there when he's not there. And like I said, I also don't understand how you can't just get with the assistants that work with you. Like, let's find a different spot and put this whole thing to bed. It sounds like Cerruti wants to fight. Uh-oh. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And yeah, but this is because of a remodel. So this isn't like a new corporate shift. and what they're doing. Like this guy's an office guy. So he thinks like I go from office to now getting to sit in whatever chair I want to. And he doesn't understand that you've been sitting there that whole time. And he also doesn't care either.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I think this comes down to like two different things. I think my age is probably seeping in here a bit. And if I'm trying to totally understand the older guy, like, again, it's important to understand. He never knew that you were sitting there. He only sees you as fucking with him right now. Okay. So like, even though your email lays out, like, I understand your approach to it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

He doesn't understand it. He thinks that you were just out to mess with them. And if he's this irrational, easily agitated, then this is where we're at right now with this. But there is the legend status move. Are you sure he can't beat you up? I mean, I don't know that you ever really know that about anybody. Right. I mean, not everybody, but you get the point. A lot of surprises out there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Tails from the couch, playoff style. All those hours. Basketball's real. All those fucking hours. Sorry I swore so early. Apologize to the kids in the car and the parents. But let's get into it. Kawhi's huge night. Jokic's bad night. Some thoughts on that. What's happening defensively against Jokic. Also, Cade Cunningham. A rival game. Do I get a little carried away in the open?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

You know, quiet kid. It's been wrestling for a really long time. Three older brothers. Dad's been out of the picture. Stepdad named Jeff doesn't can't play catch with him, you know, and that guy just doesn't even wait. You know, you get sitting there, you're getting mouthy outside of shellbacks. And it's like, next thing you know, it's like, oh, that guy didn't even say anything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

So I think you have to be very honest with yourself. You did share your martial arts training, but are you sure you're going to win? Because if you're sure and you can win and you want to go like Clint Eastwood and be like, hey, just so you know, like when it's about to happen, like, No one here is going to HR.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

which I know is kind of annoying to bring this into it. But I think it's always something that I remind myself of is SGA is running around in OKC and there's all these draft picks. You're like, yeah, but if you're sitting there and you're Lawrence Frank and you go, if I trade for George, I know I'm getting Kawhi.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Yeah, that's a good call too.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

It's a good move. Yeah. OK. Because if you were to slap this guy and he goes to the ground and you're like, the chair is mine. You will be. They're going to hang your jersey in there. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. You're going to be looking for a new job. You might be if you want to keep playing this dance with a guy in senior management over a chair. I don't think this is a principle thing as much as it's our emailers not. Like, I understand why you feel like you're being displaced. He is not doing that to mess with you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

He is assuming that everybody understands why he would be there. And the fact that he's getting in there before you every day and at any opportunity that he's not there, he thinks you're just disrupting his deal the entire time. So you guys don't like that. You don't like that if you... Maybe this is a generational thing. Yeah, I don't know. Okay, but back to the physical part.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

You don't think if you could handle yourself physically...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

that there wouldn't be some long-term benefit that you're the guy that slapped gary on the roof patio over a chair and then guess what when gary never sits in that chair again the story slowly leaks out because you probably you know be like i went up there i actually big big taekwondo go uh taekwondo guy and uh you know little hip toss got him down

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And despite Kawhi being in street clothes so many years in a row while the playoffs are going on, a nice little reminder of why a team would go all in on somebody like that. because he was spectacular last night. Okay, Detroit evens the series in New York after a disastrous fourth quarter, 21-0 run by the Knicks. The building's on fire. You see the separation.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

No, this is the podcast. Danny Heifetz has jumped in. So, no, we got an emailer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

You're good. Maybe we leave that in. Okay, good time to end it then. Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Saruti, Jonathan Frias. We are a video podcast now on the Spotify app, our YouTube page, Ryan Russillo page. Check that out for extra content. And we will be on Friday this week, not Thursday. So I'll give you all the playoff stuff and recapping the first round of the NFL draft.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Granted, look, I think the Knicks are going to win this series, but this was an incredible response from a Pistons team that is young. This is new for them and also ends a ridiculous losing streak in the playoffs. They have not won a playoff game or had not won a playoff game

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

since the 2008 series against the celtics uh 15 straight losses in the playoffs that was the longest active streak in nba history this is a team that had made it to six straight eastern conference finals just to put that into perspective i don't think the bucks will be swept okay bucks fans take it easy in the sensitive off series in the east between indiana and milwaukee um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Just imagine if you said to the Bucs fan base, all right, you get swept, and this is a franchise that's made it to nine straight postseasons. You get swept in 25. Your next playoff win is going to be in 2042. Now, with Giannis, that's that's impossible. But just the premise, this these reminders of what these droughts can be like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And I'm reminded of every year in the NFL playoffs where you're like, when's the last time that team like how does how does it go? 20 plus years for multiple franchises, especially that sport, too. Right. But in the NBA for a Pistons team that I wouldn't say is the standard, but still a franchise with some really good history and a track record of when they won that last game in 2008.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

It's like, hey, your next win is going to be in 2025. You're just like, well, that's impossible. That can't actually happen. And that's exactly what happened. So how did it happen? Cade Cunningham. Now, I want to talk about Cade a little bit here because he was so good last night. I'll get into some of the stuff that he was doing. That even if this series doesn't work out for Detroit, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

This is just another part of the runway that started last year with Cade becoming statistically what you'd hope you would get with the number one overall pick. But then in this moment in New York to respond, go for $30 million. It just is a great feeling because of all of these teams searching for somebody, especially when you have the opportunity to draft that high.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Like, is there a chance that we're getting a guy? Now there's tiers to guys. And I'd say whatever that important, like first tier that you have to get to, he is there. Now, is he a guy, right? Different emphasis on the pronunciation of that. You know, that is a whole nother level. If we're talking about that,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Which I do talk about often is how many people actually change the course of your franchise and make you think you have a chance to be a title contender. I mean, that's completely different. And that's not even I'm not moving the goalposts here in Detroit. I'm just trying to talk about Cade in the sense of like what Detroit potentially has.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Perhaps, but I don't think I do. And then Jaylen Brunson took a lot of shots. Were they all good ones? We're going to talk NFL draft a couple days away. It is real. There's clocks on televisions right now. Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, part of our draft coverage. They have a podcast and we'll go through a bunch of exercises talking about the first round and life advice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Because we had touched on this before, I think Bill and I, but we never fully, it was almost like we were doing a prep for a show, but we didn't actually do this on the show. But he always talks about who has the belt. And I think it's a really interesting way to look at the top players in the NBA. It's like, who's the best player in the league at that time? And how long was his run?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Almost like heavyweight champs. And so if you think about who we have now in the game that either has had the belt or could potentially have the belt, I mean, Kawhi is somebody that at one point had it. I don't know that he's ever going to have it again, but it sure looked like it last night. Clearly Giannis has had it. I don't know that he has it now. I think most of us would give it to Jokic.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

SGA is going to win MVP, I imagine. So that's three, right? Available belt contenders still. Could Giannis be the best player in the world again? Yeah, maybe. I mean, it's going to be tough to pass. Jokic is going to be tough for anybody too. But SGA is in that conversation. So there's three. I think Luka is four.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And this is really asking, could any of these guys potentially be the best player in the world? I think Ant is at least on the list as far as a discussion. I don't know that Tatum will ever be the single best player in the world, but he was even better this year, even though I know everybody wants to shit on him at the playoff shooting the last couple of years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I think Wemby's probably added to this. If you look at the GM poll, He won. Who would you most want to build around? Which is fair. That can also be really misleading. I always like to remind people that in 2016, the GM poll, 48% of voters of general managers in the NBA said that they would want to build their franchise around Cat. That's a real thing that did happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

So how long can you go before you just start naming guys that are like kind of good and young? Paolo's probably worth a mention in the course, clearly Wimbanyama. I don't know if Cade's on the Paolo line. Maybe it feels like, hey, Cade should be right there with Paolo. That's fine. I wouldn't push back on any of that. But that's at least in play to be mentioned as another potential guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I mean, that's asking a lot to be like, hey, can he be the best guy in the world just because he had 30 in game two? That's not really what I'm doing here. But it's just this awesome feeling of like, hey, They got it right with the number one pick. It was a little bumpy statistically in the beginning.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I also think maybe we need to be a little bit more accepting of point guards coming into the NBA and how long it takes them to figure some of this stuff out. But what I loved about last night's game is just his pace and how quick he was and how decisive he was when they get out and run and he's just leading the break.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

Like that's a lot to deal with, with a guy with his handle, his size, his athleticism. And I'm not talking about like him being ant athletic, but when, when you're one-on-one with him in transition, good luck. I mean, OG is really the only chance for the Knicks physically. They can keep up with them. So if his 21 shot attempts last night,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

I looked at how hard he worked the switches and how hard he would attack when it was a non-OG possession. Seven of the shots were against OG, four against Jalen Brunson, four against Bridges, two against Hart, two against Katt, two against Mitchell. So only seven of the 21 shot attempts last night were against OG.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And OG does, by the way, when he gets switched, when he's hunting somebody else and OG is switched off of him, OG does a great job of getting back into the play defensively to give you a chance. But with Cade, with his size and seeing over the top of everybody, this wasn't even the biggest assist night from Cade. it's just still so much to deal with.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

We start Tuesday with a little playoff tales from the couch. The Clippers even up the series in Denver. One apiece. Kawhi Leonard. responding the way he always has historically. 39 points, 15 to 19. He started the game 12 of 13. It was just stupid. It was just the stupid Kawhi can get to wherever he wants to get. He's going to pull up. He's going to hit the shots over the top of you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And then on top of that, when you look at the decisions, decisions is usually how it's pronounced, for Bickerstaff, on how he wants to close. Like we know it's during, we know it's Beasley who had a chance to hit the nail on the coffin. Three missed it. I just hesitate with guys that have to negotiate with their coach on whether or not they can do a shimmy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And coach was like, can you do it when they call a timeout? So that way you can get back on defense instead of shimmying. It's like coach. It's kind of my shit though. So yeah, that's an aside on Beasley. We'll leave that one alone. But the Schroeder part of this clearly makes Cade's life easier.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Kawhi’s Reminder Game and Cade’s Arrival. Plus, NFL Draft Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios With Danny Kelly and Danny Heifetz.

And so if you look at the Asar-Schroeder decision for Bickerstaff, it was made for him last night because Asar fouls out. Went over the six fouls. First one was a collision, whatever. Second one was a good foul. The third foul was Brunson stopping on a cut. Asar's behind him. I don't think that should ever be called. If you want to just stop before you would get to the ball on a cut and the guy...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

I mean, you've got a great running back on Notre Dame's side, but you've got two others at Ohio State. The talent discrepancy is so great on one side compared to the other, so I expected Ohio State to win. The first drive got me excited, though, Ryan. That tickled my fancy a little bit. I was like, dude, old school, pound the football. Notre Dame had the ball for nine minutes and 45 seconds, and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Riley Leonard comes to the sideline puking because he just carried the ball nine times on the drive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And it wasn't like Lamar Jackson's where he doesn't get hit. Like, every one was a car crash. Like, it was stick it in the hole, lower the shoulder. They had four third downs that were all three or less, and it was like perfect script, exactly what Notre Dame needed. And then reality set in where –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

You've got to play it when you get a holding call, when you get a false start, and just trying to stop that offense. And I was just – I was reminded about all the weapons of Ohio State because Riley Leonard did that the first drive basically by himself. And you could see the exhaustion, and they talked about him puking on the sidelines. And then Ohio State comes out and goes 11 plays with –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Henderson getting a touch. Mbuka getting a touch. Howard getting a touch. Jeremiah Smith getting a touch. You know, Quinshot Judkins getting a touch. And it's just like, hey, let's just spread this around a little bit. We got a bunch of guys that can beat you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And so I think you kind of knew, man, after Ohio State just kept scoring on every possession and Notre Dame was just so limited, it was like, dadgum, this is an uphill fight. And Notre Dame's just had a huge talent discrepancy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Ohio State definitely started to bring more pressure. They were okay trying to be themselves on that first drive. Then you see more big bodies. You see them bring more pressure. But here's the thing. I just think Notre Dame thought, we can't do this. Riley Leonard can't have 36 carries because he had nine on the first drive. And I think that was more about like – he's going to die.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

He's physically going to be so exhausted and not be able to do this and not be able to throw the football because, again, with these running quarterbacks, this is why I marveled at Cam Newton until the cows come home. I've never seen anything like it. Run, run, run, and then you've got enough conditioning to sit back there in the pocket and then make a throw when you need to.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And Riley Leonard, you could see the exhaustion. So I think it was just more about that, man. They didn't think they could keep that up. I would have. I would have done the same script. I would have tried to run the football again continuously because the most important thing that happened on that first drive was you shrunk the game. You gave yourself a chance to stay in the game longer.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And I think that was important. But you're right. Ohio State wanted Riley Leonard to beat him from the pocket. And I kept writing down the first half. I kept doing tallies with Riley Leonard. And it was three. It was three wide open misses from the pocket with good protection. And that's the part about Notre Dame is can he beat you from the pocket?

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And he couldn't in the first half when he needed to. Now, listen, he settled in. Ohio State got conservative. Ryan Day, almost Ryan Day, by the way. I was sitting there going, dude, You made this change and you made this shift and you said, we're going chips in the middle. We're going aggressive. And you throw the ball five times in the second half.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And I was like, man, this might come back to bite them. It didn't because their defense and they're a complete team as opposed to years past. But I think Riley Leonard's ability to win in the pocket, even when unprotected, you know, early in the first half is what let the game get out of hand.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

But you're right. The dude is a freak. And we saw him 11 days ago jumping on that leg and landing on that leg and making great plays. So I think you need to see him more. But here's the bigger issue. They couldn't block him up front. The reason they had success on that first drive is you take that running back and he's a lead blocker and you get the plus one advantage that they had to have.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

They weren't good enough up front to push Notre Dame around without having an extra blocker. Push Ohio State, right. Yeah, against Ohio State. Sorry. Because if the quarterback turns and hands it off, the quarterback stands there. But if the running back leads up and blocks, like now you get an extra blocker in the mix, and they needed it.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Because Ohio State's run defense was the best in the country, and you saw it all year long. Like goal line stands against Nebraska defensively. Penn State, Texas to end the game in the semifinals game. This is what they do. That's who they are. They're really, really good at it. I think you just needed those extra numbers. But I was impressed with Notre Dame when they aired it out.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Here's the thing. There was only one weakness of Ohio State's defense. One. And that's at corner. That was the only spot that I literally said, I can make plays here. And Ryan... Depending on how the refs call the game, they could call a flag every play on those guys. A lot of those are assault in several states. What they do out wide, they're so handsy. They're going to give up plays.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

He's going to hold. Some people just don't have the patience, and he's going to do that. Listen, Burke had his struggles as well. It wasn't just one. Ten does as well. I just think that they exploited the weakness, but it was too late in the football game, and they had to get three touchdowns and three two-point conversions, which you didn't think was going to happen.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

What did you think of the nine minutes left, field goal, down 16 on fourth and goal? What did you think of that one?

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And they have those cards, right? They have the cards that tell you this, and it's a math equation. I mean, it's pretty crazy to look at, actually, when you see them. And the percentages weren't big. It wasn't like a gaudy percentage. It was literally like 7%, 5%. It wasn't a big deal on percentage of winning the football game. But I will say this.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Marcus Freeman, I've loved his aggressiveness all throughout the season. Fourth down, I'm going for it. Like, that's who I am. I'm faking punts left and right. I think they faked four or five this season. Like, I just didn't like that I'm going against that offense that touched the ball four times and all four times they scored touchdowns. I know I got to score. Can I hold them again?

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And that's where I think like when you want to do all this math equation and stuff, like when to go for two, when not, who am I playing? Like, am I outnumbered? Am I outclassed? Is their offense really, really good? Yeah. Have I stopped them? Okay. I'm going to come out next possession and I'm going to have to be really aggressive and play zero coverage. How is that going to work?

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

It worked out not well with Jeremiah Smith. So I just thought, I love Freeman all year long. I love his physicality. I love his mentality. I thought he just kind of played it safe in that moment when it was clear, like we needed to push the gas to the floor. And yes, we still needed to get a two-point conversion, but we needed a touchdown there.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

First of all, I've never seen an offense evolve like Ohio State did. Never. I've never seen an offense evolve late in the season and go, this is what we do schematically scheme wise. This is how we block it up front to completely shredding that like Ohio State. was a team that literally they were not a gap scheme team.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And I'm not going to nerd out on you too much with this stuff, but they, they lose their center. They lose their tackle their best two linemen. The biggest thing about the scheme that they were running is it, you run a zone scheme and stuff. It takes a lot of communication and a lot of guys that have played together for a long time. You got new guys in there. So it was like, all right,

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Let's just go now to running counter half the time. Gap down backer, which is what I did with my youth league team. Like you're blocking down in the gap or you're blocking a backer. Like it's that simple. You simplify the system. You take Jeremiah Smith, who played in the slot almost zero during the season. Now you throw him in the slot

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And it completely unlocks him because a safety have to cover him, a linebacker, someone else. You get matchups. Now you put him in a book on the same side. You can't double team both of those guys. So the system morphed and changed more than I've ever seen. And for a reason. And they got aggressive and they wanted to throw the football. So that was fun to see.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

So why do you back off of who you are when when you're throwing the ball of the field? Will Howard. we can talk all we want about weapons like that dude. I'm going to be interested to break him down even more when we get closer to the draft, because I'm not sure he's not going to be a higher pick than I, than I ever thought he would like 14 to 15 in the first half, but he's been surgical.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

The ball comes out. He throws outside the numbers really, really well. He throws on the run 14 of 15 in the first half. Like, He ran for eight first downs himself. He did a little bit of everything. So I'm kind of unsure of why we started to play conservative, run Will Howard, which took away the element of counter, which took away the element of deception.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

They're not a team that can line up and pound you. That's just not who they are. So they reverted back to a little bit of the stuff that they did, I think, when their offense struggled and kind of kept Notre Dame in the game. Now, listen. Again, nobody thought they were going to get three touchdowns and three two-point conversions. So I kind of understand it.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

But when you needed it the most and you got Gray outside matched up on Jeremiah Smith, you go, okay, throw it. Right? We have the matchups to win. And then they did that. But I tell you what, you mentioned that Jeremiah Smith touchdown. Rosillo, I love when people use tendencies against people because we're a defense. We line up. We know exactly what he's doing. Jeremiah Smith's off the ball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

He's about to motion. I know that. Gray's pointing up like, hey, he's motioning across the formation. Okay, how are we going to play this? Wait, I'm in the red. I got to chase him. So he starts to chase and run over the top. Jeremiah Smith stops and just walks in. You talk about awesome job of using tendencies against someone.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Great play calling, and it made it a walk-in easy touchdown for Ohio State to start the game.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

The Rolodex is stupid. I've never been... I've never been more impressed and had a more fun meeting than I did with Chip like 15 years, shoot, probably 12 years ago. And I literally sat down and it was like, it was three, four, five, I mean, it was so many hours. And it was literally when he was in the height of his Oregon days and he was running the quarterback.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

I'm like, you can't run the quarterback. Like, he's going to get hurt. And he's like, I would argue that a quarterback in the pocket takes hits that his body's not ready to take. When he runs, he's actually ready to take those hits. And I'm like, okay, Chip is a guy that don't tell me I can't do something. Like, you got to tell him the why. And I've always respected that about Chip. It's like,

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

okay, well, I can do this. And he will push the envelope and do things that other people aren't willing to do. He's going to run his quarterback. And if he gets hit, he's in a running position I'm not really worried about. And that's how it should be. And I'm going to take advantage of those things. I'm going to take advantage of tempo. So I just think he has so much offense in his Rolodex.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

But again, he just changed it like that. And again, they had three weeks before the first playoff game. But they ran counter like 5% of the time, Ryan, they ran counter in the playoffs 50% of the time. Like you talk about completely switching it. You better know football. You better know exactly what the heck you're getting.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

So I think the ability to maximize what he has, he's always been good at that. I love the way he uses tempos to get the screen game. Like he'll go, he'll get a play. He'll use tempo. He'll screen it to his guy. Like, the spacing element, the third down QB run game. You saw that with, with Will Howard, like I'm going to space you out. I'm going to use my weapons. I'm going to run my QB.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

So, I mean, he it's just, but, but how about the humility of Ryan day to go, Hey, Chip Kelly with that big persona, Ryan, you've known him for years. He's got a huge persona. Like he's very stubborn. He's very hardheaded. He knows what he's doing. He knows how he wants to do it. And you go, okay, will you come on in here? Like we'll pay you, do your thing. I'm an offensive savant.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

That's what I do. I'm a, I'm a top five offensive mining football, but I'm going to bring in Chip Kelly and I'm going to stay out of the way and let him do his thing. Ryan Day did a elite job of hiring Knowles and Kelly. Like, I think it's the best one-two punching football as an OC in a DC.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And Chip Kelly did his thing, man, at the end of the season, changing in three weeks that allowed them to get to where they're at.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

It isn't that easy, and that's why we see it, right? Like, we see it all the time. Great coordinators. You go, oh, my gosh, what a great hire. And then they absolutely fall on their face because there's so much more to the head guy. Like, you are addressing your team consistently. You are setting the standard. You are telling them what this is supposed to look like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

You got to bring energy every day. Not everybody's built like that. Some people love like being in a cave, watching tape and designing what they want to run and how they want to run it and set it up. But now you can't just worry about your offense. And I bet you, I guarantee you, Ryan, he's going to call plays. So now you take on the responsibility of calling plays, studying defenses.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

He's one of the most innovative guys in all of football. Like he comes up with creative ways to burn you. You saw that even when they were losing to the commanders and running reverses with a backup quarterback that just he'll find ways to the stumble play that they ran. three or four weeks ago, they're creative. But that also means I've got to detail it. That means I've got to watch it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

I've got to know what I'm going against. Oh, wait a minute. I've got to address the team. I've got to set the message for this week. What's our things that we have to make sure we get done this week? So you're just watching out for the offense, the defense. Everything about it now becomes you. Not everybody has that capacity. Not everybody has that energy. Not everybody has that –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

that discipline and so i think it will be interesting to see the personality because one thing you know about every every coach every team takes on the personality of their coach one million percent dan campbell and them bite kneecaps for a reason right like they play with that because that's who their coach is that's what he lives that's what he talks every single day so can johnson come in and do the same thing and have that energy and have that toughness because

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

You can tell me scheme, scheme, scheme. You got to tell me more than that. You got to be my shrink when things are going on. You got to motivate me. You got to bring me up. You got to bring me down when I need to be brought down. And there's just a lot to manage that's more than calling plays.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

I mean, a top three coach in football now, right? Like you talk about a night that changes your destination. I mean, the dude's number three all time in the history of the game of winning coach. You know that, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

There's another way.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Yeah, I mean, an active coach, he's got the highest win percentage. But, you know, there's always been something about, like, Day, when you're with him and when you're around him, like, And again, there might be some of this that's media, like the media not liking the media and the people that are around, the things you have to do. But it just feels a little rigid. It feels a little bit different.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And when you're relating to kids, you've got to be able to relate to them. And I don't know that he's the greatest at that. But when you talk about a mind, a football mind, he's got all the football stuff. There's no doubt about that. But I think the weird thing about his personality that I don't necessarily always buy into is, are you demanding it? Are you physical? It's one thing to talk it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

It's another thing to live it and do it. And I think they proved it this year and they got to the mountaintop. And listen, he's recruiting at an elite level and he's put his ego aside. He's hired great coaches. So he's definitely a top five coach in the sport. He's just got that Michigan thing that I know everybody in Ohio is pissed about. you're holding a trophy. That's all that really matters.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

But you sign up for that. I mean, he was there with Urban Meyer. Like, he knew. Yeah, I'd rather do it there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

I was about to say, you're doing it with a higher budget than everybody in the country, with a brand. Wide receiver, you, good Lord, you got four first-round draft picks in the last three drafts, and you just got the next freak-a-leak. So I think he's doing it with talent. But here's the thing, Ryan. You know what you said? What you said is Ryan Day is a little awkward, which he is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

But the most important part, so is Jim Harbaugh. We just talked about him. The most important part, you can be awkward sometimes, you just got to be you for me. Like if I'm a player, I got to know who you are. And if you're awkward and if you're weird, so be it. Be awkward and weird, but don't come in and try to be something that you're not because I will read through that like nobody else.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And I'm not going to follow that and I'm not going to give you my best. So I think that's, I think as we get older, we get more comfortable in our skin. As you're the head coach of Ohio State, you become more comfortable in your skin and you realize, bro, I'm taking bullets. I'm going to take strays, whether I like it or not, whether I'm great or not. And you're like, okay, that's a part of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

As a family, you got to learn, don't read it, bro. Like, don't read it. Don't talk about it. Like, let's just keep this out. And whatever system works for you, if you need to be off social media, if you need to take certain people out of your life, do it. And I think Ryan Day growing into himself, being more comfortable, like win or lose your way, man. And you can sleep at night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

But when you try to be somebody you're not, man, it's hard to get people to follow you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

You just, you know, well, I kind of... It's a good thing I don't have guests over all that often.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

A hundred percent. And here's the thing, Ryan, I'm watching last night. There's a lot of SEC guys in that game. Quinn shot. Judgkin scores three touchdowns. Like, right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Caleb Downs is the best player on defense for Ohio state. We are going to continue to have more parity in football than we've had because ain't nobody going to sit on the bench and develop anymore. Like, hey, because the sales pitch used to be, I put the most guys in the NFL. Watch this. Come develop. Like, get great coaching. Now it's like, wait a minute.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Why would I go here when I can go here and get paid? And everybody's spending money and spreading the talent out. It's going to continue to happen. I'll still say this. This year, you've still got way more competitive teams that can beat you in the SEC. Top to bottom, like, it's going to be a tough deal. Now that the talent's going to continue to spread out, like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

it's going to be really hard to go undefeated in the SEC. One loss in the SEC. You just added A&M and Texas who are not going to go down. With NIL and oil money, that's a different kind of money. They find $10 million in their couch. That's a totally different game that they get to play than a lot of other schools in the country.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

So I think it's still going to be the most competitive top to bottom. But no, I think you're seeing the transfer portal people being able to bid on people. And again, I think it's about getting a couple people.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

It's not like, I don't think you want to build your, like Ohio state built their team through great recruiting and they developed their kids and they added the quarterback and they added a running back, but, but they didn't add the whole team. They added a few pieces here and there that they really needed to take that next step. But, but it's going to continue to happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And yeah, I think we have more parody because of it and no better time than a 12 team playoff. Right? Like, to spread it out and more teams that can win it, more teams that can jump in that makes the season more fun.

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

You're like, yeah, we need to fix the seating. The seating. So the bye week and the way that went down was the first year. So we can change it. I mean, if if our boy Dan Lanning can have that rule changed about 12 men on the field in 12 hours, sure as crap, they can change the. the system, right? Like in this off season and fix it where, how about you give the best four teams the buys?

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Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

I don't need, I have a small brain as it is. I don't need to know like one through 12 gets in, but wait a minute. It's not one through 12. They're seated in a different order. They're ranked in a different order. Like just like give the best teams the buys. Like I love Boise state season. They're good. Arizona state had a good season. They weren't one of the top four teams. Don't give them a buy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

like that needs to be fixed and i think we can fix that pretty quickly and that would make the experience better along with those numbers next to the names yeah they're already meeting on it i was reading about it this week or over the weekend i should say um and i i think the vote has to be unanimous to change it so good luck guardrails are coming coming really quickly though ryan like yeah starting in february i was talking to dabbo the other day starting in february man like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

a lot of this stuff gets cured. Like you're going to start to have now contracts with these kids because they're not student athletes. Like get the freak out of here. That's done. Like these are pay for play players. Like whether you want to call it minor league or not, but having some ability now to say, okay, like here's a contract. Like you're staying here for X amount. which is a big deal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Like you only get paid X amount. Like, so we'll start to have some of those because these coaches, man, it's a miserable life. Like you're recruiting your own roster while you're recruiting everybody else's and people are recruiting your guys and you can walk in and hold you hostage. Like there's a lot that needs to change with the game. I love the players getting to be compensated.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

They deserve that. Like if you're an art student and you paint a masterpiece and you sell it for $20 million, you get the money. If you write a hit song at 18 in college, you get the money, right? Like they should make the money that they deserve, but we definitely need guardrails. And I think that coming in February is a big deal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Yeah. New world, Ryan. New world. It's been fun, man. David Pollak, college football. And dude, it's so cool to just kind of do your own thing. I've seen you do it for years and you've killed it. And it's really fun. I get to talk about what I want to talk about. I don't have to talk about agendas. I don't have to talk about crap. If I want to talk about something, I can throw it out there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

So it's been really, really fun this year to start talking college football and whatever angle that I see fit. If I want to nerd out with tape, which I do sometimes, I can do it. And and talk about the game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Yeah. Combine was two 65. Yep.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

That's weak sauce.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Oh, yeah. Junebug, played with him at Georgia, beat him up. I could beat up Gathers, yes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Oh, come on, dude. That dude's the size of my pen. Yes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Chad can hit me as hard as he wants. He weighs 130 pounds. You think that's going to hurt me, Ryan? I'd just be like...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Oh, Justin was a dude now. Justin was, man, he was just built different. Let's put it this way. That's going to be an all-nighter. That's going to go the distance, and it's going to go to a scorecard because he was a tough sucker, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

I'm sure he'd like himself. Hey, there is one guy on my team that I would not, that I would say I would lose. It's the only guy that I played with. I fought every day at practice, Ryan. Like I was, I was over competitive, overzealous. Like I just fought a lot, but I played with him in Cincinnati and I played with him at Georgia. Odell Thurman.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

If I Odell Thurman, bro, if I saw Odell Thurman in a back alley, I don't want that smoke. Like that dude was absolutely nuts. He'd go out on the town, come to practice. You could smell him and he'd be rocking people's faces. And just every chance he'd get, he would ball. Hey, how about this? When I was at Georgia, one of our linemen said, Odie, I'll give you a hundred dollars.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

When, when one of our teammates walks up, if you punch him right in the face, Odie said, $100? He said, yeah. He said, all right, show me the $100. Showed him the $100. Dude comes walking around the corner. His teammate, Odell, walks up to him. Whack! Lays him out. Walks over. Give me my $100. Like, that dude was crazy and built different, and I did not want that smoke.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Defensive rookie of the year. Hey, he was one of the defensive players of the year in the NFL. He played one season. He played one season. He played one season. Yes, dude. He could have been a monster, a pro bowler. He was third. Elite of elite.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Marcus Dupree type of deal, man. If he played, he'd have made $100 million and been one of the best middle linebackers in the NFL, but he couldn't stay out of the drug policy. No matter what we did, we could not help him at that stage of his life. And it was very frustrating because, dude, just player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

I mean, at Georgia, I saw it for years, and he had trouble at Georgia too, got kicked out, came back. But, man, ball, player, and do not mess with him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Well, thank you for having me on, man. And keep writing them scripts, baby. My man's about to do some big things. Big things popping.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

See you, brother.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

A piece of something.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Great to see you, man. I remember our weight room days, man. You still getting them swole sessions in and looking svelte?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

You cannot spell legendary without leg day. Y'all think about that 100%, baby. Got to get them in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Doing great, man. Doing great. Trying to fight father time as well, man. Loving as we get older, man. You know what? I'm fine with getting older, Ryan. And I'm fine with injuries. And I still play basketball and do all this stuff. But when I get older now, what really pisses me off is when I wake up and I didn't do anything and something hurts. That really ticks me off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

And that's starting to happen a little bit more. So thank God for cold tubs and cryo chambers and the works, whatever we can do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ohio State Is the Champ: The Buckeyes' Unprecedented Run and Ryan Day’s Redemption. Plus, Ben Johnson to the Bears With David Pollack.

Well, I was thinking about it the other day when I was doing my show, and I was like, how many Notre Dame players would start for Ohio State? And the list was exceptionally short. And you're not getting past a hand at the very most. I would argue it's probably just two or three. Like... I think you've got a safety that absolutely could play.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

You're listening to the Ryan Russillo podcast presented by FanDuel. America's number one sportsbook has made it easier than ever to get in on the action during an NBA playoff game. Even after tip off, just look for the live SGP tab on the FanDuel Sportsbook app and build your bet slip. Then sit back, relax and track the outcome of your parlay right in the app.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah, it's hard to dispute that. I've really struggled with this one, but I'm going to go Pacers. There's not conviction just because I think this is going to be an awesome series. I'd be surprised if it's a short series either way, and then who knows? We're surprised by outcomes all the time. Where are you on Halliburton? Would you hate him if you played against him and love him as a teammate?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

we'll try to do as good of a job. Let's, let's start in the East here a little bit. You know, there's not really much left to say with Cleveland, but since we haven't really talked, you know, I think that if you were Colby Altman or Kenny Atkinson, you could say, okay, look, I mean, it sucks. We lost, but we had a, compromise Garland, we miss Mobley for a game, blow the game too.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah, and he closes in a different way. He closes with opportunities because I don't think he's convinced he's taking the shot when he has those huge possessions. I think his approach to the game is that, hey, there might be something I see that I actually like a little bit better than me just getting it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And then, of course, he also has some of those shots that he hits against Cavs where it's like, I'm not giving this ball up because... I just have the utmost confidence. And look, the most overrated thing, when you look at the total voting of the number of players that actually voted and put Halliburton down, I think it's a good reminder that there's so many people that didn't vote on that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And it ended up being a pretty low total number, but because he was voted, like he's the headline, like, Hey, this is the winner. And I can understand like kind of hating him if he had to go up against him. But yeah,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

i don't know any neutral person like if you love basketball you should love the way this guy plays because i i think he does play the game in a fun like it's aesthetically pleasing it's not vince carter it's not and it's not that kind of stuff but his control of the game uh is something i know i appreciate yeah totally he's got he's got a he's a conductor right like he he he he's just making all those pieces work together and i love it because it's a unique game like it's kind of offbeat it's got a

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Is there anyone that you can think of that you were like, hey, this guy was annoying to a lot of people, but I appreciated the... I'd say at times it's the arrogance, you know, but I, again, I'm basketball and athletics. I'd rather you be arrogant than be doubting yourself here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Is there someone you can think of from your era that you were like, all right, this guy feels himself quite a bit, but I actually appreciate it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I'm trying to think, trying to think of somebody that you would have gone up against back in the day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I mean, it's an easy one, but like, yeah, but I mean, he's too good. He doesn't, that's fair. No, I feel like every interview I ever see with you, it's like, Hey, let's do Kobe stories again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

But I still think that game five, for them to get that lead and then the Pacers to put it on them and come back and close that one out and close out game two, there's something to be said of what the Pacers did to this team. So I think both things can be true, that the Cavs have legit excuses, but the Pacers put it on them

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And if you think you know how it's all going to go down, then make those predictions pay off with FanDuel and an NBA profit boost. Simply make your bet, activate your boost, and go for even bigger winnings. Okay. I'm feeling a little spicy today on this Western Conference Final tip game one. Looking at the odds, they have not moved since Sunday night at all. It's still OKC minus 375.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

So there's a lot in play here. I am personally going to bet the Timberwolves plus 7.5. I'm just going to go with the Minnesota has been able to rest. OKC is coming off an absolute grind. The Western Conference has the quicker turnaround on the scheduling here. So...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I would, you know, we all know how this goes, but I feel a lot better getting a seven and a half going into this game, looking at these teams. And I guess I personally think some of the numbers are looking at the Thunder as a massive, massive favorite in this series overall. So let's put that together and get a little bit more action off of it. So Minnesota plus seven and a half.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Anthony Edwards scored 20 or more, which you figure even on a bad night, he's going to get 20 or more. And DiVincenzo, that's right, Dante DiVincenzo, two or more made threes. If you look at it, hit two in game five, two in game four. Ofer in game three, but three of eight in game two.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

So that's three of the last four games he's hit two or more after a disastrous shooting series against the Lakers. And just seeing him, I'm like, I think he's ready to go on a bit of a run here. So, Timberwolves plus seven and a half. Edwards plus... plus 20 or more points. DiVincenzo two or more made threes. That's plus one 95.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Personally, I probably am just going to go ahead with Minnesota plus the seven and a half. You want to get real, real on this. Minnesota is plus 5,000 or excuse me. That would be ridiculous. Minnesota is plus five 50 to win the title. And again, I believe it's plus three. Now it's plus two 95 plus,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And so when you look at that series and their comfort level now, getting through what they got through last year, but then closing out a really special Cleveland team, special regular season team, how much do you think that factors in to how you see the East play now?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

on the western conference finals so if you said let's throw in a little nba finals action i mean now we're just now we're just doing crazy stuff here um Well, yeah. I don't know. I'm thinking about it, but since I picked OKC over Boston in the summer for the NBA Finals, it's kind of one of those things where you're going to go zag against it right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

What I don't want to do, too, is if I said, hey, go plus 300, and I'm playing the odds, and instead they win outright. I'm like, see, I told you. I don't know that that's always entirely fair, but that's the play. That's the play, at least for that. So you've got three legs if you want it or straight at it. with the plus seven and a half. Don't just be a spectator this postseason.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Okay, let's talk the West. When Bill and I first saw the line and how heavy a favorite OKC was, I was like, man, that seems, again, what these guys do for a living, so I'm not saying they're wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I guess I felt like the line when it first came out was a little disrespectful of Minnesota, but it's also following the idea that OKC probably could have been a 70-win basketball team if they wanted to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Let's talk about what Denver did in this series. I think it's important. I wonder if Minnesota is going to want to go to that. I doubt they're going to want to go to that much zone. Denver just basically is like, we're a zone basketball team now. What I loved about game six, even for OKC in the loss, was I was like, there are points.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

There are points there for OKC if they can play this a little bit smarter and stop attacking the top and try to figure out a way to just get it in the middle. And it's not going to be an SGA attack to get to the middle because they're collapsing everything. Their number one thing was all that stuff at the top that SGA lives on during the regular season. We're not going to let you do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And we're going to hope everybody else misses enough shots. But if you have Chet... running these dunker baseline cuts. I think they did a much better job of that stuff, and then everything just becomes a mess in game seven. But that seemed to be the number one priority.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I've seen Minnesota send two to SGA in a non-zone way, where it's like, we are going to sell out the last few minutes of the game here to make sure that off a screen or anything we're doing, it's two with you all of the time. is there something in that that concerns you for SGA and Oklahoma City's execution offensively?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Because at least when you think about the size and the options Minnesota has on the perimeter, like there's some actual stuff for Finch to work with, which he already knows because of the regular season matchups.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah, and then you can also look at what some of the regular season results were, even if I'm thinking about some of those closing minutes. Like the shooting splits for SGA against Minnesota this year are just absurd. I mean, he's lit them up. I mean, I know there's one big free throw attempt game in there, but the three-point shooting, I mean, the splits for him against Minnesota are alarming.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And I don't know if that's just the right night. I don't know if it's him reading something, and I imagine Finch is going to try a bunch of different things with him because it feels like at least – I don't want to say Denver exposed something, but it was crazy to think of what they were willing to give up to make sure that they could just clog the top of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

If we can clog the top of it, we still think that's better than just letting SGA get downhill and putting our defenders in a spot where he's going to make all of the stuff because he's that talented. And if you're compromised on just any kind of defensive angle, he's going to get into you and he's going to get the free throw.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Look, it was almost right because I thought OKC, whether it was missing every single three to start the fourth quarter in game six, Jalen Williams having the terrible game. But there were there was stuff where, you know, it drives me kind of crazy when NBA teams can't after a few games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

possessions against the zone it's like can you you guys can't set a fucking screen and get somebody on just the catch in the middle like how can you not like i remember getting screamed at because you play youth basketball you know i'm not comparing i'm not trying to compare the same two things but you're putting your head down so i think you're in agreement with me here but like how can the nba guys struggle with getting a fucking catch in the middle against these zones i

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

yeah that's what my favorite part of like watching zone stuff um because as soon as it breaks then the coach is like oh no yeah like oh my god we have to stop doing this and you know we're spending a lot of time talking about it i don't think minnesota's i mean who knows i mean they'll probably try a few different things but i don't think of them as a team that's like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

They just don't have to play zone because they have really good defenders and they have a backline guy. I think it's a bigger thing and I already know what you're going to say considering how you made your money, but It's starting to become too much of an equalizer, I think, between the bad team and the good team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And I think Golden State, Minnesota was like a good example of that, too, at times where it's like Minnesota should be running away with these games. And they did in the second half. They took control. They were clearly the better basketball team. But it used to always be the thing when like the high school team sucked against the much better team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

They're like, hey, we're going to play zone and we're just going to see if we can like muck this up long enough and then have a chance at the end. I don't know that I want that in the NBA playoffs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And who knows? I mean, who knows? Maybe they'll just say, hey, we're going to put our length at the top and screw this up here. But like when I think of how much Denver played it, you know, when I think of how much Golden State played Was was throwing it out there. I thought it was at least worth a conversation a little bit. OK, on the Minnesota side of things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I can't believe we're getting this Randall in the playoffs. This is this is a completely different dude. I mean, if you look at anything, it's not like there's a ton of playoff experience here, but. I remember a few series in the past where I was like, okay, you might just be the guy who gets 20 on teams that don't even win 40 games. I don't know that you're going to be somebody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I mean, he is just a rebirth of Julius Randle, which I think has to be part of the way. If you're going to get that kind of guy out of him, this is a completely different series than I think just the understanding that OKC is far superior to everybody else.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

So when you look at the Pacers' defensive options against Brunson, I mean, how does that... I thought Detroit, watching that series, I'm thinking, okay... Really good effort from Schroeder, but there's some bad switching matchups that have to get stuck with Brunson. One of the reasons why I thought Boston would win the series is there's going to be a totally different challenge.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Where is Ant on your favorite players to watch?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

When you're dealing with somebody like Ant, I wonder how much the others matter in how you prepare because I think Golden State had some stuff. I think it was in the last game where it was like, okay, they're really gearing up to try to prevent him from taking over, and he was really good out of it. You could say, hey, maybe I still have to get a hand in Conley's face.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Jaden McDaniels is somebody I still have to think about. Obviously, you're going to play off of Rudy, but he's never going to be that far away, so somebody's going to be near him anyway because you've got to worry about the rebounding part of it, like the Lakers, who just didn't have the personnel. And it's like, okay, well, now you're going to give them all these extra possessions.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Are you helping off of the perimeter shooters because of Ant, or are you helping off of the perimeter shooters because of who they are?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

What do you think the Pacers have for Brunson and how that compares to teams that are ready for it or teams where you feel like they'll get exposed?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

The Rudy part of this, um, He's like 28 minutes a game here. I think it was very clear against the Lakers where there was a couple moments where I always think about him and how Finch is going to want to use him. And To this part, it hasn't really ever felt like it's an issue.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Even against Luka, it's like, oh man, his eyes get wide open and he's going to be hunting Rudy and he's going to get him into these switches. And then sometimes I think teams get so switch happy because they want to attack this one specific thing that you're actually doing the defense a bit of a favor because you're probably still going to hold up enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Rarely are you going to hunt somebody and it's like five buckets in a row. The sport doesn't really necessarily happen that way. So I think...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

the long version of rudy in that series was that he held up really well and what he provided you from a size advantage was worth it but there was still i think in one of those games closing like finch was like you know actually i went through it like he was he was taking rudy out in some of those spots golden state same kind of thing there's not really any bigs that you trust even though they were trying with looney and jackson davis so they brought back a little bit later

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

is this a series where you go, wait, like you need Rudy, maybe 35 minutes a night here because of the amount of size that Oklahoma city has, or do we maybe get that revisit of the concern when Rudy gets hunted? Um, like somebody like an SGA or somebody, cause I, cause it hasn't been an issue really other than some Finch decisions in certain spots, depending on the score late against the Lakers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Maybe it's because I just watched the Celtics series, but I think I'm starting to become anti-hunting. You know, like when I'll look at certain things, it's like, oh, hey, they're going to switch into Brunson and they're going to do it. It's like, you know what, if you want to bring the ball up

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

map it out, start your action at 16 seconds, and then just try to hammer into the switch over and over and over again when we're just going to send help to the guy that you're attacking anyway. And now you're left like this thing that I felt like this game is almost like predicated on or like, oh, they're going to keep doing this. They're going to keep doing this. I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I think if I were, again, I don't have to worry about being a coach anytime soon. I think I'd be like, you know, that, that actually like becomes really boring in it and it becomes easy to defend. And then the help starts cheating and we're doing the same shit over and over again. And so even if we think we have the advantage with a guy in the ball against a big or a smaller guard, like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Maybe the reward isn't there as much as we think it is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I promise I'll let you go after this because I mentioned it with Bill on Sunday because I was at the Combine. And a lot of the conversations that were just fun is just talking about the game. Like, hey, where's the game and some of this stuff. And a combo guard, and I'm repeating this for the audience that heard from Bill, so I'm sharing it with you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

But the combo guard was kind of like a dirty thing for a little while. Like the Aaron Brooks type. Yeah. Where... I'll never forget, you know, doing a show with Van Pelt and it was like, man, Aaron Brooks, like out of Oregon, it's going to like get buckets in the NBA for a long time. Like college has so many of these dudes that it's like, what happened to that guy?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And you're like, Oh, you didn't see that video of him in Turkey. Like, yeah, he's getting 38 game, but it just, it's not going to work in the NBA. So like shout out to Aaron Brooks for finding a way to take that and go in. But it was like that combo guard thing was like kind of small. You're not a two, you're not a one, but you get buckets. Then it,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

evolves into if you're not a combo guard as our point guard, if you're a point guard that can't score, they can't pull up from three, but also like that's, that's worse than, you know, you can't have a guy who's like a non-shooter initiating all this stuff. And I do wonder if we're at a place right now where we kind of miss the point guard mindset and of the four closers, right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Between ant SGA and, Brunson and Halliburton. Halliburton has the mindset that reminds me of what we have. But I couldn't stop thinking about Chris Paul or Jason Kidd or Gary Payton in some of these possessions late in the game where it's like, you know what they wouldn't do? They may not get you the bucket, but they would not have the same approach.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

They would not let themselves get stuck into these ruts. that some of these teams are like, Hey, this is the shit that we did all regular season. And we're getting this many hundred points or this many points per 100 possessions. Like all the math tells us that this is the right way to do it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I feel like there's an element of that that is missed because we, once we decided the point guard couldn't be as like, he had to also be a score that we're forgetting about the point guard part of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Like the pick and roll stuff when it's like, Hey, it's this, or it's this, or it's this, that's not really being a point guard. It's predetermined. And it reminds me, which you'll understand really well because of your, your, your current situation with the boys is like, I may know what the progressions are as a quarterback.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

But if I can't adjust when the progressions aren't there, then I'm not really playing quarterback. I'm just following a set of predetermined options, which is what I see with a lot of the pick and roll stuff. It's like, okay, well, here's the read, here's the read, here's the read.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

It's like, okay, but where's the part where I see something and have instincts that tell me this is actually the better option than all the things that you told me are my only options to go off of a list?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

People are going to watch Jason kid videos 50 years from now and be like, what, how did like, what was there more of them?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And there's, there's look, there's incredible point cards, but I don't know. Like to me, you have to be born. There has to be something that happens in the way that the DNA is put together for you to see the game, uh, And look, there's a lot of great point guards, but there was just something about Kidd, man. There was something about Jason Kidd that was just off the charts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Damn, I love basketball. That was a lot of fun. Roger Bell, our guy, the real ones. Check him out with Logan Murdoch again, Tuesdays and Fridays. He'll be dropping another episode here shortly. Enjoy the conference finals and thanks for the time. Yeah, man. Thanks for having me. This episode is brought to you by State Farm.

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How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Great teams need great coaches, and when it comes to insurance, your State Farm agent is there to help you find the right coverage for your home, car, and more. They're local and ready to assist when life hits you with a full-court press. Get a game plan that helps you fit your life and talk to a State Farm agent today. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

State Farm coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state. man down man down life advice rr at gmail.com that's the email it's just me and kyle hanging out today um morgan's gonna be okay but he's not gonna be with the show today so uh just just me and my bud what's up um not too much not too much yeah um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah, there is something to be said about doing stuff. Yeah. You know, it gets contagious. Like when I have a to-do list, sometimes I'll get into this rhythm where Sunday nights I'll write out the to-do list and then Monday. And it's like that first thing you have to do Always feels like it's hard, unless it's like a really easy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Really, really, it is. And then you get a couple things done and you're like, what else can I get done? Well, that thing that I was just probably just going to ignore. Let's call and figure that out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I don't know. What's Blade doing right now? Is he free this afternoon? When you decide to start lifting and getting into shape, you're going to be a monster. Oh, shucks. No, I'm serious. Big frame, big frame like that. Uh, speaking of lifting, it relates kind of to what we're talking about here. These aren't even emails.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

These are all free, but I was thinking about like the psychology of when you think you're finished. In just anything, really. But if we keep it specifically to lifting. So every now and then I'll do this 225 thing, right? I'll see how many times I can bench 225. And it just kind of keeps me in check. And like some days it's just not the day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

That when I get to two or one, my body and my mind have decided that I'm almost done. And so two is a struggle, and then one is like, okay. And I haven't used a spotter because I always feel like it's kind of stupid sometimes, but it'll be like, all right, I have to get this off of me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And then it's just like those videos you see of people with having superpowers to protect a loved one if a fence falls down or something. Right? But if you just arbitrarily like don't use any number, then you're not giving your mind a heads up as to when it is over. Yeah. Yeah. So I think there's a parallel in there for you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah, I think we're going to see a lot of TJ picking him up full court and trying to be like a Sar who I thought fought with Brunson well. I mean, I still think about how he just rode him out of bounds on that one, and Brunson wanted the foul on the scorer's table. Then you watch the replay, and you're like, man, he just kind of like...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah. Yeah. Just go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Okay. So let's see. What are you talking about?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Golf is a little tougher, though, because you kind of have to count just to get an idea. Because it's really easy to go, well, I think I had this. And then the score is always better than what it actually is when you start doing that kind of stuff. All right. So one to grow on there to get started. Don't limit yourself. There you go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah, but there's something like there's a parallel there that if that happens, think of all the other things that are happening in your life when you think this is all I'm going to be able to do. And then you accept that that's the maximum that you can do because your mind has already made some sort of agreement with your body.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Again, on the physical side of it, granted, it doesn't apply to other things. But I do think that there's something there because it's just how often I will go, all right, I'm going to count down from 12. I'm going to count down from 10. I'm going to count down from eight. And that whatever that one rep is, it's always like the body and mind have made some sort of like commitment to each other.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

They're like, this is over. This is totally over. And so when I started just randomly being like, okay, same way, only got eight. Let me just count down from nine. Guess what happens? I get nine and two has replaced the one and two is a way better rep.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

um but that one is always just like good we're done with this crazy crazy stuff life advicey thing uh that's the most life advicey start we've had in a while so i feel good about the rest of this not sure there's a book in there probably pretty short but bathroom book all right uh coke zero issues with kyle

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

no stats this is just a response i like that you're just responding hey i want to get in the game with you guys back yeah yeah we don't we don't kind of like t.j mcconnell but more more range uh the dude who's digging in on coke zero being coke is out of his mind there's no debate here i'd imagine almost everybody agrees with you on that and that's i think what we said but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

kyle is also wrong coke zero is a fantastic drink probably the best zero anything i've ever had i actually buy it more than regular coke and especially diet coke any respectable pop drinker who also looks for zero cal options would agree over dc huh coke zero over dc that's gonna start a war yeah i don't know i think dc's got its own like alternate name there's no there's no alternate coke zero name

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

He just guided him out of bounds, which feels impossible against the best players in this league. Neesmith is chaos in a good way, but I also think he's probably going to foul out at every one of these games. I think Mathurin has stepped up his defense from a place where you felt like you could attack him to now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah, I don't even want to get into that world. All right. So if you're a Diet Coke person, we're just going to put that one to bed. We're going to keep harmony going here. Okay. We sent the picture of this disastrous taco bar situation to Kyle. So he's in on it. All the names have been changed. No gym stats. Player comp. Poor man's Michael Oluwakandi.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

As if a rich man's Oluwakandi is worth noting. Well, you know, pretty big guy, good touch. Here's my dilemma. My son, Tom, recently graduated from a fairly well-known college west of the Mississippi. His squad includes a mix of male and female friends. One friend, Tracy, told Tom that her mom, Betty, was going to organize a grad party and wanted our cell number to text us about the details.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So one of the friends of the son said, hey, my mom's got it. All right. We never heard anything until three days before the graduation when we were asked to provide $100 via Venmo for the food, which was going to be a taco bar made by her housekeeper who had just started a side business. We were also told that it was BYOB and to bring a dessert.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

But he said they would pay $200 since she had more guests coming. Mind you, we are five people total. The other squad member, a party of three parents and a graduate. was asked for $100 as well. Thus, you are looking at a $400 bill for a taco bar. Total number of people there was 25 plus three plus eight from the families plus perhaps four other friends. I attached a picture of the taco bar

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah. So maybe we zero on for the picture as well as we can in a descriptive vein. Um, Look, this looks bad, really bad.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

This actually would have been the nicest thing served at fire fest. Yeah, you're right. So look, they've got the rice. The chicken looks fairly unseasoned. That salsa looks like lava. One bag of chips almost makes it worse. Like the one bag of chips, you would have been better just not putting any chips out there. There's a ground beef thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

So we're looking at kind of the tinfoil catering trays of this. The black beans, I mean, they never look good even when they're really good. Yeah, gelatinous. What are you going to do? I do like the lime... Radish.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I'm seeing no cheese. No cheese, man. College kids. College kids love cheese. Adults love cheese. So the rice. Again, we're looking at five bins here. Ground beef. Pretty bland chicken. Beans. The rice. The hue of the rice looks good. And I do appreciate the effort in this. But this isn't really a fixin's bar.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Okay. Yep, yep. But, you know, the radish thing doesn't make a ton of sense because that... I mean...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

don't know where radishes are right now with everybody it feels like nobody talks about radishes anymore but have you ever what's the last time you bit into a radish like they're not that's not really yeah yeah it's not like a taco move and they're not diced up or anything they're like pretty thick slices yeah of radish and just that would rip through the tortilla like yeah

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I think his effort, I think his competitiveness, I think there's a real edge with Mathurin that I absolutely love. But you're right. We can all sit here and talk about switches, and he'll hunt. He'll try to hunt Turner and bring him up. He's going to prefer to attack Halliburton over a Nembhardt, over a Neesmith.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I mean, I don't want to make any sort of tornado thing now because of what's going on. So let's not talk about natural disasters. So we got diced white onions that look huge, too. Like, I don't know about her knife skills. And the cilantro is not diced at all. So, I mean, there's the limes. Thanks. She cut them wrong, too, by the way. This is bad. It's really bad. But we agree.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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My dilemma. I was immediately pissed to be asked for $100 for the tacos no less than three days before the event. I could go to Chipotle and get more food for $8 to $12 a person. I made the payment because Tom's squad is really important to him, and they have forged likely lifelong friendships, and my wife told me so or two. We never received acknowledgement or thank you for the payment. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Now you're just like trying to find more reasons to be pissed off. I want to request a $50 refund as the food was the worst Mexican food I've had in a long while. My wife said not to do this is likely to get back to Tom.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

She doesn't want him to have to deal with this and disturb the squad vibe as he is around for another one and a half months as he keeps up the search for a job and his lease expires at the end of July. While I want to go off in a text, my thought is to send a Venmo money request that just reads taco bar graduation refund, please.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

My wife says that Betty probably thinks this is a great party and there are no problems. Of course, I disagree as there are no places to sit, which, man, this thing gets worse. It was served in a small coffee table, which, by the way, in the picture shows there's not a lot of square footage on this table that was set out as some sort of like catering thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

This feels like a freshman year parents weekend thing the kids would do thinking we nailed this. And a senior with an apartment would go, we have to do better than this. So I'm worried about, I'm worried about, what are the fake names here again?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Tracy. Yeah, but Tracy and then her mom, Betty. I'm worried about Betty's housekeepers, like future earning potential with this side business. My wife says that Betty thinks this is a great party. No problems. Okay. Small coffee table. We said that already. We had to bring a dessert and our own alcohol.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

If I had $400 to spend, it would have been a far superior to that slop in the alcohol and all the alcohol you could want. Your thoughts are appreciated. Signed, Discernal Taco Bar graduation participant.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

He's not going to want to switch necessarily into Siakam because of some of that length. But you're right. You're still going to see the 28-9. It's still happening. And he's still going to get his free throws. So I'm asking you as somebody, this would have been your assignment. I imagine the first thing is stay on the ground. My first thing is stay down.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

That's what you don't want to have happen. There's probably all these dynamics with your son and his squad that you clearly wouldn't know anything about. I'm not even meaning it in any nefarious way. It's just you don't know what the dynamic is at all. I know back to college, it's just an odd thing when you realize a college roommate who's your guy

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And then his parents show up and one of them sucks. You know? And you're just like, man. Like I remember one guy, his dad was just like mean. Like not in an intimidating way either. No, right. It wasn't like he was a logger. Yeah. I got sent through some shit. It makes sense now. No, just this guy had seen very little shit, I believed. And he was just kind of mean to all of us.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And we were kind of like, how, how is the son so nice? And the dad, like it wasn't again, you're right. It wasn't funny. Mean. It wasn't earned mean. It was just like, It was like he walked in the door and was like, all of you guys suck. It's one thing if his dad was David Lee Roth. What's the matter? Got school tomorrow? I can't stop watching that Bill Hader video.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

What else are you trying to do in prepping yourself for what should be a long series?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I think I love Bill Hader more and more every single week. I think you've got to lay out. Or you ask Tom. You ask your son. You're like, hey. Because I know you're right. This thing sucks. This party's bad. The picture does do it justice. Really? And we're on your side. And it isn't about the $100. And we shouldn't always default to the charge it to the game thing. But your financial...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

It's not even your financial recovery here. You're really more motivated. You need to let them know how bad this party is. Yeah, that's what it is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

But beware. We're on your side. You're right. But a bunch of 21-year-olds, 22-year-olds may process it entirely differently. And if you're causing any kind of friction in the squad because you want to have your moment, is that really worth it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Okay. Um, See, this is another money one. I don't know that I want to do that one. Okay, this is always a tough one here. Should I endorse a stranger for a job opening? Gentlemen, long time, first time, 6'1", 185, no real gym stats to speak of. NBA comp, Clay Thompson, for no other reason I can shoot. My friends say I look like him. Apologies for the long email. Let's jump in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I'm finishing up my training in cardiothoracic surgery. There we go. Sorry for the stall on that word. I say that not as some type of brag or anything, but merely to demonstrate that my field is pretty small. It can be very difficult to break into. I received an email recently from a person I work in close physical proximity to for a couple of years, but never really spoke to clarify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I did a couple of years of research during my residency and had a desk in a room with three other desks. one in each corner of a rectangular room. This person worked at a desk diagonally across the room from me with our backs to each other. We were on completely different projects with different supervisors. We were just physically near each other.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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It's not an exaggeration to say we spoke maybe three sentences to each other in two years. I don't even know his name. Fast forward to last week, and he somehow tracked me down to my new institution using my new email address to ask me about putting in a good word for him to the boss to hopefully get one of the open first-year resident spots here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I had to run his name through the old Google machine to try to figure out who this person was or if it was just a junk spam email. It turns out he's had a really tough road through life, including immigration and visa issues that were no fault of his own.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

He's requesting that I speak to the program director, basically hiring manager, to put in a good word for him regarding a spot that opened up unexpectedly. My question is, do I have to? On one hand, I don't know this guy at all and can't possibly go to bat for a stranger. If he gets hired and he sucks, it's a direct reflection on me and damages my credibility.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Not to mention that this is one of those fields where if you suck, you can actually be a danger to people. Also, I'd be lying to my boss. On the other hand, I feel like a real dick either ignoring his email or telling him I can't. It sounds like his road through life has been much more difficult than most, most of which would seem circumstantial. I want to help him out if I can.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

But how do you personally vouch for a stranger you work near but not with for a couple of years and haven't seen in four to five years? I'm pretty strict on this one. I think when I was younger, I was a little looser with it because you know how hard it is in the desirable fields. But I got burned so many times in the beginning.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And even people I knew a little bit, you know, you're like because it's some people are just really loose with it. Hey, do you know this person? You have a contact here. OK, boom, done. Yeah. Voucher me like, yeah, I know this person. Then you're talking them up.

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How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

It's great.

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How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Yeah, there was a time where not that it's the same, but towards, I don't know, 10 plus years at ESPN, every now and then somebody would come by and be like, people said you're a good person to talk to about some of these contract things and how this stuff all works. I was like, yeah, I don't know. I could tell you. I can tell you some stories, but sure.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

But yeah, I guess there was a moment when I realized it was happening a few times. I was kind of like, oh, I guess this is a compliment or something, but it's not necessarily relating to my own power and influence for myself. So it was kind of a...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

contradiction on the whole thing like yeah i have this place absolutely fucking wired except for the parts um that have to do with me but uh yeah these people eating out of the palm of my hand um i it is something that i did and then ultimately i started realizing like unless i absolutely know this person you know like sir rudy's a perfect example when he was kind of in between some stuff um after the nba radio thing you know was handled really poorly um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

it was like, okay, well, I know exactly who he is, and I was with him all the time. So it's not saying everybody has to be at a Suruti level for everybody, but I think it gets a little dangerous. And you're right, when you're younger, there's a part of you that wants to be able to pull something off like this. I think that's so perfectly said and a great observation from you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

But when we're talking about this kind of field, and you do not know this person at all, and it's a very small world, I don't know that you can take this kind of risk. I mean, this isn't like saying, I mean, some of the references here are going to be a little outdated, but think of the jobs where you're like, yeah, I can, whatever. It's up to you to kind of get it done.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

You get somebody a bartending gig, and then they're like, hey, this guy's slow on Fridays. Just, you know, whatever. Shrug. But if you're in the medical field, this specific thing,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

field and you're just going yeah this guy's good um it's actually kind of ridiculous i think that he even asked you but that's also kind of the way the world works it's like any kind of when you're looking for a job any kind of contact any single person you could be like oh i know this guy and i was with him but i mean it sounds like you guys were almost in detention together for two years um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

More so than it was anything that you worked together. So I don't know. Look, if you're feeling somewhat guilty about it, is there any way that you can talk to people that do know him? But then you're like, what are you doing? Hey, I got a free afternoon.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

So now I'm going to research this guy's background to see whether or not a guy who I do not know is deserving of a recommendation that I still don't feel really good about. So I know it's a tough email to go, hey, dude, I don't really know you. I can't do that. But. Considering what's on the line, I don't know that there's any other option.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

So I know I had a friend who was a show runner and you know, somebody I was friends with. So it wasn't like some random person, but somebody that I had known for a while. Um, he had said something about like needing this role cast and,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

for a location and i was like oh i know someone and he was like have her come in and read and try out for it so i thought it was like kind of like a huge favor i was like yeah all right no problem i'll set it up i'll link you two up and then a couple days went by and i was like oh no i haven't heard anything and then he was like dude are you serious

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

and uh i was like yeah all right you know my bad didn't know which direction we were going on this yeah i you know so i guess it wasn't you know the it may have been uh somebody wasn't right for the part let's just say it that way but i think you nailed something also kyle you're on fire today if you want to like technically be in the clear and not feel like you're being addicted to this guy

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

do exactly what you said. Go to the director, go to whoever the person is that's in charge of this thing and say, hey, look, this guy sat in a room. I never talked to him. He wants me to put in a good word for him. I don't feel necessarily comfortable doing that because I don't know him, good or bad. He might be great. I have no idea, but I do know him. And there you go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And so then when he says to you... I can vouch for his whereabouts in 2021.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I'm going to get you close hair color.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Right. If you robbed a convenience store, I'm going to get you a good description. But, uh, that way, you know, when the guy's like, Hey, did you ever say anything to that guy? And be like, sure did. Sure did. And you're in the clear. All right. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. Get better Wargon. He'll be fine. And then, you know, the countdown to Cerruti is going to be, who knows?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Who knows what's going to be going on? We're going to have Summer League MVPs. That'll do it for the pod. You can check us out on the Spotify app as a video pod and also our YouTube page. Ryan Russo, the podcast ringer, Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Must be 21 and older. Present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

On today's pod, we have Raja Bell. We're going to get into a deep dive on the Eastern and Western Conference finals. We'll talk about some of the other theories I have, but it's just a good little back and forth with a guy that I really like talking hoops with. And we have a Kyle Heavy. I don't know if it's Kyle Heavy. We have life advice, and it's about 30 minutes, and Kyle's in it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

No, those are great because there's a lot of that series. I think Boston probably felt good watching the tape and how they contained him. But again, there's all sorts of different stuff we could go through in that series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And the fact is that of all the players that are out there, and I imagine maybe Halliburton has the kind of ego and confidence that can match Brunson a little bit because it was pretty clear against Boston. It's like, oh, Brunson's the most comfortable despite the resume and despite the title. that this group has like Brunson's just more comfortable in this stuff, um, to close out games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

So I want to ask you about like defense and fouling. Um, and then maybe we'll, we'll get your pick on this one, but no, after the Caruso matchup with Jokic stuff, um, it turns into a bunch of different debates. It's usually everybody's made up their mind ahead of time, and then they're just going to use the evidence to back their argument part of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

But it's very clear that smaller players against big players can do whatever they want. And I'm not using that as the example. You're down 40 or 50 points. This is not why Denver lost Game 7. But It felt like, at least for me, Roger, that it was like a three-part thing with how they would defend.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

It's like Caruso's there to, kind of in football, like chip Jokic, and then it's on the catch, and then it's, okay, here's the next stage of this. So if Caruso can muddy the timing just by fighting with Jokic in here, it's not going to necessarily stop Jokic, but it's going to just delay all of this stuff. We're going to be able to disrupt this stuff. As a smaller player...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

The problem is now like Neesmith can say, hey, they can't call them all because I think Caruso is probably going, hey, they can't call all of it. And I don't even feel like he was hacking them so badly late again that it was like necessarily part of the game outcome. When you knew that, like it's funny because with Brunson, they might call them all against against Kat.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

So what else do you need? Joining us to dig in to getting into the conference finals, we have Roger Bell, who, along with Logan Murdoch, part of the Real Ones podcast. It's out Tuesdays and Thursdays. They've got a good Giannis episode talking about that and also the self-described best playoff preview in the business. So make sure you check that one out. It's good to see you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

They're not calling all of them. How do you balance that when you're thinking about how you're getting switched or what your primary assignment is?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

I'll tell you, it feels like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

the pacers you kind of have to defend everything right you've got to be ready that that whole idea of like all those possessions over the course of a series like you have to get back if you're the other side of the shot you have to get back you've got to make sure you're back in transition and that can wear on you the same way we're talking about facing somebody picking you up full court but the struggle i've had in kind of picking this series is

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

Is it going to be that the Pacers, you have to defend everything the entire game versus the one guy that's better at closing than any of the 10 players are going to be on the floor? Or do I take the Knicks because this Mitchell Robinson thing is real? It's been terrific.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

And thinking about how much the Celtics struggled in the physical part of this, that restricted area was owned by the Knicks during that series and in an alarming way. And when I think Turner's like your only option, other than the handful of Thomas Bryant minutes that they're going to just try to save Turner with.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

How to Stop SGA and Brunson with Raja Bell. Plus, Conference Finals Preview.

When you go to that side of what we saw from the Knicks and how big they played, that's the tough thing to get past when I try to figure out if I can pick the Pacers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Bracket Preview, Upsets, and Final Four Picks with Stanford Steve

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Bracket Preview, Upsets, and Final Four Picks with Stanford Steve

Man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Bracket Preview, Upsets, and Final Four Picks with Stanford Steve

Um, all right. So look, let's finish here. Final. Yeah. All right. Um, because I'm going against it. I'm going to go Alabama, Tennessee, St. John's. Watch out for Missouri. Just watch out. And I'll go Iowa State. Wow.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Bracket Preview, Upsets, and Final Four Picks with Stanford Steve

Sure. Do you watch 1923? No. You got it. That's the Harrison Ford one, right? Yes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Bracket Preview, Upsets, and Final Four Picks with Stanford Steve

Big biceps.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Henry V is the book. Dan Jones is the author. A new book out right now. I enjoyed this one immensely. We'll get into some of the story of who Henry V was and the time that he was alive and everything that goes into it. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. And I hope you read the book, too, because we didn't even touch everything that went on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

But your background, your understanding of like how this became the way during these centuries that it was the accepted form of government leadership.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I say this every time I read anything where I go, well, that sounds familiar. I think one of my favorite underlying tones was that

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

because Henry IV had been rejected, whether you had claims in Scotland, claims in Wales, we'll get to the French stuff here in a second, that there is this unbelievable belief in many corners of this world that Richard II is still alive, and that people are expecting that he will come back, whether he's going to take it from Henry IV or his son Henry V, that there is support out there in the wilds that Richard II has never been dead, and that he is

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

gathered more support and that it's all going to come. And people were just like, Hey, we marched dead body around town. Like it's, it's been over and it's been over for a long time. Um, but again, when people want to believe something, uh, they will believe it. And the legend seemed to continue for years in the background.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Henry V is in power. It's time to go to France. I love trying to sift through the timeline between England and France because... Like it, I don't know how much further you go back in. I'm sure it goes on forever, but like trying to understand this, I mean, it can be just real simple. You can just look at a map and be like, Hey, we see this body of water. Like we get this and you get that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

But back then, that's just not how it worked. Whether you're going back to the treaty of Paris, which was supposed to solve all these other problems. Again, as you mentioned, the Norman conquest, like, This is just century after century after century of these two countries just thinking that the other one belongs to them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

So what does Henry V believe once he sets sail to set things right, at least in his mind, of what England should have in France?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Yeah, and Agincourt is basically where the legend... I mean, I know he's already king. I know he's already got the wins. But it's very clear that that increases the legend and increases support back home. And it's probably a massive motivating factor on what he expects upon his return. I also think it's important, too, because there's a couple things I still want to get to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Understanding how France is... Not weak, but just susceptible to something like this, whether it's Charles VI, whether it's their factions. What is going on in France at this time, which makes them feel like they are prime to be targeted?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

The John the Fearless stuff is awesome because the Duke Orleans and, you know, there's just so many different characters throughout all of this. And I can just keep going on and on about the timeline, which, you know, I don't want to do the entire book because I want people to read this book and I want people to buy this book. So there's there's more to it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

But in your summary, and I always like whenever I'm going through history, right, you probably do the same. I would hope you would. My guess is you do. But you're like, okay, this person wrote this book about this subject, so that means they probably really like this subject.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

When I got done with Andrew Roberts' Napoleon book, where I've seen Andrew's debates with other people who are like, I can't believe you wrote this book about Napoleon. I appreciate it. the full scope of Napoleon, the person, and all of the things that he was arguing that Napoleon wasn't just this military mastermind. Think about him from an infrastructure standpoint, all these different things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Now, again, his argument, Andrew's was, I'm an Englishman, so why would I write this? But what I really liked about what you did, especially towards the end, and I think we're just too aligned without ever meeting, But there's been so many suggestions about Henry V, like who he was. Obviously, Shakespeare had a lot of influence on that. And I would say negatively so.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And it's something where I'm like, look, there wasn't much to do. So they invaded each other. It's kind of what they did. And, you know, to be calling him a warmonger, okay, fine. Fine. But that's all he had known. That's all these two countries had known.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

So whether it was France battling England or vice versa, or England trying to shut down all these rebellions on the outskirts of the island, I don't understand people in the modern world trying to dissect the mindset of somebody from the late 1300s, early 1400s. You even mentioned someone that's a scholar today being critical of Henry V for being a misogynist. And I went, no shit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

So, you know, as you go through the summary of all of this, clearly you like the guy. I guess I can't understand people that I know they're even smarter than me trying to go back and re-engineer what was right and what was wrong during the medieval ages. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

So the story begins as a young Henry V is basically learning about his family, their place in the world through Richard II. Can you give us kind of the family tree of Richard II, Henry IV, which obviously Henry V's father, and kind of Richard's entire deal and his approach to being the ruling king?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

He felt like somebody that was destined to be king that actually executed his calling in a way that so many others who inherited it

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I can see in the second tour through France, some of the lieutenants coming to Henry V and saying, you know, sir, like Jocko, he would go, good. Good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I love what you did with Agincourt because you took us through all the different stories, the legends, and I'm so glad you told that part of it because it was probably my favorite part of the book because I was sitting where I was reading at the time. And when I was just basically updated to fellas, let's go completely outnumbered, surrounded.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And I put the book down and I actually like started kind of laughing and just having a moment where you're enjoying, because at that point I developed a relationship with the character, you know, and,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

is always kind of funny too when the main character becomes like wait am i actually rooting for the english now because i feel like there's been other times i've been rooting for the french depending on who wrote the book whatever but um like i said there's so much more in this for the people that enjoyed your time i know i did thanks for getting back to us so soon and a massive congratulations on a terrific piece here and and i have to emphasize this too it's it's a fun read it's it's not

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

textbooky in the way that other books can. And your approach, I'll even admit too, like, and I'll leave it for people that read it when you mentioned kind of the approach and how you were going to explain it. And I was like, Oh, what's he going to try to do here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And then within pages, it was just, we're, you're just flowing and it, and it totally works because instead of assumptions about what could have been happening, you have a more open-minded kind of like present tense, but to that day approach to it, which I,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Of course. And thank you for your time. And hopefully we do this again because I'm going to dig back into the catalog, all right? So thanks, man. Enjoy your time here in the States. Thank you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Let me tell you what's required. Life advice today. We've got Kyle and Saruti, the email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We have a Friday feedback that you can go back and listen to on Friday if you want. And a little different schedule this week with the games being off and then shifting to the Tuesday, Thursday. So anyway, thanks for joining us today. Let's see. What do we want to do here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

We did have a feedback one here for Saruti that I think is important. I just wanted to back up Saruti's answer the other week to the recent tanning life advice with high school kids in the millennial age range. This was a nationwide phenomenon. I'm 32, grew up in Metro Detroit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Not an exaggeration to say that every single popular kid at my high school regularly went tanning and had the monthly memberships. It was not just a Jersey thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I don't know. Everything worked out. It would suck if you were to go on a vacation with a pretty serious boyfriend, tan, and then get dumped before the trip because then you would be tan and not going anywhere and then you'd be crying. Yeah, streaks. Exactly what he warns about. How about a bad week? That would be rough. I can't imagine, Joe, though, your dad.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Was your dad ever like, you're tanning again today? If I ever tanned in high school, that conversation. No, I never went tanning for the record. Oh, you never did? No. No.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Yeah. Okay. Student teacher smells like weed. 6'3", 250 pounds, deadlift 455, squat 345, bench 260. Would love to be able to do more than five pull-ups. Basketball comp is a washed Carmelo. Still trying ISO, but shooting well under 30%. I work as a high school teacher in a big city on the West Coast. My issue is that my student teacher, let's call him Tommy,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Comes into work each day with a heavy smell of the ganja. He's a good guy. Has a good relationship with the students. Big ideas for what the students can accomplish, but has some habits of not showing up to work on time and taking a little longer lunch than allotted. He has worked in the school at a different position for many years, but has been student teaching for me a little over a month.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I know him well. as a work colleague, but I've never hung out with him outside of work. My question is, how do I bring up the smell he's carrying around with him? When we pass each other, I get a big whiff of it, uh, in his backpack, which is in my room, which has led to my room having a lingering stench.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Ironically, he can, uh, he'll often talk negatively about a student showing up high to school and smelling like kettle. All right. Yeah, or like Kyle's first instinct was, that's smart. That's smart. But it sounds like you can't get anyone off this guy's scent. I feel a responsibility to bring it up since I can see it affecting his long-term teaching prospects. Is it my job to say something?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Do I make a joke about his smell after he talks about the student? Thanks for the advice. Love the show.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And a little life advice treat for you as well with an author episode.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Easy, Peter Tosh.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Then he might not even get that reference. I don't get it. I was going to laugh, but I was like, don't be a phony. I don't know this. Yeah, don't. I like that you didn't laugh. Peter Tosh is so underrated. Anyway, moving on. Here's the thing. I guess it's my turn. You know what I think this is? This is one of those examples of where you're giving advice, like, hey, I'm not upset.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

But potentially, down the road, if you're thinking about long-term employment here and the impression that you want to make on other people, again, I'm cool, man. I get it. I take grass all the time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

you know, a lot of times we get emails like this or like the other day, we got the thing about the post office and like, can you tell a post office worker to turn her phone down? You're like, probably not. You're just swinging in once every few months, even though it is annoying and you're not enjoying, like that's her domain. She's running the show and you can try to tell her to turn it down.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And I can tell you how that's going to go. Like 90% of the time, I know exactly what's going to happen. So I even bother signing up for that interaction. That's only going to make you more upset after the fact, it's just going to be a bad transaction. I don't like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

the transaction win probability on that chart okay you're starting real low and i don't know if there's any shot yeah right right like what happened they came back um in this case like he's your student teacher and i think it's kind of cool that you're not going in this into this like with a like a militaristic attitude of the whole thing because like most people i don't even think would even email about this wouldn't even ask they just go hey dude and i know the

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

stigma because of laws and things being passed but i still you know i don't feel like i that outdated to be like if you're a student teacher you probably shouldn't smell like fucking weed in high school all the time right i don't think that's people shouldn't be wondering if you're sober when you're teaching kids yeah it shouldn't really be yeah you know what there you go kyle you just nailed it in one sentence i think that's i think most people could still agree on a little bit you know maybe somebody hit us up and be like well you have no idea what the anxiety you're like dude can you not get high before you go teach at a school so

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

To Kyle's point, and because of the dynamic that you have here, that you are the person that has the authority to do this. This isn't another coworker where you're on the same level. You're not a subordinate or all these different things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

The power chart here is in your favor, and I think that's why it's totally within your realm of whatever you think is your responsibility to say something to this person, because you're not even doing it in a disciplinary way. You're not going up to this person being like, I want to get rid of him right you're looking out for him. And so big brother. Yeah. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I mean, who knows the personality dynamic of it all, how he's going to respond. But if you go into this, even though you could, if you want to, like you could let them have it a little bit for all the things that we just laid out here. And it seems like that's not even in your intent. That's not what you want to do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

So having that approach, going in with that kind of mindset, I think gives you a massive advantage to at least get him to respond and respect and, and hopefully change it up a little bit because you, I mean, we all know what it was like when you're in high school and there was like that teacher. Like, I remember there was this one teacher, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And you think about it and everybody used to make jokes about his drinking and everything. And I don't even know what was true or not. Like, it's not like we were fucking hanging out at bars. We're in high school. But people just made fun of it all the time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And I remember like there was this moment where he went in the back to like grab something and somebody made a joke about the drinking and he heard it. And like he came back and was like, what was that? And it's like, imagine being an adult. And who knows? I don't even know if drinking even was an issue. It's just shithead high school kids.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

But if he had a drinking issue or had recovered from it and come out on the other side and you get some 16-year-old fucking with you. So this is none of those things. This is you being in your position to go, hey, look, I don't necessarily even have that big of an issue.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

issue with whatever it is you do when you're away from here but like when you're coming in here and if you want to be taken seriously right because right now in the eyes of some people you're the stoner student teacher all right that's who you are to some of the kids that's who you are to some of the other people here that are going to be making a decision on your future if you want people to be writing you good recommendations and all that kind of stuff like you're at a point right now where if this is something you actually want to do you've got to start presenting it

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

presenting yourself a little bit differently. He may come back to you and be like, dude, I hate this job and I never want to do it. And all I want to do is smoke weed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

You think I like this? You think I want to do this? Like, that's why I am high. I don't get unemployment until you tell me to go. The only way I can get out of my car is when I light one up and walk into this hell hole. I think I want your life, buddy. I'm looking at a van dude online.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

You see how they're doing those remodels? Day in the life of me fixing up this van to drive the Grand Canyon. All right. I think we have to do another one, don't we? Right? Yeah. All right. Can I Venmo people that didn't show up to the Super Bowl party?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I feel like we've done a version of this, haven't we? We've done versions of this. No question. Like, no question. He gives us his name. Reid, 5'10", 205, rocking a smooth dad bod. Player comp is Zaza Pachulia. I basically just set a lot of screens, get rebounds, and my team wins a lot. Thanks. Thanks to you, man. Thank you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

My wife and I have an annual Super Bowl party at our place with the same group of friends. Everyone knows the drill. I wait for to confirm final numbers. I guess just wait to confirm final numbers of who's coming over till Friday. Then I order pizza and wings for all.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And every year I Venmo people after the game for food and we settle up on whatever else, mostly stupid side bets I make with my friends during the game. This year, two people didn't show up for the game. First is my buddy who got sick and let me know the morning of the game he wasn't coming, which I appreciated him not coming because we have a lot of new parents and babies in the group.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Now, so he did the right thing by not coming and spreading anything. The second no show is my friend's wife, who also happens to be besties with my wife, who quote was too tired to come. We got no heads up that she wasn't coming. Found out when my buddy arrived without her. So my question is, is it rude to Venmo these friends for their share of the food?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

My original thought was to cover my buddy that got sick because at least he had a legit reason and gave me a heads up, but that I should charge my buddy for him. and his wife since she decided not to come last minute. But my wife thinks if I'm going to make her pay, I should make my friend who got sick pay too. Would love your thoughts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

How do you know? This is,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Yeah, no, that's the headline to me. That's the headline to me. And I'm so glad that you got there too, Kyle, because... Reed doesn't think he's doing anything wrong because his wife, like think about her process of this. The guy got sick. He told you, to Saruti's point, we're talking pizza and wings.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And I don't like to get in other people's pockets on this stuff because just the dismissive, hey, take the L, pay for everybody else. Because I know that I can probably be a little too casual with it, right? On some of the money stuff that comes up. It's like, oh man, you know, just suck it up. It all comes around if you're all buddies. Because I do think it kind of works its way around.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Although I feel like I'm getting fucking hosed left and right lately.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Yeah, greens fees, you got to work it out in the parking lot. Totally. Or 19th hole beer. I'll send you a Venmo for that. I just got to get better at it. What am I paying for again? Not you. Not you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I could just see myself giving you the clubs and being like in your first 218 on me. So if I had said that, I don't remember saying it, but if I had said it, you know, that's maybe something I would say, but I know that I didn't. So then when you process it, anyway, that's important. This is not a lot of money for what we are talking about, okay?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

So my guess is you were like this about this stuff all the time. And the fact that your wife was like, okay, but if you're not going to charge him... But now you're going to charge the best friend's wife, who I guess is the wife's best friend, as we said. Then you have to now go back and charge the guy that was sick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Like, you guys talked this all out and then thought, yeah, this is a good idea, instead of just eating the 40 bucks. Like, that's kind of fucking crazy, man. So I want this email to be a wake-up call to you, because I think you and your wife both need to wake up a little. Because when you worked it all out, you're sitting there. It was... You had...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

a complicit party who also thinks all of these ideas are good ideas. So you needed this outside perspective. You should not Venmo anyone in this case. I think most people would agree. I think we've had other times in the past where it's like a specific dinner party, right? And somebody goes out and buys all these high-end groceries.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I think we've had people be mad that the person that hosted charged them because they never said that they were going to be charged. I understand there's all of these times.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I did it. I know I said it once. There was a bachelor party as I just moved to Connecticut. I didn't have a ton of money, but my schedule was all over the place. They were like, are you in on this bachelor party? And I was like, I'm probably not going to be able to go. And he was like, can you do the deposit? And I was like, I'll do the deposit if you want the number.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

But is there any way that I like, can we work it out? And he's like, if you tell me by this time that you can't go, I would give you the deposit back. And I was like, all right, awesome. No problem. Gave him the deposit, told him by the time I couldn't go. The guy motherfucked me, was like, can't believe you're asking for your deposit back. And I was like, really?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And I sent him the email and he's like, or I'm the asshole. And that was it. And then he went to Venmo me or whatever that was at the time. And it wasn't set up. I think it might've been PayPal and I didn't have it set up. He sent it to me and then it bounced back to him. And I still was so broke that I was like, Hey dude, he's like, you can fuck off again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I was like, man, we both told each other to fuck off like three different times. And I look back on it and I totally understand his point, except when you're in that situation financially, you're paying attention to that kind of stuff. This isn't even that big of a transaction. Like we've had bigger stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I think the surprise Venmo thing after you didn't know that you were going to have to Venmo on some of the dinner parties that we've talked about is kind of a bullshit thing. But again, I don't want to be telling everybody to pay for everything all the time. In this case, pay for the fucking pizza and wings.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

You are going to lose way more in your friend group by asking for this to be paid for from a guy that was sick and a wife not showing up because you have some weird rules that cancel each other out. You're going to lose more equity with your friend group being like, did you hear what Reed did to sick Dave?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Gotta have a code.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Like even if they pay it, the 40 bucks is not worth the damage you were going to do. But I'm, I'm actually a little scared based on the email and, and you and your wife both thinking this is the move. This is already something your friends discuss.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

They may not be leftover people, though.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Leftover wings? Yes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

We agree. I wonder how he's... Will he listen to this thinking we're crazy? Or do you think it'll get through to him a little bit?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Okay. We have a YouTube page, and you can subscribe to the podcast. Ryan Russula Podcast. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Steve on Ringer and Spot. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. For Kansas, an affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts. or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Yeah, but I think it's important because when I'm reading the Richard II stuff, I mean, this really is if people are fans of Game of Thrones, if you're fans of Braveheart, like it's you can see how all of these stories are inspired with all these different characters. Cause when you think of Richard, the second, you think of Joffrey, you know, where you're like, okay, it's, it's too much too soon.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And to your point, being told you're the Messiah and you're going to, it's like, it had really very little to do with ruling other than it was, well, I'm King and I'm just going to start taking everybody out. That is questioning me as you had this, like, you know, this group of, of people that were either supposed to be confidants that quickly had turned on him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

And then, you know, Henry sees his father banished and he is essentially like with Richard II. And it's this odd dynamic. You do a really good job of painting the picture. Like at least Richard II is decent to Henry V because he's a young boy, despite the fact that he's banishing his father with one of his other brothers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

So I think politically there's stuff that Henry grows up exposed to that really lays a foundation of like what kind of what kind of ruling government that he wants. But before any of that stuff happens, before he's actually Henry V, his father's king, and it's unbelievable what he is tasked with from just a military standpoint at his age.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

So can we get into his, let's make sure we get into his injury, but what his father is asking him to oversee is, as they're facing rebellion basically in all directions.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

I've talked about it a few times on the pod, so I'm very excited to do this. Just finished up Henry V. Dan Jones, the author, joins us now. And I had some holes in my medieval game, Dan, so this was able to fill a bunch of these in. The battle between England and France, which again, I knew it was a little dicey. Didn't quite realize all of the moving pieces. So thanks for doing this. How are you?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Yeah, and the campaigns continue, and it appears that he and his father have a really great relationship. And then right as his father starts to deal with more and more health issues, and there's this period for Henry V where it's like, well, I'm not the king, but I feel like I'm taking on the responsibilities, and everybody's worried about Henry IV dying. And then he doesn't.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Then they think he is again. There's this really fragile window on the timeline that I think you do a good job of including this story because he has brothers. He has brothers that are capable, although different skills, where it looks like it might even be tenuous that he could ever be king, although it's been accepted for years that ultimately he would be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King’ With Author Dan Jones

Yeah, my pleasure. It's great to talk about it. Can we start with something where... I just wanted to understand Kings and the origin and the ruling and the accepted form of government. And, you know, around the time period, we're talking late 1300s, early 1400s for the premise of where we're at with the book.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

You're listening to the Ryan Russillo podcast presented by FanDuel. America's number one sportsbook is the best place to bet on the NBA. Because not only does FanDuel have all of your favorite player props, but now you can even check out stats and recent performance trends right in the app before you make your picks. Just download the FanDuel Sportsbook app today to get in on the action.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

who joins us. And also a reminder, as an NFL Network analyst, he'll be part of the NFL Network coverage live from the draft from Green Bay. That's April 24th through the 26th. You can also check out his Move the Sticks podcast. And of course, my good friend Tom McShay from the McShay Show here at The Ringer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

What separates the edge guy where you go, this is why he's a first-round grade, as opposed to just insane production, and then you have fourth-round grades on him? Because I think as a college football fan, there's a lot of dudes on Saturday where it's like, oh, this guy's making plays left and right. And this is where I'll use some of the NBA stuff, like Walt Clayton Jr. with Florida.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

in the NCAA tournament to win the national championship he has this great SEC tournament run he has unbelievable shot making in the NCAA tournament and at most of the year when I would look at it which again was was late so I shouldn't say it was the entire year it's like oh this guy's not even a first rounder and like I understand because it's not premier athleticism he's older as a prospect like there's just things that you use against somebody who yet is staring you right in the face on television

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

going, how are there this many players ahead of them? So specific to the edge group, what's the difference between a first and a fourth rounder, especially if the fourth rounder was contributing to winning plays all season long?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

You can hear his pod numerous days throughout the week as they're ramping up the content and his newsletter, which I subscribed to this morning. Just to make sure I was... getting all the latest Todd content. So good to see you guys. Thanks for doing this. It's good to see you. Good to see you, Todd. How you doing, brother?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Is that the Vernon Golston counter? Because he had the tape.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yes. He was a little stiff. Yes, there you go. Right, but wasn't it the tape against Michigan that got him drafted that high? Where they were looking at, it was Jake Long, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

That's going in my way. I think I just remember. Well, one, I remember because Todd would come by the studio and he would just be exasperated. He'd be like, I just don't see it. I just don't see it. So I'm giving you credit for that one. And then every time they would show his highlight tape, it was I think he made two plays against Jake. And that was pretty much it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah, I guess I, I keep thinking about Swinson at LSU and I know he's been around forever and that statistically this past year was off the charts, but he was probably one of the most consistent edge guys I saw in, you know, now people are calling to the second best conference in college football, but, uh, you know, he's just not in that group. I mean, he's, he's outside.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

It's not like he's going in the fourth round, but, um, Maybe it's maybe it's the speed part of it because he certainly has that. So I just always like thinking about edge guys that you fall in love with on Saturday. And then we get to this time of the year and you're like, wait, where the hell is that guy going? Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

clips it's not even close i'm like we gotta step my clip game up man incredible clips i appreciate it i i agree uh all right let's go let's go to the top right um where does the uncertainty start how soon does it start in this draft we'll start with you dj

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

The rare vote for realignment, which we have not done a lot on this pod. Okay, let's stay with this, though, because, look, I think Harold Fannin Jr. is a really good example of this, a tight end from Bowling Green. I remember, for whatever reason, I think it was because of the new offensive system at Penn State early on. I was like, I want to see what Aller looks like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

And then all of a sudden, you're just watching Fannin, who it just felt like, a dude... I mean, he had 11 for 137 in that game, and it was... Bowling Green would drop back. The quarterback was tough as hell, too. And then it was like, just get it to Fannin, and Fannin's just trying to beat dudes off of him the entire time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

So you have Tate going up against one of the better teams in college football this year. Is there... Is there a position where it's like, okay, this is tough for me to figure out or justify? Like, your tape's really good in your league and at your level, but I don't have enough crossover for you going up against better tackles or whatever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Or can you just look at somebody like Fannin and be like, the Penn State tape is enough? I imagine it's different for different positions.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

So, play-in festivities begin tonight. So, look, I kind of like four sides straight here. You know, I like Golden State. I like Orlando minus the five and a half. But I know it scares me a little bit when it's like you like all four games. You feel pretty good about it. So what I want to look at here was Miami and Chicago. Chicago just beat Miami.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

The crazy thing is like Miami went through that awful stretch. And it looked like they were one of the worst teams in the league there for a little while, even though talent-wise, that's not the case. And if you look at where Miami is in the last 15, which is just a very strange time of the year. I put stock into the fact that the Clippers have been 13-2 in their last 15.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Offensive rating is number one in the NBA. Defensive rating is number three in the NBA after the Golden State game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

it was number one before that when i did the numbers on sunday morning um so i think that's somewhat real but at the same time you look at the thunder who went 13-2 in the last 15 and i don't even know that they attacked the last 15 games of the season which again i think is scary for the rest of the teams so let's go back to net rating here you know miami's fifth in the nba in net rating and chicago's seventh chicago's also 11-4 in the last 15 games

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

My guess is this number is based on just a lot more faith in Miami, even though the way they played being like, all right, look, it's still a Miami Heat. They're going to have pride. And the Chicago thing is offensively fueled. And it's certainly not defensive stuff, because if you look at the defensive numbers here for Chicago, they're actually not terrible numbers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available at And listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Today's podcast, it is our annual Todd McShay and Daniel Jeremiah Draft Fest. We're going an hour deep.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

um the last 15 games again the last 15 if you watch this league all season long you don't really know what to make of what you're actually watching out there and specific to the game so let's get to an actual pick here because this breakdown is taking too long i like chicago minus one at home against the heat that's the official play if you really want to boost it you want to get wild

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

How about Chicago Bulls? But their defensive philosophy is let Tyler Hero go off. He goes for 45 plus. $10 wins you $1,400. So, yeah, plus $14,000 on that combo if you really want to get dangerous. But yeah, I kind of just like Chicago. Land the point in this one. Sounds good? Well, you can score an even bigger win because FanDuel is giving you a profit boost for all of tonight's action.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Just check the FanDuel Sportsbook app to see how much you got or head over to FanDuel.com slash Ryan, R-Y-E-N. For more info, make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 plus and present in D.C. Opt-in required. Minimum three-leg parlay required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable. Profit boost tokens.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms at Sportsbook.FanDuel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RG-HELP.COM. Okay, let's play a little War Room Fallers. So you know the drill. I'm going to give you a team, I'm going to give you the pick, and then I'm going to give you... This is America's favorite game, by the way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

That's fantastic. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if this is my best year, but maybe we'll do it again. You know, you guys are like, actually, we're really busy. So this is all the time we're getting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah. OK, Cleveland, 33rd pick. They went with Carter in the first round and Shador is gone. Milrow, Jackson and Shuck are all available. So just talk it out in the war room, guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Okay, Kansas City, the 31st pick. Got some followers here. I think this is the Tyler Booker range, perhaps. Tedaroa McMillan still available, and Omari and Hampton.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

26.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

26. Okay. I think the argument against Booker, at least here, is if there's one thing that you do really like with Kansas City, it's the interior guys. And they've invested so much in the interior guys. So then what are you doing? Even if you're kind of like, man, we love Booker's tape and he's like one of the cleanest prospects here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Um, it would also, I guess I'm a little surprised that I didn't hear more push for Teteroa if that just becomes an evaluation of like overall guys here, because I know like, let's do this exercise because you've both done it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Give me the argument for McMillan and the argument against, especially if he's there a little bit later, because there's again, the mock, I don't know how much I want to let that influence me. I mean, there's certain people I trust other guys. I'm like, who the hell is this?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Um, not that their work isn't good, but if I don't know him, you know, you can see Ted Roe as high as like fourth overall pick. And you're like, okay, well, it doesn't, it seems like momentum wise. That's not where he is. Even if, uh, again, he was probably one of my favorite players to watch in college football this year. So give me the in the room argument, the pros and cons for him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

almost identical but viewed through a different lens yeah no i love i love that uh that's a really good example of this okay let's uh let's have a little bit more fun here cincinnati 17th pick in the first round we've had some fallers i don't know what's going on maybe mcshay said on a tweet but tyler warren's still on the board will johnson's still on the board and mikhail williams still on the board for cincinnati at 17 i don't know how it happened either but you know draft is a mystery

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah, I mean, there's plenty of political jokes I can make about a tweet going in either direction, but I'm just not going to do that to Tyler Warren. So let's leave it alone. All right, let's get a little dangerous here. Last one. Atlanta has been offered New Orleans ninth pick and a future first for Michael Penix. New Orleans is like, look, we had the highest grade on him. You guys nailed it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

You have this weird Kirk Cousins thing. We'll give you ninth. Maybe we'll even give you a second, but we're going to give you a future first. So now Atlanta is on the board at nine. Shador is available. Jalen Walker is available. And let's say home state, Will Campbell is still available.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah, wait a minute. And I kind of screwed that up, too.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

But Will Campbell now, he's on the board. But, again, he'd be going to Atlanta here, not New Orleans. So, I misspoke. I made that one up on the fly.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah, because I was going to do something where I was going to say like, all right, and then this guy tweeted January 6th wasn't that bad. And so now he's available at the beginning of the second round. And then you're like, I don't know what to do now. Yeah, but I didn't want to attribute that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

The Thompson one is still that doesn't get enough credit for how absolutely insane that was. Because then if you're in the war room, you're kind of like, hey, we love this guy. We love the grade. And like, maybe he smoked a ton of weed. We don't really care.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

uh all right so i guess i i kind of well i know i mean it's pretty straightforward so now atlanta just got rid of their first round quarterback from last year because it was just like look the value coming in even we like pennix we're the ones who took them after we gave kirk this big contract so now we maybe play it out with kirk chador is available will campbell's available and i said walk out of georgia so you're you're just going to double down on this thing huh you're not walking away

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Just because this wasn't as straightforward as the other ones doesn't mean, you know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Okay. All right. I like Pennix too. I don't know that anybody likes Pennix as much as Chris Collinsworth did that Sunday night. Who is it against Washington? That was... You know when you really like a player?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I was like, my God. Now, granted, look, there's some nice throws in there, man. I mean, we all know why those of us that liked him coming out. I just get sick of even when I do it. So I can't get mad at anybody else for doing it. But whenever we're talking about the quarterbacks, it's like, man, that guy throws the best ball. You're like, cool. Cool.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

And they're moving up for Shador. Okay, right. But just to cover for the aggregators here, you're not not reporting that. Uh-huh. Give me, give me a name with a team in the first round. Todd, you go first. Give me the, it'd be like, Hey, of all the stuff. Cause it just, there's always that guy every year. It's like, it's just, everyone is saying this guy is going here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Give me a name, DJ. The NFL in three years is going to regret this guy did not go in the first round.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I'm glad you brought up Barron, DJ, just because we had Bruce Feldman on who does a really cool version of the mock just because he talks to so many coaches, right? So you're getting the college coaches out. and putting together, it's not like it's 32 different names.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Um, but Baron one sec coach is saying, quote, his ability to adjust triggers elite footwork, really clean, excellent open field tackle. I thought this guy was the best player on that team. Uh, talking about Baron because you're right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

And again, I don't want to, I don't want to be dismissive of the mock world, but Baron, it's almost like some guys I've seen that are legitimate places is if they've completely forgotten about him. Um, So, you know, and then I think there's some of the guys that maybe I trust a little bit more that still have a will to like everyone kind of ignore you get to this time of year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

That's why when I was looking at Michigan again, and I was going over it, you know, just getting ready for it. And like, they could have four guys go in the top 15, 16 picks here. And you're like, if they had had one guy to throw a forward pass. Yeah. You know, cause you're just not going to have that kind of run of talent where the half, the first round is coming from one program. I know, look,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Clearly, there's other programs that put a ton of first-rounders in in the same exact year, but that stood out considering their problems on offense. If you don't know the full timeline, big NIL deal to get him to Tennessee from California. I would say this first year probably was disappointing based on the hype. I feel like I watched him a lot, kept waiting for that breakout game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

So you want to get back to the, hey, he throws a really nice ball evaluation. It's like, okay, what about the rest of the stuff? Then apparently it was reported that Dan Lanning had heard that he was sniffing around for more money. And then he told Tennessee that. Tennessee's now said, all right, fine, go somewhere else. So now he's looking for a new home.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

There's also another story that was reported that maybe some of the Tennessee guys were asking for more money ahead of the playoffs. Let me set it up this way because there's two parts that I want to get your thoughts on. I know that I've evolved in the way that I look at certain things with college football. The money part never bothered me and I'm glad that they're making money.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I think there was a time when I believed that you should have to sit out a year because it would be chaotic. And now I look at it and going, it is chaotic, maybe more than anybody expect, but I don't have any issues with any of this stuff anymore. So when I look at the Nico story, You know, every it feels like this is just a free for all and everybody's, you know, again, looking out for yourself.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

So I can't necessarily have a problem with that. But then this kind of mercenary approach where it's like, man, even mercenaries have like some sort of code. So. Niko's taken a ton of heat. If he played better, he would be criticized less. But there's probably one. It's a state of college football question that you guys can take it wherever you want to go to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

But then also what kind of evaluation element? And we're still talking about a younger player here, but he's draft eligible in a couple of years. How this will be looked at. Now, granted, if he just plays a lot better than he did this past year, maybe people get past it. They blame the dad and all that kind of stuff. But Daniel, let's go with you first.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Good stuff on that. You know how much I appreciate the hour I can get with you guys in a really busy part of the season. I'll tell you the real winner today is McShay's posture. Are you looking at his shoulders, Jeremiah? No, what do we got here? He just looks widened out, like broadened up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I love it, though. Never stop evaluating. I know you guys still have some work to do. We're looking forward to Jeremiah's coverage on NFL Network live from Green Bay for the entire draft and move the sticks. So subscribe with Ian Bucky Brooks and check out that pod. And I know McShay's got the McShay show going, what, three, four, five days a week? I mean, you're just firing out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

You're like new guy right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I think we have a squat rack so I can bench for you maybe depending on the day. But if I do triceps two days ahead of that, then I'm not going to give you my best bench numbers. but when you guys said that I wouldn't run a sub six where I think Eisen, that's kind of his range. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah. Sub five. Cause when you said sub six, I'm like, you guys can know sub five. I would agree with that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Five, five in the sand sprinting after not sprinting. Because we did this once at Van Pelt where it was just kind of a funny revelation. It was like, when's the last time you ran as fast as you possibly could? And when you get past a certain age, you're kind of like, yeah, when would that have been? When's the last time I was like, I'm just going to run as fast as I possibly can.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

What I think is happening and what is really happening are two totally different things. Yeah. Yeah. But now some people are listening to this right now and be like, why would these guys be judging other athletes? It's like, because they understand regression. They understand foot speed. They understand just getting his foot in the ground and then turning out of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I'm glad we had this time with you guys, despite where you're at right now athletically, despite where we all are. Thanks again to Todd and Daniel Jeremiah. We'll talk to you soon. See you, dude. See you, bud. This episode is brought to you by State Farm.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Great teams need great coaches, and when it comes to insurance, your State Farm agent is there to help you find the right coverage for your home, car, and more. They're local and ready to assist when life hits you with a full-court press. Get a game plan that helps you fit your life and talk to a State Farm agent today. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

State Farm Bloomington, Illinois coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Life advice, the email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We have, you know, just we're plug and play right now. Kyle is off. He said he would do life advice. But at the same time, like, I don't think out of the gate with him being off, we should be asking him to work again. Oregon's always lingering, but we do have Saruti with us, post-kid number two. So how many days in are we talking?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

The kid number two, I mean, you get to kid number five, like the kids driving a car, smoking cigarettes by eight, and you're like, just let them live. Raising the other kids, yeah. It is incredible if you're from a bigger family, just the standard of concern about things. At least, I don't know, that's been my experience seeing stuff. All right. War Gone, I think... The hey guys alert.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I think we just bring them in. Why wait? Right? Let's do it. Yeah. Are you ready for this, Oregon?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

He's always ready. Are you a Raiders fan?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Well, yeah, but what about like Brady and you got Chip Kelly, Pete Carroll, like, you know, guys with three resumes. I forgot Chip was there. Chip. Yeah. See if we can get them on. Yeah. All right. Let's see here. I think we start out of the gates with a different one. I mean, this is so strange, but I could also see myself doing this, but then also not doing this. I'm a little worried.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

It may not be real, but it is so specific that we're going to go with it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah. All right. Did I help a guy out with an act of kindness or did I do something weird? 6'2", 205, mid-30s, basketball compass pits Sam Young with all the pump fake and none of the athleticism. Sam Young was an old soul, but incredible pump fake. I'm a day removed from doing something in the spur of the moment I thought was an awesome gesture for a fellow guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

But after telling my wife and having her call me weird, I'm starting to question myself. I was grabbing food to go inside at Raising Cane's. Shout out to Todd Graves. Friend of the program. He was grabbing Raising Cane's for dinner as I was walking or waiting for my food. Excuse me. As I was waiting for my food, I noticed a guy in his mid-20s. Let's call him Greg. Greg is moving to Staten Island.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Sitting at a table nearby, he's a bit rough looking and by himself before an employee sits down and begins going through what sounds like a job interview. I can tell Greg is a bit nervous with the way he's stumbling through his words as they exchange basic information. At this point, my food was ready and after grabbing it and making my way to the exit, I decided to help Greg out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

As I passed the table, I leaned in and said, sorry for interrupting, but I just wanted to say this is one of the best guys I know. Greg's face immediately betrayed the fact that we had never met, but the interviewer's attention was on me, so I don't believe he noticed. The interviewer gave me a slight smile and nod, and as I said, I'll let you get back to it, and left.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

This is fucking crazy. I left feeling excited that I might have just helped Greg land a job. I got home and gave my wife the rundown. She did not share my enthusiasm. Amongst many other negative reasons, she said I could have put Greg in an awkward spot having to lie about how he knows me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

She also brought up that I have no idea about Greg's background and could have fully endorsed a criminal as a great guy. Well, I think she's assuming a lot that Greg... Damn. Greg just seems shy. You don't know that. Now I'm questioning my... Yeah. Did I actually make Greg's situation worse? Did I betray the trust of a restaurant I regularly go to?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

If this were a lower end fast food place, would I even be thinking about it? I love the standard of raising canes is so high that he's like, you know, don't want to mess with their employee screening. Did I? So, yeah, right. We're not going to name other names like Danny Connell did about a sponsor. I guess just trashing the French fries. One of our biggest sponsors.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Like, what are you guys like those fries? They're trash. Those are trash fries. Like, thanks. Thanks, Danny. Coming up next on the fill in the blank hotline. I guess the gist is that I guess the gist is this. Was this cool to do or should I file it away and not entertain again?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

But was it with me?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah, I thought we worked together at ESPN and that's how you got in to Ringer. So now I'm wondering, did I interview you? Does the person still work here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

That's why you're comfortable telling us this story. Right, right. Okay. Then you didn't correct the interviewer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I don't know you. Do you think you deserve this job?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

It's fair. He's put the work in. I think it's worked out all right. He's so likable, Wargon, that people are like, look, we've been through the mill together.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I kind of like our emailer. I don't know what there is about this, but it is weird. And you're right. Because Greg then has to say to the guy, if the interviewer raising canes saying, Hey, like, what the hell was that? Like, how do you know that guy? And then is he going to lie? Yeah, I know from the country club. Is he going to just go? I have no idea who that is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

But then that weirdly connects the interviewer and interviewee where they have a shared moment specific to them of like, yeah, that was really strange. And then it's an icebreaker. So maybe our emailer helped out Greg in an indirect way. And even though his wife probably made a lot of good points, I think it's really funny.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

It tells me more about your personality that you came home to tell her to be like, guess what I did today, but she already over here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah. My guess is you do some stuff like this. You probably talk to strangers in general a little bit, but like in the friendliest way possible. And your wife already knows what she signed up for. So she can't be entirely shocked about this. There's one part of this that I don't know that you need to worry about. Um, If Greg works there, doesn't work there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

If Greg works there at Raising Cane's, it doesn't work out. I imagine the turnover is a little bit quicker in the food service industry. I imagine you're still going to be able to get your chicken fingers from this day moving forward.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Right. of all the places where you could go, like I think raising canes, it's still going to work out for you longterm. So I wouldn't have any anxiety about going back there and getting your chicken fingers after this move. Cause I think they're still going to give you the chicken.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Uh, all right. We'll keep it simple here. Love triangle and a cat. 21 years old, 6'2", 190, no gym stats, player comp, Sam Perkins, also a DJ. Sam Perkins. I have no idea if this email is a DJ. Long time listener, first time emailer. Sorry for the long email, but here we go. It's actually not that long. The people that write really long ones never apologize for how long they are. Self-awareness.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

No, there is a study. I'm not going to do it, but there's something there about how often the person that apologizes for the length of the email, it's always the shortest one. And the people that write in books never apologize. I don't know if it's narcissism. I don't know what it is. Is it? Okay. Sorry for the long email, but here we go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

My fiance is in her last year of college graduates in December. It has. Oh, OK. We needed a comma in there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

All right. No. My fiance is in her last year of college. Pause. Oh, graduates. Graduates in December. Yeah, because I thought we were talking grad school.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Okay. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. There we go. Two roommates, one of which is closer than the other. We will call her Olivia. That's a nice name. Great job.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I'm not thrilled with what this generation has done with the names, just as an aside. What do you mean? And look, my name, my parents decided to just make it different. So for whatever reason, people think I have to explain it on a day-to-day basis. So just a warning to some of you more creative namers out there. You know, there's a line.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

There's a line of what your son or daughter is going to deal with filling out paperwork or doing something over the phone or whatever. It's just, you know, do you want to give them a name or every fucking day of their lives, they're going to have to explain it. It's worth asking yourself that question when you're going through the process of naming somebody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

But there's some names where I'm like, you're starting to name kids after inanimate objects and stuff because you're showing how weird. I know you used to go to Coachella, but now it's kind of played out. You don't go now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I just think there's going to be some names 20 years from now where there's going to be some parents going, could have been a little more traditional. Well, it's kind of younger audience.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah, look, every now and then I'll be watching something going, were they creative or do they not know how to spell? But I know that I can say that. I can say that. You can. You're part of the group. I'm allowed to have a moment where I go, did you guys just make up that name? I don't know what's going on there. All right, let's get back to the email.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah, I don't want to say this. Oh, do you want to share it or no?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I don't want to say this to you because your name's Mike, but I always felt like a lot of parents are just like, I was just throwing Mike on it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Dude, that's incredible. I can't fucking believe you were named after Michael Jordan. Damn, dude. Willie Mays died. All right. Let's get back. Let's get back to this. All right. So fiance's in her last year of graduate studies in December. Has two roommates, one of which she is closer with than the other. We will call her Olivia. I did not live with them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

And their lease on their apartment ends in May. So they want to get a new place to last them the rest of the school year after summer break. Because me and my fiance are getting married soon, probably this summer. That means I would have to go in on a house apartment with them there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

there's only one problem there's a stray cat that lives around the apartments and olivia started to feed it food this then became what i could imagine uh is his main source of food so he started to hang around the door next thing you know she started letting the cat inside at first it would just come in the walkway to eat the food out of olivia's hand but now she's letting it all over the place the cat is all over the couches kitchen and even the rooms and all olivia said about it was quote i sprayed the couch with tick repellent end quote

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

And now there's another stray cat that started coming into the apartment. Olivia now wants to trap and keep trap is an interesting term. I think the cat is willing to be adopted in this scenario. Trap and keep one of them and take it with her to the new house apartment whenever we get into one of the following months.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

My fiance is not on board with this and neither am I. What do we say without sounding too mean? Olivia is 100% on board with this and sees nothing wrong. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. She's currently playing with the cat on the couch as I'm typing this. So we were getting a live look in. Sounds like you got a cat, brother. Or a new roommate. Like, what's the holdup?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

You don't want the cat. Fiance doesn't want a cat. I guess, look, you're younger. Rent purposes alone. You're going to be living with another person, despite the fact that you're getting married. and I'm not judging cause I don't know the finances, but you're already asking for, I think extra trouble when you're going, we're getting married this summer and we're going to have a roommate.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Um, some people at works, uh, and then some people do this and they end up having, you know, some TV series about them and plenty of acreage outside. So I think with this, uh, we could just call this a democracy and go, Hey, cool cat collection, but it's two to one end of discussion. Like what's, what's wrong with that? What's wrong with a good old house vote?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I mean, this honestly, I don't even really know, like have some sack on this one. And I mean, I'm sorry to be such a,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

you know neanderthal about it but you're worried about a conversation with somebody that's going to be moving in in a new place with you and your wife this summer and she's going to tell you how it's going to go with street cats didn't you tease this email as a love triangle yeah the love of cats okay okay

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

That's a good point. Let's see which way the cat vote goes. What if it's 2-1 against him and his wife betrays him and she's like, actually, I'm kind of into these cats that could have diseases, but we do have tick repellent, so don't worry about it. Get over it. So the vote goes against him. Next thing you know, engagement's off. It's off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

There's too many variables. Right. And our emailers should aspire to reach the same point in life. So I don't. You just get it. This is a non-starter, man. This is a non-starter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah, lock that in. Who knows? Maybe she'll be like, let's move up the date. You handled the cat thing so well. All right, that'll do it for our show today. Thanks to Wargon. Which, unbelievable. I can't wait every day. Every day with you, man. There's just a new angle. And I love all of them. All right, so we will... talk to you on Thursday. We'll do a ton of NBA stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

I'll probably, I think we're going to save the ballot stuff because I got to do all my votes later today. I think it's just better if Bill and I go through it and save it for the Sunday thing, even though we'll have real playoff games. But there's probably, I think, some value in just going back and forth with somebody else who also has a vote.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

So I got to do the ballot today and then I'll pick all the playoff series on Thursdays. So thanks to Saruti. Thanks to Wargon. Thank you to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. We are a Spotify video podcast on the app. So subscribe to the pod. Super easy. Also, subscribe to the YouTube page. You'll probably get something going there, NBA-related, fairly soon. So thanks, as always, for listening.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

We're going to give them war room scenarios, the names they've heard with the teams in the first round. If this guy doesn't go in the first round, I love this pod. It's one of my favorite episodes of the year. And also, we'll touch on the Nico Yamaliava saga, which is no longer in Tennessee. And we've got life advice with Wargon today. So, get ready.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Ryan Russillo, Podcast Ringer, Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

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The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

We've seen Jenty basically everywhere in the top 10. And... the more you dig into the guys that do this, like yourselves and everybody else, it's just like, look, this guy is so special. It's not just that he's the best running back in this class. We're talking about ranking him against the number one running backs in other drafts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

And so that feels, I don't know if it's a philosophical shift away from where we've been with running backs for a long time in this league, which I've totally understood and I've talked about it. But do you either, and Todd, I guess I'll start with you on this one. Is there any philosophical shift that you've had

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

about position, about evaluation, about the way you talk about fit versus need and coaching. You've been doing this, both of you guys, a really long time, but I'm sure you evolve also as evaluators and something that you think of now that you didn't think of years ago.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

Yeah, I really like that. I was listening to you and Buck on your Move the Sticks pod and kind of just going, look, let's figure out some ways that guys can contribute long-term here instead of trying to hit home runs on some of this stuff. So is there a position where...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Annual Todd McShay–Daniel Jeremiah NFL Draft Fest!

You're looking at it, Todd, and you're thinking, okay, if you have a need at this spot, you better get your work done by this pick. Is there a position where the gap from the fourth guy to the fifth guy is just massive and it's going to be teams regretting that they didn't get it done in the mid-second round?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You're listening to the Ryan Russillo podcast presented by FanDuel. America's number one sportsbook has made it easier than ever to get in on the action during an NBA playoff game. Even after tip off, just look for the live SGP tab on the FanDuel Sportsbook app and build your bet slip. Then sit back, relax and track the outcome of your parlay right in the app.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Although, we'll get to the lottery a little bit later. Mavs fans feeling good today after the lottery win. So, if they won another title, would the first thing you do break it up? Probably not. So, if Tatum's out in the next year and they're eliminated here by the Knicks... I don't know what the move is because it's not trading Drew Holiday. You're not going to get anything back for that guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

He's owed $105 million over the next three years. He's got a player option at 37 years old for like in the 30s. Probably going to pick that one up. Prazingis next year is $30.1 million. And again, Jalen Brown has four years and $285 million remaining. So, a dark day in Boston. Ant. That was fun. Ant games are probably my favorite games in the NBA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I guess I should say that I still hold out those nights of enjoyment where Steph is Steph again because it's just not going to happen as consistently as it did during his prime. That's just science. I don't think any of us are shocked by that statement. But Ant doing what he did in the third quarter is, I would say, as of right now, Steph is not eligible or just not available, I should say.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

with a hamstring injury it's my favorite thing to see and so in a moment where the warriors are up two at the half like are they going to like even this series at two two and then you figure minnesota gets game five at home but then could steph come back with that gap and all the speculation around that although i just don't know because hamstrings are so rough they're just brutal like the smallest little thing and then it just lingers and lingers so who knows what he would even look like if he were going to be able to come back who knows what games

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Five ends up being. But the fact that Ant prevented this series from going 2-2 with his massive third quarter was really enjoyable. He had 16 in the third. Golden State had 17 total. What Ant did in the third quarter last night was what Golden State did. Those third quarters during their prime years where it was just enough of this shit and just take over.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

On the other side of things for Golden State, some good, some bad. The bad part of it is playoff Jimmy. You could rename him Passive Jimmy. He had nine shot attempts last night. The best stretch that the Warriors had in the game is when he was on the bench to close out the first half. I don't know why. I understand his approach to basketball. We've seen it enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

When Boston was down 0-2, as bad as it looked with the blown leads, they'll probably get game three. They get game three in dramatic, well, not even dramatic fashion, in dominant fashion. And then I was like, you know, they'll probably get through this series. They'll get a 2-2. Who knows? Maybe the Knicks get another one in this thing. Four straight against them? Probably not.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

where he's kind of sizing things up, he's figuring things out. He's not going to come out and take a million shots. Granted, he took a lot in game three. But without Steph, he needs to be north of 20 shots. And a lot of times with the best players, we're like, how come he's not shooting? How come he's not shooting? It's like, well, do you want him just taking terrible shots the entire night?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Like, what's the point of that? Just to appease our...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

appetite for high shot volume because you're supposed to be the guy like shouldn't we appreciate the guy who's picking his spots and taking higher efficiency shots well if the other options are Draymond bringing the ball up Pajemski although Kaminga has been terrific and aside is Kaminga Jalen Green with less opportunity I don't know the answer to that popped in my head last night um but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You know, the Butler thing is incredibly frustrating because, you know, look, it looks like last night looked a lot like some of these regular season games with Miami where you were like, what is going on with this guy? The shot attempt stuff from Jimmy's never been really high because he gets to the free throw line so much. but he didn't get to the free throw line last night either.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

He was a negative 30, a team worse negative 30, and it showed up. So when I think back to Jimmy and some of the quotes after Miami, it's like they took my joy away from me. Well, do they still have it? Because, man, they need you. And Golden State was in this game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I mean, even if I thought Minnesota eventually would pull away, because that's what you think is going to happen with a better basketball team, you're watching it going... This is why coaches go crazy, because if everyone just played hard enough, everyone would have a chance.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You know, this zone thing that we're seeing constantly throughout the playoffs, I start to wonder, is the zone becoming this equalizer where if you're the lesser talented team, which is something I think everybody kind of grew up with. It's like, hey, we stink. We're not as good as those guys. We're playing zone. Should that be happening in the NBA?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Although I think Cleveland would submit, maybe we shouldn't have played it as much as we did in game four, even though it worked so well in game three. So Kerr's probably going at halftime going, we're in the fight. We're still in this thing. We can get this thing to 2-2. I think that first half of last night is why I think all coaches in all sports go crazy because they're the...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They're the absolute believers in our society. They will find a way to believe in their side. And that's what you want from your coach. You don't want him showing up being like, we don't have any chance. I've made the mistake when I was younger at times, like talking with a coach in a sport and being like, well, yeah, but like, I don't know that you guys really have a chance.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I mean, it's like insulting a child. I'm like, what? I'd never do it anymore. I had somebody on say, hey, thanks for the time. This is a tough series. How could you possibly win? These guys convinced themselves through the film and all the study, and if they can just get that effort, and that's what that first half was, until again, Ant decided to shut the door.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Ant now against Golden State is scoring 7.5 points in the first half of these games, and he's going for 20 in the second half. Randall was terrific last night. Minnesota's oddly having the Rudy games and the non-Rudy games, and it doesn't really matter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Boston likes to make this hard on themselves. And when it comes down to it, I think they'll get through this. Now, with everything that happened last night, I certainly no longer feel that way. We'll get to the Tatum part of this a little bit later.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But they take a 3-1 lead in this series, and it probably is the way the series should look, despite some of the moments where you're like, why is Minnesota still screwing around with this team and being down in both of the last two games at Golden State? Final thought, I don't believe the lottery is fixed. The Ryan Rosillo Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

The NBA playoffs are finally here, and there's no better way to be a part of the action than with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. After another competitive season, the top teams are ready to battle their way through the playoff bracket in hopes of taking home the championship. And if you think you know how it's all going to go down, then make those predictions.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Pay off with FanDuel and NBA Profit Boosts. Simply make your bet. Activate your boost and go for even bigger winnings. Taking a look at the board. How about the Celtics being a four and a half point favorite in game five at home against the Knicks? When the model is the model, They just cannot quit those teams.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And I'm not suggesting that I understand this better than the people who put these numbers out there. For the record, again, I do not. Although I still hate myself for not betting the under game for Denver after watching what those guys did less than 48 hours later or earlier, I should say, in game three. So let's take a look at Denver at Oklahoma City.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I do feel like that closing moment of Game 4 for Oklahoma City could be the defining moment of this Thunder season and their postseason. That's how it felt to me. It feels a bit dramatic. So dramatic that I want to lay the 10 points at home against Denver. 10's a lot. I don't want to do that. But Moneyline is minus 480, so I don't want to do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

So is there a way I can find a way to bet on Oklahoma City, not have to lay the 10, not have to lay 480 to win 100? Can I figure out something that I think is likely to happen where I can get that number down, maybe even get on the plus side of things? So... Let's take a look. So Oklahoma City money line, Jamal Murray to score 15 or more points. Aaron Gordon to score 15 or more points.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Despite the regular season part of the evaluation where the Knicks struggled against the best teams, how these two teams matched up against each other, knowing that Detroit probably gave New York more of a series than we were expecting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

The reason it being there is even though I'm going with the other side that I'm picking against, it feels like Murray and Gordon have to score where if I'm trying to figure out secondary scores with Oklahoma City, it can be real hit or miss depending on who you're picking. You could go, hey, this guy can go for 20. You also could have four.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I don't see how Murray doesn't have 15 in the way this offense is running for Denver. I'd expect those guys, whether it's a blowout or survival mode, to be able to get that. So that's now actually plus 162 if you're going to Oklahoma City money line with those two prop bets. So that is the play.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Good to catch up with Chris Mannix, SI.com, in Chicago for the Combine. So we'll have some lottery stuff that we'll get to on the back end. But we start in New York, as I did with the pod today, where you have a Knicks team that has just shown their toughness in a way that even if I – I loved watching them last year in that Sixers series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

We know who Brunson is, but as I'd mentioned in the open, there's all this regular season stuff where it's like, I don't really think they're going to actually end up beating Boston. They're up 3-1, and then we have the Tatum injury. So before we get to the Tatum stuff and kind of Boston's big questions on the horizon here, what was your expectation in this series?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But at the same time, sometimes I think when we think one team is better than the other one, we expect them that they're just never supposed to lose a playoff game in that specific series, which isn't entirely fair and historically inaccurate. But now that we've seen this play out like this and you want to talk about toughness, New York is the tougher physical team. They're tougher mentally.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Yeah, I'm with you. The clutch numbers are alarming, and it just feels so unfair to look at, what do you want to do, five, six seasons of the Celtics group and have all the questions that you had about them

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

be reignited now like you know this is and it's like yeah but it's it feels a little dismissive a dismissive of championship another finals appearance but watching the shot selection and the settling and the lack of movement it's shocking a team this talented that is just had it happen to him twice in this series and can find themselves doing the same fucking things in game four.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Not to be that, but it just seems impossible that you could be in a timeout going, hey, we're doing it again. Let's stop doing it. And they can't. They can't seem to help themselves. And it starts to just... Again, I'm not... saying, wow, you know, what does 24 mean?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Um, because the ringing is a ring and it's so freaking hard to do this, but I'm, I'm just blown away that this group would fall into this trap.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

What are you ready to say about what the Knicks can do the rest of the way?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Maybe it's assuming a little bit here with OKC getting through Denver because there's some... I thought it was pretty cool how they put up the clutch numbers and where OKC had been in clutch moments against Denver. They throw up that graphic and then OKC closes as the much better clutch team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You just start to expect, even though the number with OKC was they've only played in 24 clutch games, lowest total. Then I'm kind of sitting there and be like, OK, but is the best team in the NBA now just going to suck because they weren't challenged enough?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

enough i mean 24 is still over 25 of the regular season games it's technically clutch games it just happens to be the least like boston played in 33 clutch games in 24 does it mean that boston was more conditioned for clutch things because they had seven more opportunities to like figure out who they were so it it's as they were struggling against denver and then you pop up that graphic it's like i guess these two things are connected but i just would

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

essentially sit there and be like, well, I refuse to believe that they're just now going to be bad in the clutch all the time because they're less comfortable than some of these other teams that had so many more opportunities to play clutch time during the regular season. So it is assuming a bit that they're just going to get through Denver.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Because if Denver had gotten through this, you'd be like, all right, well, look, they still have the best player in the world. I don't even know what I would do with Denver and Minnesota. I don't know if last year would have played in it, all of that. But I don't know that it's a reset because we're still obviously not done here with the second round. But are you...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You're really going to lose the heat. So, usually when you win a championship, you're able to put the toughness questions to bed. Remember one of the storylines prior to the season where they won the title, and they have the Marcus Smart trade. It's like, if this team is constantly questioned about the toughness of their stars, then why would you trade what is... at least on paper, I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And if you don't already have it, download the FanDuel app today to make every moment more. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Yeah, I think that's the right way to look at it because I feel like even by asking that question, I'm being dismissive of a lot of different stuff, but the realities of Oklahoma City gets through this and then Cleveland and Boston are both gone. There's nothing to feel but much better about your chances considering who was remaining in the field.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

When Boston played Oklahoma City this year, at no point did I think Boston was better than Oklahoma City, even with what would have Boston probably would have been a favorite had they made it through the West. But if you look at the regular season game, they took 55 threes on average in those two games against them. They didn't shoot it well. We can get the shot variant stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I think the way those games closed, I was like, this is a problem. This is a problem. But look, the only Boston question I have now is with the Tatum injury, what do you think? The questions that Boston is going to have to face are, based on the uncertainty, which we still have with what Tatum's injury is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But what do you think is the to-do list for this team if this is as bad as it looked last night?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I don't even know what I'm saying by saying on paper with Marcus Smart. I just felt like Marcus Smart was incredibly overrated. And I was like, if you're going with they can't win because he's gone, then you see a different basketball player than I do. And then they win the title.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Do you have any read on the Tatum injury?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I'm glad you also said it. Right. Because like that was very surprising to me because every Achilles injury we see, whether it's the Kobe one, the Dame one, James Wiseman, where it's almost confusion and then it's not painful and then you can walk. Yeah. So I'm glad you said it as well in the people that you've talked with. So keep going because I know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And despite these little things that we've, or maybe major things that we've talked about Boston offensively in some of these big spots, it's like, well, when you win a title, I think, even if you want to go through, which I think is totally fair, the competition in the East at the time I don't know how Dallas turned into an injured team through the audit of the 24 playoff run of the Celtics.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Some serious semantics work here with this Yana story where the headline yesterday and it set off a lot of buzz around the league. I'm sure you're well aware, especially being in Chicago, of just as soon as you land, I land yesterday, you get text. It's like, hey, I think, you know, what do you think? And all this different stuff. And it's like, OK, well, my position was always that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

If Giannis was happy, that was probably going to be good enough for me if I were Horst. It's been like, look, we have one of the stars of the league. He's terrific. The options around us are very limited. But going back into next year with this kind of player who's this special, and if we win 48, 50 games, like, who knows? And...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

There's a lot of teams that I do think, even look at the Knicks, going, okay, fine, we're not going to be the one or two seed, but let's just get in. Home court doesn't even seem to matter anymore in this modern version of the playoffs. A very... I don't want to even call it passive, but whenever Bill and I have these discussions of like, what do you think of this?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I think Cleveland just probably runs it back and says Garland was hurt because they were so good in the regular season. I always feel like the default setting for most of these GMs is just kind of run it back. This, however, feels a little different because Giannis' approach to say, I just wonder if there's some hinting there that really tells you that he's good with moving on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And if you're the Bucs, then it might be the move to just go, like, let's do it now. Because then if it gets nasty after another year, then the market for him is likely more limited. So I know you've talked to some people on it, so speculate away and tell us where you're at on this story.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But, you know, they were dominant and they smoked everybody. And now we're sitting here in 25 going, are they actually still incredibly flawed? Are they actually just not really that tough? Do they not respond to these moments, even though... I think there's a lot of games you can say, well, that's a tough win.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Yeah, the quote made me think, okay, this is probably the nicer version of what would be said in 26 if 26 went like 25 did. So even if Yana said the right things to me, I go, all right. Now, I think there's another part of this where over the years we were conditioned to be like, well, when your guy wants out, you don't really get to pick where he goes except – ironically, the Dame deal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

It's the same Bucks team where he wanted to go to one place and Portland's like, look, you're under contract and you can say whatever you want, but you have a longer-term deal here, so it's not going to be up to you as much.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

That's the part of this that I wonder, because if it is an open market where Milwaukee can trade him wherever they want, which I'd still be a little surprised if Giannis and his representation were just like, yeah, cool, let us know. Just let us know where we're going. That's usually not the way that it would work out for a player of this stature. So if it's an open market, like that's,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Maybe this changes everything for Milwaukee. Maybe it makes all the basketball sense, despite never wanting to move on from a player of his talent.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

That part is going to be really interesting because if you have four or five teams bidding on him, this is a completely different deal than just the give us what you can and you get to keep your good players because this is the only place that he said that'll go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

That's the kind of game that you don't win unless you have some of that toughness and belief in yourself. And yet here we are in this series. So Brunson... Again, even though I think Boston's done a really good job containing him through long stretches, last night the dam broke.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Yeah, look, I mean, there's a lot of really good stuff in there. And the price is... I mean, if Giannis is letting Milwaukee dictate between three to five different teams here, then the pricing of this is entirely different because so many of the other superstars that were traded, it's like you're going to lose the trade, the talent trade, other than the SGA and the picks for Paul George.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But the norm is... Hey, we're going to kind of throw like two, maybe a third pick in there. Granted, look, I know there's other deals like Gobert and Bridges, which with the swaps ends up being more picks. But if you're Milwaukee and you're like, all right, we're sorting through. Is there a Jalen Williams deal in this? I don't know who other than a man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And the defensive stuff that I think Boston's always been able to bank on in this series, even in the first couple games, because that was really more about their offense falling apart. Brunson's third quarter was just a reminder of what this dude is capable of. 25 points, not total, but he scored or assisted on 25 points in the third quarter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I mean, look, I like Tyree Eason too, but we're talking about Giannis. I hold out hope for Jabari, but I don't know that that's going to sell a ton of tickets. The Jalen Green price, especially after this playoff run, it's like, man, what are we actually getting?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Are we getting somebody else where it's like, cool, this guy's going to score a ton of points because Dame is out and Giannis isn't here anymore. So do we have... He's just a contract at this point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And even, look, even with the Nets, if you liked Cam Johnson and you liked the picks, I don't know why, because I've been told, like, Brooklyn, look out for Brooklyn, Brooklyn.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Why would Giannis be okay with that one, though? Like, cool, I'm in Brooklyn.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Yeah, I'm glad you got to the Presti part of this because if there's one GM who I would feel like would resist a positive or negative result in what he was going to do this summer, it would be Presti. He'll either look at his team and go, hey, I really like this team. Say him talking, we lose to Denver or we lose to Minnesota.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

if I really like this team and I like Chet and I like my double big situation and Giannis has a bit of an injury history and maybe does that screw up the SGA spacing? I'm just trying to figure out the stuff that they'd be talking about. Just because I lost when I wasn't supposed to, I'm not then going to trade away all these assets.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

If you look at some of the second spectrum numbers, and John Schulman had these on NBA.com, where you just get so used to seeing Tatum hunt Cat over and over and over again. I've talked about how the Celtics can be a little too hunt-happy in their approach offensively. Well, Brunson in game four attacked Przingis in the way they set this up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But then he'd be criticized like, oh, this guy's so patient and he's stockpiling all these picks and whatever, you just lost in the second round or if they were to lose in the Western Conference Finals. Because I think other teams would be more motivated after a disappointing playoff exit to go, we're going to change this whole thing around.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And as I say all those things, thinking that I would understand like Presti being very rational, perhaps the most irrational moment when you're eliminated. You'd say, hey, I just got Giannis. I've completely changed our ceiling.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And knowing that if SGA is on one side and Giannis is on the other side, even without the spacing that you would love to have from the guy that's on the non-ball side of what Vero Oklahoma City is running, We just have somebody now with whatever big you're keeping with his physical presence. It would be hard to argue against wanting to do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I don't know if they win a title, if it changes everything. I think a lot of times, sometimes that stuff is bullshit. I'm still not 100% sure I've ever believed that Durant didn't want to go to Golden State. It just sounded better when they lost and blew the 3-1 lead. that it was like, oh, now I can go ahead and do this because I still think he would have done it if they had won.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Is there any other team that we need to at least think about here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Okay. Last night, everybody loses their mind. Dallas wins the lottery because of the full circle drama of the Lakers. Everybody listening to this already knows the timeline, so I need to get into it. I don't understand living in a world where I believe every conspiracy theory. I don't understand it. I don't know if it's fun.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They set screens for Brunson against Przingis 21 times, against Horford 12 times. New York scored 37 points on 30 chances, so not total 33 possessions, which is 1.23 points per possession, which is a great number. Przingis has been a disaster in this series. And as soon as he comes in, they're going to get him caught in between a defensive decision.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I don't know if it's the people somehow root for things to be rigged to then justify things that don't go their way. Not to say that there aren't some things that certainly feel rigged. The lottery is not one of the things that I feel are rigged, uh, People love saying that it's rigged. I don't fucking get it. I'll never understand it. I don't know if it's rigged.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Why did Duncan end up in San Antonio of all of the people that ended up in San Antonio? It's like, yeah, let's give the Spurs. Let's give one of the smallest markets a guy that's going to be one of the greatest players in the history of this game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

so basically you'll have results be like well why would rose go here or why the zion one was weird when jim rome asked david stern about the lottery being rigged and granted i think he wanted the soundbite because it was good and played in here i still remember it years and years later it was because of the chris paul trade that they ignored that then they wanted to do it i don't know why i mean again unless you think that luca force was forced to the lakers and then the nba help i mean i everybody knows what the

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

the conspiracy theorists think on this stuff. But then when there are people like Zach Lowe, who was in a lot of room, Tim Bontemps, I don't know. Have you ever been in the room for the ping pong balls?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Oh, you were in it last night. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

and Brunson has been better attacking, pulling him out, than I think Tatum has against Gap. Bridges' fourth quarter, here we go again. He saved him in game two, and those jumpers, when he has the speed that he has off the pull-up, they're unguardable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

We agree on that. And as far as flattening it out at the top, I feel for silver in the NBA on this one because no one can make up their minds on this because when you had it at a 25% odd of winning this thing, um, Minnesota had the worst record. Philly had the worst record. Nets had the worst record. Phoenix had the worst record. So that's 15 through 18.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They all had a 25% chance of winning the lottery. They win the lottery. And then it's like, well, no, let's actually flatten this out a little bit more because now we're encouraging tanking in this race to have the worst record. So that all made sense between the play in game and changing the odds tanking, which is a huge problem. It's a huge problem for business. It's a dirty word.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Teams won't even say it when they're doing it. And when they're actually doing it, the lineups, they have to pretend that they're not. And then you get other teams bitching about other teams that are tanking where it's like you're doing it, too. But you're mad that they're tanking because their injury report, like, you know. Everybody knows. Everyone is guilty here at the table.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Everybody understands what's happening. And I don't blame the teams for doing it. Because again, the whole point is, especially if you're a team that has no cap space or no one wants your cap space, you can't pull off any trades. This is the only way that you can fix yourself. Unless you're the Miami Heat and three guys get together and decide to go down there. So we had something...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

that kind of work, but it still emphasized tanking. It de-emphasizes tanking, and now everybody's mad because teams that shouldn't be getting these top picks are getting these picks. I mean, when it came down to Dallas, San Antonio, the Sixers, and Charlotte, this doesn't happen a lot. I was rooting for Charlotte. I don't know that I can say out loud.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

If you're going as fast as he is with his arms and his reach and the angle at which he's fading away, and they're not even straight at you and step back all the time. There are times where he is coming off a corner, a screen, and it's a handoff. Sometimes it's a switch, and he's dribbling almost in a sprint to the baseline, angled away from the hoop, and then getting his body back.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

There's a lot of times over the years where I'm like, yeah, this is me rooting for the Hornets organization. But I was at that point because I could understand whether it's San Antonio getting lucky again, Dallas going through everything they went through, but at least good for those fans.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Although it just seems absurd that Nico is in this position just months removed from the worst trade in NBA history. And then the Sixers who had championship aspirations and then shut it down. And I don't blame those guys. Like they were unapologetic about it. Like we're, We are tanking. We're not going to pretend. But if you're Utah or you're Washington...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And not only did we not get the first pick, we're outside of this whole thing. Utah, who I wanted to get the first pick. I wanted Utah to get it. I am a little biased because I like Will Hardy so much. But I also think as an organization, star players, difference makers don't want to go there. So it has to be somebody that's homegrown.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And who knows, maybe the fourth and fifth or sixth or eighth pick in this draft end up being outside of probably Cooper, who seems like a pretty clean prospect. a real difference maker because that's happened before, obviously, with NBA draft pick history. But if you're Utah, you may have to get a little proactive here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Like, if those are going in, there's really nothing you can do because you're just not going to be able to contest it. So Bridges was terrific again. OG had a couple big shots after a disappointing Game 3. Cat can't hit threes in this series. You know, the great pick-and-roll stuff that we saw from Brunson and Cat during the regular season, the pick-and-pop stuff where it's like it's just –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I know you have more on the Combine and more rumors and all that kind of stuff coming up on SI.com this week, so enjoy Chicago, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And now it's time for today's winning bundle segment presented by State Farm. In basketball, it's all about that trusted coach-player connection. When a coach has a player's back, bold plays happen, just like when your team has every piece in place. State Farm isn't just an insurance company.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They're the teammate on your bench, whether it's a fender bender, store of damage, or even just a quick policy question. Your agent is there to listen, assist, and help you choose the right coverage when it matters most. That said, a few standout winning bundles come to mind. We have talked about

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

coaches but let's talk a little bit about teammates here Minnesota fans it was probably rough at times after the cat trade you're thinking was this really the best move this team made it to the Western Conference Finals they're still really young few shots here a few shots there maybe this team is playing for an NBA championship who knows what would happen in a matchup where Minnesota was probably more equipped

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

than Dallas to deal with Boston. But as the season progressed, you were probably still disappointed. Maybe even disappointed in some of those DiVincenzo missed threes. But what we have seen is perhaps the vision that this front office had in pairing up not just a coach and a player, but two teammates. that were supposed to fit better in the playoffs. Off-ball, Julius Randle.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

On-ball, Julius Randle. The option that is a secondary option to Ant. Ant, who is a teammate who, despite taking the face of the franchise label away from Cat, seemed to do it with such graciousness.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And then now with the team clearly being his and his aggressive killer basketball mentality still wants the dudes around him to get involved, knows that Randall has to have these big moments if this team can compete for an NBA championship.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

All of this, maybe it's matchups with the Lakers and Golden State, but all of this seems to be coming into play at the perfect time as Minnesota closed with a great regular season stretch, the healthiest they've been all season, playing the defense that we'd expect from this group and having variety on offense that I think this front office envisioned after they moved on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

going to challenge your offense or excuse me he's going to challenge your defense cats one to ten on threes but he's killing boston on the glass 14 rebounds a game he was 11 and 15 last night new york in the paint dominant 73 on those shots at 64 32 points in the paint advantage and the double big lineup has been a major problem for boston Perzingis, again, lost.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

from somebody as talented as Carl Anthony Towns. That feels like a winning combination. Off the court, you still need teammates who are there when it counts. That's where State Farm comes in with agents to help you choose coverage that's right for you. You can focus on what really matters, whether that's hitting game winners or just getting through the day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. State Farm coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Our email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. I left this out in the open. I just want to acknowledge it. The ant and one finish with his left hand was insane. That is all. Hi, Kyle.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I've never seen that again. I don't play a ton. Uh, and this has all been kind of new as I've jumped it back into it again. I've never heard of that move. I've seen some stuff, uh, going back to earlier days. I've seen somebody hit it back at somebody when they hit into them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Sometimes when somebody hits into you, if they aren't good, no, no, but there are, there are times where people get really, really mad about it. Okay. Um, And I got really mad at that part three because I didn't, the first time it happened to me, I was like, is this guy actually doing this? And then when I hit my tee shot and went to walk to the green, he hit his shot over me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I don't know that you can deem him unplayable. It's almost like they're trying to figure out if they can discover something from him, but those are during very valuable playoff minutes. Horford, it's going to be up and down at this stage of his career.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

So I was like, okay, this guy's just being an absolute dick. And then once I confronted him, he just gave me an extra helping a dick with a side of dick. Right. And so I... Yeah. I'm sure somebody's going to say, oh yeah, that's something guys do. This guy sucks. He sucks. He's giving you lessons and he's mad about literally everything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But I guess my original point is that I think sometimes we have to have a little bit more

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

allowance on people hitting into you because i've seen bad golfers hit into somebody because they just hit the best shot they're going to hit all day and they never hit it that far with their iron and they compress it and it just goes way farther than they expected it to yes and it's just we all need to at times understand like some stuff is going to happen i don't care who you are you're probably going to hit an errant shot

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You're going to hit it. I mean, look, it's a little different when you're slicing it and hitting somebody else's approach while they're in the opposite fairway. And you just feel like an asshole because you've hit a terrible shot. But I mean, there's a lot of times where I think, even though I don't play that often, you'll notice it feels like somebody's hitting up on you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And then they're waving, almost apologize if you're hitting this great shot because they didn't expect it to happen. Sure, they could be a little... The hardcore golfer is going to tell us that none of this stuff should ever really happen. But it sounds like you played with an insane person. So...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I think you take the highs and appreciate what he does in Game 3 with the effort, and then you wonder what it's going to look like coming back 48 hours later. And then Luke Cornett in eight minutes last night had zero rebounds. So, you know, New York was a team that was tough to get behind because of... Well, I would say it this way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

about that when i come and play i don't want to play with him all right just a heads up all right i'm gonna say you sure you don't want to get better he's giving out lessons all right

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Anyway, Harvey. Yeah, it was like the caddies who are really good. We had caddies at Riv and then at Pinehurst. And the stuff they were saying on the greens, eventually I had to say, hey, you got to just stop talking to me about any of this stuff because I don't know what the fuck you're saying. I don't have a percentage thing down in my head. I don't know what give away the hole means.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I don't care about the grain of the grass. I'm sure these are all awesome things that people who are better appreciate all this stuff. But you're giving me like three things to think about now, which is the last thing I need. While I'm putting. All right, Oregon, what's up? Oh, the drama builds.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You don't got to get ready, dude. Okay. A couple of emails here. Package problems. Five, nine, 200 pounds, 33 years old. Don't have impressive gym numbers, but I've had the same knee injury as Lonzo. So I got that going for me. Ouch. Bought a home in Fort Collins, summer of 2020. Good timing on that home purchase. I bet Zillow must be fun to look at. And I mean that as a compliment, not sarcastic.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Been a bachelor in it ever since, since getting mail and packages for the previous owners nearly five years later. Five years later, you're still getting packages. The previous owners didn't move that far from what is now my home, and we had exchange numbers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I initially extended them the courtesy of letting them know when something came through to the old address and letting them pick it up off the porch. Around Christmas of that year, I started to feel it was getting excessive. A decent number of Christmas packages that they were clearly ordering showed up at my place where I felt safe.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They could have easily checked the address ahead of time when they made a pickup run. They didn't check closely and took a package that was for me off of my doorstep that I wasn't aware was there yet. Took them a couple of days to bring it back after the Christmas package occurred. I asked them to please resubmit mail forwarding with the post office.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I was still getting quite a bit of their mail where they were coming by every week or two. They claimed they did. And while the amount of mail I received got lesser, it never dropped to zero and still included the occasional package where it was obvious they just weren't verifying the addresses before purchasing things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Before the playoffs started, you're like, hey, I think the Knicks can win the East. That was tough. I wasn't going to go there with it. I don't know how many people actually thought that it could possibly happen. And there was a lot of real stuff from the regular season that would prevent me from getting there. If you look at who they were against Boston, Cleveland, and OKC, they were 0-10.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

During tax season of 21, uh-oh, after getting clearly important tax documents for them again and asked for mail forwarding to be submitted, at this point, I became tired enough of collecting their mail that for things coming through standard USPS, I adopted the policy of rejecting the delivery when possible or returning it to sender. That sounds like a pain in the ass, too. However,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Yeah, there's still the occasional package that would show up in my address, and these can be harder to deal with as they are usually just left on my porch. Often, I do not know which shipping company delivered a package, so the tactic of refusing the delivery is not usually an option. Do you think I'm off base for being frustrated by this and thinking it excessive? No. Quick answer, no.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

It's five years, dude. What do you all recommend I do when these packages show up on my porch? Stop being petty and reach back out to the folks I bought the house from or reach out to the vendor and ask how I can return these packages. Reaching out to the vendors feels like a bit of a chore and I don't really want to take on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

As the chore of collecting the previous owner's shipments has gotten to me as well, is there an alternative option I'm missing here? I gotta be honest with you for like the small thing that absolutely sucks. This kind of nails it because it's not that big of a deal, but it's the water torture of hassles because it's just never stopping.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And, you know, look, you move into a house, you're always going to get mail from a previous owner. Uh, I've received it everywhere I've lived, uh, Oddly, I received some jewelry from China, I think. And I didn't open it up. I didn't know what to do. I probably set it aside thinking, hey, I'm going to reach back out. I remember one time I got this hardware.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I got like a bunch of handles for drawers and cabinets. And I reached out to the vendor. I sent it back to the vendor. They sent it back to me. I called the place who had ordered it because, you know, look, I love the hardware and I'm thinking whoever ordered this, like this was going to outfit an entire kitchen. They're wondering where this shit is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Yeah. Like I'm holding up finished carpenters i'm holding up painting like i've got to get these into the right place i called after they'd send it back to me i'm like can you give me the contact of the person who ordered these of course we can't do that sir um it went on and on and on and then i threw them away because i didn't need more hardware have you guys heard of like drop shipping yes

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

What's that, Wargon?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They lost by an average of almost 17 points in those 10 games. If you look at their record against teams that were 500 or better during the regular season... The Knicks were 15-23. That was worse than the top seven teams in the West. And only Detroit had a worse record against 500 or better teams in the top six in the East.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Who would bomb you? Hold the reference. Exactly. No, I think this guy's totally right. The whole reaching out to the vendor. Again, I've tried it once. It sucked. It was worse. So that's not really a solution. I'd ask how old they are. I think that would be how I would handle this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

If they're really old and they keep forgetting to click on, you know, you're ordering something for Amazon and every now and then I'll send my dad a new book. And then the next time I may go to Amazon, then right before I'm about to check out, I'm like, oh wait, I've got to go back to my original address. Now you'd like to think that most people can figure this out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Like this isn't new now ordering stuff online. But there is an age, if they're north of this age, I would tell you, all right, as far as the traditional male, you can throw it away. It sounds like that has been sorted somewhat since the 21 tax thing. But if they're old... I think you're just, they're not going to learn a lesson at this point, dude.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They're on your route and you want to start throwing their stuff away. Like that would, Hey, we've got some people listening right now and be like, keep all of it, throw it all away. These people need to be taught a lesson. Yeah. South of a certain number. Maybe that is the move. Just start opening up your shit. Girlfriend comes over. You're like, you have a lot of food prep containers. Sure do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You can't beat the cost, you know? And they come by and you're going to, it's a crock pot and an air fryer. Yeah. you know, look them right in the eye and be like, did you get those, those chair pads for a hardwood floors? These are great pulls by you. Yeah. Chair socks. No, I didn't. And then they look in, they're like, I think those are, Nope, not them. I got them at a different store.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Michael's ever heard of it. So I just, I feel for you here, but ultimately you're going to have to decide.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I'm not going to suggest you throw away someone else's items, but that's going to be for you to decide if you're going to throw them away, if you're going to keep them, if they need to be taught some kind of lesson here, because five years later for you to be this, you're like a customs port for their imports. You didn't sign up for that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

So, yeah, we can go through and say Mitchell Robinson didn't play in a bunch of those games. But still, and look, if Mitchell Robinson is this much of a difference, extend him now. And he has been really good. He's been really good consistently. I mean, the game three numbers, I'm not sure what to do with those. But in the three wins, it's a real difference.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Your wife ordered bird feed. Yeah. And mistakenly had it delivered to Simmons house.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You can't just text Bill and be like, hey, you got any bird feed over there that doesn't make any sense? I didn't. I guess I could have. I guess I could have. I was just like, wow, we lost that one. Uh, speaking of bill, this happens now weekly and I'm sick of it. Six, five, two 15 bench, two 35. Don't squat or deadlift because the lower back isn't quite what it used to be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

On today's episode of the podcast, we will dig into New York taking a 3-1 lead in the second round of Eastern Conference playoffs, what this means for the Knicks, how they've been the tougher team, and of course, a disastrous close to this game for the Celtics and also the Tatum injury. A little bit on Ant's big night at Golden State, and we've got Chris Mannix, who is...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But my proudest stat of any category is I led the conference in personal fouls, both my junior and senior year of college. Wow. That's awesome. Um, Player comp, Daniel Tice, undersized big that walls up, makes the right plays, always inadvertently getting hit in the face. Yeah, but that doesn't make sense because it sounds like you like retribution.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Tice just likes getting hit in the face, complaining, and never doing anything about it to make it stop. I like Tice kind of, maybe as a third center, but I would have really liked him even more if he was like, enough of this. I'm getting hit in the face all the time. I'm going to now push somebody. I'll make this quick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

My wife was all caps furious about Bill's Chewbacca take on the Star Wars rewatchable episode. I know there's no way Bill reads any emails. Can you please sort this message to him from my wife? No. And it's further notice this podcast. Stop sending us emails that you want to get to Bill. One, I can tell you Bill doesn't care. I know I don't.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But if I were then to forward something to Bill and be like, hey, here's an observation. Here's a business proposal. I had to learn about the soft no bills thing. there's just when Bill's like, Oh, that's interesting. That's a no.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And with him being in there with Cat, you know, Cat not hitting the threes and those two guys just beating up, like every rebound is a problem. Even when the Celtics defensive rebound, there's almost a delay of a couple touches and a couple tips where it's like just grinding on you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

You know, it's just in the beginning, there was somebody who had written a book and they were like, I think it's going to be something super interesting to Bill. Would he write the forward? I didn't realize it was already a no. And so I thought I was like the go between. And then I did a few of those and it was just like, this guy's super busy. He,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

is going to do things his way again these are not criticisms you just have to understand his day-to-day being slammed with a million things and he's only going to work on the things uh because he's working on a million things at the same time so to further extend um this this little protocol we have here we're just getting a lot of emails be like can you send this to bill can you send this to bill we're not going to tell bill about what your wife thinks about his chewbacca take

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

from the star Wars rewatchable pod. Cause he doesn't care. Yeah. Think about it for one second.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

The emails that start with, can you forward this to bill? I forwarded zero of those ever. Not even like a funny one. Like it's so ridiculous. Um, he, I, let me just put it this way. I've never shared anything with him before. off of the request. Right. There's probably something where it was somebody who knew something or it was like, Hey, did you ever, I don't, I forget.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I forget who, I'll keep this vague, but there was somebody that worked in a front office that no longer works in a front office. And it told us, hey, I'm never working in a front office, but I have stories for days. And he started sharing some of the stories with me. And he was, I don't even know if I reached back out to him. I may have, I may not have, but it was like, if this guy comes on,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

and is a guest on the pod and shares these stories, it's gonna be a big deal. But it also felt like, even though, again, I don't know that I'm holding myself to some sort of journalistic standard every single day as just a podcast host,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

it probably would be incredibly unfair to the person that he was going to be criticizing so if that guy still listens to the pod he knows exactly who i'm talking about and i think i shared some of those anecdotes with bill because they were incredible um and as entertaining as they were we may even talk this out on the pod a little bit about like somebody wants to come on but um you know whatever and it was also like hey i'm never doing this again all right one more email um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And a bit like that running the football stuff that we've talked about, where is Houston going to be able to wear down a Golden State? Didn't work out. Their offense isn't good enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Let's go with the shower here. I like this one. Just going to make sure I find it. Because right now, I can't seem to find it. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

delay on the pod be nice if we had some we just edit in some elevator music something you'd hear at TJ Maxx can you do that from like the music that we're allowed to play we got a whole library dude we'll find something yeah I'd love that okay here we go we found it two guys oh one shower two bios here what are we talking about 6'2", 180, 155 bench, but trying to get that number up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Player comp, Warriors, Iguodala. Point forward, who pushes the ball, delivers crisp passes while giving you some high effort defense and streaky shooting. 6'2", no gym stats. Eddie Curry, big man with handle and touch, but lacking stamina. All right, here's the email. Single guy, mid-20s, living in a major northeast city with two of my closest childhood friends. I'll cut straight to the chase.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

My roommate, call him Jake, is on vacation in Ireland for the next week. Or so, is it acceptable to use his shower while he's gone? To set the scene, our apartment is a three bed, three bath, two floor complex. Wait, so you guys got three beds and three bathrooms? All right. Two floor complex. And while it's great that everyone gets their own bathroom, not each facility is built the same.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Does Minnesota absolutely wear down the Lakers in the fourth quarter because of their size and just all of the contested rebounds and all the physical shit that's just happening right around the rim over the course of a 48-minute game? The toll that you are paying playing against that when you are just not matching their size.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

My other roommate and I's bathroom are your standard run of the mill curtain bathtub setups. One could say they're a bit cramped. However, Jake's bathroom on his own floor is larger. It comes with a glass shower doors, marble counters, and a modern architectural feel, which is a departure from the rest of the bathrooms. In short, it's objectively the best bathroom.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I've honestly been tempted to try it when he's out of the house, but fear of his coming home and catching me in the act has always prevented me from discovering this great unknown. After consulting with my other roommate, I know he feels the same. So our question is, would it be weird to use Jake's shower while he's across the pond?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

He'll probably never find out or even care if someone did, but we need a ruling. Is it an invasion of personal space to use another man's shower or is it completely unacceptable? Are we overthinking this? Love the pod. I'd like to get a ruling before he gets back to the States. I'm trying it once.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Be respectful. I'd say getting that shower. Uh, You know, it depends on what Jake's deal is, because the thing is, if he doesn't care, then you are overthinking it. The thing is, though, is if he does really care, it might be even more rewarding. It's like having sex in public, you know, where you're just going, I know I shouldn't be doing this, but God, do I feel fresh. And so clean.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

There's something that I have similar as far as my living resume. The last year we were in college, lived in this massive house, and the bedroom thing was never going to be even. I was, I'd say, the second poorest of the six. Sully was the poorest, so he took the worst room. It was on the living room floor. The room absolutely sucked. It's a nice metaphor for society. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Boston should, at least on paper, with their different big lineups, be able to have the kind of size, but it's not – It is a problem down there, again, for all these numbers that we can point to. So Boston's blown a 20-point lead, a 20-point lead, and a 14-point lead in the third quarters in these losses. I've talked about the hunting part of this. Boston had the defensive lapses.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

yeah he just he was like look i'll take the shitty room because then we started like changing up the rent i mean this turned into a fiasco uh So basically, then we had like tiers of what everyone should have to pay based on what their room was. So there was an upstairs bedroom that was massive with cathedral ceilings, but it was still like all the way upstairs. And it was kind of this odd room.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And then there was like a loft area off of that where the stairwell just went right into the center. And then Bob, who was in that side of it, actually just straight up framed out a wall, sheetrock, painted the fucking wall. He just decided... I'm throwing a wall up in this house because I don't want everyone coming up to the third floor. And now my bedroom is like this greeting loft area.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

So he took it upon himself to do that. I had, um, cause I think, I was never going to get the best room because I didn't have the money and no one would want me to have the best room. But they also wouldn't want to have me have the worst room because they were like, then we're going to have to deal with Ursula having the worst room.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

So we have to just kind of keep him... Let's just try to keep his emotions as neutral as we possibly can. So I got like a standard normal... just bedroom with a door. Uh, and there was, there was three rooms on that floor that were all actually like traditional bedrooms. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Well, I haven't gotten into like the clincher of it all is because there was two normal bedrooms. Me and another guy were in those. And then you had this weird cathedral, like sort of awesome, huge room. But then it was like, also you had to go through Bob's room that now was a real room because he had the wall and Chris's room sucked and no one ever went to Chris.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Like it was a room that was incapable of hosting anyone. Uh, I at least had like a couch and a fridge and like a bit of a setup. And then I kind of tore out my closet to put the entertainment center into the closet. And so then there was the master bedroom and the master bedroom was insane. It was arguably the nicest bedroom ever. any student at UVM could possibly have.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I'm talking of anyone that was there that was living off campus. I don't know that anybody could have had a better bedroom than what was the master because the guy who built the house built the house for himself. Then ultimately it was like, I don't want to live in this house anymore. It had a entire living room inside of the bedroom. It had this massive bathroom with a jacuzzi bathtub in there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And then also a little bathroom, like deck, a balcony area that looked out over the lake. And it was also like these, these Bay windows that also looked down at the lake. I mean, it was nuts. It was nuts that this bedroom existed or is even a chance for it to be there for somebody. So the guy that probably would be visited the least got that bedroom and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And so no one ever actually really hung out in there. Nobody was ever allowed to use the bathroom because it was his. And then there was this entire rent controversy because then like a few months in after we decided like, Hey, if the standard, if the median price is 300, then you should be at three 50. And since Chris's room absolutely sucks, it should be like two 50. Right. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Bridges also hit great shots. They let Brunson get looser in that third quarter than I think they have at any longer stretch throughout this entire series. But this game started to fall apart. Once again, if you're a Celtics fan, you've seen it before. Hey, they're going to get the switch. Hey, they're going to take forever on the shot clock and they're going to run this out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And I think there was only two of us that were actually paying our own rent. The two poorest kids. Right. Uh, So then there was, I remember it was like the weirdest time of the entire thing is that the house had been handed down over the years, cool guy group to cool guy group, right? And I think some of previous cool guys were visiting and so they wanted to come back to their house.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And then the guy who was on our group, who was actually having to pay more after we decided like, we can't have you with this room be paying the same as Chris, this room sucks. And then I think he came up and was like, hey, I just talked to so-and-so. It was like, those guys said they just split it even, Steven, six ways. Like, well, it's fucking 3 a.m. We'll table this until the next minutes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Like, we can't do this right now or whatever. And he was so mad at us. And when he got so mad at us, I think then guys were determined. They were like, we are bathing. Whenever he is gone, we are bathing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

in that room even though he's paying like 50 bucks more so it really feels like your decision is going to be based on jake's level of caring because i think i'd be motivated the more he cared yeah and it sounds like you're not even sure if you will so i'd say go in there give it a little test drive but be careful be careful because then you have to go back to your shower

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And maybe it's better never knowing. Okay, I think that's enough. I think we got enough on that one. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Waragon. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. Thank you for checking out our podcast during the NBA playoffs. We've got Mike Breen, I believe, on Thursday. So we are just... Allison's been awesome with the guests, as she always is. So check out our podcast on Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

It's also a video podcast. Subscribe to our YouTube page. The Ryan Russell Podcast. Ring or Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Must be 21 and older. Present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut. Or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And I think there's a very common thing that happens with basketball players is when you're a little bit more tired. that three with a little space just feels a lot better than driving against all of the contact that you're going to face in a playoff game. Kat's done a better job holding up, and the help has been there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And you start cheating off of some guys later in the game, going, you know what, I'd still rather clog up Tatum here than make sure I'm getting a contest on Drew Holiday or Przingis, who can't make a shot, or for who you're going to cheat off on. And, you know, Derek White, who lights it up in the first half, you're not going to cheat off of him necessarily, but you understand the point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Like, hey, I still want to try to shut off Tatum. And once Tatum gets shut off a few times, as great as he was, there was that settling stretch that Celtics fans are so familiar with. And there's just maddening threes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I mean, some of the shot selection, how terrible it was when they needed something, where it's like you're playing right into the team's, the defense's hands by bailing them out with some of these terrible shots. So, Let's get to Tatum because this part sucks. So the offense is falling apart. They get a timeout.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They're going to run something very different to finally get a different look than just running something at the top and then taking forever. And settling. So they have it with Tatum off the ball. He's on the right elbow. Jalen Brown's going to come off the left elbow with a screen. They get it down to Tatum in that high post catch on the elbow.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

But again, they didn't want Tatum coming off a screen and doing what they had just done as they were falling apart here. And as Jalen Brown tries to secure the ball, it gets knocked away. OG gets it, goes the other way, dunk, three minutes left. It's 113-104 and Tatum is down and he's down bad. Now this is somebody since he's been drafted in 2017 has played the most minutes in the NBA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

He does not miss games. So whatever the Tatum arguments have been, one of the defaults with him is, OK, fine, he's not those other three or four guys, but this dude plays all the time. And now by the taping of right now, we still don't have the definitive word on what the injury is, but he needed to be helped off. He couldn't put any anything down on that leg.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Going to give us all of the lottery perspective that we need, as it reminds me that he was in the room last night for the ping pong balls. But we do a ton of stuff on the playoffs and also some speculation about a new home, perhaps, for Giannis this summer. And life advice. New York is where we start. They're up 3-1 in this second round series with the Celtics.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I'm not necessarily going to speculate, even though I think some of the speculation on it was a little weird. Because usually if it's the Achilles, you can walk. But again, I'm kind of now doing the thing that I said that I wasn't going to do. So I'm going to stop myself right there. So look, you could sit there and say, hey, if Tatum stays in the game, they're still in it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Three minutes, nine points, not the end of the world. Weird stuff has happened. Have you been listening the last 12 minutes? Because I don't know. I don't know that there was anything offensively that Boston does when stuff gets tight that you necessarily feel really good about. It looks really good for like three-something quarters, and then it doesn't. So...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I think much like the Lillard injury where we allow ourselves to speculate on what this means, at least for Milwaukee's case, the speculation on Giannis that we're going to talk to Mannix about a little bit later here. We're going to do the same thing with Boston. Injury topics are always a little weird.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I think in a way it's nice that everybody can be really sensitive to it and feel bad for Tatum and what this will mean if it's a major injury, what it will mean for his career. I remember when Gordon Hayward went down with that broken ankle at the very start of the Celtics season, and I was at home, and I just thought, okay, I wonder what their offense is going to look like now with Hayward.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And I'd sent a tweet out or something that was just like, okay, this will be interesting to see what the attack is, and I think Marcus Smart's probably going to try to fill that void. And it was like, you would have thought I tweeted something about a president. It's like, how dare you? You know?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

And I was like thrown off because all I was thinking about, like back to the days of doing TV for the Celtics, if you've gone into halftime, you're like, Hey, what do you think the offense is going to look like without Hayward's injury? You would say, Hey, this is what I think will or won't happen. Um, It was it was weird.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

Like somebody got so mad at me that I was so mad that I actually DM the person, which I literally almost never do. And I thought my thing was pretty straightforward. And then somebody had said to me, like, hey, that's very Skip Baelish ish, which I didn't appreciate because Skip's tweet when Hayward went down was a week east gets even easier for LeBron. And I was like that fucking guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I was like, yeah, I don't think those are the same. I don't think that they're the same. But we did it in Milwaukee. We're going to do it in Boston because the Boston part of this is significant. Because if you look at Bobby Marks' projections, ESPN, Cap Guy, terrific. Love Bobby.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

With the first round draft pick the Celtics will have, without resigning anyone, they're looking at a payroll with their tax bill north of $500 million, which has never, ever happened before. So you have new ownership coming in, but some scenario where Wick is still really involved. And look, Wick, throughout his entire ownership, I think his run is incredible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

It's not just the two rings, it's that... This team was very proactive. When they had a decision of whether or not they should spend, they always spent. Wick and his group are the guys you would want owning your favorite basketball team. And you bring in a price tag of $6 billion and the new ownership's like, so what's going on now? How's that tax work going?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

I thought these teams were like 230 million a year. It's 500 million. So can we trade that draft pick again? That's a lot to ask if this team had been able to pull off a repeat. Seems unlikely now. If they didn't repeat or don't, is it easier to make some sort of move? If Tatum's not playing, if Jalen Brown was the one player, because Jalen's owed $235 million more on his contract.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They are one win away from their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2000, where they lost to the Pacers in six games. Ewing, not super healthy in that series, played in four, really only played in three games. But look... I'll go through all of it, much like you've heard me talk about these two teams all season long.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

So if you were just running through the scenarios going like, okay, could you trade that contract out in a way where you feel like you're resetting yourself financially, but you're resetting the roster around Tatum? Even if the last thing you would want to do is the new owners, like the first thing we're doing is cutting costs because a lot of new owners, they may do something that's expensive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix

They don't want to do to avoid the PR hit of like the first thing that you do. And again, I warn any fan base, new owner syndrome is real. It has gone on for decades. Usually in that first 12 to 18 months, the new ownership group does something that'll end up being one of the dumbest things they do on their entire ownership resume. Dallas Mavericks, nice reminder.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Totally agree. I would be bummed by this offseason if I were a Seahawks fan. It just goes to a lot of the things we talk. It doesn't matter the sport where it's like a guy was bad. A guy was put in a certain situation. He played better for one year. And then you're the team that pays him based off of that one year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yeah, I think there and there's two things that go along with that. One is the smart teams are saying, hey, let's give out these big signing bonuses. We can extend them into the future and we know the cap's going up. So it's not a big deal if this guy's not even on our team and we've got five million dollars on the cap three, four, five years from now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Like that's something that the Cowboys aren't doing enough of. And that's why they keep looking around going, how are these teams doing? signing all these players and able to do it. It's because they're employing that tactic that you're not employing. That's one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

And then from a player perspective, I think this has been less talked about, but there are more players who just signed a deal in the last two years who now look around and go, wait, that guy got what? I'm way better than him. And before it used to be teams would say, well, sorry, you're under contract. You know, when you get to your last year, We'll talk about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

But now teams have to kind of be like, if you really want the player and you're worried about locker room harmony and all that kind of thing, you have to revisit some of those things or guarantee some money or extend or, you know, what the Eagles kind of did with Saquon Barkley.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Like that's the type of thing that teams would not have been doing five, six, 10 years ago, where now they've got to figure out who are we willing to do that with because these players are looking around and, just a year or two after they signed and the cap's going up and they're saying, I'm already underpaid.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

boom or bust. It feels like I did make a joke on a group chat earlier that the hundred snaps, those two guys play together next year are going to be electric. It was mean. It was mean. It was me. No, I didn't know if I should have that for public consumption, but if it hits, it's going to be really exciting. I like the scheme fit because Vance Joseph is just like chaos blitz. creative.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

I mean, I mean, to me, so much of this is just about the environment and the infrastructure and the moves that the Seahawks made were like you said, you don't have Kevin O'Connell's not coming over with you. Justin Jefferson's not coming over with you. You have offensive line issues. He's playing outside. And now you're expecting him to maintain his level of play from last year or improve.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Like this is not a defense that just lines up and plays. They do all kinds of things. And I think those two players specifically thrive in that chaotic atmosphere, Greenlaw and Hufanga. So I hope they both stay healthy. They're both very fun players, athletic.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

You know, there's a chance a year or two from now we're saying, all right, they didn't really get anything from that, but if it hits, I think it'll hit in a big way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yeah, I had him in the same ballpark when I did my rankings. You know, I think Ward is more of like just kind of line up on a guy and can really lock them down. Murphy's more of a playmaker. If you're playing zone, he can come up with turnovers and pass breakups. So there was a group of guys there, you know, with Charverius Ward. It was Murphy, Carlton Davis, DJ Reed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

There were kind of like four or five corners that I thought were in a similar range, depending on your scheme and your preference there. So Colts usually sit out free agency. I never know what the Colts are doing. I mean, again, they're sort of in that Saints thing where you're just like, what am I supposed to make of this team?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

You know, there was all this conversation about they're going to bring in competition for Anthony Richardson. And now they signed Daniel Jones. And it's like, oh, like, what do you have if you have an Anthony Richardson? Is that the... I mean... I don't want to say that's the saddest quarterback competition because there have been sadder ones.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

But I don't know how excited I would be if I were a Colts fan. And it's like, all right, Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones here this summer. And we upgraded our second year. Where does that really leave you going into the next season or the next three seasons? So some of these teams are just sort of stuck in the middle, I feel like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

I would rather have Daniel Jones if the price is the same. I would not even maintain a relationship with Zach Wilson's agent, not to be mean about it, but I would be listening. I would just be like, listen, man, it's not happening here. Yeah. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Can it happen? Sure. Weird things happen all the time. They surprise us. So it could happen. He's young enough. I don't think that's the most likely scenario for Sam Darnold in Seattle.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yeah, I thought it was fine. I mean, the wide receiver market is nuts. And so you look at it and you say $12 million sounds like a lot. That's like wide receiver three money, really, when you look at what guys get in that role. So I think he'll fill a complementary role. They kind of proved last year that they can have an elite offense without having that number one go-to wide receiver.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

And so they extended Khalil Shakir. They've got... Keon Coleman coming back. They've got two tight ends. They've got James Cook. And so Palmer, it's just like, be where you're supposed to be, catch the football and fill that complimentary role. So yeah, I thought that was a fine move by them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yes, I do get that sense from our friend Bill Simmons as well, that it's getting celebrated quite a bit. I feel like with Milton Williams, it's sort of like the, you know, the band or whatever that you liked before they were popular. And then they get and now everyone's like discovered them and you're like, all right, they were good. You know, they're not like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

you know, the Beatles or, or anything. So 20, I never thought this was within the realm of possibilities for Milton Williams, 26 million per year. Like you could have told me at any point before last season, during last season. And I would have laughed at you if you would have said he's going to be the third highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL. He's never played more than 50% of the snaps.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

He had five sacks and 10 quarterback hits last year. And that was playing alongside Jalen Carter, who I can tell you from the film was getting double-teamed. The center was sliding to Jalen Carter all the time, and it was Milton Williams versus a guard. So that is if I want to pour some cold water on the Milton Williams hype. Having said that, I really like Milton Williams.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

I think he's really good, and I think... If you're a team like the Patriots that had all this cap space, some of their other signings I wasn't sure about. But if you want to overpay for somebody, make it someone who's in their mid-20s, who plays a premium position, who has upside. And I think Milton Williams checks all those boxes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

So if you told me he really develops and he thrives with a larger role here in the next few seasons, I would believe that. So I get the signing. I do get a little concerned when teams kind of fall in love. in the off season, you know, when it's just like, we have to have that player. And there were reports that Milton Williams was signing with the Panthers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

And then the price just went up and up and up. And it felt like the Patriots got to a point where they're basically like, we're not taking no for an answer. Tell us what the number is that you need for him to be a Patriot and we'll get there. So he gets the $26 million per year. So, uh, I understand it. I don't know if he's going to be a $26 million per year player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

I don't know if he's going to be a top five defensive tackle in the NFL, but I do think he will be a very good, useful player for the Patriots and they need those guys up front.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

You get Ben Johnson as your offensive coordinator, who I really like. So that is an upgrade from whatever was happening with that scheme and that offense last year. And then I'm not positive that all their moves are going to work out, but I like when a team has a plan. And they trade for Jonah Jackson, the guard from the Rams. They trade for Joe Tooney from the Chiefs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

And then they sign Drew Dahlman, the center, from the Falcons. So three new starting offensive linemen. on the interior. Again, it might not work out. We might be in week seven next year going, wow, we really overrated those moves that the Bears made. Those guys all stink and he's getting hit all the time. That's possible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

But I like that they had a plan where they said, we are focusing our resources. are trying to protect this guy and give him a chance with the new play caller in Ben Johnson. So I feel like if you're Caleb Williams sitting around at the end of last season and Jaden Daniels getting all this hype and Drake Mays getting all this hype and you're like, man, my situation sucked last year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Now, at least you go into your second season feeling like you have a better chance to succeed. Again, it's not guaranteed to succeed, but I like that they at least had a plan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Between you saying the Justin Fields celebration and the Josh Power, I think the football hipsters have gotten to you. We need to look at your feeds on who's getting to you. You're getting the wrong influences, I feel like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

None of the hipsters love Palmer. Oh, they do? Yes. But the hipsters, is Fields a hipster guy? Yeah. No, no. The hipsters are like, just get him in the right spot. I will not give up on Justin Fields. I think the comp is hard. You're right. Is... There's a little bit of the Sam Darnold story, though, I would say. What do you think?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Like when you were describing that and you said franchise, everyone's going to blame the franchise if the quarterback's not good. Jet Spares, that fits. Everyone knew him from, you know, college, celebrated college player, talented arm. Hey, just get him in the right situation. He was screwed by his environment and it's going to work out. I feel like that might be the best case scenario.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

scenario for justin field if it works out now justin field is going to the jets the team that had sam darnold so i don't know that it's going to work out um and they're paying more you know the vikings took a flyer on sam darnold last year one year 10 million dollars the jets are going two years 40 million with 30 million guaranteed i mean i'm with you like i don't get the nfl sometimes a year ago literally any team in the nfl could have had justin field for a sixth round pick

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

The Bears were giving him away and no one would give up a fifth. So they took a sixth. Like, I just need to recap what you said. Then he goes to Pittsburgh, gets benched after six games. They're four and two. He gets benched for the corpse of Russell Wilson. And now his reputation is like better than it was a year ago. And you're paying him 30 million guaranteed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

So it is very confusing to me sometimes how much our opinions of these guys change year over year when it's like, was I watching something different than that? Like you said, if you look at the advanced stats last year with Justin Fields, He was like, you know, 33rd in dropback success rate, which just measures like every time you call a pass play, does something good happen?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

He was one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. Where he improved was he didn't turn the football over. Now, do you buy a six-game sample of him not turning the football over? Or do you look at his previous history where he was a turnover machine? So... I like to watch Justin Fields sometimes. He's exciting. He's talented. He's athletic. Maybe it will work out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

But yes, I would tend to agree with you that the most likely scenario is that you're getting below average starting quarterback play if you're the New York Jets.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yeah, I mean, I was just going to say, like, I'm not... crushing the jets for this. To me, it's a matter of expectations. Like you said, if you're someone who thinks they fix this, then I think you're wrong. And you're going to be disappointed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

If you, if you want to look at it and say they had to find a starting quarterback, they had to buy some time where they could potentially draft over Justin Fields or find someone else. It's a reasonable move in that respect. You know, the quarterback market is so weird in that he's the only quarterback in the NFL right now making between 15 and $30 million. So,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

this is not like a middle ground that exists. Either you are, Hey, you are a starter and you're over 30 million or a Tay. You're a backup like Daniel Jones or competing and you're under 15 million. So it's not a crazy amount of money when you look at the quarterback market. So if you say, Hey, he's going to go in there, they're going to run the football a lot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

They're going to include him in the run game. They're going to try to win with defense and they're going to continue to look for their quarterback of the future. That to me, is reasonable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

If you think, hey, he's, you know, he got screwed by Mike Tomlin last year because, yeah, Mike Tomlin doesn't know what he's talking about and he chose the quarterback who was not going to give him a better chance to win and you think Fields is going to thrive with the Jets. I mean, maybe, but that part would actually, would really surprise me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

I said if you watch the first 15 plays, I get it, but I would probably let someone else figure out if it's going to work or not with him. I don't understand why the Colts didn't try to, and maybe they did try to trade Anthony Richardson. They clearly hate the guy and don't want it to be their starter, but they're like, yeah, let's, you know, let's run it back him and Daniel Jones.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

So I was trying to get Anthony Richardson to Pittsburgh and just have them run the football 45 times a game and see what it looks like. But my plan didn't work out there. Trevor Lawrence is definitely on that list by the way of the, uh, the hipster. So I don't know where you're at with him, whether you're confident that he's going to bounce.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yeah. No, now, now I'm even after, yeah. Coming out with everyone. I think like Trevor Lawrence.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yeah, I think the case for it, and I've heard from smart people who are like, I get it, it is that he's way younger than Geno Smith. So if you hit, you hit for a longer period of time. I mean, if he plays well, like you said, not only on this contract, but he could be your guy for the next six, seven years. He's young enough... to do that. So you've got that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Just theringer.com. I'm analyzing every big signing on there so you can see them out daily. We'll analyze those. Ringer NFL show and then the Ringer's Philly special.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Thanks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

I think he's going to be cheaper than Gino, you know, by all the reporting, Gino Smith wants between 40 and $45 million. And that's what he's going to get from the, from the Raiders and Darnold comes in way lower than that. So it gives you resources to spend on other parts of the roster. So if you're paying him 75% of what Gino's going to make, he's younger and you get a third round pick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

That's the process part of it, where if you just took the name out of it and said, hey, what are they thinking? I think that's what they're thinking. I just have real concerns that it's going to work out for them. You know, I don't think this puts them closer to being a contender.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

When they traded DK Metcalf and Gino Smith, I thought, all right, if they go real cheap here at quarterback and are like, hey, let's we need a reset year. We need to improve the offensive line. Let's get some draft capital. I could have understood that. that logic.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

But when you make those moves to trade DK Metcalf and trade Gino Smith, and then you turn around and you pay Sam Darnold, that makes me a little nervous. And I just don't think, like I said, they're closer to contending now than they were at the end of the season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

I think it's okay. You know, I would have liked it for a contending team. I'm a little, the NFL trade market is so weird where, you know, you look at some of these and I can't figure out what they're going to go for. Like the going rate for a good wide receiver, a wide receiver one who's like 27, 28 years old has generally been a first round pick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

So that gets thrown out there and people are like, no way, you know, a friend I'm like, I don't know. DJ Moore was essentially treated like a first-round pick in that big Bears-Panthers trade. So I thought a team like the Chiefs or a contending team that need a little juice on the outside, I thought that would have made sense for them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Now, the Steelers are, again, they're kind of in this middle ground where we don't know who's playing quarterback for them. They've been looking for a wide receiver. And so I think teams look at it now that not only is it the draft capital, but when you have to give up the draft capital and then pay the guy... They're just really reluctant to do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

And so I thought it was a fine deal for the Steelers. You know, he's never hurt. He's been productive. He's what, 27, 28 years old. And it's a premium position that it's just hard to find those guys out there. So, yeah, I thought it was fine. I don't know that it changes my outlook on what the Steelers are going to be, but I thought it was a fine move for them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Jamison Williams, DK Metcalf, and George Pickens. Yeah. Let's find out what Mike Tomlin's really got. I'm with you. Maybe Antonio Brown wants to come back on a one-year? Something like that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

It's I've gone back and forth on this in the last 24 hours. I'm with you, y'all. I always like to look at it from the other team's perspective. Like what does Houston has more information on Laramie Tunsil than anybody else. And they have a rookie quarterback and they have a bad offensive line and he's their best offensive lineman.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

2016.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yet they're trading him at this point for, like you said, it's, I mean, it's a, it's a decent haul, but it's not like they're not getting a first round pick or anything out of this. So I do wonder what are they thinking now? It could be that they're me tonsils contracts up at the end of 2026. And they're saying, all right, we would have to pay him after this year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

And we definitely don't want to do that. Let's go ahead and get ahead of this. But that would make me a little nervous. From the commander's perspective, it's like a boom or bust move. There's a scenario where Laramie Tunsell is one of the five best left tackles in the NFL over the next three, four seasons. And you've got Jaden Daniels on a rookie contract.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

So I get the thinking from the commanders. He's entering his age 31 season. So you would think he's still got some time left where he can be a very good player. even though he's coming off a year where I think he led the NFL in penalties last season. And he's not a perfect player, but he is a very talented player. So I think I would do it if I were the commanders.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

You know, again, it's hard to find left tackles that are that talented who can give you that kind of play when you have a quarterback on a rookie contract. But it definitely does come with risk because of what you're saying from the Texans perspective. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

What's up, man? Good to see you. Lots of signings. This is my season, offseason. Better than in-season as far as I'm concerned.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

deal that, uh, you know, I thought the bucks did a great job. Uh, you know, they're, they're kind of underrated where it's like, they just sort of figured out, they end up winning the division every year. They get Chris Godwin, uh, was one of my favorite signings, 22 million per year, which you're like, well, that's still pretty expensive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Not if you look at the wide receiver market, you know, he, that's not even in the top 15 wide receivers and through seven weeks last season, the receivers who had more yards than Chris Godwin, Jamar chase. That was it. And then he got injured and you know, he's coming back from an injury, but he's done that before and played well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

So I thought for the bucks to be able to bring him back at 22 million per year, that was a nice signing. And then they signed Hassan Reddick at one year, $12 million where that's a nice sort of buy low. He had a disastrous season last year. He gets traded from the Eagles to the jets has one of the worst holdouts ever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

You know, in NFL history where the poor guy just cost himself a lot of money by what he did there with the Jets. But now you get him and this is a guy who can rush the passer. He's 31 years old, I think was sixth in sacks from 2021 to 2023. So I thought that was a nice value signing. So, yeah, the Bucs are kind of underrated, sneaky in some of these moves that they make.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

I thought they did a nice job there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Okay, good. I've got more there. Yeah. Javon Kinlaw to the commanders for three years, $45 million. You know, I do my top 50 free agents on the ringer.com. And whenever a guy who's not even on there gets signed for like $15 million or more, I'm like, either I'm an idiot or... That's a terrible signing. And maybe it's a combination of the both. But the commanders let Jonathan Allen go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

They release him at a similar number. And then they go out and they sign Javon Kinlaw, who was a free agent last season and signed a one-year $7.25 million deal with the Jets. He hits the quarterback five times in 17 games last season. He was 118th in pressures last season. And now you sign him to a three year, $45 million deal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

You know, I get nervous whenever there's a coach or a GM who brings in players who they're familiar with. And Adam Peters, the commander's GM, was in San Francisco when the 49ers drafted Javon Kinlaw. And so there's some familiarity there with those two guys. And they decided, hey, he's still got the upside. That was one of the biggest head scratchers I thought so far in free agency.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yeah, that was a stunner, especially they like I said, they had a player in Jonathan Allen who was injured last year, but who has been a good player and to release him for nothing and then go replace him for Kinlaw. That's a bit of a head scratcher for me. I do have one more for you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

It's not Chase Young.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Yeah, Chase Young, I thought, was destined for the Jevion Clowney, like just be a one-year mercenary and rush the passer because some of his pass rushing stuff, like he had some high-level reps. You saw the talent overall. Like you said, he stayed healthy. He was pretty good in pressures, but I didn't think they were going to commit to him for three years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

The Saints are just like, you know, not to pile on, but they're just so relevant that I almost am like, why am I paying any attention to what the Saints are doing? But the other guy I have here, The Chiefs, you know, our last impression of the Chiefs was their offensive line just getting steamrolled in the Super Bowl.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

And so you go into this offseason, you say, all right, what are they going to do? What are they going to learn from that? How are they going to address the offensive line? They signed this guy, Jalen Moore. Trent Williams is back up with the 49ers. Okay. He started 12 games in four seasons. They signed him to a two year, $30 million deal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

And now he's going to be the left tackle as you try to get to the Superbowl for the fourth straight year. So part of me is going like, I like it. You got to be creative. You know, you were, you were mentioning some of those other salaries and it's hard to find a left tackle and all right. You know,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

But it's putting a lot of faith in your scouting to be like this guy who the 49ers were not even playing for four years. And I think Kyle Shanahan is a pretty smart guy. We see something in him that nobody else sees. And it's not even like a lot. Like if you signed him for a lower level deal and said, hey, we're going to try him as a starter that I could get. But two years, 30 million dollars.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

And now you're basically just plugging him in. I don't know if the Chiefs offensive line is better now than they were in that Super Bowl. In fact, I think there's a strong argument that they're worse. And I just feel like they continue to be an interesting team to try to figure out how hard are they going to make this on Patrick Mahomes?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race

Because every year I'm like, it's not going to get harder than that for Patrick Mahomes. And then the next year starts and I'm like, feels kind of harder than it was last year. And it's just the start of the offseason, but it sort of feels like it's continuing that way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

But there's also like a responsibility that you have with certain things where you wouldn't just like fire up a Sunday pod with Bill and be like, hey, another team told me it's like you just wouldn't necessarily do that. But now it's all out. It's all out on the table.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

You're right, though. They're down to UConn. They're down to Tech. The Tech game still is probably one of the best moments you're going to see from a player and Clayton just kind of taking that thing over. And then down, as you mentioned, to Auburn. So we can sit here and say, hey, you're down 12 to Houston, but it's Houston.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And when I'm trying to figure out what is it that's working, there were turnovers that was partly Houston's aggressiveness. There's also just some horrible passes from Florida. And when they go to the head coach, At one of the interviews, they're like, how are you feeling? It might have been at halftime. And Todd's like, hey, we're turning it over, but we're not shooting it great.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Meanwhile, Houston couldn't shoot it for long stretches. And Cryer, it felt like the only guy that was keeping him in. Every moment... you would go, Houston really needs a bucket here, and then Cryer would just get free. So I think the world of his tournament and how he just kind of answered it every time they needed it from him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

But the turnovers weren't necessarily leading to points off of turnovers for Houston, so that's how Florida's still in this thing. And you're right, Clayton's first point was at 14.57 to go in the second half.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And so that was the way the description that was the description of the relationship between Mike Malone and Calvin Booth in the front office and head coach. I don't think this was just about this team being 3-7 in their last 10. I don't think it's just about them being an 11-13 record since the All-Star break. The defensive number is sinking again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

The early contests at the rim, nobody feels comfortable. Like, Khan is a big player. Khan didn't want to shoot, Ryan. Right. He had a baseline, great post-move turn. He got clear late in the game. It was a bucket they really needed. And even though he was clear and shook the defense, he was like, they were thinking about it. Like, you always think about, like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

again this is stupid but anybody that's ever played basketball like when you get your shit just sent back there's certain guys like just don't want to go down there anymore like i'd rather not have the embarrassment than maybe the opportunity and i think there's a lot of players in college and the pros now that just drive and maybe they're obsessed with kicking it out to threes and making it look cool to the corner it's like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

you probably would have been fouled or you could have had a layup there. And it's like, I don't want to do this. Houston, the Richard block, when he went up for it early to dunk it, like Houston sets this tone. And then when I'm looking at like what's happening with Clayton, I'm going, you know, this guy, okay, he's not like the off – the paper kind of like, again, that'd be more on testing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

But when you think about him athletically compared to other guys, you're like, all right, I don't know that he's like that, but man, damn, he just keeps getting by everybody all the time. So maybe there's more to the whole thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And then when you're looking, if you're a ball handler against Houston and you're waiting for that seam and you're looking for these attacking angles, next thing you know, you're still 30 plus feet away from the hoop and you're passing it to the other garden.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

There's seven seconds up in the shot clock and you haven't, you thought you were running something, but you're just, you're still out there for 20 seconds. and nothing's happened.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

This felt like an untenable situation that apparently had just reached its breaking point and an unprecedented firing of a coach for a team that's still trying to figure out if they have a chance to pull something off here in the playoffs. But it hasn't felt that way, right? You've been watching them lately. I don't know. The two Minnesota games...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, I don't care who you are. It's weird when you feel incredibly bad for somebody you don't know and likely will never meet. And I'm sitting in the hotel room watching a game. And I'm just wondering, like, once Cryer got stuck on the other side, You're like, okay, this is bad. Got to go. Yeah, like, okay, now this could get a little ugly.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And I thought there were some possessions there where you want to be fair because there's even times against Houston where I thought Hauk got deep. And there's been versions of him where I've seen him more aggressive with his shot. And I think it's back to kind of some of the Houston stuff we were talking about.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And it could feel a little like the screen grab world of evaluating quarterbacks where we show the all 22. He's wide open.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

wide open i'm sorry to jump you it's just but we both hated so much that i like i couldn't wait to say it i'm sorry no i'm so happy you said it because it's also like the hole you go be like dude you can't believe you didn't hit the hole between the tight end of the tackle there and you're just like yeah okay because the guys aren't moving because it's a screen grab and so there's times when i'm watching going like i think you could have gotten a little bit deeper there and i'm sure when you actually have the ball and you're on the court and you're like no that that

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

that wasn't there um but whether it was getting the ball out of crier's hands and some of those late possessions um knowing how important he was to saving them but i i was just thinking about sharp last night i was thinking about him again this morning because i think that duke lost like bill brought this up on sunday of like how long the duke loss is going to haunt cooper flag and i think we all ultimately we're talking about two different things

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

It's not going to be a negative on his NBA career, but that guy's going to be in Maine visiting family one summer, pumping his own gas, and he might be 50 or 60, and somebody's going to come up to him and act like they're the first person that's asked him about this, the same way somebody tells me, oh, an E, that's new. Like, all right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Um, even though, you know, the second Minnesota game was, was a double overtime game. So it's not like they necessarily like got smashed like they did in the first game against Minnesota. Um, so the first one really is more revealing perhaps of how they felt about this team, but there's a lot of stuff that we can go through.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah. Somebody is somebody. I can't do whatever the main accident is. I've never been able to do it. Somebody is going to bring this game up to him. I would say every week for the rest of his life. Every day might be extreme, but this is going to happen every day of his life. But I think for Cooper, it's a team thing. And I felt fine about how Cooper played. I mean, he was he was great in the game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

He's best player on the floor, wasn't he? Right, right, right. So I'd rather be. I'd rather be Cooper than, and this isn't about being the number one pick and then where Sharp's career going and all that kind of stuff. I still feel like the Duke collapse is more unfathomable than somebody making a mistake at the end of the national championship game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

But that's going to be a really tough, like that's going to be this clip for Sharp that now his life is different.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Uh, we know that this team has not done enough to build a roster to maximize the best player in the world in Yoke kitchen. He's been the best player in the world for four years. But as much as we can feel that way about not supporting Jokic enough, I'm sure Mike Malone's going, well, you're not doing enough for me either. And I think that's where the disconnect originates from.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, Roberts making those free throws. You know, I'm always a big proponent of, like, if you're down six or eight, just start fouling at two minutes. Because I think kids are going to miss free throws. And time and time again, Houston's guys made big free throws. And, like, Roberts is almost this forgotten thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Because, I mean, in that moment to go, like, all right, this is us going for a national championship and knock these down when you're a 60% guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, they lost because they couldn't inbound the ball. They lost because Proctor dribbled it off of his leg and then also missed the front end of a one-on-one. And the biggest issue, the reason why they lost, is that, what, 10.30 to go, they made one field goal, which is the flag three.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

But look, these four teams were really good, and it wasn't always beautiful, but I appreciated the final four at least for that because you felt like Hey, and it honestly plays out this way, is that all of these teams had chances because of what they had done all year, the confidence that they had had. Sure, Duke not being challenged all season, which Bill has brought up with me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I don't know if that's what came back to haunt them. They didn't get anything from their guards. Their guards killed them in that game. But when I look at Florida and everybody kind of – they became kind of a darling during the SEC tournament. Well, there's a reason. I mean, because when you watch the SEC tournament, you're like, I was supposed to pick a team –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

against this group because it seemed like they had checked every single box and you're right to get a national championship with Clayton being a non-factor for that long after having so many huge moments for the last few weeks you'd never think you're winning a title with that way but you know to your original point too like this is a this is a Florida team without a top 100 recruit so can I ask you a question about that like the guys on the floor last night

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So if we go through all the transactions that Calvin Booth has had, this is probably where Malone's going. You cannot build out the rest or the back end of this rotation with second round picks as we let vets leave for bigger money. Now, look, Contavious Caldwell Pope, the money that Orlando paid him, Denver didn't want to pay him. Orlando wanted shooting and defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

yeah definitely because i think if you've only watched him like last night you're going you guys are nuts because there's probably not that much that he did that resident i've seen him in sec games you know stretching the floor at that size but he's got more shit to him too like he can put it on the deck and he can drive um it didn't seem like he was super interested in doing that i think the clayton jr thing is really interesting because i looked at the espn mark after the first game that i'd seen from a few weeks ago where it was like a real full game um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I was like, this guy's probably going to be a pro, right? And then I didn't even see him in the second round on the mock. And I was like, this can't be. So then I started calling around and teams were like, hey, look, he's borderline, but he's maybe late first, early second. That was before this run. Now when I'd asked round again about him, I'd say, okay, where's Clayton Jr.?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And it's like, okay, he's probably definitely in the 20s now, whatever. And I was like, all right, so is he, are the knocks against him all the knocks that we can already figure out? And they were like, absolutely. He's older. He's not huge. He's not a natural point guard. Worry about his defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Athleticism, you know, not bad, but if you can get away with like, hey, can I have a freak in the backcourt? I'm going to prefer the freak at the NBA level. Of course. I thought the shot that he made in the right corner against Auburn where he reset his entire launch thing where he had to get his arms away from the contest, like that kind of shot, I went, holy shit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

there was a contest. He was in the right corner and he basically had to find a way to clear the contest. So he just kind of moved his body to the right. We're talking about the same one. Yeah. I'm talking about the same way. Now he was clearly frustrated last night. Cause he took a quarter three in the left on a closer. What the hell are you doing, dude?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Like what, what that was one of the worst shots of the entire game. And he was DB was, he was clearly frustrated. Then it seemed like he didn't want to shoot at all. I, So we know the playbook.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And if you were working for an NBA team and you were sitting there banging the table saying, hey, this guy has it, then there'd be somebody else being like, do you know how many times we've been burnt as an NBA team talking about a college guy who's older saying, hey, this guy has it. But I do think that his...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

his shot making is like the full palette of shooting as opposed to just, Hey, he has a good three point shooting percentage. So I do think he has a chance, but it may be, it may be now that it's getting like, it's like when I liked Evan Turner and then it was like, Evan Turner was going to be a top five pick. I was like, geez, I liked him, but this is not a difference between liking him and top.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available at And listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. Bonus edition of the Ryan Russillo podcast. We spent a good 45 minutes with Van Pelt talking about the Florida win over Houston and previewing the Masters.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Not sure that they've gotten a full return on their investment. So in a vacuum, not wanting to pay KCP that kind of money, I understand it. But then what are you going to do? And Denver didn't want to do anything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

you said once with me it was when aaron brooks was lighting it up for the rockets out of oregon and it's one of the best lines you'd ever said i think in the six years of doing the show because i'd never forgotten it because it was just so perfectly said and you were like the road to the nba is littered with aaron brooks where you go oh yeah this guy was a smaller guard and he scored and granted brooks is smaller than playing junior but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

It's why teams... It's why Clayton Jr. was outside of the first round. It's why he's now projected as a first round, even though the momentum... I think teams are like, people are losing their minds a little bit on this guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

But I know I enjoyed the hell out of him, and I think that shot against Texas Tech, it would be hard to ignore that because I don't think there's five players in college basketball that would even... Look, I shouldn't say there's not five players in college basketball that wouldn't take that shot because we both know that's not true.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

They didn't want to keep the asset, even though it was going to become really expensive with the luxury tax, which I think is a consistent theme here with the way Denver makes its decisions. So it may not even totally all be on Booth. Bruce Brown's deal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

There's plenty of dudes who will take the shot, but to have the...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Hey, let me tell you about one of my favorite bets that FanDuel has right now. They're called player performance doubles. If you don't know about them, you got to check them out. They're these two-leg parlays that are already made for you. FanDuel takes an NBA player prop that combines it with a bet on that player's team to win. They have a bunch of them for every game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

You just have to pick the one you like. So we spent some time on this. It's a dicey time of the year to try to figure the whole thing out. You're like, all right, how long is that guy going to play? I like this team. I think they're going to win. But then we found one. All right, the Pacers are probably beating the Wizards. They're laying 19 points in this game. But you can get it as a pick-em.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

If Miles Turner scores 22 or more points, and with Siakam questionable with the elbow, and even if he plays, are they going to have him out there all that much, ramping Turner back up here? You have to factor in, like, is Turner going to get the... Well, he's at least been scoring. So the Siakam part of it, whatever, they'll probably play these guys deep into the third quarter anyway.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So you're going to get Turner 22 or more points and just picking the Pacers as 19-point favorites but not having to lay the 19. That is going to pay out at plus 280. So again, it's just Pacers and then Turner 22 or more points. And whether you want to ride with my pick or make your own, FanDuel is giving all customers a profit boost exclusively for these bets on Tuesday.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Well, he was great with them, but they knew when he got a free agency that they were going to be limited in what they could offer him based on the structure of his contract. So they could only offer him $7.8 million in the first year of a new deal. Then they were going to have to do like a four-year extension. Bruce Brown gets offered two years and $45 million.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Just head to FanDuel.com slash Ryan R-Y-E-N to get your profit boost. Make every moment more with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 plus and present in D.C. Opt-in required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. All right. We did more on that than I thought we were going to do. So let's talk Augusta. Yeah, let's do it. Scheffler's won two of the last three. Chance to repeat. Only Jack, Faldo, Tiger, as you know, but just want to make sure the historians are ready to go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

There was a stretch last year when I was looking it up with Scheffler where it was like he hadn't played a round over par in like a million. It was just absurd. He's not playing at the same level. So what's it like even though he's the favorite going into the field?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

What makes him so special? I mean, I hate that we're sitting here in 2025 and I'm still like hinting at certain tiger questions where it's like, what made him so special, but to try to put it into perspective, um, What is it about Scheffler's game that has had him at this level where it's like, okay, the conversation starts with him and then it's everybody else?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Not to say... Because it's definitely not the gap between Tiger and the field the way maybe we talked about. No, because he's different.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And the way that was structured, the second year was a $23 million team option that everybody's like, well, that's not going to get picked up. This is like one of those Jabari Parker deals where it's like the first year is huge, and then you'll figure out the rest of it later. Well, because he was involved in like a trade –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

He ended up getting the team option picked up, so Bruce Brown made all that money. Denver couldn't pay him that, but then if you're Malone, you're going, okay, fine. We lost an important part of our rotation. I get it. I get the financials. We had no chance. It wasn't like somebody said, hey, we just don't want to pay him, but now what are we going to do? They didn't do anything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Rory's a great topic because I think it's so different. I mean, he comes onto the scene, he's immediately kind of the next guy, and he's also a star. He has crossover appeal that's just hard for a lot of guys on tour. But we're talking 10 years without a major. He's never won at Augusta. He's second in the odds. He's been playing great this year. So what are we looking at?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Reggie Jackson got a two year, $10 million deal. Not that big of a deal. It didn't really give them anything during the playoff runs, but they use three second rounders to move them out to what? Save on the tax, which kind of got lost in all the traffic of all of these transactions.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Let's talk about the course, though, because now that I've been playing a little bit more, now I'm starting to appreciate stuff. We did a boys trip to Pinehurst, so I think we played one, two, four, and five. Two was out of the gates. Everybody thought I was lying. They're like, you're so full of shit. You're way better than your 10. And then after two, they're like, no, you suck. You're right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Never mind.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

No, like I was leading the thing based on my handicap. Like I was out of the gates. Like I played great. And then two was... What happened? It was... It's just a lot of sand, man. There's just a lot of sand. And it's funny because I've played it at two. I played it a few fancy courses now. Cause it's nice to, you get the invites and you know, like I played Riv and the guy was looking at my clubs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

He's like, Ooh, you know, I was like, what are you on TV, buddy?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I love it. Right. And I was like, you know, some people have criticized that perhaps like, a little too much of a players club. You know, it's not quite the shaper that I plan on being. Understood. But, you know, I like the way they feel. He's like, yeah, fuck it. Whatever makes you feel good. And then by hole 14, he's like, you may want to find a more forgiving... piece of equipment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And I was like, you were on my side in the first few holes. He's like, I'm no longer aligned with your equipment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

pinehurst was funny because the caddy that place will magnify your mistakes in a really gruesome way so like the first day i think we had the same caddy and you know look the dudes were fans of the show they love you um which is really you know cool and i you know with everything that we we've done i still love how often you know dude it's been 10 it'll be 10 years that we signed off this summer

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Because if you really dig into that one and they may have gotten a second rounder back, but you're like, what are you dumping all these future? Even if I think second rounders are comically overrated. You're still doing that to get off a lot. It's not that crazy of a number for Reggie Jackson. We go through the draft picks. Strother, don't know. Pickett, don't know. Hunter Tyson, don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So when they did the caddy assignments when I had to play two, because everybody's like, look, two's going to be a little tougher, buddy, than one. That's serious. I got to play one after two, thank God. Because I almost left... Two was going to be the last round, and then I go, I'm playing again in the morning. And thank God I played...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

One, because I got to get on the plane, like feeling OK about myself. Cleanse the palate. Two was just horrifying. And then they were like, hey, there's a caddy that handles some of the famous guys here. I was like, oh, you know, like your joke. Who are we playing with? He's like, no, he wants to meet you. I was like, all right, yeah, whatever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And then in the beginning, it's like, all right, yeah, nice. They have hope that you're going to play this great round. And I'm in that fucking sand. And it's not the sand trap. It's the shit on the sides that you're allowed to practice swing out of. And so the first few times, I'm like, I'm going to. I was like, I think I can clear this. I can get a hold of this guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

He's like, absolutely, you can get a hold of this. Next thing you know, you're flushing the iron right into one of those mounds. And you think your wrist is broken. And then even if you got it out, now it's just in the sand trap.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

The native area. Yeah. Well, I would like to be deported from that area. Understood. Yeah. So, look, that was rough. Look, there's a reason why I wanted to bring this up. And it wasn't for us to do story time, which I hope people don't mind too much. But now that I've played some courses and you understand, like, this was the concept. This was the setup, right? This is why this place is a layup.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

This is why this place is so fucking hard. What is it about Augusta and the way it sets up for guys that is unique to the place? We talking routing here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Deron Holmes, early, we don't know. Azeek Najee extension, four years, $32 million guaranteed. We're the fourth year as a player option. And he's kind of playing, I guess, because they have to play him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So if you look at the Malone and Booth part of it, you go, all right, well, if you're the front office, and this isn't even specific to the Nuggets, right, or the personalities that we're talking about, there is always a divide amongst front office and NBA coaching staffs when the front office is like, you've got to get these guys minutes. We scouted them. We picked them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

about a gulch or something no we i we used to do this stupid brett farve impersonation that was it and then it wasn't even brett farve anymore so then all we would say is like terrain references like he's up on uh he's up on the ridge there and i don't even know what we were doing no i don't either like here here comes far but he's pondering his next move up on the crescent

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

that actually is i think the best explanation that i've ever heard about like because people have knocked it not knocked it but whether you had the tiger part of it where you know early on we're going back 25 years ago like this course can't contain this dude right and then you had bryson talk about it being a par 67 years ago comes out of the gates i think he shot a 65 and then he think he was over par the rest of the way and everybody's like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

very protective of the place. Like how dare you, you know, this blasphemous statement heading into this. So I, I think for people that don't really understand that, and I put myself into that group, it's like, okay, but like some places are long or some places are narrow and some places, and it's like, is it any of those things?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And I think your explanation right now is, is the easiest one to now kind of understand is, and how this course specifically to its setup may be misleading in that there's just a lot of shots out there, as you said, that you can't get yourself in trouble with. A couple thoughts before we close up. Is there a master's Chris Paul for you?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Someone who you're like, man, I want this guy to get a jacket more than anybody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Everybody likes who they pick. Okay. There's a reason they picked them. I know that sounds really basic, but if you have a bunch of people working around the year, selecting a player on draft night, there's something they liked about that guy. They believe that that guy can play most likely.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Our favorite HOMA. I know it's been a bit of a struggle in comparison. I mean, last year he was just playing so well. Do you think it's a matter of him clearing his hips?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I learned what not to do. I learned, you know what's funny is the guys in the group, the only guys, I mean, we had a guy shoot a 79, another guy shot an 82. On two? On two, yeah. Yeah, these guys could play. One guy didn't even bring, he left the villa and left his driver in his bedroom. He's like, I'm not even giving myself the option. I'm not hitting this today.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And then the other guy that I think that shot the 82 didn't.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

didn't hit it he had in his bag he's like there's a few times i wanted to go to it but i started playing so well it's like i'm not even gonna hit it um i love that michael kim friend of the program has been on a run here qualifying yeah i just i love this sport now in that imagine if you were an nba player and it's like what happened in 2019 like oh i averaged four points a game

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

then it's like, oh, you're getting 28 a game now? Maybe that's being a bit dramatic. Not really. I think there's this group. I don't know where the defining line is for how many guys that are qualifying every single week, but this line of players from down where you go, who's in and who's out just because of how delicate the performance can be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I mean, unless we're getting down to like the late forties and fifties and selections and Malone, like a lot of other coaches is like, this guy isn't ready. And we're a championship tier team. So, you know, I'm sorry, but like, I can't be using minutes to develop some of these dudes. The best teams figure out that balance.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

But the last thing I want you to do is get anybody in trouble. No, no, no.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

He's live from Valero.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

That second lease felt a little specific.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Van Pelt calls me up and goes, are you a two-car guy now I'm hearing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And I'm not even saying it's an applicable balance for every single organization, depending on the players that you have. But I think the scary thing is that it's a bunch of names, a bunch of moves, letting vets go and trying to replace it with dudes that normally are not cracking rotations and getting second contracts based on where they're drafted.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

No, because that's what was really cool. And I mean, it remains one of my closest relationships with you is that I definitely felt like I was like, he's fucking big brothering me again. And my problem is I would be like, don't, you know, like I didn't know how to handle it because I'm obviously the older sibling, right? I've never been a younger brother in my entire life.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And what I appreciate more now that I have a little bit more seasoning is that I was kind of doing exactly what you were doing just 10 years later. So like when I finally moved to Hartford and then I moved into the fancy Hartford 21 and you came over to visit, you were like, dude, I should have done this. This place is sick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And the best punchline of the entire thing is having a 21st floor apartment at Hartford, Connecticut, and anyone describing it as sick. And then I bought a bar and just had every cordial, imaginal captain late night was back. And then I think I had people over one time in the two years that I lived there. That's right. Right. But then when I moved... But the thing is, my expenses were so low.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

My expenses were so low. And then towards the end of the Connecticut run... I remember my father being like, I thought you were doing better than this. And I just went, well, I don't know. I'm like, it's pretty turnkey. I mean, I'm battling with the HOA a lot. But yeah, when I had that moment where I was like, maybe I'm just going to be here. Maybe this is just what I'm going to do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And I'm going to be here. Granted, you were on like bigger shows. I was like, I'm getting a lease. I'm getting a little Lexus. I've always liked him. I've never had him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

never had a car car i've always been a truck or suv guy and then i would have i would have a choice each day although i think the hoa got on my ass about like oh so you're just taking up an extra parking spot i'm like i'm also not having any dependents so i think i'm allowed to use one of the fucking main parking areas now if you excuse me i'm gonna put on my driving gloves and i'm gonna go on 84 and we're gonna go find we're going down to groton baby

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Let me just quickly adjust this to sport mode and I will be using the driving pedals.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I'm complimenting myself on the second car part of it because I'm like 600 bucks a month to live this lifestyle. Only six. I might get a fucking third one. That might be the Tuesday car. But what you realize is, you know, This isn't, this isn't the best way to set it aside, you know, trying to navigate these tariffs right now. All right. Uh, the boat is good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So Malone, I understand his point of like, I'm not developing guys because they can't play for us right now. But I also understand Booth being like, we drafted them and you just bury these dudes and play the vets all the time. And we have guys that are constantly hurt. So figure it out. Yeah. I think Malone's feeling himself a bit after the title. I think that's in his personality.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

We had a, we had a rough, rough day on the seas, uh, just a couple of days ago. So no, I checked the charts. I was on it two plus, you know, the, the rhythm of the swells was a little quicker than I would have liked, but it'd been a really, really windy week. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

incredibly windy week so I felt like alright it's died down a bit a little Friday sunset deal I come out of the marina I'm immediately just bow down alright you know a little power up slow off the back just getting hammered and then I was like this is really really bad and I'm like I have to drive into it to stay straight into the swells, but I'm going to have to turn this thing around.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And then I was worried that I was going to lose power in the boat because the alarms are going off. The thing was getting its, and it's a big boat. And as soon as I had it, yeah, as soon as I had to turn around, I knew I was going to get kind of, I was trying to time it perfectly so I could get it turned back around. And, And, you know, I caught one pretty good on the side, but it was fine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

She held up well, but I don't think the bilge loved it at one point because the alarm went off for a second.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

You're trying to be like, hey, I got a boat. And it's like, oh, the alarm went off 15 minutes into the ride. I mean, that's the thing with you. You entertain on a boat. You're looking through the manuals. What's that noise? Get the fire extinguisher ready. I don't know what that alarm is. All right. Thank you. Enjoy Augusta. Say hi to Faldo and Ogilvy for me and the boys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, that's going to be great. And I'm fired up for you on the part three. So again, you said two Eastern. Two Eastern on ESPN. And then your podcast.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

All right. All right. What day does it come out, though, regularly? I'm allowing you the room.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Well, I think I was surprised. A lot of it's the industry stuff. It's some of the conferences that you and Steve didn't go six kids, two dads for the title of the pod.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, might have been misleading.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Is he wrong to be feeling himself a little bit? He's the fifth highest paid head coach in the NBA, I believe, at 12 million. He's got the only ring in franchise history. He's the only coach that Jokic has ever known. So sometimes there are these coaches that are named brands. You know who those are, like the real guys, which I wouldn't put Malone necessarily in that group.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Table that for next time. You're the man. Always fun, sir. Be well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Our email address to help you is lifeadvicerr at gmail dot com. We've got Kyle. We always have Wargon potentially. So, Rudy, on call. So, our guy... Who knows? Don't want to share too much, but good things. Good things. But he's not with us today. What's up with you, man? You looking... Wait, you just finished up the Final Four. Are you in San Antone right now?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

The rare extended. Well, although I imagine there's not a ton of people Tuesday knocking on the door. Yeah, right. Like, do they have it rented out on the Tuesday night after the Final Four?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

A zag on checkout times. I see this a lot, right? I've seen people...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

complain about it and i know that i've complained about it in the whole idea of like you have to check out at 11 a lot of places go 12 if you have the amx platinum one of the features if you want it a lot of places let you check out a little bit later sometimes you just have to ask i had a flight that was delayed and i just said hey is there any way i can check out at like four o'clock this afternoon they said for 60 extra dollars you can't i go you know that's a

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

that's the most anything's ever been yeah right and it wasn't like one of those deals where you like went out and you're just going out you know no it wasn't even that it was just the flight was delayed and i was like it's just gonna suck to have my bags down here and then walk around a city for three four hours until you get to the airport so i understand um and i don't want to call it selfish but it seems like a selfish argument and because so many people would benefit from the can i check in early can i check out later like who's walking around america going

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I don't want that. But it just seems to be a generally accepted thing as if it's almost this scam. And I would just ask anyone this. Does anyone think about the hotel workers? Does anyone think about the person who has to manage the... versus the inflow of guests that if you just told everybody, yeah, no, it's cool. You just chill out like feet up two o'clock.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Oh, you, you want to check in at one. Yeah, well, no, you can do whatever you want because we let people leave when they want. And then you can check in whenever you want. And we're just going to figure out a way to make it work. I don't know that the math adds up on that. So even though it's a generally accepted thing because it would benefit a greater number of people.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So then because of that, then everybody just agrees that it must be a great idea. I don't know. I've thought about it. I've thought about it too often. I go, if everybody got their way on this. Would a room ever be clean? Would you actually want that? Would you want your room to just be like, yeah, we just kind of pat it down? Everything's a red roof in. It's like, yeah, I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And some of the guys that are named brands aren't as good coaches as some of the guys that aren't. I'm not even telling you I have a huge problem with the way Malone was coaching because I'm not. I'd have to watch it every single night. Of course, if I watched it every single night, there's stuff that I could pick apart, but I watch him quite a bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

If you're down a couple towels, let us know. We'll run some up. Like, here's a toilet brush. Yeah, nobody checks until 6 p.m. ever. All right. I thought that was at least worth mentioning. All right. Let's read a couple emails here. There's like a hotel manager going, finally. Somebody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

But a lot of people that ran into Kyle in the basketball world, I had a few people reach out to me going, salt of the earth, salt of the earth.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, look, you were in the mix, and people were reaching out to me just going, that guy. So approval rating even higher if that's possible. Oh, that's great. Let's get to the emails. Jantz, apologies for the long email, but here it goes. 6'1", 255, former college offensive lineman, benched 335 for three. Whoa, a right big dog. Squat 455 for three. I'm 31.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I've been on four dates now with a 34-year-old woman who is, quite frankly, out of my league in terms of physical attractiveness. She's drop-dead gorgeous, picture attached. And while I'm not a bad-looking guy... Picture attached. I know I'm punching above my weight here. Kyle, I don't know if you want to check your inbox here. I will. We're handling you the data on this one as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

She's also exactly what I'm looking for. Ambitious, professionally minded, fitness oriented, former college athlete. We share some overlapping hobbies, real estate, Pilates, good food, good wine. The date's been pretty awesome. But here's where I'm stuck. I paid for literally everything on all four dates. Date one, drinks and dinner, 350, dinner, and Hamilton on date two. I like Hamilton.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

We all do, Greg. Dinner in Hamilton, $900. Day three, Pilates class. Use one of my credits for her to attend. Hmm. Date four, social club, pool, lounging, and dinner, $200. When I say I paid for everything, I mean I even paid for her Uber's home after dinner. She hasn't reached for her wallet once.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

We can get into rotations and everything, but I don't think there's anything necessarily glaring where you're like, this guy's incompetent. He shouldn't be doing that. That's just not the case. He would have been fired years ago if that were part of the Malone conversation. But I'm sure at that salary and with the title in his back pocket, he's thinking, you guys need to start doing more for me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Look, I'm not the guy who's going to ask to split the bill on the first or even second date, especially when I'm the one suggesting the date activities. But after dropping almost $1,500 over four dates, I'm starting to wonder, am I being used? A few things to note. I won't go into our prospective professions, but for context, we both do well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

She definitely makes more than I do, probably around twice as much I make around 300K, and she makes around 600K. She doesn't come from family money. I do. The dates happen in quick succession. Date one on a Friday night. Date two the next night. Date three on a Monday morning. Two days later, Monday morning date.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, he got a reprieve with the Pilates. Yeah, but he used one of his credits, which he did point out to us. Date four the following Friday. Despite the no paying thing, everything else is green flag. She asks about my life, compliments my intellect, even says it's the thing she finds most attractive. She's big on PDA, even though we're just four dates in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

In terms of little things, she's a tenant. She doesn't have her phone out on dates. It hasn't been late even once to the date. Maybe that's just a major green fly for me in particular, but I think it matters. We've known each other for about a year through a social club we both belong to. Both of us were in a relationship at the time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

We saw each other in a large group of mutual friends at a fundraiser recently, and she initiated the flirting with me, which led to setting up the first date. The big question, how do I bring up the conversation around date costs without sounding petty or making it weird? Am I overthinking this? Is it the time to put a stop to the endless paying? Appreciate the help. All right. She is...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Very attractive. Certainly. You are not as attractive as her, which you pointed out. Kyle. Nice smile. And I like the long gold chain on our guy in this photo. Yeah. Look, I love this guy. Okay. O-line. O-lines are givers. So I'm surprised they sacrifice. So look, I understand kind of what you're saying here, but I'm worried that I'm worried like this will always happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

This happens whenever, you know, I'm debating with somebody else or, you know, sometimes I'm trying to make a point. And, you know, when you want to get your point across, there's certain things that you should do or not should not do. But sometimes the old Tariko rule is like making the extra points can detract from the main point that you're trying to make.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And so, all right, dinner, drinks, Hamilton dinner, social club, pool, dinner. But then the fact that you throw in that you had to use a class credit to the Pilates thing to like, hey, this is like of the four dates. Like I even kind of went in on this one instead of just being like, oh, sweet. I had a credit that didn't even cost me anything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I don't want to suggest that you're cheap, but you clearly think about this a lot. All right. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

now look if you're out there in the wild and you're just crushing it and this is something that does bother you and you have other options then all right fine bring it up but you're gonna it up by bringing it up you are it sounds like everything about her is something that you really like and the no phone thing is huge like the like doesn't reach her phone on the day once to like check the time even that's huge because i could take you out and be like i wonder what she's doing over there

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, right. Look, I don't know if it's something with me in particular, but I mean, I'm just at a point in my life and have been for a long time that I'm just going to pay for stuff. And I'm not... I'm not going to freak out about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And maybe Booth coming in after a change from Tim Conley and this ownership group, it's like, well, look, we pay you a lot and we'll pick the players. Don't worry about it. There's also another part of this that is important to get to, and that's the Jokic part of it. So Malone had been hinting I wouldn't say he was giving up on the team, but he was clearly really frustrated.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Um, I think it's nice if the other person can offer like one time or grabs a lunch early on, uh, which would be the absolute like best way to, if you're a female woman listening to this right now, it's like grab an early, like 40, $60 lunch, you know, early on. Right. So then it's like, all right, she gets it. This is great.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And then you never really have to buy anything again if the guy's willing to pay for everything. But he's just constantly thinking about that lunch and points. You could trick a lot of us dudes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

By doing that, just pick up like the third thing in the lunch and you're just off the hook forever for it. I don't know how you bring this up without it being weird, because even if you're right, it's probably not going to go great with this. You might be just on a heater of emotion and she's super into you and you've hung out four times in what the span of eight to 10 days here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So I would just say you need to ride this out. It seems like you really like her. Uh, it seems like you're getting along the fact that you were both in relationships before and met each other. And then she's initiated all of this. So it says that maybe she'd always had some interest in you. So I'd ask you this. Are you looking for a long-term person?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And the fact that maybe, maybe, I don't know, like, are you constantly worried about money or should you not be worried about money because you also come from money? Like there's also guys that I know that it's kind of a default of like the entire way they navigate their twenties and early thirties.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I'm not saying this is great, but like if I don't have it, but you know, the guys that have it, the people that know, like no matter what, it's probably all going to work out for them financially. There should be a little bit more freedom than the day-to-day obsession of, I'm checking my Chase account. It's like, you spent $1,200 more this month than you did last month.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Just look at your app going, I don't need this. I don't need this right now. If you're on the tighter end of the spectrum listening to this right now, maybe you're arguing... hey, you know, but he already told us he's making 300K. Is it because she's making 600K and it's pissing you off a little bit?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I'm just telling you, this is a damn near impossible thing to pull off without getting some sort, like she's going to tell you, like, oh, you know, he actually kind of said, you know, hey, do you mind getting a dinner? You know, and then it's all going to be talked about in a way that's not fair to you at all. And we're like, oh my God, he actually, he said that?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And she's not going to go, yeah, like literally I've paid for nothing the entire time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And then they all start working together in their hives. And now you might be a six. You're getting downgraded to a four and a half because you brought this thing up. So then they're in her ear. And who knows? We're all more impressionable, I think, at times than we want to be. So I'm just telling you, you asked, hey, should I just put this to bed? Should I stop worrying about this?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

the the quickest advice would be yes if you like her enough i mean if you didn't have a good time if you weren't attracted to her all these different things but like you're starting to get into the 30s there buddy not everybody's going to be going for this offensive line look that you're rocking kyle loves your gold chain i love the confidence that comes with that gold chain and i bet you're a hell of a time but you said yourself she's out of your league and i would say the picture is

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah. Confirm it. Right, Kyle? I mean, I don't want to be a dick about this guy, but this is true.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

There was a Blazers loss where he did a postgame where he was talking about, hey, some guys are going to get it. The guys that don't give a shit, they're not going to get it. They're not going to watch film. His quote directly was, nobody watches film.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

He has the family money.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So the job of an NBA coach is so hard because even if you're a brilliant tactician, even if you get along with everybody, I think these dudes eventually get sick of everyone. And for this to happen, as you've already heard other places, like clearly if they go to Jokic being like, we're thinking about getting rid of Malone. He says, absolutely not.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Don't worry about it. I think, you know, you're going to be paying for everything if you marry her anyway, right? Actually, she, you know, who knows? You get married. Big cash infusion there. Yeah, you got to wait for your inheritance. 600K a year. Who knows? It might all come around. You get season tickets to Hamilton. All right. Here's one of the darkest emails we've ever gotten.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And yes, of course, super late at night. I'm sitting on my ass at a gas station smoking cigarettes. My feet are drenched in rain. I'm throwing in the towel. This is depression. They were just a bad day. Yeah. Check in with us Thursday.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Smoking in the rain at a gas station. I mean, who knows when that was sent? Maybe 2 a.m. Just check in with us Thursday. We're worried about you. Okay, standing for the National Anthem in a bar. Yo, guys, best NBA comp, Bo Outlaw. No jump shot, but all hustle can rebound and jump into passing lanes. Eerie your thoughts on this as I still occasionally think about this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Is it a bar in San Francisco watching the Packers-Eagles playoff game? Go, Birds.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

been here multiple times it's known as an eagles bar uh where you get fans from all over the east coast or relocated to the bay maybe 30 40 people in the back room at different picnic style tables before the game and everyone is pretty excited and hyped for the game during the broadcast they're showing the national anthem performance this then resulted in a woman mid-50s standing up along with her husband and yelling at everyone else for not standing up at first i chuckled thinking she may have had too many but they were both serious and continued to yell at people to stand for the anthem

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

This may come as a shock to you, but no one stood up except for one guy who was close enough to them. I guess he might have felt guilty and did. I'm all for being patriotic. And of course, we'll stand for the anthem in person for any game that I'm at. Kudos to you. But standing up for an anthem of our to the lady. Do you do that at home when you watch a game?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Seems a bit off to me and curious what you guys think here. Am I crazy?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Guess who's still the head coach of the Denver Nuggets? Mike Malone. So clearly Jokic had to be okay with it. But, you know, I don't know that there's ever going to be a coach whose personality is designed to survive a decade on the job. It's a miracle he made it this long. Yeah, I'm sure Jokic was fine with it, but I don't know that that's that unique.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

You're like a Darwin, but for dive bars. Yeah, totally. Uh, we're gone.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Wow.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I don't know if you're going to get 100% participation on a chant going. It depends on the age range. Age. If it's USA hockey or something like that, I think you have a really good chance. But yeah, I don't know. God, I'm in the beginning there, Wargon. But I think you're right. I think you're right on this one. I don't think anybody does this. As an aside, I remember we were talking one time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I think it was when I was with Connell. And somebody that was working on the show suggested that when they're watching a game on TV at home, he has his children stand up for the anthem. And we were just kind of looking around going, really? And then he was almost annoyed that we it's not that we were annoyed. We just thought it was weird. You know, you want to know who was super annoyed?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

My father. My father was listening in the car.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

while he heard this conversation happening he's like there's no way that's true he's like that guy made that up he was like he was upset about it i was like look i don't maybe i put you two guys on a call but i don't know i don't know that there's going to be a resolution of this entire thing uh really i think back to the emails original question uh you're not weird that's

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

it's like to sit here and say hey definitely don't do it sounds as if we're being disrespectful that's not the memo here it's pretty clear that i don't think i've ever seen that i don't know that i've ever been to a bar before a game and the anthem's going on not that i like to go to bars to watch games in general that much but people aren't standing what if the guy let's say it's a man yeah it's got a marine's hat on it says veteran a mailman yes

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

He has the hat.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, I might stand up and give him a little pat on the back. Yeah, I think so. But that feels like a Coors Light equation scenario. Yeah. Zero Coors Lights, not standing. Three to six, standing. I'm going to ask him a few questions after. Seven plus, not standing. All right. Let's get one more email. Thanks, Oregon. That was great. Appreciate it. Oh, my God. I wanted to... Hey, guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I think head coaches in the NBA, even with the greatest minds, the players just tune them out eventually and need a new voice. The Jokic part of it that we need to finish with here is his entire 10-year career is with Malone. he'll have to love who the new head coach is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

He didn't give it to us.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Oh, that's right. Oh, great. Hopefully. Okay. Should I keep artwork by my axe? I really want that. I'm going to go back and listen to this episode now because I want to hear it. Hey, fellas. Love the pod, especially Life Advice. 54, 6'1", 245, benching 205, coming back from a bad pinched nerve. Heading back to 225. You certainly are with an arrow, sir. No squats or deadlifts. I said, sir.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

He's like a couple of years older than me. No squats or deadlifts because knees and back always feel tender from pickup hoops, which they play one or two times, one or two times too often per week. I love this. All right. Player comp. Very discounted. Brian Scalarini after his red hair fades at dirty blonde and gray like mine has. At least you have it. At least you have it, sir.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Decent player, but never as good as others I'm playing with. Can shoot the three, post up a favorable matchup, will randomly have an amazing game and better than people expect one-on-one. What's your usage and three-point ratio? All right, my situation is this. I broke up with my recent ex two and a half years ago. She's a very good artist and I want a very good drawing from her in a card game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

All right. Wow, this guy's a regular Doc Holliday here. The drawing is of a tree representing how I see myself as shade and protection for my family and crew. I got it professionally framed and hung it in my bedroom. I should mention that I have no lingering feelings for my ex.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

The chapter is well and truly closed, but I chose this spot in part because it's a legit nice piece of art, in part because it reminds me of who I am and strive to be in the world. How about that? A tree providing shade, which is interpreted as protection. I like that. The issue is I recently started dating a woman. Seriously, someone I really like and respect.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I suspect it would look odd to her that I keep a piece of art by my ex, not only in my life, but in my bedroom. What would you do in this situation? Leave it hanging where it is because it's important to me as it's aesthetic and it's symbolism and not the person who created it. Maybe... and maybe hope my new lady never asked who the artist is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And if she does, do I lie about the artist to tell the truth because, uh, but focus on the symbolism as to why I've kept it. Or do I move to a different non-core location in my place? Give it away. Some other solution I haven't considered. I welcome any and all suggestions. Thanks guys. Uh, you know, honestly, I think the art can be like a really nice test.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

It could be a test for whoever is next in the dating pool. Cause it sounds like based on your hoop skills that are underrated or underappreciated based on first impressions. Um, You know, is it more of a red flag if you started dating somebody like you have a picture of art that you're extra in your bedroom?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

That might be a really good sluice box of life right there, where if somebody was upset about it, does that mean that they're actually the issue? Whereas opposed to somebody that you meet, you're getting along with. I mean, they're in your room and they go, I think that's really cool.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And then maybe you realize that that person gets it as a mature way of looking at the world, which I'd imagine at your age is probably more your preference than dealing with the bullshit of somebody who's maybe emotionally unstable or insecure, not because of their upbringing, just because they might be a little bit younger about certain things. So I would say leave it there and use it as a test.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

But what if Jokic looks around and is like, look, it's great we won a title, won all these MVPs, generally considered the best player, except for certain TV shows. Um, What if this thing has run its course? What if they have no outs? What if Jamal Murray's actually, yeah, I love him, but he's hurt all the time. Aaron Gordon's getting older. Michael Porter Jr. is a coin toss every single night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

We've got life advice, but news out of Denver in the NBA. Mike Malone out. Calvin Booth will not be extended. How we got here and what we should be talking about going into this NBA offseason. We had already taped the full pod this morning in Breaking News.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So you say a lot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah, but again, there's a certain age where you can't have nice stuff on a hallway wall. Because you just know dudes are going to be banging into stuff. All right. That'll do it for the show today. Thanks to War Gone. Thanks to Kyle, Jonathan Frias. And we're not going to get emotional about sorority, but maybe we'll have them Thursday. Maybe we won't, but we're excited either way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

You can check out our podcast on the Spotify app where you can watch the video. Of course, our YouTube page. So please subscribe. Ryan Russell, the podcast bringer, Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And then beyond that, like I enjoy passing to Christian Brown. But what if I need in this second chapter of my career to start thinking about myself? Now, I've said this for years. We haven't really had the international player who's decided I've had it. I'm out of here. It's been an American thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And as I say that, it doesn't mean I think forever there will never be an international player who decides to start signing up for the player empowerment brochures and saying, like, I need out of here. I need to move on. And I'm not even telling you I have any intel on this. But it's going to happen with one of these players soon.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And if you look at the surrounding circumstances with Jokic, it would make sense. Maybe he doesn't care. Maybe he's not. Maybe he just loves Denver and it's fine or whatever. But, like, this would worry me immensely. Not just the fan base, but if I were ownership, now it's about doing everything possible to make sure that guy's happy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And maybe his demeanor is such that he's somebody that's easy to work with. He's not going to start thinking about himself in a way that sometimes I can understand with NBA players and other times I think it's unjustified. But that's a really scary proposal because I don't even think it's necessarily about what this postseason is and where they end up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Because I also think there's a part of this where... the Jokic media fangs will be out. Hey, I thought this guy was the best player in the world. What if they get blasted in the first round? You start piling on the points to make your points stronger by saying Malone, he's out. And so, you know, Jokic clearly wanted him out of there too. And then they lose the playoffs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I thought this guy was the best player. Like that's going to happen because that's just the cycle of works. Say they don't get out of the plane or they get swept or losing five in the first round. Like it's just get ready, buckle yourself up for that one. There's also a thing I don't want to do to Dallas fans, but I'll mention it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

imagine if Luka were still on the Mavs and Jokic said he wanted to do something else is there a Jokic Luka trade that is possible where Dallas could have gotten Jokic instead of Anthony Davis but maybe Jokic doesn't play enough defense for Nico Harrison so maybe that's off the table and yeah I don't know I'm not trying to make Mavs fans feel bad all over again but I am ready to sign up for all the hypotheticals because it isn't going to be about the 25 playoffs it's going to be about the 25 offseason and making sure that Jokic is happy because he would be

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Totally justified in saying, I can't do this anymore if this is what you're going to put around me. You know him as Scott Van Pelt. I know him the same way. What's up, man? It's good to see you. You are Augusta, the 89th playing of the Masters. How are you, sir?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

The Denver Nuggets had fired Mike Malone, their head coach, and also will not be extending the general manager, Calvin Booth, with just a handful of games to go and seeding in the West all over the place. It's a civil war up there in Denver. That was the quote that another team had said about the Nuggets to me before the season even started.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I want to talk a lot of Masters. I, unfortunately, am not going to make it this year. There was a thing that was in play a little Wednesday, Thursday, maybe half a Friday, you know, juggling life. But it didn't work. But I'm going again at some point. I'm going again. And as we've talked about in the past, like... You're so spoiled. You get to do all this cool stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

And usually after a couple of days, I'm like, I'm good. And when I went a bunch of years ago with all my friends, well, two guys weren't even my friends, really. went with this crew and I was, I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave. And I've never, I'm never like that with anything anymore, which is, I think you grade with a sharp pencil, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Yeah. I don't want to do too much of this and get in front of, I want to talk tournament and then we'll get back. We'll do, I, I screwed up just the, we're just, we both have this huge grin on her face because I'm so happy that you're there. And I'm like, I, I, I'm not even that guy and I love it so much. Um, but anyway, we'll, we'll do more on that. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

So last night, so going in, I, I've, I know this tournament isn't what everybody wants out of the tournament. We want all these crazy moments. You want at least that Cinderella. I think people want the Cinderella until it like gets to the elite eight or final four. Um, But I liked the talent and how special these top teams were.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

I know historically, we've talked about it already, these one seeds were off the charts if you go 30 years of the tournament. And it plays out that way. So it's very chalky. But I just really enjoyed this tournament. And you have last night's game where Florida was this darling through the SEC tournament run, kind of everybody's pick if they weren't picking Duke.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Just the way you get on the phone and gossip and what's going on here, what do you think could happen here, and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, that was something that I think a lot of people around the league knew. There's also a conversation because I'm sure some of you would think like, oh, now you tell us the Brian Curtis thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Michael Malone Out in Denver. Plus, Florida’s National Championship Comeback and a Masters Preview With Scott Van Pelt.

Houston, you're like, all right, who are all these dudes again? You know, and they, they've been on this, this multi-year run with Samson where they're certainly deserving of all the praise and Houston gets up 12. You're like, how do you, how do you come back down 12 in the second half against Houston? And there's just no way you're thinking it's possible. And Florida pulls it off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Maybe not apples to apples here, but Jokic, of all people, throwing a transition pass, and Dort just jumps up and steals it midair. It happens so quick, you're basically thinking, did that actually just happen? Chet had a block on Jokic. Chet had another block on a Jokic lob to Michael Porter Jr., where he just comes in and wrecks the entire thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So there was another player, Michael Porter Jr., who was underneath the rim, and he wasn't very good last night. But they still got the win, obviously. But Michael Porter Jr. is just hanging down. It's like, hey, man, you don't have this much time against this team. And he just gets smashed at the rim. So a lot of the defensive stuff that you expect from OKC on display last night. 67-54, 102-90.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

OKC's up both those moments. I'm like, this feels right. A lot of different looks for Jokic, the versatility that we've talked about. They did a bunch of different stuff, both teams defensively and trying to figure out how to slow down things that they didn't like. They had Jokic on Caruso at times to help with Christian Brown on SGA. They had Hart on Hartenstein.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Don't know why I described it that way. On Jokic. But if they had Caruso on Murray and they go to the two-man game with Denver, then they would get Caruso on Jokic. And that was something that they didn't want because in one switch, Jokic just absolutely mauls Caruso down. So immediately after that, they put Jalen Williams on Murray, knowing that they worked the two-man switch again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And at least Jalen Williams was physically able to hold up a little bit more against Jokic. So at 113-102... SGA has just hit a three, and now it's starting to feel like, okay, they're going to put these guys away despite the fact that Jokic is on pace for a night where he would end up with 42-22-6. I mean, the nightly stat lines from this guy, again, this isn't new.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

But the fact that it was a 42-22 where he had to fight for everything until the very last second to keep his team in this game. Again, incredible stuff from this guy. this dude who's not going to win the MVP. And I don't want to make last night. It's one playoff game about the, the MVP debate and all that kind of stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I mean, even as a yokage voter, I think it's a little unfair to be like, see, I try to tell you guys the entire time. Um, but if you did it, I wouldn't be mad at somebody else for doing it. I just think after one playoff game, it feels a little ridiculous. Cause I, Look, SGA wasn't really the problem offensively.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So let's go through some of the stuff I thought was interesting and what ultimately happened. So a Knicks defense that finished 13th in the NBA that felt like Where the conversation would end on whether or not the Knicks could win an NBA title and whether or not they could beat any of the special teams, which they struggled against so much during the regular season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

It was the others and the others that I think led to their demise in the second round of the playoffs last year. And I'm not saying this is going to happen again because it's the seasoning, even though it's newer for Chet. We know what Jalen Williams' numbers were last year and just feeling like even if you look at the overall numbers, like, oh, it wasn't really that bad.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Well, in the moment, it didn't look all that great. But I'm going to run through a couple different plays here because Denver really started to send more help to SGA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And I think that's some of the stuff that people have talked about with this approach offensively for the Thunder is what happens when teams just completely sell out to try to bottle up SGA and then the other guys are going to have to make plays. You would think, based on the way this roster is built, there's enough play. outside of these SGA doubles.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Well, those options didn't work late in the game last night, and that's what led to this massive comeback. At 443, Caruso is left totally wide open, a three-point line on the right side because of a double SGA comeback. Um, SGA at that point, they did a few different things. They had Aaron Gordon on him to try to keep other people out of the switches. Um, Caruso misses that three.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

They double SGA again, Jalen Williams. He's so open. He was almost hesitant about it at three 33. He misses the three SGA has comes off the ball because they're trying to avoid him bringing it over half court and just going right into a double team. So they try something a little different, have a pin down screen for him. Um, The second defender still kind of hanging around Brown.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Chet's in the corner for a three at 205. It was a good look. He misses that one. SGA had another play where there were three guys on him. Not like a full-blown triple team, but it was... Tours shading, somebody rotates over, Westbrook comes up again. So now there's like a second defender that's in the space. So SGA doesn't really have room to take the shot that we all want that guy to take.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So 48 seconds, kicks it to the left side. Jalen Williams drives, tries to hit the layup. It was a really tough layup. Like it didn't, it didn't look good from the start. You're like, you're going in there. But it's something that he kind of had to do to get aggressive, and he misses that one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So those are four misses with the last one being tough, the first three being really good looks where no one knocked down a shot. And if that were to happen over the course of a series of the Thunder, as much as I love this team, it feels ridiculous to say, hey, that could happen a bunch of times and they're going to lose in the second round. I don't think that, but it happened last night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And then, of course, up one, shed at the free throw line in a huge moment. Did not look comfortable at all. Misses the free throw. Aaron Gordon comes down, hits the game winning three. So I think option wise, OKC felt like They were almost experimenting in game one of the playoff game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

There was a moment with Dagnall where I thought it's funny because he's trying to figure out maybe what he likes or what he doesn't like. Both coaches were doing a lot of different stuff with the defensive assignments and how they were changing the defensive strategy. So it made it a lot of fun to watch.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

But I'll admit at one point, and this may feel a little unfair, it's almost like Dagnall's coaching is if he's losing the game and searching for something.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

where this experimental approach that they've been so adamant about during the regular season, which groups work, which pairing works, are we a double big team, are we going to stay single with Chet or Hartenstein, what are we like here, what's our best perimeter defensive stuff, what's the best stuff off of SGA, And they've still almost won 70 games tweaking things along the way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

A team that has Brunson going up against Drew Holiday, Derek White. Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum on the perimeter when he can't get Porzingis, or more importantly last night, Horford and switches, which he's going to look to do every time the bigs are out there, especially with Horford.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So I don't know if there was an element of that with the staff. It was like, let's look at game one. And it felt like they were going to win the whole thing, or at least just the game. I'm not talking about a title here. The size part of this is supposed to make a difference. for OKC because you know last year what? The biggest knock on them was their rebounding.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Their biggest flaw last season was their rebounding rate. They were 28th in the NBA. This year they were 19th, but they're going to go against Denver, who is the best rebounding percentage team of any team in the NBA and have been the best rebounding team in the playoffs through eight games so far, and it showed up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Denver won this game with rebounds, 63 to 43, so plus 20 edge on the rebounding numbers there, and then 21 to 13 on offensive rebounds. So I think there's a lot of side to side stuff that I liked with OKC, even though SGA is what they're going to run it straight at you. He's going to start from the top. He's going to get to his spot. He's going to get free throws.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

He's going to score a million points. Even if you could look at the overall playoff numbers, I just don't know what to do with any of the Memphis numbers because it didn't really even matter against them. I don't think SGA was the problem, even if he had a few misses there late. Uh,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

But every time I would watch OKC and if Denver were loading up on the SGA side, I'd be like, that's your option on the other side? Like, that's a great option. Look how open that guy is. And it just didn't work. It didn't work for him last night. So... Also looking at the bench, well, I guess I could stay here with the starter the last couple points.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Jalen Williams, 5 of 20, 2 of 9 from 3, 0.5 points per shot. Abysmal numbers from him. Probably scares a few of you Thunder fans out there being like, is he still not going to be ready for this moment? Let's not go there after only one game. Caruso was 7 of 12, but the rest of the bench made three shots. for a Thunder team that we always like their depth a lot. And I'm gonna give it to Westbrook.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I keep waiting on the Westbrook game where it's a liability and it hasn't happened. It'd be wrong to say, hey, there's so much more good than bad because there just hasn't been, I mean, look, there's some defensive stuff with him. There was a two turnover stretch where it ended up not being a second turnover because it was a kickball forced to pass a little bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I always worry about his emotions and the energy of the moment and him feeling like he's getting revenge on these teams. I don't know why he'd feel like he has to get revenge against OKC the way he would feel after the Clippers or the Lakers. I don't even know if Houston's part of that equation anymore.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So knowing some stuff from the regular season where it felt like if Westbrook missed a couple threes early in a game, he'd be hesitant to take the open looks again. Knowing at times where he's in such a hurry to get it back to Jokic to show that he's deferring to the star, that some of the passes are just like, you don't have to get it back to him in that spot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Although Horford, I still think at this age, holds up a lot better than you could ever imagine he was going to be doing. That was going to be a much more daunting task than switching into Beasley. Hardaway Jr., Schroeder, who fights but doesn't necessarily have the size, and Cade, who's just not exactly, even with his size, somebody that you're afraid of defensively.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Um, the concerns I would have about teams playing off him and then it's screwing up Denver spacing, whatever those are and whatever those, those minor details are about the negative side of the Westbrook thing. My expectation was that they would show themselves and be more damaging in bigger moments than they haven't.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So credit to him for, I think the best thing you could say about him and why he's such or has been such a huge bonus for Denver right now is that he is never in these playoff games again. thinking that he doesn't belong out there. And sometimes that gets the best of him. But so far, it's been a huge, huge part and just a rewarding factor of him being out there for these minutes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Because remember, the whole reason he's on this team is he was cheap. They didn't have a lot of room to sign anybody and he was available. And now he's playing major, major playoff minutes as Denver goes up 1-0 in the series. The Ryan Russillo Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

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Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

The NBA playoffs are finally here, and there's no better way to be a part of the action than with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. After another competitive season, the top teams are ready to battle their way through the playoff bracket in hopes of taking home the championship. And if you think you know how it's all going to go down...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

then make those predictions pay off with FanDuel and NBA Profit Boost. Simply make your bet, activate your boost, and go for even bigger winnings. Okay, let's find you something here. Looking back at what the Game 1 numbers were, there were big lines. Cavs were minus 9.5%. It's now 7.5 in Game 2. Maybe feeling a bit like, hey, the Pacers are a little closer with this Cavs team than you'd think.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Boston, I think, was 9.5 minus the Knicks. Game 2 is minus 10.5, so no adjustment on that one. OKC was close to minus 9.5, 10, minus 11 now in Game 2. Um, the one thing I was looking at here is golden state just going to be a little more worn out after that Houston series, considering Minnesota has been sitting around.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

You can also, you know, theorize the other way and say golden state's just still like they're at peak sweat right now. And Minnesota is going to be lagging a bit. And there's also, I think a lot of times too, like that game one is the one to get for what is perceived to be the lesser team, um, So a lot of times game ones can be the most misleading game in the entire series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So having been through all that stuff and throwing it at you, I don't have any of those things. What I am looking at is Andrew Nembhard over 20 and a half combined points, rebounds and assist. That's minus 108 right now. Now, why are you going with that? Well, it could be a little bit of the.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

tendency of Halliburton to defer so you're not playing against another like next to a point guard who's going to want to shoot 30 times you also could be looking at something defensively here where Nembhard's the guy that they're going to be leaving a little bit now he shot seven to ten and lit it up but let's just combine the points rebounds as a system where Nembhard has been and compared to that 20 and a half number that FanDuel is giving you right now

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So that was one part of the matchup. You're like, this is entirely a different level of a challenge here for Brunson.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Going through the Milwaukee series, combined 26. All right, so I'm giving you the combined points, rebounds, and assist number here. Game two against Milwaukee, combined 26. Game three, total dud, 12. But every other game, 25 combined. In game four, game five, that's 26 combined. And then in game, he didn't even have a rebound in game one against Cleveland, but he had 23.6 assists, so that's 29.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So he's been over that number. easily, except for just that one bad game against Milwaukee. So the bet there is... Nembhard, over 20.5 combined points, rebounds, and assists. Don't just be a spectator this postseason. Head to FanDuel.com slash Ryan, R-Y-E-N, to download America's number one sportsbook and make every moment more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And also the Cat part of this, where Cat can't play off of Porzingis, he can't play off of Horford the same way he could play off of Dern against the Pistons, and knowing that because the Celtics are very hunt-happy in their approach to offensive basketball, that Cat was going to be brought up into all of these actions over the course of him being out there for two hours.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 plus and present in D.C. Opt-in required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms at Sportsbook.FanDuel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Fired up to introduce my, I guess, neighbor, sort of, Richard Jefferson, former NBA player. Six-man teammate.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Six-man teammate for the best weekend of the beach out here. And also, kind of cool to say that... one of the voices of the NBA now for ESPN with the finals coming up here. So I'm happy for you. Congrats on all the success and moving up this year. Good to see you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

It's funny because you're making the rounds because the video has been out of Draymond's first make, first bucket of his career. And you were on the Warriors with him and he got a technical after the first make. And you're immediately like, hey, man, before we dig into all the playoff stuff, I knew I was going to bring it up, but I just couldn't help myself. What was that like?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And obviously it was a sign of things to come.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So there were some real basketball things that we've already seen outplay this way. But this defense that finished 13th defensively,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

What do you feel when you watch Steph continue this run at 37? Because you're right. You were there for his third year, and it was like, okay, this guy might be pretty good. And then that third year to fourth year jump was like, uh-oh, okay, this is going to be serious. So let's start with what you see now and what you feel knowing that you were there at the beginning.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And if you don't already have it, download the FanDuel app today to make every moment more. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

in the regular season was 11th defensively after the all-star break and only one point worse per 100 possessions than boston's defense and where boston finished after the all-star break even though boston just kind of offensively smoked everyone and finished i think it was like an absurd uh 20 plus wins because one team played 28 games the other team played 27 games

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Yeah, he did win teammate of the year this year. It's one of the lesser known.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I've lost track of all these awards.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

It's an incredible story. I just read the synopsis here as you were going through it. So, Murray Stokes, Jack Twyman, and then Murray Stokes suffered an injury, permanent paralysis, and then Twyman became his legal guardian. So, spending the rest of his life with him. So, yeah, I'd lost track of that one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I am going to have to pivot out of this, though, to ask about, you know, watching Minnesota and the Lakers –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

and realizing the physical advantage that Minnesota had and watching Golden State kind of hang on, hang on in game seven against Houston, where it was like you're going to have to have that bad Houston offensive night, which led to Golden State getting through Draymond legitimately playing center here, like not just sort of matching up, just going, hey, man, you're going to be out there for all of these minutes, except for some of the loony minutes or when they were playing post a little bit more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

As I watch Golden State get through that Houston series, I'll admit, I kept thinking ahead to Minnesota going, I love watching Steph getting to continue the playoff run at this age because I feel like all of this stuff is extra. Kind of the same thing with LeBron. You get in those extra moments, just try to appreciate it more as opposed to being nastier in the way we can about the NBA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

But I think there's another part of the Knicks conversation that goes all the way back to June when the Knicks had made the trade for Mikkel Bridges. And when that happened, Bill and I, I don't know if it was a scheduled podcast or we did an emergency pod for the Bridges trade because it's right around the draft where you're like, okay, the concept of Bridges with this team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

But I just can't see it over the grueling disadvantage that you're at. I think those minutes and those box outs and all of that stuff, it adds up. It adds up leading to the fourth quarter and it adds up over the course of a series. I just have a hard time seeing Golden State get through this one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

What's the Jalen Green conversation that you want to have?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

The hope would be that at least he provides them another really nice perimeter defender to go with OG, to go with the heart sprinkles and just his tenacious hearts effort, man. I mean, he finds a way with this team. It's like, I'm always going to be the fifth option offensively. I'm not a great shooter. Teams are going to be playing off of me all the time. How else can I impact this game?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Is there any of the game one results? Are there any of the game one results? Were the home team losing these? Because we're talking about what we consider clearly the three best teams in the NBA this year, OKC, Cleveland, Boston, all losing at home. Are you concerned about any of them based on what you saw?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And it's just sheer aggression, especially when you're talking about how Hart is just relentless. Like you cannot lose him when you're trying to get defensive rebounds. You can't lose him because he's going to make you pay every single time you forget about him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Over the course of your career, do you have examples? And I'm on the spot a bit here, but the Celtics are very hunt happy. And it's hard to argue with any of the stuff that they've done offensively. As I said in the open, it's like you can sit there and be like, oh, they're too reliant on the three. And yeah, sure, you had the game last night, but they also have the title from last year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

But chasing down and hunting the mismatches, constantly switching into those stuff. Have you ever played with a team where you felt like you did it

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

too much you know is it does it become this default setting where you're not really running anything and then everything is in front the ball and you and everyone knows what the decision is and then everybody else is just kind of watching it because you can become a little too predictable and you're also running a lot of shot clock down hoping to get into the matchup that you want do you have anything from like a team where you were like man we did that now

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Not with Jake Kidd, that's for sure.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So at least on paper, with the weak link of Brunson and Hart defensively, you're like, maybe Bridges just gives you just more depth or more options here against all of these perimeter guys for Boston. It was one of the first things you would think about. So those are just some of the initial thoughts of the series. And then you're like, what if with all that, it's irrelevant.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Yeah, and it still felt like it was over last night when they were up 20, and I was going through the shots again this morning, and it's hard to argue with Missoula's point on the shot quality. It's just when you set a record for the most threes ever missed, which is not how many people are going to want to defend that the next morning. On the SGA side of things...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

It was pretty clear that Denver cranked up what they were going to do to try to slow him down. I've heard it before where it's like, hey, they're just going to double him. I think there was a Minnesota regular season game where it felt like they were just really aggressive with it. Like, we're just going to try to get the ball out of this guy's hands.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And then the players around him felt like every one of the guys that I expect to be making shots or enough to keep you honest missed all of those shots. Is there anything to the sellout defense of just trying to get SGA to get the ball out of his hands?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Say you're in a game, playoffs games, 2-2, game five, 14 seconds left, shot clock is off, and Brunson, you're going up against either Brunson or SGA on the other side. Who are you more afraid of right now?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

What if Boston were to miss an NBA playoff record, 45 three-point attempts? Because that's exactly what happened last night. They took 60. They missed 45. You already know that. At 72-52, Boston's up 20. At that point, I was like, Boston should be up 35 points in this. And I'm going to go over it because I went through the misses again this morning. There's just a lot of really good looks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

i i think with og you know there's things i liked and there's things that i didn't necessarily like like if you're a wing i think one of the knocks which i think was a fair knock is i always talk about like two dribble guys and then there's guys that can dribble there's a lot of guys that can dribble it twice i'm a two dribble guy i was a two dribble guy it's fine it's i know my i know my i know my range

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I think I remember when we first met, too, I was like, you know, I really couldn't believe you went as late as you did. I was like, I really liked you in the draft that year. That was before I was even working in the business. And I would be so obsessed with the draft and I would just be like enthused going, how can an entire league like do they not they not get it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And then it was like, well, there's also with Jason Kidd running around out there. But this is actually I like this, though, because I was talking with somebody about this the other day. When you don't get to dribble in NBA games, you're never going to be good at dribbling.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So you may have been able to dribble in high school, maybe in college, but then when you become the fourth or fifth option and you don't ever dribble in NBA games for a couple seasons, I don't know that you can ever fix where that's going.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

At 619 in the third quarter, when it's 72-52, Cat, who had a rough night, picks up his fourth personal foul. They bring in Mitchell Robinson, who was 3-10 in free throws last night because the Celtics were hacking him, and it worked out that way. But the Knicks closed the quarter on a 23-12 run.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

It's really rare to go, hey, this guy's handle is way better than it was three or four years ago. And I know people probably like push back. What about this guy? But I'm telling when you're that third or fourth dude, And you don't get to dribble. And it also speaks to, and I know I had an OG question in here, but there are moments in the playoffs where I can't believe anyone scores ever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And I'm going to use Tatum as an example just because he's bigger, even though he's not coming off as sort of the best example game. But there are times because he's not like Luka where Luka goes slow at his advantage and he drives to contact. Like sometimes when I think about Ant, part of his problem, he's so good at avoiding contact.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

He's so ridiculous in the air and his body control and everything that he actually doesn't get calls because he's not playing to contact because he's always like, look, I'm trying to avoid the defender so I can finish at the rim. Luka wants you to be connected to him. He wants to feel your body and he's going to use all that stuff against you. I'll see...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

It's not so much a back down with Tatum, but he gets it. He's trying to figure out what he wants to do. And the physicality of those moments where you're like, forget scoring. How does anyone even keep the dribble live with the playoff intensity and everyone swiping at a guy that's at a perimeter size?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I think if you took like, I know this is stupid, but the average pretty good high school player and said, if we give you the ball and try to... You would go, how does anyone... How do you guys get to 80? Nevermind.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

As it was happening, I'll admit I was wondering, is this because Cat isn't out there or the bad version of Cat that is going to happen in a lot of playoff games for some of the best players in the league, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So back to, I love that we just did all that, but there was, there's a switch last night with Tatum where he gets bridges and as good as bridges is and makes the game ceiling defensive play. And, you know, these are all the reasons you would talk about bringing them in and giving up the resources that they do. If Tatum gets a switch on bridges, he's going, if he ends up with, Oh gee,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

He doesn't want it. I mean, OG is the last guy that you want, and it's something you certainly can avoid, but sometimes it's just not going to happen. We don't talk about OG defensively the way we talk about maybe a Dort or McDaniels. I would say even a men Thompson. But what do you see from him?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Because I think it's one that's the physicality, and I'm not going to answer here for you, but there's a want to out of him defensively that I think has really shown itself in the playoffs so far.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

But he just couldn't get it going, and he's being worked defensively here a little bit, and they're getting good looks even when they're missing against some of the Cats, which is on the perimeter. I think it'd be a little unfair to say that the run was totally... motivated by Cat not being out there. Because I just didn't really feel like that even though the thought crossed my mind.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Are the Pacers being overlooked as potentially getting out of the East?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Because it's a really simple thing to look at. Because Cat comes back in at the start of the fourth quarter and they're down 84-75 and four and a half minutes later it's tied back up at 86. So I don't think it's a straight Cat wasn't in there. The argument could be made defensively having Mitchell in there just was better for the comeback if Boston was going to keep settling for threes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Jokic goes crazy last night. Again, as expected. Again, as expected. And part of me watching last night is like, man, this is going to feel good just not having Zu out there. You know, Zubat's...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

we know that the numbers show that he had the best chance to get, but again, it doesn't, it doesn't mean it's like, well, he's eliminated because Zubats is out there, but just the physicality, this dude, you were never going to move.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I'm sure there was some relief last night from Jokic and the possessions against Chet, even though, you know, check on him another time in Hartenstein, you know, they're just not, it's not the brick wall that Zubats is. Is there anything that you think is even possible of going, hey, if I had to dial up something to try to slow Jokic down, this is the best approach? Because we saw doubles.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

We saw them change a lot of different things. I think some of the shooting splits of he shot it well against this guy. Sometimes that one game sorting the shots. There are times I'll look at, hey, it was one for seven against this guy. He did it. It's like, dude, he actually just missed more shots that were open against him than he did some of the other guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I think they threw a lot of different stuff at him, and they'll continue to throw a lot of different stuff at him. Again, to stay to your earlier point of not being predictable, not showing, like you have to treat it like a quarterback. Like, hey, we got to throw all sorts of different defenses at this guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Is there anything over the years where they're going back to, again, he was a different player when you had started with him, where you're like, this is something I'd at least say, this has to be one of the core principles we have in this series against this guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So I watched all the misses again this morning. This is just one man's opinion. Of the 45, I wrote down that 38 were good looks. Maybe seven bad ones. And even bad, it was just so absurd as I was writing through all of the attempts. Like, okay, I guess that one's kind of bad because even some of the ones that I think are good, maybe a little deeper, a little quicker in the shot clock.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

No, that's good. I mean, you've got to think of something. I mean, that sounds like Lou Doerr, right? That sounds like trying to maybe... My biggest thing with Jokic, and I think the Clippers let him off the hook a little bit with it, is you've got to try to find a way to get him away from the basket defensively. you've, you've got to figure out a way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And I would think with Oklahoma city, you know, if you're having Chet set a screen, there's still an option for Chet on a roll or a catch for Hartenstein. There's obviously the role in that push shot, but there's also a lot of stuff that they would allow him to do. Although you're asking him to set up the offense kind of late 30 feet away from the hoop. If there's some other part of it, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

There's just a bunch of different people that I still like the ball in their hands with Oklahoma City if he's caught in some kind of switching, where other teams, if you're trying to attack him, then it means they're probably just going to help the Jokic, and then you're leaving somebody that you don't even care about.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

That was always the biggest concern about him defensively early on, and then you win a title and no one really ever worries about it. And I think in ways he's a little underrated in the paint defensively because of his positioning and his effort and just the simple stuff you'd hope you'd have from any player. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I have two quick things, and I'm going to let you go because I know we're a little long here. Is there a potential philosophy when you're on a television broadcast that when there's a physical altercation, you defer to hoping that it wasn't intentional? Because I think all the shit's intentional. I think Jokic elbowed the shit out of Dort last night, knew he did it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I think that Draymond knows what he's doing all the time. He definitely hit Van Vliet in the face on purpose because he can't help himself. Yeah. And then I even think the Tari Eason thing was weirder than maybe it played. It feels like when there's the national broadcast, it is like, I can't really say he probably did that on purpose because it's just going to feel nice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Or you're trying to give everyone the benefit of the doubt while I'm at home going, he a hundred percent did that on purpose.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I've said that for a couple of years now with Boston, with this three-point output that they've had, that there's always a couple, maybe seven or so a game, seven to 10 a game, where I'm like, that just felt like really, really quick. But that's, That's what you're asking these guys to do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Last question. Your teammate list is insane. The dudes that you've played with. Very blessed. Jokic, it's early. It's early with Steph. What's the Richard Jefferson Mount Rushmore of teammates?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

So you can't get mad at the ones that are a little bit quicker, a little bit deeper when the entire philosophy is that's exactly what we want to do. We want to take as many as we possibly can. We want to be quicker with it. We want to have more possessions. So we have to all kind of accept all that stuff. And even on the bad ones, like Tatum going for a two-for-one at the end of the first quarter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Yeah, because you can't just say, well, hey, Jokic is awesome. He needs to be on there. It has to be at the time you were their teammates. Did you not put Kenyon Martin because you were afraid of him when you were a young player?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I don't like the two-for-one first one. I always feel like there's too many teams that just settle for awful shots, but they're like, cool, we get the extra possession. Even if there are times where I'm like, yeah, you took it at like 29 in the clock. So you're going to get it back, what, maybe with four or five seconds? And then what kind of shot are you getting now?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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You're the man. I'm so happy for you and the success. I can't look throughout the playoffs. It's fun. But just the fact you're going to be on the call ESPN, ABC, the NBA finals, man, it is well-deserved.

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I appreciate you, big guy.

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Let me tell you what's required. The email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Kyle and Wargon on the scene. Good to see everybody. Got the chain dangling today, Kyle. I like seeing that. Is that an everyday chain?

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Oh, I don't know. It's a pretty good length right now. I'm not saying it's long, but I do like the idea.

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Yeah, I like the idea or the thought of just the differential on that because you want, if you're going to be a 2 Chainz guy, I think people have to see the 2 Chainz. Yeah, otherwise, why are you even doing it? I assume you're a 2 Chainz guy musically as well, right?

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Yeah, well, T-Pain too, though. Wargon, favorite rapper?

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All right. I thought he was going to say like Andre 3000 or something. Yeah, unless we took T-Pain from him. All right. So we have some information, further information on the pontoon boat. Then we had somebody else email us saying, I think I saw that actual bachelor party, but I don't believe that that's the case. So we're not going to read through that one. So 512. Yeah. 195.

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When I refer to myself as six feet tall, people act like I'm a 6'6 team claiming about a national championship, a 6'6 team claiming about a national championship. But I'm literally 72 inches tall, so now I say 5'12. Before switching to machine work for my joints a couple summers ago, I got up to benching

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315 for three sets of three and squatting 405 for three sets of five uh that's incredibly impressive to do 315 three times especially at 195. so good for you we'll make it we'll give you the six feet anyway following up in the email from the last pod about the bachelor party pontoon boats i'm the groom dubbed in the original email as pj my buddy who wrote in we'll call him leaf

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So now you have like two bad shots instead of getting one good one. But again, sometimes it's just the possession math. Jalen Brown at the end of the first half, like is that a bad one where he's catching it deep and he and Brunson are kind of fighting? Like that's not really even that bad. So the other thing of the 45 misses, I'm telling you, like probably 40 of them were open.

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Left out a few details. One, he's not 5'10". I don't know. Can we trust anything anymore? I don't want to trash my guy to the world here and call him 5'7", 5'8", so let's call him 5'9-ish. I do think this is interesting. The one guy that emailed in, I don't even know, did I read it? Where he was just like, this podcast sucks. Basically, like, I can't. Now, I don't know.

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I don't remember you reading that one. Yeah. Now we usually leave those for Friday feedback, but he's like this obsession. I think he was foreign. He was like this obsession with height. Like I've never heard anybody ever talk about, you know, again, I think it just sort of happened. I'm 28 and all relevant parties are between 27 and 33. That's number two.

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Number three, the setup for the trip is thus. I invited everyone, booked a house in the lake with driving distance for everybody within driving distance at $256 per person and handed off the planning to my co-best man. Number four, Russillo's Instincts. Right. It's not just two groups. There are two singles and a duo on this trip.

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That leaves two big groups of my college buddies, eight minus me and my law school buddies, six minus me. My co-best men are from my college group and Leaf is one of my law school buddies. That means the guys griping about the boats are ostensibly doing better than the guys suggesting the boats. Here we go. Also, the Leafs point about wanting to be consulted.

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Every bachelor trip I've attended and my fiance said the same. It's had one or two people plan the trip and send everyone else the itinerary. So if not being consulted is leafing the other lawyer's issues, Ryan's, quote, trouble with authority, unquote, hypothesis might be accurate. That said, the boats are a bit of a dilemma.

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One co-best man, we'll call him James, found a deal for two boats for three days at $186 per person. Okay. So that means you have access to boats all three days, two boats at under $200 a guy. So, you know, I know it's – I mean, if that's $186,000 for the entire trip, like, hey, here's your boat fee. I mean, dude, you know what storage, dry storage is?

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Yeah, but I mean, you know, if you're just pontooning around the lake, you know, I don't know that you're blowing up to an alley with 20 knots.

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up the you might everyone's passionate about just can't wait to get back out there and go for round 12. we won't all fit on one boat and there are some waterfront bars restaurants so James wants two boats to make sure we don't split up getting to and from each place the boat rental has a three-day minimum because it's a holiday weekend all right so they had to do the three days they also agreed to cut the price to forty dollars per person if we get two meaning one boat isn't exactly half the price

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Okay, so that's where the 186 is. Again, it's 186 for the entire weekend to have boats. That's cool. I like boats, but I kind of know where this is going. On the one hand, $440 for the house and boats is still cheaper than Vegas flights for our buddy's bachelor, our other buddy's bachelor party. On the other hand, we're almost doubling the cost of the trip before food and drink for the boats.

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We may not want to use as we've already mapped out a lot of other activities for the weekend. Other guys are also worried about the danger liability of the three guys, including me. with boating licenses, staying sober enough to drive, or just generally avoiding damage to or accidents in the boats all weekend.

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Boating these bars and restaurants is also slower than driving Ubering would be, so it's not adding convenience, only experience. My biggest concern with the boats is one, the cost will make us feel obligated to use them when we'd rather not. Or two, we won't use them as much and guys are resentful that they wasted $186. People keep saying it's my weekend, I should decide.

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But honestly, I don't see any world in which I don't have fun this weekend. So I can't bring myself to care. So I'm requesting the best wedding gift possible. Best wedding gift. God, why am I... He's suggesting the best wedding gift possible is for the Rosillo pod to decide for me. Again, the options are no boat, $0, one boat, 120 a person, two boats, 186 a person. Thanks, guys. Okay. All right.

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Look. A lot of good points. A lot of good points. I don't think the cost is crazy, especially for this group, 2733. Others may say, hey, why are we going to do this? Why are we paying 186 a person? Again, if it's only one boat, it's 120. So I think it's important that he pointed out it's not just half price if we stay to the one boat.

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So I even counted a couple that were open being like, ah, that was a little quick. That's in that gray area of the ones I don't like. So it's what they do. We know this. This is not new. They were three of 28 on threes from when it was 75-55. So that's your other 20-point lead, 72-52, 75-55. They close three of 28 from three after that 20-point margin.

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The fact that they have to do the three days because it's holiday weekend, you're right. You're going to be looking at those boats sometimes being like, we're not even using them today because you have other activities planned. I'd say number three. I don't even know if I numbered the first two. But

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The boating license anxiety is a real thing because clearly somebody is going to have to stay sober enough at a bachelor party while you're bar hopping on the waterfront, which sounds awesome. And look, pulling up with your crew that first time and then having the boats, hitting a couple spots, getting onto the boat, hitting up a different one.

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Like I'm picturing places that I've hung out that are like this and then just cruising back. You know, sun is setting. You're thinking about the night. Tunes are a little widespread out on the pontoon. That's pretty epic. And it might be worth the one awesome night that you do that to feel like you're wasting money the other nights. But is there going to be somebody in this age group?

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You know, this is a dangerous age group for a bachelor party. If it were post 40s, I assume there's one guy that would be thrilled to drive the boat. So he'd have an excuse because he just doesn't want to be hung over anymore in his life and he cannot possibly stand it. But 27 to 33, there's probably very few people in that group that have dealt with the

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is this pointless stage of being hung over, uh, as you start to question that when you're older. So, um, you know, there's also like, just to be the reality of it, like you can have a boater's license, but when you're driving a different boat, that's not your boat, it's just like, like, all right, I got to kind of figure out how to dock this stuff. Now, granted pontoons, you're going fairly slow.

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You're going to be able to figure out how to dock the whole thing, but that's just asking it. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe there are people that are better than me, but yeah, Well, there certainly are, but when you have to be in charge of the boat, it is a big responsibility and you have to just accept that I'm not going to have as much fun as everybody else.

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And then, you know, I'm going to, you know, who knows docking in front of people in the pontoon and you have a license, you know, like you don't want to look like a total asshole when you're doing that. I still think the peak moment of this for at least the one night is probably worth it.

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Uh, and I think once you're out on the water, everybody's going to be like, I'm really pumped that we have this. So not shocking. I'm pro boat in this scenario.

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On today's episode of the podcast, we go deep. Not as deep as some of those three-point attempts from the Celtics, but a great comeback from the Knicks on the road and the Nuggets on the road. What did we learn from those matchups? We'll talk a little bit more on those games and the Game 1 wins by the road team with Richard Jefferson. the voice of the NBA Finals on ABC and ESPN.

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Holiday weekend. Holiday weekend, they have to do three days. I just wonder... I'm sorry to jump your word on it, but I almost wonder, does it feel like it's a wasted cost because you're not going to be using them a bunch of time? Because I would argue... A night out on the lake, bar hopping, pontoon boats, two boats, $186 a guy for just that experience.

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You'd be dying to pay that for just one night.

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It's the second lowest field goal percentage in a game for the Celtics ever. in the Missoula era, which is a short one, but still. Boston, the regular season, 1.21 points per possession. They were 0.85 last night. That is a massive, massive swing. Now, was it all about missed threes? No.

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Who buys this? Oh, mostly postman. Uh, I don't know that there was like, if the cost were extravagant and I don't mean to, you know, do this at times in the pod, we're talking about money where I know that I can kind of default to like 186 bucks. Like, come on. Um,

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it really does feel like it's the marketing of it, Oregon, because staring at them when they're not being used and then having other activities, it's like, Oh, well this was a waste of money, but you're going to waste money at a bachelor party, but there's no vert. Like it, unless you had some guy with just the beat to hell pontoon boat that could put 20 dudes on it.

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It's like, Hey, throw me 50 bucks. And he's taxing you around for the entire night. Um, I just don't, you know how expensive boats are like to charter them. Now, I just don't think that's a massive cost. And I think that first night, the one big night where it really works.

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And then if you have just a lazy day where you don't feel like doing anything, cause it's like, I don't know if you're going out two nights or you're going out three nights and you say, Hey, do you guys just want to take a crew who wants to take a cruise around? And then half the guys do. And who knows, there's probably going to be one guy be like, well, I didn't even use the boat the third day.

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I think you just go, hey, man, there's going to be some people that really appreciate it. I think the night where it goes like the choice night that you do it, you're going to go. This was awesome because you're not six deep in an Uber ordering an Uber comfort. You're like, dude, do you have the extended hatchback Prius? Like, is this really comfort, dude? Cause I'm not comfortable. All right.

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A real quick one. Single guy going into wedding alone. Hey fellas, just get a short one here. I'm a single guy going to a female's wedding alone. Any tips? No impressive gym stats, player cop, Sasha Khan.

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Two very distinct ways this can go. You're going to have an awful time if it's an older wedding. You might drink way too much and everybody will be looking and you're going to stand out because there's going to be no one on your arm going like, hey, do you really need a double whiskey just because it's open bar? Like, is there any way you could dial it back? Uh, I've done this.

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I've also watched games at the reception bar. There was one I went to where it was like, there was some big games on. So I was like, whatever is posted up here. I don't dance. So I think the dancing part is huge. If you're a dancer, if you're, uh, You're a confident dancer. Although I, you know, I've said this before, guys that are really, really good dancers. I don't know that I trust him.

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I don't want to take anything away from Brunson, who once again is proving he might be the best closer in the NBA, which seems impossible for anybody to be able to do it at that size. But he hit for 11 straight points over a five-minute stretch where he just seemed unguardable. He had a great look on the inbounds on the game winner.

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And so if you're just good enough, like you feel you like to dance and you're in the meeting, you don't have to be good at it. You just want to be out there. There's going to be a lot of options for you. So I think that's where it pivots to the really positive version of this is this is a younger wedding. there's likely going to be some women that are there solo.

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And I mean, you want to talk about like bartending on Valentine's night. That was the best shift ever when you were single. Cause it was just like, you know, you want to feel alone. You've never felt more alone than when you're out on Valentine's and just add PDS to that scenario. When you're in a wedding dress, obviously not table for one Christmas.

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I mean, this is, This is like unbelievable opportunities here. So I think the dancing part of it's great. You know, mixing in a water isn't bad. Again, we don't know what the age group here is. That's great. I mean, it's, it's always great advice until you don't want to actually do it. So, uh,

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i i just it's about your confidence go in there with the mindset you're going to dominate you know don't go in there apprehensive because it's all over in a few hours and if you go in there like second guessing yourself being insecure about it and it's a little bit older you start checking out minnesota golden state you're like oh ants going off and you're over by your side and people like you know it's a wedding

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guy doesn't, what does he not even like anybody? Like, why did he get invited? Yeah. I'm kind of talking about myself a little bit right now. Um, so yeah, I, I think there's, I think there's a ton of versions where this can go both great or bad, you know, maybe, maybe you pull a little wedding crashers where you dance with a kid sober, hopefully.

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Yeah, get that out of the way early if that's on your list.

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It's like, oh my God, he's so great.

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It would have been fitting if he had put that one in, considering what he has meant to this team for the last two years and these moments that he's had in the playoffs, and reminded of it again against Detroit. I think it would be taking away, it just said it's only about three-point shooting variance, it would be taking away from OG, who I've never felt better than I do right now about Ananobi.

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That's great.

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Player comp. Julie Connor from Deering High. Anybody? Okay. Apologies for the outrageously lengthy email. All right. We're on to you. But wanted your advice on how to handle this lunch event as it will surely be repeated. I went with some friends to a local fast casual place that specializes in chicken tenders. Could it be Raising Cane's?

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two of us were ordering the same thing three tenders and french fries sounds like kane sounds like canes the tenders are priced something like three for ten six for fifteen again sounds like canes shout out to todd graves the fries in regular or large size were similarly mispriced in favor of the larger size so it only made sense for lucas and i to exploit this pricing loophole and get the six piece with the large fries and then split them however here's where the dilemma came

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Having been in this establishment many times, you knew the tenders are not uniform like McNuggets. Right. Yeah. So... Yeah, right about that. But that's part of the adventure. Always fresh, never frozen. But come in varying sizes, we had to decide how to split them up. So before they were served, we set a chicken tender draft order.

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After some debate, we settled on Lucas choosing one, four, and five, and me choosing two, three, and six. If one of the tenders were significantly tinier than the rest, this would have been bad for me. But that wasn't the case, as the five versus six was a tough choice. That's great to know that your tender depth was still, you know, pretty strong at five and six.

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The fries were easy to split as there were too many and neither of us really cared how even it was. But wondering, since we may do this again, how would be the fairest way to split the six chicken tenders? How fair would it be? It goes without saying that I love the pod and spending time on a Sunday night writing this message. I kind of think you nailed it. I mean, I don't.

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I love this guy. Not that I hated him, but I just felt like there was limitations with him offensively, where if it ended up with his hands on the ball a little late in the shot clock, I didn't know that I always loved the way it was going to look. But it's not only his shooting, where he's averaging more points per game in the playoffs than he ever has in his career through this run in 25.

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Did you have crossover in your group? Is there one guy from one group that the other group actually really likes and is accepted and almost gets excited about his energy?

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Do you think they actually addressed it? Be like, Hey, you're the hottest out of the Poughkeepsie group. And I'm the hottest out of the LA group.

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Wow. I don't think any of those guys have showed up to any of the live shows. Correct.

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I think I did. I was busy during that show. Wargon, how about you?

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Print the shirt. That wasn't it, but it's a better answer than whatever I was asking, so...

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Well, there could be a six tender combo that you feel like the depth is in the first three.

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You could also order an extra tender if you'd like $1.99 or whatever. Yeah, $2.99.

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Yeah, but he felt like the Fry loophole was just... Right. You know, I don't know how this is a pricing model. Who's the Hatterberg of chicken tenders for raising canes? So I don't like when Van Pelt and I would constantly do drafts on the shows, you know, people were just so obsessed with snake drafts because of fantasy football and fantasy baseball.

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Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

It's like, well, when it's two guys, I don't think it has to be a snake draft all the time. It used to always like everybody would be like, how come you guys don't do snake drafts? Like, well, it's when it's two people. especially for the dumb shit that we were doing. It didn't really matter. Like say you were doing an NBA playoff draft of who could win the entire thing, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Actually meant to do that with Saruti. Didn't do it. Well, there's always 26, uh, You know, if there are three, like, for example, this year, if the three best chicken tenders were OKC, Boston and Cleveland, who knows after these game one openers. But you get the point is that the snake trap does not solve the problem of the fourth team that's picked.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And in this case, the snake draft may not solve the problem of the fourth tender pick. We've got to see the six tenders and there's not going to be the same six tenders every time you do this. So it sounds like for this case, it worked. And yeah, the number one pick for the tender more often than not, especially from raising canes, like there's going to be a special one in there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

There's going to be just a meaty tender where you're like, this has the volume of, of the

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

tenders five and six combined right now like this is like getting shack and fantasy basketball during his prime so this almost feels unfair drafting yachts after the growth spurt i think the lesson in all of this is of all the emails that we've received about different concerns whether it's a pontoon boat utilities can i talk to my best friend's ex you have a friend

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

where you were able to efficiently come to some sort of agreement where both sides feel satisfied. And that, my friend, that, sir, is the ultimate compliment. You don't need our help. We actually need your help. We're going to start forwarding emails to you and your friend about how to resolve conflict because you have figured it out. And I imagine great things are in your future. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

It's the shooting. It's the defensive intensity where you know no one really wants to drive at him. Of all the options you have to attack if you're Boston and Knicks, OG is the last guy that you actually want to go against.

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Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

That was wholesome. I like that. Yeah. Thanks to Oregon. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. We are a video podcast on Spotify. We are also on YouTube. So please subscribe. And as always, check out the Ryan Russo podcast on Spotify.

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Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

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Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And even when Cade was working to get him switched off of him throughout that series, the number of possessions where you would see OG fighting back into the possession to try to get some kind of contest and bring help to it, the effort level from him has been incredible. And especially when you're going up against Boston, you're like, look, when they start chucking him,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

get out and leak, get out and run because your momentum is going to be going against theirs. You're going to be able to get out and transition. And he's just a nightmare dealing with it. Like how many times he finishes at the rim where it feels like, is that going to be a good contest? Is there too much traffic for him to even go up?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And then it seems like he finishes that stuff more often than other guys do. So if you were talking about just the 45 missed threes today, I think he'd be missing some of the stuff with the Knicks that I absolutely loved and the fight to stay in it against a Boston team that they'd lost to four times in the regular season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

But the settling part of the three-point shooting from Boston is the part that's inexcusable. And Jalen Brown talked about it after the game. It's like, hey, when it's not going in, you need to start figuring out, I'm paraphrasing, drives, get to the free throw line. And Brown was the only guy who was doing that at times. And look, he had missed threes as well that you don't love.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

But go back to game three against Orlando and Jalen Brown when they were having that disastrous third quarter where I think they shot, what, three of 17? Yeah. And even into the fourth quarter, Brown felt like the only guy on the team was like, enough of this shit. Like, let's attack.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Like, we may not make the layup, but we have to show the defense something else because now we're just getting into the settling mode. And then you start realizing, like, this lead is slipping away. And those three start feeling a lot tighter than the looseness of the first half of just like, who cares? We're boss. We're just going to do all these things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

I think the Tatum part of the game last night is pretty bad. You know, Again, I love the guy, but he was not good. 532 to go in the fourth quarter. We can run through the possessions here. Tatum looking for those switches, hunting the better defensive matchups, goes a cat, misses a three. Switches into cat again, then switches into Brunson, settles for a three, misses it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Offensive rebound ends up Tatum against Brunson. He has OG to his right, so maybe he's worried, but again, Boston spacing is supposed to prevent the help from the corner. He's just missed a couple. He's got Brunson again, and he misses another three. He gets a switch against Mitchell. Um, you know, granted Mitchell's a different guy than cat in that spot, but he decides to not attack him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

We're just going to go through a bunch of stuff with Jefferson, just some basketball stuff, all of these series, and then his Mount Rushmore teammates because this dude has an all-time teammate list and life advice. We have two more game ones in the book, second round of the NBA playoffs, and all the road teams keep winning.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Misses another three. He finally takes a mid range congrats in a switch against Brunson turnaround air ball. Uh, the only time he had to make from that point on was he got bridges deep in a switch right at the hoop and he made the layup. But at that point it kind of felt like everything was a little too late.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

before the inbound where Bridges just attacked the basketball of Jalen Brown granted they were up three so they were probably going to foul there so it made it a little bit more complicated for Brown to try to figure out a way to make the catch and then still get free for a three-point shot but prior to that Tatum probably had we're asking him now to take a bad three but an opportunity to get one off knowing that the Knicks won foul up three which again

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

We talk about a little later in the second game. So there are all of these possessions where you're watching with Tatum. You're going to keep doing this over and over again. And I think last night was and I remember I did this big rant after an Atlanta Hawks stretch where the Celtics lost to him twice in the regular season last year, where it was just settle, settle, settle.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Is this approach going to come back to bite Boston at all? And then guess what happens? They win an NBA championship. So you feel like I can't actually criticize this approach with everything. But last night was just the embodiment of anybody that's watched the Celtics regularly the last two years going, is this potentially a flaw?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

And it's hard to say that it is when this team wins a title 11 months ago, but that was it. That was the, it's not really the blueprint, but that was the two and a half hours of, oh, this sucks. But they're going to argue shooting variance and the shot quality is like I know Missoula mentioned it. Hey, shot quality was terrific process, all of the different stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

They're not wrong about any of it. I think it's just in those closing moments with Tatum. You're like, hey, you want to try anything else? And it was like, no, I don't. OK, more dramatic, perhaps even Denver's win against OKC happening on the last second shot from Aaron Gordon. So it played out early the way I kind of expected it to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

The defense from OKC, all these incredible moments, the plays that these guys are making, how smart they are, all the variables that they have to throw at this Denver team, which can feel like a one-man band at times. But it was not the case last night. But I just have a bunch of plays here that I love. There was a play where Jokic is on the left block. He's got Chet on him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Caruso comes down to double him. Westbrook goes to caught off of the double, thinking like, you know, there's probably a

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

some kind of pass from Jokic here Jokic is thinking the exact same thing yet Caruso's already a step ahead of both and realizing I'm going to show the double I'm going to come and then Westbrook's going to cut and then I'm going to jump backwards and intercept this pass it was nuts it was so beautifully played by Caruso I was like okay and that's the moment where Jokic is going to be thinking I didn't think he was going to do that um there was another play where

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Murray was just way too casual at times against this team, and that is the one thing I've said all year about OKC. Well, it's not the only thing I've said about OKC, but when you're going up against them defensively, you cannot screw around. Murray loses it with just a casual control of the ball, and Caruso knocks it away.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

New York and Boston and obviously Denver and that thrilling win at Oklahoma City. I'd start by saying there are two games that through the course of the first two hours of the games, I'm sitting there thinking, okay, this is probably going to go the way I thought it would go. Boston's up huge. And it felt like OKC was in control. And that's not what happened to close out both of those.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

Murray, a pass to the left side in the first half, just really slow, regular season speed. Caruso steals it. First play of the second half, all right? Denver's in it. The score is not certainly insurmountable, as we learned later on. First thing, set the tone here. A bit like the Van Vliet four-point play at the start of Game 6, Golden State, where Golden State's hanging on by a thread.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

They're obviously behind in that game. And then you come out, you're like, all right, fourth quarter, it's go time. In this case, it's the third quarter. Murray's first pass, he's not even doing anything other than, I'd call it an entry pass, but it was like past the three-point line. It's so slow and just casual, and Caruso jumps that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Knicks or Nuggets — More Concerning Comeback? Plus, Game 1 Breakdowns, Steph’s Run, and Stopping Jokic with Richard Jefferson

You're like, all right, guys, you're going to have to be aware that Caruso is a step ahead of all of the stuff that you're doing. There was a transition pass in the first half from Jokic where, you know how quarterbacks will throw different, Passes against routes where linebackers and coverage, and you're like, the linebacker's never going to make a play on this football.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Part two, Todd McShay, fresh off a trip to Indianapolis for the Combine, the most impressive player of the week. We're going to get into some of the buzz that he's hearing from teams, deep dives into the receiver, running back, tight end class. Also, what is going on with Shador Sanders at the top, and life advice. He's fresh off the Combine. friend of the show, the host of The McShay Show.

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Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Okay, so let's talk about the headlines with the quarterback part of this. Because I know you talked about Shador, and now it's, you know, there always seems to be like one quarterback every year that everybody gets pissed off about once it becomes known that he rubs people the wrong way. I don't know.

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Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I mean, is this a thing, or is it the opinion of a couple teams that are just, I don't know, not great sources on this?

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Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Well, I think it's more about the reaction. I think it becomes a it plays out where it's like, oh, here we go again. Everybody's destroying this one guy's character every year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

What was it then? What was it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Do you think that's part of it then strategically? Like if there was somebody who's meeting with it, he actually didn't want to go to them. Well, I don't think anyone should be surprised.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Do you feel like Cleveland goes with Cam Ward?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah, and I would say, because I think people are always a little... Like, ooh, somebody lit it up at the Combine. Like, when are you guys going to learn? And I usually argue, like, okay, but for the failures, there's also guys that put on a show there, and it totally works out, and the boosted draft profile and all that stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Does that make sense? Yeah, now I understand. Maybe I just had a harder time with that. Give me somebody that... We'll do both ends of this. Let's start positive. give me somebody that maybe you didn't realize until spending days in Indianapolis, but like, man, teams really like this guy, Tyler Booker guard, Alabama.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

But anybody that watched South Carolina this year, I would say the game tape has to back it all up, too. Like, this is an added – The physical part of this, the testing part of it, is just another bonus on top of a dude that was a game-wrecking safety. I loved watching South Carolina this year. You and I talked about it all season long.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Was there somebody, because as we're going through the season, I also know how you work and that you're probably changing your mind on some players from the end of the regular season, maybe even during the bowl season. to all the extra evaluation that you're going to be putting up until, you know, we still got a ways to go for all the tape that you're watching here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Is there somebody that you've changed your mind on a lot?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

But there are just all these times you're like, there's seven again. So I imagine that this isn't out of nowhere because he looked like he made a big impact on Saturdays anyway.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

you know, I don't know, maybe it's just getting, getting softer as I get older, but I still think it's worth asking the question. Was there somebody momentum wise that you felt like, okay, after I was there, like the mocks have this guy in the first round, the teams don't see it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah, look, I mean, I love him because from the jump, it was like, are you serious with this dude? You know, 6'4", 220, and I know he didn't run, which everybody was kind of like wondering. And then it starts to become kind of like your original point of this whole thing is this turning into kind of the NBA combine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

which is different because, you know, the agents will tell you in the NBA, like we don't have these guys work out because if my guy goes against this other guy that's supposed to be second round or undrafted, then all the teams freak out. And then you morons in the media start shitting on my guy. And so like the risk reward, and then there's the,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

the oddity of human nature of like, I might still like something I don't get to see as much. And I'm wondering if that is that, that approach is infiltrating the NFL combine where we're just more and more people be like, well, if that guy's not running, then I'm not running. And then the, the agent, the parents are like, well, that guy's supposed to go behind our guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah, and the frustrating part about this is this isn't like it's a one-on-one or a two-on-two. I've gone to some of the draft workouts way back in the day, the private ones that the Celtics would let us into, a few of us towards my early days back in Boston, and you could see the setting where you could see how an agent would be like, well, this is ridiculous.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

My 6'9 guy is playing two-on-two, and he's guarding a 6'2 guy, so now all of a sudden if he gets... Like, if he goes past him, now my guy isn't as good. It's like, this is not something that's controlled. But it's just the straight running of a 40. Like, eventually, dude, you're going to have to run your 40.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Like, I guess, unless now we're just in the future going to have waves of players without that having, like, an official number. Because it's like, no, I'm just not going to have my guy run and go to the tape. Because I think the Teterota tape is... is incredible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Now, if you're going to get me on details that I don't know, because I don't study it the way that you study it, then I can't have the debate with you. Like I'm already taking a knee on the whole thing, but I think back to the DK Metcalf evaluation where it was okay, big physical presence.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

And I don't even know that DK was as polished as Ted Arroyo is in the last year, but I think the draft world and clearly the teams are, there was a miss on DK of like not understanding him. And I don't know McClellan at all. I've never talked to him. I've never talked to anybody that's like, Hey, I had him in high school here at Arizona. Like you don't get it. Right.

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Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

No, no, no. So, but to let me finish on that, Like, could it be, hey, I am so good at 6'4", 220, and our team stinks, and really our only thing that we can do is have Fafita run for his life and then chuck the ball up to me, and I'm still beating people in a straight line on some of these desperation throws that, you know, I don't need to be super crisp out of seven yards.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Like, I haven't had to do any of those things. And I think that was the miss on DK is that he never really had to do the things that you guys were knocking him for. He was a nine-road guy. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

And, and yet, you know, it's an, it's a tough spot for you and the teams to be like, okay, all these things that we ask our receivers to do at the NFL level, like DK hasn't shown any of these attention to detail things because he figured it all out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Right. Go ahead.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

And Teteroa, I'm not putting Teteroa in DK's physical class here because that, I mean, it's just, you can't do that with DK at all. But there are certain guys that I'll watch and go, okay, fine. Especially with the receivers. But it's like, you know, some of these dudes probably have, is it, is it that they can't do those things or that they've never had to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Right, but I know everybody's not as big on him because they expect him to be a speedster. He's a speedster on the field. I couldn't believe he ran as slow as he did. But are we talking about a small target and not the speed? So now you're thinking, how open is this guy going to get? Because I thought he was one of the best difference makers in college football for the last two years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Quinn Ewers... It feels like years ago, that Michigan game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I still find that to be the single most fascinating thing about your sports draft process versus, you know, the one I'm aligned with with the NBA that rarely, and it's the Matt Barkley thing, which I even asked about because I always referenced it forever, is that you were top 10 and then you were a fourth rounder. And that, to me, makes your sport so weird.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah, it'll be great. And I would say, you know, maybe we'll jump to conclusions where we will after only a couple of years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

And I know this is kind of where you're going, but it's nice to have five, really 10 years of data on the new version of the transferring quarterback, getting more of these starts and maybe getting to a point where teams just go, hey, we have a hard and fast rule on this stuff. We have a quarterback need and we're taking somebody in the top 10.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Like, if you have south of 30 starts, we're just not doing that. We're not making them. Now, look, teams are not going.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

That team's not going to do it, but it's funny as you say, like, not being ready as a death sentence at that position for most everybody. Right. And in basketball, because there's nowhere to develop them, man. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

But basketball, because it's different because you're not worried about like reps for one guy at one position, but, but not being ready as almost a prerequisite for a top 10 pick in the NBA. Right. Like we, you know, totally different world. Right. And you, the development thing, it's, you're not even comparing even just because it's sports. It's not even the close, but like, I always think of,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

the equivalent of would there be, certainly there's people in mock drafts before college basketball season where you would say, oh, that guy dropped. But to drop from like, he might be the fourth pick, fifth pick to, again, we don't have multiple rounds, but no, instead we took 120 players.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

No, it's the quarterback thing in particular. I know, I know, I'm joking. But maybe, yeah, maybe this would be you know, cool. 10 years from now, we're doing the pod and like, Hey, they cracked the code. They're only busting on 30% of first rounders now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Because you go, how many of these dudes are already on other teams?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

So, yeah. Okay, tell us about the newsletter so people can subscribe.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah, I can tell how fired up you are. The content. like I said at the top, it is not that I had, I don't know what my expectations were for everything that you're doing, but just immediately like this, this thing feels incredibly successful. And I'm just really happy for you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

You can check out more of Todd again on the McShay show. So please subscribe. And again, you can see the full videos of the podcast as well on Spotify. Thanks, man. We'll talk again soon. You got it, brother.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

We are ready to go. LifeAdviceRR at gmail.com. That's the email. We've got Sruti. We've got Kyle Wargon, potentially.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

um i'll think of new ways to ensure that at some point but you never know you might not even talk to him maybe you don't want to maybe kyle has a problem with him and we don't even know and i have to manage it uh maybe not though because i'm not really a manager all right uh a lot of people emailing in good i'm good i uh it's been a scramble scramble prep day um So we're getting there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

We're getting there. We got through it today, but it wasn't ideal for me this morning. So let's take a look here. A couple of feedback ones that, you know, we've been sneaking in here a little bit. A lot of people love the book, The Road. And they, I mean, you want to talk high, high approval rating, which is rare in life today.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

But when I talked about it during the Friday feedback, when I started reciting my library, which was some D plus content, Uh, I said, it's my favorite work of fiction. And we've had a ton of emails from people that were like, Hey, I took your advice. I read it. Holy shit. Um, so thank you. And to those of you like, look, you just get to read an incredible book, um, that, that definitely, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah, that was what I tried to do for Van Pelt with The Wire, considering he also has the... Maryland stuff. Yeah. And I even gifted him the first season on iTunes. Not cheap. Right. Think about that move, early 30s. That's basically good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah. I'm not into you, but like, well, the guy hasn't dated anybody in a while. So anyway, I sent it to him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

that would have made more sense. Cause I had to like get his email and then I had to like make sure. And then I go, Hey, did you get that link? And it was such a disastrous transaction. Cause I was like, he's like, yeah, no, I think I saw it. You sent it to my personal one. Right. I'm like, come on, man. Are you serious?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Well, I think it's more about strategy at the top and how cute you can get because of the overwhelming depth on, say, like defensive line or tight end. Like if you're sitting there and you love Tyler Warren, do you go, all right, again, in the tape, is again, another guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Like I definitely sent it to your, like the one we use every day to talk about the show, that email that you log into multiple times a day. You, you didn't notice like a different thing. Ryan has gifted you season one of the wire. Yeah. Like that's a pretty, like that email pops, you know?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah. That's not, that's not what's going on with NATO that you need to know. Right. You just, you don't even open that one. This was Ryan Rosillo has, has gifted you. And so I was like, yeah, you just got a lot. He's like, well, how do I do it though? Like if I, if I have, and I went, are you seriously not even going to, I bought it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

But what you learn about Van Pelt is that because all of us told him it's insane that you of all people have not watched the show that everybody loves. You like good things, right? That he actually liked not watching it. Dug in. Yeah, I could see that. Yeah, I've done that before. Yeah, but at some point you're just denying yourself something that's incredible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Like every wire joke that anybody wants to make, like, okay, go ahead and make it. Then watch the show and then tell me you didn't have a good time. And nobody's ever going to go, you know what? Little dated. Burners. Cerruti might do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

It sounds like you didn't like it. You tried twice. Like, what the fuck are you talking about?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah, but I mean, Cerruti's whole... I'm sorry, but now I'm interrupting you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

But your whole mission statement of, like, nothing ages well. Like, nothing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

What about, like, would you watch Chinatown?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Okay, but not seeing it is one thing. But, like, would you not watch...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I mean, you want to talk about like watching his Saturdays and realizing like, it'd be shocking to me if Tyler Warren isn't a big impact player in the NFL, especially with teams being creative offensively and, and using him and the multitude of ways that Penn state used him this year. Okay. But so you want a tight end.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Look, Bill's very clear disdain. I don't know if disdain is not the right word, but the clip of him and Van talking about Christopher Nolan that

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Cause you're like, wait, so the guy who's making some of the best movies over the last 15 years, like arguably like the one director, if you had to like draft the directors of like, okay, that person directed it. The majority of people were like, I'm in, I don't even care what it's about. Like I'll give that guy a chance. And he was kind of like, yeah, memento was good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah. I told you I like the Dark Knight. Oh, you're the guy that liked the Dark Knight. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

You guys want to do an email? I've been bad at this lately. Yeah. Okay. Um... What's up, fellas? 5'10", 180, no gym stats, time-consuming schedule of being a high school basketball coach and a herniated disc have taken me out of strenuous exercise going back to November now. Tough. That's all right. You'll get back. If you care, you'll get there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

My neighbor, a four years older gentleman who's been living with his mother, she recently passed away. He has some background in the sky. He's been taking care of his mother, so he doesn't work. He's always home. We share a common driveway. He parks his car in the middle, mostly on his side, but at least two to three feet across the undrawn dividing line between his side and mine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

You think he's a game changer, but then you look at the tight end class and you go, can we get cute here? Can we take a corner? Can we take another position of need where there's not nearly as much depth where we're, We want to get cute and get a tight end later on. We want to get Ferguson.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I had helped his mother bring in the groceries one time. I left my number with her in case she, they ever needed anything. When she passed away, he had texted me to thank me for giving her my number and let me know of the arrangements. Since then, the texting hasn't stopped. Constant memes and YouTube video links.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I gave him the old LOL for the first few, then did the ha-ha reactions a couple more times before I just stopped answering. Despite no longer receiving responses, he had sent messages for 10 consecutive days. That's where the question comes. Dude, haven't we all played the LOL haha game with a few unwanted memes? I sent a haha to my brother, and then he was like, you haha'd me?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I'm like, yeah, I did. Damn. He's like, yeah. He's like, dude. and he's younger. So I wasn't even the older guy, Matt thing. Um, because I had a, some friend who sent me just an absolute horrible body fluid dispersal meme. And I went, okay, well, like, what do I, like, what do you want to clarify what that meant?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I don't. Okay. I don't. Okay. But it's just like when you're not that close with somebody and they send you that meme, um, Like, what is there left to do besides ha-ha? Screw you, guy. Yeah, you shouldn't even put me in that position. Yeah, let me bang out a couple paragraphs here. All right, so then the question comes in. I'm getting my bathrooms redone, and he shot me the 11th text.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Getting a new bathroom today? No answer from me. This is a great email. Mostly just busy, not intentionally trying to be a jerk. Next day, he sends another text basically letting me know that some brown crud had gotten on his car residue from demo dumpster and that he had gone. To get a car wash, it was $12, and he left the receipt with one of the workers. I didn't answer again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Big night of hoops for the team that day. Just one of those things where it's the last thing I want to think about. Well, I'm two days out, and I haven't answered him. He sent a couple more follow-ups. Did you see my receipt and a couple more memes? Do I answer him here? Pretend my phone line is shot, and I haven't been receiving any of his messages since our early exchanges.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Continue ignoring the text and just give him the $12 next time I see him. Okay, look, a lot to cover here. One is, you're a good dude. You're a good dude. Um, the move there to make sure that the mom could have your number just in case, right. That tells me a lot about you. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

And the fact that your high school basketball coach, there's, there's a part of you that is good, good consciousness about other people's feelings. Yeah. You're doing the right thing here. Um, This guy just lost his mom, right? And clearly, whatever's going on in his day-to-day isn't stacked with Zooms.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

We want to get Mason Taylor because we just think that there's certain, it feels like there's positions here that are stacked and whether it's D-line, maybe edge, more importantly here, and tight end. Yeah, and running back. But, I mean, that's a whole other philosophy that I think is worth getting into here a little bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

So he's going through something that obviously is very traumatic, and he doesn't have a busy schedule. So there's the math on why you're getting all these texts all of a sudden. So I think initially, I felt like, hey, can you give the guy some grace here? I'm kind of shocked I just said that. But can you give the guy a little leniency considering what he's gone through? And maybe...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

three hots or maybe oh that's a good one you know but then you meme him back now you're in a meme off and it's planning vacations and clearly you don't want to do that with this guy but i think now he has crossed the line into you're dealing with somebody that again has gone through something traumatic so we don't want to be insensitive to it but once you start leaving 12 receipts for a car wash and then following up on the 12 street he's now crossed into somebody you should no longer feel any guilt towards not wanting to have any communication with him whatsoever

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I'd give him the 12 bucks back, fine, whatever. I'd ignore every single meme. I think you're now past the level of ha-ha LOLs. I would ignore them all. And okay, it's just like a text. It's just like Dick's Sporting Goods every now and then letting me know golf ball's on sale. I could freak out about getting the text, but I'm the one that signed up for it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

You didn't necessarily sign up for it, but guess what I can do? Hey, Dix, thanks for letting me know, but I'm good right now on golf balls. No problem. So that's how you have to look at it. Um, but the $12 thing should make you feel even less guilt because that is like, if you've got, if the guy's got his car dirty, you got a car dirty.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

But I think most of us, I don't want to call it unhinged, but that's kind of aggressive taxing. Yeah. I think it's a, I think it's aggressive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

The more you started learning about the true depth and how you've graded it out, looking at some of the stuff that Daniel Jeremiah has done, I wonder if teams will be passing on a player they like better, but because of positional depth, figuring we can still get somebody really nice at the position in the second round. So we're going to take somebody from a class that's thinner.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

It also depends, too, like where are they located regionally? Like are we talking, there's still some

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

snow and salt situation like is it is it a colder climate where are we where's the tempered zone of this email and so like was the car kind of going to get dirty already like could you be a bit aggressive on it even though we just went through this where you're like hey man like i get it here's your 12 bucks but you know like shit gets dirty man yeah and you're gonna bill me for the car wash and and then maybe maybe that because we are we are truly in a i mean we've never been more divided but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I hope you subscribe to check out all of his draft coverage. It is Todd McShay. What's up, man? Good to see you. How we doing, Ryan? I'm good, man. The content was great. You guys are putting out awesome, awesome stuff. Really impressed. Yeah, so let's just kind of start. You were there. It's kind of a home base for you this time of year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Well, the spread of seriously, the spread of unwanted memes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

That's why I tell them bodies look pretty sweet. I, I also think there'd be something funny here, but again, the guy went through something pretty, it's a big deal and he's there at the house. But like, if you just decide, I'm just thinking like globally combating unwanted means. And if you just decided like, I'm going to just turn the tables on this guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

and just start texting back awful topics with somebody who I barely know. Like, hey, I thought the eggs were going to be cheaper. What the fuck, bro? Actually, trading Luca was the right thing to do. Just start hitting him with terrible talking points and... Yeah, but then... I feel like you'd be surprised at that guy's stamina.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

No, you don't want to do it with this guy. Yeah, yeah, okay. I'm talking like, is there a way to combat the unwanted meme?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

What about a shirts off selfie?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I had an old guy moment at Trader Joe's the other day. Can't wait to hear this. Yeah, I was rummaging through the stock and I looked at the eggs and I was like, damn.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah. Like when Jim tells Will Ferrell that some people around the office think he might be sexist. Craig is like, damn! As soon as he says it, great delivery. Great delivery by Daryl. So I was like, man, one, it was just wiped out. Because if you want to sell something out, all you have to do is say you're only allowed one. Mm-hmm.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

You know, if I ran a retail store, we couldn't move something and be like, man, our half shorts are still, we're still way overstocked. It'd be like one per customer. I just put the sign up. So the eggs were just, it was a, it looked like I am legend. And so I get to the checkout and Ramones there, it is just vibrant shirt. And I go, what's going on with the eggs, man? Has that been a thing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

And he's just like, gave me this look like, I don't fucking care.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah, right. And as soon as I said it, as soon as I said it, I was like, man, what are you doing? What are you, why are you talking to the checkout people solo? Why are you inquiring about, although I would say trader Joe's a scattering report is there's a lot of people at that checkout that would love to engage.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah. There's just, Exactly, Saruti. That's kind of what I was going with, but this was an outlier. He was not part of management training or wherever the Trader Joe's has that. Okay, we got a fifth grader emailing in. No way. I don't know if this is real or not. Fifth grader needing advice. Hi, my name's Tate. I'm in fifth grade. I'm 4'11". That's pretty good. No gym stats.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I prefer soccer over basketball. Nice. Shout out to Saruti, who also hates everything from the early 2000s. Well, my dad puts me to bed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

over 2000 is a great time my dad puts me to bed he either reads me a chapter of the book tells me the movie plot or tells me what the life advice was about when he explains the life advice I make him give me all the details but sometimes he forgets so I ask to listen and he let me listen for the first few minutes he turned it off when there were bad words I really want to listen to it with him in bed but he won't let me my question is how can I convince him to let me listen maybe just for one episode you could not curse just for the life advice part thanks sorry

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I just swore. Um, people read into a lot of fifth graders in bed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I don't think that's a real fifth grader emailing us.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I think a kid at 10 or 11 has heard all of these words, unless you drive them to school every day, which I would advise against. I know it's extra time with your kids, but I think you need those rough edges on the bus. The hardening of the bus.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

We had a deal where, I don't know, maybe fifth grade. I think fifth grade is when we first started doing it because we would go by our street, but then we would take a left and go all the way the other way around. So we'd be like the last drop off. It's not that I lived that far away from the elementary school, but it was basically...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

the loop that we took, we went the furthest way out and then circled back around. So it'd be the last, it would just suck. Crazy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Right. So then we started asking, I think we got a note once from a parent to be like, can we, can we get dropped off at this corner and then walk down the street? But the street that I lived on was like one of the most dangerous streets. It was so bad. And we just started forging the notes and the bus driver was just an outer space anyway.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

And we just, we just kept handing him these notes being like, please allow, you know, my son fill in the blank. There was like three of us. And then we'd all get off and be like, this is a whole new world. And then, um, some guys whip beer cans at us in the middle of the day as they were driving by. It was kind of a real redneck stretch of, of this Connecticut thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

And, uh, that was the end of that. Man, the best. I don't know what you're talking about. He was like, yeah, he was like ready to go looking for him. All right. Um, how about one work now? Burke's gotten enough love. Okay. Okay. We'll save that for Friday feedback. I don't mean to sound anti-Burke. By the way, after dinner last night, the Onora, the Russian kid, table next to me, NBD.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Like, man, you went wild. Yeah. I will see it, but... All right. I don't want friends. 6'1", 34 years old, 215. I've never been to the gym. Michael K. Gilchrist on offense. Keontae George on defense. DeAndre Ayton's thought process. Not the combo you want on a scouting report. About a year ago, I was fired from my job. I turned to sports betting and came up with a system Great.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I've done quite well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Plus a rather large settlement for wrongful termination. I've never had many friends. When I was younger, I would have killed to have friends. Now the thought of doing anything socially is mentally draining. The only time I leave my house is if my wife wants me to do something. Some guys will listen and be like, this fucking guy's got a wife. My wife operates a private golf course.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

She occasionally tells people about the money I've won. I simply tell people I'm retired. The combination of making an obscene amount of money and free golf at my wife's course has led me to people wanting to become my friend. And by be my friend, I mean, texting me, what are we betting on or want to play golf? All of these people got my number from my wife, usually the husband of her friends and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Or people that never used to text me. How do I get people to stop texting? My current system is if you're pushy about wanting my bets, I come up with a bet. I know it's going to lose and send that to you. Oh, wow. Hoping if you lose enough, you leave me alone. The second option is just ignore them. Then my wife wants to get dinner with them. It's awkward.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I would occasionally play golf with some people, but usually respond. Course is packed. Can't get a tee time. Is there a solution to this problem? I'd say stay on this path, buddy, and you're going to reach your goals. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah, look, he's sending some slips here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

You know, congrats, man. I mean, if you're... If you figured out how to crack the code here, I mean, you clearly don't care, so why don't you just say it? Like, I don't want to be your friend. Period. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

That email was pretty straightforward. You're obviously pretty smart, not only with your basketball combination comp there, which was creative and funny and very specific. If you really are pulling this off, and I only...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

say that not to dispute what you're telling us the information you've shown us on some of these golf parlays that I just looked at and the numbers again if these are the real numbers like you're killing it I don't why what what part of you wants to be cool about this because your wife

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

You never want to talk to anybody?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

That's for sure.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Anything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Well, look, it's already been a successful show for two seasons.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

He can get away with the seed planting, but I don't think you're wrong. by saying we're going a little slow here. But I don't mind slow. I don't mind slow. I think a lot of people mind slow.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Yeah. I'm giving it the massive benefit of the doubt.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

If you were bringing someone in season three for the first time, they would be like, why does everybody talk about this stuff? All right, so not great life advice. It's a little white lotus season three review at the end of there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

You are a mass transport guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Mass transit, I guess I should say.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

All right, thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Saruti. Thanks to John Frias and also Wargon. He was with us in spirit, but that'll do it. Again, the full pod is now a video on Spotify. Check out our YouTube page. I'm Russell of Podcast Range.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Let's just run through the top headlines and we'll get into some of the minutiae later on. What's the biggest thing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Look, I understood the running back shift away from it. To me, it made sense. And I know things can become cyclical here a little bit. But are you hearing from teams, whether it was some of the stuff that we saw where just teams are determined, like you're just not throwing it over the top and you figure the counter to that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Would we ever see a shift towards teams saying, you know what, then if this is how you're going to keep playing, we're just going to line up and run block. And we're going to start investing in this like we're going to try to show a little bit more balance.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I mean, I guess I have a hard time believing with the offensive minds that we have in this league that they're going to, I would say, pass on opportunities to pass as much as they have. I don't know that the league would go away from that. But does that then lead to a priority on drafting running back sooner than we've seen? I mean, is that even a possibility?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

I love that you brought up Jameer Gibbs because he's exactly who I was thinking about. Because you're right. Go back to the 23 draft when Detroit takes him 12th. And look, he was a stud. He was a stud at Georgia Tech. He felt like he could do all these different things with him. When I think about a running back in today's game being a difference maker,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Sometimes I just still think, like, I don't know that it's ever going to be the way that it used to be where you could just build a team around that first because the running back had all this game-breaking ability because I just think the defenders are so fast now that I don't know that that stuff is there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

Like, I don't know if the real estate is as available to a running back the way it was for all the decades that we grew up watching this sport. But Gibbs is certainly in that class of guys, like, you give him some space, like, he can flip the field for you. Mm-hmm.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

So when I think about Gibbs and it being this pick, and look, on top of everything else, it wasn't like they were only handing it off to him. They were kind of using him strategically when Montgomery is healthy. So it wasn't like, hey, we're just going to give it to Gibbs 25 times, and that's going to provide the value of the resource that they put in, taking him that high.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 2: Todd McShay on Shedeur and Cam's Landing Spots, WR and RB Debates, NFL Combine Takeaways, Plus Life Advice!

But in a vacuum, is Gibbs more valuable to a football team than Christian Gonzalez? Is he more valuable than Skowronski, a tackle who's taken a spot ahead of him?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 1: More Mavs Misery with Kyrie Out for the Season, 15 NBA East Teams in 15(ish) Minutes, and Les Claypool of Primus!

Kobe's good. He's bad on defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 1: More Mavs Misery with Kyrie Out for the Season, 15 NBA East Teams in 15(ish) Minutes, and Les Claypool of Primus!

I think you've got to hope that... Can you out-tank Brooklyn? Does New Orleans get hot here with Zion?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 1: More Mavs Misery with Kyrie Out for the Season, 15 NBA East Teams in 15(ish) Minutes, and Les Claypool of Primus!

But $38,120,000 for Ingram? So they have...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 1: More Mavs Misery with Kyrie Out for the Season, 15 NBA East Teams in 15(ish) Minutes, and Les Claypool of Primus!

Marcus Smart, Middleton.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 1: More Mavs Misery with Kyrie Out for the Season, 15 NBA East Teams in 15(ish) Minutes, and Les Claypool of Primus!

I started asking some teams about this. Which team... Has the best. Worst player. Or. Is it the worst best player? That probably works better. So of all 30 teams. If you go through who their best player is. Which team has the worst best player? Look.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 1: More Mavs Misery with Kyrie Out for the Season, 15 NBA East Teams in 15(ish) Minutes, and Les Claypool of Primus!

Do you know Jayski? I don't. Oh, okay. Well, Jayski came along...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 1: More Mavs Misery with Kyrie Out for the Season, 15 NBA East Teams in 15(ish) Minutes, and Les Claypool of Primus!

And, and it, it was, it was spectacular. It was very eyeopening.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Part 1: More Mavs Misery with Kyrie Out for the Season, 15 NBA East Teams in 15(ish) Minutes, and Les Claypool of Primus!

Do you regret the outfit choice in 1995 on Letterman?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

You're listening to the Ryan Rosillo podcast presented by FanDuel. FanDuel has made it easier than ever to see how your bets are doing without even opening the app. Because now you can get the latest updates and follow along in real time directly from your phone's lock screen or Apple Watch. No login required. Just head to your My Bets page to turn it on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I was reading like, Hey, these are four historic net rating one seed teams. And if you want to go chalk with your bracket, it might not be a bad idea. And it ends up being the right idea. So I just want to start with Duke because I think they've been the most impressive. We could talk roster and all this stuff. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Yeah, and Broome was really good in that Florida game. Like sometimes you're thinking, okay, well, you know, with that size, because Michigan State wants to play him straight up. And, you know, I'm not saying that's when Auburn won the game in the first few minutes because there was still a couple –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

spurts there for michigan state later on but i mean the early tone being set single coverage broom was just going to take you in there and beat up on you i don't know if that necessarily worked against florida but he's 19 and 11 against him in that winning uh or in the win for florida on the other side uh it's really funny that you brought up dillingham for pettiford because when i've now watched these last few weeks i was texting with some nba teams going hey give me your like analysis of pettiford now to dillingham there when you you know go back to last year in the first round um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

More teams were like, look, Dillingham was just way more of an efficient player. But I'd say my pushback a little bit was I think Pettiford's body control and where he knows he's going with a decision. Now it's kind of nice when you can have a seven-footer like Golden switch out on you. Yeah. Because that drive where he brought him back out and was like, I'm just going to go right past you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Dillingham is so fast and he's so athletic, but it almost felt like in a frenzy. And when I watch Pettiford, his athleticism feels a bit more controlled, even though, again, the NBA teams are like from an efficiency standpoint, there's no comparison right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

You know, whether it's Cooper, you know, sign James being the fourth option at times like I watched him going because I'm late to it. I get into the conference championship stuff, but I've been really, really excited about this tournament, even though we haven't had the buzzer beaters. But I think I just start here with impressive as they are. How do you attack this Duke team?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

OK, so I also asked about 10 teams, Cooper coming out this year, Zion coming out in his class. So as I know, through this kind of exercise, it's probably a little tough mentally to put the toothpaste back in the tube with Zion, you know, knowing the health concerns on top of this. And I was impressed. It was pretty split. Because there's still the people that evaluated Zion coming out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And I would agree. Like, look, his top level offensive ability stuff is like unguardable. And it actually ended up becoming true, even though he just hasn't played enough. But when I think about Zion and I still like I hold out some hope for him. I don't know how long a franchise can can. Keep going to bed at night praying that they get a full season from him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But he kind of needs to be your point guard. Or you need to run some action where he's catching it 15 feet out, extended, and then kind of taking over the ball. And as great as that stuff is, Cooper can impact the game without scoring. And that feels like like my opinion is that as much as I love Zion coming out, the tiebreaker goes to Cooper because of the defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I don't know what they did with him, but his youth coaches, everyone that had a hand in this, like all deserve all the credit because just his understanding. I was watching him communicate switches and then to be stacked up and pointing at guys being like, no, no, you're taking him if he comes out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And he's basically playing point guard for this team and a willing, deferring player despite all his offensive skills. So the fact that even as dynamic as the peak Zion stuff is, which is beyond Cooper's offensive game, Cooper could have six points and I could still feel like he had a huge hand in Duke winning a basketball game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And if you don't already have it, download the FanDuel Sportsbook app today to get in on the action. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I liked the BC game up at BC because it was like a random night where I go, you know, I'm just going to watch a full Duke game here. And it seemed like Boston College, some of the players that had a meeting before the game, they're like, hey, let's just beat up on this guy. You know, he's from Maine. And, you know, he was just, he was completely unfazed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And maybe it's just, hey, look, it wasn't like he was going to go to the Heights or

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

and be intimidated by boston college who wasn't a very good team this year because like he also practiced with nba guys and team usa stuff so i don't i don't know at this point that he's going to be rattled uh maybe with 5 000 strong heckling him throughout the game but like one guy hit him just straight in the face like the player just decided like i'm hitting this guy in the face i don't care

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And Cooper just kind of looks around, and I think it may have been another shot of his family. It was a crowd being like, what is going on down there? And it's like, then he drops 28 on him. And it's funny you told that note story because, yeah, my first instinct would be like, oh, my God. Oh, no. Like, not one of these guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

He's going to show Professor Billis that he's taking notes to try to guard it. Because so many people would eat that up, right? Announcers, there's nothing better than when the team decides to not take a shot with the shot clock under the game clock. And then the announcers would be like, oh, what a class move there from the senior. You know, it's just like...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

gives a shit like going for the layup like i i don't understand how that became like except the nba it's like armageddon if anybody takes a shot now uh in that scenario but i think people really fall but to hear your genuine relaying of this stuff to back up everything else because just the way i see him communicate inside of a game and his instincts and all the fundamentals i'm like they his family the coaches man they did a they did a spectacular job uh with this guy

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Where do you think Knipple ranks on all-time Duke face?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Hey, let me tell you about one of my favorite bets that FanDuel has right now. They're called Player Performance Doubles. If you don't know about them, you gotta check them out. They're these two-leg parlays already made for you. FanDuel takes an NBA player prop, then combines it with a bet on that player's team to win. They have a bunch of them for every game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

You just have to pick the one you like. We are going with... My Atlanta Hawks. Risa Shea, it is real and it's spectacular. 36 the other night. 5 of 11 from 3. 6 boards for you guys out there. But he's just dialed up the scoring here. 16 a game in March. He's had 22, 21, 22, 27.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Uh, they've lost to the good teams other than Brooklyn this month, but they've actually had a pretty good month based on Atlanta standards. So we're going with research, a 20 or more points Hawks win plus three 80 payout. I guess there's a 15 point. but the payout is even close. So we're going for it because when we go Hawks, we go hard.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Let's talk a little bit about the draft because I think coming in, there was a thought like what if Flagg takes a little bit longer and the two guys from Rutgers, whether it's Harper or Ace Bailey, I think Edgecombe has probably become somebody now out of Baylor where it's like, oh, maybe he's actually in that conversation. I know you still have a lot of work to do. I certainly do as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But that second tier behind Flagg, do you have kind of a – preliminary thought or list or order or any of that kind of stuff? And I know we're still months away here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Yeah. I think there's probably four guys. And like I've said, I, I have much more to do. I don't know that. I don't know if Derek queen goes one last year. No. Yeah. Uh, I don't think fears would. Right. Cause I think you're still talking about research with a shot making in that size.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Um, and by the way, like as he's closing, I mean, you're starting to realize that cause I remember doing all the research stuff. I'm like, this guy's going to go number one. And at least now as he's played out his rookie year, like, okay, this, this makes sense. Like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

They, you know, where Saar, it almost felt like, are they just taking this big guy because he's really mobile and he thinks he can shoot and, you know, look to Saar's credit, he's put up really good numbers. He's consistently kept shooting the ball and he's had some really good splits on, on certain months. You know, who I think is like fascinating is Danny Wolfe. Because he's so different.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I don't know that he'll measure at seven feet. I know that it's what he's listed at. But he's basically a guard in a big guy's body in the strangest way that I think I've ever seen it. It's not, oh, hey, he's Dirk or he's Porzingis who had some nice perimeter skills or somebody who's north of seven feet.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But watching him at Michigan this year and seeing like how comfortable he is just getting into the triple threat dribble drive stuff. And he's basically playing outside because they have golden. So it's not like you're going to post him, but he starts at Yale and he has this year at Michigan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

He should be a first round pick, but he's a, he's a really interesting, I hope whatever team takes him, like understands what you need to let him do to be him as opposed to like, Oh, we have this seven footer with some ball skills.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I don't know if it's me jumping into it late and not being with it all the time, but when I think about the consistency of a team's effort and the consistency of their communication, like Tennessee did it really well. There's others like Michigan State's always going to be prepared for this kind of stuff. I think Houston is in that category.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

okay, this is where I want to finish because always, you know, respect where you've been and how vocal you've been about a lot of this stuff. And now the NCAA is kind of, I would say it's at this crossroads, but it's like, man, we're just going to be at a different crossroads in two or three years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I think with so many voices in sports now, there's a lot of hand wringing about like immediate results. And then always assuming that that's what it's going to be forever. And part of that was like, Hey, there's no Cinderella in the sweet 16. And,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

You can push back on it a little bit and be like, well, if Queen doesn't make that shot against Colorado State, does that mean all of those headlines are worthless?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I think there's potentially a real fear here for the mid-majors of like, now we just recruit these guys and we're going to lose them all the time, whether it be NIL or just the accepted idea that we're going to have, what, 1,700-plus guys in the D1 transfer portal. Where are you kind of with what the game is facing challenge-wise and what you would like to see happen in college basketball?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But watching the communication still with college players here of understanding how they want to switch things, who's helping where, Is this new? To see guys just be this locked in at this level, I don't know if it's better coaching.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I don't know if it's better response to coaching, but I find it to be really, really impressive at the college level to see a team locked in for 40 minutes the way we've seen from a handful of these teams.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

All right. There's a lot here because I do want to touch on all this stuff. There's a lot of acceptance that you have to have, like, To me, this is about... We've had some of these conversations off the air, and I know that I've definitely evolved with some of these thoughts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But what I realized, what I had to admit was that your thoughts in the past were because of selfish reasons, which is kind of your bird example. It's like, look, I remember when Maurice Claret was fighting... the rules to be eligible for the draft. And because I love college football and because freshmen are smaller than juniors, I'm like, this is, this is wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Now that may be one of those examples of like, Hey, it's just, even though it's kind of wrong, it might just be better for everybody. And the NFL likes it. And certainly college football likes it because they'll be able to keep all their people with all the different television revenue. That's just set records every single time they've gone to the table and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Um, but ultimately like it's still kind of wrong. And once you can kind of accept that, like the transfer portal thing, I used to think, you know, this is just such a huge pain in the ass. What if the guy wants to go somewhere else? He wants to go in conference and you spent this time recruiting him and put these resources into it. But to your point, like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

If there's only five sports that let it happen, how is it that the five sports are the ones that are the ones that generate revenue? Although I guess you didn't mention softball, which I think actually does like some decent TV numbers there. So I don't I don't know what the softball rules are. The other part, like, oh, these guys are going to have to re-recruit their kids. Okay. Guess what?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Like go through the coach's salary tables, go through those charts. 10 years ago in USA Today, you won't believe how low the salaries are. You know, we thought it was a big deal when one guy was making 5 million. Now I think in college football, it's like 40 guys are north of 5 million. And I'm kind of saying that off the top of my head.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

So there's certain things that I can say like, oh, wouldn't it just be easier? And then it's like, what am I rooting for? I don't want to root for the NCAA. I don't want to root for the coaches that are so determined to hang on to any bit of control they used to have. Yeah, it's a free-for-all. Sometimes I'll hear a rumor about a kid in the NIL and be like, oh, he's asking for $2 million.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

It's like, well, who gives a shit? You can ask for $3 million. Why do I care? Somebody who I don't even know, what do I care what he's asking for in the transfer portal? Yeah, it's kind of a free-for-all. But the NCAA deserves it as far as I'm concerned. And I don't really have any sympathy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And I think the freedom of movement and being compensated because we know the NIL part of it was the NCAA being like, well, as long as we're not paying for it, somebody else can do it. It's kind of deflection. Um, I, I'm, I'm more aligned with you now over the last few years. And I don't think I was like a complete old school guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Like, I think we've worked with some people that played college sports, you know, when Tebow got up there and was basically yelling at everybody. And like, I liked him, but you knew when he got up on TV and said, no, it should be about this. It should be about, you know, the, the logo in the center of the field. And I used to believe a little bit too, that the value was in the Saturday night, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

um in austin or the saturday night in ann arbor or saturday night in tuscaloosa and that it wasn't necessarily the players but it's like well it's just not that's just an outdated way of looking at all these things and i think that everyone just has to accept it and stop having hurt feelings about it because i don't know that anybody to your other bird point like you're not really offended by anything in particular you just think that you're supposed to be offended because it's new

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But honestly, too, think back to the argument. Define what it was supposed to be because it doesn't play anymore. You know what I mean? But it never did. Yeah, you know, that's what I mean. It was it was outdated then, but everybody accepted it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Yeah, I think I and I'm not necessarily like pushing back. to something you said, it's just the premise of it. It's like, okay, yeah, but you know, the younger kids, they're impressionable. They get some of these agents in the NIL world. That's, you know, kind of then feels like a free for all.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

You hear some of these numbers and you hear some of the, the commissions on it and you're like, well, how does it, how the hell does that work? And like, is there anyone else that somebody can talk to? Like sometimes you just feel like it are all these kids being taken advantage of and then it's easier to sell them on, uh, things are going to work out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Because I mean, how many athletes go to a program as a freshman? It's like, oh, this coach is a little different than when he recruited me. And oh, I'm better than this guy. He's getting my minutes. So it's probably really easy to work yourself into a place where you're like, all right, I actually do want to leave, right? And I think it becomes...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Maybe it's because players are younger and they're more impressionable. But then it also feels a bit like ageism because then I would like offer up the NBA and you're like, oh, you mean like all the players in that league that are happy all the time and never want to leave. So there's a lot of times where it feels like we're protecting the youth.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And it's like, yeah, but they're kind of doing the same thing the adults are doing. And you get me on the contract part of it. But then I could offer up 10 examples of guys that were under contracts that were like, yeah, by the way, I did sign the extension and I also don't want to be here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I'll never forget when all this was being argued. I think it was less than 10 years ago. I hope I'm not forgetting. It kind of felt like a 2016-17 range of argument where the NCAA actually, while they were having their side heard, because I don't know what the I know you're the lawyer here, so I don't have the technical term for whatever it was, but the hearings of all of this stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And there was an NCAA argument that it's like, well, yeah, but we pay these guys. They're just going to waste their money. And I remember thinking like, how fucking detached can you be? How can you actually like to think that someone's going to go? Great point. Someone may not spend their compensation in the right way as if the rest of us are the epitome of financial wizards.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

It gets back to that age thing where for years you were able to sell it. It's like, oh, it's kids, it's kids, it's kids. It's like, yeah, they're also...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

people that are worth a lot of money in their workplace and um i i just look there's certain things i may not like uh maybe i won't like the final results five years from now but there's you know if you're being honest with that i think it's just things that you have to learn to accept that you're gonna have to accept some things you don't like because of right and wrong yeah and if you want it like i hear the mercenary argument a lot now like the players are just mercenaries now

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I love that you brought up the ratings as we finish here, because, you know, it's a sport where you're like, what's the sport going to be? Where does it fit in? You know, I know at least from like a daily radio experience, I always thought that was like a good test for like where we were at with what the priorities were as far as talking points.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And it was kind of mirroring some of the other sports. It's like, are they just getting swallowed up into this college and pro football NBA thing where it's like if you're doing any of the other topics.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

So I'm just I'm thrilled to see the ratings, but I'm also thrilled to see this ratings bump during a time where it feels like the loudest voices are telling us the sports heading in a decline for it was. I mean, you could look at the chart and say, OK, this doesn't look very good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But to have this kind of spike in the midst of like the peak amount of transition and I wouldn't even call it controversy, but just loud conversation about, you know, this this Armageddon that's coming. I just love I just love that you brought that up and that we have those two things happening at the same time. Enjoy the final four, man. I can't wait.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

You want details? Bye. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Let me tell you what's required. Okay, let's do this. Today's Life Advice is brought to you by Amazon Business. When it comes to bringing your visions to life, trying Amazon Business is an easy service to recommend. With smart business buying, Amazon Business lets you get everything you need to grow in one familiar place. From office supplies to IT essentials and maintenance tools.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Now, let's get to it. Life Advice. Email address, lifeadvice.com. rr at gmail.com. Maybe we'll forego the Tuesday check-in because we miss each other so much now on the Tuesday, Thursday deal. Kyle's in New York, just an FYI. Road dog.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I can confirm that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

uh all right um let's see here how hot do you have to be to run shirtless off the menu 6'3 200 pounds 225 bench for two i haven't maxed since getting that on video um i don't know if you should be posting a video of 225 for two maybe maybe um Basketball comp Pascal Siakam can shoot but would prefer to get downhill. Great vision and can pick up a few assists from the forward spot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I've got a running buddy who's a man rocket, torn up, probably between 10% and 15% body fat. Tattoos, sleeve, chest, back, thighs, you get it. When we run, he pops the top off, and that feels natural to me. I do not. I'm in shape and I'm a little lankier and I'm sitting at probably 20% body fat. It got me thinking, how hot do you have to be to run shirtless?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I can assume it feels amazing just based on my past shirtless experiences. Are there geographical constraints? We're in a big city in Texas, but there's definitely a different criteria in Manhattan. You have to be a good runner. Shirtless selfies attached. Just kidding. Thanks for not sending those. Yeah, man, I never really think I've thought about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Yeah, I don't understand why people are surprised I wouldn't have a shirt on in my house. I've never, like, why would I have a shirt on? I'm at home. You know what I love doing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Yeah, just, you know, as soon as you get through the door, shirt's off. And you know what I love doing is driving around with a shirt off. Because it just reminds me of being younger.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

So how cold was it in Connecticut when this guy was running with no shirt on?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Side note, I thought they were pronounced pennies when I was a little kid. And then I was in some youth travel team. And I said, oh, can I grab a penny? And an older kid was like, what did you call it, you fucking idiot? And I was like, what? So then it ruined. It was a tough year. That seems like a reaction. Yeah. Yeah, well, older dudes overreact to younger dudes when we're kids.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I think I just respect it across the board. So I think if you want to do it, you just go for it. I mean, yeah, there's a few times I would say here in California where you're like, wow, you're really going for it. But then at the same time, like any, like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

reaction I have like that guy looks terrible I immediately pivot into good for him you know his shirt's off he's feeling it he's sweating he's out there running so he's doing more than a lot of people are so there's that part of it I think if you're really hairy maybe it's a freeing thing but at the same time I would imagine the hair prevents chafing so if you're just smooth as a baby's bottom.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

You would maybe want to be shirts off to avoid the chafing stuff. I don't know. I mean, I've never really had that issue. I also hate running. So there's that, but I did have a running phase. Um, and I would, I would run through West Harper center with a shirt off. That's weird. Cause the sidewalk is like shopping and families and restaurants and stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And now you're like, you're slaloming through people. And it's like, you really, and it's, you, you understand. And I'm admitting that like you wanted to run through town with your decision. Yeah. So, um, you know, I probably was in between relationships or something.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

to have the multiple scoring options. And I just can't get past the defense because Alabama was a really good basketball team this year. And to watch that game, like if you were to chart out Alabama season on shot quality, that has to be the lowest of any game because it wasn't that they didn't make threes is that they were taking threes that they just gave up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

So I felt like, you know, let's just put it out there a little bit as if there was ever going to be anyone that stopped me that I was interested in. That'd be like two birds, one stone situation. Like you look so good running with your shirt off by cozy. Let's, um, let's do something this Thursday.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

So that was, that was never, I, and I knew when I laced them up, I'm like, that's not never going to happen. So, uh, yeah, look, I think you're probably within the zone. It sounds like you work out, you're into it. Yeah. And 20%, I'm sure some people would be like, that's a little bit on the high side.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And if you're running next to Jocko here, full tats at like 10 to 15, if he's at 10%, like, I think the difference between 10 and 15% body fat is like significant. At least like it's not I wouldn't say it's a health thing or your weight thing necessarily, but it is going to be something that looks a lot different. That would just be my guess from 15 to 10.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

You're going to look like a completely different dude. So if you're running next to that guy again, bring it back to Jamaica. I remember DJing there. Dudes tarps off all the time. There's a jack guy in the crew. It sucked and I don't want to stand next to him. I think somebody even said something like, Hey, I'm going to make sure I stand next to her solo and not that guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And then that planted the seed to one day be like, you will be jacked one day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I never, I never want to be the guy somebody wants to stand next to if we have an option in the grill. Um, so yeah, I, I think it's, um, I think guys are pretty supportive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

So who are any of us to say, Hey, put a shirt on. I think it, I wouldn't say it. You're right about that. Okay. All right. Uh, wrongfully paid bonus, five, 10, 200 pounds, no NBA comp, no gym stats, but it'd be a hell of a hang at the frolic. The subject line says it all. I was wrong. I've wrongfully paid my urine bonus. I manage a sales team in the alcohol industry.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

My team works on a 100% commission while I make a reasonable salary and have a few opportunities a year to trigger a bonus. Uh, The portfolio we represented is fairly sizable, so most of my reps make more than I do unless I hit my bonuses. That doesn't really bother me as it incentivizes them to always be looking for opportunity because I don't have the world's most fragile ego.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I also came up working in bars and restaurants where the jump to management always means a decrease in pay. I'm sure Ryan can attest. Yeah, I mean, that's always one of the best things about managing a bar. You're like, cool, now I make less than... Everybody that's bartending here and I have all the responsibility.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

They would give up on the position being like, we can't drive on any of these guys. The help is always there. And then Malawai, even if we have a, just a sliver of daylight, Malawai is at the rim to contest all of this stuff. And again, When I think about Houston in this matchup, Houston's probably the only team that could kind of out Tennessee, Tennessee.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Unless you work at a place that is... I remember there was a place I worked at where two of the owners just worked like multiple shifts and then took tips on top of everything else. I didn't necessarily have that much of a problem with it. Some people did. I don't expect you to... You were the average listener. Oh, wait. The bonus is pretty decent, I think. I don't have anything to compare it to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

It amounts to about 15% of my total salary. If I increase my sales by a certain percentage by the end of the year, classic bonus stuff, don't need to read the numbers. You don't want to, but for reference, I made 68 K base. So my year on bonus is worth about 10 grand. I don't expect you or the average listener to know this, but 2024 was a bit of a doozy for booze sales.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Most of the company was in the red when my team managed to stay just above level. Even so I missed my target growth by about 40 K last year. My team does just over 10 million sales each year. So we're talking pennies. Um, Yeah, I would also throw this out there. I don't know what it is with the younger generation. Maybe they're just smarter than everybody else.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But my friends that own bars in college towns are like, this generation does not drink the way everyone used to always drink. So I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

In LA? I just have a hard time believing like dudes are walking around Colby right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

It's an epidemic now. Isn't it an epidemic or was there just some Instagram videos of kids passing out?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

What is galaxy gas?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Yeah, so that's just, I don't know. Look, you know. we're not trying to help you get, Hey, you guys need to pivot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

It's interesting to hear. Like, did I, did this younger generation just decide collectively, like, we don't want to go to bars and get drunk. It's stupid.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I love Derek. I absolutely love Derek. Anyway, yeah, I don't know. Maybe that's the pivot. Like, hey, hanging out alone, DMing people. have a sixer. So that's probably not the ad campaign you want to run. Like we need to start getting guys focused on their phones and start drinking alone. All right. All right. Let's see here. So we ruined this guy's email already. So sorry. I'm pretty,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Watching Tennessee's first half against Kentucky, I was like, this is so intense. It is incredible. And then Houston's like, we're ready. We're ready for this. And as you mentioned, they're 40% from three. And they're all tough, tough players. You're not going to play for Kelvin unless you're really, really tough. But it's the size thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

So he's missing out. Eventually, I missed my target growth by 40K. My team does just over 10 million sales. We've read that already. We're talking pennies. I'm pretty pissed. I was pretty pissed, but no use in crying over spilled milk. Time to focus on 2025. That brings us to mid-February. Instead of receiving just my regular salary, I received a second check totaling 15%. as a bonus.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

On one hand, it's not a crazy thought that they reward an employee who managed to stay in the black and did better than 85% of the company. On the other hand, there's been zero acknowledgement or communication from superiors on this. It's not the most organized company in the world, so I could see it being a mistake.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And if the company lost money overall last year, I'm not sure they would be chomping at the bit to hand out unearned bonuses. For the time being, I've moved the money into a separate account. I've not touched it since it was deposited almost six weeks ago. I'm embarrassed to admit, but I've essentially been living paycheck to paycheck for the last five years or so.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Most of my money goes towards credit card debt. I incurred paying for a wedding that never happened. Whoa, dude. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

sorry anyway it goes without saying this money would be a massive help and a big step towards being able to breathe again financially so i have several questions one do i say anything to anyone about this two if it goes completely unnoticed how long do i wait before spending the money i check there are no time limits on when a company can ask for their money back when wrongfully paid wow didn't know that three was it a bad i wait a minute like forever there's no time limits

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Can we go back to 2008? What the hell? Was it a bad idea to write this email on a company issued phone? Probably. It's also worth noting. I hate this company and my boss. I love to get the gang's input here. Love the pod. Love the crew. So Rudy haters can eat shit and kick rocks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Everton's late equalizer in the last. Merseyside Derby at Goodison. Yep. Those were words. Yeah, it was the stuff of dreams below for a quick story. When I met Ryan almost 10 years ago, I skipped ahead and saw some of the stuff there at the end. I'm not going to share your location because I think, you know, you've shared enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But he did say that he met me and I came up to a bar and then I asked him if there was a bar that was better. I needed to watch TVs. I remember exactly when it was. It was actually during the day. I needed to watch a bunch of games. Wherever this guy was working, they didn't have enough options. Okay, boys. I think everybody knows deep down what everybody would do here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Instead of just saying, hey, keep it, game it out here a little bit. I expect most of the emails that we would get saying you can't do this, you have to give it back, would be people that are in management or just the most moral, upstanding members of society. Man, look, it is weird. It is so weird when the money is in your account and then you're mentally going, well, that's kind of mine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

It feels like there's a size mismatch here for Houston that even with their toughness in shooting, I just wonder if they can keep that going for 40 minutes and pull this off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And why wouldn't anyone think that? I think the hesitation I would have if we just talked it all out, if you hadn't told us you hated the place, it sounds like you're not going to be there very long.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

If you felt like you had a great relationship with management, other people that are involved in smaller companies, if you have a great relationship with the people that started the company, whether you want to use the term founders or just the guy that owns the business, then the right thing to do if you wanted the long-term relationship would be to return this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But I think most people can get through the gymnastics of feeling that it's owed to them, even if it isn't. Because then you start going, wow, you know, there was that time this happened and all these different things. And I think most people would lean towards the longer this is in your account, justifying the reasons for why you don't want to go give it back to them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

on today's pod an hour-long college basketball discussion with the one and only jay billis we'll go through all the final four teams we'll talk through the flag we'll also talk a little draft but i think the back end of the conversation good 20 plus minutes on where we're at college hoops and the ncaa and the nil and the transfer portal and we've got life advice enjoy

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Now, there's also if you were neutral about the company or whatever. Could it pay off much bigger down the road by you returning it and saying, hey, look, you guys gave me $40,000. And now that I think about it, it doesn't make sense. The problem is the longer you wait on this, the more evident it's going to be that you went through all of this stuff mentally before you decided –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

So you got to start making a decision here pretty quickly. And the longer you wait, the easier it's going to be for you to justify it. And the harder it's going to be for you to tell them because they're going to realize like, oh, cool, this guy gave it back.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But he thought about it for a few months because clearly based on your paycheck to paycheck thing that you're telling us here, this would be a significant amount of money that you would notice as opposed to maybe somebody that wouldn't notice it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

It's pretty much understood that you're supposed to, if you're an employee of the company, like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

could probably you know the tough thing here is what's your rep at work you know it's it's it's a well-written email so like if you were the consensus dummy at work which i don't think you are you know you have some what plausible deniability here where you could just say like oh what uh you know and then everybody's like yeah that makes sense yeah that guy

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I don't know what's going on, but if you're making $60 and you get a bonus for $10 that nobody else got and you knew that you weren't supposed to get it, I do think that some places would probably tell you that there's somebody working in payroll looking for this stuff every now and then. I mean, look, it happens, but...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

We're specific to you. Like, you can't do it. Like, because of Bill. I would hope, right? I'm not asking you to say, like, would you steal? But, like, to me, there's a dynamic there that is different than what this guy is talking about.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Then you leave and then somebody calls you from HR and you're freaking out and they're like, hey, we need your laptop back. You're like, okay. Yeah. I think I know what you're going to do. And I'm not even going to get on your case about it. I'm not going to sit here. I try not to be a moralist about any of this stuff because I think a lot of people are listening like, dude, just keep it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

But I think Saruti may be saying, hey, keep it in an account. and don't go out and start buying wide-leg jeans. Today's Life Advice was brought to you by Amazon Business. That's a good segue. It's time to free up your teams and focus on your future. Learn more about the technology, insights, and support available at AmazonBusiness.com. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Saruti, Oregon, Jonathan Frias.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

We are a video pod now, so please subscribe and check out our YouTube page. Ryan Russillo Podcast. We're in response. Must be 21 and older. Present in select states. For Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Florida became everybody's kind of favorite team here when you looked at the difference between the ACC competition for Duke and then what the SEC was this year and what Florida had to get through to win that tournament. And whether it's the size or everybody now realizing like this, Walter Clayton, the three-point shot that he hit against Texas Tech, I still cannot believe. It's in the paint.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

It's a basically sprint to the three-point line turnaround. And they didn't necessarily even need it at that time when he took the three. And so Tech, I look at him and like, look, I know he's 6'3", so it's not like he's the biggest guard. You look at the draft stuff. He starts at Ione. He's been around for four years, so nobody's really going to like that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I'm not saying he's like the most dynamic player. But his calmness, whether you go through the Tennessee game in the SEC tournament, the Alabama game, and then to see him in that moment. And I think the broadcasters were right on it. Like if you've watched him the last few weeks, you realize that this dude is as comfortable as anybody in these huge spots.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And it feels like they have the size to match up with anyone.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

He's the voice of college basketball for ESPN. It is J. Bill. Let's get ready for the Final Four. What's up, man? It's good to see you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Is there anything to take from the Florida matchup then when they beat Auburn at their place by nine beginning of February? Is there something that you would see from that game? You're like, hey, that's fluky, but that's repeatable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I want to talk scores because I'll finish here with Auburn in that there's a lot of guys that I'll see, especially when I get into the draft prep part of it, where... I'm like, okay, this guy scored a million points in high school. He's a five-star. Everybody wanted him. And then I'll see him in college.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

I might be the only guy without a studio backdrop, and it's like, all right, I think this still works. Some people have accused me of CGI, and I'm in Farmington still. Just Ryan, everybody. Uh, let's just, you know, look, we've got four monster teams. We knew, uh, if you're into the Ken Palm stuff, I thought it was interesting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

You know, granted, usually if you're that high of a profile, we don't know how long we're going to get to see you. And there'll be this kind of moment where I'll think, oh, this isn't going to work. Like, I know you drove through everybody your entire college career.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Like, I almost think of like, and I'm not trying to knock RJ Hampton, but like when I think back of what RJ Hampton was doing at the levels that he was playing at, I was like, okay, this is really, really impressive. But You're just kind of just driving through everybody, right? And then you have a Todd Pettiford who comes in to Auburn.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

And I don't know that the college game is littered with players that when it all really does break down, can you find a way to get your own bucket? And I know you're talking about that with Clayton Jr., but I don't think it's a very long list in college anymore, especially with how intense the defensive –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

Stuff is and to see him, I wouldn't say he saved them against Michigan because Denver Jones had a couple of big threes in that as well. But Pettiford, I feel like is this other level of can you bail us out? And I know he didn't have a great game against Tennessee in the SEC tournament. He didn't make a shot and they took him out. But.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Jay Bilas Talks Final Four, Flagg Vs. Zion, Early NBA Draft Thoughts, and the Future of College Hoops

His comfort level in some of these tournament games and on top of his ability is kind of like an X factor where if that guy gets going, Auburn is right back to what we thought they could be, being the best team in college basketball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

On today's episode of the podcast, we're going to start just talking a little bit about the Russell Wilson contract, what it means, concerns I have for the Giants, and the Giants signing backups. And really, should you be doing that? Because there aren't a lot of backups to pick from. So the depth there, at least, is good for New York. We'll look at the backup market in general.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

The Wonder Boy, Luka Doncic, and the author, Tim McMahon, joins us now, Tim, from ESPN, and also the Neutral Corner on the Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps. What's up, man? It's good to see you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So clearly he's going to make a few million more. I would imagine he is the starter based on him deciding to sign there, even though James Winston was just signed for two years and like eight million base. So when you just look at the numbers, you're like, OK, Wilson, clearly the priority. And then still the scenario of whether or not the Giants would take a quarterback is

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I enjoy the pod. I mean, it's one of the few that I consistently am always checking in on. Just because I think when you do the job, especially three pods a week, you're like, okay, I've done what I... I don't know that I want to listen to anybody else talk about the same things that I just get done talking with. But look, you guys have all covered the league a long time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You had perspective that I certainly can't always add. And look, you're the guy that I wanted to hear from when the Luca trade went down. And perfect timing, you're writing a book about him. So... There's a bunch of different ways I could go, but I guess I don't want to do a ton of Mavs history as much as I want to get into the Luka timeline.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Because I was reading the final chapter that was added to it, and it's funny as I'm reading it. It's like, okay, here's another calf strain, and this is calf strain number four, and this one's going to be even worse. And now there's a medical team situation where his group is fired, but then the new group won't share MRIs with the team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So you're laying out the timeline of this massive disconnect to further explain how we got here and Nico trading him to the Lakers. But then ultimately, like every time I start understanding like, oh, OK, this makes a little bit. Then it's like, yeah, I still can't believe they did this. So let's let's go back to when you think the disconnect first started.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

with their pick at the top of the first round. So why would the Giants do this? Because I've seen a couple of different theories and let's try to explore all of them. Is it because of the lack of quarterback depth around the league? Because it feels like every year a couple of guys get hurt. There's a very repeated talking point of there's just not enough quarterbacks, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Do you think that Nico – it's described as – I don't know if obsession of Kobe is fair, if you wanted to say admiration of Kobe, but the fact that Nico was so tight with Kobe, the Palenka relationship that I do want to get to here – Was Nico holding – sometimes the Kobe mythology, though, can be – I can find personally annoying as if he's the only player who was ever in the gym early.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It was him, and then everybody else was behind him when it came to work ethic. But was that something that made Nico pursue an unobtainable story for Luka? Did that get in the way of his evaluation?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

There's just not enough quarterback. I just feel like right now and then coming off of the anticipation. So I shouldn't say coming off of this draft because it hasn't actually happened, but we already know this is not the greatest quarterback draft. The depth of actually guys who are going to be taken, it's just not the same as a lot of other years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So the other part of this is the relationship with Palenka. And this is the thing that I will forever be fascinated with. It's just the, those GM moments, you know, like the rest of us who've never done it, who talk about it nonstop, like, Oh, this guy should have done this. He should have done this. And it's like, man, I just wonder what it would be like to be in that position.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It's like, you have to say yes or no to this. Like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

team altering thing uh and you know normally it would be an easy answer for something like this but because he's so close with palinka you have to think if there's years of frustration since nico first entered the building with luca like he's sharing that with palinka you know and and there's other it it wasn't a secret around the league i'll say that you know luca's weight fluctuates was not some kind of like oh really gee whiz i know who would have ever known

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So are we seeing teams more desperate to sign some names to become a backup? Or in this case, the Giants quarterback rumor, it's like, let's just... Bring somebody in here, at least at one point from a talent perspective, we'd like to flamed out somewhere else as a first round pick or Russell Wilson, who, you know, let's get to the debate on who he is right now. At least there's something there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But I guess once it's finally addressed at a hotel in Dallas when the Lakers are in town and it's gone from I want AD to would you consider AD for Luka? Palenka is operating from a position of strength based on the information.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

There's just no way over the course of those years that, you know, if you're all of these 30 guys are competing with each other, there's no way that you're not like, and that kind of gets into the, how much can you actually talk, which relationships actually are friendships, you know, really, maybe none of them should be friendships, but there has to be part of Palenka.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Let's think, okay, he is, he's like real about this. He's, he's upset. And then of course, Plank is saying, well, if we have to keep it a secret, then as you point out of the book, I can't know if he'll do an extension with us, which I think is like the funniest thing. So now I don't have to pay as much.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And the whole thing, it just feels like Nico, that relationship worked Nico when we're actually talking about the price paid for somebody like Luca.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

As Eric Mangini told me once, he was talking about, I think it was Matt Castle. We were sitting there on the show and we were thinking about different quarterback options. And he said something that I'll never forget. Mangini was like, you know, at the very least, when you're desperate, The tiebreaker is, has this guy actually ever done it before?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Yeah, in a league where you hope damaged goods, not always number one option, is this guy going to have 30 or 0 in a playoff game? Paul George, when you hope that he takes your $200 million, then you do a supermax for Luka. Think about the deals where teams have cap space and they're like, man, maybe we can get Thaddeus Young. on a three-year deal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And that's the part where I can't understand somebody who spent a life in basketball, even if more of it was on the outside. But, you know, Nico had a really good track record. And for you to start getting cute with what you want to do, it's like, no, you hope he wants a Supermax. And even if he blew out an ACL...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You'd still be able to trade Luca during the supermax to another team and recoup some of that because he'd still be south of 30. It just it felt really personal. Like, I can't help but like, I'll never stop thinking how I felt when I saw Michael Finley grab the beer from Luca. And I don't know Michael Finley. Obviously, he was an awesome player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It seems like he has a really good reputation as a guy who takes shit really seriously. But I thought he was embarrassing his guy there. And then I didn't understand if Finley was doing it so that it made Michael Finley look like the winner. Or it's like, look how serious I'm taking this. And you can tell me I'm totally wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But I thought that moment, it bothered me because I was like, why would you even allow? If you don't want him to do this, fine. Maybe he didn't know the camera was there. That seems hard to believe.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Taking it away from him, though. A man taking another man's beer away like that to prove something.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Okay, that's good. I'm glad we got that out there. Let's talk about new ownership. We all know a new ownership syndrome is a real thing, and it's almost unavoidable. The first 12 to 18 months, you are guaranteed to do something really stupid. And now we've got the stepson, Patrick. Oh, my God. And look, you even go in on the Bert Jordan thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And for Wilson, we know the resume, even if it's heading in the wrong direction. So the old saying goes, because right now the Giants have two quarterbacks and with the draft, they could have three. If you have two quarterbacks, you have zero. It's a really clever line. It's also kind of stupid because I'd rather have two than zero. I think all of us would rather that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You want to talk about the stuff away from the facility where it's like these guys are not super locked in. I think Patrick has had a really good run, and maybe he's brilliant in his field, but he thought he could get away with the tech Zoom conference buzzwords of this space and maximizing that for basketball people when you're using those analogies, you just kind of –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

it concerns your fan base to being like, do we have an absolute fraud imposter?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

The problem is, though, is because everything has worked out for him. Like, I know who these guys are. He's like, oh, I can just go up on the stage and dazzle them. And you're like, dude, if you don't grow up with this, like you can't, you can't cliff notes the NBA world in front of NBA people and pull it off. Like maybe you can at some of these other business thing, but like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I'm sorry I interrupted, but like it's unbelievable to think like, yeah, I can just go up here and put on a suit and they'll figure like I got this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So we understand the dynamic of having to change your mind all the time. The Rob Johnson, Doug Flutie thing was actually bad for the Bills. So it was bad ultimately when they made their final decision. But you get the point. Like, there's just a lot of extra stuff. Like, I remember...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

um cuban's role in this because as you recently pointed out on a pod it was being sold to everybody that cuban was still in charge as he was saying those things other teams were like why does everybody just keep rolling with this not because they felt like hey we need to be fat they were just fascinated with the assumption which is a bad one that okay i've given up

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

majority position of this team but i'm still going to be in charge of these decisions like that i mean i don't know that's not usually how it works out can you give us better insight into why it was handled that way and why cuban was was willing to sell something that clearly wasn't going to be true very soon

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

having a debate with somebody about if you had a couple top 10 picks you just take two quarterbacks and that way you have a better chance of getting it right considering the burnout rate of these guys that are taken in the first round it's like i understand the math part of that but the reality is is all of a sudden you're bringing in an unprecedented dynamic of having two top 10 picks or two first round picks if any team were actually to ever do this

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You have that in the book where Cuban tries to talk Nico out of it. Is there anything more on that brief conversation you can share with us?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

The book starts with just a reminder of what this world was going to be for Luca, right? 19 years old, this insane profile of success in the EuroLeague and winning. And, you know, it's funny because I remember that draft.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

watching him going god it goes slow but it always works it always works and it did remind me of like very hardenish approach to possessions of you know it's going to go slow but i'm going to figure out a way and it's actually going to still end up being kind of the best look um But here's somebody coming to a foreign country. He'd never been to Texas. He steps foot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Now it's this press conference. He's there with Jalen Brunson. Donnie Nelson's having his moment and this whole thing. There's always a concern when you've never seen as big and as special as he is in all the video. It was a pretty good chance he was going to be a really nice player. But the fact that he could become the face of this franchise...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And on top, like my argument is always, hey, there's all these guys that score that have never done anything in the playoffs. And we're still wondering who they can be. And yet Luka has the 22 run, more importantly, the 24 run. So whatever flaws you think you may have, it's not like this is a dude who can't get out of the first round in his first seven seasons.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Like he's actually getting this team probably beyond what people had thought, especially the 22 team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Right, right. And so he is. We can make it about rings, but for Luka, it's not really about rings to this point. It would have been, say he's ringless at 30, then we can do all the fair and sometimes unfair stuff that we do with the best players in the world. But the fact that he had delivered this way, embraced Dallas, embraced all of these things...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

The Wonder Boy, Luka Doncic, the book is out this week. The author, Tim McMahon, will go over all of the prequel stuff to how this trade actually happened. And what we hear a retort from Brian Windhorst on their podcast. And life advice. It's March. It's 2025. Where is your backup quarterback awareness for the NFL? Mine is locked in right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Like, yeah, we're breaking camp. These guys are splitting reps and may the best man win. And chances are one guy is absolutely not built for that. And you've already fucked up his career before it even started. So Wilson, he's limited, right? He's limited to where he can throw. He's limited on what I think offensive coordinators trust him with.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Did you see like how I guess the best way to describe that, you know, for the audience here that hasn't read the book yet of just him actually exceeding every single part of like, who can this guy be for the franchise?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

glad you talked about the conspiracy theory in the book and then shared a little here because it was so well done by somebody who looked like they had a little juice and uh i had buddies you know reaching out being like hey this is probably what happened here and i'm like well you don't you live in vermont and you you don't know anything about the nba so i don't know that your approval is what he's looking for i go the idea that

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Uh, he is somebody that physically it would make sense that he's not the dynamic athlete that he was before the guy that could keep plays alive when it looked like they were about to die. He would find ways to complete passes on third down. You know, I used to just love him where it was like, everything looks like it's done. And now you have to figure out a way to make something up here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

they would major league this thing so that they can move to Vegas and then leave Dallas without an NBA franchise doesn't seem to make a ton of sense. The fact that they wouldn't want an expansion fee from a new group on the Vegas team and then who the 32nd team ends up being.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Now, if you want to say, hey, maybe they were going to say, well, the expansion people can have Dallas and then we get to go to Vegas because of all of our business interests. It was a really, really well thought out, delivered conspiracy theory that again,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Well, that's, that's the thing that I was left with. Cause when everyone is, you know, when everyone is one way, right. It was like, imagine a scenario where Lucas so hurt that in four years, Nico goes, I was right. And the problem is, is that he could be right about that part. He could be right about the evaluation of Luca. He'll,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

it will, it's malpractice for the execution on the business side of it. And so even if he ends up, you know, in that, I just love asking myself these questions where you're like, Hey, remember three years ago, everybody thought this from, you know, is there something happening right now to like, imagine if this is the end of this story.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And I think we all have to allow for it to happen, but it is consistently, there'll never be a moment where I feel like the execution of the business part of it is ever going to be able to be defended.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And I thought he was like one of the best in the game at doing it. It's been a long time since we've seen that consistently delivered on Sundays. The Steeler slide is not all on him. I think that was unfair. You know, whether it was Pickens missing game or the defense falling apart, you know, Pittsburgh at one point was 10 and three.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It was a great way to end the book. And look, I would just tell people to check it out. It just came out this week. There's so much more in there. The Przinga stuff is really fun. The Kyrie pursuit is great. Obviously, you know, just learning more about Luca, the Wonder Boy, Tim McMahon.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Final thought, because those of us that are Hoop Collective fans, are we going to hear a response from LeBron's best friend, Brian Winhorst?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And then we had to start talking about them as a team that could win the AFC. And then it becomes like dismissive. Like, why can't the Steelers do it? Like, look at the history, look at the defense. Yeah. look at, I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I'll tell you from personal experience. I think the first time I met Wendy when I'm in Bristol and then I probably made the mistake. A lot of people like, oh, this guy got hired because he's like LeBron's guy. Windhorse would go out of his way to make sure that you knew that it was not the case in the most genuine way ever, not trying to sell or distract, deflect, whatever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

He would just be like, yeah, actually, we're not really that tight. He's like, I just happened to be on the beat. I covered it. I was plugged in. I'm sure the relationship was good, but that relationship is impossible. That relationship, unless you were only going to be part of the propaganda machine, and I'm not even saying specific to LeBron,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

it is impossible to keep that relationship smooth the entire time. And I imagine like even working on this book with Luca, like, does he like you?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Um, well, we look at the rest of the AFC and considering what the rest of the landscape looked like and the quarterbacks that Pittsburgh was going to have to go through with Russell Wilson taking over for fields, like a very honest conversation was, yeah, that would seem to be a huge surprise despite the 10 and three record and the defensive numbers they were putting up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Hey, man, congrats again on the release and all the work. And it was cool to catch up here. So thanks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Well, that was really nice. We can have you do my book, but hopefully it'll be contentious.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

The email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail dot com for some of our older listeners. What's going on, Kyle?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Uh, where are we at? 12, 12, 53 a share. Yeah. Five years. Did it have some weird peak? Sure did. Whoa. That seems low, but yeah, it was, uh, five years ago was about 115 bucks a share. Hmm.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I think they look good. I regret the joke, too. No, look, I think they look pretty good. Yeah, me too. So it's nothing. I think somebody from Rivian even reached out to tell us to take it easy. But it wasn't really. I think, look, we've talked about what I want the rip from Yellowstone truck at some point in my life. I just can't fit it. And I can't park it anywhere in LA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And honestly, I would be dumb enough to buy it and then be like, I have nowhere to park it. And then I'd be like, sorry, kids can't get out. If I had kids. Like I thought we were getting ice cream. A boat dually package deal to get rid of. I don't think I'd want to trailer my boat on a highway. I think that would scare the shit out of me. OK, yeah, I don't start. But no, yeah, not a Duke fan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But the slide wasn't just on Wilson, even though it played out that way. Cause that's what happens with quarterbacks all the time. Um, Think about it. Through 10 games, they were number two in opponents' points per game. They were giving up 16 a game. The next eight, including the playoffs, they gave up 26.6 points per game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I know. I know. Do you hear Duke got mad about the White Lotus dad wearing a Duke shirt?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I think things have gone well. Yeah. I think enough stuff has gone well for Duke. Yeah. They'll be okay. Probably right. Applications are down. Like, you know, we had to let a kid in from Maine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

all right am i mooching off my weird vibe today weird vibe maybe it's because it's super early 7 30 it's quiet in my yeah yeah i don't know all right you know look maybe maybe something beautiful will come of this all right am i mooching off my future in-laws 33 5 9 and a half 180 225 bench 305 squat player comp luke ridden hour high iq on the court can hold my own against better players just average height and athleticism

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I recently engaged my amazing fiance's 26. Hey, and we just closed in our first home together. What do you think is the best age gap number? Just a quick get around the horn here. I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I don't know why I thought you were the same age for the weirdest. That's a, that's clearly on me. No one told me the wrong info or anything like that, but maybe I thought, cause like you'd both entered the PA program at the same time or something stupid, which is a dumb thing. Cause it's not like everybody's the same age.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So they're giving up actually more than 10 points per game over that stretch, and somehow that was all Wilson's fault. If you think about Wilson and where he is in the market, I think it's always a good reminder that the NFL, the people who make these personnel decisions, tell us. what the league thinks about who a player is at this stage of his career.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It's more than three years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

All right. Uh, here we go. Life's good. I make about one 75 K a year and she makes 85 K. And while we're,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

financially comfortable uh my dilemma her parents seem determined to make sure we never pay for anything when we're with them and i mean anything dinner they got it golf with her dad he won't even let me fake reach for my wallet vacations we book our flights but they cover hotels food and probably the air we breathe

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Uh, they even loaned my fiance 10 grand for a down payment because the down payment was going to be all my money. Um, bought her a brand new $45,000 car last year and we are chipping in $40,000 for our impending wedding. Oh, they are more than 40 grand. This is awesome. And now they want to buy us a new grill as a housewarming gift because apparently the 10K wasn't enough of a present.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Her parents are both in the late 50s, retired after very successful careers. Her dad owned a business that he sold and her mom was a chief executive at a decent sized company for many years. Maybe a CEO. They don't flaunt their wealth. But they're incredibly generous and seem to generally enjoy taking care of their family.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

For context, I grew up in the middle class where my parents pinched pennies to raise three kids since college. I've never asked my parents for a dime, take pride in paying my own way. So every time I offer to cover anything, they brush me off of the play. Okay, thanks for offering. It sort of makes me feel like a dirtbag mooch and almost some shame warranted or not. I just can't help it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

My fiance has an older sister, and in my view, they've both been very fortunate that their parents have always taken care of them. They paid for my fiance's undergrad, covered most of her master's degree. She has very little debt, and as I mentioned, has never let her worry about big expenses. That said, she's not just coasting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

She's worked through college, has a strong work ethic, currently holds two jobs. She's doing well in her career, will only continue to grow financially. They've done an amazing job raising her. She's just been blessed with more financial support than I ever had. How would you guys handle this? Kyle, you want to...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Wilson was available cheap last year for Pittsburgh, but it wasn't like somebody said, hey, let's do some kind of long-term thing here. We'll give you short money in the first year because all the money's coming in from Denver. He made $38 million from Denver last season, so that's why he was basically free for Pittsburgh.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But I think some people just look at it as like, after a certain age, you're on your own, even if the adult has made a ton of money. I mean, it sounds like, I think the best part of this is that because you grew up the way that you did, you appreciate this so much. You've already told us that your wife, fiance, but future wife, busts her ass. It's not like she's just sitting around.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Like sometimes I think about what I would have been like had I been a trust fund guy in comparison to like the other trust fund guys. Like would I have been, I mean, I wasn't all that, Honestly, you could argue I acted like a trust fund guy without the trust fund for quite a while. Yeah. Does this guy know who we are? Yeah. No, seriously. Like, what's he doing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

He's just kind of chilling out for a little while. You know?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You can say, like, this is where I just don't like putting everybody in the same category or anything. But, like... I knew trust fund guys that had a job June after they graduated, you know, and that was it. New York City commute is on working my way up. Granted, those guys probably had a better entry situation than some of the other dudes. And then, you know, look, other guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But it wasn't like there was a bunch of teams going, oh my God, I can't believe this guy's available and he's going to be free the first year, but let's make sure we have some team protections because we think he's going to be really good. That didn't happen. And then it's happening all over again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It was out to Jackson Hole. Figure some things out. Like, what's he doing? Be like, I don't know. Have you heard of this thing called kombucha? He says he's got, I don't know. He says he wants to bring it East. I was like, all right, that seems he's going to be just a beverage guy now. Like, yeah, he knows the wholesalers. Really? Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

He's also going to check out some widespread shows, but yeah, this kombucha thing feels pretty real. If you can get five, 10 grand laying around, um, You know, the paying it forward thing, you're right, Saruti. But again, kind of back to the original point, the parents may, you know, there can be somebody who's completely taken care of by the in-laws.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And then when he has money and it's him out there with his daughter's fiance, it's like, I'm not doing shit for you guys. You know, it's a complete philosophical approach. You may want to say to the dad and be like, I appreciate all these dinners. I appreciate the down payment. I appreciate the grill. But if you think I'm coming over and missing paddleboard to push your ass around...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

20 years from now you know just what what are you expecting in return um look there was uh there was a time you know again during the broke years where you at least wanted the person who was paying for stuff to think that you were going to offer right yeah totally huge part it sounds yeah part of the dance you can probably just go to him now and be like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You know, I want to offer, you know, you don't have to do this, but maybe it's time to end the dance and the dance a little bit. And that was a big thing when some of the guys came back to visit and they had their hockey bonus money. And, you know, I'd be sitting there like throwing a debit card down next to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And the fact that it's base for one year at $10 million from the Giants, again, the NFL is telling you, we think this guy's done. So the question for the Giants here, because I have concerns, is... Are the Giants the last team to know that it's over for Wilson?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

amex the metal right i don't they weren't metal back then but it would be like debit the numbers would be like off honestly i think i threw a couple expired ones in there a couple times just to be like i hope it's not me i hope it's not me i'll wait i threw in one that was just an absolute dud that's real credit card man yeah nobody knew and you're sitting there going

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Well, I have to pretend I can handle this, but there's just... I was like, if they pick mine, I'm just going to have to have a little side chat over at the hostess station. I'll find my guy, yeah. I'm running to the bathroom quick. I got this. Say, great night, guys. But I think the guys that are... what they're doing basically is maybe they're spending the inheritance.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

They were going to give you anyway, too, on top of everything else. Like if they've really killed it. Okay. Cause it's going to get super annoying. If you find out later on, they just spent all this money and you're like, Oh, they're like, Hey, can we move in with you guys? But if somebody is absolutely crushed it,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

know there's an argument to be made that it makes way more sense to set up your fiance set up her sister like you know like sometimes when you look at the way inheritance works and i i don't understand how anybody really gets upset and talking about inheritance like some people just gonna luck out and some people aren't but there's an argument for spending it now while you're younger and helping you get a head start as opposed to like oh cool now we're 65 and we get these checks

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

From our from our parents, you know, so look, just appreciate it, man, because you're in a great spot. But I also think you're in a great spot because your wife seems to understand, despite her financial advantages, and you're not taking it for granted. And it's just full appreciation. So. high marks all around.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Okay. I thought this was a dream one, but it is also about a dream. So this isn't about inception, but let's see if I can help here a little bit. All right. Long time listener, first time emailer, 28, 5'11", and three quarter, formerly six feet. No pickup comp because I was cut by every basketball team I ever tried out for.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And over in the sense that, not that he can't play or shouldn't be on a team, because again, I think it's worth repeating, a lot of the stuff that was talked about with him and how much was his fault and how much blame we should have put on him for that slide, I don't know. I mean, look, I didn't love all of it either, but...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

About six months ago, one of my best friends from college, let's call him Bubba, moved into my house in Philly after living in Chicago since graduating college. Um, so he moved in six months ago, moved into his house, Philly since he graduated college. So we're talking, this guy's gotta be a little bit younger.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I mean, unless he graduated later, but he's been working as an engineer, but about a year ago told our friend group, he was looking at a career change and a move back to the East coast. He and I discussed moving in with me since I had an open room in my house. While I was really excited about one of my best friends moving in, I was a little concerned with what his new career would be dot, dot, dot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Bubba had written a script for a sitcom during the dregs of COVID based on his experience living in Chicago post-graduation. All right, so it sounds like he's a couple years later if he was living in COVID post-graduation. See what we're saying here. He calls it a perfect hybrid of new girl and workaholics.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I've read the pilot and some other episodes he's written and found it amusing, but not sure I'm qualified to judge as my only experience in the entertainment industry. He's playing Lost Boy number 17. in my grade school's production of Peter Pan. You were great in that, though. You look so much more lost than the rest of the boys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

His plan when moving to Philly was to work as a production assistant on various sets in the area and build relationships with people in the business. Quote, his brother works locally as a sound engineer on commercial TV shows and indie films, so he was able to get work as a PA relatively quickly. Granted, some of the sets he was working on had been commercials for kitchen appliance.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Super relevant experience. I don't know. You know, look, he's making connections. I remember when guys used to come and shoot the ESPN ads when one of the makeup ladies came over and combed my hair. I was an extra. Leave it to Beaver. And I didn't realize. And then when the videos came back, I was like, Jesus Christ. That's when I had enough hair to trick everybody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But it was like she did just a...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

eight-year-old picture day pictures good ad though the ad was funny and i was sitting there you know who knows i had some dreams i talked to the guy that's directing the commercial and i was like what's up man he's like nothing let's keep working on this he's like i want to i have an indie thing i'm doing and you know take it to some festivals and you know i got to move back out west you know this thing's paying the bills but you know and i was like yeah look at this guy you know look at us a

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

He makes $200 a day, but only averages about five working days per month. Ooh, okay. A lot of free time, though, to write. Bob has given himself a runway of one year to make his TV show happen, hoping to film a pilot with the help of his connections he makes on a budget of around 20K. My biggest issue with his life choice is his level of commitment to the so-called dream.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It feels like he's just dipping his toe into an industry where success can be so rare. I've asked him several times why he doesn't get a job like driving for Uber or DoorDash so he can extend his runway or even take a writing class, join an improv group, try stand-up comedy, consider moving to Hollywood, literally anything to develop his skills and better his chance of making this work.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I thought it was really, really unfair because I think there's just so many unbelievably stubborn Justin Fields fans out there. But, you know, look, the Giants aren't. Whatever you think of the Giants, and I know a lot of people like to make fun of Joe Shane in the front office and say these guys are morons after Saquon Barkley has this historic year with the Eagles. But the point stands.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Uh, he wants to star in this TV show having never acted before, by the way. Ooh. All right. This guy's going the full workaholics experience on some weekend nights. I'll ask if he wants to come out for some beers. The friends will say, nah, man, working on the script only for me to come home and find half a bottle of Woodford reserve polished off. Woodford's two.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Maybe that opens up the creative veins, man. As a landlord, I'm not too concerned about his credit worthiness because I was able to close on my house early 2021 before interest rates went bonkers. But as a friend, I can't help but be concerned about how this late 20s, so he is late 20s, crisis could potentially set Bubba back years professionally.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I'd love to hear your guys' opinion on the situation, especially you, Ryan, given your background and experience in the industry. Am I right to be worried as Bubba needs to start paying for LinkedIn premium? Um, All right. Well, look, I obviously have some experience in this and I can't go over everything, but The whole runway thing, I did the exact same thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Like when I left to come out here, I knew how much money I was going to guarantee to be make like the first year. And it was also like, hey, I at least want to buy some real estate in Manhattan Beach. And if I can't afford to live in this house after a year, then I'll just move and not live here. But at least I'll finally have bought a piece of property.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And then, you know, who knows, maybe when I'm like 50, I get to finally move and see if I like it there. Because there's a really good chance if things didn't work out. Well, there's definitely a good chance if things didn't work out, I couldn't afford to live there. But I did a very similar thing of like, OK, well, I don't have to work that much.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So because I was doing one pod a week for ESPN, I was also doing one pod for Ringer before it was even Spotify. And and. the ESPN money was going to run out. And I knew that I wasn't going to make the same amount for ESPN once that expired, just because I wasn't doing a daily radio show anymore. They weren't going to pay me the same amount of money, which I'd already kind of known and understood.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So I was like, okay, of all the different scenarios, like there was still one where I was like, Hey, some version of this will work out enough that you're not going to have to move again. There was that, but I had to be open to the idea that it wasn't going to go that way. Um, the other part of like in one year, I have to have this done, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

uh oh i did it it's one of the dumbest things that you can do you you have to like the world is i've said this before but it applies to screenwriting probably more than almost any but like That whole world is not like determined to match your fucking timeline. Okay. So the other thing that I think that I had to learn was that just even if you like, say your buddy writes a killer pilot. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I mean, chances are, but I don't know. Maybe he does. Maybe he's actually pretty good at this. Him wanting to star in it. Yeah. It's also alarming. You know, the workaholics thing worked. You want to know why? Because those guys are really funny. Like the three of those dudes are really funny. They have a very like natural dynamic with each other. Their comedic instincts are terrific.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

The decision was about the Giants needing Saquon Barkley and needing to invest that kind of money in a running back. When the rest of the team, they probably weren't going to do that much because they were kind of taking a gap year here with Daniel Jones because they'd already paid him all this money. It felt like kind of a wash year for the Giants, and they were making decisions that way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So I don't even know, you know, I think they were doing videos, right, Kyle? And then it kind of worked. I think that was their, I don't know if they wrote like a pilot and then they were going to do, I thought those guys were like all in college together and we're doing these videos and shit that just clearly kind of popped.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

yeah everybody everybody thinks it everybody does it um because you know you see some stuff on tv like it's kind of funny too whenever you're like in a creative field you can go well that that thing sucked you're like so what are you saying you're comparing your work to like just being slightly better than the thing you think is terrible so that means because that was made that you think you have a good chance so anyway back to kind of like how this stuff worked you can write a really good pilot

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It's a starting point, but it actually ends up being probably one of the most irrelevant parts of the timeline events. I know that sounds crazy and it's not entirely true, but you can write a really good pilot. But if nobody else with juice wants to make it. It's just a really good pilot that shows that you have skills that you could write.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Maybe that pilot gets you on a writing staff and maybe being on a writing staff for years leads to connections where you, on top of working on a TV show, are on the side working with somebody else or working by yourself on your own thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

The thing about writing that's really, really weird, especially screenwriting, because I think people just look at the final draft program and go, oh, this is like, I just have to write this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

yeah or it's just like the number of words you're going like i don't have to write like 75 000 words here i could just kind of be like this dude comes in she laughs hey what the hell face right yeah right it's just the the visual of looking at his script consider you could read like a 60 page script in 20 minutes probably you're like oh i could i could do that but There's a little bit more to it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And, you know, as much as Saquon was one of the most impressive single offensive stories in the entire league this year, it just didn't really make a lot of sense for the Giants. So it's easy to make fun of them, appoint and laugh and whatever you want to do. But it felt a lot like a guy who.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So you have to figure out how to hone that craft. And it sounds like he's trying to do that. He's putting the hours in. But you then would need, if you have very little connections, because look, a studio saying yes to somebody, think about what they're really doing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

they're going through all of the different things that they presented and they are picking this thing based on somebody's track record or their vision, all right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And even if their vision or their writing is incredible, there still has to be somebody else that has a track record of success that's a production company that goes, we actually do want to partner with this person and then we want to make it, okay? And then this is where the pilot part of it kind of becomes irrelevant. They're going to want you to map out kind of like five seasons, all right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And if you're lucky enough to even be invited to a pitch, you're going to have to, like when I had to pitch something that was a pretty big deal, I spent four days in my house and I'd already written the script like six months prior. And I had the production company, I have, I should say, that was established and got me in the room.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And I had to have an answer for like 45 minutes on anything that could possibly happen with this show. And that's where you start writing your Bible. And that thing's like, I don't know, 100 pages long. It's like a sales document for storytelling of where this is going to go. Because nobody goes, unless you're just the man and you've crushed it numerous times.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You're like, hey, I think I have this show. Taylor Sheridan's like, I think I got this thing about lumberjacks. Every fucking network would be like, in. Say no more, fam. Yeah. Yeah, you had me at lumber. So most people like you can have the good pilot, but you're going to have to have a team with a track record, especially if you're an unknown.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And you're going to have to have somebody believe in the vision of where your story is going for multiple seasons, because that's when people start making like real money. Nobody's like, oh, yeah, OK, well, like that first season sounds good. So we'll just trust you on season two, three, four and five. Right. I mean, limited series, entirely different thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I was looking at a list the other day, and I was like, man, that list seems bleak. Still a few moves to be made. I don't know if it's just in the moment going, that doesn't look good, where if I did the exercise every single March, every single year, I'd be like, that doesn't look good. But this just feels bad.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And then they have to get through all that and even want to make the pilot. And then, of course, you know, there's a decision after the pilot because the people that are in charge of these shows have to answer to other people. And nobody will ever say, like, why did you guys green like this thing? This is just that it's a disaster. And like, well, the pilot was good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

can't pay his rent buying an expensive watch if the Giants are going to pay Saquon Barkley a ton of money at a position that you probably shouldn't be spending a ton of money on if you don't think the rest of the team is going to be that good, even though there's a lot of people on this roster I actually really like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You know, so look, and I know there's exceptions and people that are way more involved in the industry day to day than I am may disagree with some of these things. But I'm just kind of trying to outline like the general part of it. So, yeah, it's really, really hard.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And I would say get rid of this whole one year deadline, because from the time you finish a really good pilot to having an agent read it to a production company, decide that they want to partner with you to you, go then and pitch and then hopefully sell and then rework the pilot and then the Bible and then wonder why.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

The amount of time from the first sentence to when a camera would actually be rolling, that's years. Again, minus the exceptions of people that are just so established, the rules are different for them. But the rules for somebody who's never done this before that has very little connections, the one-year window thing is a fucking joke.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You're not going to make it in one year, even if you are brilliant, right? Unless, again, maybe the indie part of it of like, hey, we're just going to go ahead and shoot this whole pilot. I'm going to start. I'm going to do this whole thing. I hope you have somebody who's established who can go through it. Cause it's just, you're not going to know. And the best thing for me was going through it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And I knew there was all these things that I, I didn't know. And I was like, you're going to learn that all of these things that you've assumed today, like you're going to be like, Holy shit. I can't believe I thought that, or I can't believe, but I already knew it because I'd already gone through it in a whole different field. So I was like, you're totally naive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

You don't have these answers, but you're aware that you don't have them. And that's actually like, That's better than than never having gone through something special before. I'm sorry I jumped you there, Kyle. But, you know, what he's what he's doing is really, really hard. But why do you care if he's paying his rent? I mean, I guess you care as a friend. Let him fail.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But I don't think Saquon was going to make the difference, and certainly it was a little bit different him running behind the Eagles' offensive line than the Giants. So are the Giants... Are the Giants the last to know about Russell Wilson, or are they, again, looking around at this position going, well, we bring in Winston, we bring in Wilson, and on top of everything else, we may draft somebody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Yeah, it's really hard, man. It's really hard. I remember in the beginning when I lived out here and I would finish something and I would send it to one of my agents and he'd be like, hey, this is pretty good. I'd be like, alright. When do we meet with HBO? I know a guy over there. And it's like, we could go meet with them, but Like, you're just going to be wasting everybody's time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Wasting your time. You'll be really wasting their time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So at a position that may have the worst depth that we've seen in years, do we have a bunch of different options? And if you want to criticize that and say, well, what kind of QB room is that? You're not wrong, but I'm just trying to understand why they would do some of these things with declining players. Concern number two is Russ in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

That's a great point as we finish up here because there's nothing better than saying you're a writer as an excuse to not do anything on the side. Right. You're like, oh, I got to go over this scene again. And then you're like, all right, let me get 30 minutes Call of Duty and then refresh. Then we're like, okay, now we're hot. Let's turn up some tunes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Like, all right, Cursor, what do we got tonight? All right, that'll do it for the show. Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. Thank you to Kyle and Saruti. Brian Russillo Podcast video pod on Spotify app and, of course, our YouTube page. So please subscribe. Brian Russillo Podcast. Must be 21 and older.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

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Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I think he's toned it down quite a bit since the Sean Payton year in Denver. I think the first year when he felt like he was finally free and was going to be the full version of Russell Wilson, it was probably the peak annoying. If you like it, You're a better man than I am. But clearly, Peyton hated it immediately.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

There was going to be some kind of reset on what Russell Wilson was allowed to do, what he was going to be allowed to be. I don't know. Look, it was kind of like, man, now, Broncos country, let's ride. It got annoying. And it's always going to be a little weird. It's always going to be a little annoying with him. That's just the Russell Wilson experience.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But I did think this was really interesting because I think about him being in New York and wondering, is this kind of a fulfillment of something that... he had talked about but not talked about years ago. Remember back in, it's February of 21, I'm bringing up this story now, headline, quarterback Russell Wilson hasn't demanded a trade from Seahawks agent Seth.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Mark Rogers tells ESPN, Adam Schefter on Thursday, Rogers said Wilson has told the Seahawks that he wants to play in Seattle, but if a trade were considered, the only teams he would go to are the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Las Vegas Raiders, and Chicago Bears, which was really one of the weirdest stories ever. It's like, we're not demanding a trade, but...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But these cities would make sense. And if you talk to enough people, it'd be like, okay, what specifically is it about those cities? And I think a lot of it had to do with the full Russell story. And his wife experience essentially being like which markets would make the most sense for both of them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And clearly, like New York, there's a page six article already today about their first night in New York City. So I think it's I think it has a lot to do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

We're going to get to some of the backup quarterback options here in a second, but let's start with a starter. I guess, and that's Russell Wilson to your New York Giants. So the deal was first reported as one year, 21 million. That's not going to happen. It's 10.5 million guaranteed. The incentives are going to make him a few million more if he plays every game, if he wins a bunch of games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

with wanting to be in new york and whatever the next chapter is uh for this couple yeah i think that's like a huge priority um which not like saying hey don't go out don't be famous but if i'm running a football team that's gonna make me a little worried about the whole thing um like i said there's just always going to be a little extra stuff that you know

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It's like, hey, is this going to be about football every week or is this going to be about maximizing your celebrity? And I think if we're all being a little honest, it's probably a mix. Concern number three, the locker room is going to like Jameis more. Just like Pittsburgh, like Fields more. I think he's an unrelatable dude.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

And to have Winston in there who thought he was probably going to be the starter and then this Wilson deal happens, I don't know if Winston's a locker room politician. I think he just might be really likable in a country way that relates to way more football players on a 53-man roster. And then on top of that, like, what if you draft Shador Sanders at number three?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Like, I kind of want this to happen because you're going to have some strong personalities. And is that the best thing for rookie quarterback? If you decide to go down that road, who knows? Maybe they trade out of the pick and then try to add some more picks. So I think the last part of this is, you know, last year was a gap year with Daniel Jones, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

They were hoping maybe, like, one more chance. You want to talk about the all-time tryout for a quarterback. It's going to be tough to break the Daniel Jones experiment record. And maybe the positive is after knowing, like, this season's kind of lost with Jones because it went more likely.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

It ended up going the way more people thought it would go than all of a sudden this miraculous turnaround happened. If you draft a QB, now I guess you have three options, which gets back to the original line of how many options do you really have, even though I think the line is clever and pretty misleading. Maybe it has to do with the backups, and that's where we started this conversation.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

If you look at the backups in this league, God, this feels like it's worse than before. I mean, there was a tweet the other day where somebody was ranking them. They had Zach Wilson third, which...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

think that feels a little high but Miami actually was proactive about this with Tua's injury history knowing okay you really need somebody you can kind of trust if you want to get like kind of like the Jacoby Brissett thing in Arizona like if Jacoby has to play for a month if Kyler gets hurt and Kyler was you know much better last year than all the ups and downs stuff that we've seen from him health wise but Kyler for the most part stayed healthy

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

The expectation is he's probably going to miss some time. If Brissette has to play for a month, you at least feel like you have a chance. Zach Wilson has the second worst passer rating of any active quarterback with 15 or more starts. And the Dolphins were like, we got him. You have Garoppolo back in L.A. Shanahan in San Francisco wanted Mac Jones. They were like, sweet.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Cooper Rush goes to Baltimore. Teddy Bridgewater's in Detroit. You know, Stidham got a two year deal with Denver to keep him there. I know Kirk Cousins is like the best backup, but that's kind of weird. But maybe that's why Atlanta is going to be stubborn and hang on for a little while. I mean, I know everybody loves Joe Milton videos. I like Tyrod Taylor.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

But to make the full 21, the stuff that I was looking at this morning, again, a lot of this stuff is very misleading on the headline. It looks good for the agent. It looks good for the player. But like, hey, 20 million for Russ. You're like, yep. He would have to win, I think, like every game and then make the playoffs. And if you go undefeated, chances are you're going to be in the playoffs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

Tyrod Taylor was ranked seventh on one list. He should be like I miss Gardner Midshoe. You know, Spencer Rattler, the man now is Malik Willis, the dude. Or is this how it is a bunch of different years? But I think that's kind of what it is, man. Like, there's not a lot of depth in the position. But the question for the Giants is, do you have a ton of depth and no starter?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

So I don't love laying 13 points with Houston in a game, but they are at Utah. And if you go through it right now, it's just tough to pick any of these teams that are trying to tank out the rest of the season. I mean, they lost by 37 points. to Memphis. They lost by 29 to Cleveland. They lost by 22.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

I mean, if you look at their losses, other than that Washington win, who needs to lose worse than they do, they're getting just stomped. So normally laying double digits, I mean, even laying seven plus, I don't love, but it might be the move looking at this final stretch of 10 games or so. However you want to play now is the perfect time to join.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Russell Wilson and NFL QB Desperation. Plus, a Big Picture Luka Chat With ‘The Wonder Boy’ Author Tim MacMahon.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

15 NBA West Teams in 15(ish) Minutes! Plus, Adnan Virk Talks Oscars and the State of Canada.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

15 NBA West Teams in 15(ish) Minutes! Plus, Adnan Virk Talks Oscars and the State of Canada.

220.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

15 NBA West Teams in 15(ish) Minutes! Plus, Adnan Virk Talks Oscars and the State of Canada.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

on today's episode we've got a full mlb preview with jeff passan why the dodgers are good for baseball whoa what a tease um i'm gonna do some nba stuff i want to get in front of this clippers thing Because they look good. I know you don't want to hear it. I know you don't want to believe it. But a larger conversation about being tricked by things in the NBA and life advice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

So, you know, is it is it something that no one should really be that upset about anymore? Or do you look at it as something where people shouldn't forget that MLB opening day has already happened?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

When it first happened, I did not like it. I didn't just like the idea. Even thinking of how you would do a show and be like, it's bad if we're going into work, not thinking about opening day as a topic today.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But I think bigger picture, I can understand it, even though I think some of the baseball decisions going back to C-League were always kind of quick fixes, not having the eye on the long-term part of this. But...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

You know, if you look at attendance increase, you know, back to back years, the first time in over a decade, if you look at some of the local television deals that you've seen, you know, it's, it might not, you know, I always joked about this, but if you worked for baseball, if you worked on the business side of things and sit in the room, like maybe it's not a bad thing if we own baseball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

this one or two month part nationally, because I still think the baseball playoffs product itself is up there with, with I think anything, you know, it's tough to argue with, with playoff hockey, but the, the drama around that, the fact that it's been expanded, which I don't necessarily love because I think it makes the six months kind of irrelevant.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And just the model of like who you have to be for six months as a team versus who you need to be for a few weeks as a team. It's like, well, what was the point? It's like, well, the point was we could sell all of that local television revenue. So yeah,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

you know like cool theory but you know when i look at college basketball it is not even close to being the same i used to watch it more than the nba i used to look forward to big monday the pac-12 games late at night i loved all of that stuff and now it just doesn't even register for me but i know with the tournament starting today like i can't wait i can't wait to just dig into this thing and that maybe just having yourself positioned for a moment

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

He's now taking almost 20 shots a game, which is up from 16 in February. A lot of this has minutes even going back to January as well. But look, he's right back to his career shooting numbers. You could look at the free throw attempts and the rebounding decline there, especially in the free throw side of it, and see those are kind of the signs of age for a perimeter scorer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

is the most important thing, because I just don't think that daily consciousness nationally of baseball is coming all the way back. Anyway, look, I don't want to turn that into a conversation that we've already had a bunch of different times. So let's just pivot it to the Dodgers then, because the headlines, whether it was last offseason, this offseason.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

the billion dollars in deferrals, them taking the mantle, I think at least conversationally from the Yankees, where you just looked at the Yankees. And of course, back in the day when I was super into it, it used to drive me crazy. I'm like, they win because they just get to pay for the best player every single time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And now the Dodgers are doing it in a way where it's not just getting the best players available. It's deferring the money, which appears to like is a new tier of pissed offness from other fan bases.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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You start getting a little bit worried when you see the free throw attempts go down. But of all the things you could look at numbers-wise for him, you know, that's the only one that really jumps out. Uh, but I thought the thing that I really loved from him is there was a couple of times Mitchell's trying to bring the ball up late fourth quarter possessions.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I love that phrase. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I do think the calves, I was tracking good misses and some coaches kind of drive me crazy, you know, to get your ass kicked. And it's like, you know, we had a lot of good looks the entire night. It's like, are you just saying, does everybody just say that all the time? Or is that a weird kind of, Hey, we run good stuff. Yeah. Those guys miss shots. I think it's probably all of those things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I want to get to some of the challenges in the National League to the Dodgers because on paper, it's just hard to say, hey, this team matches up with them well. But look, on paper last year, you wouldn't expect the Mets to make it to the NLCS. They won 89 games in the regular season. They get to six games with the Dodgers, and they add Soto.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But even though I like some of the Cavs misses during that fourth quarter stretch where I was looking at it, Mitchell, like Kawhi wanted to pick him up at half court. Like he got into him a couple possessions, like just on him. And you're like, he's the effort level in his movement again. You're like, this is kind of what it's supposed to look like with Kawhi.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So sometimes you look at it going like, well, they were just mad and didn't want them to go to the Yankees. And their owner was looking at the Dodgers being like, well, then I'm just going to do something like this and – Look, if you're going to invest in a position guy for that long, it feels like Soto is the best bet of anyone you can, you know, of any available option.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And he becomes the option. So I guess any of the angst towards it, like, I don't know, the dollar amount, like how much do we really care here? But what does he mean for the Mets? Like, what have you learned in having kind of access to this build up to 25 and a surprising 24 that you think makes sense?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And then, of course, you've got Zubox who goes off. Norm has barely been back. He's been back three games, but it's really only been two games. If you look at the season numbers for this group, offensively, they've been 18th. Defensively, they've been third. There was definitely a priority in switchable wings and different perimeter options for this team defensively.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Okay, so let's stay on the Annalise, because I'm totally with you. I mean, when you look at Atlanta, it could not have gone worse last year between Strider and Acuna. You've got the four other studs at different times. You know, the Chris Sale part of it's an incredible turnaround, considering you're looking at somebody, you're just like, could you even get 100 innings out of this guy anymore?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And then he goes down there, deals, but then isn't available for the playoffs. So... If you're just going injury correction, Atlanta's completely in play just based on talent alone. Maybe I just ask it in comparison with Philly because Philly's short series, you think of their 1-2-3. Maybe there's some assumptions there with the lineup.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I probably like Atlanta's talent better than Philadelphia, but the Phillies here, I mean, the last three years they've played more playoff games than anybody else in baseball, and they feel like a complete afterthought because they've never played the Dodgers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Last 15 games, it's been a bit of a pivot from where they were. They're better offensively at 11th. Defensively, they've fallen off to middle of the pack the last month. I don't know if this is a priority change or if it's just that Kawhi's coming back, so let me dig into that a little bit deeper. If you want to go last eight, again, winning seven of eight, the offense is second in the league.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Is Arizona in play here? Because if you look at the rotation, at least matching up, I mean, again, not on paper with the Dodgers, the fact that Carroll doesn't hit for months, and then once they finally kind of turn it on, like this ended up being the best offense, at least run score in the National League. So I guess...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

All of us are so focused on the NL East and this carousel of what could happen here that it feels like Arizona. I mean, again, we haven't even mentioned the Padres here yet because I think there's a lot of Padres assumptions because that series was so great. They've got the studs in the lineup. They've got the top of the rotation.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Michael King's probably one of my favorite pitchers in the bullpen depth. There's still like four guys that are missing that were major contributors. All of my pro-far stock finally cashed in. even though he's gone now, speaking of Atlanta.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

That sampling feels just like, do we mislead ourselves with some of that stuff? You know who the number one offense in the last eight games, just to emphasize the The thing I'm doing here, San Antonio's number one in offense, right? So does that actually mean, hey, that's the best offense in basketball? Well, yeah, for eight games. So defensively, they've been sixth. They shoot it really well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But I guess I'm just looking at the NL West part of this, and I'm just going to apologize to both Central fan bases here in both leagues because you're not going to get a lot of depth in this interview with Passon. But Arizona.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Sure.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Good, because I have some essential thoughts too, but we'll figure it out. All right, so go ahead.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

There's like seven guys. It feels like they're breaking camp with at least, hey, the reality is two of these guys are going to be disappointing. And then there's teams that I'll look at and go, if this doesn't work, I don't even like your number four guy now. And it's March. Right. So go ahead, back to the Arizona point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

At least you can look at it and go, all right, well, if two don't work out, there's just different options here for the rotation. But go ahead.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I love it. San Diego, step back or fine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

So the point that I'm kind of making here is that have they philosophically pivoted from... Let's just be really good defensively, and we're not going to be so good on offense. Or is it that Kawhi is back to a fully formed offensive version of Kawhi, so the offense is just going to be better, and they're going to play some of the defensive minute players less minutes here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Okay, we spent so much time in the National League because, as you had pointed out, we were texting last night about it. The ALEs, look, go wherever you want. Go on fan graphs. You can find the projections. The Yankees are generally the only team projected at north of 90 wins. So you brought up the essential part.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

So how many teams can win the American League?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

That's amazing faith that you would still include Cleveland after their offseason.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

The Ben Simmons thing kind of feels done a little bit. Chris Dunn does play. There's also some shooting stuff here where if you really dig into it in March, you've got Daniel Jones, Bogdanovich, Coffey. And by the way, I can never quite figure out Bogdanovich. I've always liked him. But then I'm like, do I like him too much? Is he actually not that good? He's always been able to shoot it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

It gets averaged out a little bit too much for me where you just go 92 is not going to end up being the best. I mean, look, even the people doing the projection understand that. But I've said this about some baseball stats where I feel like at times the math is too big. Like it's so big that. Then you plug it all in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

It's kind of like the win probability stuff where it's like, yeah, if you run a thousand simulations, like I expect that this team that's up 10 points in a football game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Have you seen, speaking of Cleveland, have you seen a Cavs game recently where they actually post? So if a team is up 90 to 86, they post the Cavs differential as plus four or minus four if they're down. So they post it on the scorebook during the Cavs games. Why? just in case you're terrible at math.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I mean, that is... Obviously, it has to do with the live betting, but I mean, most people can usually figure out. If you have access to betting, you should hopefully be able to know the difference between some of these numbers. You haven't seen this yet? Well, you've been locked in spring training.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

All right, so let's... Because I think we agree here on what kind of some of the projection stuff. And look, clearly the Yankees healthy. They're the class of the league. But that's a huge if. And the Cole news is devastating. And I understand that they spent a ton of money on Max Freed. Sometimes I look at that as like, is that Atlanta just trusting themselves? Is that Atlanta?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Like sometimes with pitchers, I get worried. It's like, so we gave the guy eight years. So why didn't. They want to do that. And sometimes it's just the contract. And a lot of times, too, it can just be the franchise. And Atlanta's probably a little more in front of things than maybe some other franchises, just the trust that you would have in them operationally.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Let me ask you this one, because you touch on it a little bit there. You said something about Mookie regressing, Mookie Betts, right? And I don't think this Red Sox ownership group could ever possibly understand the public equity loss of losing Mookie. Even those guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But I always thought there were moments of Sacramento and early Atlanta with Bogdanovich where it was like, he's not just some guy that spaces the floor. He actually is pretty athletic and he gets into his stuff. If he's shut off, he can... find a way with his dribble to find himself room to get off a better shot as opposed to some of these catch and shoot guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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But I could always understand their part of it. It's like, hey, you losers. So we showed up for eight decades, eight decades. And then we show up and we win four World Series. And you don't want to give us the benefit of the doubt at all. Um, but that's just not the way that city works. It's not the way that state works.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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It's just not the way people from new England work and to feel like you're the team that can't afford. And we've covered all this Mookie stuff over and over and over again. I think there was some disingenuous arguments about what the tax stuff would be versus what it wouldn't be. Cause I, you know, again, but with the way the Red Sox geared up this off season, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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the anticipation of this, this minor league three, I don't know if you call it the big three of, of these studs that are going to be coming up. And I don't know if they come up this year. Cause of course I think in pretty good, transparent about. I want them to be where they can play.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Yeah, it doesn't sound great. And look, Campbell's second, then fine. But yeah, then it doesn't even work anymore. But I think that the greater question is this. Do you think there'll be... Are we a couple years away from a movement? I don't know if it'll be a movement because that's the other thing guys from New England are never going to want to do is give somebody credit that deserves it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But where the leadership, this group, even though some of the pieces aren't going to be there anymore... or not there currently, where they could say, you know what? They were right. They were right about how they handled this if you look at buying out Mookie for his 30s.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

As soon as you move them off the spot, they have no chance of ever resetting and then shooting again. It's another reason why whenever I argue about shooters, I'm like, I don't want to just look at three-point percentage and say, this guy's a better shooter than this one because his three-point percentage is better.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

We should be able to look at the players and be like, okay, but is that guy only good at shooting from this spot and only good in this scenario? Or can he do it off the catch? Can he do it off the dribble? Again, it's why step is always going to be the standard.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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That's the right answer. I just know if they get off to a really good start and if they were to do something this year, there will be a correction on. And I don't like the word narrative. I hate it. But sometimes it's just.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Well, what I hate about it is we should have just updated the definition because what it really is, is national guy says something about my team that I don't like. That's probably accurate. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

It's like, oh, it's like this dismissive term that it usually means. Yeah, it's probably kind of true, though. And that's why you're pissed. And then you heard somebody else say it. Right. It was almost like small sample. Like once people started learning small sample, it just then became applied to everything. And it's like, how about like. it may actually mean something, though. Is that okay?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And it's like, nah, small sample, small sample. And then just everybody repeated it, and it's this dismissive thing where as if any observation of a player or team can just be completely diminished by saying, well, it's just the narrative. And you're like, well, how did that happen, though? How did we get to this version of storytelling?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

So if you look at the dispersal of three-point shots in March, you have 14 shots from four players, Bogdanovich, Coffey, Batum, and Derrick Jones Jr., where their percentages are 52%, 44%, 53%, and 41% from those four players individually, again, on 14 shots. So are those shots, you know, could be the shooting variance part of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Hey, man, I get it because coming from a local market, I always knew, but I always try to remind people from this position, if you're really on it and you're not emotional about it and you're watching every single inning, I'm just not going to know it the way you know it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But I also don't have to watch Dame Lillard play defense for 82 games to know that when I see him fucking up on defense like Golden State the other night, that it's not just a small sample. Okay? Nope. Let's not be frauds. Give me your AL West pick here, then, because I feel like we did so much National League that I'm not doing enough service to the junior circuit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But are those shots just better shots now because you have two on-ball creators where Harden's going to get you the numbers. He's going to put you in some good possessions. I think sometimes he passes up on shots that surprises me and then takes other ones that I don't know why he took them. Sure, he's going to slow you down. I don't need to do another Harden rant with this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Let's start with a little NBA today before we get to a big hour-long preview with Jeff Passan and life advice. I want to talk about the last couple nights in the league. The Clippers, two nights ago, beat the Cavs at home 132-119. And why am I bringing up a game from two days ago? Because I thought it was that important. Not so much on the Cavs side. I'm not that worried about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

That's a good transition because the final thought on salaries, and I want to ask you one question here on something else. So if you're looking at... the total payroll stuff for the Dodgers this year, it can put them third on total payroll, right? The total payroll number for this year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But if you're looking at cash out or cash set aside for what you were talking about earlier, like you actually still have to be liquid to defer this kind of stuff. I think it's 370 million. Is it within that range for 25? It's somewhere along those lines. Okay. So the AL Central total team payroll is $544 million. Okay. So that was the first one. Steph Curry this year makes $55.7 million.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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That's most in the NBA, right? Highest average salary for a player in the league. And some guys are going to be going north of 60, 70 million in a couple of years, right? The A's total payroll for this year, I was surprised it was this high, is $58 million. So Steph is just about $2-something million off of where the A's are at.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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He has the same salary as the entire White Sox payroll, and he makes $8 million more than the Marlins' entire payroll. The Marlins' payroll, which is last in MLB this year, and I love doing this, is $47 million. That would have been 19th in MLB payroll in 2000. It's unbelievable we can have this. And, you know, look, if you want the floor, you need the cap.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But for what they needed from him, especially in the non-Kawhi stretches of the season, he was a huge win for them. And again, really, I should say three on-ball guys because once Norm is back to full Norm Powell, that's three on-ball guys that they're all really going to like. So maybe the offense is just going to be better because of everything that we're talking about here. Zubats, love them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

We've been over this a million different times. But, I mean, do the Marlins, are they just in business for revenue sharing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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What a great deal, right? I get to buy a baseball team. I own it. I don't have to pay for any players. And then everybody else has to write me a check. It's awesome.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

you can get into some of the rim protection filters and not love all of this stuff. But at the same time, if you look at the six foot in sorting stuff, there's some really good numbers based on expected field goal percentage. I think there's probably always a bit of a concern depending on a playoff matchup. If zoo, does he get in the way on some of the matchups that,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Yeah, look, people should be far more outraged about these teams. I'm glad you added that extra context on the Marlins of kind of at least trying to just turn this steamer around, right? Of like, let's at least lay a foundation for having a group that's up to date. So I'm glad you added that. So maybe, you know, it's not entirely fair to just look at the payroll number that way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But overall, people should be far more upset about these teams in particular. You know, we don't even have to attach a city to it. The cycle of teams where ownership is like, we don't even, like, we're not even pretending. You should be far more upset about that than you should be the Dodgers, but these teams are so irrelevant. They're just not going to get the same amount of print space.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

No, we, I mean, I don't trust Kyle for one second.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

We did kind of a mailbag YouTube thing that's coming out tomorrow. And I think we were seeing sort of how long we could go. Or I thought I did. And then I guess I didn't even realize that I swore. Because then Kyle was like, no, you already did it. And I went, oh, I didn't even realize. So I don't think you have to worry about that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

What we do want to do, though, is I think this summer, when you come back and visit us, maybe a little...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

before the last thing that I we've kept you here a while, just give us your world series pick. Dodgers over Rangers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Without him out there, do they have a five-out option? Him being this traditional center, does that work against some teams, not work against other teams? Is he a guy that's like, man, he's so underrated to, hey, they need to take him out for these eight minutes because this isn't going to work? Maybe all those things are on the table. I guess I just really like him. I love his effort.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Take us through Jeff Pass and making national headlines this week on the Jackie Robinson story. So just set it up and give us the timeline and what ultimately was the right conclusion.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I love how hard he's played and the player that he's turned himself into and that he's just going to make rebounding an absolute bitch for you. And the fact that he had some plays – where he was just sealing the big guys for Cleveland and physically like they weren't really going to mess him up all that much. So there's just a lot of stuff here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I like about the Kawhi version of the Clippers, but enough to trick me. That's kind of really what we're asking ourselves here. Like, are you going to fall for this? Are you going to allow the Clippers to trick you into this? Cause they're the seventh seed today. Um, They're a game out behind Golden State in the sixth spot. They're tied with Minnesota, who's dropped a couple.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

The fact that it's back up with this administration tells you that even someone on their side was like, What the fuck did we do? And I just, look, I'm not super political, but I just think like if you're, I just don't understand the argument. Like I cannot understand in today's climate spending all day arguing about politics.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

It's like two teams, two fan bases rooting for NFL teams that both are terrible on offense. And then one fan base makes fun of the other fan base because they didn't convert third and long. And then it's like, all right, well, now you guys have the ball. So that's how it feels. And some people could be offended even by that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But I would say just reading through the timeline of this story and then your explanation of... Again, I would hope most reasonable people would be like, why would you spend any time on removing something like this? What are you accomplishing of all of the things that you should be worrying about to go out of your way to do something like this?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

For a story that, again, I would imagine most reasonable people would be like, that's a great story to be celebrated. and to take the time to take it down. So look, man, credit to you for being on it. And then, you know, ending up with a story here as minor as it is, as forgotten as it'll be in months, just for that moment for a couple of days.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And a lot of people looked at you and said, Hey, you know, this guy's got his head on straight and they put it back up, which tells you again, everything, you know, like the, if, if there's any moment that I have the opportunity to,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I want to get to a thought on them really quickly. This whole two through eight, I mean, look, Minnesota's not catching Houston as they're five and a half back. Houston's a two seed today. But what if it were the Clippers-Houston, this version of the Clippers, 7-2 against Houston? That's not a walkover, man. It's not.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Can't wait for next week, man. And credit to you again on that story from this week. And thanks so much for the time. Talk this season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

All right. Thanks, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Just a heads up, life advice, email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We are wearing the same clothes from our Friday Feedback YouTube page show. So this is taped prior to Thursday's show. I will be wearing this on Thursday, though, just so you know. Well, I'll be wearing something. Oh, don't worry. I've been saving my St. John's. here for Thursday. I'm very excited. Very excited. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Let's get to it. Life advice. All right. This one is timely. It's topical. It's really good. It worries me a bit that it might be fake, but we'll just go with it. All right. All right. All right. So we have the sign off from the tribunal on this one. Okay. 27 years old. 5'9", 225. I've got the height of J.J. Barea in the low post game of DeJuan Blair when he was on pit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I love getting down low and bullying people. That is a low center of gravity, man. I'm in a bad spot, gentlemen. I've been married for three years to my high school sweetheart. It's been mostly great. We're from the Midwest, so we got married young. You know it's great. You married somebody from the Midwest.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

uh that is things were mostly great until very recently anyway a few months ago my wife and i were at a dinner party there were three other couples there after dinner and a few bottles of charles shaw the hostess decides we're going to play a game somehow she just two buck chuck dude um she decides on truth or dare is it two dollars a bottle

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Look up. Price that out for us if you could.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Just a great reference by Kyle. Just a great old school. When you could hear him laughing, I was like, there's a follow-up there. All right, anyway. She decides on truth or dare. Now, boys, let me remind you again. $2.97, a total one. All right. Great call, Kyle. Once again, he was on top of it. Uh, we're all in our mid to late twenties, not middle school.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

After a couple of softball truths and elementary dares, my wife and I were called upon true seemed like the obvious choice. The question we were asked, who are your guys hall passes? Uh, now this wasn't something my wife and I had ever discussed. So I had no, by the way, nobody, I don't know that anybody really, I mean, sure. Is there someone? Yes. But the hall pass thing is a lie.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Like no dude can be like, guess what happened in Toledo? Yeah. Chilling Hall came strutting through. You said. Yeah. You know, I'd love I that would actually be a funny story. I mean, it's I always believe like there's whatever could happen. Like, yeah, somebody probably did that. There's some guy in Vegas at some convention. You know, he still hasn't. I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I mean, most normal people can't pull off any of this stuff. But like the one guy that did and then came home and told his wife, I don't know. Like, yeah, let us know how that goes. All right. So so I had no idea what was about to happen. I started thinking, oh, wait, wait, wait. Something my wife and I had never discussed. No idea what was going to happen next. I started thinking about my choice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And if you're just going to hit me back with somebody's going to get hurt from that team because they always get hurt, yeah, it's fine. The history would tell you that you're right, but that's not really analysis. I'm just saying be prepared. If this continues through the rest of the regular season,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

My wife blurted out Rupert Grint. Ron Weasley? Get out of here. She was met with a chorus of laughter, by the way. That's an amazing pick. I love it. You can't even get mad at her. Although you might start thinking about yourself and be like, am I not as attractive as I thought I was? All right. So she was met with a chorus of laughter and flabbergasted visages.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I immediately quipped that she had my full blessing to hook up with Ron Weasley whenever she wanted to. My wife's crazy response was, Bought me more time to think of my answer. I ran my tongue over the teeth fuzz caused by the chintzy Cabernet Sauvignon I consumed all night as I pondered the question.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Maybe it was the buzz I was feeling, but I shrugged and nonchalantly said my hall pass was Bonnie Blue. Oh, boy. Dude, that could actually happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah, dude. Who's that? All the women asked in unison. This guy's very eloquent. As the men's faces all switched to sly smiles, a blonde adult film actress, my buddy, answered matter-of-factly, the women's inquisitive looks turned to looks of disgust. My wife even called me a pervert loudly and moved her chair two inches further away from me. I shrugged and that was pretty much the end of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Fast forward to a week ago. See, I don't know. Maybe it's real. We'll keep going. This could be fake, though.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Well, his writing. Yeah, like he's such a good writer that I would wonder if he just was like, I'm going to screw with these guys and do a short story. So let's just keep rolling here. One of my buddies is getting married in May and his bachelor party is in Cabo.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Some of us married guys were dreading going as it was a notorious spring break destination. Do we really want to be surrounded by 18 to 20 year old D bags for a few days? Ultimately, 12 of us decided to go and pretend we were in college again. 12, good number. The first night we all arrived and kept it relatively low-key and just hung out at the main bar at the resort.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

The next day, we obviously had to hit up the beach early and live it up. We got to the beach early and started drinking and doing some normal beach activities. After a few hours, we noticed a big commotion on the beach a little ways from where we were set up. Me and two other guys went in to investigate, thinking maybe a celebrity was there. Me and my boys were in for a shock.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Right hand of God, Bonnie Blue was there. Now I believe this guy, Midwest right hand of God. I don't think he would lie to God. Nope. Bonnie Blue was there. She had two big, hulking security guards on her side in a sea of ravenous college bros encircling her. One of my buddies lit up like a Christmas tree and elbowed me in the ribs. Dude, your hall pass. Go for it, dude.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

My cheeks turned as red as Rupert Grint's pubes. No, dude. She slept with a thousand dudes in a day. I don't want any part of that. Again, this can be the ego of man here. Be like, oh, so that's why you didn't have sex with her.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

be prepared for people picking the Clippers in the first round and then get real wild with the thoughts. But again, it gets back to, am I going to let the Clippers trick me again here? Because it's just a lot cooler to just be dismissive and say, nah, it's fine, right? I think, no, look, I actually don't think that's cooler. I just think it's, the preferred way of talking about this team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah. But the email continues. My buddy combated my words and screamed, hey, Bonnie, you're his hall pass. You're his hall pass. He then pointed down at me. What do you know? In my my bombastic buddy drew everyone's attention. Bonnie turned and looked at us with a smile and pointed at me. I'm shitting my bathing suit as she beckons me over to her.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Before I could protest more, I felt hundreds of hands pushing me towards her as if I'm Lisan Al-Gaib. Next thing I know, I'm being eyed up and down by Rocksteady and Bebop, her security guards, and I'm standing in front of this blue-eyed British beauty. So I'm your hall pass, am I? What would you do with me if we were alone?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

i'm dumbfounded that i'm actually in this situation hundreds of phones are being pointed at me i'm frozen with fear i'm i'm married i finally stammer if i'm your hall pass it doesn't matter now does it she countered i'm still dumbfounded about the situation i somehow find myself in i'm standing there for what felt like an eternity i said that i was sorry and ran back towards my group breathless and still bright red i made it back to where our group was headquartered i didn't even notice

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

the two buddies with me chased after me and were smiling behind me my two idiot friends immediately tell the group what just happened one of them took a video of the interaction everyone gathered around and said uh around said friend with a predatory smile and watched me make a complete ass of myself i found one of our coolers slammed a cerveza to clear my head people asked me why i froze and i wanted to forget about the interaction entirely well you froze because it was something you never thought would happen and then in the moment and by the way like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I've seen, well, as I say, I've seen her videos. I've seen her interactions with all these different guys, these different podcast dudes. All the guys just freak. Most people would just, you think you're going to be smooth? You think you're going to be smooth in that? She does this, man. This is her thing. There's no interaction with her where she's going to be the uncomfortable one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

So most mere mortals would have done exactly what you had done, especially with the backstory that you shared with us. So the bachelor party continued on for a couple more days. Nothing really noteworthy happened. I flew home and had survived. My wife picked me up from the airport. Everything seemed fine initially. Quote, so how was the bachelor party?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I gave a pretty generic answer and she seemed unsatisfied. I saw the video of you and that whore. What the fuck were you thinking? A million thoughts flooded into my head, and the first thing I said back was, who texted you the fucking video? I didn't do anything. She proceeded to yell at me and tell me how I embarrassed her, made her look bad. She wouldn't even let me explain myself.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I was screwed. When we got home, it was late, and she told me I had to stay in the guest bed, and that's where I currently am. Typing this email out to you boys. What the hell am I supposed to do? I don't feel like I did anything wrong. Do I just let her sleep it off and hope tomorrow she's ready to let me explain myself? I'm going to order flowers. Does that make me look guilty? Help me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But that game two nights ago was special. That was a special effort. Cleveland was geared up for it. Cleveland was lost last night. They didn't have Garland. You could go to the back-to-back, but you want to talk about teams not having dudes? No Levine. No Sabonis, obviously, for Sacramento. They played their asses off. DeRozan was... Incredible again in the fourth quarter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah. There's one guy that sucks in that group.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Leave the search tab open. Studio downtown. Yeah. I'd be pissed. I'd be pissed if my wife were actually this mad at me. I can understand. Like, you kind of screwed up when you got in the car, and she's like, how was the bachelor party? Okay? So your buddy really screwed you on this. All right? It's really lame.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And granted, you know, you're day drinking, festive, but there's one guy out of that group, probably two out of the group of 12, that's just... I just hate that guy. I hate that fucking guy that's like, oh, I'm going to send this to my wife because the wives don't care because now it's public domain. It doesn't matter. This is a good week of conversation they just drummed up here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

They don't care about you. They don't care about your marriage. They don't care about your feelings. It's content. Whoever did this is the guy that you should be. I would never be friends with that guy again. I would never be friends with him again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I think going into this West Coast swing, they were 18-3 against the West. I know they dropped the back-to-back against Sacramento. I'll probably touch on that a little. I love the Cavs. I'm not going to worry about it. Maybe one little small worry that I'll get to here in a few minutes. But this is really at the beginning about the Clippers. You're like, are you seriously going to talk Clippers?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

She picked you up and said, how was the bachelor party? But again, you didn't know. You're in a funk, you know, 27 years old when the pain starts to kick in. So, you know, you're coming back from Cabo, maybe a little sun poisoning. Like, who knows? Like, you're just not in the clearest state. You know, you don't want to be flying a fighter jet.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah, but you had to tell her You kind of had to tell her, but he doesn't know. And he's in this gray area of humanity. So, yeah, I don't know. But for her to be this immature and get this mad at you about this... And I can understand the friend group, the content thread. Oh, my God. But you were totally respectful. You were beyond respectful. You...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

You couldn't it couldn't have been more obvious that that is actually something that you didn't want to be having happen based on what you told us about the video and the entire thing. So, yeah, I think it shows like a ton of immaturity on her end that she made you sleep in the guest room.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And there's even a little Cleveland thing there where I've talked about where I didn't care if they had swept Boston the regular season. There was no way I was going to pick them against the Celtics in the playoffs. That's how I felt. Trade deadline, they bring in Hunter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Okay, so how would you handle this, Kyle? Is this like a four days thing? Kyle, you're this guy. You're this guy. Wife picks you up. How was the trip, honey? Vegas was fine. And then, boom, I saw it. How would you handle that going back to the casa?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

So maybe I'll try to- Well, that's not the most important thing, though. You know what I mean?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

At least they have some kind of body to be able to come up against the Wings because there were just too many times in the Celtics where it felt like between White, even Drew Holiday, but then more importantly, Brown and Tatum. It's like these perimeter guys are going to get stuck in constant bad matchups, and I don't know how I could pick against Boston. knowing that that's going to happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah, my fear, though, if you're saying like, hey, I don't know if I can ever be friends with that guy again, that her response is going to be, oh, you're more concerned with your – she's just going to outmaneuver you here. She's going to be just tacking on every turn here of where you're like, okay, well, that's not what I meant. And she'll be like, oh, the priority is your friendship thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Look, it's a bad answer, man. It's a really bad answer that you picked Bonnie Blue, okay? Because as soon as the women were going to figure out what her deal is and what the headlines have been with her right now – That wasn't going to be a win.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah. Not one woman in that... There's probably a dude at that dinner who was like, are you the dumbest person ever?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But he's not the dumbest person ever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

He's obviously very smart because of just the structure of that entire email. That's probably one of the best emails we've ever read. But I think the overriding thing here is both what Cerruti and Kyle said, is that the not... You're so in the right here. The dumbest thing that you did was say her name at the dinner party, okay? Should have said Kevin, dude. Right. What does that mean, by the way?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah. That's, but you have to, I mean, again, you know, this, this is where everybody's like, Oh, the non-married guy is telling us how to do it. But I do think it would be, Hey, I understand that it probably wasn't a great text thread, but like, How guilty do you want me to feel about this? Because I didn't do anything, right? Like how guilty do you want me to feel about this deal?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Tell me what you think I should do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

So have I overrated the Hunter acquisition by just at least having that option? There's an argument to be made that I have overrated it, but again, I just like the pickup for them. And then I was watching it specifically last night with the DeRozan matchup, because then at one point I'm like, why isn't Hunter on DeRozan? Well, that didn't last very long. And then I'm watching Hunter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

The content is too good. No one cares about anyone's feelings in this moment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

What if we're completely misunderstanding the closing of the email and that she's embarrassed that he looked like such a simp? Right. No, you guys read this wrong. She was like, how did you blow your opportunity? Yeah. All right. A quicker one here, dominated by old lady in the customs line, 2358180, player comp Xavier Simpson, if none of the hook shots fell.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Apologies in advance for the long email. This one is not long, man. It's funny, the people that apologize for the long ones, they're usually never long, and the people that never apologize for how long they are are the longest emails. Went on a trip with my family last summer, a week in Switzerland, starting in Zurich and hitting Lucerne, Zermatt, and Interlaken. Bonus itinerary review.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Um, by far the low point of the trip was the customs line upon landing in Zurich. Got off a red eye from Boston to severely backed up custom situation. Took about 20 minutes to walk to the back of the five to six person wide gridlock line all the way. Um, uh, all along the way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Basting in the condescending looks of the people, taking solace in the fact that we had more time left in the airport than they did. We had made slow and steady progress. We're probably halfway back towards customs when a seemingly harmless woman ducked under the rope right next to me, cutting roughly 1,000 people in line behind her.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I was put off slightly but didn't think much of it because I was right in front of some stairs and she looked around 70. So maybe it could have been a risk avoidance decision rather than convenience. Sure. I love that he was hoping that maybe it wasn't what it really was. She offered an innocent smile and I assumed she'd fallen behind us when the line shifted again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Little did I know she was very much on the offensive. She stuck... on the inside of the rope and got right on the back of the person in front of her. By the time the person moved to turn around and look who was breathing down their neck, she was past them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Every time the line shifted, she ate up as much space as available to her, waiting for this hole to open up and getting north-south very efficiently, passing anybody who dared take their arm off the rope, thinking Le'Veon Bell circa 2015. That's right, the hesitation and then find your hole. Hit that hole. Remember when he was like, I'm kind of like the Steph Curry running backs? Except he wasn't.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

By the time we got to the front, there were probably close to 50 people between us and her with the worst reaction she got along the way being a couple of dirty looks and loud sighs. Should I have said something? You got to respect that game, dude. You got to respect that game. At her age, has she earned the right to do this?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Is everybody in that airport that let her pass, most of all myself, a bitch? Or are they the bigger person for not starting shit with a selfish old woman over a couple minutes in line? The thought of her thinking that she's winning in this scenario enrages me as it relates to the general trend of people thinking the agreed-upon social rules don't apply to them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I'm like, is he a little too upright? You know, is there something about him defensively, even with the length and athleticism that there's not like I'm giving him too much credit as this defensive option against the Celtics in the East?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Please provide any thoughts, insight, and help me sleep a little bit better. Hey, man, been there. I think any of us that travel enough, you're going to see this kind of stuff. It makes you so mad. I remember leaving a wedding... It was a wedding based on some relationship drama for me that wasn't going to be a great weekend going in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And I would say after two days of the wedding, I felt even worse. And I wasn't in a great mood. I was by myself, which usually puts me in a good mood. But in this case, it wasn't like I was traveling with anybody. And so I remember I was already like a little tuned up. And there were these two dudes, a bit dramatic saying our gate, our gate is leaving. You know, we have to cut, we have to cut.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And like, there's a way you can be vocal enough where the line will kind of look around, you know, like a neighborhood trying to figure out if that light is positioned perfectly at some sort of neighborhood meeting thing. And you're like, Hey, for the greater good, should we move the light, the street lamp? Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And everybody kind of looks and is like, you know, these guys are just going to go for it. Right. And, you know, enough of us have been there would be like, it'd be really nice if the 12 people going through the security and taking out the laptops, if they could just let everybody, you know, could you just let me go? Because there's a really good chance I'm going to miss the flight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And it'd be nice if like in those moments it all worked out. Right. So these dudes are losing their shit. Everybody's kind of looking around and we're like, all right, whatever. Do your thing. So I make my way through security. Old deal. Get to the gate. Guess which two dudes are sitting there with coffees. Same gate. They're on the same fucking flight. There was plenty of time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

There was plenty of time, but they wanted to make sure because their thing is that they're more important. And yeah, that shouldn't rage all of us unless you're one of those people. And some people just look at society as like, how can I continue to take advantage of all this stuff? Clearly the age factor is going here as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And then they were actually switching into Mobley where he got Mobley on a layup and then he hit Mobley for a step back jumper where Mobley played it perfectly on the step back. But DeRozan got him up on the first one. And it's like, well, are they switching off a Hunter for a reason, or is it because they just want Mobley away from the hoop?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I also think there's kind of like a home game thing for when the person's returning to the country that they're from, that they think everybody else is just an asshole and supposed to get out of the way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

So maybe she was just, I'm back.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I go here. Yeah. Yeah. So she just might've been a, a 70 year old miss Swiss, Swiss miss, whatever. But you're, that was good. Look, you're, You're right to feel this way. And I'm telling you, it gets better, man. You're going to be able to like in a week, you'll be able to sleep.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

You know, do you really, you really want to start arm barring and boxing out Kevin Willis, but she's 70, you know, like there's a line that even I think I'd go, okay, well, I'm, I'm not going this far. You're supposed to say something, you know, you know, it's always a good one. You just let it, Oh, but you're going to go. Oh, but you can go. I love the out loud passive aggressive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Just an out loud, oh, no, but you can cut everybody. You should do it. And then maybe it makes you feel better that you've acknowledged it, even though she's going to get away with her little game. And it might stick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

70 is not... There's plenty of normal stuff that you're doing at 70.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And sometimes you just want the center and the action or the power forward, you know, depending on what you want to do with Mobley, because Allen was out there with him. So, look, wild night at the Rosillo household last night with all these thoughts running around in my head. But, you know, you watch this many games, you're like, what would I allow myself to be tricked into?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Okay, and by the way, no, that's a good point because this is also one of those like in the moment versus everybody with the chance of Monday morning quarterbacking. Yeah, running it back in your head. Here's what I would say. I think we can close here. Prepare yourself for that moment. That's all. Have a script ready. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah. Think, think what's going to work in that moment. Think about what's going to make you feel better. And it's not preventing her. I mean, if a person's just going to, especially a 70 year old woman, she's just cutting through everybody. Like you're not going to get to the point of like physically restraining her. Nobody's signing up for that. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

But work out a little script, even write it down, you know, download final draft. Interior debt. Busy customs. Fire a child. A child runs away from a screaming parent. Says you're going to be left in Switzerland if you don't come here. Right. You know what I mean? Like, just be ready. Have your line ready. So that maybe next time, because I know what you're going through right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Like that person dominated you. But they dominated a lot of people. They didn't just dominate you. Keep that in mind. You shared that loss. Win share, loss share per 48. It's not even that bad of a number for you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Barely registers. It's like Scoot Henderson rookie year. Don't even worry about it. All right. That'll do it for life advice. Jonathan Frias, Kyle, Steve, and War Gone. Enjoy the tournament. We have our Mail It In Friday coming up on YouTube. So you can see the same outfits. Figure that one out. And please subscribe to the podcast. Ryan Russillo. Ringer. Spock. Must be 21 and older.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Am I tricking myself into Hunter? Am I tricking myself into the Clippers? Am I tricking myself into Zion? Did you guys see Zion last night? I mean, they beat Minnesota. And Minnesota, just a brutal stretch for them the last two games. You're coming home. You take out the Magic. Everybody's taking out the Jazz. How about them and the Wizards last night battling it out?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

They lose to the Pacers, who are missing their top guys for the most part. Obi Toppin turns into Steph Curry in that game. And then you lose to the Pelicans if you're Minnesota because Zion – I don't know who he is right now, but he is so pissed off at everybody. He is playing the game angry. It wasn't the steal. It was basically a turnover and a fumble pass.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

He picked it up, loose ball, beats everybody down the court. It's one of the rare times where Julius Randle just like, I don't care. I'm not getting back for this because he wasn't going to catch him. He had a coast-to-coast that was nuts. His passing, where he knows if he's getting into trouble, where he's going to go with it. He had a pass from the right side, which was like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Yeah, I think we need to talk a little Clippers. And I know what you're going to say. Are you actually going to fall for this, Russolo? It's a fair question. And maybe it's the right way to ask me that. But let's just break this down a little bit. So remember last year when the Clippers beat Boston in Boston?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

way beyond the three-point line to the left corner like the past i was like how did he like i didn't i was not familiar look i should say i'm familiar with this game um but yeah i'm getting tricked into zion again here a little bit or are the pelicans getting tricked into it or is there another market that's getting tricked into it because he has been on fire you know look nobody wants to get tricked am i dming a redhead or is this ai again

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Is it worse to DM AI or get a response from the DM on AI? So, yeah, just some thoughts here. And then, of course, we have to close it out with... the San Antonio Spurs. Yeah, there's just some teams hitting some loss. These losses for Minnesota based on the seeding stuff and home court, they're super frustrating. But Zion just loves playing the Timberwolves.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And again, you'd have to watch that Pacers game to see what Obi Toppin did to understand how did they lose that one. Then you get the Knicks going out to San Antonio last night where San Antonio just was putting it on them. The whole time I expected the Knicks to come back and win this game. It's starting to feel like maybe the Jalen Brunson minutes are missed here a bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

And then, of course, speaking of minutes, Sandro... Memo Kelesvili, 19 minutes, 34 points, 13 of 14 from the floor, seven and seven from three. You want to talk about being in the zone. This dude was firing up threes where they knew he knew it was good while it was still in his hands, not out of the hands, still in his hands.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

You can just tell when somebody knows they're feeling it when they start backpedaling, not in the dismissive, arrogant way that we can see some of our favorite players do it. But Memo was just like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

yep that's in too and i mean cat was getting frustrated like this is the time where cat's not closing out where i'm like i don't even know you can get mad at cat on any of this stuff so if you had never watched an nba game and saw mamu doing what he was doing last night i think there was a number he had 20 points in nine minutes or something if you had never watched an nba game you'd be like oh so that guy's like is anybody better at the game of basketball in the world than sandro um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

A final thought on the Spurs, because I was watching the press conference with Chris Paul. I don't watch all of them live. The elder statesman of the Spurs team, 39 now. He's going to be 40 May 6th. So if you could put that in your calendar, maybe send him a nice note. I'm sure he'd appreciate that. But I talk about the closing moments of this game constantly. Who are you in the last few minutes?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Who are you as a player in those playoff moments where nothing is working?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

and can you solve the problem right the same way i talk about quarterbacks it's really about problem solving um and every sport has their version of this but i thought i want to end this with just some wisdom of chris paul because you should if you're not going to listen to me listen to him talk about the levels of this game of basketball the nba is about margins right just like with anything is the details you know everything is when you watch games night in and night out um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

I thought that was the single most impressive win by any team in any game in the entire 23-24 season. It was incredible. Clippers last year started the season 3-7. The Harden

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

The elite teams in this league, the last five minutes of the game, it's a different game. The shots that you take, the defense that you play, everything is different. And when you learn that and you start to understand that, it makes you a better team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

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MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

Opt-in required, refund issued is not withdrawal of bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Excited to do this with opening day just around the corner. Jeff Passan, ESPN. The Titleist, Jeff Passan, joins us. So, look. If we started the opening day, you know, just kind of a tradition now of like, oh, it's opening day. Like, yeah, it's Japan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

re-entry uh was not great looked pretty bad then they went 31-8 and they were rolling we even did a breakout video i was like this looks like the best team in the nba they finished 17-16 and then injury struck again playoffs dallas doesn't even matter kawaii had 33 against the calves two nights ago his march numbers 36 minutes a game 25 six and a half boards three assists he's 51 40 from the floor

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

MLB Is Back! (Kind Of?) With Jeff Passan. Plus, How Much to Believe in the Cavs, Clippers, and Zion.

You know, I could see the arguments why it still should be this day where everybody's kind of on the same page. And I think almost it's not even a baseball thing. So much stuff just gets lost in the movement of the day to day, the speed at which things move. And, you know, whatever, we'll figure it out when all the stadiums here are open.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Not outrageous to only be five games over 500 with somebody like Steph, but the net rating for both of these teams is like negative one point. So the record... is not a reflection of maybe how they've played and how you felt about them at times. Golden State against good teams this year, 500 or better in the expanded standings, 22-19. That's better than the Lakers. That's better than Denver.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

That's better than the Clippers. That's better than Minnesota. So that's in there a little bit. So it may just be that, look, if Houston wins this series, they slow down Curry. Butler has a couple nights where he's just not as engaged as you need him to be, which is not normally the case for him in the playoffs. So maybe we shouldn't expect that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And that Houston finds something they feel really good about closing with offensively. So I don't think it's crazy to pick Houston this one, but I'm going Golden State, the Warriors, in 6th. Okay, Detroit at New York. Pistons have won the last three. That April 10th game where Cade went off was terrific, but again, no heart or OG Ananobi in that one. Brunson since his return.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So post-All-Star break, let's do a little on that. Detroit's 15-12, New York's 15-13. In those 28 games, Brunson's played in 12 of them. So Brunson's right back to his 25 a game. Knicks actually have had the slightly better defense than Detroit Post All-Star. It's pretty similar. And Cade... Just was incredible in that April 10th game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But again, what do we really put into that other than we know Cade is really good and New York had two less perimeter options in dealing with him. His regular season numbers against the Knicks, he's been lighting these dudes up. 35-8. Shooting splits, 56-52%. I also like that Detroit has let him get engaged off the ball a little bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I know it's the simplest thing, but sometimes when you're telling the defense, hey, I'm bringing the ball up to court, this is what the first thing is going to be. You've already seen it a million times, excuse me. Just having somebody be like, hey, have Schroeder bring it up, have Cade come off of something, and now this is how we want to get into our offense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

It's so simple, but sometimes it is needed. And it's crazy to me how often teams are just like, oh, I guess we're just going to get stuck doing this over and over and over again. Now, having said that, when the ball ends up back with Cade, I worry about the second on-ball creator.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

It doesn't mean I don't love some of these home venues or just the overhead shot of the shoe going, wow, those Tennessee dudes look cold. All right. Um, It's just the principle of these things that a team like Dallas or Sacramento still has an outside chance of being able to get in. We also could start calling the play in when Atlanta plays. But let's talk about the teams that are in the playoffs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I think for any team that has any kind of playoff aspirations, I'm not talking about Detroit winning the East, but going up against a tough Knicks team here that is fully formed again, Like, who's the second guy with the ball that I'm like, okay, when Cade gets bottled up, it's a bit like the Randall, Minnesota thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Like, you really do Randall with the ball, closing out playoff games in a huge spot? Maybe, maybe. But Detroit, like, who is it? Because if you look at the drive chart for this, Cade clearly leads Detroit in drives per game, 17 a game. Ivy was second. He's not around anymore. Dennis Schroeder, 8.5.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

All right, well, that's not terrible because if you look at the Knicks chart, Brunson's 18 drives a game. Katz, like, at 8. So what's the difference, Rob? Well, the difference is Katz is also one of the best three-point shooters in the entire league and has been his entire career. So even with those drives that I think are clunky that seem to work more than I would ever expect them to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

They also have bridges, so the numbers may not play it out here. You know that OG, if he knows what he's doing on the drive as opposed to freelancing, he's so powerful and he gets close to the rim. He's pretty good on some of that stuff, and I think Hart moves the ball, right? And even Miles. That second guy, when Cade gets stuck, what is it? Is it a Beasley three? There'll be a lot of that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But is there somebody on the ball that can create when things get really messy for Detroit? I don't think they're going to have enough with that. And that's why I am picking the Knicks in six. Anything else I missed? Oh, yeah. Orlando at Boston. Salts in five. I think we're good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And as I said at the top, you can't do the documentary on the play-in game without spending a lot of time filming in Atlanta. Look, this is pretty clear that Miami has a standard that they were not going to go into that Chicago game. But that was an alarming, alarming effort from Chicago defensively. But levels to this. So as much as that was a pick-em...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Miami's now plus one in Atlanta, so it feels a bit like you're setting yourself up for being wrong for the wrong reasons and then going the other way and then being wrong all over again. Welcome to trying to figure this stuff out. Hero went off in that, so we were close to getting the 45-pointer. If the game had been closer, Hero might have had 50 in that game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

On the other side of things, Atlanta, not super impressive in that Orlando matchup. So what do we have here? We have Miami actually getting a point at Atlanta, which makes no sense based on the momentum and how both these teams looked the last time they played. So because it makes no sense, you almost want to go with Atlanta with this spot, but I'm just not going to. So we'll go Miami plus one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

We'll go Tyler Hero, two or more made threes plus 116. The Ryan Rosillo podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA play-in tournament gives some teams one last shot at making the playoffs, but FanDuel is giving all new customers a shot at $250 in bonus bets. Join FanDuel today. You'll get started with $250 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Always happy when we get Frank Isola on the podcast. He is a busy man. You can listen to him every morning on Sirius XM, of course, also on ESPN and Nets pre and post, where I know I'm locked in, learning about rotations in April. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Let's do that right now. All right, I'm going to run through the series. I'm going to give you a pick at the end of them. Random thoughts. Try to get this done before Saturday. Milwaukee Pacers. It's the better team versus the much better player. Certainly that you don't need me for that one. The Pacers at 1.35 and 28 finished on a 15-4 close, got the 50 wins. So you can look at some of the teams.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I'm ready to go. Sometimes that's definitely true, but with your schedule, you're actually a tougher book. And whenever we hear, like, Cerruti goes, hey, what about Isola? I go, yeah, absolutely. It almost feels like an annual thing. I'd have Jan even more, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

It was a good one. Yeah. It really was. It really was. It was a terrific match. There was nothing on, and it was on really early. So I was kind of starting my day, throwing it on in the background. You know what I've realized as I've become more international the last few years?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Is between soccer and F1... Like you just realize like what a great viewing experience because the emotion is never turned off where, you know, whether it's the NBA or the NFL or certainly the NCAA tournament, which it should be illegal to have a timeout one possession and then another commercial timeout where there's a disruption.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And with our attention spans being what they are now, like as much as I love basketball, when I'm disrupted that much, I'll lose that tension, that anxiety that you have when you've spent two hours watching something. And with soccer, it's incredible because you're never really told.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

There's never a moment where you feel like, okay, well, now I'm going to screw around on my phone because now I'm waiting for... Granted, I know there's reviews, but the lack of disruption...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

There's a lot of teams that seem to end with really nice records. It's like they're picking at the right time or their schedule was really easy, especially if you look at some of the teams in the East and West. Half the conference decided to kind of shut it down. But the Pacers have nice wins in there. They got Milwaukee twice. They got Minnesota twice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I still can't believe Myron ended up even with Dortmund in that one. I mean, just if you think about possession, shots on goal, and then maybe we just bring Cerruti in here. Who's my guy? Is it Serge Gnabry? He was sub-Ganabry. Wow. Like, look, again, not seasoned. But as soon as I saw him come in, I'm like, game changer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

They had the one-point loss to the Lakers, and LeBron made that shot. They beat Denver. Cleveland, those are wins, but Cleveland was sitting people in those. So there's at least some good stuff to look at there. After the All-Star break, the fifth-best record at 20-9, Oklahoma City 24-4, Boston 22-5, Cleveland 20-8, Golden State 20-7. So Pacers kind of in a nice group there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Wow. This was good. If we had a listening session at ESPN radio, they would have been like, Hey, maybe you guys should get to the playoffs a little bit sooner, but it's a podcast. You've already made a decision here. All right. So let's, I did love that game. All right. Before the season started, what was your finals pick?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I had OKC over Boston just because I think it's so hard to repeat in as dynamic or dominant as Boston was last year. It ended up being, you know, you get to the East. It was like, who have they actually played here with all the injuries? And it's always a good reminder as you get ready for this part of the season is there's going to be two, maybe three guys that are going to be out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

They're completely changed the dynamic of what these results are. I mean, it's basically the norm. It's just not going to sit here and predict any of this stuff. I feel like the Clippers are... You want to just hit me back with the Kawhi health track record, which is fair, and then harden his resume and what he looks like in playoff series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I just think they're a really good basketball team right now. So I'm not really looking at the seeding. I'm not looking at it as Denver having the home court part of it, where even with the 50 wins in Jokic, something's clearly wrong with this Denver team. So why would I pick them against a team that's looked like...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available at And listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. A massive NBA playoff preview. I'll go through the series that I want to go into depth on and then pick those. And we have Frank Isola.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So this is now 29 games after the all-star break with the eighth best defense in the, in the, uh, in the NBA. He stuttered the Pacers. Again, we're talking about the Pacers, the eighth best defense in the NBA after the all-star break. That is a little surprising. Oddly 13th best offense where Milwaukee finished the season. Also kind of under the radar, 19 and 10 close.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Yeah, it's a totally fair reason, but I guess I'm just saying, based on what I've seen, 18-3 to close the season, the fact that they've been the number one offense, number one defense, again, I didn't readjust it after the Golden State stuff, but going into that game, and that was a really, really tough win, and Harden was brilliant. Zoo was terrific.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

It was a great matchup for him against Golden State, so it's a little more challenging going up against Jokic, but one of the things I thought was interesting is how they had to put Draymond on Kawhi because Butler just couldn't Yeah. Deal with it. And that's something where you think, OK, all right. So if that one seems straightforward, then we are. I guess I should ask it this way.

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NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Where are you with Golden State Houston?

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NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Yeah, there's a lot of history, obviously, with Draymond and Steven Adams. Adams is actually a real part of the rotation. That's right. You're right about Imei. And Steve is already kind of planting the seeds and talking about how Steph is officiated or not officiated. Because, look, he's not wrong about this. We have more clips to look at because Steph is involved in so much.

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NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And because he's played so long. But looking back at even the Memphis matchup and the stuff that Scottie Pippen Jr. is doing against him. And by the way, Pippen Jr., Memphis nailed it. He's going to be a player for a long time. He's really good at finishing as a smaller player. But some of the off-ball stuff that when I watched

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

stuff it's like if houston's gonna get away with that that in itself could be the series because you might as well try it right it's the old dick harter thing i remember when he was with the pacers and he came to boston with jim o'brien and it was like they can't call all of them right yeah so just keep fouling and then whatever whatever you think kind of troubling maybe they get into the bonus a little bit earlier but at least houston has so many bodies that you can throw at this

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And then I think it's kind of a lasting impression of the last matchup not that long ago where it looked like they held held him in check. I mean, he was one of 10. So they absolutely did. But it was a team effort on top of just a man taking on the on ball assignment, too.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Um, but they're much better on offense. Milwaukee is, and they are on defense. Um, Milwaukee, also the best shooting team in the NBA, if you look at true shooting stuff, post the All-Star break. So they figured some stuff out. And I also think Bobby Portis coming back, only playing three games, but just plug and play 16 and nine is being undersold in all of this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Yeah, and I'm still not sure right now. I feel like the Lakers-Minnesota series is kind of a toss-up. I guess I feel a little bit stronger about the Clippers than others do. And then I feel like Golden State-Houston is the same thing because even with that win against Memphis, you can sit there and say, well, they blew the 20-point lead, which is, you know, you'd rather them just carry it out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But even Edie, who I think had some really nice moments and also some terrible moments in that game because of – the things that he's good at and the limitations that he seems to have. He also gets swarmed like the one

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

like i just think of like national geographic footage where it's like one animal has the meat and then the rest of his supposed friends are also interested in his dinner and it's like whenever edie has the ball all i can think of is just six arms swinging at him the entire time yeah and he's gonna have to figure out like just a way to be stronger with the basket and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I think it's very telling, but I also think it's confirmation of like what this Kaminga story has been with Golden State is we get excited about some of the bright moments. You know, remember last year I was like, this guy's hinting at, you know, if you guys are going to extend me or, you know, whatever, maybe it's time to move on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Giannis, by the way, if you look at his matchup against the Pacers, he does well against them. The Pacers don't really have much of a chance of slowing him down at all. He's 65% from the floor against them, but they did limit his free throw attempts, eight a game. in the regular season matchups against Indiana, whereas like, okay, what are some of the bad ones?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And I'm like, has there ever been a player with such a lacking resume to start suggesting like, I need, I need some things to start breaking my way, but it's clearly just a trust thing. I mean, how many years would you sit here and look at the physical, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

profile and his athleticism and it's funny because after that happened he actually came back and had like a really nice stretch like okay maybe the the the moment has happened for him something's gone off in his head where it's going to make some sense but look i think pojemski was terrible i thought he was terrible in the memphis game too or they were closing with him and it was like okay look he missed a couple shots he had a couple screw-ups now he's like hesitant and a hesitant pojemski's way worse than a super confident pojemski like he was last year

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Moody becoming a better defender, I think, has helped too. Or I shouldn't say it helps Kaminga, but I've just been more impressed with him defensively through this stretch. You know, you could sit there and maybe it's a little too simple and say body type wise, like, hey, would Kaminga get out there and guard a Jabari Smith or whatever? I'm just... Like the E.D.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

part that I'm even bringing up because I didn't expect to be breaking him down as far as we prefer for this series. But that part of his control of the boards and then, you know, the hesitation on drives, you know, not trying to say that he's a keen, but you're just thinking differently when you have that big of a presence around the rim on drives.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And so thinking about Houston, whether they want to go the double big Adams is clearly a significant part of what they've wanted to do in the beginning. I kind of don't really understand the point, but as they close the season, I was like, all right, you know, like he's gotten better.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

It seems like it makes a little bit more sense, but I went over it this morning and I brought it up in the open, um, on the five games, Houston's only plus three in the rebounding edge over the five games. And look, Adams didn't play in two, played six minutes in another one. So we'll email, look at the Memphis game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And I think, you know, the cool part about the playoffs, especially for a team like Houston, we feel like they're still going to be experimenting with some of this stuff. Will he say, Hey, we'll give up, we'll give up some of the spacing and have these two big guys try to beat them up on the boards. If they're really going to try to run dream on out there the entire time at center, uh,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And now Looney's ahead of Jackson Davis and has been for a while in the rotation. I'm just kind of curious how the big part of this, if Houston's just going to go as bad as it may look at times, we want to, over the course of this, run the football and keep these big guys in there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Giannis averaged 17 free throws a game against Atlanta. I may need to double check that because I think I looked at it twice there. Giannis, by the way, closing the season at 30-12, six and a half. He's the first player in the NBA in its history to put together Three different 30-10-5 seasons. So look, the Siakam numbers against Giannis are bad.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Minnesota Lakers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I said in the open, I think Randall off the ball because even if They want to attack certain switches with Ant. They're just going to keep two with the ball the entire time. Yeah. They're just going to go fine if Jaden hits threes. Maybe DiVincenzo has a game where he can pull it Minnesota's way in the fourth quarter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But I think a lot of it's going to be Randall off of the doubles left to create on his own.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

It was the Cleveland series, and then the Miami series was abysmal. I know he had the ankle thing, but my God. I know. I did almost – I think I did 15 minutes on just Randall in one of those games because I just couldn't – as I was watching it, I was like, this doesn't really matter what the score is. It's just –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And I call them those in-between moments where he is somebody that puts up these numbers, but it's like, okay, how engaged are you in all the other stuff that you actually need to do that contributes to winning? And he was not one of my favorites when it came to that. So I picked Minnesota because I'm just zagging against anybody else. I don't think anybody's picked me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I haven't seen anybody pick Minnesota, at least nationally and nationally. I know I'm, I'm horrified thinking like you're putting a lot on Randall being efficient, making the right decisions. I mean, you know, he's going to score in the passing is going to be there. It's just like, is the 20 and seven and five, a productive 20 and seven and five, or is it just a box score? 27 and five.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

The Turner numbers, when he's matched up against Giannis, are even worse. This team can shoot it really well. They're going to run everything through Giannis, as we understand. His playmaking has been terrific. He doesn't take threes, which has made him even more efficient. But one through seven, one through eight, I like the Pacers better. Pacers in seven. Clippers at Denver.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Speaking of LeBron, it was just kind of funny. You were like, the media doesn't want to pick against him. Rich Paul was on with McAfee. And he had said, you know, if you really think about Miami when LeBron was there, it wasn't really a big three. And I'm paraphrasing a bit, but like, yeah, Bosch was good. So now that we have this new information that Bosch was a steady role player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

and not an All-Star, not technically a Big Three qualifier. Does that change the GOAT conversation?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

When I saw the quote, making the rounds, and I remember like Rich Paul did a long sit down with you, I believe, before... It was like during the offseason, right? Yeah. You know, it was talk about Bronny and everything. And I don't feel like going back over all that stuff because there's a part of the Rich Paul story in Clutch that I actually respect.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Like, I always thought it was kind of funny in the beginning where it's like, you guys thought at CAA we were just going to come in here and be your recruiters and you guys are going to make all the money. Like, no, we're going to come in here, learn how it's done, and then we're fucking out of here and we're going to do our own thing. And I...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

i when i heard about it i was like yeah good for those guys like i admired it a little bit like whatever you think those rules are and so i think whenever you're an agent um you you probably see things only through that lens and it's kind of a bigger theme that i've always talked about is how we really seem to only pay attention to the biases that are

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

impacting us directly but rich has talked a lot about like oh well you know there's a bit of a persecution complex about clutch and everything else it's like look i don't remember baseball fans going like you know what i love that my best player has scott boris i love i love that boris i is my center fielder's agent. And that, you know, my guy's not going to report to spring training.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So the Clippers at one point were 32-29. They finished on an 18-3 close, so they got to 50 wins. 25-11 with Kawhi. The shooting numbers for Kawhi are consistently spectacular since he's been a regular guy and playing multiple minutes, meaning more minutes, not just on a minutes restriction. The advanced stuff, though, will tell you that he's not the guy, and maybe it's a little unfair to be like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Like it's just, there's a, whatever that negativity is, is being on the representation side of things. Like it's just natural. It's a natural course of things because people aren't really going to love it. But the part that I've never quite understood is I just feel like some of these ideas are workshopped. And it's all chasing this Jordan ghost.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And I remember when LeBron debuted the I've won the two toughest NBA finals in NBA history. I'll give him 2016 against a Warriors team. That might be the single toughest ever. 100%. Right. Like I think it is personally. You can probably make some other arguments, but he's not wrong on that one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But then when he threw in the bubble one, because it was the bubble, it was like, and then you just realize you're like, did you guys just sit around and brainstorm this stuff with like a whiteboard up? And then you go, this could shift the conversation. What I'd say to them in non-critical ways, all of this is a fucking waste of time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Stop workshopping this shit and then presenting it to the world as if the basketball world's going to go, you know what? Bosch wasn't that good. I've been a Jordan guy for 30 years, but now I got to start asking myself some serious questions. And that's the part that I don't think they understand. Like, hey, it's always a loss when you do this because there's never anything to be gained.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

New York and Detroit. I'm picking New York because I think it's it's just going to be a bit of a like I've used this phrase a lot lately here, but just playoff seasoning where this is going to be Detroit's playoff seasoning. And then, you know, we see where we go from here. But, you know, Brunson being back and he was scoring a ton of points. We know defense was an issue.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

You know, who is New York now? Like pre Brunson injury. to post Brunson. Like there's some numbers that tell me that our exact same team, there's some other numbers that tell you that a little bit different. Are they better defensively during that stretch? Cause Brunson has only played like half the game since the all-star break.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Are you comparing Pete Kawhi? That guy was in the belt conversation as best basketball player in the world. But they are down significantly from the run of where he was with some of the other stuff. Jokic, three games against the Clippers, 28-10-6. Taking 20 shots a game. His shooting splits are insane against the Clippers this year. 54 from the floor, 52% from three.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I don't know if, if you feel like, is there anything that's now different about them as they head into the playoffs or is it just a team that had a break and they're right back to who we thought they were before, even with Mitchell back?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I just wonder if they'll have to, because there's not really anything. As much as I like Durant, he's really more of like a rim running threat. I don't think he's, he's beating you up in the paint. I mean, nobody's going to throw it down there anyway. You know, that was kind of back to the E thing. It's like, cool post-up moves, but you know, it's, it's also kind of funny.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I think there's nights where there's just way too much three point shooting, but I also don't miss Mark Jackson post-ups that took 17 seconds either.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So sometimes when I wonder, what are you actually saying that you missed? But yeah, there's some nights where the three-point shooting is just so egregious. It's just like, I can't believe that guy was shooting that. So I don't know if they'll have to do a Mitchell protection over Cat because... Maybe Kat just gets put in the switches, but he's already used to that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Kat's getting put in every single switch by any dominant on-ball scorer anyway. It just feels like a lot to ask for a Detroit team to win four of these games against a Knicks team that's fully formed again, even though I've liked that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So, you know, I've toyed with the idea of like at least Zubats is somebody who will physically hold up against Jokic. But again, Jokic. maybe depending on how he wants to set up the offense because he basically decides like, oh, you're going to do this. Well, now I'm going to do this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Would you trade an OG in Anobi for Durant?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Can I do that? Instead of OG. You'd rather keep OG than Anobi.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Okay, last one that I want to focus on and then I'll ask you an OKC question. So two more thoughts here. The Pacers-Bucks thing is pretty straightforward. I mean, can Giannis carry a team here? I think the Portis thing is easy maybe to lose and… just the traffic of all the stuff they were paying attention to. And he's been really good coming back, but this Pacers team is good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

They're not special, but they're good. I think last year's playoff run, if you really dig through it and who they went through, you know, it's, it's a nice Eastern conference finals appearance, but I didn't go into this year thinking they were one of the four best teams in the NBA or anything. So it's, it's the better team versus the best player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And I picked the Pacers and I think it's a seven game series. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

If he wants to bring Zoo all the way out to the three-point line, which I imagine he will do multiple times throughout this series, does that mean guys are just cutting like crazy off of him? Are they going to play him straight up with Zoo? They're probably going to try all sorts of different things because that's what you're going to have to do against a player that's this good. But at least...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Yeah, you're right about that. The last playoff game Giannis has been in, and they've won, was May 11th in 22, Game 5, when they went up 3-2 on Boston. Unbelievable. Of course, Middleton was struggling, and this Milwaukee health story has been... the story for them now for a bunch of playoffs and that would aim kind of a TBD. That's, that's another part of it as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Yeah, I love the honest point because it's an easy thing to forget. And then I know Bucs fans, I don't blame them for going crazy anytime. Any national guys like, oh, he could be the next guy. He'd be the next guy that asks out or anything. And it's starting to feel a little bit like the Garnett part where it's like, I don't really want to do this to these people.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Maybe that's even an unfair comparison. All right. Final thought. OK, see. It is strange that they are this good and they are this good and they can play a bunch of different ways. They could have won 70 games if they actually cared about it. They were actually taking their foot off the gas and still close to the ridiculous record in the last 15.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Over the course of a series, over the course of a 40-minute-plus night, fighting for rebounds, handling all the screening that Zoo does, all of the stuff that is beyond just the box score, dealing with somebody in that physicality, that at times could be far more taxing than it would be in some of the other potential Western Conference matchups.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Are you in the group, and I know you're not a former NBA player with a podcast with seven buddies in hoodies agreeing with you every five minutes, but are you in this maybe, where are you on the dismissive OKC range? Because I am not on the range at all. I'm not even eligible for it. I think they're that good, and I'm picking them to win the whole thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

They gave up 70 to that Nets team in the first half.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And something that killed them last year, the giddy minutes. Because as you see how a series evolves, game one and two, and then all of a sudden it's, hey, whatever we're doing, we're helping off of him. We're never closing out. You can ignore him on certain things. If he's out... Just let him stay out there. And then you could see his minutes decline.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And those are those moments in a playoff series where you see, okay, a team is absolutely selling out in this way. And if you looked at his minutes, like it really hurt them last year. Not to say that Giddey isn't a good player because it's clear with a different role where he can be on the ball more with Chicago and all that kind of stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

despite their terrible effort last night against a Heat team where I was starting to doubt the culture a little bit. But they showed up last night in a big way. Thanks so much, man. I know I kept you long. You can check out Frank Isola, the Nets on Yes, one of the best broadcast teams in the NBA. Of course, Sirius XM every morning. And of course, ESPN. Thanks, Ryan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

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So I think it's a bit like the Cat thing where it's not like Cat stops Jokic in that series that Minnesota wins last year. But as you watch the games play out, Cat, at least because he wasn't dealing with some super quick guard with the ball in his hands, getting crossed up 30 feet away and looking like he has no chance on a closeout.

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NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Life advice. The email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Saruti, potentially Wargon. You know what? Let's just get Wargon in. Who are we kidding?

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NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

He just didn't say his intro line, which I'm now upset about my fault.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Hey, can you cut up when your dad has this realization of like, this guy might not have it. Can you cut that up? Can that be our new goodbye at the end of every pod? And I'd like it to go on for a couple of years to be honest with you. But, if we get sick of it after six months, we can take it out. So instead of the hardened thing where we lost the hardened, I'm not a system player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I am the system. We lost it in just, it really was a staffing issue. It wasn't a creative decision that we had. So maybe I'm wrong. Yeah. So we're going to, if you could just use your own quote from that, I would like that to be our goodbye. Our kill our Craig Kilbourne moment is then. Sure. All right. Thanks. Thanks a lot. Okay. We'll start with Wargon content.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

No, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

No way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

It's good for him. It's not great for the segment. I would say that his PERs, the rebound rates start to go down a few less blocks here and there. It's not going to the free throw line as much.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I'm glad he's in a better place. I'm glad he's a better...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

contributor to society but yeah i mean you you miss some of the wild card stuff but yeah i think serene nailed it um yeah so that's come up we don't need to read all these uh what else we have no because i'm gonna be here's the thing is i'm gonna be taking some time too with the kid in a couple weeks here and kyle will be back we're gonna be you know people say the same thing about me so it's fine

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Michael Jordan Wargon is my hero. I'm in literal tears at work listening to the Wargon name story. Please give him a show. We, the people, need this. I don't know if this guy's emailer. I think this guy's from Nike.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Yeah, what would it be? It would just be this silhouette right here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Yeah, who knows? If he's in PR, we're probably not going to have it happen. There was one other one that I'm trying to find here. So, uh, I'm getting married the same day as Oregon, 31, five, seven, one 55 pickup comp. Tyler Uless love Tyler's game. I was listening to a recent life advice when Oregon mentioned he's getting married July 12th.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

he knew that the target was always going to be right in front of him, and as long as he at least tried to make it harder on the easy stuff Jokic could do around the rim, maybe Zu can do some of those same things, and then it's really up to everybody else deciding to stay with their man and all the off-ball cuts if they're playing him, if they double him, obviously, more likely than he would be getting it to other guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

That stopped me in my tracks because it's the same day I'm tying the knot with my girlfriend, fiance of almost nine years. We met on the day of Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals. Wow. A strategic day in the shift of NBA narratives. In a coffee shop while I was on my way to a bar to watch the game, we've always joked that the butterfly effect of our relationship caused the Cavs' 3-1 comeback.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

We're gone. Congratulations. Best wishes. Kyle Surdy. Any advice for us soon-to-be newlyweds? LeBron, you're welcome. If LeBron's listening today, he'll appreciate that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I know. I still, I can tell every now and then if I'm not super close with a guy because if it's super close to the guy, he's not going to say it to me, but it's like a fringe guy and I can just tell he's had a few, you know, reach out and be like, you haven't figured it out, brother. Yeah. Like, oh man, this guy's, this guy's super bummed out. Yeah. We're not even that close.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Like, what's your wife's name again?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Yeah, if I didn't have games. Like, OK, it's five. Now, what do you do? You know, if I just had a normal nine to five. And I didn't like sports.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Full disclosure, I stopped watching some Hornets games this year. So the Hornets joke is now a lie. I'm happy for you. That's a win, I think, in your life, to be honest with you. Yeah, because even the plan schedule the last couple nights, I was like, this is all I have to do. But anyway, it looks like Suri has something to say.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

What's on the agenda?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

From the Gordon Ramsay television show.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

The thing that I keep coming back to with this is the wing matchup defensively against the wings for the Clippers. Now, look, Kawhi hasn't played in any of these games during the regular season. The Nuggets did a really good job with Harden. His shooting splits against the Nuggets here, not very good, 39% and 32%. Norm has gone off in these games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Atlantic City. Gordon Ramsay. Who set this up?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

That's good. I don't want to do this to your guy. Atlantic City sucks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

good way no it just sucks have you not been i can't i can't beat this guy it was my call he's got me he's one move ahead of me every fucking time uh i couldn't sit here blindly and allow this to happen and then he's like no i wanted to go there so now i can't even do anything the strip there's like two casinos hotels open everything else is like shuttered

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

In the middle of the day, I said, drop me off in the bad part because I just want to see how bad this is. And the guy was like, no. He goes, you're either going back to the casino or we're going to the boardwalk. He's like, you can't. He's like, I will not drop. No, it was the middle of the fucking day. I was like, you know, whatever. I walked around Trenton and got lost at lunch, so.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Was Bridgeport booked?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

We don't go there, but yeah. Emails. Is my wife a dick? Hello. No gym stats, but loves to talk. Or excuse me. God. No gym stats. Loves to walk while golfing. Makes more sense. When I go to dinner with my wife, she will sometimes be torn between two dishes. At the time of placing our order with the waitstaff, she will sometimes ask which dish she should get.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

After the waitstaff gives their feedback, she will promptly pick the other dish that they did not choose. I've told her it's a very strange thing to do, but she doesn't think she's doing anything wrong. Is my wife a dick? Thanks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I would say women are more likely to ask questions to the waitstaff about potential menu options. I did it recently. It's a bit like directions.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But if you're looking at, I mean, the last time they played was January 8th. I think Jokic was out of that one as well. So there's really nothing regular season here to go off of. But I just don't think, as I looked at the assignments of the last time that Jokic did play in this one, you had Brown on Harden, Michael Porter Jr. on Batum who started, Jokic with Zubats.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I would agree. Do you love IPAs, Wargon?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Nice. They always have it, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

You got a little Anheuser-Busch product up there in the background right now because you can't be a Yankees fan unless you like Bud. There you go. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Every day now that we're doing this, I just have a thousand Wargon questions in my head, and I want to save them. I don't want to do – maybe I'll just do – if we have a slow day, some teams get eliminated earlier, maybe I just interview Wargon for 90 minutes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Mail in questions for him. But then I don't want it to be like, I don't want to treat it like Tebow content at ESPN where it's like, I think this is over now. You guys, you burnt the candle a little too hard. So I think we're just going to do like micro doses of Oregon along the way. Let's stick up for the wife here. Is there any chance that she's almost like a poker player here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And she's so good at reading the waitstaff and the way they talk about things, despite recommending one dish and her going the other way. Maybe that's just all she's doing and it's not that complicated. But I think there are times when you ask someone a question where it's not what the answer is, it's how they answer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And so maybe somewhere with her ability to decipher the true information, like she's picking up on something that mere mortals would normally struggle with. Every time?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Yeah. She's like, I don't like how he touched his collar when he talked about the chimichurri. Yeah. But don't you think there is something to that where you'll ask because a lot of waitstaff will just never dump on any. Oh, it's all good. And you're like, oh, here we go. You know. Like you're supposed to be on my side here a little bit, but then I can also understand you don't want to be sitting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Exactly. She's always picking the one they don't pick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And then you've got Murray maybe freelancing off of Dunn a little bit, and they actually had Gordon on Powell. So maybe it's Gordon on Kawhi, Brown on Harden. And then when they bring in Norm, is it Peyton Watson? We're obviously going to say Pickett a little bit more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

There might just be something in the way, you know, maybe she's just advanced on figuring out the delivery, the cadence, something from the staff. Maybe you should ask her and be like, are you picking up on something when they tell you that it's this? And then she's like, yeah, I was embarrassed that you wouldn't understand because you're not smart enough. What if she said that? Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Thanks. Thanks for that. Okay. Accidentally stayed with my girlfriend. Hello, Ryan and Wargun. Nothing on Cerruti here? Maybe he thought you were going to be gone already. Basketball comp, Wizards Kyle Kuzma. Stats 22, 6'3", 150, a 1738 5K, which is a personal record. Local 5K champion. Well, looks like we got a celebrity on our hands.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Background, I've been dating my current girlfriend for two years. I've enjoyed dating her, but I do not think I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I've been planning on a breakup for over a little while now. There have been no significant issues in our relationship. It is just time for the relationship to end.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Issue, my girlfriend came over last week and she said she was considering breaking up with me. This was excellent news for me. I didn't have to be the villain by dumping her with no warning. By the way, you guys out there winning about your one loss record over time, when I was younger, it's like, you know, when you meet somebody who's like, I've never been dumped.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

You're like, cool, when are you going to the fucking Hall of Fame? You know? New Jersey retired somewhere? No, you're not. I don't believe there's a Hall of Fame for these kinds of things. As you get older, getting dumped is the move. It's the best. Wait, why? Just because it's not... It's just... It's a transaction that you can't understand when you're younger.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Your ego gets involved and all that kind of stuff. And then, of course, if you really are in love and you wanted to spend the rest of your life with somebody, that could be somewhat devastating. I could see how that could bum a few dudes out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But if you're of a certain age, I think south of 30 and there's like a friend group dynamic and you have a softball league that's co-ed somewhere in some cool part of Chicago and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

No, that's definitely, yeah. Dudes have had a hard time with that one. But I would say in a more casual range of I'm not super into this or I'm kind of hit or miss every day. I'm not sure where I want to be. And then it's like, should I break up with this person? Getting to date at the last...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

30 to 60 days without caring at all hoping that you get dumped and then when you do it's fucking incredible because then it really isn't on you and then if the friend group rolls through i mean there's nothing funnier than when the friend group rolls through and be like i can't believe she did that to you and you're like yeah

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And I think you also have to worry about the Westbrook revenge minutes where there's some really nice moments in a regular season. But if he gets emotional and gets super fired up and remind us why the Clippers couldn't wait to get him out of the building last year after that Mavs series, that's not going to work in Denver's favor. So don't love this one, but I got Clippers in six.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

dudes are just like quiet quitting relationships so they can get broken up with so they don't have to deal with the consequences yeah so like you know i thought we had a chance meanwhile like you know you're totally full of shit it is don't worry about your one loss record out there boys that's what i'm telling you especially when you're on the fence now look if engagement ring and you walk in she's banging a guy from the fantasy league that's not what i'm saying here but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Like, he's so good on the waiver wire, though. You understand. Okay, so the issue, she came over, excellent news. I tried to soften the blow as much as possible and be as compassionate as possible. Apparently, I was too nice. After we were done talking, I thought we had broken up, but she didn't leave my apartment. She just acted like we were still together.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I was so thrown off that I just went along with it. To make things more complicated, a week after this conversation, she left to go to Italy for a month. Question, how do I proceed? I feel like a bad guy if I break up with her now, but is it worse to keep stringing her along? I don't know if I should end things now or let them ride for a month or two before I try to break up with her again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

All right. First of all, you're 22. Don't worry. You're definitely going to break up even if you're in this headspace right now. Let her enjoy Italy, man. Let her enjoy Italy. So even though you thought you did, and this is kind of like the reverse Costanza where it would be like he shows up while he's hired thinking he was fired because that's kind of what you're doing here. Let her enjoy Europe.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Italy's great. She's there in a less busy time. She's going to have a lot of time of reflection. She doesn't need to be thinking about this. And then you're going to be getting like calls the whole time because now the power dynamic is shifted where she thought she was dumping you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But then apparently you were so nice in the potential breakup that she realized that she cares about you, wants to stay with you. then you're signing yourself up for like a monthly subscription of fuckery here of calls when she's in some weird hotel. I don't know who she's with obviously, but maybe that's other research you should do. So let this ride out. You're going to break up anyway.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And then when she comes back, you can, you can break up again. I don't, I don't know if you need to bring up like, Hey, I thought we were broken up. Cause then if you say that and then she'll be like, well, wait a minute, were you, messing around while I was gone in Italy, you know, that could open up a whole nother can of worms. So I would just say, Hey, do what you need to do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And then when she comes back, you can have that much tougher conversation. And maybe you can even say like, weren't you like dumping me? And then you just sort of hung out. And then you went to Italy. So I think there's a bunch of stuff in a neutral corner where they'd be like, yeah, that was a little weird, like the timeline of all of those events. So I think you're totally fine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But let her enjoy it. I think that's this isn't about you right now. It's about her prosciutto, daily pizzas, you know, a couple of pari, which no one really likes. Yeah, it is disgusting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I tried. I was going to be able to be a Campari guy. That lasted about a week. It looks cool.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Minnesota and the Lakers. So when the Lakers had that 18 and three stretch from mid January to the beginning of March through the first week in March.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Well, I think she's already gone, though, right? Oh, all right. Then I guess you got to wait it out anyway. Yeah, she left. She left to go to Italy for a month. Yeah, I mean, that would be awesome if she's like, I could have hooked up with so many dudes with mopeds.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

He was so nice because he wanted to break up with you. He didn't get mad. He was so understanding. Yeah. Like, no, you're right. This is the right call. Yeah. That's the stupid thing about the mental gymnastics. And I certainly think this is on the younger side of things. Cause you're not, you just haven't gone through this enough or anything. And it's, it's like, you know,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Like, I remember there was a breakup and then the girl was like, no, this is what we're doing now. And I'm like, what the fuck does that mean? I was like, it's the same exact thing as being together without the title, but I'm still going to get all the shit and hell to the standard. Like, that's insane. I want to be broken up. I prefer that than a new way to label. It's like...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And I remember doing the Sunday pod with Bill and I was like, have you guys looked at, well, I should just say one person, but in general, I wanted everybody to pay attention to this, the splits on where the Lakers were defensively, because during that 18 and three stretch, they were the number one defense in the NBA that made zero sense to me. And yes, pieces moving in and out, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

you know, some sort of, but also I can't really do anything on my own. Like, so what they do is they take this loan and they put it with this loan and it's a whole new product. It's a prime mortgage right there. Yeah. I don't want to be in a triple B relationship. Triple B's though. Hey, look, I mean, you're going to be honest. Triple B's would have been,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

way too high of a moody's rating for some of the stuff that i've been through all right so yeah man uh you're good you're totally good but are we all on the same page about the italy thing i think you're an absolute lunatic if you think he should be calling her up being like just to confirm here i haven't done anything yet but no yeah yeah she's already there i guess whatever but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

She sounds like she wanted to break up with him before she went to Italy and started just meeting a ton of dudes with mustaches.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So we'll talk playoffs with him. We'll probably talk about a few other headlines, even a sneaky Knicks offseason transaction. And we've got full Wargon life advice. A lot to get to with the playoffs upon us here in the NBA. So I'll go through the series that I want to go through.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Which one's better, that or Eat, Pray, Love, Oregon? That one I've never seen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Give us a quick synopsis. I'm interested. Oh, boy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

You know, I don't think all these girls would fit into the same pair of pants. I'm just going to say that right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

They do go to Mexico, but then the other girl's family's from Greece. And then Carmen and Tibby stay close. That's right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I talked about the coaching and their, I think, more adaptable strategy based on the opponent night in and night out. They do a really good job of preparing their guys. Hey, these are the rules tonight. These are the rules. They're going to be completely different a couple nights later.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

No matter where they are, they're connected by a pair of jeans they take turns sharing. Pants that fit all four girls and exemplify their tight bond.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

What kind of scores are we talking here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Okay. Doable. Not bad. Okay, that'll do it for the show today. Thanks to Saruti. Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. Make sure you check out our podcast, which is a video pod on the Spotify app. And, of course, our YouTube page, which we would love a subscription on that. And, of course, always check out our pod. We're back next Tuesday, Thursday, gearing up for the draft.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Apparently, I've signed up for this draft thing with McShay. Tuesday, Friday next week. Tuesday, Friday. No, Tuesday, Friday next week. Right. That's after the draft. And then I'm doing Saturday with McShay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

saturday morning after right so he asked me we could do something my house i was like yeah sort of no problem and then of course uh be headed to fish at the hollywood bowl friday before that so um probably not going to do acid that night uh all right that'll do it for the show brian russell podcast ringer spotify they were gonna name me michael jordan my dad was like i don't think he can live up to it so they named me michael jared

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Must be 21 and older and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I also think it was worth mentioning that not having D'Angelo Russell out there for 30 minutes is just going to help your defense by default. And looking at how the rotation was a little bit different, Connect was out of the rotation because he was just a disaster defensively. Bringing in Dorian Finney-Smith is a plus. Vando being out there just hacked the shit out of dudes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And then depending on where you were on the LeBron defensive effort pendulum, him playing better over that stretch is a big part of it, too.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So I think we have to just kind of give LeBron the benefit of the doubt that he's going to be a lot more locked in because it's the playoffs and some of the stuff that he's, you know, the regular season cheating on defense is probably not something we're going to see all that much. But it still didn't make a ton of sense to me that it was the best over 21 games. Like, they're the best defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So on the season, they're 17th. The on-the-season number is probably not as relevant. But after the All-Star break, guess where the Lakers are defensively? 17th again. So did we fall in love with the idea that they're capable of that and that's who they're going to be in this series against Minnesota?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Or is that just a fluky 21 game sample where it's like, well, they're not, they might be better, but they're not going to be that good. I don't know the answer. But I think I may know where I'm leaning with that one. They were split in the regular season to two, three of the games before mid-December. So not a lot to go on in that. I went to the Minnesota at L.A. game where Ant was ejected.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

The Lakers took 46 free throws. I'll be honest with you. I thought the Timberwolves were fouling the shit out of them. So, you know, I got out of hand. Ant splits against them four games, 40% from the floor, 32% from three, and only three and a half field goal attempts per game. So they've done a really good job of containing him. So if I'm picking them, why is that happening?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Look, there's two things that I think are really important here. Randall's effectiveness off of the double teams, where I think that you're going to see the Lakers more often than not, if you're using a screen with Ant. You're just going to be seeing two defenders in his face the entire time, like we saw throughout much of the regular season. So it's going to be up to Randall.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

It's also going to be, you know, you hope Jaden can just be baseline from three and not have disastrous nights. And speaking to Jaden McDaniels, who we all love defensively, I had him on my all second team defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Look, he's not going to be able to hold up physically against Luka, and we saw some of that last year in the playoffs, and Luka in that series, 32-10-8, 47-43% shooting splits on 11 three-point attempts per game when he was with Dallas last year, and they took out the Timberwolves.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I also think there's a Rudy versus Small conversation here, but look, even though there's going to be some moments, maybe even a night where it looks pretty bad for Rudy as he's getting worked, maybe on a Luka switch or a LeBron switch, Uh, the times where is he going to close on Rui Hachimura who hasn't taken a ton of threes against Minnesota in the regular season hasn't made any of them either.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But does that change where they're like, we want you shooting that immediately. Sometimes you can be a little bit more tuned up when you're like part of the game plan is we want you shooting those threes. So get more attempts up than you did in the regular season. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Because, look, that late February game when they played against each other, Rudy only played 18 minutes in that game because he left.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So, look, I think Rudy's – whenever those moments look bad and guys like me that haven't always loved him, you're not going to see from me like, hey, you probably have to get him out of there because then the Nas-Reed-Randall combo against enormous players in Luka and LeBron driving because you're going to see more drives from LeBron as the playoffs certainly matter more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I have all sorts of notes in the play and stuff that I'm probably not going to get to any of it now because last night's games were disgusting. And I'm not going to do a breakdown of Golden State Memphis two days later. So, look, I did not like when the plan was announced because I just don't think teams, certainly this year, you have teams that are south of 40 wins getting another chance at this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And then Reeves in his craftiness of just getting himself free and getting a defender leaning one way. And it's not like an Iverson crossover, but that go right around the back thing, bring it back to the other side. He's just brilliant at it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So even in those moments where it looks like Rudy's a little lost and asked to do a ton, you just see even in a down Rudy year defensively teams when he's out, they're like, all right, it's go time. I have Minnesota in seven. Little zag there. Golden State Houston. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

So after the amend Curry spotlight game against Curry where Curry went 110, I still think Butler should have taken more than seven shots if that's what they're going to do because it wasn't just Thompson. It was hard doubling. It was running Curry into a second defender, even with the men staying on him primarily there. that's part of the thought process of which way I'm going to go with this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

Cause that part, if you're on the golden state side of things, you're like, is that just going to happen? But I, you know, look, even with defensive matchups, like, Hey, I like this option better. We all know these dudes are going to get their points. Then when I look at the Edie part of the golden state matchup from the play in the other night, you know, Edie,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

You could get on his case for a bunch of things in that game, but you also have to give it to him that when he was in there, it changed the way Golden State thought about their attacks at the rim. And even more importantly, he was terrific on the boards.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And over the course of a game like that, just asking a lot of Draymond, even though they went with some loony minutes in there and then quitting post, obviously hitting some shots as well. But post, it's not like he's just in there to bang bodies all night long. I think more than anything, it's his spacing and hoping to pull his defender away.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But they went with Edie on Butler, which burned him a little bit in the first half and kind of got Butler going as he had a great night. So the reason I'm even bringing up any of that stuff from two nights ago is that will Houston sacrifice offensive spacing to think over the course of seven games, the best chance for them to win is Shingun playing his 30 plus minutes a night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And then even more from Adams is it feels like they've ramped up this option specifically for the playoffs. So they've played five games. Golden State has done a great job against the backcourt here for Houston. It's actually so terrible, these numbers for Green and Van Vliet, that I don't even know that these are repeatable here again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But Green's 12 a game, 12.5 a game against Golden State in the five games. His shooting splits 32 and 25% from three. Van Vliet's even worse. In his four games, nine a game. His shooting splits 22 overall, 22% from three. I think that's so bad it's actually not repeatable here. Adams was...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

out played 18 minutes out six minutes 17 minutes rebounding edge over the five games you're like well will Houston be a little too big for Golden State over the five games Houston's only a plus three in total rebounds so Golden State held up enough with one game that they're really good the other games were all pretty even then one game Houston was plus 10 so

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

But then when the games are really good, it's like, hey, the game's really good. So it seemed like people like to play in games when they're good. It seems like people don't like playing games when they're good. not good games, crazy concept. As I've said the entire time, if it's a great game, I'm going to enjoy a great game. I may not like the system. Same thing with college football expansion.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

I do wonder if this is about hoping there's a little Curry magic left. I'm certainly guilty of that because I'm a huge Steph fan and just wanted to see a little bit more, just one more run, which may be expiring in the second round of this. So that's probably being a little like, hey, this is what I want to see out of this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

NBA Playoff Preview and Picks With Frank Isola

And I think there's still some hesitation on me on what Houston's going to be like with that closing group and what they'll look like. I mean, the funny thing is if you look at clutch wins, Cleveland has the most in the NBA with Houston, right? They both have 26 wins. Houston is 26 and 18. Golden State's third in wins at 25 and 20.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

You're listening to the Ryan Russillo podcast presented by FanDuel. America's number one sportsbook has made it easier than ever to get in on the action during an NBA playoff game. Even after tip off, just look for the live SGP tab on the FanDuel Sportsbook app and build your bet slip. Then sit back, relax and track the outcome of your parlay right in the app.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

You saw big grown up moments from Chet and Jalen Williams, specifically that Jalen Williams three at the very end of game five. That makes you go. All right. The Thunder may have figured these things out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So playing a number right now doesn't feel great because very clearly Denver could win this by 10 at home, home court, the whole thing, heart of a champion, Jokic best player in the world, all that kind of stuff. I do think there's something some value to and talking about like. SGA is probably going to win MVP, and you can go, hey, he had the better season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I hope no one that watches basketball watches these two guys and thinks for a moment that SGA is actually the better player between Jokic. And being at the Combine, too, and it comes up with other people that work in this world, work in the league, over and over and over again, being like, how is it? You have a vote? Did you vote for SGA? I'm like, relax. Relax. Anyway, let's get to the pick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So I'm going to go Denver plus the four and a half. I'm going to go Jokic three or more made threes, but I'm gonna have Chet Holmgren in there with a little boost of 10 plus points. So a totally reachable number from Chet. The last one we gave you the only one that missed, um, We didn't want to lay the 10 points, so we were right there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So we went OKC Moneyline, but we went 15 points or more with Murray and Gordon. And Murray hit it. Gordon ended up at 13 points. So feel good about the process. Feel good about this process as well. Chet's got to be able to give you 10. Jokic, three or more made threes is a little dicer than you'd think, but you still have a huge boost on just not – Straight money here on Nuggets plus 4.5.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

He is the voice of the NBA Finals with ESPN and ABC and also a guy who's been around the Knicks for a long time. It's a great pleasure to have a guy on that we all check out nightly. It's Mike Breen. What's up? Brian, nice to be out with you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So I want to start with something I kind of talked about a little bit in the open, and obviously we'll get into some of the series here. But you have this play-by-play role that's supposed to be super buttoned up, opinion-free. You're setting up your teammates there. But look, you've watched this game for decades. When you get into the playoffs and you see things from the regular season –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So we talked about the closing stages of an NBA regular season. I brought it up with Bill. I've touched on it a little bit. As we were gearing up for the playoffs, kind of being like, all right, what do we have, right? As an aside, obviously, with the Steph injury and him not being able to get back out there, I still don't know that I would have picked Golden State throughout all of this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

How often do you think that the playoffs end up playing? Even though the product is different, how often are you allowing yourself to be surprised? Because I'd say so far this year, there's been plenty of surprises.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Do you think in your production meetings you can tell who likes their team and who's worried? That's a great question.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I was talking about game four with golden state in Minnesota, you know, a couple of days ago. And I was saying that first half is like the perfect example of a coach. If you had told them like, I don't like your chances, like curse thing. Hey, we play zone. We muck it up. We get a couple of threes from somebody that's not expecting. We're right in this thing, even without Steph.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And I think it just be so insulting to coaches. Like, I don't really see it. I didn't see it with the Knicks in Boston. But I'd imagine Tibbs is one of those coaches that would go into that category where it's like, give us a chance. Let's get out there and let's see what happens. And to see this Knicks team, despite the big deficits, and look, they lose game five at Boston.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And just another aside, it's just... I don't know how many more Steph playoff runs we're even going to get. So, just awful. Like, it sucks that we didn't get to see him at least out there competing. But I still probably would have picked Minnesota in this series. So...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

We'll see where the rest of the series goes. It's an incredible pivot from what we've seen from the regular season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

You've been there for a lot of it, man, going all the way back to, I'm sure, rooting for the Knicks as a kid and then being with the team. Where is Brunson as far as most beloved Knicks to this fan base?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Those closing stages that I've referenced a lot, as I try to, as I'm sure you do if you're really into it, and you're like, all right, who's been better since the All-Star break? What have you looked like your last 20 games? Is this stuff real? Is it fake? What are they doing as far as their schedule? Are they playing all tanking teams?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Did you always want to be who you are now professionally? Did you always hope to be the voice of the NBA, the voice of the Knicks? Was this the goal?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Is it a nice close in the East against 80% of the teams that don't want to win games for those last weird stretches of the regular season? Can I be fooled by some of this stuff? Well, I'll get to Minnesota here in a second because we know that they close at 17-4. They close on the 17-4 run, and there's some really good stats in there as well. Well, the Clippers are 18-5 with a No.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

When you probably watch other games, do you catch yourself watching the game or paying attention to the play-by-play more?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

The transition from radio to television, the radio part of it, it's a very tough sport, I think, on radio. Hockey has this flow. Football has these breaks. I did a little baseball play-by-play. I wasn't very good at it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Um, and baseball can, you can have longer pauses and with basketball, there's so much information that you need to process, but you need to leave out like the inefficient stuff, but you're also trying to paint this picture. Did you have a hard time figuring out what you could leave just off the broadcast when you would get more involved in television?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

2 net rating in the NBA behind only OKC. And when you have that kind of run for a team that feels like it's kind of stuck in neutral for months, you wonder, is there anything specific that's different about this team? Or is the same group of 7-8 guys just playing that much better? Or, again... Is it the schedule? Stupid. But with the Clippers, there was a real definitive thing you could point to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

When you have partners, it's not any secret that you've been probably trying to find the team post-Mark and post-Jeff. Certainly, you get into that kind of rhythm.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I'm sure it's a lot like coaching, where it's almost like a player-coach, where your job is to be the voice and tell us everything that's happening, but also learn the tendencies and learn how to get the best stuff out of the people that you're on the team with. What is that like when...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

and disruption makes it sound negative, but when there's just a change, when you know now your group calling the NBA Finals is different and it feels like, hey, we don't have a ton of games to get this right, to be ready in preparation for a championship.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

You know what I like about... This even goes back to Mark and Jeff. I think your instincts of understanding that there's stories in games where you could be really rigid, especially if it's a tight game and the game itself is the story and there's not any chance for that off-ramp of conversation.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Kawhi Leonard was back, and he was back playing much bigger minutes. Now, he returned February 2nd, but March was more minutes and far more production. It looked real. That Cleveland regular season win for the Clippers, you're like, all right, and guess what? Out in the first round. The Pacers finished 17-7.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And I think there are times, too, where the basketball public can be a little nasty just in general, but it's like, oh, here we go again. It's this broadcast that turns into a podcast. And...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I just felt like that's unfair because the best stuff is when it's those moments where you know you can probably steal a few possessions and let the people next to you go, hey, this is something that's happening, or this is a bigger picture thing, or up until this point, this player has said this, but he's come up short.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Whatever discussion points that we all have on podcasts and stuff, I personally, maybe some people would disagree with it, I think the game... needs that, you know, one or two times a game, this departure from just the rigid part of here's the play, here's what happened, good foul, bad foul, and all that stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I personally, again, like two and a half hours, it's okay to talk about storylines and weave those into what you're doing during game action. And I think that's what you're the best at.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But I think the most important part of it, this is a defense last year for Indiana that finished 18th after the All-Star break. So it wasn't just bad all year. It was bad in the second half where you can try to see if something's getting a little bit better because that is the example that we saw with the Pacers this year. They were eighth on defense after the All-Star break.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I didn't expect to do this in prepping to talking with you today. But when I was just a high school kid, I spent a lot of time in the truck with my dad. We'd be listening to talk radio. And I just remember you being on Imus. So I went back and started watching some of those clips. At one point, I was sitting there going, this had to be...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

an incredibly intimidating situation but then also like that you were smart enough to know i'm like okay i know i am here i'm like i'm going to be the young guy which i'm sure probably makes you kind of smile now but i'm going to be the young guy that stops by and i'm not in charge of anything that's going to be happening which i would say as broadcasters is probably the most uncomfortable position you can be as a broadcaster being like this is not my home

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

This is not a home game. I'm just rolling in. I don't know if that helped you become better at play by play, but I do think that the best broadcasters are the people that have the most life experiences. I wonder how much those shows helped kind of round you out as a personality.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So it is fair to say that you hated it in the beginning because it sounded like you hated it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

They had a really nice record. The East was different because you had teams that felt like they didn't want to win. I don't even know that Toronto wanted to win, and they just played too good a defense the second half of the season to lose as many games as they need to to move up in the lottery.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

wow that's um slightly less work environment than say i remember when i filled in with golic one time he's like this no i'm just kidding um that obviously uh hr might get involved at that level uh man it's tough to pivot out of that but i'm still gonna try so when you are building to the moment um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

When you know, like, okay, here's a possibility, here's an outcome, whether, you know, Eastern Conference, Western Conference finals, how much stuff do you have in your back pocket in preparation? Or do you maybe not want the preparation to get in the way of the moment? I mean, you've been doing this long enough, so you have the formula down.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Probably one of the most impressive things that I've seen from the Pacers, at least in these playoffs, is the fact that they would close out Cleveland at their place, get down big early, and you're thinking, is Cleveland going to finally get this right and be competitive in these games? And yes, that was a very competitive game, but for the Pacers to outlast them once again and on the road,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But I'm wondering in those moments how ready you are or how natural it feels.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

What's been your favorite moment nationally?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah, I figured 16 because of the magnitude of the story of who Golden State had been and what LeBron and Kyrie did in those last three games. And then Kyrie has that shot. And, of course, the block. That thing felt like... Because it was such a slow start. It was almost like...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

After being down big, I don't know that it's scary stuff for the rest of the playoff field, but that shows you something. That shows you something where a lot of teams in that spot are like, look, we're still up, commanding lead. They're a little banged up. We're good. We're in their heads. We'll just go back and get this one at home, and let's not try hard tonight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I don't know if the building was nervous or, you know, just the pace of play and maybe Steph not having like it wasn't a very good game for Steph. So there was there was these elements of you still expect Golden State to close this thing out. But the momentum shift of that series was so massive where Cleveland looks helpless. And LeBron and Kyrie just turned into superheroes down that stretch.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

That was something that built to this moment of, oh, it's not just a championship. Like, this is really going to happen. And I figure, no, I put you on the spot, but I was not surprised to hear a couple examples from 16.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

A couple quick ones as we finish here. Instead of leaving someone out, you know, hey, the best five atmospheres for a big-time playoff game, can you give me a building in a city where we don't mention them enough as far as, hey, when you're in the building? Because I love when the broadcast – will tell us, hey, there's MSGs going off. You'd expect Boston to go off. OKC looks ridiculous.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And that is the opposite of what we saw from the Spacers group. So it feels like what we're seeing now is just a continuation of those really good moments in the regular season. Um, sometimes, sometimes you have the other side of it. Like, you know, Boston was 22 and five after the all-star break, but they've always been really good now throughout much of the stretch with this group.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I think Cleveland has some moments, and here I am. I'm doing it, so I'll take the brunt of who I'm leaving out. But I like when a broadcast goes, hey, you may not experience it watching it on TV, but this place is at another level. Considering all the buildings you're in for for these huge moments, when you tell us, hey, this is something that's a little extra here,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Is there a place that you think is consistently left off that people don't think about as one of the great atmospheres?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Last thing. Our industry is always interesting because you feel like you can never have enough. I remember coming up being like, how come that guy has three jobs? I'm just trying to get one. And then you're in it, and I'm like, I guess this is the way you have to do it. You have your job, and then you're trying to figure out two other ones that you can get. Are you...

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

different are you in a place where you're like you know what i am the voice of the nba and this has been a run now that's it's coming up 20 years as far as you know the espn abc part of it you're in the number one arena you're in the number one media market and all those things like i guess i just dawned on me maybe i'm bringing up a sort of like actually i've been turned down for nfl but it appears that you are a bit more content at the top of your profession than others have been um i i i

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Um, you know, the Tatum injury part of it, look, I still think they were going to lose game four and still would have been down three one. And it's a nice emotional, you know, you can't count us out yet type of win from the Celtics last night at home against the Knicks. But, um, I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

NBA fans, I don't know if awe is the right word, but it is just a pleasure to have you on the games all the time. I think you can only be in awe if you know how to do the job. So many of us don't know how to do the job, but it's been awesome. Look, I always love catching up with you. I appreciate this time, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the playoffs. I know you will.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Summer is almost here, and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well-groomed lawn delivered, but you can get a chicken parmesan delivered. A cabana? That's a no. But a banana? That's a yes. A nice tan? Sorry, no. But a box fan? Happily, yes.

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A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

The email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. And boy, do we have advice for you. What is up to Oregon? Hello, Kyle. Yep. What's up? You guys were talking fashion a little bit earlier.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I know it sucks. I have a closet full of dress shirts that I used to have to wear for all the TV stuff and they're nice and they're expensive and I wear them zero times. Maybe we do like fashion week. We just pick one week and we just go, we just go hard. All of us. We did that with Van Pelt, the auto rotation shirt. Those videos live on well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Jalen Brown being the primary option on your offense in the absence of Tatum for two more high-stakes playoff games, that's not something I would necessarily feel great about. You also have other seasons. As I look at the East, 2018, remember that young Sixers team everybody was really excited about? They were 24-24. They were 36-30. And then they closed the season on a 16-0 stretch.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And then we were going to do something where I was going to start giving them away with like a certification.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I mean, this is not new. We've covered this before, but I just, you know, you start to understand the hoarder show. Because the biggest thing you have to understand about hoarders is they see value. We see cat shit in newspapers. They see value. And so, granted, I don't think my nice dress shirts are a roll of Pringles from 1984, but I see value when I see them hanging there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And somebody who is a little bit different of a spirit may just say, I see clutter and I see stuff getting now. I don't think about these shirts very often. I'm able to get through my fucking day and drive a car and complete my tasks. But I look at them sometimes you're like, dude, you don't wear those a lot. You don't. So what are you doing? Because of TV.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So, Oregon, what I would say is wear whatever you need to wear. Rotate tightly as you need to. You know, go to a Tibbs rotation. Play six shirts. Don't be like Rick Carlisle. And, well, although both are working. So, I'm just saying, don't go buy extra shirts for this podcast. Because there's going to be a time where you're not going to be on video.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And then, you know, I'm sure your square footage and your storage stuff in New York City, I'm sure it's not great.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Alright. You think you'll ever move from the city? Or are you just a city guy? You love the nightlife.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

In the city?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Okay, but you could technically live anywhere you want, but I assume your significant other works in the city, so you have to be in the city. Is that what's going on?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So you just love Broadway that much?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Hey, just so you know, you're now going to be our Broadway correspondent. You're going to do... I'd love that. When you watch, give us... I want five minutes after you've seen something. I want five minutes on it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah. How much are these?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I'll be going in June. Cracklin' Rosie? Wait, you shut that down? Your love for theater and your father shares that love and you just wouldn't sit through Neil Diamond?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So they get to 52 wins. You're like, man, look out. The Sixers have figured this stuff out. 16-0 is good. You know what would have been really good is 12-4. 16-0 is 16-0, but I think looking back and then their shortcomings in the playoffs, you wonder, did they close really strongly against a bunch of teams that were no longer competing? So let's get back to Minnesota. They were 17-17.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Wow. Wow. He knows. He probably went to some shit he hated when you were a kid.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Uh, okay then. Um, yeah, that's going to be your new thing. We're going to do war guns. I got to come up with a better title. Uh, we can talk about per diem later. All right, let's get some emails. Uh, call a divorce guy to get him his stuff back. Kind sirs. Let's just get to it. Work in a nonprofit that specializes in furniture donations, people downsizing, moving spring cleaning, dying, uh,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

House sales, all of the above. Sounds like they could use some shirts. All of the stuff has to go somewhere. And what we do is we take it, sell it, or excuse me, we take it all and donate it to people so they do not sell it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

a little different yeah yeah yeah they do not sell it they donate to people who need furniture in their home vets women who experience domestic violence people uh exiting homelessness it's truly wonderful and awesome i love my job despite the major pay discrepancy from my former life in the corporate world i guess i'll never own that second home oh well

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

The nature of the beast means we sometimes end up with some interesting stuff and some really fascinating stories. But a recent one put me in a bind. A lady basically donated half a truckload of stuff to us when asked why she was making the donation. She said, quote, Divorce and he can fuck himself. Golf clubs, Peloton, rowing machine, cool chairs, not Noel or Roche Bobois. Cool. Cool.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

um but expensive rh and west elm and a nice desk rh is awesome yeah yeah expensive rh is even nicer uh and a desk tv stand i'm assuming large contractor bags are close his business card was in the desk drawer do i call and tell him wow i think that would violate a policy if it doesn't probably yeah Like, it's just upon this guy to be like, hey, sounds like your ex is a real wild card.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

She just dumped your tailor maids and a couple sick, sick Travis Matthews pullovers. Do you want this stuff?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I knew the Kyle, the real Kyle.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah, I'm working with angle.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah, no, no, no doubt. I kind of know like I'm My first thing is, yes, tell the guy. Clearly, she's unhinged and she just gave all of his stuff away, right? That would be huge of you. This is one of the all-time saves. But what if the husband, now ex-husband, is the bad guy?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I mean, if she's donating his stuff and he doesn't know it and she's just doing this to get back at him, I mean, all the stuff... All the stuff in the accounts, half of that's not enough. You got to get rid of all of his shit too. Now maybe she was the breadwinner and maybe he's getting half of her stuff. Then he doesn't deserve it. I don't know. I don't know them that well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I just met him through an email. So I'm sure there's probably some protocol that you would be violating here by reaching out to somebody after things have been donated because the whole point of your operation is to bring in stuff. And if it's nicer, like, Hey, boom, we're helping people out. It's going to a good cause, but I,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I would struggle with the idea that all of this dude's stuff may have been just dropped off, and she thinks she's going to get over on him, and this poor guy's sitting there going, my golf clubs are gone, my golf clubs are gone, because that's just nasty work right there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I think that's a really safe assumption here. I don't know that the guy was like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

you know bill vance yeah i might maybe i'd read the handbook and just see if there's something i think you know that's a great let's give them the benefit of the doubt on that one i think that's the benefit so what would you do what would you do what if it is against company policy for you to do this thing but you think that this woman came in and was like hey and clearly i think once this golf it's the golf club's part of it she's doing it to hurt him um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

They were 32-29. Randall comes back right around this part of the season, right at 32-29, I believe. DiVincenzo had come back for two late games in February, so you're basically getting both the trade pieces back. There's also a number here with the playoffs that this team is in this absurd run with Randall back in the lineup, where they're 30-6 in their last 36 games. But

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Again, maybe he hurt her first. We don't know that. I would probably reach out, but I would know that. Go ahead.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah, like all of your stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Are you good on this, Oregon?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Think about the homeless guy, though. Just transitioning out of being unhoused.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah. He's got some nice shirts. He's telling his buddies, I'm golfing again. Never hit blades before. All right. We got another Raising Cane's one here. Maybe we just have Todd Graves on for life advice. Although the titling of this one scared the shit out of me. Raising Cane's Coke Incident. But it's the cola, which makes a lot more sense. All right, guys. Love the show. 40 years old. 6'4", 195.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah, that's insane.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I'm now an avid cyclist that has trekked through Manhattan Beach hundreds of times. Ever heard of it? I have. Great biking. My team at work was going out to lunch at Raising Cane's, but I was in a meeting running 15 minutes behind, so they left without me. One of my direct reports, let's call him Luke, texted me, said he would order for me so I didn't have to wait in line when I arrived.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I thought this was a kind gesture. I told him to get me the four-piece box with a Coke. What's your Raising Cane's order, Kyle?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

You ever done Caniac in the next side finger?

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

What are you talking about? Are you kidding? Yeah, exactly. Sorry. Sorry I even asked. A little while later, I arrive at Raising Cane, sit down with my coworkers, and begin enjoying my meal. But when I take a drink of my Coke, it tastes funny to me. I asked Luke if it was Coke. He said, yeah, it's Coke Zero. I was aghast that he thought I wanted Coke Zero based on my text response.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I said that, quote, Coke means, quote, regular Coke, unquote. But he says I didn't describe which Coke I wanted. And he thought maybe I shorthanded the information since I was in a meeting. He said he was at the machine and saw Coke Zero, regular Coke, and Diet Coke. And he thought Coke Zero was the happy medium of the three options. No way. But what's funny is...

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

is most of my team including my boss stacy agrees with me on this but luke has dug in his heels and will not admit he was wrong to this day he still believes he made a smart and rational decision who was wrong in this situation can we all agree that coke means coke and not coke zero am i the asshole totally and dudes want dc before they want um coke zero

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Is that even an option anymore?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Anyone watching Randall over the course of his career or maybe even the early Randall games with Minnesota, we were like, what did Tim Conley do? I don't know that anybody's ever like after a losing streak, gone back to a locker room and said, don't worry, we get Julius Randall back soon. But that's exactly what has happened. And this is outrageous.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

He said Coke. I would fire this guy because that's a red flag of processing information.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah, this is... First of all, I don't even think you would have to email us on this one. You were right. We're telling you that you're right. I don't know if you put this on the Wunderlich you know, quarterbacks. Right. Like processing information, decision making. You had three things you could go to here. You can't throw it over the middle here. I don't know why.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I don't know why you went with Coke Zero. I can't imagine anybody is going to agree. Like, this is one of the rare...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

occasions where you read something you play it all out would anyone go well here's what you guys are missing because that's pretty much all we do to each other now is you share something and then it's just immediately here are all the things you may not have thought about you're like well it was a tweet not a thesis but uh i don't i don't think we we probably have time for another one that one's so totally yeah yeah

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

5'10", 172. No gym stats worth sharing, but putting in the work. I was the junior high equivalent to Jason Tatum in the Olympics. We're not doing Tatum jokes, guys. I was recently on video work called Making a Small Talk because we all waited to join. The group of people I work with all share the same alma mater. All of them?

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Of which they're very proud, right? And one of them was wearing a sweatshirt adorned with the school logo. I do not hail from this top-notch engineering school. However, one of my best friends from childhood does, and he played football there. Think D2 Wes Welker. I'd love to think about a D2 Wes Welker. How about Kyle?

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Keeping things loose, I explained that once around 17 years ago, I'd stolen a pair of my buddy's team-issued gym shorts back when we were in college, but I had stopped wearing them later when I moved to that town since I kept getting asked if I played ball there. The group quickly started taking jabs at me for wearing other guys' shorts.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I defended myself, explaining in college I wasn't out there keeping up with the latest workout gear from Big Five Sporting Goods. and that any 19-year-old dude would be pumped to score free gear. The group asked if I commonly wear other dudes' clothes, to which I proudly explained I did receive a free pair of high-end socks from the same best friend just last year.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

My well-dressed and generally stylish best friend of 35 years was working on getting jacked again and was outsizing much of his closet. I reaped the benefits."

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

oh high-end slacks i was gonna say you're buying socks god that's too yeah selling donated stuff socks slacks i'm gonna give myself a c minus on today can't and i can't redeem myself from it that's it in pen c minus for ryan so uh high-end slacks from another buddy my well-dressed and uh you know he's getting jacked again outsizing much of his closet

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

This put things over the top on the work call and has now become a source of debate for months. Things have gotten nasty with accusations of me being like the girl who steals a guy's shirt early on in a relationship to wear out so everybody knows.

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Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah, this is a mean group. Like, hey, great khakis. Are you dating Doug? I counter by explaining, maybe a C now. I counter by explaining that you don't know true friendship if you can't share slacks. You don't know style if your clothes shopping predominantly happens at Costco. Noted. We all love Costco. So I'd like to ask Priscilla Pod, what are the boundaries, if any, on bros sharing clothes?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Last item specific to Ryan this weekend, I'm headed on a fly fishing trip with two best friends, one of which is the character noted above. So you're vacationing with the guy too.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

you get an orvis vest out of this deal general feedback is that uh more fly fishing content is welcome um yeah i don't know i don't think i've ever done any other than fly fish open coming next week yeah really no i thought i thought war god was like following there's a fly fishing opens like a u.s open and i thought he was thought he just knew no monologue okay monologue

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

You may have been the biggest Julius Randle fan. You did not expect this. You can't do a victory lap on this. Maybe Tim Conley can. But what he has been in these playoffs versus who he has been historically, it is two entirely different species. So he was 7-8 for his playoff record. Again, record's not always on a basketball player, maybe even less than it is on a quarterback.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Like, all right, I don't want to go too long here, 20 minutes later. And here's the thing. How many four or five weights do you need? But how often am I going to use a 9-10? Probably not often. Saltwater. Forget it. I don't have time for that. All right. Well, look, I was with you on the shorts because, look, team issued gear is cool shit. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And, you know, there's some almond catalogs that would have replaced Victoria's Secret pre-internet. for your boy and his college buddies, 93, 94 being like, I think I had a pair of Georgia tech lacrosse shorts. Doesn't make any sense. Didn't play lacrosse. Didn't go to Georgia tech, not even into engineering. Although I do enjoy, you know, watching some good Sluicen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So, um, if it's your friend, but you didn't go there and you were 19 and it's a pair of team issued like football shorts, um, there's definitely a time where you have to stop wearing for the problem that you just brought up. Now I wear all sorts of shit at the gym because schools had sent it to me and it's workout gear, but yeah, it's annoying.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But I've allowed, like I've put myself in that position, especially if I wear like the air force stuff that I got when I visited there and it's like, Hey, did you serve? No. And it's like massive disappointment. It's like, yeah, I know, I know. But I really liked this fucking hoodie combo dry fit thing. And, I'm just at the gym. It's not that big of a deal. Borrowing or donating slacks to dudes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I don't know if they're a nice pair and the guy doesn't want them anymore. You probably just shouldn't have admitted it. I think you should let it go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But they're probably wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah. I would ask for something else. Hey, you guys like this? Maybe like a pullover?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Yeah, like what would be the worst, what would be the worst thing you could, I mean, obviously underwear. I'm just talking about like something. Yeah. Yeah, it was a different email when we were reading about socks. All right, that'll do it for us today. Thanks to Oregon. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. Make sure you check out the pod on the Spotify app and watch the video.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Also, our YouTube page. Please subscribe. Ryan Russell podcast. Bring your Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But his shooting splits in those series with New York, 41-28 overall, 34-24 overall, 30% overall from the floor, 33-3 in his last series with the Knicks. And then Minnesota trades Cat for this guy and DiVincenzo, who I think people were more excited about the guy in the sidecar coming over in the trade than maybe driving the motorcycle.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But as much as my history with how I felt about Cat is long documented, and there's plenty of examples of like, I don't think Rosillo's a Cat guy or a Dog guy, I guess. 29 years old, you've just made it to the Western Conference Finals. It feels like against Denver, you have a nice frontline matchup to combat the best player in the world.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Because if you can put Rudy on Aaron Gordon, granted the non 45% from three Aaron Gordon, but I still think teams are like, it's okay. It's okay. If you take those, we're not going to freak out about it. But you had Rudy being able to help off of that. Hopefully shut off all the baseline Aaron Gordon stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

On today's episode of the podcast, one of the boldest trades in NBA history. No, we're not talking about Dallas. We're talking about Julius Randle coming into Minnesota, Cat going out, and Minnesota is back in the Western Conference Finals. We'll take a look at that. And we've got Mike Breen, the voice of the NBA Finals for ABC and ESPN.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And then Cat, who as long as his defensive assignment is right in front of him and it's not a switch and he's making a closeout drop decision or he's chasing somebody around a screen at the top like we've seen so many times in this Boston series, if the defensive assignment is right in front of him, Cat is physical enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And again, he's not a great athlete, but I think he's athletic enough because it's not like Jokic is crossing you up and all these things. Again, no one ever stops Jokic. It's just... Can you make it harder on him? Which is why the Clippers still have to be like, you know, we have the guy that actually makes it harder.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

And I think you've seen that in the carryover and some of the Yoko shooting games that he's had throughout the playoffs. So Minnesota, even if you didn't like cat, you had that. And you also had one of the best shooting bigs in the league, a real stretch five. If you wanted to play that way, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

If you wanted to sit Rudy down defensively, maybe you're opening yours, or you certainly are opening it up yourself to some other things you're not going to like there on drives. But, I mean, you want to talk about bold. I mean, this is one of the boldest trades we've seen in recent history. Bold and we understand the trade as opposed to bold and what the fuck are you guys doing down in Dallas?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I've said it a few times. If I don't like a player and the team that has that player trades that player... That's kind of all I need to know, debate over. Certainly there are other cases where it doesn't mean that I'm right about a player because a team traded him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But if the Timberwolves are trading Cat after making it to the Western Conference Finals and I'm kind of on the fence about him in certain spots, then what else do I need to tell anybody that's disagreeing with me?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Granted, this is not as extreme or as obvious as the D'Angelo Russell trade that Minnesota had made earlier where I'd watch those games and be like, they have to get this guy out of there. They have to get him away from Ant. And they did so pretty quickly.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So, you know, when you look at the Randall part of it, and again, I mean, maybe being a little like I'm overlooking the DiVincenzo part of it, it looks like he's finally starting to turn around in the shooting a little bit. The rebounding is always like he's active, he's tough, he's going to defend, he competes, a lot of good stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But it's, hey, man, you're going to make more threes to be the fully formed version of yourself. and have everybody be really excited about grading this trade, what, nine, ten months after it happened? But yeah, back to the point with Randall. He's a completely different player in these playoffs by any metric. You don't even have to spend that much time looking. I know no one likes PER anymore.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

He's basically tripled the PER from where he was with the Knicks to who he's been now with the Timberwolves. And I think the idea always was... You know, because most teams would not have moved off of Cat. They could have despised Cat. And I don't think anybody necessarily hates him. I think it's just, you know, they had seen enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

We'll do some basketball stuff, but I also want to talk about his career and his background. And just look, he's the man. He's awesome at it. And we've got life advice. Wargon's awesome at that, too. Minnesota is back in the Western Conference Finals. Our guy John Krasinski from The Athletic, who's been on, does a great job covering the NBA and the Timberwolves.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I think there'd be front offices and coaching staffs like, ah, this guy again. All right, let's just run it back. If you're looking at this team and thinking about Ant and all the attention that he gets, and last night was a great example.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Ant was really good as a playmaker last night because the shots weren't going to be there for him, and it was really, I think, another level of selling out defensively against Edwards, that whoever was getting the ball off of that stuff had to be somebody that could create for himself

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

late in those shot clock situations because Rudy is not somebody who's ever going to do that right we understand that Jane McDaniels who I like his handle better now the best I've ever felt about it throughout his career last year he's a stand in the corner guy and he'll come middle a little bit more but you're not running stuff necessarily like at the top for him to probe with the dribble then pull it back out if he's dribbling he's probably already decided what he thinks he's going to do

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Conley is a total coin toss. If you get the kind of game from Conley that you got last night from him more often than not in the playoffs, it actually changes, I think, who Minnesota can be. I'm starting to look at them as you just don't see it enough from Conley.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But damn, when he's hitting shots and he's active and he's driving baseline, he's kicking it back out to guys and collapsing the defense, you just don't see it enough from him. But when the Timberwolves have that version of Conley on a certain night, they're really tough. And look, as much as we all love Nas Reid, He's not a guy necessarily like with the ball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Hey, get loose and find yourself a shot. Although that side to side thing he did left and right where he threw it up off the glass was probably one of the toughest shots I've seen in the entire playoffs this year. Randall, even if you don't like him, we know that his with the ball skills are pretty special for a guy his size. And as of right now, this thing is working out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

You know, we grade trades when they first happen. And I actually think it's worse to complain about the grading of trades when they happen than actually doing the grading. Because it's like, are you aware of what we do here? So we're just going to grade shit. And then we can grade it again. And then when it's all said and done, years later, we can go, hey...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

What do we actually think now that we have all of the data of what that trade is? So, you know, this is one of those rare trades where, as New York City looks like it's about to get into its first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years... that they won the trade.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But the degree, the degree is the way I should say it, of what we think this Randall final grade could be, because I'm not even sure they thought they were going to get this kind of, like he's been unbelievable. It's funny because I was thinking about this as I close this thought. When Conley did this deal, all right, man, that seems rather disruptive, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But here's Minnesota back in the Western Conference Finals. So there's no, like, Randall could have a bad series, OKC wins, whatever. Now it's OK, because they got to where they needed to get to. They had to get as far as they got last year for us to give them a good grade on this trade.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

He noted that this is the first time for a Minnesota pro team to to be in the final four of their playoffs of the major sports in back-to-back years since the Minnesota North Stars in 1981. If you remember, the North Stars left for Dallas in 93. If you played the video game, you remember how challenging that was at the time. And if you were wondering if 80-81 was Dino Cicerelli's first season...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Because the dumbest part about the grading stuff, which, again, I'm guilty of doing, is that Minnesota could be the exact same team. They could close 17-4. If they had been better in the regular season, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

if they'd been good enough to be the fourth seed and lost in the second round to Oklahoma City, which is totally feasible, then it'd be like, oh, they didn't get as far as they did last year, which is why the way we talk about some of these GM jobs instead of just absolutely celebrating something that I don't think many other teams would have been doing, if they didn't get out of the second round but had been better in the regular season, had the higher seed, lost to the Thunder, then some of us would be sitting here saying, well, they shouldn't have traded Gap.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

So right now, the number on this is OKC minus four and a half.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

I think Oklahoma City going in was going to win the series. There have been moments where I've wondered, but now the last couple of fourth quarters and closing those out have gone Oklahoma City's way. There's the clutch stuff that was brought up during the broadcast of Game 4, and you kept thinking, does it mean? Because it sounds really good, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

Oklahoma City's only played in 24 clutch games this year. That is the least in the NBA. That means they are not comfortable, and the team is younger. At some point, that has to not be true, that they're just always with five minutes to go within five points going to suck. And that was the case clearly in games one and three. It's like, what's wrong with this team?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.

But I just think when you're this good and every other number tells you that you're really good defensively, you're really good offensively, you have all these different options, even if we talked about it. The SGA part of it where, you know, the players around the league are like, I'm just going to trap SGA. The other guys are going to have to shoot and it's not going to work out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Would You Rather’ NBA Player Debates, More Celtic Concerns and a Scoot Revival? Plus, Willie Colon!

The Awakening.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

‘Would You Rather’ NBA Player Debates, More Celtic Concerns and a Scoot Revival? Plus, Willie Colon!

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

The downside of Cam would feel like it's very fixable, and that would be the, what can I get away with throws, right? And the times where we can always talk about throwing back across the middle of the field. He pushes that to the limits, unlike any other top guy. Other guys making those throws, you'd be like, this guy might get benched at halftime. But the rest of it is so good with him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

LeBron, incredible in the fourth quarter. But really, as I thought about how I want to start the show, and you want to start it with the relevant stuff, this is the most relevant from what's happened in the last couple days. In a way, I'm like, man, this is still relevant. This is still actually a decent talking point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I feel like that's the only noticeable knock. We're just the casual college football observers. Like what the hell is he doing that? Oh, granted. I think there's some similarities in the home, my home story where, you know, we understood my home's better as a prospect at tech.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Once he explained, and once Kingsbury explained it of like, Hey, we were going to give up a million points every single Saturday. So he started to play that way. And it's like, man, I wish I thought about that when I was watching him because I couldn't believe how reckless he could be at times.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I think some of that applies with Miami and at certain points this season where he had to keep them in these games. But if you have QBs that are like, what did you see there? Can you get that out of them? Is that possible?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

You must really not like this class because if you were suggesting Jackson and Shador, based on your tweets alone here, it seems like you're talking about Jackson and Shador being a toss-up. Let's start with Jackson then because I saw you essentially agreeing with somebody else about, hey, once Jackson has his one read, then he's kind of gone.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

You know what's crazy is when I didn't love Jalen Hurts as a pro prospect, which I know you and I battled on a little bit because that's your guy, but I felt like at Bama it was never an arm strength thing. It was kind of one read, and then I think I'm out of here. Give me a sense of why. Well, maybe you think I'm wrong about that evaluation of Hurts at Alabama, but what is it about –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

hurts getting out of that and your reservations of seeing too much of that from Jackson and Lane Tiffin's offense this past year?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Now, we think after Luca's return, and now that it played out, that we can put this to bed for a little bit, at least nationally. Locally, this is going to probably continue, I don't know, you could say years, but you understand the point. Like, how often daily talk shows are like, yeah, we're just going to leave with Luca again today.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Now, I know that going back to the radio days, there were a lot of topics. I'm like, we're going to do this again. You know, even though ultimately I could have final say of like, I just don't want to do this anymore. There was one day I was like, I just don't want to do deflate gate anymore. This is so stupid. I don't want to talk about it. It's boring.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

So it's not the padding of the ball to pro day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Okay, if I wanted to defend Shador, because I think I've said throughout this, at least I know he's tough because he got his ass handed to him for two straight years. And then he seemed to have – maybe I'm being a little theatrical about it, but just that he seemed to have a flair for the dramatic. Maybe I'm thinking about the Colorado State game too much.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

But it's like, man, there's not really much else – that we can count on. Like, can you just get back there and survive long enough to make some kind of play? You're absolutely right. The number, once I saw what the number was and throws the line of scrimmage behind, it's staggering. Like, you're like, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And that's why anybody that wants to throw around completion percentages is a true indication of whether or not a quarterback's accurate. Like, it's over. It's been over for years. You're going to stop doing that with college QBs. But I don't know. Some people still seem to fall for that every now and then. And he had awesome receivers, right? So he had awesome receivers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

So that – we're not even just talking about Hunter. Like, I felt like they had, like, four dudes that were all out there making plays whenever you would watch them play. Is there enough –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

in the i sound like i'm making excuses but i'm just wondering how it would be argued in the room like oh hey everything quincy said is right like you're at the other end of the table like you're you're right but you know he got his ass handed to him the entire time he answered the bell every single time like the guy's a competitor you know then you start going into things that may not matter as much but it comes from a great lineage you know like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Right. Because we know winning games, winning games in college or losing games, like anytime like, oh, Kellen Moore won all these games. All right. Tebow won all these games. It's like, dude, it won't. It doesn't like it's a nice thing to say in the room, but it doesn't really eliminate or bump up college QBs, depending on what's going on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Um, but then sometimes you feel like, you know what, you're going to play the hits start to show. All right. So the latest, you know, Schefter has a tweet on this. I just, I hated it. I got so sick of it because we were talking about it all of the time. And you could argue that it was still relevant.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I'm just that's a staggering statement from you to say that he'd be if he's if he's Shador Williams, he's a sixth rounder. Like that's that sounds crazy in the build up to what's coming up here with the draft.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Yeah. Hearing about how much you suck or struggle in week 11. Yeah, that's I don't think it's like out of the question that that could happen. OK, let's talk, Chuck, who's kind of the late comer to the process. He's been at a few different spots, but I think it was always just kind of in the quest of like, hey, how many of these guys?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I mean, sometimes you just have a bad class and it sounds like that's what we're ramping up towards here. But break him down for us.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

But with Luca and what happened last night and where the story is gone now in two plus months, it still feels worth talking about. I know that I click on everything having to do with this trade. Anything that's new, I'm just always looking to find some other new piece of information to try to further understand this, realizing I'm never going to further understand.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

OK, so we touched on some of the Milrow stuff here. The lead up to this is always ridiculous, right? We watched him out for a couple years, and now in the months that he's not playing, his stock has never been higher, which should be the first warning. We can get to some of the Pro Day stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I asked somebody the other day, I was like, when's the last time we've heard people not like the Pro Day from the quarterback? When's the last time it was like, man, that Pro Day wasn't really that good? The only two that I got in a few texts was Teddy Bridgewater and Matt Ryan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Right. You've done this. Like you're not when people see you criticizing them stuff on the pro day film. And then you're like, yeah, but this guy is also part of his job when he's had quarterbacks that are prepping for this. He's orchestrated all of this with the program. So like, he's kind of a tough guy to go at on this very specific thing. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

When I see a clip of like a 60 yard post completed against no one, And then it's like, man, he hit him in stride. Be like, do you not understand? Like, that's what it's supposed to look like. Every, you can't screw that throw up. You just have to throw it up in the air and the guy runs under, like, this is not that complicated.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Uh, but having said all of those things, like there was, I don't know if it was a Shador throw on one of the pro day deals where everybody loved it. And you were like, that's not what you guys think it is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

We had Tim McMahon on who just released the Luca book, Wonder Boy. They wrote it, finished it. It was done. Then Luca got traded. They had it added an extra chapter. I've read the book. I read the extra chapter. We had Tim on help me understand it. And it's kind of all the stuff that we've been talking about now for two plus months.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Okay, so I kind of jumped over the Mill Roll part of it. That always would alarm me. Like, if you're sitting there deciding to make a decision, it's like, how could somebody who was... Although, look, I'm interrupting myself here on this one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I was losing my mind after the Georgia game because Mill Roll was great against Georgia, puts up huge numbers, and then you had guys at ESPN, like, suggesting not only is he a first-round pick, he could be in the conversation for QB1. And I'm like, okay, this is... Now I'm mad. I'm like, now I'm mad. And then, you know, people turn in and be like, what do you get against this guy?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And it's like, I don't even have anything against him. I have everything against the evaluation because I've watched so many of their games. Because, look, I just like watching Bahamut games. Like, who wouldn't want to watch them play football? This is kind of crazy to me that there are the rumors that there are about where he is with this class.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I don't really think much tape to back up any of this stuff. Forget first rounder.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available today.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

So many mocks have him in the first round. So let me do this. Let's try to find a way to be nice about this. If your team, if a fan of the team that drafts him, how do you salvage it? What is there that could make this work?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Right, because he's not a good runner. He is a great, like, it is insane seeing it in person.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I'm always wondering if there's going to be something new and there just never really is. February 1st, this thing happened. And here we are. So maybe we put it to bed a little bit now. After his return, it's a great game. The Lakers win. You look at the playoff seedings, it's very unlikely that they'd be facing each other.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

In your years of working with Elite 11, and it's really one of my favorite things I do all year long because how smart all of you guys are. This is sports. We get so much stuff wrong. I find those few hours with the staff and watching the kids throw, the hit rate that you guys have on the stuff that you'll tell me

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

is unbelievable like i there's nothing that is i'm serious man like that's why i always like kind of after the fact i'm like all right you know this is like i remember rolling in thinking like oh this guy's this and i'm like no no he isn't like what i'm like you're gonna be kidding me i mean it's happened with a bunch of different quarterbacks is there someone on the positive side of this like what you had early and you're like that guy's a pro that guy's a first round pick

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I'm sure it's happened a lot because you guys did everything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

It feels pretty unlikely that the Dallas Mavericks would even get out of the play-in. The Lakers are the three seed this morning. And I know there's a lot of jumbled up stuff, but just trying to even figure out a way they'd play each other again, it doesn't really seem all that likely. Now, even with... trying to figure out how a Nico Harrison could do something like this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

that let me know like that difficult year he's going to be even better this upcoming season you want to talk about that third and seventh thing you brought up which is always kind of my standard rule with college guys of trying to figure out like can this guy play on sundays and seeing some of this stuff even what could be perceived as a down year for season because i think it was so incredible like you're not supposed to be that good your rookie year and the fact that he was after bryce and all that kind of stuff

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

But I would still see throws this year where I'm like, they're screwed. And then he finds a way. And it's not just about escapability or anything like that or getting into a throwing lane. It's just the zip on and still an accurate ball at the sticks. There's a throw I'm thinking about to Nico right now where he hits him on the sideline and converts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

God, I feel like I could do this all day with you right now. I'm having so much fun. But there's two things that I want to get to. Is Lagway definitely the best quarterback in college going into next year?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

when we booked you, I had forgotten that this was in the works, but it's happening. The Quincy Avery effect, Hulu, April 23rd. I've, I've seen some of the taglines on this. This is big, man. This is a big deal. And obviously I'm really happy for you getting to know you over the years, but what is this going to be about?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I'm never going to find that new piece of information that makes me go like, oh, all right, yeah. Now it makes a little bit more sense, even if we don't like the trade. And I've just never even gotten there with any of this stuff, which I imagine is the same for a lot of you. Part of the defense of this move is,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I'm happy for you. This is a big deal. Again, April 23rd, the Quincy Avery effect. That'll be on Hulu. Our guy from the QB takeover. And of course, hopefully get to see him out here with the elite 11. Thanks, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

and listen to the end of the episode for additional details must be 21 plus and present in select states gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com loaded podcast for you today we're covering the draft little college hoops with the nba and of course lupus returns where i'll start An emotional tribute video. Tears in his eyes and 31 points at the half.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Story popped up recently in basketball, and you've been hearing more and more about this at the college level with everything that's going on is that they need more people to help evaluate rosters and general managers are becoming a normal thing in college basketball. And joining us now, it's Corey Evans.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Spent a bunch of years with the OKC Thunder and is now the GM of the Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team. So good morning, man. Good to see you. Good to see you too, Ryan. I appreciate you guys having me on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

So before we get kind of into like the headlining transition part of this whole thing, I know about your background, but I just want to share it because younger people will ask me like, hey, how do I get in? What do I need to do?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And I'll use like McShay as an example, Bruce Feldman, who worked with us in college football, who understood like the BCS better than everybody else, is that it's obviously a crowded field that you're competing with. But if you can find a way to kind of

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

separate yourself or provide value then it opens up all sorts of doors and I think you're a perfect example of that where you just kind of took it upon yourself early in the basketball world to just try to get noticed and provide value for hopefully having the position you have now so let's go back to that

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

During the initial press conference with Nico and Jason Kidd, there was a lot of things that were said. Some pointed stuff that was clearly directed at Luka, that he wasn't committed enough. I mean, they didn't say that, but that's kind of what they were saying. Didn't fit the culture. Culture is just kind of this catch-all word. It's like, that doesn't sound very good. Defense. You're like, okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Okay, I love this because at some point you have to decide, like, I love basketball, and then because I love basketball, it's like, well, then I know who the good players are and who the bad players are, which is, you know, one of those things where, like, I remember the first time I thought I could do it, I was 14 because I couldn't believe Tate George was a first-round draft pick.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And I'm like, I can't believe, like, you know, nice run at UConn, but, like, can't believe a team, like, who would do this would actually think that – And so there's, there's a delusion that you talked to of being younger. So did you, did you have it? Did you know what it was?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Like, I almost want you to evaluate yourself as an evaluator when you started off, because when you're young, you just think you're like, Oh, this guy sucks. This guy's awesome. And I'm so smart and everybody else is an idiot. And then you go through it enough and you're like, this is really hard.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

All right. Yep. No, that's fine. Luka's not all NBA defensive guy getting votes or anything like that, but... One of the other things that was said was Niko wanted to get, and I'm paraphrasing here, essentially in front of a tumultuous offseason in 2026. And that's hinting at, you know, teams are going to have some cap space and then who knows, will Luka actually want to stay here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Yeah, I remember when I started in Boston and it was like the first time I was getting access to front office people and I would go to the Portsmouth Invitational, you know, 2003. And I just was so obsessed with this idea that there was a lens that I didn't understand.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Like there was this lens that you would watch the game through that once you learned that trick, that then you would be able to do this or have one of these jobs. And I keep asking everybody in it. And one thing about like asking people with a very specific career is that some people will try to make it seem harder than it is to kind of become more impressive. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

But the guys that I trusted and the guys that ended up being right to your point were like, there's not really any necessarily like a secret. Like you either figure it out or you don't, but really you just have to keep watching. You have to just keep watching over and over again. Cause then when the things that are special, you'll notice it in a way that just feels natural. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And it just becomes second nature. So your whole osmosis thing, I think, is absolutely the point. I mean, there's some people that could just watch a ton of basketball. They're never, ever going to figure it out. But there isn't... I guess the lesson that I've learned in like 20 plus years of watching is that I don't know that there's some magic trick to this whole thing. So...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Clearly, whatever it was or whatever this thing that we're trying to define that's difficult to define, whatever that is, you've been good enough at it to then end up with a thunder. So what was that moment like when you have what's considered one of the best front offices in the business reaching out for your services?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I think the bigger concern is And where this thing could have gone wrong is that it sounded like Nico didn't want to give Luca the supermax. So we haven't had a lot of great intel, though, on any hinting that the front office or ownership had said, yeah, we want to keep you. But that's a supermax thing. You've been hurt a lot. Your calf is hurt again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Now, Sam's probably, I don't know, I doubt Sam will listen to this, but he'll be like, can you guys talk about Cincinnati and not talk about how we do things? But I do have to ask because I just have so much respect for Sam and what I've loved about the approach of

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

you know, building a roster where guys, when they have the ball in their hands are okay with it, you know, making sure that, and you can just see like even the Usman Jang pick, I was like, you know, that kind of makes sense for the way they see what they want and how they want to build out their roster. But is there anything that you could share with us?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

So maybe we don't necessarily want to do that moving forward. But to suggest or hint that maybe he wouldn't want to be here when he's crying during the tribute video before tip off. Doesn't feel like that defense would hold up. Now, if I want to be most skeptical guy ever, you can say, why wouldn't Luka be emotional? Doesn't mean that he wouldn't flirt with the idea of moving on. Who knows?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Cause I do want to pivot to Cincinnati here. Is there anything in all the years of being in the room with the Presti or somebody else that, where it's like, okay, this, this way they look at that or something that was said, you feel like this now will influence the way I think about roster building or just evaluation of players.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

When you think about your role now in helping build out a college roster, how much of that, I mean, I could sit here and say, how much does this apply? And you're going to say, oh, all of it applies and all that stuff. But Give me kind of a breakdown of like the questions you asked yourself about making this change of like what will be the same and what will be different.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Things move fast in the NBA, especially with the stars. They're surprised all the time. That's the only rule. Expect everything, right? And in this case, I don't want to be a skeptical guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

How will you have to change your evaluation process from can this guy play in the NBA to could this just be a nice piece off the bench for Cincinnati with the portal? It's hard.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I want to think about Luka coming from a foreign country, being 19 years old, and playing with the Mavs, and having an incredible run last year, and building a home, and being like, I can't believe this happened. There's also an ego thing. Even if you were thinking... that you would want to do something different in your life.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

In your role in the NBA, it's very clear that there's a directive. With the growth of the GM role in college, it feels like it's fairly understood that you're reporting to Wes Miller, right? You have... head coach who's kind of the face of it, even if it feels like it's the opposite in professional sports. So what is that structure like right now?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And it is interesting to think, like imagine in 10 years, if in college basketball, college football, like the GM is actually like the GM in the way it is in pro sports, but we're certainly not there right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I guess in a way you could look at it as even if I had in this role, like I'm not saying like, Hey, you know, we had the bad year, but like, you can kind of just start all over again. You're not like, Hey, this guy's under contract for three or four years. So, um, How different do you think this is?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

We've already talked about the evaluation part of it, but how different it is when you're – it just feels like the offseason now and the portal's like, just let's see what we can get and we'll see how it goes, which is very different in a very quick amount of time from the traditional sense of recruiting and wondering what a player is going to be like in his junior year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And, of course, if he's really special, he's not going to be there that long anyway.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

When the other person dictates what you're going to be doing with the rest of your life, or at least professional life, in this case with Luka in basketball, it wasn't his decision, and you're one of the greatest players in the world. Even if you would flirt it or had private conversations with your dad or your buddy, and you were like, yeah, I don't know, maybe one day or something like that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I would agree on one of the things that you had said there. Not that I'm disagreeing with the other points, but you're right. I grew up loving the Big East and loving the story and going like, man, they got this kid and just the excitement of the unknown, which is a huge thing in basketball. But we know that this, this sport is changing and it's changing really rapidly.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And we just had Billis on and I could say, Hey, look, there's things I may not like, but if I'm being honest or being fair about it, I have to go, well, this is, this is what players deserve and have deserved for a long time. So with your love of, of college hoops, is there anything that you think can be recaptured? Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

as we navigate the uncertainty of what we've seen over the last few years with the nil being a free-for-all with the portal which again i don't have any sympathy for the programs on the portal stuff um because like if you're losing guys you're asking for somebody else's guys so it feels somewhat hypocritical to me but do you think there's anything from the thing that you love so much about this sport that is even possible to recapture i would just say it might be better now where

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

When it's not on your terms, it's even more of a jolt to the ego. I did wonder if there was a wrestling moment for the Mavs in this as they put together the PR video. If Nico could just be like, hey, let's have him when he's 19 running around looking more athletic. Let's then have him in street clothes. Let's have him maybe an injury or two.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Do kids know what Cincinnati basketball was at its peak? Does that resonate with them at all?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I would suggest then perhaps having a Melvin Levitt night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I would just like Melvin to be celebrated at some point in the future because those highlight clips were just filthy. I mean, you want to talk about a guy who you were like, I don't care. I'm just going to watch Melvin Levin tonight because it's Cincinnati and they're on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Okay, so we had one, I did a little background. It was one Intel question from your former colleagues with the Thunder. And I'm supposed to ask you, have you found a new protein bar that you like with a relocation? Because people were perhaps worried that you weren't going to have the same surplus.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Hey, man, I'm really fired up for you. It's a cool story, and I know there's bigger things to head. But when I saw it come through, I was like, I'm just really interested in what this job is like now because it's still sort of new. So wishing you the best of luck in Cincinnati, all right? I appreciate it, Ryan. Thank you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Our email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. So Rudy is not in the building, but a congratulations to he and his lovely wife on kid number two. So that was what was in the mix. So happy for them. And we don't know when he's coming back. He might jump in and then leave again or something. So you take your time, buddy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Have him complaining to refs and then just be a headshot of me saying, yeah, I did that shit. That wasn't going to happen. LeBron at one point, I wonder if he was like, man, a lot of Luka in this video. A lot of Luka. LeBron was great in the fourth quarter. The reason they won the basketball game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

It's good stuff. Wow. Yeah, look out. Look out. Are you going overseas? Because you'll probably just wave you right in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Yeah, what could go wrong? So you're out for the beginning of the playoffs while Cerruti's also. So you're just going to be off the show. Cerruti's going to be off the show.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Maybe just you and I fire off a couple episodes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I'll listen. I love it. This is not me. I'll tell you who says no. Everyone who listens to this. No, no, no, no. You're wrong. I'll be honest. I'm ready to test drive it. Who knows what will happen? I'm ready to do it. Okay. Actually, we're going to stay on for this one because you guys are both. Wait, are you married or engaged? I'm engaged. July 12th. July 12th is a big day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Where are you guys doing it? Do you want... No, I don't care.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

felt as a public figure now maybe figure yeah you you wouldn't want you wouldn't want anyone to know uh hey by the way the big guy that sent in the thing about like am i getting played and he's paying for a bunch of things four dates and 10 days and he admitted that she was a bit above you know the it was like four and six days by the way it was 10 days would have been a nice reprieve it was like uh it was like friday saturday monday tuesday it was crazy

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

But really what it was when you watch Luka watching his own highlights and a crowd that was entirely on his side, despite him being on the opposition, it was like watching a funeral for somebody that's still alive. Like he's right there. But he's never coming back. Nico did show up. There were rumors before the game that he wasn't going to be in attendance. So credit to him for showing up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

A lot of stuff. There was a Sunday morning pool or he had the Pilates certificate or whatever. Uh, he emailed us back, which I appreciate because, you know, he was the one that was like, Hey, here's a picture of her. Here's a picture of me. And I think both Kyle with this kind of data, we're like, yeah, you know, she's gonna turn a few heads.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Um, and you know, he's a, he's a big old offensive lineman with a big gold chain. Um, but he looks like a great hang. And he was like, Hey, thanks for reading that. That's exactly what I needed to hear. I'm just going to, you know, I met somebody I like, so what am I doing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I cut down the frequency too.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I just, you know, man, I, I think, I think there's just a lot of times where, uh,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

know there's a lot of people that are lonely right and i think you get you go through your own stretch of like whatever it is during the off season of relationships and you'll you'll get in a situation where you're like this is kind of everything that i wanted and then you start because you're not with people that like here's and i'm actually not talking about myself here but think about

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Think about the times that you wanted to be in a relationship and that you weren't, right? So if that is extended over a longer period of time, and I'm not even saying that's what's happening with the emailer here, but I think this applies to some other people, that you are on your own for almost too long of a stretch becomes real comfortable, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And then once you're back into it and you're in a relationship, you're noticing all these things that are different. It's like, yeah, because you're actually interacting with somebody like there's going there's no perfect score for anyone out there. I don't believe.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And now that you're in something that you said that you wanted, you're coming up with reasons to be like, oh, this is a bit disruptive, though. You're like, well, no shit, because now you actually have to start thinking about somebody else when you're doing your schedule. There are going to be times you're making sacrifices that you were not making before when you were by yourself all the time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

So I just think it's a decent reminder to go. Yeah. Like some stuff's going to be a little bit different, not to say that you're supposed to put up with everything just to be able to have some significant other. So we're gone. Anyway, what's your best cheap date?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

That's great. Well, there's some ideas for you, man. I finally found the email. Do you really need to go all out for a proposal? Hey, guys, 58188, player comp, John Lucas III. Mainly because of my height, and LeBron would absolutely dunk over me even at this ripe age of 40.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

One of my favorite memes, and I don't know that I have an all-time memes ranking, but when a bunch of the guys in the Bulls were hurt, and there was just a picture of John Lucas III, and I think the graphic said... I fucking got this. And it was like him with a super intense face. I love that one. Anyway, so as the title alludes to, I'm ready to take the next step in my relationship.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

My girlfriend and I are currently living together in a large Midwest city. As you can imagine, any place or restaurant in the city I live in wants to charge an arm and a leg for me just to pop the question to my girlfriend. I didn't know that. Did you guys know that? No. Kind of, yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I mean, if you're asking for stuff, but I don't think it's... You just put the word wedding or like proposed in front of anything. All of a sudden catering costs way more for some reason. I don't know. Fair. I'm not in the mindset that I need to propose as cheaply as possible, but you know, market hasn't been great lately. Thanks, Tara. Um... Yeah, but cue Ryan's sign, potential sidebar.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

The first fire Nico chant was four seconds into the game. They cheered every Luka touch early. He was incredible. He had 21 points in 12 minutes. And I'm not even sure, despite what was technically on the line as Phoenix's season continues to go in the tank, I'm not even sure Dallas fans wanted a win for the team that they love. They love so much that they're hurt so bad right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

You going to do it? There is a potential sidebar. No, here's what I know, is that I've read a bunch of stuff. I'm not really sure, and I'm certainly not comfortable sharing my thoughts on terrorists. I would say most people on social media do not apply those rules themselves. So there you go. If the other party's in office, then you'll get mad at the stock market.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And if your party's in office, you're just going to say, don't worry about it. We need this. And then when we have the bounce back yesterday, it's like, see, everything worked. And then if you don't like who's in office, you're going to go, yeah, but the bounce back had to happen because he's a moron. So I just, I'm not, there you go. There's a sidebar.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I just, I cannot fathom having my content game be like, Well, never surrender on anything politically, no matter what happens. All right. I'm sparing no expense on the ring itself. But my larger question remains, do I need to go all out? My first thoughts are beach vacation in Puerto Rico or Costa Rica, perhaps somewhere on the East Coast like Newport or a beach town in Maine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

We have a European vacation plan for the fall. But to be honest with you, I love this girl. I don't know if I want to wait that long. Wow. Doesn't he? Yeah, I mean, it's yeah, it's April. This guy wants to start looking at furnishing catalogs soon. I kind of want to just try and find someone in our city to pop the question and do a nice dinner after for the married guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Am I overthinking the need to go all out for the proposal? Do I need to make this thing as special as possible for a big moment like this? All right. Why don't you guys take the lead? She's going to tell the story, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Well, can you just say that again? Yeah, I got it on the wall. You want me to best visual aid?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Yeah, that's good. You know there's brie in those sandwiches, too. It's framed now. Yeah. So the proposal is... All right, we got like the... Here we go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Yeah, I'm not worried. Yeah, that's awesome. I'm not worried about it at all. All right. So, yeah, that's that's really sweet, man. That's really that's very sweet. Look, I think a lot of this is basically budget issues. You know, where are you at in your relationship?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

You know, these older couples that have done well or, you know, there's enough in the retirement account that they're not freaking out about it. They're probably going to tell you some origin story when they didn't have any money. And it was really simple and it was sweet. And I think that's the most important thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

You could say, well, they wanted Luka to go off and then still get the win because they're Mavs fans first. I don't know. I mean, I know there's a lot of Lakers fans in the building, but that might be the rare occasion where you're rooting for the other team to prove a point to the guy who's made this disastrous decision.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I mean, the problem is, is if you were somebody who's like, it needs to be this, this and this and this, like you already kind of know what you're signing up for. Um, so you should know everyone listening to this, um, kind of knows. And I imagine the email or like, you kind of know this already. Uh, the fact that you were like, do I have to go all out?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And then you're throwing Costa Rica and Puerto Rico in there. It sounds like you're good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Well said, Kai. Could you wait until Europe this fall? The months fly by, my man. I don't know why I said it that way. It's going to be fall before you think. But I don't know if there's any urgency where if it goes another six months that she's going to start wondering.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Usually, if you go to Europe and you're in this phase of the relationship, she's expecting that you're proposing there anyway, because there have been some trips that I've heard from... Um, from friends where it's like they went to Europe and no question was asked. And then the trip was a complete disaster because the other person was expecting to be proposed to at some point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Uh, it sounds like you don't have to worry about any of that stuff, but look, there was a guy, I think also age has a lot to do with this. When the guys in my group were starting to propose, which was pretty late for, I guess,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

basic standards but there was a few early guys right there's a few guys in their mid-20s that did it up and one guy didn't have any money and he made it kind of like a family thing and it was great and they they talk about it still that it was awesome there was another dude who apparently like went to paris had the carriage with the horses and the whole thing dudes are like you hear what bogus did you know and you were like what

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

You know, guys were like horrified. And then guys kind of took that as like the standard. And they were thinking like, oh my God, like what am I going to do? And it's like, you're going to do whatever it is that you're capable of doing at that point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Like an engagement ring is already an absurd investment, especially the expectations of what that's supposed to be based on what you're making at that time. Here's what I can tell you to do or what I should tell you to not do. Don't show up to a work, propose in the parking lot when you're actually broken up. That doesn't work that well. All right. Okay. Yeah. Let's see. Master Stolen Valor.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

There was a clip of Cuban shaking his head from his courtside seats during another round of the Fire Nico chants. And I don't know what it was with him. And let's play out all the scenarios, right? If Cuban, who has done his own media tour here and has been adamant that he would have not done this trade, which I completely agree with, I don't think Cuban's being dishonest.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

All right. 29 years old, 6 foot, 225, benched 225 for the first time a few years ago, now trying to get back to the 1,000-pound club. Look out. Pickup comp, Grayson Allen. Unexpected athleticism can light it up from deep, but lateral quickness defensively is an issue. My question, is wearing master's apparel when you have not attended the tournament Stolen Valor?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

As most sports-loving males, men do, I love the Masters. Unfortunately, I have not been lucky enough to plant my feet in the Bermuda grass. I have several clothing items to celebrate my love for the event, but I've noticed a strange reaction to my wearing the gear recently. I've been asked, whoa, you've been to the Masters? To which I've replied, no, sadly.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

This has been meant by an unimpressed, oh. More than once. Typically, the conversation shifts topics after this exchange. This all culminated with a tweet post from a popular Golf X account asking the same question. Is wearing Masters gear when you've not gone to the event yourself the sports equivalent of stolen valor?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

The original post has affected my thoughts on wearing the clothing enough that I felt the need to get your opinions on the matter. Also, it is the... It is unknown whether Wargon has graced the Masters with his presence, but he was wearing apparel on the Tuesday pod. Curious for his thoughts as a potential fellow Augusta imposter. Thanks. Side note, I have a first responder job.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Met with some tough days in the office. Nothing improves the mood more when there's a new pod sitting in the queue. Thanks. All right. Yeah, cool. All right. Yeah. Well, Kyle, we already knew that you were going to say, like, Absolutely not. So let's just start with Oregon here because I think, have you been?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

It's so hard to get into that I really don't think there's any kind of issue here whatsoever. I mean, there was a guy that was on a painting crew that used to go all the time, and then he would just ask everybody, does anybody want anything? And then I had a hat for a little while that I rocked. I didn't even think anything of it. I mean, I get shit for the LSU thing, and I totally understand it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Make fun of me. I'm from the Northeast. I didn't go there. I went to another school. I always joked that Vermont didn't have a football team, so then I should... like, why am I going to give a shit what a stranger thinks about something that I enjoy? I mean, you really could flip it the other way around and be like, well, why would you care that I enjoy something? Yeah. You're the loser actually.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I mean, we know the timeline of events here where he was told basically after the decision was made and he was trying to talk them out of doing it. But if Cuban is so against this move and the Fire and Nico chants are happening, Luka's going off. The Mavs did get back into the game a couple different times, even though Lakers clearly were in control.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Yeah. Ultimately you just want to find another reason to have an issue with me. And that's totally fine. He's like, all right, yeah, cool. Everything you're saying is fine. I'm going to go to Baton Rouge this Saturday and have a great time watching LSU football. And that's, I would say in the scale of the things that would be considered way worse, which is fine. Again, I accept it. Cool.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

You know? Whatever. I'm not sure I understand the Olympics thing, though, Kyle. What do you mean? Like, what kind of shirt are we talking?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I think it's entirely different class of like wearing the Boston marathon zip up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

that windbreaker that's probably really nice to run in probably nice on a rainy day like oh you know it's not too cold out but it's a little rainy and i don't know i had a few beers in me and i bought this on boylston and you know i always wanted it like did you run no yeah right i mean that'd be the equivalent like did you play like no it's somebody just my uncle went he bought me a hat like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I'm out. He won the lottery. I'm not one of his favorite nephews. I don't know what to tell you. Yeah, that is not Stolen Valor. I don't. And I think we should just kind of lower the Stolen Valor standards. Maybe we'd all be a little bit better off. All right. Last one. 21 years old. 5'10". 160 pounds. Squat 280. Bench 185. Trying to go to the gym more this quarter. Real technical guy here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

JV Russell Westbrook comp. Usage rate over 50% while missing 340. Missing the three, four out of five times when I do end up playing, emailing because I need relationship advice as I go into my post-college life. I've been dating my current girlfriend for over three years now. All right, so that means sophomore, junior, senior year, guys. So that's serious.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

We started hanging out almost right after the start of my freshman year. Thank you for the clarification. Things have been mostly great with a few major arguments, but nothing we haven't worked through together. I'm worried mainly because when I first met her mom, I ended up with a severe headache and wanted nothing to do with her again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

She's a very slow talker, and the way she finished her sentences made me want to rip the car into the guardrail just to have something new happen. That's aggressive. Ever since meeting her, I've tried to the detriment of my relationship to quietly cancel on dinners and family things I'm invited to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

When I mentioned it to my dad, he told me about how much my mom is like my grandmother and how much he has grown to just accept it, even though he still struggles with her mom to this day. He continued by saying, that his relationship with my grandmother has proved to be a constant rift between my mom and him and has led to some of their biggest fights for the last 25 years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I understand that I wouldn't have my girlfriend's mom in my day-to-day life, but sure seems like something I should either work through or break it off because of. I graduate college in eight weeks, and it feels like it's coming to a point where I need to push my chips into the middle or fold and let it go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

If he believes this was a huge mistake, why would he be shaking his head? Because I think Cuban, maybe more than most people, but I think all of us want to be right. I think Cuban's history would tell you he probably enjoys being right about things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

My girlfriend also wants to move to New York City, and while I thought I might follow her, I'm beginning to feel like I should stay closer home on the West Coast. Yeah. Maybe my thoughts about her mom are just a way for me to feel better about my relationship ending potentially because of distance, but I don't have a desire to end up feeling the way my dad feels today.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Wondering your guys' thoughts on this. Do either of your potential mother-in-laws suck? No, I don't have one actually. Oh, I'm sorry.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Todd wants another destination Christmas. We never see the kids. Yeah. Uh, when it, the headline of this is, will my girlfriend truly become her mom? Like, I think that adds another layer to all this stuff. Um, before we go into that though, I don't want to cut Oregon off here. Did you have more on that on the dynamic?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

If Cuban wants to be proven right for his position on all of this, isn't last night's disastrous experience for the Mavs proof or just a piece of whatever case you're putting together against how bad this is going to be and what a huge mistake this was? Now, you could also say Cuban still owns 27% of the team. He's the guy that hired Nico despite his disagreement with this move.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Um, this just reminded me like of one of, one of our friends was seeing somebody and it was really early. Like we were very young and he was really excited to get along with her. Great. And then he was like, do you guys think, you know, the girl's name is going to end up looking like our mom. I was like, maybe at 50, dude, maybe I do actually. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Like, is that what you already chart out the next 30? It's like, what? What are you worried about? He's like, I don't know. He's like his mom. Her mom's not very hot. Like, yeah, a lot of moms aren't very hot. Right. They were like a whole different style of jeans, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Yeah. Right. So I don't know if his concern is that his his girlfriend is going to have the demeanor of the mom. This slow talking things really driving our dude crazy here right now. To me, there's a less specific way of looking at this. Like you're graduating college.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I don't know what you've fought all through the years of not like in arguments, but you've you've made it through with a very adult relationship in college. And that is a very hard thing to do. But now there's all sorts of new tests. And that is one's goals in life, the geography of the situation.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

I'm not going to sit here and read an email like this in a few sentences and be like, yes, you should break up. I don't know that. I'm not going to tell you that you should or you shouldn't. But if that's the only issue, it's probably a bad issue to break up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

If this is one of many issues, then you're probably already answering your own question because it sounds like you're coming to the realization of like, And by the way, why do you have to already make a decision that she's going to be your wife this soon? Get through these next couple years. See if you end up in the same city. See how it goes there. See if you're a New York City guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

If you're not a New York City guy and you have to be a New York City guy, woof. Honestly, I think that might be the answer. Worry about the non-mother-in-law stuff, potential mother-in-law stuff here, and see how that goes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

all right and if that's i just i still think kind of bringing us full circle at the very beginning of this like when people are pursuing relationships in relationships and all this stuff like i don't like some of the standards it's like do you expect everything to be compatible do you expect like it it'd be great if that was the way this stuff works it's not the way that it works all right she snores i don't know if we're we're cut out for the long yeah it's

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

there's going to be something that you do that she's talking about with her friends, where she's like, I love him. I think he might be the guy, but I wish like this, this, and this was better. So I don't think on its own, it's a great reason to break this up, but you're going to have a whole new set of certain, the environment is going to be so different post-college.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

You're going to challenge the relationship anyway. I think you're going to get the answers about who this person is or isn't going to be in your life. That probably has nothing to do with the mother. Okay, that'll do it for us. Thanks to Kyle, Wargon, Jonathan Frias for getting the pod up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Perhaps a final examination of everything that has happened in the last two months. at least for the 2025 season in the NBA. We've got Quincy Avery. He doesn't like this draft class. He likes Cam Ward. We're going to talk about the other ones as well, including a deep dive on pro days, maybe even a little Caleb Williams talk in that. Who's next? The best quarterback in college.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And I guess that's really all I have to thank here, other than another big congratulatory note to Saruti and his family. The Ryan Russillo Podcast is video pod now on Spotify, so you can see it on the app. Subscribe to the YouTube page. And as always, thanks for listening. Ryan Russillo Podcast.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

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Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Nico doesn't answer to him anymore despite what was supposed to be this transfer of ownership, but not necessarily a transfer of basketball-making decisions. You go back and read all those quotes. Cuban clearly thought he was still going to have final say on all of this stuff and promoted the idea of that, but then the NBA wouldn't let him have that. Again, I don't know. That part's not important.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

But I think what's important to understand with Cuban shaking his head, just looking like he was miserable during the fire Nico chance, is that

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Maybe there's part of me that thought, is he being a little theatrical or is it just the reality of this franchise, this fan base, this city that means so much to Cuban, that he's invested so much of his time in the last 25 years that it's just a really sad night for a franchise that he cares so much about.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Because it has to be a surreal experience to be sitting there listening to, I don't want to call them necessarily like your fans, but it's not wrong, your fan base that supported your franchise. And you've cared so much about just turning on this thing that even if you only own 27% of, that's still quite a commitment and a relationship that just doesn't disappear overnight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

So maybe that's what that reaction was. Now, as I always ask myself whenever the tide is just going in one direction, is there any way this plays out where we could all be wrong, that Nico could be right? Now, look, the execution of it and only dealing with the Lakers, not putting them on the market, not getting more assets back, that'll forever be inexcusable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

There will never be a way unless Max Christie turns into LeBron, which isn't going to happen, but you understand the point, right? Kind of like the Marc Gasol trade. Like, that doesn't make any sense. Why would they do that? Oh, Marc Gasol ended up being pretty good, but still.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

The execution will be unforgivable, but as I watch some of the older school Luka stuff, which doesn't really feel all that old school because it's only like five or six years ago, you watch some of that stuff and you think, man, if there were a chart of how he runs around, he really moved a little different, and it's not that long ago. He just turned 26.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Even last night watching him on a couple possessions, I'm like, he kind of runs weird. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

So, I don't know if Mavs fans got what they wanted, but maybe just for a night. The Ryan Rosillo Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. It's the final stretch of the NBA season, and the playoff picture is changing by the minute. From three-pointers to steals to assists, FanDuel has so many ways to bet your favorite player props.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

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Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

See terms at sportsbook.vandal.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Quincy Avery, friend of the podcast, QB coach, QB takeover. Also see him out here in L.A. for the Elite 11. He's been on in the past.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And Corey Evans is the new GM for the men's basketball team at Cincinnati. He was with OKC for five years. His story and how the job will change now in evaluating NBA players to college players, especially with what we have in building rosters. in the game right now. And life advice. Luka returns to Dallas last night, and it was emotional. It was a magnificent game from Luka.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

And as we're gearing up for the draft, I want to have a little different perspective from a guy that's letting dudes fucking have it on social media when we're talking about the QB. So we'll just jump right in. It's good to see you, my man. What's up?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

nothing. I want to hear you talk about these quarterbacks in a way that maybe I haven't heard him talked about before. So there's a bunch of different things that I want to get to, but let's just start kind of at the headline stuff. Like how do you, how would you rank the top five guys?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

You're not going to hear a ton of pushback from me on the last point. I know that you know that. I don't want to start with Mill Roll. Maybe we'll get into some of that stuff here a little bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

But help those of us that don't see the position the way you do and watch the tape the way that you do understand why Cam – it's almost like you ranked the five guys and the second-ranked quarterback was a gap. So give me – Give me the intangibles, all the stuff that you see with Cam that puts him at the head of this class.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Luka’s Homecoming, an NFL Draft QB Breakdown With Quincy Avery, and Cincinnati Basketball GM Corey Evans Joins

Have you figured out something that you go, okay, this is the most important thing at this position. Like this is mandatory for me to even consider you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

You're listening to the Ryan Russillo podcast presented by FanDuel. America's number one sportsbook has made it easier than ever to get in on the action during an NBA playoff game. Even after tip off, just look for the live SGP tab on the FanDuel Sportsbook app and build your bet slip. Then sit back, relax and track the outcome of your parlay right in the app.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

If you want to question the early settlers, the first settlers that came over in the Mayflower that survived that trip, if you want to question their decision-making by deciding on Plymouth until... Time after that, some guys walked north, just up, I guess, and said, hey, Boston has a river. There's much more access. The harbor is deeper. This probably would be a much better settlement.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I've been really impressed with Mitchell on the perimeter switches and all that stuff. And we saw some improvement after the All-Star break. But, you know, you're right, as I had mentioned in the opening. I mean, they're the third best defense in the playoffs right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And when you can throw wings at these guys, and you can just see that certain matchups where it's like when one of Tatum or Brown get heart or bridges on them instead of Ananobi, it's like a relief. You're just sitting there being like, okay, good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Now I can actually kind of drive and feel like I have the advantage physically where against OG, neither of those guys are going to have that kind of advantage. I think the other part of this, which I also brought up in the open was

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

When Miami beat Milwaukee in the 1-8 matchup, going back to 3-3, you can go to the Giannis excuse and the injury, but even when the guys came back, you could see this level of discomfort that Milwaukee had that felt like just a lack of confidence. which is surprising because, you know, you're watching Boston these last two games. You're going, this team won a title.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Like, how can you not have, you're the one that's supposed to be far more comfortable in these moments and at home. I mean, maybe it's part of the blown lead and just getting really tight about it, but you're supposed to be the team that figures out a way to close these games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And it did remind me a bit of Milwaukee and just those moments where you're like, Oh wait, like every one of these guys is like freaked out right now. So I don't, I don't know if it's just simple as it's toughness, but it's, it is very weird to see teams that have a title in their back pocket. Look as if they're the uncomfortable one. And that's the similarity that I've seen from Boston here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

That reminds me of that Miami Milwaukee series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And there's a lot of people in Plymouth who are like, yeah, we have eels, though, and we got to move our stuff, dude. Like, I don't want to go up there. If you want to question their decision making, you know, I can't tell you that you're wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

The Tatum part of this is rough. I would submit there's plenty of really nice playoff games from him, including the 51 and closing out the Sixers. So if you have that in you, why? I think anybody, you go to any of your favorite players, you're going to find a couple of playoff duds in there where you're like, what is going on? But there's something, I don't know. I don't know what it is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I don't know if it's... If it's a Boston thing, I don't know if it's the Olympics thing, because his personality is the last personality that you'd get upset with. It's not like he has all these quotes where it's like, okay, fine, this guy's had a bad playoff game, and so now I get to beat up on him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Maybe it's the separation in that whenever I've looked at Jokic or Giannis at his best or Luka at his best or SGA these last couple of years, I've never thought Tatum was those guys, even with the title last year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

If you hate watching the Celtics play, like you guys are just going to shoot threes and you look scared at home and you're supposed to be the better basketball team. If you think that Tatum not playing for Team USA and Kirk keeping on the bench helped a nation heal. If you want to audit the 24 title, like I understand all of those things because the Celtics did it again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And so he's kind of in this tough spot where when he has bad games, it's like, well, he was never really – I don't know that anybody was arguing that he was ever going to surpass any of these guys. So his problem is what? That he's the fifth best player in the league when it's right? But even fifth best player after these last couple of games, that doesn't feel allowed.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So I don't know if it's, which I would totally understand. It's just packaged into a resentment of Boston and the Celtics just not being a cool national team. But it is like the knives are out for this guy in a way that you're like, you're like, where's the interview? Like of all the other stars that have moments or interviews are like, I can't believe this guy said that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Like I'm so, Tatum doesn't have any of that stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

They blew another 20 point lead. at home in the playoffs. When the road team wins the first two games of a series, they win the series 86% of the time. And we're going to see if the Knicks can pull off something that I thought would be impossible. So we know that the Celtics missed 45 threes in game one, an NBA record missed threes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I want to ask you this that has nothing to do with the playoffs, but just because you have the production meetings with the coaches, you have the sideline stuff. Of the coaches, right. Who's the most honest with you?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I'm getting ahead of ourselves here a bit in trying to figure out if this is going to be a Pacers-Knicks Eastern Conference Finals. It's possible. Yeah, I mean, it's totally possible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I haven't listened to his pod yet.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

There's no texts. You just sort of let them be. But we'll see. I mean, I got to look ahead of the schedule if it's Thursday now to where we'll be at Sunday. I mean, Sunday could be an all-timer. Yeah. So I'll probably just lay out a little bit. I'm not the best on the therapy stuff because if I think something's wrong, I'll just say, he might replace me on Sunday. Who knows?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I mean, what will be bigger? Will we have to go back to the Pacers-Knicks series? What is that, 12 years ago? Yeah. I mean, I would have to pull this all up right now. I mean, it's not like it's impossible to do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And we knew that they blew a 20 point lead 48 hours before they did it last night. It makes you wonder, how is a team that has a title in their back pocket, another NBA Finals in 22, five Eastern Conference Finals with Brown and Tatum, how are they playing like the team that doesn't have any confidence whatsoever? It was 75-55 in Game 1 with 535 left in the third quarter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I mean, the craziest thing about the Knicks in general is that you go through it all. Yeah, I guess it would be game five, 2013. I mean, I'm kind of doing that off the top of my head.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

No, it's against the Pacers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Right. Or series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

If you're going through it, I mean, that was the first one that I could think of. The craziest thing about the Knicks, and this is the wrong time to do this, is they're up 2-0, and they're on the cusp of the best atmosphere at MSG in a really long time. You might be totally right with the date that you've gone to, because this feels like this will be a bigger game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Because they're going up against Boston. But the rivalry with the Knicks, that doesn't really exist. And then when you look at some of those Knicks postseason gaps, you go, my God, we talk about this team a lot. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Yeah, but you were in the martial arts, and I was a pretty skinny guy. I was skinny too, though.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I understand what you're saying. I took it to a hostile level there. I didn't mean to do that. But yeah, you just meant on a timeline part of this. So yeah, I mean, Eastern Conference. Yeah, I think you might be right with that. I mean, you really have to go back, because there'll be all these Knicks stats that come up, and you'll go, how long? Like, that has been...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

forever yeah and yeah look it's New York it's the New York basketball team at MSG so guess what they're going to get talked about a lot more despite the fact that all these other franchises have done what they've done you had the Pacers last year as you said in that Eastern Conference Finals and you know we can point to the Cleveland injury part of which I do think is at least a fair aside to this entire thing imagine being Cleveland putting together this kind of season

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

and then not having guys available, whether it's Garland game one, but then it's Garland, Mobley, and Hunter, and then you have this lead because the Doc Rivers theory is in full effect in game two, and then Halliburton finds a way because you can't inbound the basketball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So the Pacers put together two wins now in these playoffs where you're not supposed to win those games, and the Pacers get two in back-to-back series. closing out the Bucs in that overtime game and then in game two. So where are you with the Pacers? Are you comfortable yet of saying NBA Finals, NBA Championship, Indiana Pacers?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And if you don't already have it, download the FanDuel app today to make every moment more. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. And listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

The Knicks closed it out 53-30. Last night, it was 73-53 with three minutes to go in the third quarter. I wrote it down. I said 20 points again, and I was like, is this actually... It was an ugly game. It felt like an Anthony Richardson passing camp session, but... As ugly as it was, it's like the Celtics were actually doing some really good things until it wasn't good for them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I think that's definitely a really good theory. I also think it comes down to like, who would you most accept as, as being the unlikable one on the other teams and Halliburton carries himself in a way that is like, really, I enjoy it. Cause I think he's that good. Oh yeah. Yeah. I know at times I've struggled a bit with him. I mean, there's other times where I wish he would shoot the ball more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But you watch him in these series, and the way he is able in the playoffs with his handle and his size to break the paint, kind of collapse your defense, and now you're in rotation and you're scrambling. There's just a lot to him that's just beyond the points and assists where he's almost setting the tone for you

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And one of the things I loved about him when he was in college is he'd get a defensive rebound or he'd get the outlet off the defensive rebound and he was looking for things to do that college players don't look for.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

He was looking to attack in ways and just getting the ball up or driving hard and knowing that he was bringing defenders away from something else that he was already planning on doing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

He was seeing the game at such an advanced level as a young player that I think it's just a great advantage for you every single offensive possession, knowing like this guy just has a really good approach to this whole thing. And Nembhardt's probably one of the most underrated guys. Siakam at times looks like a problem.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Other times I'd say in some defensive matchups, I think he's going to defer a little bit. I don't like their big depth, but Turner at least can give you the stretch five. Yeah. even if I'm not going to love his rim protection. And then we add all the other depth.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But I mean, one of the holdups I would have with the Pacers going into it, I thought, are they ever going to have the best player in a playoff series? And look, the answer is probably no. But I think that overrated part with Halliburton, with Rudy, it's obvious everyone just doesn't like Rudy. With Trey, it's probably a little bit of not liking Trey, not liking the calls and all that kind of stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Yeah, and so Halliburton, but you do what he's been doing. You get to do all that shit. If he wants to go at it with Dame while Dame's in a sweater, Halliburton gets to do that because he's the one that's out there doing all that stuff. Obviously, that's before Dame had the Achilles injury. There's clearly something that's unlikable about Halliburton from other players, but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

At least he's like the Rudy one. I kind of get it. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, I totally get it. Halliburton, I think it has everything to do with personality and somehow that bleeds into what I think is a too harsh critique of what his game is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Because when that dude is just flowing and getting everybody going and everybody's kind of playing off of him, I think he puts the offense at a massive advantage with his approach.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I think everything's becoming a moment on the sports schedule for everybody. So it may not be that, Oh, these like, cause these playoffs are awesome. And I think some of the stuff that you had said at the beginning about, Hey, just try to get into the top six and we'll figure it all out. Cause you're right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Like there's been an abrupt turn here historically on what home court advantage used to mean versus what it is right now. Um, But I don't know that it's, hey, I don't have time for the regular season. Well, maybe it is that. I guess I should phrase it this way. I don't know that it's this specific 2025 playoffs that have more of my friends excited about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

They went, what, eight plus minutes without a field goal make, and the Knicks closed this one out 38-17. Boston, 25% from three in game one, 25% from three in game two. Start of the game, the Knicks scored 13 points in the first quarter, lowest first quarter output in the playoffs in 22 years for the Knicks. I think it's one of the best jobs I've seen a team do defending Brunson.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I think it has more to do with all of these leagues trying to figure out where they fit in in the calendar and people being more enticed to being like, let me know when it's important. So I don't know if it's a basketball thing. I mean, football, it's impossible to compare anything to football.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I still can't believe hockey isn't more popular in the playoffs, where if you just didn't have anything to do and you kind of like sports, especially without the disruptions. It's still one of those sports like soccer, and I'm not comparing it to F1 here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But as I've gotten older, considering all the stoppages we have and trying to make it through these NCAA tournament games, you're just like, cool. Like now all of the emotional zigzagging is gone because we're watching everything and it's taking forever. The fact that hockey is something that's still not disrupted by modern television and sports, to me, that's probably the best product of sports.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

of anything that we have really. So basketball, I think the league is deep. I think the parody is a big part of it. And, and to have the first six games in this round be just, you know, all one by the road team until we had OKC get even at home last night against Denver. I don't, you know, sometimes I'll argue, hey, just because something's happening, it doesn't now mean this is the new normal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But whatever this has been, it's it's just completely unexpected. I mean, you go into these series, go and look at the spreads. Cleveland, nine and a half point favorite, ten and a half point. Well, actually, that would have been ten and a half point favorite until they had the injury report.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Boston ended up being even a bigger favorite in game two because you're thinking, OK, they're going to come back and respond. Same thing with OKC. Minnesota was a massive favorite and all of this stuff. And it just hasn't mattered the first week of the second round.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

They redirected him. They contained him. They sent help without necessarily exposing themselves somewhere else. Jalen Brown looked like he was on the attack. If he got hard, he was going to go. If he got bridges, he was going to go because he has the physical advantage. If he had OG, he still tried to go, even though that's not really going to work. And

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Let's talk a little OKC, and then maybe we'll spend a little bit more time on Golden State and Minnesota. Much like what Tatum is dealing with when you come off one of these bad games and you see the clips, you see everybody talk about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

When Jalen Williams won his sniffing Gatorade in the postgame after the game one loss, you're thinking, OK, well, he had a disappointing playoffs his first run through. Not surprising. He shot the ball really poorly in game one. And I'll admit, too, he looks like he's dressed like an extra from...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

some star wars village and you're like why is this guy sniffing a rating we're like this is the guy that you're banking on being like a really steady two and it's sometimes the number one in the western conference or nba he's a different dude that's for sure and it's totally unfair in a totally way yeah uh so yes um they go crazy last night i think the best breakdown would be that everything okc did last night worked um and i as i looked at the east started thinking like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I wonder if this is it. I wonder if the game two moment is like the first moment of going, okay, This team is going to win a title. Presti's going to get his ring and all these different things. What's been the most revealing thing when you've had access to this team? Because I've talked about him a lot. Just everyone being on the same page. It's really hard.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And everybody knowing the role and the adaptability and all the different things. And they blow that first game, which is fine. You're going to lose a couple of these likely to Jokic. You're probably not going to sweep Nikola Jokic. But maybe the most... The most impressive thing that made you realize like it's not just the record, but this team needs to be taken seriously to win this whole thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I think should be something that's avoided at all costs on the ball unless it's late in the shot clock and you don't have any other choice. But I figured Boston would win an ugly game, and this series would be tied up at one apiece because I felt going in, like many, and for obvious reasons, with the 4-0 sweep in the regular season, Boston's a better basketball team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But then Mikael Bridges happened, and it was that first-year Nets Mikael Bridges, the Bridges that I was like, damn, this guy's got everything. The entire bag was on display at the start of the fourth quarter. They start the fourth down 12th. Cat is out. Jalen Brunson's also on the bench. He scored 14 points in just over six minutes with the entire toolbox.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

They've only lost two games in a row twice all season, so you were right. They've never lost three in a row. Okay. Going into Minnesota-Golden State, I was like, man, that was a lot of fun for Golden State the first round. We got to see Steph have another moment, and anybody that appreciates Steph, and I'm certainly, I would imagine, at the top of the list, near the top of the list.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

It's just, okay, we could see more of it, but I just didn't think they would have a chance against Minnesota. And then Doc Rivers' theory kicks in. Again, I know I mentioned it with the Cavs Pacers game too. I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Maybe Doc Rivers theory doesn't apply to this one because Steph goes out with a hamstring thing, which we know is going to be significant enough where who knows what it's going to look like. And then somehow Golden State pulls us out on a night where Minnesota offensively was a disaster. They got a close kind of, and then, you know, Buddy Heald and Jimmy Butler close them out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So it's a nice game one. But even if Steph were playing, I still wouldn't pick them. I don't know who would pick them now at this point. There's probably a lot of different things that Finch can mess with. Gobert played 26 minutes in game one. And you might say, well, based on the Houston series, they're going to want to stay big and cause all the problems that, you know, Golden State

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

survive through seven games. But I could also see Finch going, you know what, without Steph, we'll go small with you. Like, fine, we'll go small. So I think there's a lot of different stuff Minnesota can look at here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I also think a bit like Anthony Edwards is a lot more fun than Tatum, but it'd be nice to see him shoot the ball a little bit better, although his defense and his rebounding were terrific in the game one loss. I think he needs to start figuring out a way to not, upon landing after every layup attempt,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

protest every single call um because i think it's no i think it's starting and i think he gets as far as stars are concerned he gets one of the worst whistles yeah which i understand is frustrating but he can't do it every single time on these attacks you know why he gets he gets i know why well i have a theory he avoids contact instead of going into the contact We're on the same page. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

He just set down the entire thing and was like, what do you need? I've got them all. Cat did come in at 827. Brunson came in at 639, but without Brunson for that most part. Then he hit another big shot on it. So like on a night where Brunson's contained, the free throw part of Brunson's game is not a factor. He's only been to the free throw line twice, right? The Celtics have done

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Yeah. Same thing. He's so athletic that he's just always thinking I can, I can get around all these guys. So he doesn't play to contact, which is actually kind of like a nice thing. And we should all want to have our players do. And aesthetically, it's far more pleasing than just trying to work it for free throws the whole time, but the rest don't give it to him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And he's going to have to figure that out at some point. So look, I don't know who's arguing that Golden State without Steph can, can make this a long series or even win it. But I guess I'll just leave it to you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

What they needed to do defensively, and we'll get to their offensive side of this, and they still end up losing this game. And it's funny, too, because Brunson, again, with those two free throw attempts, ends up hitting two that put them up. because it was a little back and forth. Brunson makes one, puts him up three. Tatum goes to the free throw line. They get a stop. Tatum has the dunk.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Right, and if you want to throw Rudy on Draymond and he wants to take 10 threes in a game, go ahead. Sure. Even though he got off to a really hot start. Your next game, when is it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

My man, George Sodano, ESPN.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Okay, before we get to life advice, we've got the same game parlay for you from the people, the good folks at FanDuel Sportsbook. All right. We gave you the straight-ahead Nembhard total points, rebounds, assists that went over in Game 2. I would look at that because I was surprised that that was only 20.5, considering we already gave you all the details there. But that was pretty straightforward.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

This one, less straightforward. Three-leg parlay, trying to build between plus 300 and plus 400 on this. So, uh, I have thoughts clearly here. All right. So Draymond Green's actually not getting a ton of rebounds in the playoffs. He averaged only five and a half against Houston. He did have eight rebounds in game one against Minnesota. Rudy only played at 26 minutes in game one. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And, you know, there's a bunch of different things that you could argue. Like, Finch may go with Rudy and go. It doesn't matter if he's playing off of Draymond because Draymond's not going to go four or ten from three. I think it was four or five to even start that game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But I could also see Finch with Minnesota saying, you know, we're just so not scared by this offense that we gave up the things offensively that we're not worried about. So if Butler gets his and Heald hits a few threes, the rest of it we feel pretty good about. So the rebounding number for Draymond – To get eight or more boards, that feels very doable, especially if Minnesota does go small.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And again, I'm playing off the hint of Rudy playing 26 minutes in game one. He should probably be able to get eight rebounds. in a playoff game, even though that number is so much lower against Houston. But you've got to remember what he was tasked with defending and the size that they were dealing with, especially in the Adams-Shen Goon lineups. So that's a pretty low rebounding number for him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So we're going a little above comfort level with eight or more from Draymond. Anthony Edwards to score 25 or more points. He's due. He's due for a big breakout here. 42% and 32% splits in the playoffs shooting-wise, but he's still at 27 a game. I think after... All of the stuff with Game 1, I would expect him to kind of go off tonight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And then I'm trying to find another warrior scoring option, lower point output here. Pajemski to score 10 or more points. Pod, 1-7 for Game 1. He is taking 10 shots a game in the playoffs. That was obviously with Steph, except for the limitations in Game 1 where Steph, I think, only played 13 minutes. Leaving the game in the hamstring. I'm expecting because Steph will be out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

The Celtics are actually up one. They're like, okay, they're actually going to win this thing. And then they foul Brunson. Somebody had not fouled all night. But look, Drew Holiday fouled him twice on that. So there's no argument with the call whatsoever. So after the game... There was a few things that were asked of Missoula in this one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Pajemski, especially if he's on the ball a little bit more, not afraid to shoot. They're going to want him to shoot even more. So I think 10 plus points is very doable. So Draymond, eight or more boards. Anthony Edwards, 25 or more points. Pod, 10 or more points. That paying out right now on FanDuel at plus 361.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

LifeAdviceRR at gmail.com. That's the email. Uh, so fire off some emails, throwing anything, you know, we're getting loose headed towards the summer. I'm not previewing summer. We don't have our summer line out. Although in fashion, I think they released like the fall pretty soon. I don't know how that works. I also don't know how the Pope stuff works. Kyle is all over it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Uh, we have breaking news.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Do you have a favorite? Do you hope it is one of like any, I mean, can you name, I can't name any.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

A couple emails here that we'll start with. Secrets in Ocean City isn't just a bar, it's a way of life. So, hey Ryan, long time listener, 31 years old, 6'4", 178 and one half pounds, lean gym rat with a basketball comp somewhere between a poor man, Sean Marion, and a slightly taller Josh Hart. Well, if you play like Josh Hart, man, your effort can never be questioned. Given the recent hubbubaloo,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

about bachelor parties lately. And having had some experience myself, I thought I should point something out specifically where Kyle mentioned his ocean city bachelor party and their frequent trips to secrets. Oh, it's spelt S E A C R E T. Okay. Well, this place is obviously awesome. It's the best.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I'm going to offer right now you're the only person in the world out of the billions of us that have those two tabs open. Cool. Maybe not though. I don't know. Maybe there's some crossover there. You know, I always feel like could this be, could I be the only person in the world doing this right now at this moment? That's a fun thought to have. Yeah. Yeah. Stand out, man. Be unique.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

One was the no timeout with the 12 seconds to go when they didn't get a shot off. They wanted to keep Brunson in the game. I had made a mistake on a tweet earlier before the Tatum dunk because I'm always usually a little behind. And...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Let me just say, as someone who lived and worked in Ocean City as a lifeguard, I've spent more time at Secrets than I care to admit or can remember. And I say this with full clarity. Secrets is the greatest bar in America, period. It's not up for debate. Sorry, Frolic Room. The live bands, the Bayfront Raffs, the reggae stage. Dude, what was the reggae stage like, Kyle?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Maybe it doubles as the reggae stage.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

All right. Um, the frozen pain in the ass, both the drink and the aftermath. Did you have any of those? Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I had a good line the other night. place that we were at closes early i know everybody that works there but i was like in the back and staff was getting frustrated wanted everybody to leave and it was quiet and just like perfect moment to slide it in i was like do you guys do frozen daiquiris and did anyone the girl turned around death stare ready to and then she saw that it was me and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Everyone, everyone rejoiced. Oh, nice. Love when you get a good delivery off like that. Yeah. I don't know why I'm sharing it. I guess maybe I just needed it today. Uh, let's see. If your group is within 50 miles of secrets and choose to do literally anything else for a bachelor party, you're trying too hard. Golfing and boating a reliable fallback bachelor party moves.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

i was like you know look the first play of the game they ran something to get drew to go right at brunson emptied out everything and i was like this is smart they're going to go with brunson more great smart um and drew just worked him right at the rim and then there wasn't a ton of that anymore and i was thinking maybe that's what you're looking for but at that point it was my mistake i was not back in the game brunson was on the bench because of defensive reasons so that's why missoula did not call the timeout even though they had one

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And I've done plenty, but if secrets is on the table, all other plans go out the window. Time well spent Kyle. Appreciate the show. Um, Best bar. What's the best bar? Would you say it's, I mean, you've been to a few Kyle. What's your favorite bar you've ever been to?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Wow. How about you, Warga?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

It's a nautical theme.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I love the Cantab in Cambridge, but it's definitely different now from when we used to frequent it. It was a long time ago. I found the Garden Bar in Big Fork.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

is incredible uh i found some weird bar on my drive up to mammoth when i was fly fishing a few summers ago and the bar looked like it would have been one of the most dangerous bars that i've ever seen because it was just like a bar next to a general store

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

was some side side it wasn't like a secret it was some side road and there was some camping there but i was trying to find this fishing area and i went in because i was stopping the general store it wasn't like i was gonna drink during the day as i was driving around trying to fish that doesn't make a ton of sense but when i went into the bar it was unbelievable because it was still kind of in the store and then

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I looked at the staircase that went straight down. That was kind of like in the middle of the bar to the bathrooms. And all I could think of was like, how many people are falling down this flight of stairs. And it was so exciting. I, I think I even like kind of took some pictures and sent it to a couple different buddies. There was also one outside of Denver heading out to the mountains.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

We stayed in this haunted, I don't know what the hell we were doing. I think we were looking at a, It wasn't my investment, but somebody else was bringing me alongside. Maybe there was some sort of mine or something. And we went to this bar and somebody was trying to tell me that it was haunted or something. And it was 20 dudes to every female in there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And there might have been 18 dudes, if you understand the math. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

it it was awesome though but it was also like when a woman did show up like guys are just yeah it was like martha's video in the winter you know they're just oh man you know like why is she dating that sheet rocker well as we get off this i just want to shout out bongo's lounge in in um in salt lake and then we'll just leave it there bongo yeah there's there's plenty of great ones that i'm forgetting

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

after Brunson made the second free throw down one and with 12 seconds you have plenty of time and they had just run this play which they said they wanted to run the same thing but on that play where Tatum had gotten the dunk the second time through that was the first look Horford setting a high screen there but Mitchell and OG both were underneath Horford enough and I don't think they even cared if Tatum was going to pull up for a three which would have been a shot because he at least would have gotten it off but I think there were moments where Tatum didn't even want to take that shot

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

but all right. Um, did I actually hit a hole in one? Does my hole in one count? Oh, we're not the toughest golf guys, but we'll see. Cause the golf world can be real strict. Sometimes nothing more fun than playing with the strictest golf rules guy ever. Um, Not to say that you should be cheating, but I think everybody understands my point. 6'1", 195, player comp, Pat Spencer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Money on the line, strict rules. I totally understand that. Player comp, Pat Spencer. Energy off the bench that lives and dies by the skyhook. How about Pat Spencer skyhook against Julius Randle in game one? My God. Bringing it back, I used to be a CrossFitter, clean and jerking 250, phrasing, snatching 205, deadlifting 475.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Now I run, having run my first half marathon in 157 last year, hoping for a sub 145 for my next. Wargon, you're our half marathon guy. Are those good times?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Doesn't sound like you're blown away, though.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Thank you. My dilemma started 22 years ago when I began playing golf. It was my first year playing as a 19-year-old fresh-faced golfer. Barely knowing how to hold the club. Towards the end of the summer, a group of friends and I were out in the course playing one of our final rounds of the year. There were three of us. We added a single, let's call him Ted, to our group.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Towards the end of the round, we were playing on a par three, 150, straight down a hill where everyone can clearly see the green from the tee box. Here's where the issue lies. Being new to the game, we all decided we'd be able to play with one mulligan each nine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

after teeing off and blasting my shot out of bounds i waited for the rest of the group to hit and then using my mulligan teed off again with solid contact the ball hit the fringe rolled towards the pin and boom right in the hole naturally y'all go crazy all except ted they added ted by the way yeah you got to try to fill the roster you don't you don't want the wild cards you might hit a hole in one and now you're emailing the show yeah 22 years ago

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Once my friends and I calm down, Ted slowly walks past me with a smirk and says, nice par. Dude, did you not know Ted? And he said this. Like, Ted needs to shut the fuck up. See, I think that's also my issue with, like, strict...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

golf rule guy again not to say that you shouldn't follow the rules but if you are if three guys are clearly just having a good time and they're giving each other putts and it's like a warm-up swing somebody and there's no money on the line again no money on the line very very important factor here and then the guy that's it's a three to one you know delegate here um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

That guy kind of has to know it, but sometimes that guy doesn't. It sounds like Ted, even though he's added to the group, says nice par. We finished the round, and I, of course, told everyone I could about the hole-in-one, leaving out the mulligan part. As the years passed, I've stopped and started golf multiple times with a subtle jab from Ted.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

It stuck with me to the point of shifting my perspective on the shot from hole-in-one to simply an impressive par. Am I overthinking this? Does my hole-in-one still count, or should I stick with my gut and never bring it up again whenever a hole-in-one conversation comes up or someone asks me, have you ever hit a hole-in-one? Look, it's not a hole-in-one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

As much as I can be lax about certain things, it's not a hole-in-one. I mean, think of it this way. If you missed a free throw and then you made the second, you wouldn't say, hey, I'm one for one because there's also a benefit to having the ball in your hands, missing the first free throw, and then adjusting to how you missed the first free throw on the second one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I understand basketball is different from golf because you don't get mulligans and you all agreed on mulligans, but hole-in-ones, you have an advantage from the first time that you teed off. It's unlikely it is that you're going to hit a hole in one after hitting it into the woods. Like I play the par three every now and then. I almost had a hole in one. I'm not counting it. It's a par three.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And on top of everything else, I'm almost 100% going to be by myself if I ever have a hole in one on one of these par three holes. It's a par three course. Sure, maybe, but I wouldn't start telling people I have a hole-in-one from playing golf. So I think what you need to do is it's all about the presentation of the story.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I think when people start talking about hole-in-ones, you should say, 22 years ago, the 16th hole at whatever, 150, straight shot, down the hill. I just started playing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

As I'll get to an example a little bit earlier, a lot earlier in this basketball game. So decision wise with that kind of stuff, I don't really necessarily have a problem. But Zula also talked about how he liked the shot attempts and thought they were good looks. I think I could push back on that a little bit. Game one, I would agree with it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

thing hits the fringe i'm like okay if i can get a nice roll out of this you build it up the whole thing everybody's excited they're in on the group they're just going oh we got another one we got another one and they were like put me down for three because the first one went in the woods So that way you're in, you're sharing, you're feeling you're part of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Again, I don't know if you're a good storyteller or not. So you're not claiming it as a hole-in-one, but you have something else to add because what you did is still really hard and it's kind of unique. I don't love Ted in this story, but I don't think any self-respecting golfer would count that as a hole-in-one when the first one went in the woods. They just wouldn't.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And I know it sucks, but I think you have to accept that. Wow.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Well, the only way to know you're getting better is to be strict about how you're keeping the score.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Now, am I telling you I'm going to turn down a breakfast ball? Somebody wants to offer one, you know, 7 a.m. tea time, you're visiting someone else, you know, hotel, all creaky. You know, somebody wants to turn down that breakfast, like if they want to offer it up, I'm not going to say no. But if somebody doesn't want to offer it up, I'm not going to ask for it. And we're just going to keep score.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So. Uh, look, there's most anybody that's golfing regularly hates who you've been spent this much time on it. So I don't know where you are, Oregon. You look like a kind of a stickler for everything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Game two, there's just something that keeps happening here with Brown and Tatum in particular, where. They're taking very, very hard shots. And that's kind of a Jalen Brown scattering report where he makes more of them than he misses. But God, are these hard. And Tatum can fall in love with these turnarounds and these fadeaways. Do you know how hard these shots are?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Yeah. I think Ted's just still in your head about it. I mean, it's just...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

What's Ted doing now? VP of what? Okay. This one is, this is for the, uh, Co-habitants. Timeline for housing companionship. Ryan, Kyle, Sir Udi. Never seen it spelled that way before. War gone. Long time listener. 6'3", 200, 215, depending on what I ate that day. This guy's like an MMA dude.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Yeah, it's quite a swing. Player comp, Mehmet Okor. I can stretch the floor, get rebounds, but that's about it. With all due respect. No life altering question here. Just curious what the gang's thoughts on how long you should wait to tell a girl you'd like to live together.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I'll spare the details, but let's just say we are in the early stages of our post-college lives and live in a city where affordability is not in the question. Thanks, y'all. Congrats on the little one, Steve. OK, let's let's hear it, boys. Morgan, let's start with you. How long until you're moving it? What was your timeline?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I like it a lot. Yeah. So it was a business decision. Oh, for sure. This is about money for you two?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Uh, how early though, if you had been dating a year and a half before you moved in, how early was it before you said like, Hey, do you want to live together?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Does she know that it feels a bit like lease timing more than love? Is that okay?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

You got to be practical about it. Right. But it sounds like and I'm going to come back to your side of this. You would you would figure it out beyond the least part of it. Like this is somebody that you wanted.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I know these are incredible basketball players, so our expectation... is that it's going to go in. And when it's who you've been for most of your career, it's hard to say like, hey, change the entire approach. But these are really, really tough shots. But the one thing that I wanted to mention that I thought was interesting is that Tatum, at 1034 to go in the first quarter,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And she was practical about it with you. She was totally fine about. Yeah, she went.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Dating in the city, though, is it? I can't believe he's Upper West Side and she's Lower whatever. It's a financial district. Is that considered?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

What side of the 405 are you on, dude? Yeah, that's where I'm staying. Right. And when somebody told me that in the beginning, I was like, that sounds great. What are you talking about? Burbank got off the hook for so much. Yeah. It's been a month since I've seen you. I'm like, yeah, I know. But it's Burbank. Miss you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And there was a play where Jalen Brown gets O.G. on the left side. He actually up fakes O.G. and then he did this another time to the up fake works. Oh, geez, in the air. And then he doesn't go. So I don't know what's going on with Brown on that one where he lets O.G. land and then he decided to go at it. He goes at him. It doesn't work. The ball is loose. Brown taps it out to Tatum.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I personally think that ring first security deposit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

She was from the gilded age, Oregon. So, you know, a little bit older than me at the time, but, uh, Now, look, I think when I brought that up before where I think it should be important that you live together before you get married, then people throw all these stats at me and there's studies done that it doesn't really matter. I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I think you'd want to test drive like being in the same house with somebody every single minute before you would start filling out paperwork.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But whenever we've brought this up in the past, which I don't know that we've done this a ton, but it just we immediately get emails from the I met my wife and we never and say, awesome, man. Fucking congrats. Like, that's so good for you. that you knew and you were that compatible and the living together thing didn't have to happen before.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

If it's, if it's an affordability thing, then go for it. I would say if it's not an affordability thing, if it's something that you want to hold off on and she also agrees like it's cool. I think one of the coolest things you can do is if you're in the same city and you are social and you have a decent friend circle there and that kind of stuff is important.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Because some of these guys that all just move

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

there's just like i maybe i'm an example of this is that after college i did not care about friends i didn't care about oh i'm gonna go live because there's a bunch of guys in denver there's a bunch of guys in new york city and there's a bunch of guys in boston like i want to go live and be around everybody and kind of keep this thing going and those like overtime five years of thinking you're an adult but you're still going out all the time um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I not to say that I was mature. It was just, I cared more about where my career could potentially take me. I mean, shit, I moved to Trenton. So, um, or outside of Trenton. Cause I luckily, even though I was working there all the time, it wasn't that I was like also commuting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Um, but I, I envy the people that after college, like, Hey, so-and-so is moving here and you know, all the different people, depending on where you went to college. There are certain cities. Chicago is going to pull a bunch of Big Ten people in. Denver always kind of felt like a Big Ten West thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But to answer this in more detail, is there any part of it where you could be able to pull off kind of this best of both worlds thing where you're still with your buddies, but you know you're still dating somebody that's really serious? Or are you being kept to some kind of timeline here? Or is there an affordability part of this where it's like, look, it's just going to make this much more sense?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I'm just thinking about being 22 and subs and football on Sunday morning and recapping Saturday night. And I just think it's harder to pull that off if there's a woman living with you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Tatum has a wide open three at the top of the three-point line. 14 seconds left in the shot clock. And I don't know if it was Tatum didn't like it in his hands, like a golfer just stepping back from a swing. But then he just kind of like last minute swings out to Horford. And Horford wasn't even ready for the pass.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

If you're living alone as a senior in college, you're either the coolest motherfucker on campus or the least cool. You're subsidized by your parents.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

yeah there was a few dudes that went solo and you're like oh my god yeah that guy's that guy's living and then there was a couple other guys that went solo and nobody was asking why because it was like nobody wanted to live with that guy uh or maybe you're in pre-med and you're just like sorry this is these are sorry you guys are you know i know you have another season going on madden but i'm over trying to figure out some ligaments uh look friends the tv show they stayed friends for 10 years

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

The Knicks did it. They really did it. They're up 2-0 in this series, and everybody is pissed off about Boston. We'll discuss what that means and where this team is at down 0-2 in the series. We'll do that with Sedona. We'll also talk about OKC's huge night against Denver. Not as long as we talk about the Knicks in Boston, though.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So it's a good example. It's a great example. That'll do it for us. Thanks to Oregon. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frias for all of their work on the podcast. You can subscribe to our podcast and our YouTube page. You can watch the podcast on our Spotify app. So thanks as always for listening. Ryan Russell podcast, ringer Spotify. No new Pope. I was really hoping to drop that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And I thought, I wrote it down because I'm like, that's a really weird shot for Tatum to pass up. And is it that... Game one is still in his head a little bit. Or is he not feeling right? Maybe this is where you insert wrist excuse. But it was a very strange shot for Tatum to pass up. And other players that I doubt in big spots, because I think Tatum's had enough big spots.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And look, he's had some absolute playoff duds too. You play enough, that's going to happen. But it was one of those players that was like, that's a bad sign. And maybe it was a sign of things to come. So... there's just a bunch of shots in here from Tatum. I went through him this morning. There's a step back where he's like side fading. It's not even a straight back fade away.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

He's fading to the side against bridges from 15 feet out. Mrs. Uh, he tried to hit a step back on Mitchell, which is really tough. Mrs. A step back against cat, which isn't terrible. And we know what Tatum's shot is. So these are shots that he's normally taking, but a lot of these are again, really tough against cat. It's not as hard as it is against Mitchell. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

He had a drive on Cat where he got him in the switch. He was getting the switches that he wanted. On this one, he drives and misses the layup. He did have the dunk against Cat. Then he switches to Bridges. He gets him deep. Then he misses that one. He gets the Cat and another switch. Cat gets him at the rim and... There's another one where he gets a finish against Bridges.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So anyway, I'm kind of rambling here a bit. This isn't the best part of the podcast, so I apologize in advance. The fourth quarter is what I really want to lock in here because he has a drive against McBride where he's thinking, all right, I have McBride against me. And he gets past McBride, but when he turns around, there's three other people waiting for him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And because his back was turned as he made the move, it's like he didn't see anybody. So that was really ugly. Uh, everyone's going to point to the wide open three pointer up 86, 79, three 40 to go. And it's like a perfect example to point to and be like, how do you not knock down that? Like that might've been the biggest shot at the game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Um, but I actually think it's the next attempt is the one that kind of drives me more crazy. is because at this point he has OG on him. OG did a masterful job of fighting through all the traffic to make sure that he got back to him. He had to go through like two different screens, but actually trailed it to go under all of the stuff, not worrying about hitting him with a three-point line.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So OG fights, gets in great position, gets right back to him. It's on the right side baseline, and he takes a fadeaway against OG, a turnaround with like 10 seconds left on the shot clock. He gets the dunk on...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

the next attempt, but look, the last play, it's just a free-for-all, and he's got OG on him, he's got Mitchell helping, he's got Bridges behind him, and they don't even get the shot off from seven feet away.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So I would offer that even if you think the shot quality for Tatum is good, maybe it's just an understanding of like he's made so many of these before, but these are just really hard shots to live on, on top of you missing all of your threes. The Mitchell stuff has been terrific. He's plus 19 in Game 2, plus 13 in Game 1. It's been a difference in this series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But he's going to talk, Sedano, on his experience with the Thunder over the last couple of years, building towards this moment, how they look now compared to everybody else and how the playoffs are shaking out. Breakdown on the Pacers and the Cavs in that ridiculous game, too, and Halliburton's status in the game. And then we'll cover Minnesota and Golden State.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Every Knicks fan that was hoping for this, I was a little skeptical that this would actually happen. He has the best net rating on this Knicks team in the playoffs, plus 8.1. McBride's plus 5.9. OG actually has a weird net rating. OG's been so good defensively in this that I basically...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I'm apologetic for ever letting some of his offensive limitations leak into my overall thought of him as a player. At no point did I think New York was actually the better basketball team. I thought Boston was going to put it on them after game one when they were up 20. I still was kind of like, let's see what happens.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I don't know if this is going to end up being the series like the 76ers and the Hawks in 21, where Philly had an 18-point lead in game four and lost. They were up 26 in game five and lost. That was like the really nasty one. But at least the Sixers in that series had a 2-1 lead.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

It reminds me a bit of 23 when it was the 1A matchup with Miami and Milwaukee, where Milwaukee, they had the Giannis back injury to point to, but This is a Milwaukee team that two years prior had just won a title, and they look scared. But Boston's sitting here down 0-2, and they don't have a Giannis injury to point to, and they can't blame it on Ben Simmons.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I did think about OKC with their win last night. They had 87 points in the first half. If you wanted the full breakdown, I'd just say everything they did worked. Murray needs to be better on the entry passes. Westbrook tried to put the cape on down 30. That wasn't going to happen. Everything worked for OKC.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

But the way the East is looking, and this feels a little dismissive maybe of Minnesota, maybe even Golden State that's up 1-0 in this series, the Knicks that are up 2-0, the Pacers doing what they did in coming back in Game 2, which still might be the most shocking finish to any of the games in the playoffs. And credit to Halliburton. We're going to do more on him with Sedano. But

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

It's at least worth asking with OKC getting right and even with Denver, did they win the title last night? Looking at the rest of the playoff landscape. The Ryan Rosillo Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are underway, so don't miss your chance to bet on all the clutch shots and legendary performances with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Plus, after the game tips off, you can combine live prop bets into a same-game parlay for a chance to win big if you don't already have FanDuel. It's not too late to get in on all of the playoff action. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. So visit FanDuel.com slash Ryan, R-Y-E-N to join today.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

So we'll do all the playoffs with him. Obviously, I'll spend a good chunk of the Open on Knicks and the Celtics. And we've got life advice. If you can't stand Boston, I get it. If you want to say that Good Will Hunting is just a schmaltzy therapy movie, I would push back on that a little bit, but I could see you come to that conclusion.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Summer is almost here, and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well-groomed lawn delivered, but you can get a chicken parmesan delivered. A cabana? That's a no. But a banana? That's a yes. A nice tan? Sorry, no.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

We'll keep the playoff conversation going here from ESPN on the coverage of the NBA playoffs and, of course, on 710 ESPN locally in Los Angeles from 3 to 6 in the afternoon. It's George Sodano. Okay, I spent the first, I don't know, 20-plus minutes of this podcast talking more about where New York is at, where Boston is at.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

And so you've had so many of these teams during the regular season and now in the playoffs, so we can get to some of the specific things in general. We both realize there's a separation between regular season and postseason basketball. I guess I'm sitting here this morning thinking, is it such a separation that now New York is just better than Boston?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

I don't know that I'm there yet, although the first two games would tell you one team's a hell of a lot more comfortable than the other one. How do you see it when you spend months traveling around and having access to these teams and now in this different brand of basketball?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ty Jerome on the Cavs' Breakout Season. Plus, National Champion Will Howard on Ohio State's Title Run, NFL Combine Stories, and His Pro Future.

Last year, he sat in the corner of the dunker. So he's a completely new player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ty Jerome on the Cavs' Breakout Season. Plus, National Champion Will Howard on Ohio State's Title Run, NFL Combine Stories, and His Pro Future.

Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ty Jerome on the Cavs' Breakout Season. Plus, National Champion Will Howard on Ohio State's Title Run, NFL Combine Stories, and His Pro Future.

If you go super fast, you run out of options very quickly.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ty Jerome on the Cavs' Breakout Season. Plus, National Champion Will Howard on Ohio State's Title Run, NFL Combine Stories, and His Pro Future.

I feel like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ty Jerome on the Cavs' Breakout Season. Plus, National Champion Will Howard on Ohio State's Title Run, NFL Combine Stories, and His Pro Future.

I think they present real different challenges. I think the difference... Ooh, that's tough. That's real tough. Hopefully we get to see both.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

You're listening to the Ryan Russillo podcast presented by FanDuel. FanDuel has made it easier than ever to see how your bets are doing without even opening the app. Because now you can get the latest updates and follow along in real time directly from your phone's lock screen or Apple Watch. No login required. Just head to your My Bets page to turn it on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

The number of times I would see him chase down a guy that he's not supposed to chase down, like that would be, but there was like a really good, you know, faster quarterback or whatever. I mean, most quarterbacks you should be able to catch, but there's just a lot of plays too. It's not just destroying the tackles. Like that Texas first half was horrifying. We referenced it all season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I thought it was like the best effort from any unit for one half in maybe the entire season of college football and what they did to NFL linemen for Texas. But there's also moments where you think he's out of the play and then he's still chasing it down and catching a skill guy that you just wouldn't expect. All right. This one probably was a little off menu here, but you went,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Jadé Barron, the corner out of Texas, over Will Johnson from Michigan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Maybe, you know, the ceiling floor and some of the other stuff that we've seen. But let's just start at the top. The perspective that you have on Cam Ward, knowing he's had a few stops in college and the coaches that have gone up against him and a guy that, you know, maybe in other years isn't the number one pick, but he's a quarterback. He's the best of this group.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And everybody seems to have them penciled into the Titans.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Do you feel like 14 for Tyler Warren, tight end out of Penn State, to the Colts? I mean, it makes sense. But do you think that's closer to his ceiling in the draft or the floor of where he could go?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Is there someone the NFL guys love in the college football world is like, that's weird. Or maybe you could give us an example of the reverse of that. A player that college football guys loved, and it's like, how come the NFL doesn't like this guy more? How is this guy projected as a second or third rounder?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I just want to know if there's a player or any examples of the disconnect between these two football worlds.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

unreal ball skills i'm so glad this was going to be my next thing because now after this college football season i get it was a disaster for arizona but he went from like maybe the best receiver you know depending on how you want to classify hunter to now he's slow and lazy and annoying like i mean it's just off the charts how much momentum is going against this guy now and you have him what going 18th to seattle

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And if you don't already have it, download the FanDuel Sportsbook app today to get in on the action. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And remember, too, I think the number was a 4-4-8 at his pro day. But then immediately everybody, I don't know. I don't know what to do with it. I'm with you. I feel like I watched them enough. I mean, granted, I went into the season with Arizona being like really excited because of how much fun they were two years ago. And with the FIDA, they were just a really fun team. And then it falls apart.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

But when you did watch, you're like, yeah, but there's nothing. It's first down doesn't work. Second down doesn't work. Then Fita scrambles around trying to figure out if McMillan's going to win the ball. And I liked that the 50-50 ball because that was always my thing with DeAndre Hopkins is there's no such thing with a 50-50 ball with DeAndre Hopkins. Like it's his ball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And that reminded me, like, look, I don't think he's going to beat DeAndre Hopkins because I think Hopkins at his best was probably a top five receiver in the NFL. But it just feels like momentum-wise, McMillan is going in the wrong direction for a dude I absolutely love. But look, it doesn't mean everybody that we love on Saturdays ends up being an all-time NFL guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

So do you have anything – I didn't prep you for this. Do you have anything on – On the college guys that you talk to of like which front offices are really just dialed in because there's a lot of guys work for these teams and just, hey, these guys do it the right way. These guys are putting in the amount of work that you need.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

They're asking the right questions like this group, these NFL teams, they get it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Is there a guy that is going in the second round, like he's got to go in the second round, that either you can't believe or the college coaches that you talk to can't believe?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

he will overproduce wherever he goes so wait so you're saying people like higgins more

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Do you have a title game matchup for us?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Maybe the Oregon game. Maybe Aller had enough in the Oregon game to build on. Because he had, I mean, that fourth and ten. Like, he finally, you know. Yeah. I look, it's April. I shouldn't have done that to you, but I'm always interested.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Maybe Clemson.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah, why not? I think last year for Clemson was a nice little reminder that this is sort of the standard. It's what it should be. Granted, not to the level of what it was when they were going back and forth against Bama all those years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah, but getting Wesco in there, you're right. There was a bit of a gap. We've talked about this a lot over the years, but there are certain schools that are like, how do they not have one guy on the outside who just scares the shit out of you? How do they not? Okay, you have a bad year or whatever, but there are certain programs I just never expect. them to have multiple years without somebody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

So I think it's pretty clear after West Coast freshman year that they have a guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

You can check out the entire mock draft on The Athletic, and we'll catch up with Bruce again, man, getting ready for college football, which is, you know, a little later on the to-do list. So thanks. Always a pleasure, Ryan. Thanks for having me. The Ryan Russillo podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. It's the final stretch of the NBA season, and the playoff picture is changing by the minute.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Every three-pointer or fourth-quarter comeback means that much more. And with live betting on FanDuel, you can make the playoff picture a little prettier. So whether you're looking to ride with a hot shooter or think a team is due for a run, you can get in on the action until the final buzzer with America's number one sportsbook. We're going to try to do something a little different.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Embrace the tank.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

This is what we're looking at. He's minus 146. Sar has not played against Orlando, I believe, so this time it's personal. Quinton Grimes is minus 900, so we threw him in there because Grimes is, I mean, Philly when they tank, but they're like, we shouldn't have traded for this guy. And then Keon Johnson, who's getting some shots up. My man has put up 20, 19 in his most recent game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I'm talking field goal attempts. He scored 13, 15, and 24. Had 24 in that win against Dallas. So, yeah, Keon getting the most out of his minutes. And now he's playing like 30 minutes a game for the last five, around 30 minutes. So that's what we're doing. 15 points or more for Sar Grimes Johnson. That would pay out at plus 358. We're excited about this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

However you want to play, now is the perfect time to join. New FanDuel customers get started with $200 in bonus bets. If your first $5 bet wins, just visit FanDuel.com slash Ryan, R-Y-E-N to join today. Make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 plus and present in D.C. First online real money wager only.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

$5 deposit required bonus issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets, which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Let's go back to Tales from the Couch on a Thursday. A couple games, a couple thoughts from last night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

So I know this seems to happen a lot, but Oklahoma City was on television last night. I was kind of curious, and then I was like, I guess I'm not because Cade is out. Big Stu is out. Ron Holland's out. Sasser's out. So Detroit... Outmanned a bit here in the first quarter. Their defense was a mess. SGA basically just got any defender off of them, got wherever he wanted.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Thunder had 26 points in the first quarter, just 26 points in the paint, 41 on the quarter. And then Chet just had a bunch of really great Chet moments because they started him in this one. They were kind of changing around the double big rotation and when they wanted to do it. He had one play where he just straight up raced Dern down the court, beat him for the lob.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Then he had another play where he grabbed the rebound, dribbled it coast to coast, got the and one finish. It was really interesting, too, because he went the entire right sideline with Jalen on him, and he kind of kept his left arm in. I don't know what he was doing as opposed to the off-arm stuff that's happening in the NBA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

There are certain guys that were criminal with it, but now it feels like everybody just kind of gets away with it all the time. Not doing a rant on it, just noticing it a ton. And then the offensive player, after he hands out this forearm shiver to the defensive player, and then doesn't get a call consistently. You know, just accountability, guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

If you're going to murder somebody's ribs and then don't get a call on some slight contact at the top, think, hey, maybe I could have gotten an offensive foul. So let's just be happy with neutral. But that's not the way it goes when you're out there competing. And then there was another play where he went against Durant and basically Jalen cut off his drive because he's bigger and he's stronger.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

and then Chet looks like he's about to get stuck, and then Wallace makes a great back cut because Detroit wasn't paying attention to anything that was happening off the ball. It's like, hey, Detroit, guess what? When you play under, guys are going to keep moving on offense. They're going to keep cutting. All the guys can pass.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Abdul Qari, two to the Cleveland Browns. I would love that with Garrett. I love when teams have somebody at the same position and they're just going like, let's just have two of these guys then, even if it feels like it's not as much of a need. I was a little surprised the Vaughn Miller thing, maybe because I have a special place for like the Vaughn Miller.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And when you're on offense, if you just dick around at the elbow holding the basketball, you're probably going to end up turning it over. So just some really good stuff from Chet. One play in particular that I want to get to, it wasn't super complicated, but speaks to the – Multiple options you have with this team on offense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

They really are completely comfortable with Hartenstein having the basketball. Here he is in this play. He's beyond the three-point line on the right side. So now he's bringing the only big that Detroit has. And even when Dern was in there, they... We're struggling to do anything in the paint. And so now you're pulling him like 27 feet away from the basket.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And on the left block, I shouldn't say left block, left elbow, Chet's setting kind of a back screen for a perimeter player to cut around it. But then there's a second movement where then Chet can read the paint. And he's also facing... Isaiah, Isaiah is just standing like it almost looks at times like, why would you want the center just waiting and holding the ball?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And, you know, could somebody come up and harass him? And it's like, no, he's fine because he's such a good passer. He's going to see over the top of basically any defender that's out on him. And so the first part of it gets cut off and Detroit loses all sense of defensive concept. And then Chet just facing Hartstein cuts right into the paint, gets the pass, finishes the dunk.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

No one even at the rim. Just beautiful, really simple stuff that starts with a back cut on the opposite side of the floor. So they ran the same play a few possessions later, and Tobias Harris, vet awareness, knew what was coming, right? They started it a little bit different, so maybe it looks a little different to the defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

You'll see teams do that where it's like, okay, there's something here we'd like. Let's see if it's going to work again, but let's get into it a little bit different so that maybe it's not as predictable. So Harnstein's all the way – Past three-point line, maybe a little bit closer on this time around. Chet sets the screen. Chet's looking, and Harris knew it was coming.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

So Chet basically gets cut off by Harris because Harris is aware of it. So now all of this stuff is different. There's even a version of this where the original first perimeter cutter is setting then a screen off of it. He shut off, and then somebody's curling up. It's almost like a pin down, but it's way out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And on the second attempt where it looks like, hey, Detroit, Harris knew what was happening. Smart guy. Hey, we just got beat on this like bad. I'm going to play it this way. Chet can't move. He's stuck. And then Jalen Williams just comes up from the corner, grabs the ball, creates on his own, hits a step back jumper. It's just ridiculous.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And look, the crazy thing about this game, as bad as it looked in the beginning and as limited as Detroit's options were for the rotation with the injuries and suspensions in this game, they got back into it because Tim Hardaway had a huge first half, hit a bunch of threes. At one point, it was like 63-59, and I'm going, how is this happening? And then the third quarter, they go off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

evaluation where i think his band is unlike anybody at that size um not to say he's the best defensive end i've ever seen but i think specific to him his how almost horizontal he could get to the ground turn around the tackle and then somehow just be up and then in position to make the play as much as i love carter i was almost like man von miller stuff um Where where would you put Carter?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

SGA sat like seven game minutes in the first half. They didn't bring them back until 625 in the fourth. So I don't think the Thunder at any point last night were all that concerned with what was going on. And as you see with this closing group, where it'll be Dort, it'll be Williams, it'll be SGA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And I think they like the double big part of it, but if they don't, they'll probably play Wallace, who may give a second option to Hunt because SGA is going to get hunted just because it's a better thing to Hunt than some of the other guys. I mean, Jalen Williams' defense consistently, especially the stuff even at the rim for him, always seems to be really impressive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I believe his fourth game back after the injury. But when Dort's your fifth option offensively, You know, they didn't have Caruso last night, so a lot to like here. So just to put it in perspective where the Thunder are at with this winning streak, they now have a 13.4 point differential on the season. That is number one all time by a full point over the Lakers from 71-72.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

It's two points better than the Celtics last season, who at the time were fifth all time, now sixth with this season from the Thunder. Thunder sitting there at 64-12. I'm going to guess they could win their last six. I don't know that they're going to try enough to do that to get to 70. Remember, 70 wins is no longer cool because Golden State blew a 3-1 lead.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

OKC is 28-8 against teams that are 500 or better. So that's a 78% winning percentage against those teams. Boston last year was 34-15, so more games, but a 69% winning percentage. They are 29-1 against the East. Granted, it feels like half the East is tanking, even some of the teams that are in the play-in. There was a thought that I had last night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Did the Thunder win the championship last night because Big Stu was not available to murder Chet Holmgren? Discuss. An aside here, as we go back to a couple days ago. I think one of the most surprising parts of the season was when Steph late in the game where he went crazy against Memphis. And it was just one of those.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

If you love Steph, you're like, hey, I'm going to watch this full game because I was on the phone with somebody who was on in the background and I was seeing what was happening. I'm like, I got to get off the phone because now I want to go back and watch the full Steph experience against Memphis because it actually turned out to be a pretty good game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

But towards the end, there was a play where it was Santi Aldama and Desmond Bain on Steph to the sideline, like over right by where the coach would be standing. And they were roughing Steph up a bit just to try to like, you know, they were down. They were going to lose the game. But it was like, hey, close out and fine, be super aggressive. And Steph was like, all right, you know, whistle blows.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Steph goes to shoot a shot. Desmond Bain slaps it down. And Steph kind of starts going at it with Bain a little bit. And then Aldama's in there. And then Draymond comes over. And I'm like, oh, my God. Draymond Green's about to choke out Santi Aldama. I think El Dama checks a lot of Draymond boxes. But he didn't choke him out. Sonny's like, dude, I'm good. I'm good. I'm fine.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I know on Sunday, on the Sunday pod with Bill, we had Chris Vernon on with us. Passionate Memphis resident and a guy who I really think is a good guy and really talented. And I like Vernon. So I knew it was going to be kind of a tough pod. Because I had these Memphis thoughts for a little while, and he makes a great point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Like, hey, two seed two or three years ago, two seed two years ago, bad year last year. It's only one bad year. And before all of the injuries, they were two seed again. It's like, yeah, that's actually really good. But I think all of us that watch regularly, it's like, am I ever really thinking of them as that team?

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Would I not want to play them in the playoffs with how the West is stacked up right now? Or would I be going, I really want to play Memphis? I think more teams would rather play Memphis. I don't know if there's going to be some weird seeding stuff there,

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that would happen the last couple of days where teams would be like, Hey, if we lose tonight, then we know that we're going to get Memphis in the first round as they try to figure it all out. But I knew that it was going to be me being harsh on jaw. And I didn't really look forward to it. You know, definitely.

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I think where I'm at with the job, like you don't want to make it seem, I mean, that's always kind of the number one rule when you're on the air is that you don't really make it personal, but then sometimes I'm just can't, Like most of the times when I share something with you, it's after multiple examples to kind of reinforce my feelings about it.

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Not so much in this class, but in comparisons to other special edge guys, which he clearly is. But, you know, maybe the coaches and the people that go up against these guys that keep better track based on the years of talking to them about like how Carter fits in in comparison to the other game wreckers.

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And what I had said on Sunday was really more probably about jaw than this Memphis group in general. It's like, man, they get real high on themselves in moments that don't make a ton of sense. And I referenced the Whoop That Trick game where they were down 3-1 in the series to Golden State. They destroy Golden State. Place is going nuts. I'm sure it was a lot of fun in the building.

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Probably a great memory. John didn't play. And then game six, they get destroyed. And you're like, should you be a team? Who am I to sit here and say, hey, don't enjoy that that much? Because that was a super enjoyable night. That was a very chippy series. And it's just these teams definitely don't seem to like each other very much, which is good. That's fun for all of us, right?

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But yeah, I guess there's certain players and certain teams at a time where I'll go like, I don't know if that's really... the guy, despite the early resume for Ja, you know, being incredible MVP voting. And I don't mean the sneaker deal is like that's a defining thing, but it's kind of like a defining thing.

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Like when you get that deal with Nike and it's like, all right, you get a chance to be like a dude, like a real guy in this league. And I know the injuries have played a big part of it, but all of those concerns that I had about Ja that I shared on the pod on Sunday were reinforced in that game.

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He's been great the last two games, which is automatic that I would be critical and then he would just light it up for two nights.

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um 31 a game 32 a game or yeah 31 a game the last two games shot it really well against golden state not a pun uh but in that game he had what was the game losing non-box out against pajemski where he just loses him and that was kind of the game and then comes down turnover and then he gets into the golden state bench which is now being investigated where he looked like he was pretending to shoot an ar-15 at him um sure like jaws is going to be

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Because everything he's gone through, people are not going to give him as much leeway with some of this shit. That's kind of the way life works. And then he tweets out like, oh, jaw this, jaw that. And that's the part where I'm like, yeah, there's kind of like no accountability. Everything that he went through, I wasn't outraged. I wasn't super mad about it.

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Really, I thought the punishment was excessive. But what scared me more was the way he had talked about it afterwards. And then in that game, in these big, big moments, despite the scoring, it's like, you know, you're not doing the little shit that you need to do to win. And now you've added this other layer of just stupidness that I don't quite understand. Houston.

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So Houston is 13-2 in their last 15. I watched the Lakers game on Monday and I wanted to watch specifically because this, this rockets thing in its entirety is really strange as I try to figure out, like, what am I going to fall for in the West when I try to pick these series? Um, Houston, I tracked it from like five minutes on in the fourth quarter.

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I was like, I want to see how many shots I like and how many shots I don't like. So in those possessions from maybe it was like 540 left. I forget when it was, but they're going back and forth to the Lakers. And from that point, I started keeping track of it. I counted five bad slash tough shots, three turnovers, one good field goal attempt that I liked.

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And I'd say I should add a second good field goal attempt because it led to free throw. So let's call it two. So out of those 10 that I looked at to close out the game when it mattered, there was two good looks.

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And so we've talked about their clutch offensive numbers, and you're like, they're just not very good, except for the fact that the weirdest thing about the Rockets is then you guessed it, they have the most clutch wins in the NBA. They've also played the most clutch games, 44 this season, tied for most in the NBA with Minnesota. And I had mentioned on Sunday's pod that with Imei,

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You never quite know what you're going to get with that closing group. Like we generally know what Houston Rockets want to do because they're sitting there at the two seat and it looks like they are going to be the two seat because of this great stretch they've been on. And part of it, too, is that it's been a much lighter stretch of the schedule, but they're they're beating everybody.

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So I don't really want to make this about focusing on. the rare loss in this group. But I'd say, you know, email, do anything. You never know what he's going to do. And he benched Jalen Green basically for the last five plus minutes of this stretch, brought him back in 11 seconds to go down four. So it was just to try to see if they could get any kind of offensive possession.

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Then you dig through all the stuff that Houston has on the net rating group for the clutch minutes for the season, which is kind of a big sample when it's 44 games. But Amin Thompson has the worst net, like by a wide margin of any of the regulars.

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His defensive numbers, ironically, his defensive efficiency is 20 points worse than Shingun, who is off the charts in his net rating for the clutch stuff. So there's just some times where I look at something and be like, hey, I do not like the offense. They seem to win enough. It's not that big of a deal. The players that we do seem to like are the guys that have some of the bad numbers.

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And Shingun, who you wonder defensively how it would hold up, like closing in a five-minute stretch in the playoffs. Well, the numbers tell you it's actually been awesome, even though I think all of us would kind of let go. I don't know. That seems generally misleading. I don't know what to do with any of that stuff. Last night as I was switching around,

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I noticed that Atlanta got back in the game with Dallas. Let's admit, Atlanta, Dallas, probably off my radar at this point. But I was like, man, Atlanta got back in it. AD is going off. What is Dallas' closing group going to look like here? Can Dinwiddie give you enough offense with a healthy AD to be kind of a scary playing team? Look, they're going to be in the plan. It looks like it, right?

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Atlanta's going to be in the plan. Here we go, Hawks. But yeah, guilty pleasure. The game was already over, so I knew what the score was because I knew it was close. I was like, do you want to watch the shots Trey Young took? I bet you there's a good one in there. I was like, don't do that. And then The inner dialogue was like, you know, you want to watch it.

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You know, you want to see one of those shots. You can't help it. And I can't help it. I went back and watch it and I'll leave it for the audience. If you want to go back, which almost none of you should do because you have lives. I was not disappointed. 80, the game winning shot. Granted, not a they're calling it a walk off all the time now and there's no time left.

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I know it's been mentioned before. I don't know that I love it, but. then 80 and incredible contest on Trey young with three seconds left down to trying to get a three off and really had no chance. I think his foot was actually going to be over the line anyway, but the shot that I'm really talking about was, was a shot a little bit earlier, uh, in the game.

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Trey was, as that team got back in it, it was a lot of Congo, um, There was a lot of stuff where he was actually deferring, so it wasn't like he was even going nuts there necessarily towards the end. But when you start looking at that playing stuff, you go, would Dallas have enough? Because now they get all their centers back. They got them all back, right? All at once, but no Kyrie.

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Is there anything in there? No Luka, too. I don't know if you guys knew that. So, yeah, I watched. I went back and watched because I just couldn't help myself. It was a bit like the Harden Pistons game where I have to go into a different feed to watch Clippers games here in Los Angeles. And Harden had taken 20 free throws against Detroit. And I was like, do you want to watch that? Like, you don't.

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Hunter Tyson had 20 shots in an NBA game last night, in case you were wondering. So game of the year, Minnesota, the double overtime win at Denver. Here's the tease. Can you call yourself a good parent if you don't make your kid watch it? We're going to have a lot more on that game later on the podcast. We have John Krasinski, who covers the Timberwolves, for The Athletic joining us.

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I know, look, I don't tape on Wednesdays. I didn't get to bask in the afterglow, perhaps the best game of the entire season. Minnesota winning at Denver in double overtime. You're in the building. Where would you put that, John, on the great games you've ever seen?

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Look, there's certainly some lineup maintenance that we have to offer in here as Minnesota goes 4-0 against Denver during the regular season. But in this game, there's no Murray. Michael Porter Jr. was out for personal reasons, but then on the suspension side after the fight with Detroit, no Nas Reed, no DiVincenzo. So that's part of it. But look, when it was 14-2 to start,

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it felt like even without their pieces, Denver was like, we need, this game matters because I thought the game where Minnesota beat them by 20, like I was looking forward to that game weeks ago. Maybe it was over a month ago now where it was like, okay, I can't wait to watch this. And Minnesota puts it on them pretty good.

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And he's like, Hey, despite the disappointment from where Minnesota was, what 56 wins last year, this sort of first half malaise, just based on the expectations for who they could be like going into this year, like, could this team win a title? They weren't playing to that standard. and then when they beat Denver like that, I'm like, that's a very short list of teams that could go in there.

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We could talk schedule. We could get into the randomness of certain nights, but that game felt like it mattered, and so then I felt like Denver was responding based on what that game was. So 14-2, I was like, okay, they poked them enough. They've woken up.

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And then to lose it again, is there something that you feel that you've seen or coaches have shared with you for why this matchup has gone Minnesota's way, including the elimination of the playoffs last year?

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Jokic did get the points a couple nights ago. 61-10-10. He knew. By the way, when he gets Rudy, because remember last year with Cat, it was Cat on Jokic. And then they would let Rudy sort of freelance off of Gordon. even though depending on the substitution patterns, like Gobert would end up with Jokic at times. Now with this, and especially with Nonaaz, Jokic's eyes light up.

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There's something about him with Gobert where he's more aggressive. And they needed him, obviously, with Murray and the scoring from those two guys and Porter Jr. not being out there. But what I did like about this, and it's easier after you win double overtime on the road when it looks like you're going to lose the game,

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But the reverence that so many of the guys in the Timberwolves had for Jokic, you're in the locker room. Share with us a couple of the stories because I couldn't stop watching the videos because it just felt so genuine from all your guys.

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I love this game from Ant as well. The slow start and then the shot making, the sense of urgency, that drive that he had on the left side where it looked like he took off before any defender thought that he would take off. This is why those of us that love him, love him. OK, because this is it's aesthetically pleasing on top of everything else. And

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Now, I think the good part for Ant is that there's at least a deep playoff run in there too early on the resume because we know how it works. If you start getting bounced first, second round all the time, even though there's some players that I would hold that against other players, I'd be like, I think it's based more on the situation. But this is a team that started 32-29.

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They're 12-3 in their last 15. They'd be 14-1 in their last 15 if Obi Toppin wasn't in the league, perhaps. That's right. Just watching those games, I'm like, you know, you could say, hey, how come Minnesota's not beating the – these games are really important. Well, the Pacers are playing just really good basketball for a while and Toppin went crazy in that stuff too.

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So I guess there's like a bigger part of this where – You know, it's the post-Cat where I understood the Cat trade, and then it just looks bad, right? And he's lighting it up for New York, but it's like, yeah, but he still kind of has the same limitations. So the limitations they saw, there's the Randall component where it's been better now, but I'm always going to be worried about it.

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It's nice to see DiVincenzo finally hitting these shots. So... Where is this team? Cause they're not going to obviously catch the record of last year and we're not going to maybe have the same anticipation based on the regular season, but how do you see it, man? You're around them all the time and trying to figure out what is possible for them in the Western conference.

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that would be really disappointing.

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Yeah. I mean, looking at the standings as of now, which could change in five minutes, I'm kidding a little bit, but, they're probably not catching the Lakers in the three seed or Denver in the four. I mean, they're two and a half back. It's not impossible. The schedule closes with six games against Brooklyn, Philly, Milwaukee, Memphis, Brooklyn, again in Utah.

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So certainly not the hardest schedule, but when I was looking at this morning before I was going to talk to you, it's like, look, five to eight are in play because they have the same record as the Clippers and Memphis at 44 and 32, but they have the tiebreaker. So again, they're sitting there at the six seed. Um,

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What I like is – I don't want to sit here and constantly be like, hey, matchup to matchup. But I want to do it with you because you've been around him so long. And then kind of pivot that into rotational stuff. Because when Conley was bad, I felt like, okay, this is kind of two guys you can ignore when he and Rudy are out there offensively.

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And I don't know that NBA – I don't know that that works anymore at all. It used to work. I would be really –

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reluctant if I'm Finch to go can I close with those two guys like DiVincenzo the best version of him feels like a closing option Jaden I know it's kind of hit or miss but I felt better about his offense it feels like Randall would be in that group but then if you go okay say it's 3-6 and it ends up being the Lakers

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would they want to go small and play Nas knowing that the Lakers preference, I think is going to be to close with Rui and you might be playing into their hands, but at the same time, we've seen this small, big thing kind of burn Rudy at times in playoff series in the past. That one to me is like, I think Finch is probably the kind of guy would say, Hey, it's all on the table.

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And then by game four, he's made the decision.

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Loaded on a Thursday for you. Bruce Feldman, his mock draft for the NFL. All of his contacts in the college football world. Their thoughts on all of the top prospects. Little tales from the couch. Little OKC historical perspective. We haven't done anything on Denver, Minnesota.

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I watched the Detroit game on the broadcast with Mike and Jim because I have like a hierarchy of broadcast partners where I go like, okay, well, it's my favorite part about the night for league pass. I'll be like, okay. And then sometimes it's close. I'll be like, cause maybe there are four seed matchups and I'll be like, where, who do I want to go with? Jim wins, wins a lot.

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So during the Detroit fight, they're watching it all back. Everyone in Detroit was to blame. And then I watched the NBA TV postgame and Isaiah Thomas was on it and he blamed everybody from Minnesota. I know that it started with the Stuart DiVincenzo thing and then it amplified again because DiVincenzo just got shoved by Stuart while he was on the ground after he ran into Fontecchio.

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And then Holland's back on the other end. He scores on Nas. I thought Nas overreacted on the foul on Holland. And then I think DiVincenzo was still pissed about being shoved. So then he was going to get involved. And then it just turns into this whole thing.

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Is there anything from that game, considering the way it started, is there anything from that game where it's like a huge positive for Minnesota the rest of the way? Can that be a rallying moment?

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Yeah, I'm going to give you that because it is always – he is sneaky way nastier out there because the way he carries himself, it's the way he moves. But I'm glad you brought that up because I was watching him last night from Miami. He was getting pissed off about something.

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You have Shador going third to the Giants. The Mocs have him all over the place. You already are making a face, so it seems like you don't like that you have him there.

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And I was like, that's so funny that Kyle actually will get way more fired up than you think because he does it in a reserved way.

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Thanks for the perspective on the Denver double overtime win. And I can't wait, man. So we'll probably have you on in the playoffs, all right? Anytime. Thanks, man. John Krasinski, The Athletic.

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The email address to submit questions to improve your life. Lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Kyle Cerruti Wargon. Wargon, I feel like we should have asked you about running with your shirt off. Totally. A huge myth. No, that's on me. I'm the leader. I'm the host.

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One day, goals. Right. Were you dying when we were talking about it just 48 hours ago being like, guys, I'm right here?

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That would have been the best thing you could have possibly done. Maybe there's a bet where the loser has to do the show with their shirt off.

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I said yes to something like a month ago, and now I keep hearing versions of it. Where now I don't want to do it. I'll be totally honest. I think everyone knows that.

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Although I do have to have an MRI on my knee because something keeps snapping. Here we go. Yeah. Here we go.

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Yeah, Worgon's backing me up. By the way, I don't even know. I am fast. The other day I outran a black pepper snake. No, I think the shirt off thing would be just something we have to ask Worgon about in the future. And so I think, can there be like a Worgon alert? Hey guys. Doing it. Today's the day. Could you, Worgon, give me a three, two, one. Hey guys.

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He fucking nails it every time. You're a gift. I don't even think you're real. All right. So, look, if we have another running query, we'll make sure we get that. If we could edit in that sound effect for when Wargon talks to us at all, that would be a nice gift to me. I guess Wargon would actually have to do it.

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Yeah. Maybe we end with the pod. We end it today with that. The first installment. Because we used to have the hardened, I am the system. And then it just kind of went away, right? Was there a production? Was there an editorial decision on that? Was it just time, Suri, to move on?

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Guys were making their own editorial decisions. There's nothing behind it other than, yeah, we had like three different people cutting the pod. So, you know, that's fine. But yeah, why don't we end with War Gone and we do it in a bunch of pods, not just today. That would please me greatly. All right. Done. Yeah.

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Then we have some nerds email in a week being like, you definitely can't run a sub six. All right. We did get some feedback. And I think I said nerds.

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Okay. Probably smart. Yeah. It was really the best advice I think anybody could hope for. Because we got a lot of good advice, right? But this advice was so good that I actually forwarded it to... The guy real life connections.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I think so. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

So anyway, so now, yeah, I mean, if we could actually get people that start dating, but I just don't know that our female woman pool is enough. I mean, we had a guy try to set me up with their friend, which was weird. And she was cute. I don't know if you guys remember that. I don't know. Cause then we said that she was describing the email as Asian.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And then we got some people that didn't like that. We had described her. that way, but I didn't even describe her that way. That's how it came in. And just read the copy here.

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A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah. I'm just reading copy. Thanks, Kyle. I think on top of that, like not knowing the guys, imagine if it had worked out. Imagine if I had just randomly started dating a girl that dudes had forwarded me her picture through life advice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

You know who's really happy? Her friends. Like, yeah. Is he coming out tonight? Can't wait to ask about his bracket.

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The one that got away, Kyle. All right. So here was the... I think best, a lot of people send in really good emails, by the way, so thank you. But I think this kind of covered it all. Finally, a life advice I can help with. I work in payroll for a large company. I can tell you there are a lot of checks and balances in place, both before and after pays, to prevent these types of issues.

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Even if you manage to get the actual money in your account, there are dedicated employees in either payroll or accounting auditing accounts after the pay to check for these types of errors. These audits could occur monthly, quarterly, even yearly, so there's no time set you'll be saved. Dun, dun, dun. The likelihood of someone noticing is high.

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It's just if they think pursuing it is worth their while or not. Suri is correct that within reason, there is no statute of limitations on this money and the company can ask for it back at any time. I've seen my company go back over two years to reclaim improper bonuses and pursue repayment even after employee has left the company.

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Former employees have taken us to court and use the, Hey, they gave me the money. It's their mistake excuse. And it doesn't hold water. That being said, if you're going to keep the money personally, I would keep it. So we have somebody from payroll and accounting with all this information that understands it says that you should keep it. This guy was keeping it. Who are we kidding?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Um, I think you can go about it the way, uh, This way, typically you need to pay back the whole bonus or after the tax amount, depending on what year you return the money. So that's also another factor in this, you know, talking taxes. But now, you know, who knows? But companies won't come at you for any interest and will most likely let you do a payment plan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I highly recommend that you put this money in some sort of savings account or anything that yields interest, which was Rudy's point. If no one comes back for it in a couple of years and it's going to be safer to use, and if they do come back for it, at least you have the interest accrued on the money. even if that is literally pennies on the dollar compared to the bonus itself.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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If they do ask you to return the money, I'd ask them to set up a payment plan so you could pay back the amount over time interest-free and keep as much money in your savings account accruing interest as possible. Most importantly, if you do get caught, don't be a dick to your payroll person.

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They don't want to do this to you, and it probably wasn't their error to begin with, and they just need to fix it. Plus, they are more likely to set up a favorable repayment schedule if you aren't cursing them out. Well said.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And I think based on the way, if you wanted to play it this way, like based on the information that we got from the emailer on Tuesday about how the structure normally plans itself out, like I think there's a high level of being able to play dumb that they can't really call you out on. Be like, you know, like last year's bonus. Yeah, I'm wasting up my shoes and I'm going hard. Yeah, right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

But yeah, savings account, Cerruti.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

get to check those interest rates. Uh, Apple is great because it just, boom, it's right there. The next thing you know, a couple of months later, you look and go, Hey, where'd that come from? That's look how much fun I'm having now, but you know, I know the smooth Holly stuff, you know, is in the news again. So yeah, just stay locked in. All right. Very good. It's the best we can tell you. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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All right. We haven't read any questions yet. Let's get back to questions. Okay. Work hygiene nightmare. Hey guys, Jim stats, mostly body weight, upper body workouts and lower body weight training squat to 25 for 10 reps. That's some, that's some good stuff right there. I have a workplace dilemma that I need help solving. And I figured who better to ask than you three for context.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I work at a large private guys who work at home. One guy that interacts with no one. How do you meet people? Stop sending emails to Rosillo's pod.

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Yeah. All right. So I have a workplace dilemma I need help solving. Ask you guys for context. Large, privately held company, 3,000 employees, nearly $4 billion in annual sales. They're not going to miss $15,000 in a bonus. Our corporate office has about 400 employees. Now, here's the issue. I was in the bathroom at the urinal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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minding my own business when I heard someone finishing up in the stall next to me ripping toilet paper flushing the whole routine out walks my direct boss who is an executive at our company and what does he do next he beelines it straight for the door and leaves no hesitation no pit stop at the sink no hand washing can even do a dampening I was stunned turn the water on and water away performance come on yeah like he saw you damn yeah is it an alpha move

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Quick departure from the email. Is it an alpha move where he just looks at you and says, yeah, I don't wash my fucking hands. Not an alpha move at all. I don't think so. Okay. All right. I was stunned. This man just went number two and decided that basic hygiene was optional. I have to work with this guy every day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And now I can't even look at him without feeling immediate disgust shortly after he came by my desk to ask me a work-related question. And I couldn't even make eye contact. Since this was eating me alive, I told a co-worker in the office next to mine, and his response made it worse. He's seen this guy pull the same move three separate times he italicized.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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In fact, word has already started spreading on our floor, and people are actively avoiding shaking his hand. Like, we're all fist bumps now. Air fist bumps. So what do I do here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Do I subtly or not so subtly let him know that people have noticed and this behavior is unacceptable? Do I just accept my fate and stock up on Costco-sized disinfectant wipes for every shared service? Or do I take it a step further, wait for the next offense, and the second he tries walking out without washing, I call him out in real time? I'm at a loss.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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This guy has a huge say in my work life, and I don't want to jeopardize anything, but I also don't want to live in constant fear of anything he touches. Well, I can tell you what you probably don't want to do to your direct report is go, hey, wash your hands after you take a dump.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

No shakes, Jimmy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

HR. I'm sorry to the HR people listening, but most of the experience has been like, Oh wait, you want me to say something that, so you guys like, don't like, this isn't really, I mean, look, I don't want to turn this into a fucking HR thing. Cause they're going to get a million emails from HR reps saying that we're dicks. But yeah, at bigger corporations, it feels a little bit more like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Hey, we got a problem brewing with this guy down here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

It's fine. I turned to Liv, and I was like, he's going to lie about how long we're going to be on this tarmac. And then he forgot, the pilot forgot that he had already lied when he started the announcement. He's like, probably 10 more minutes. And then 30 seconds later, he's like, so about 15 minutes. So he forgot the lie inside. We were on the tarmac for an hour.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

But again, we've already covered this. We had people reach out. Is that they never say like, hey, this could be an hour because they lose the audience. It's like stand up. The pilot has to make you think that it's just 10 minutes away. It's just 10 minutes away. I'd rather lie to you five times. that it's 10 minutes away than just maybe bum you out immediately.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

So let's get back to shit hands. Um, there's just not many people in your life, especially when they're your boss. If you were to say this to them, like, Hey man, word on the street is this. And so I'm here to help you. That guy's not going to do this. He already doesn't wash his hands. He's bucking trends left and right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

So he's probably not going to have an open moment with you and be like, I'm really glad you brought this to my attention. This is great. Like now you're in the crosshairs with him. So you can't ever, ever say anything to him because it's just human nature. Even though it's disgusting, he's not going to look at this as help. This isn't the, hey, do you want to mint?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

This is, hey, do you want to start washing clothes?

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A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

feces yeah you want to change your core principles right yeah like how what do you think man what do you think so um no one it's so it's so ridiculous for you well let me put it this way most people aren't going to do this they're not going to have this conversation they've just accepted that this is the hierarchy of things and now i just have to avoid them and that's your deal and if it's going to drive you that crazy and you're a germaphobe you start getting on linkedin right but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I can't imagine any scenario where a boss would have someone come in and be like, good job. They're going to get defensive. Who do you know? I wash my hands. You know what I mean? You already kind of know who this guy is. Like, that's ridiculous. It's never happened or whatever. He's not going to go. I'm so psyched that Seth in accounting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

told me this that everybody now could could you be the most devious person ever and this person clearly isn't where you go in and you use this this is like the nasty stuff right you go in and be like hey i want to tell you something i know you wash your hands but todd greg and keith Keep saying you don't hold them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah, just diabolical stuff where you're now you'd have to not like your coworkers. Right. And it endears you to him. It also brings some awareness to him. But you're not being critical. You're actually pretending that you don't care what they say about you, man. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I'm on your side. Sir, this has really bothered me. It's been bothering me for weeks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I know you wash your hands after you go number two.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I can't believe they would insinuate such a thing. But these dudes are down on the desk and they keep saying this. So like, what do you want me to do? Do I have authority? Deputize me. Right. I can handle this. On your behalf. Yeah. Right. But then you go back to the guys and be like, hey, I took care of him. Like, how did I take care of him? Like, I told him that you guys had kept saying it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And I said that I don't believe that. But now he at least knows. So we're clear to fist bump.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Is it worth getting a bone? Whoa. Is it worth getting a burner phone? I mean, you want to talk about like, they'll be talking about you at lunch breaks 10 years from now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Burner phone from 7-Eleven. Text his number. Just be like, hey, wash your hands. I know what you did in there. Yeah. Sim card. Destroy it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Now I'm starting to think burner phone for your boss is the funniest thing ever. Just start texting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

If he's terrible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

All right. Last one here. How do you tell your much older ex-girlfriend that you're still incredibly close with that you're seeing someone else? Tough. This guy's making moves. 6'1", 195, player comp, Ryan Gomes. I like that. Lots of three, no D, heavy on the feet, prefer to get the ball out of my hands and often pass up open looks in favor of passing to someone who can actually dribble.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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More of a slow-pitched softball guy. Waterbury? Yeah, Gomes had some nice years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Part of the KG trade. Part of history. During COVID, I dated a much older woman, 20 years older. Whoa. We broke up as COVID ended because the age gap was much more obvious once regular life returned. So just cuddling nonstop. You know, you have to start going to stuff. With that said, we stayed incredibly close. We're practically best friends. She's genuinely the best person I've ever met.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I have a hard time believing, and I know as you're saying, like, hey, it's Jameis, and it's also the Russell Wilson contract where he feels like he's probably penciled in as the starter. Although, you know, who knows what will happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Super generous in all aspects of the world. Exclamation. I don't want our relationship to change as we stayed friends through many ups and downs. I don't think she's still in love with me. And I'm not in love with her as our relationship is more so shifted to one that's much more like family. The problem is I fear our relationship at times gets in the way of both of us finding someone else.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I haven't found... Oh, I haven't yet found someone. Oh, so this guy's preemptively worried about it, but I'd like to. And I also really want that for her. Yeah. Optimistic and a historian. If, and when I find someone, how do I tell her, how do I start this conversation in general? Appreciate you guys and love the advice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So how do you tell somebody you may be dating at some point, but you aren't yet? Uh, I think the bigger issue, and I understand what he's saying, is that is this friend zone thing. And, you know, I don't know what that means, but assumptions can be made. But we're staying clear of that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

There's definitely something to be said of like your lack of motivation for wanting the emotional connection, obviously the physical connection, if it's being supplied in sort of a postmates fashion where it's like, hey, I kind of need this right now. And you have it, but you're not pursuing that anymore. Look, I think the easiest thing to say is just, hey, you need to cut it all off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And that way, the thing that you'll want will be more. There'll be more urgency to want to fulfill that part that most people usually want in their day to day, that this is providing a substitute for it. Look, man, it doesn't mean you have to not be friends. And the fact that she's so much older than you. I would tell you she's probably not even that worried about this stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I think the Dable part of it is fascinating, too, because I don't know that I'd want to bring in a rookie quarterback with a coach that, you know, if it's a bad season, it's probably a guy that gets cycled out. And then I think the coaches will selfishly, which I don't really blame them for doing it, but the self-preservation of –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

She realizes if she was interested in you, that somebody else is going to be interested in you at some point. And that's just part of the game. And I would imagine because she's been around a lot longer. And I've been thinking about this kind of in general as like a bigger thing is that it's not so much as you get older, you get happier.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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It's just that all of the little shit that you've gone through and all the experiences and all the ups and downs that you just are not going to let as many things bother you because you have a collection of things to either be happy about or to be upset about. And when you're younger, you don't realize that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And like anytime your life is derailed, you think it's like the end of the fucking world because you haven't had 10 of these things happen to you already. So as far as relationships are concerned, I'm not saying it's a little egotistical, but it could be, you know, I could describe it that way. I'm not trying to do that to you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I'm trying to be fair, but I think you're probably likely thinking about this thing that hasn't even happened way more than she is. And you would be shocked, not that she doesn't care, but how much quicker she is just to kind of accept it as the way life works.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

the game of the year because we have John Krasinski who covers the Timberwolves who's going to talk not only about this team the fight with Detroit but being in the building that double overtime win against Denver and of course an extended life advice so a lot for you today enjoy the pod with the draft weeks away love to get the perspective of Bruce Feldman who has a mock out now on the athletic so college football writer and also our guy for Fox Sports

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

well, let me play the rookie sooner than we should be playing him because if it looks good for a few weeks, then it ends up like a Freddy Kitchens deal where it's like, well, maybe I get to stick around. Now, Freddy wasn't the head coach at the time, but there was the idea that he had the relationship with Baker and got more out of Baker, so that's why he becomes a head coach.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah, maybe that was just an easy one or I shouldn't have read it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

We took Karan Butler. He was pretty good. Was it Karan Butler? Mecca Okafor. Ben Gordon. Those guys are pretty good. Gotta love Calhoun. It's such a great rant. I love it so much. I love Calhoun. But I have a soft spot for him just because of what that program was and what it was never supposed to be. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Because of the Liv Tyler plane ride and then mentioning with Bill, I just like doing that stuff with Bill. I do. Speaking of shirts off, I remember Bill, when I was doing those hoop streams for ESPN, it was like a last ditch effort. Like, what do we do with this guy? Do we just do this? And so I was doing these hoop streams. I was even traveling. Like I flew back

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And fourth, like Connecticut, LA, three or four times during that because it was like, hey, we're going to stream these things. I think Jacoby and I did one. Cassidy jumped into one of them too. I actually got to go to a couple of finals games in... What was it, 18? Yeah, it was 18. That's my horrible Steph Curry record when I go to his games. May go tonight. We'll see if he can bet the Lakers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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It's unbelievable that a guy who wins that many games and is one of my favorite athletes to ever watch, if I really piece it together, the record is...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I did. I got the win, I think, in the regular season game that I went to last year when I was in the walking boot from the torn calf, running 40s in my spare time. I can't believe you guys think I couldn't run a sub-640. Doesn't Eisen run like a 5'9"? I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah, 5. 5'8". I don't know. I don't know. Anyway... Where were we? Yeah, Liv Tyler. So we started talking, Bill and I, just the nonsensical stuff that we like to do. But yeah, back to Bill and the shirts up. I have like seven different thoughts going at the same time right now. So I apologize for anyone that can anyone that can keep up. I actually feel bad for you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And then San Sebastian salad dressing. I was like, are you serious? Uh, Bill, I was still with ESPN, and he was like, hey, I watched that Hoop Streams thing. He goes, I think that has a chance. I think it's pretty good. He's like, you're good on it. I was like, okay, cool. He goes, you know what I think you should do is take your shirt off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

So I think you'll see coaches at times go – Alright, my move here, even if it doesn't even make sense for the player necessarily, but if I can get something out of this young guy going forward. The Shador part of it, I'm with you on the sacks if you watched it. He takes a lot of bad ones. I wouldn't dispute any of that stuff. I think that it was so one-dimensional.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And I thought, what does this guy think, some fucking clown? Take my shirt off for an ESPN Hoop Streams next to Cassidy and Jacoby? It's like, maybe he's trying to drive my price down. Who knows? Who knows what this guy's doing to me right now? I remember just thinking like, that was weird, but maybe he just felt like the stream thing was informal and that was just something to build to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Maybe, maybe I took it too literally. Bill's going to hear this and be like, that's definitely not what I meant.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah. Maybe he said that because, you know, he didn't want to say hair down or hurt my feelings. Sure. That's probably what he meant, Kyle. Wow. Life advice. Just help me out. Help Ryan today. Yeah. That makes one. I like the nonsensical stuff at the end with Bill. I like talking about TV shows. I love bullshitting with him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I actually think the audience likes that stuff as much as any of the basketball stuff. This pod, I think, would be a good example of that theory. So because that last email. And by the way, good luck to you, man. Yeah, we got an email here because I had mentioned like at some point, it's like sitting next to Liv Tyler. I was like, I want I have to watch the tournament game like I really wanted.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

And thank God I got to watch the end of Florida, Texas Tech right into Bama Duke a little bit later. And this email popped in and I think people understood it. Not a life advice, but I wasn't sure it was qualified for Friday feedback either. So we're just going to try to save the end of the pod here. The Sunday pod, we learned about Ryan heads phoning Liv Tyler for the Duke-Alabama game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

It was actually Florida-Texas Tech, and then we'll watch that one later. Thought about asking the obvious. Would he have done the same if it was Blake Lively? But the question is, what's the list of people he could be sitting next to where Ryan would have left the headphones out with an Elite 8 game on?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Keep the conversation going. Cross-country flight, five plus hours. Who would I say I can't put the headphones in right now?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

does it influence it if you're pretty sure they're eventually going to headphones you and you're just like I headphones you first no they want to they want to go they want it okay they want this sans headphones I like saying it that way by the way because it's a joke inside joke with our buddies somebody's trying to correct it I know who you're going to say and it was the same person I thought of Ron Chernow yep wow you guys are locked in well we were just talking about him okay and and Mark Twain would be it

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

What a plug.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

that I was at times more impressed with him finding a way to make plays because I think he does kind of fit the profile of like he's a baller. Like, let me just get out there, play football, and kind of see what happens. That less regimented style probably isn't everybody's favorite if you're an offensive coordinator trying to game plan on Sundays in the NFL.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

You're supposed to cry at the end of that book. Maybe you're a badass and you don't cry at the end of that book. I'll always talk to you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

You cried on a plane by yourself in an aisle seat because you were listening to the road audio book, but nobody knew why you were crying.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

That's where you end the pod.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Saruti. Thanks to Oregon and Jonathan Frias. Cormac McCarthy. And Cormac McCarthy. Yeah, absolutely. Check out Blood Marine. You won't cry as much.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah, you'll be confused. Maybe I can. I don't know. I read that book and I was like, am I an absolute raging idiot? It was tough. The dialect can be a bit challenging with old C Mac. But anyway, yeah. Thanks to everybody that works on the show. Ryan Russo, the podcast video pod on Spotify and also our YouTube page. Please subscribe. Ryan Russo, the podcast. Bring your Spotify. Oregon.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

But the line of scrimmage throws, it's not just him. It's a lot of these college offenses. Did anybody tell you like, hey, there's a lot of stuff in there that – We're just not going to run and there's not enough intermediate stuff. Deep balls. Stuff's great. Too much stuff at or behind the line of scrimmage and the in between place where you need to live at times.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Like we don't even know if we have tape on him being able to throw any of the underneath stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

Yeah, totally agree, though, on the toughness. I mean, that guy got beat up for two years and got up every single time. All right. One of my favorite. There's a couple other guys that I want to do. Maybe some bigger pictures, bigger picture stuff. Vegas six pick Jalen Walker out of Georgia. I've seen Williams ahead of his teammate here. Williams came back later into the season, but.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

I know Georgia was loaded. That was at least the front and probably the best unit on a team that had a disappointing season based on their standards. But I love seeing this only because I felt like he was a guy consistently on Saturdays where I was like, okay, well, he has to be the next one from Georgia, even if it felt like it's been Williams with more momentum, I think, in other mocks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

A CFB View of This NFL Draft With Bruce Feldman. Plus, How Dangerous Are the TWolves, With Jon Krawczynski.

college football coverage the bruce what's up man good to see you good to see you thanks for having me OK, I like your perspective because you're just so locked in with all the college coaches and you go through it. So I don't know that there was a ton of stuff in your mock where I was like, wow, you know, that's shocking.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So it feels a little unfair because the back thing was obviously a factor, but it wasn't a factor in the first half when he's lost and can't figure out who he's supposed to defend. And then when he's closing out, he's completely upright. He's not quick enough laterally, and he's just getting blown by left and right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

it's a problem, but you'd still do the trade 10 out of 10 times because it was a great trade for the Lakers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So I don't think, I'm not sitting here today thinking all of these disastrous thoughts about the Lakers because, you know, I just thought Minnesota was a lot, they had less public momentum, but I thought they were a lot closer as far as their accomplishments and who they were the last month of the season than the Lakers. So there you go. By the way, little love for Randall.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Randall kind of saved Ant's ass last night. Now, Ant, I looked at it prior to last night's game. I think he was seventh in the NBA in fourth quarter scoring. So we've seen him put together these fourth quarters. He looked like he was searching and so frustrated about all of the misses from three that he wasn't 100% confident. I mean, it's weird to see that dude not confident.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I would tell you at the close of last night's game, that was not a confident basketball player. It doesn't mean this is something that is now going to continue to the rest of the playoffs. I imagine he's going to reset and have another huge moment in the next round.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

but it was a little alarming and good thing for ant is that randall was ready and ready for the challenge i thought he was great i thought they could have hunted luca even more and and even settled a couple times and it looked like he had luca on a side where it was just he and luca and i'm like why are you pulling up for three but randall was not like that at all randall was attack mode attack mode and the possession that maybe is the biggest shot of the entire night 93 88

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Minnesota's up. Who knows? They get a stop. Lakers score. We're right back in this whole thing. And had the ball. And Randall just kind of got it back from him. He was like, I got this. He scores. And that kind of was the game. But it was a really interesting moment and certainly important for a Minnesota team that needs that second score.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And the confidence Randall has coming out of this series is probably through the roof after what he did. And again, shout out to Rudy Gobert on a huge night. The Ryan Russula Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are underway, so don't miss your chance to bet on all the clutch shots and legendary performances with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

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Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Let's dive a little deeper into the playoffs. Austin Rivers joins us, off-guard podcast with his guy Pasha. They just finished up, so you can check that out on the Ringer Network of Pods. All right, let's get into last night. Minnesota eliminates the Lakers. Was the Minnesota problem solvable for LA at all in this series?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And the whole second half, they were up 10 at the half. I just expected they would finally start hitting threes. They'd pull away by 20, maybe a 20-plus point win. Not necessarily how I felt at the beginning because you never really know what Luka would get to his injury. You always wonder if LeBron is capable of doing something really special again like he'd done earlier in the series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Yeah, I mean, when they're running Maxi Kleba out there for five minutes when he hadn't even practiced and hadn't played in the game in a long time, you know that they're searching. I'm totally fine with Jackson Hayes not playing. I mean, I think it becomes one of those labeling things where if Jackson plays a few minutes in the second half of the last game, you're like, oh, you know, they –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

They tried it. I think JJ and the staff knew what they do or don't have with Jackson Hayes, and they had to just light it up from three, and that wasn't going to happen as well. So, you know, as I was watching this series play out, and I was in person at game one, and...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

You got 48 points from Nas and Chief, which was you thought, OK, well, if you're going to get that, which you're not going to get every single night, you didn't get anything close to that. And you had the Rudy game. So all these games are different. But at least in person, it was like, man, I know JJ likes to say how they're not a small team. They just don't have a center.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I was like, yeah, but Minnesota is just as big as they are. I mean, other than the Conley matchup or if DiVincenzo is coming off the bench for him. And it made me think about your 2020 series with the Lakers when you were with the Rockets because you'd beaten OKC, right? You'd beaten OKC in seven. You won game one by 15. Did you think you were like, we got these dudes? We're small.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

There's always the shooting variance part of it, but the first few minutes of the game, I'm like, this is not a solvable problem, I don't believe, for the Lakers. And Minnesota's defense was really good. Their energy was terrific. I love whenever you're pushing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

We don't have a center. Like, we're going to run around like crazy. Did you think you'd win that series?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Let me jump in here then because the way I see it, I think sometimes there's just a physicality, there's a physics part of this that's left out. And we saw it with LA and Minnesota is that you can like your guys or you can say, hey, if this works tonight, it goes in our favor. I just think

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

It is a very overlooked part of this, the physical task of playing night in and night out against a team that is so much bigger than you. And you were seventh and minutes on that squad. PJ's trying to hang in there, and it feels like it becomes too daunting, even if you think you have some style or scheme advantage.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I just think transition is almost underrated, even though the math tells us that points per possession in transition – granted, maybe you're baking in a lot of just the turnover fast breaks with no defense whatsoever, but that –

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So all of you guys were that delusional about it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

That kind of non-fast break transition where you make them chase the matchups, especially LeBron who's not going to chase everybody and match up Luka who can just be absolutely lost out there. And if you have anyone with any kind of size and any momentum going up against the small Lakers lineup, there's just a lot of points.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Okay, so this is a good pivot, though, because I want to talk Clippers Denver. I thought the Clippers, you know, sometimes when I think about Minnesota and LA, I felt like Minnesota had no public momentum, no national momentum, and they finished really strong. And they were the healthiest they had been all year. And it felt like LA had all this momentum.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

national momentum because they had that 18 and three stretch and even if they felt like they weren't the same team to close it's like okay but we saw the best version of them and we saw how good their defense can be with preparation and all these things and then it's like okay well that that didn't work out the Clippers you know I picked the Clippers I didn't think Denver had enough defensive stuff on the perimeter to match up with all the Clippers options and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And yet I'm sitting here going, Denver's up 3-2. And you could make it as simple as Jokic maybe in game four, but Murray reminding us of his playoff ceiling in game five was a big part of it. I mean, they were dominant in game five. I think it was bad defense by the Clippers, but I also think it was incredible shot making.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And so it wasn't necessarily the superhero Jokic game that basically his baseline is a superhero game, but like it was a little extra in that game four. Are you surprised Denver's up 3-2 in this series?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So I loved the way Minnesota was playing, despite the fact they were not making any shots. So back to 81-80 after a couple of misses in the fourth quarter. These were the shooting totals. Randall, who we're going to give him some praise here later, 5-11, 1-5 on threes. Gnaw. 3-10, 2-8 on threes. Nasrid, 1-4 on the game at that point. Again, 0-1 from his one three-point attempt.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I'm glad you said that, because they had like 60 at the half. Yeah, they played their ass off. It's just so funny. When you're losing, then somehow collectively everything's wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And I'm watching it going, hey, they're actually – sure, you'd love to see Kawhi have a moment. And we can get to – I want to get to James here in a second. But there was enough there offensively. You just can't believe the Clippers being this good, having this kind of defensive profile against what feels like – I know Jokic is still going to pick you apart.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

The offense in that game was not the issue. I was shocked to see them that bad defensively.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I'm surprised to hear anyone that had ever played with Jokic ever doubt him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Jaden McDaniels, who fouled out and just has to be a little bit more cautious about how he's using his fouls. I know he's super, super aggressive, but he's not only like, look, Luca got a Brunson one last night, but then there was another couple of regions that were just totally pointless. He hooked his arm on the second foul, the rebound one. He was just caught up with the arms.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

James' playoff shortcomings, well-documented. And at 35 years old with Harden, there's probably a stage for him now in his career where I'm not expecting any of the prime Harden stuff. I don't look at the bad moments as damning because he's not necessarily the clear number one like he's been in other spots. And really, more specifically, Houston. He was great in game one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

He hit some huge buckets down the stretch in game two. Game three is fine. I think game two, he had the slow start and then had a couple of nice ones. Game four, you're like, all right, whatever. I'm looking right now. Not that big of a deal. Game five was alarmingly bad. And it's not just the shooting. I was looking at it. It was like, okay, these are these little mistakes where it seems like

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

As slow as he likes to play, sometimes I think the speed and the pace, as smart as he is, because he's obviously a brilliant player in the way he can read certain things, and I would never deny him that compliment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

But I'm just wondering, as somebody who's played with him and has watched this play out, why do you think it gets harder for him, somebody that has had this kind of production, and again, a season where he was basically the only guy they could rely on until Kawhi could get back, why do you think the playoffs are hard for him?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I know what you're saying, though. It's almost like he's now decided, okay, I'm taking... It's like he takes himself out of the game before the opponent does.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And I know it's a battle out there, but yeah, He was 2 of 3 in the game, but 0 of 1. I mean, only three shots for him because he was dealing with so many other different things. Conley, 1 of 5 from the floor, all three-point shots. DiVincenzo, 3 of 11, 2 of 10 on threes. Ant, 4 of 15 at this point, 0 of 8 on threes. He finished 0 of 11.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

He was three of nine, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

But we're aligned here. And again, I'd be harsher if he were 30 and he's in the MVP conversation. I've been harsher about this in the past. So the reason there was the longer setup for this, which could have just been a much simpler, efficient question. But as we're talking it out, I was like, I didn't want to come off as like, oh, here we go again with Jim.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Because I don't expect as much from him. I'm not holding him to the same standard that I was before. And he's had some good games here. So you could just chalk it up to, hey, they were at Denver. They got down...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

you know and denver's not missing and and whatever but i just thought beyond the three for nine there were too many of those moments i'm like oh this is this all this looks a little too familiar here let me uh shift to houston his former team here do you think they have enough to pull off two more games against golden state i don't i don't why not i think from the depth standpoint they do i'm trying to use that word death good god i said like 10 times on this pot um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So there were so many of these threes that were great looks, too, because the Lakers had to double on a lot of stuff at the top. They doubled... Ant a lot in the first half. I didn't really like it all that much because I think the more you do that, then Ant's going to be able to kind of figure some of these things out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I want to ask you a tactical question on this. So it's 93-64 in the third quarter. 5-50, Steve Kerr waves the white flag. And they got it all the way back to... I had it written down here. But I remember there was a possession where it was one...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

uh 111 97 i mean your man braxton key was in there just missing around that poor guy uh so the question i would ask do you think like i i think i know the answer to this because i think okay they they blasted us in the first half i've got older guys they play tomorrow night We're just going to focus on this game six thing. I'm not going to try to fight and claw back with older players here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

But I think sometimes I'll see teams like stay with their starters late. You know, Tibbs is notorious for it. You know, I think your dad's done it over the years where everybody gets mad and like, oh, there are 14 and there's two and a half minutes left. I think teams will wave the white flag earlier, hoping to trick the opponent into doing the same thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And in this case, I'm wondering if it felt like Steve, maybe it was just a bunch of young guys that were psyched to get minutes with zero pressure on them. But when you're on the sidelines and you see the other team wave the white flag and your coach is not matching with the backups,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I know you could simply say the coaches are afraid of doing that, but I wonder if the opponent does it sometimes to try to invite the other coach into doing it earlier than he wants to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Um, there was like four minutes, there was like a four minute point there where I'm watching going, Hey, this is, it was one 14, one Oh one. And then they had a Pat Spencer missed a three that would have cut it to 10 at four 24. And that's when he had the offensive rebound and then he missed. And then they had the Dylan Brooks play with Spencer getting ejected with the head.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And I wouldn't even say that I like the looks off of it, but it wasn't always as productive as you would expect considering just how open Minnesota was. And so you run through all this stuff. At that point, they were 16% from three. It actually got worse. They finished seven to 47, 15%.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

But that was right around there where I'm like, if they get this to 10 and it's four minutes, I didn't. I think you could tell looking at Draymond, Jimmy and Steph, they were not coming back in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Yeah, because I think the other side of what I was talking about before is a 759. Golden State cuts it to 17. And then Emei's like, okay, Aaron Holiday, Jacques, Jabari, Reid, Eason, out. And he goes back with the five starters. But at that point, I can also understand why he would do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

what did you think of Kyle Anderson's comments? And it wasn't nasty. I think it was played out when you just look at the, when you look at the quote, I thought it was nastier. I, then I looked at it. I'm glad I looked at it. Cause he was like, look, I'm not trying to be a dick. Yeah. Right. Um, But Cleveland's better without Darius Garland.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Is there any truth to that? Because I don't think you can do anything with these numbers. This was such a ridiculous mismatch in the way it played out. No, I don't believe so.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Around that time, though, the reason why they were still in the game, despite their shooting numbers, is the size and the rebounding edge and the field goal attempt edge. Minnesota, 74-61 in field goal attempts at the start of the fourth quarter. I remember writing that one down. And I also think it's Rudy, the best I've seen him catch a basketball in a game in maybe forever. I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I'm with you. Not having a second on-ball creator when shit goes crazy deeper into the playoffs is a death sentence. And so if you take him off of that team, yeah, like there's some splits.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

There's splits defensively that defend the position that Darius is not. Like none of us are sitting here talking about him locking dudes down. No, no. There's too much upside on the other side of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Yeah. I have two things before we finish here. Do you think Boston has a preference between New York and Detroit? I love that series, by the way. Love that series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I haven't watched every single one of these. Rudy had 24 rebounds. The Lakers starters had 27. So let's talk about Rudy because there are games... within a playoff series where you can see something early on and you go, okay, well that might not be something they can even do anymore. They may not want to do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Would you, if you were our Sarah Thompson, sorry to interrupt you, with some of these calls Brunson gets, would you contemplate retirement this offseason?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

There's two or three a game where, sorry, I'm like, you've got to be kidding me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

But you were going somewhere else with that, so hopefully I didn't derail you too much.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Last thing, and we're going to make it personal. How long do you wait to talk to your dad after that last game?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I remember thinking that with a Brooke Lopez Atlanta matchup at one point, and then it kind of worked itself out. Um, You know, look, the Bucs are not alive anymore. I wasn't on the next day, but the Bucs didn't want to play Brook Lopez in the fourth quarter of these games. I think the first fourth quarter minutes he had played was in game five, maybe.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So when I look at Rudy and going into it and we all know, like the Luca Rudy hunting that's going to happen. Sometimes the points per possession, I think some of the box score stuff on Luka actually attacking Rudy, I think the numbers end up looking a little bit better than maybe the looks and opportunities did in watching the game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I imagine the 3-1 jokes make you just furious.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I would say that over the course of this series, though, that Rudy held up well. in these hunting season moments and at least, um, was, was still in the play.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Well, that one, I may look at the last thing I've always, I'm never going to sit here and you know how I feel about your dad. I really like your dad. He's always been awesome to me. I've known him, you know, casually off and on. I remember working out with him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

almost 20 years ago when you were a kid and he was telling me about you, like we were working out together in the gym at a hotel for a road trip. And he was talking about you. I mean, it's, it's just really cool. Like you might've been in sixth grade and he's like, he's going to be in the NBA. And I was like, damn, really?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Cause I remember he was talking about your brother and he was like, he's like, yeah, but he's like, Austin was like, He's the one that's going to get it done. So I don't want to sit here and be like, well, I think you're wrong about this. The one we agree on emphatically is the Orlando one, just as another one you get to add to the list. That's totally, totally unfair about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

The thing I think I'd ask is, you know, when he was done in Boston, he didn't want to rebuild. He wanted to go to the Clippers. He wanted that pressure. You may feel that way. You may feel this way about everything you've said right now. Yeah, that's my question.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Like he wasn't getting worked like he would maybe against some of the smaller guys, even though we know Luca going up against Jaden and going up against Rudy last year in the playoffs was something you'd be worried about on the Minnesota side. But,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

You sound like a son. You sound like a son who cares.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Hey, dude, this was great. Thanks as always. It's always great visiting with you. And again, check out our guy Austin with Pasha on Off Guard, part of our Ringer Network podcast. It's out every week and they're on fire during the playoffs. Thanks, man. I appreciate you, man. Have a good one. As you know by now, we've been tearing through the playoffs some nice nights with our partners.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. You can check out the latest odds and pricing. I've got a three-legger for you. Four if you're feeling a little spicy. Again, you can see that at sportsbook.fanduel.com. We've got Denver at the Clippers. So the totals, we know this was an underfest in the playoffs here quite a bit. And I think that number gets jumped up a bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

RG-Help.com On today's episode of the podcast, Minnesota in five. What happened? It was impressive. It was also sort of non-impressive, at least with last night, except for one man. Maybe two men. So we'll get into breaking that down. I have more on the rest of the playoffs, including Denver, up 3-2 on the Clippers. Houston taking game five at home.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Uh, with the game five results where Denver could not miss a shot. So I'm going to go under two 12, just expecting the Clippers. Yes. I said the Clippers to fight tonight. Um, from a talent standpoint, I still feel better about Los Angeles, but it doesn't mean that they're going to win and picking against Jokic feels pretty stupid. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

When you're down 3-2 on your prediction on this one, but get some right, get some wrong. Anyway, so I'm going to go under 2-12, hoping that this game grinds a bit more because it's close and the Clippers are fighting. And you're going to get max effort because they're trying to stay alive in this whole thing. Kawhi, 20 or more points. I like that over. Jamal getting right, 20 or more points.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

The reason I bring up any of that stuff is that it was pretty clear like Finch preferred not to have Rudy in the closing group at all, which tells you what he thinks are his best five going up against the Lakers, where if the Lakers are going to be small the entire time, you should want to be big or do you want to match their small because you're just not really that worried about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So that, under 2-12, Kawhi 20+, Jamal 20+, paying out at plus 345. If you want to add a little Jokic sprinkle on this thing, Over one and a half threes made. Makes it plus four, four, four. Plus four, 44. He's two or more made threes three of the five games. Only hit one in the last one because he didn't really need it. So, a couple different options for you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Again, check it all out at sportsbook.fanduel.com.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Okay, everybody, it's life advice. Gather your women. This is the segment that they like. Probably didn't love the Minnesota Open, but maybe run it by them. Expand the horizons. Kyle is here. Wargun is here. Good to see everybody. Kyle, you golfing today because you look ready. First time in a month. Super nervous.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I was asked to tighten it up. So Kyle and I, some similarities there. What kind of, where were you sporting good wise?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And that's kind of how the series is playing out up until we saw what we saw from Gobert last night. Game one, up 16, Rudy out at 650 to go. Now... They were up big, so you could make an argument there, but this is the beginning of what was a trend over the next three games, so games one through four. Game two, down 12 at 352 in the fourth. Out. Now, down 12. He's getting rest.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Okay. All right. I'd like to put this one to bed after this, but we'll do one more on this. Interesting fact on gorilla skin. Love the show. 39, 5'9", 70 kilos. Player comp, Anthony Bennett. I score in every fifth game. Good day from down under. That makes sense. Kind of a theme going on here today with a Oregon shirt. Did you get that in Melbourne?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I regret asking a couple of follow-ups because that's not going to go over well. that I didn't know that, but Hey, playoffs locked in. All right. I want to share some interesting facts that may make things a tad more complicated on the gorilla verse 100 man scenario. One of my friends is a zookeeper. That's a great friend to have Doug, the zookeeper. As you guessed it, he looks after gorillas.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

He mentioned if the remaining 30 men were able to blind the gorilla, that would be their best bet. However, morale might be down after watching 70 men turn into paste. The most intriguing point he raised, which I wanted to share with you, is the skin of gorillas is quite tough. And even if you try to punch the gorilla, you will be the one to get hurt. They simply don't feel pain like we do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Their skin is too thick. After doing a quick Google, it appears their bones are also thicker than ours. I figured the bones were thicker. I did not know about the Kevlar skin going with it. But my point still stands. You got to want it. You got to want it really bad. You know, if you read about Sparta, they basically just boys in cages and, you know, wrestle each other to the death.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And so maybe you have 100 people growing up that way. I don't know if this conversation examination of Gen Z. I don't know if it is. You know, we're not making them like we used to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Was it just started with a guy? Cause I, the cool tweets start lowercase. Okay. So I don't know if that falls into this category. Cause then you can see like one of your friends thinks he has a, just a banger and he, you know, he starts at maybe a lowercase. I, you know, like, uh, seven, seven retweets. This one didn't. This one didn't hit. I may promote one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I may just spend a stupid amount of money, write it off, which, again, doesn't really... Really do the wonders that you think, like a Seinfeld episode. But just a terrible one, and that'll be the joke. It'll be an expensive joke, but we'll see. Totally worth it. Totally worth it. Van Pelt and I did something. Could you fight a wolf? Could you beat a wolf if you had a bat and catcher's equipment?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So you have the full chest protector. I believe the mask. Oh, wait. Was it without a bat? Yeah. Cause with a bat, I think it's not really much of a conversation. Most people say yes. Right. So I think it was, you would wrap your arm in the chest protector or whatever. And granted, ultimately that turned into one of our most popular segments very early on. So dudes fighting animals. This isn't new.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

How about game three, though? Up three. He's in the first six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. Then back out again less than a minute later. It's 103-103. Minnesota closes on a 13-1 run in Game 3. Game 4, he's out to start the fourth. They're down 10. He comes in at 9 minutes. Then... They're down nine at that point. He comes out four minutes later. They're down six.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Don't max. But rep 185 nine times on the bench. All right. Don't play basketball. But on the softball field, I could be any iteration of Trevor Story at any given time. Maybe a little Ben Zobrist. I write this in anticipation of an upcoming bachelor party that groomed to be, let's call him PJ, invited groups from different points in his life to spend a long weekend at a lake in the southeast.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

17 people are going, so it's a big group. I have five of those numbers saved as contacts, so it's safe to say the group I'm in is the smallest sect of the overall group. Well, you know, I don't know that you know that because we're talking... let's say 16 with the bachelor or if he's in it. So, or I'd say five or seven, you know, there could be a couple of singles in this thing as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So this is, is it to turn? Do we already know that there's a group of nine from a previous run?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

making the the groups combine as as we all know can be dangerous uh we're a couple weeks away from the trip and a buddy today texted started uh talking about rent a boat one guy name unknown number not saved mentioned that he rented two pontoon boats for one day i was sent a text outside of the group about how two boats was maybe overkill okay so this guy emailing was sent uh an inquiry outside of the main thread so an off-ramp of uh questions

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And then another text about how everyone will be expected to pay. I'll answer my first question. Is it a bitch move for me to preemptively go to the council about how to handle this instead of just sending a text to the big group? Yeah, probably so. Remember all these conversations about the boat concerns are happening with a small group of guys who don't know the majority of the guys. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So if we're going based on this information, then maybe it isn't for sex. It's five, the bachelor. And then, you know, it could be 12 other dudes. Second question. If we get there and everyone is expected to pay for the two boats, what's your thoughts on that? No one is saying it would be sick. No one would say it wouldn't be sick to spend a day on a boat.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I think a couple of people would have just liked a discussion before being expected to pay for a decision. They had no, part in making. Let me know your thoughts. I was concerned that this email alone could hurt the group dynamic. I texted PJ, an avid Priscilla listener, what he thought about me emailing. He said he was all for it. I'm just wondering, do you not like the potential boat cost?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Do you not like the idea that there's two boats? Or do you not like that decisions have been made? And you know what I mean? I'm not saying you have a problem with authority, because that would be a massive assumption after a few sentences. So I'm not saying that. But I am wondering it, just in general. Because... I haven't been through the game before. I just know there's always a few guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

It's like, why are we doing that? Well, guy, it's a bachelor party. So we're going to fucking do something. All right. And money is going to be involved. Reservations planning like we could do none of it. We could do none of it. Then get there and be like, what do you want to do today? But there always feels I don't know that I would go turn into something as excessive as like the alpha thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

But I just know there's always a few dudes out there that want to ask questions just because they don't like the decisions were made without them now if we're talking about a financial part of it like okay sure but you know how old are you again our guy oh he didn't say how old he was the zookeeper friend was 39. um you know it's a bachelor party i mean there are going to be costs so

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

you kind of already know what you're signing up for. And yes, because you probably have in your sect or your current role, the least amount of juice. I mean, you can go in and start asking, but then there's going to be another side text about you guys. Like, hey, how come Rhode Island's fucking telling us what to do? So I just don't know that you have the delegates.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So I don't I just look as I get older and maybe I'm speaking from a position where I don't have to really worry about any of this stuff anymore. You know, again, I kind of default to like you knew you were all going to have to like kick in for certain things that you would have to do. So what's the hold up here? I'm like, just get there and have a good time and don't worry about any of this stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

But younger guys like to worry about really pointless shit. Yeah. And I think this is an example, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

They close on a 19-10 run. So in the first four games, it's clear Finch's preference of what he thought was best for his basketball team was to get Rudy out of there. And the numbers would have backed it up, especially with how Minnesota played in these fourth quarters against the Lakers. However, last night was totally different.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

If I knew the town, you know, if you said, Hey, we're going to Miami and the guy rented two boats, I'd be like, okay, that might be, that might be more than everybody else wants to chip in. Yeah. If we're talking like George, maybe it's a little different. Right. So if we're looking at this guy, I mean, does the guy have any experience with this? Does he know the area? Has he done it before?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Does he know that 17 is actually like two smaller Lake kind of pontoon boats? Like, does that make way more sense? Dueling boats, boat races, both. Yeah. Think about all the activities, the duality of that. Uh, there's, there's a really great version of all of this happening. So sure. Uh,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And I think what we saw last night, as we've seen in these fourth quarters, is a culmination of just the physical task of trying to hang with a team that's bigger than you. And I know J.J. Reagan talked about, look, we're not a small basketball team. We just don't necessarily have a center. They tried to go even smaller times last night.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Maybe the guy who's making the plans is unhinged and getting ahead of himself, but you're going to a bachelor's party. I know you're already spending money on travel and accommodations and all that kind of stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

But like the whole point of it is there's actually supposed to be some things, unless you guys want to sit around and talk about your feelings, which I don't think happens in many of these. So I think you just have to suck it up. And I would, I would advise you to, you know, don't be a disruptor here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Sometimes two boats can be the move. There's still this story from the college buddies. It could be the move. Yeah, I think it was in the Keys. I don't know. I forget. I had a long stretch of not being invited to anything because everybody knew I couldn't afford anything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

No, I mean, I would be like, what did you do? Like, oh, you didn't hear about the trip last month? Like, I did not. I did not hear about it. And again, there was no social media. So it wasn't like you had no chance of feeling left out unless it was like an actual phone call from somebody. So I knew I just was we've covered this, but I was always like, I'm not really even

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

You'd like to be asked, but you keep saying no. I mean, this is the other lesson that we try to tell people. You keep saying no to all the stuff from your core group in those formative post-college years. You're going to end up... I had to work. I had to put time back into being like, I'd like to be a friend again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And you make it up to the big leagues again. Yeah. I mean, there's still... There's still one wedding. I think it was like the first weekend I was doing college football. And again, we're all from the Northeast for the most part. So guys would just, they never thought a fall wedding was a bad idea. And so I was just like, I can't, I can't do this. It was a, it was a college roommate. It sucks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So whatever. Um, you're on a two way contract with your friend. Yeah, pretty much. Like we can't keep tending them. We're going to have to guarantee this or cut them at some point. But yeah, I guess the story is there was a bunch of dudes in the keys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And so it was all the guys that were the guys for the most part, except someone had an older brother who invited friends, but they actually did all of the boat stuff. And I mean, this is just kind of how terrible all of us were in our twenties, but yeah, My guys got to the boat ahead of time, even though they didn't rent it out. And then people were like, should we eat?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

The problem is, is other than Conley and the DiVincenzo minutes, Minnesota's a big basketball team in whatever version of their, quote, small lineup is. So just another example of all of these times where You can have something that looks so definitive in a game, in a series, and then it's the same team, same players, and it plays out entirely differently.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And they were like, no, there's food on the boat. It's like, yeah, food on the boat for the guys that rented it and actually are adults and put down credit cards and had food ordered for their fishing group. And when my guys showed up, they ate all of the food. It's like the first time in history that my group would have been early to something.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

All of the food, the older brother showed up with one of the guys with his few friends for like a real adult fishing trip. And my guys were already banged up from the night before and about to make even bigger mistakes that day and night. and they ate all of their food. And so then a guy came up with like an empty tinfoil tray that had coconut shrimp in there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And he was like, Hey, is there another tray of this? The beginning of the downhill slide. So look, just, I think Kyle brings up a great point. If there's a 12, five split, maybe you can fight back on the cost a little bit. Okay, how about this one? Should I tank a job reference? Player comp, Greg Ostertag.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Stick me in the paint and let me rebound and get in the way defensively, but keep the ball out of my hands. I have a guy I work with who hasn't been the happiest in his job. We have a great friendship mentorship. This is his first job out of college, so he's not in the exact field he wants to be in, which is mine. I guess to the point of the emailer, the guy wants to be in the emailer's field.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

We work at different areas of our organization. I'm working on moving out of my role in the next couple of years and want him to take my job when I transition. He's been interviewing at a different organization, but I don't think it's a great fit for him. I don't really think he does either.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I just think he wants to switch job areas, and I ultimately think it'll end up being a mistake for him to make this move for a variety of reasons. It triples his commute and our field often has to work late or show up really early depending on the day. This new organization has different views and goals than our current one and I know he aligns better with ours. How should I handle it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Should I tank the reference he asked for? I obviously think he's great and has tremendous potential, but I'm not sure he could make this move or should I just let him make the move and learn from the potential mistake? I also want to be the mentor I wish I had when I was his age.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Here's why you don't want to take the reference because if it's all under the same umbrella and it seems like everybody wants to stay here and look, even if somebody ended up moving laterally to a different organization, but in the same industry, you just don't want that out there. I mean, not to go an episode of the office here, but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And Gobert's performance last night is a perfect example of this stuff. I don't really know what the Lakers were supposed to do to solve this. I mean, unless they were going to go nuclear from three, which didn't happen. They were 35% from three in the playoffs. That's 10th among the 16 playoff teams, not playing teams.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

when Michael thinks that he's potentially going to lose some power to Jim by being co-managers, but didn't realize that he was actually going to get himself a promotion. So he didn't want to get in his own way. So he sort of tanks Jim to David Wallace and the David Wallace is like, yeah, but we were going to move you up to sort of like oversee stuff in a region and less day to day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And Michael loves it. And then starts trying to sell David Wallace on Jim. And it's at that point, David's like, yeah, but you just said he's, he's a bit aloof. I don't know how Jim was getting promoted anyway. You want to talk about looks bias? Dwight took the job way more seriously than Jim ever did. And then Jim fucking gets a haircut and a couple of Banana Republic suits and he's good to go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Pam alone would have made me think. You realize they stole a baby? Anyway. Look.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

i just don't know that you want an officially tanked reference on this guy's record especially when it seems like you think he has all these great qualities and he's a friend i mean i would be furious with you if you did this like who you think you are bane yeah that for your own good thing does not play as adults i think like i did it for your own good that's uh i don't think you can do that anymore just when we're all adults um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

All right. I guess we have time for one more here. Mover pooped in my new house before me. Six foot one ninety five. Oppressive gym stats. Basketball. Malcolm Delaney. Very forgettable. But I can make the occasional mid range jumper. I like Malcolm. After years of saving and navigating the crazy real estate market in my large southeastern city.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I don't know if you got any leads on any pontoons down there. My wife and I were finally able to buy our first house earlier this month. By the way, congratulations. Awesome, man. The first time through, it's terrible. And guess what? It's also terrible every time after that. The only thing, it's a lot like getting older. buying a house and everything that goes with it. Am I going to get it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Am I not going to get it? All that different stuff. After you've done it a few times, it doesn't hurt as much because you already know how much it's going to suck going into it. The first time, I mean, I was like, this can't possibly be the way. It's like, yes, this is the way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

What should have been one of the happiest weekends of our lives quickly turned south after our refrigerator's water filter malfunctioned and flooded nearly an entire first floor. Luckily, insurance was able to cover it completely, so we're getting new floors soon. Shout out to State Farm. All right. Glad they could do that for you. Sounds like you guys are a good team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Additionally, we still had a month on our lease at our current apartment, so there's no rush. All right. Okay, cool. Nearing the end of our lease, we decided to hire movers to get the majority of our apartment contents moved over to the house. The movers were a company that our realtor recommended and didn't think twice. Come the day of the move, they call us to let us know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Uh, you wonder about them with the free throws because of how good LeBron is with it. Uh, that Luke is certainly going to live at the line, but there was nothing outrageous. They actually shot less free throw attempts per game, uh, than Minnesota did because that's another problem when you're small is you're, you're out of position a lot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

They'll be arriving at our apartment two hours late. Two hours becomes five hours. They get to our place at 7 p.m. and clearly working in a rush to get home. I don't need to bore you with the details of the rest of the move. We eventually got to my house and one of the movers decides to immediately poop in one of my toilets without asking.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Mind you, he picks the one bathroom that doesn't have any soap. I'm upset because he was likely touching my stuff with poop fingers. But I also felt slighted as a man that I didn't get to take the first poop in my new house. I really don't love this content, but we're going with it. Right. It's too late now. I've told my wife how I feel about this. She thinks I'm overreacting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Is there no code when it comes to doing this in another man's house?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Do those signs exist? You got to make them. That seems very specific. It's a handwritten note. You got to make them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

It's a handwritten note. I totally get how you feel. I mean, I had sort of the inverse when I was moving out. Guy showed up late. Right. First thing he did. So late. So hungover. I mean, I could just see his face. I was like, this guy was on one last night. And then just it was smallest apartment. The bathroom was right in the middle of the entire. The hearth of the home, if you. Right. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

The fireplace would have been a better choice. And he just destroyed the whole apartment. after being late. And then, you know, again, at least you're moving out though. Right. But then they got my floors muddy when I moved into the new place. And the guy was like basically demanding tip, but in his fingers looked like, I mean, it looked like he was dating steel wool. So, um, look,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I totally get where you're coming from, man. I totally get it. But Kyle's a hundred percent right. Movers do not conform to societal norms because it is one of the worst fucking jobs of all time. And the reason it sucks, I don't know what it is about moving. I don't know what it is about the emotional part of it. Like I've moved out of places. I could not wait to leave.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And yet there's some finality, you know, that's, it's a very obvious thing. point on your timeline. And I don't know what that shift is. Cause I personally like moving. I like moving every few years. I need change. I need to move to new cities and I, you know, new jobs. Like I usually, although oddly enough, I think I've only worked professionally at like sort of two and a half places, but look,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

The job for them, though, like when we're done, my last move was terrible because I didn't have deadlines. So it just dragged and it lurked and it hung over my head like an appointment. Or if I've been younger, like a paper, the worst paper that could ever possibly be due. And I've done no work for it. And every day it's one day closer to being due.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

You're tired, you're fouling, and you have a guy in Luca and LeBron at this stage of his career, uh, They're just not going to be dialed up energy wise. And that's another reason why I think when you watch these two teams play, you're like, which team's energy are you going to bet on to look better in the fourth quarter? It's not even a discussion.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And all I can do is think about I'm just consumed by it. And so that's kind of how I think about moving sometimes. Imagine if when you did it professionally, you just it was never over. Now, they don't have the emotional attachment. There's no finality to it. It's just that, hey, all of these things have to be moved from here to tomorrow. Then we get to do it all over again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Yeah. Yeah. Hey, let's go faster so we can do another place. So you're totally I think you're fine. I don't even know that you're necessarily overreacting. Some people may say, hey, you know, nature's nature. You got to go or whatever. But I'll tell you who doesn't care is that mover. He forgot. He's done this so many times. He didn't remember your job.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Get in there early. What if there was an underserved market for that sign? Probably not. Probably not.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

When I see a place that's empty, you just, whenever I drive through a town and something's empty with like a good location, I'll be like, what would work in there? And be like, none of your ideas. None. All right. Thanks to Oregon. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frias for help on the video as we are a video podcast now on the Spotify app. Yeah, we are. Listen and now can watch.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

You can also subscribe to our YouTube page, the Ryan Rosillo podcast, ringer Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Must be 21 and older. Present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-

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Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And this also leads to the Lakers having the second worst rebounding rate of any team in the playoffs. So all of that, then you can look at these fourth quarters. What I'm talking about here is, The net rating, Minnesota was a plus 40 net rating in the fourth quarter in this series, which of course means that the Lakers were last in fourth quarter net rating, worse than Miami even.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Although you could argue Cleveland was kicking their ass so bad that fourth quarters didn't always matter that much in this series. I was thinking about the Lakers series. I'm going to ask Austin Rivers about this because he was on that Houston team in 2020. Remember 2020? Houston got game one after they went to seven games with OKC. But remember, they were playing really small.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

It was the PJ Tucker center thing and then just a bunch of perimeter guys around it. So Houston won that first game by 15. And this doesn't happen a lot because... I, like you, you see just one game of a series and how the two teams are going at each other. When another team wins by a lot, it's hard to go, hey, I really like the other team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

In that game, the Lakers are going to kill this team after they lost game one, watching it. If this is what this series is going to be, and I don't really know what Houston's other options are, Houston's going to get killed. So it reminded me a bit of that. I mean, Houston in that series, they lost the next four games by 51 points. The Lakers out-rebounded them 227-163 in the series.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So the small part with the Lakers. I'd suggest if you're arguing that Jackson Hayes could save the day, I would, I'd put a little more time in. Not that I'm right about everything all the time, but like, you know, the simplicity of if Jackson Hayes had played a few minutes in game four and a few minutes last night, like JJ Redick and the staff are doing it right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

So JJ, before the game was asked this question and he, it made the round. So I want to play the audio for you now. He was obviously very upset with what was a fairly leading question.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Are you saying that because I'm inexperienced and that was an inexperienced decision that I made? You think I don't talk to my assistants about substitutions every single time out?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

As do I, every single time. That's a weird assumption.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And some of the other stuff from the East with our guy Austin Rivers. And we'll talk a little bit about his dad. And that awful loss from Milwaukee ending their season. And we've got life advice. That was impressive, but it kind of wasn't. Minnesota should have won that game by 30 points last night. Timberwolves close out the Lakers in five games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Now, I'll start here. I like JJ. I wouldn't classify our relationship as friends, but I like him. And it's funny, when he started on TV, we have a really good mutual friend. He goes, you know, JJ and you are a lot alike.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Other than the basketball accolades, the looks, 118 million in career earnings, a head coaching job in the NBA, a degree from Duke, and the hair. Yeah, I'd say maybe the exact same guy. The question I thought was really, the tone of it was fine, but it was very clear that it was kind of a fucked question.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Like, hey, you talk to your assistants this time around, you know, as if when JJ was playing the entire same five for second half that we've never seen before. Like if you're going to be say this all the time, but if you're going to be different and lose, you will have only lost because you were different for no any other reason. So you're better just with the way people react to everything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

You're almost better in life now. being the same and wrong as opposed to being different and wrong. So JJ does something different. He thinks it's, it's only out throughout this entire series. It doesn't work. So a lot of this, I think locally in LA, it's going to be a big discussion. I'm sure nationally becomes the main talking point because the way JJ handled that ends up being like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

You know, that's an assumption. I understood why he was upset because I do think it's a little like, hey, you going to check in with anybody? Because if his assistants the whole game are like, do you want to talk to him? Like, why would he talk? What is he doing? He's his own man. He won't listen to us. Clearly, these guys talk all the time and he thought it was his best, best scenario.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And it didn't work. And by the way, if they had played Jackson Hayes like a little bit more like there was, I don't think there was any sub pattern here that was going to solve the problem. Now, if you want to get on JJ's case for needing to handle it a little bit better, because when I saw it and saw the video the first time, I'm like, they better win tonight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Because if they lose, then this will be part of it. And this will be like brought up later on because they just don't see it a ton. So I think part of the job is, even though I would agree with JJ feeling slighted by it, part of the job and the seasoning is handling the questions that you know are kind of stupid. All right. What do we do with LeBron?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

Honestly, I just feel like anything he can do at this point should be extra credit and that we shouldn't be looking at a series like this and looking at his fourth quarter and going... Well, we need to have a real honest discussion about who LeBron is or isn't. Look, my guy Curry hasn't been great the last couple games. He's got to figure out something with the men Thompson.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

We'll get to that game with our guests, so it's not going to be in the open. But, you know, Curry has another bad game. You expect me to sit here and be like, you know, I had him 12th all time, but I think I'm going to move him to 18th after games four and five against the Rockets. I did wonder if LeBron was saving something for this run. I think the answer is that there was just not enough there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

He was aggressive in the first half. I looked at the shot attempts again this morning. I'd say the first two attempts in the second half, early in the second half, he had a really nice baseline cut. He had another one for an and one, and then he had about a stretch of six straight possessions where it was pretty clear he was either willing... to defer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

They were shots he didn't necessarily want to take. So I think the tank was pretty close to empty and maybe it was after that 38 point game and he just couldn't really get it back. And I know that Luca with his injury, I, by the way, I thought the DiVincenzo thing was nasty, but not like ejectionable. So you want to call it a flagrant one, whatever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

I don't know that it would have necessarily changed the outcome of the game. If it was called different, certainly it could have changed the outcome of the game if Luca's back wasn't hurting him. As much as it was in that second half, I think DiVincenzo got elbowed in the face. Then he was pissed and was going to hit somebody else. Unfortunately, it was Luka, and Luka landed really bad.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And they closed out last night because of one, Rudy Gobert. Yeah, 27-24. You probably know that by now, but if you don't, you're like, what? For the series? No, no. Last night, he was a beast. For somebody that is not always beastly. So let's get to my thoughts and why I thought I should have been 30. At one point, starting the fourth quarter, Minnesota was up one, 81-80.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

But Luka was terrible on defense before he had gotten hurt. He was really bad again. Also, just the lack of positional awareness on rebounds going up in the air. If somebody else is near the basket and you're behind them, but it's the other team, you can actually – you're allowed to step in front of them. And Luca just doesn't have a ton of interest in this stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Rudy’s Diabolical Game 5, LAC-DEN Preview, and Whether or Not to Call Dad After a Playoff Loss With Austin Rivers

And so, you know, if Luca hadn't had the finals run of last year or the Western Conference finals run of a couple of years ago, you would start to hear more and more about those deficiencies getting in the way. But again, when they're in the finals, and maybe there are, maybe there are players you're like, this still needs to be better, and it clearly needs to be better with him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

On today's episode of the podcast, we open with Buffalo advancing his death weight. Lamar, America's favorite quarterback? Probably not. But what's fair about the guy behind center for the Ravens? We're going to break down all these games with Willie Colon, including the Eagles holding up Rams, the KC controversy, and, of course, Washington doing unprecedented things with a rookie quarterback.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Perfect time to have Willie Colon on again from SNY and Breakfast Ball on Fox, gearing up for, you know, some can say this is the best weekend of football. I love the conference championship game just because the idea that you're getting into the Super Bowl. I think we remember these games a little bit more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I'm going to start walking around like it's happened in Louisiana, where you're just like, yeah, let's go. Let's see what happens here. But that's what I'm doing. That's the way I feel on Monday. So there's a bunch of stuff that I need to get to with this game, and that's why we're going to spend so much time on it. Because Baltimore...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

That's not really where the debate goes, but good morning to you, man. Morning, brother. Did I see you after or before the New Year?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Let's start with Washington because this is a story. And I did a big open on Lamar. We're going to get your thoughts on Baltimore and Buffalo anyway. But Mike Sando, who you know how much I like his work, checked in on his stuff this Monday morning and he had this. All right. So if you think of quarterbacks that are rookies making the conference championship game, Jaden's now the fifth to do it.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And if you look at the combined special teams and defensive output from the other rookie QBs, there's a common theme here. Purdy in 22 combined defensive special teams ranking for the Niners that year. Number one. Mark Sanchez in 2010, number three combined on that side of the football and the other two units. Flacco, 09, number three. Ben Roethlisberger, rookie year 2004, number four.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

If you combine the defense and special teams of Washington, those units and their output for Jaden, they're 24th. So what this I mean, you know, how many times can you say about a rookie quarterback like it's not supposed to keep like, hey, nice year, buddy, and then eliminate it and let's see what they can build on. But like what is possible?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

He is moving the walls of what's possible for a rookie quarterback. So just anywhere you want to go with what you've seen from him and that big win against Detroit.

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At one moment, I thought, okay, this game has turned around and the Ravens are going to win it. So when I say Buffalo hung on to win despite leading at halftime and pulling this out, there's a moment in this game where I'm like, okay, this is where Buffalo is absolutely hanging on. So Buffalo goes up. It was 21-10 at the half.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

All right, I'm glad you brought up the Blitz because when it works, whether it's Spagnuolo at the end of the game or you're like, okay, he did it again. And we'll get to some Kansas City-Houston stuff here as well. But we saw the Blitz destroy Darnold in that Detroit-Minnesota matchup. And then we saw a carryover where the Rams probably destroyed

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a bit of a departure with Shula's defense of what they like to do. And it's like, well, we just watched this guy look like a shell of himself. So maybe, maybe we do some of that. And so you figure with Detroit and again, what do we always see when we're watching regular season Sunday games? Hey, third and seven, it's a rookie quarterback. You know, they're just sending pressure.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

He's not going to understand. He's going to miss somebody. And yet, here's Jaden. And it's like, nah, you know, and I, I don't, I don't know if like clearly it's on him. Cause it doesn't seem like there's an area of a field where he's afraid to throw it. It looks like they're asking him to hit like, no, it looks like throw the ball over there. Like the McLaurin,

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

this is stupid because I'm asking it kind of, but I remember like Rex when he showed up on the scene and it was just like, yeah. And I remember we were on the air. I'm like, so you just blitz all the time now. And it just, it just works because the blitz doesn't work against Jaden in the regular season. It didn't work in this game. I think the great ones are like, please, like Brady was a point.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It was like, please blitz me, please do it. Cause you guys like, I'm going to destroy you all day long. So where is that line of like, When it's no longer as effective as the times where you're like, hey, you know, after the game, like, how did it work? Oh, we were super aggressive. They couldn't figure any of this stuff out because we just saw Detroit do it to Darnell.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

But if you look at Baltimore scoring on possessions, there's three straight possessions, real possessions in there because there's an end-of-half thing there. But it's field goal, field goal, touchdown on three straight real possessions that make it 21-19. They fail the two-point conversion on a batted pass. So they had a look, but it's 21-19. The touchdown drive for Baltimore at that time

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Okay, let's talk about that group because I do want to get to the aggressiveness there because I think that there's more to that conversation. But whenever I watch Washington... There'll be numerous guys in that front, in particular, where I'm like, I like that guy. There's that guy again. There just seem to be all these dudes.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Then when you look at the stats over the course of the season, there's nothing special. If you look at their scoring defense, you look at the yardage stuff, you look at the red zone defense against the touchdown and all that stuff, it feels like I like more dudes than the profile should allow me to.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah, I think there was even perhaps a bit of a push for like, if you give Sam Howell a little bit more time, I mean, he was sacked 65 times last year. Yeah, you know, whatever. You know, he just, it was tough. It was a tough year for Sam back there. But I think things are moving in the right direction. All right, so the aggressiveness thing with Dan Campbell.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Because I do feel like it's playing the results a bit. Because it's hard to just change your identity. And everybody seemed to love it. They're at home. They run the reverse. But I would argue that down 38-28. Yeah. A couple minutes into the fourth quarter, and on first down at the Detroit 46, to trust Jamison Williams to make the right decision

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

on that play is one of the single worst play calls of the entire year by any team. And they're awesome. Campbell's awesome. Ben's awesome. But to tell a receiver, and again, Jameson usually has a moment every game where I'm like, what the fuck are you doing? If he and George Pickens got a house together, I would sign up for whatever TV show that was.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And I wouldn't even be mad if I still were billed and forgetting to cancel the subscription because I just realized I paid another $150 for the MLB package, which I wasn't aware of. So I like to, and we know this with receivers, like that becomes a moment where like, it is my time. The crazy thing is actually the throw. I can't believe the guy intercepted it.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

had to be probably the worst experience for Bills fans all season long.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Like, I can't believe the recovery to throw a one-on-one like normally. And then Jameson comes back and they're like, what are you doing? And then he's yelling at the guy. And cause you just, you're putting him in a spot where it's like, Hey, do we trust James to make this?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

But dudes want the stat. Dudes want the stat, man.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I would say I thought I could make a play.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Because when we looked at this matchup, and whether it was the quarterback discussion, the coaching stuff, skill guys, pass rush, whatever, like the accepted advantage, and we talked about this on Wednesday with Ted Wynn and the film breakdown part of it, the accepted advantage was that Baltimore's front, not their defensive front, their offensive line, and Henry... and the Lamar dynamic.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

So we are on the same. You cannot put him in that position.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I do. I blame everybody.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Right. I could tell when Randall L. That must have been. Right. That must have been. If there's any chance of it not working, you probably can run it. I don't know. I'd have to go back and look at how many people were. But even if he's tackled back there, you're still in the fight.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

The Quinn relationship with his players, it does feel very, very real. And maybe we overstate that at times. It feels like you played for a lot of guys that you were like, no, no, this is somebody that I really love and respect. What is it about Dan? Is there something specific about Dan that maybe is perceived as the same but a little different with that player-coach dynamic?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

That was going to be something that was going to be tough to hold up physically over three hours for Buffalo's lighter front. And that series, that possession, I should say, was the epitome of everything that everybody had talked about. So during that drive, Baltimore went 80 yards in seven plays in 344. Six of the seven plays were runs, and they were just absolutely gashing.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

you know? Yeah. He and Robinson, man, I was like, we still got some game left, but you know, like let's, they were, they were like, even him, even watch, watch old man, Bobby Wagner.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

They had the fourth lowest Vegas win total of any team in the NFL. It's unbelievable. You can say, hey, this is what a rookie, the special rookie QBs, they don't do this with the lack of support, back to the original point of the other guys that we're talking about. That Flacco 09 year, that used to drive me insane. The way he would be talked about, it was a very Matt Ryan based thing.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I like Matt Ryan better than Flacco coming out of the draft. And then it was like, yeah, but Flacco's winning all these games. He was 11 of 18 again. You dopes. That team is so good on defense.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Right, right. And then he turned into Montana for a month in the playoffs. So, I mean, he has one of the strangest careers of anybody, but there were so many Flacco years early on where I was like, yeah, that's cool. His record's incredible, but he's not being tasked with what some other people are doing.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And again, historically, what Daniels is doing right now for rookie quarterback to be playing this upcoming weekend, this is not done.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I don't know if that game means anything because it's one of the weirdest games of the entire regular season. Five turnovers? For what this matchup is, right. And then the fact that Hurts is knocked out of it. So let's start with the good stuff here with Philadelphia. They take out the Rams. They run the hell out of the ball. 34 for 285. Eight yards to carry. Saquon goes for 205.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Hurts has the huge one to start the game. On that 44-yard touchdown, by the way, the left tackle, he pulls, and he is on the hole immediately, and they're so dominant on that play, he didn't even have anybody to block. It was already over. It was already too late. Somebody kind of gets into the mix a little bit later, but go ahead.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It's twofold. It is what's going on with Hurts, and holy shit. that they can do this against a Rams team. That's turnaround is, is remarkable. You know who they were the first five games, one and four, the offensive line is a mess. I know the receivers. I think I always have a soft spot, soft spot for Stafford because I felt like he was always this good and Detroit's defense and special teams.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

We want to stay on that theme. We're terrible. And then all of a sudden by product, like Stafford was just this massive disappointment. And you're like, you know what? I'd like to believe that in the NFL, there exists players. They're actually spectacular players. And it just doesn't work out for reasons that are outside of their control. But we're just not allowed to do that with quarterbacks.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

So Stafford having his Super Bowl moment and even some kind of redemption this year, I like that part of it. And look, they get back into this game. But I have this hurts part of me. That is like... You want to talk excuses? This guy has great, legitimate excuses to not be sharp right now. Misses all of the time after the concussion in that Washington game. Wasn't great last week. Didn't matter.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Buffalo's defense to the point where like Baltimore had offensive linemen that were looking for other people to hit and they were knocking people out of the way. And he's just like, OK, this is the part of the matchup that is problematic. You had Nance and Romo like you can almost tell their tone during that drive was like.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

You've got the fact that he gets hurt in this game, right? Yeah. The conditions on top of everything else, I think these are very legitimate excuses. But the fact is, this is two games from Hertz, and the standard for Philadelphia is winning a Super Bowl, Willie.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

So I think it's awesome what Philadelphia did yesterday and to hang on throughout all of it and all this personnel on defense, which I love. But yeah, is Hertz going to win against... I like him against Washington, but is he going to beat Allen or Mahomes? And that's where the conversation turns because of who they've been the last few years. So I actually just answered maybe your question.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Where is Jalen Carter on disruptive forces on a defensive line for you? Like, how many dudes are ahead of him now? And it's a little different because he's going to be playing inside so much compared to, you know, just the pure edge guys that get all the headlines.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And I feel like all of these close games in NFL games, there's always this moment. You're like, this might be when they win it. Like, this is when the game is changing in their favor. And I think too often, you know, the team goes up 14-0. Everybody's like, oh, thanks for coming to the other team. And you're like, this is a battle.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Again, I don't know how critical I feel like I can be of him considering everything leading up and the fact that he got hurt in this game. He did get hurt. But then there was a throw that he throws to the left sideline into the end zone to Brown where he just doesn't see Witherspoon underneath it. And he got away with it. It ended up just being an incompletion.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And I don't mind throwing it to AJ one-on-one against the defensive back. I mean, that guy's a beast. But the throw, not to say that like quarterbacks don't lose a safety every now and then, but considering on it, like that was a throw where I went, what? How did he not see?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Matchup-wise, do you think Washington has a chance here?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I don't know if all the sacks are on that group though. And maybe it's just me giving them a benefit of the doubt because it's the best offensive line in the NFL. But I think between hurts reluctance and the tendency to hang on to the football a little bit longer and the knee injury in this game. So, I wanted to make sure I didn't sound like I was being critical.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

This is a physical and mental battle that plays out over three hours. And you have to stay in the game mentally. You have to show your toughness to get through those down times early on, which certainly Baltimore had. And we're going to get to all that stuff in the answers thing. But that had to be really scary for Buffalo fans.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I just haven't liked what I've seen for two weeks from him, but there are very valid reasons why that might be happening. We still have two other games to get to here, so I've enjoyed this so much, but let's go through it. Okay, Kansas City beats Houston, and then we'll close on Buffalo-Baltimore, right? I have a little number for you here.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

The past two years, Kansas City opponents have been flagged for 48 penalties... In the fourth quarter and overtime of one score game. So to repeat that, go to the last two years, the other team, team Kansas City's playing against, in one score games of fourth quarter overtime situations, that team has been flagged 48 times. Do you want to guess how many times Kansas City has been flagged?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

See? See what's happened? Do you see what's happened? I bit the apple. Everybody's biting the apple right now. And look, as much as I love Mahomes, that shit was gross this weekend, man.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

The flop on the sideline was if I had a kid who had a poster, we may take it down for a week.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

No, because it's good with that chili.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And I understand what has happened and all the hand-wringing about this isn't the football I grew up with. Ratings would tell you nobody cares. Nobody cares enough to do something else. The quarterback flags that are excessive, it's done that way for a reason. Now, on the first one, I can at least understand. The Will Anderson one?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah, when you see the official that's throwing the flag on that, he's reacting to the angle of the drive and then Mahomes going down.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

So luckily for Buffalo, they hit a 51-yard field goal, get a little momentum back. I think that field goal was important as we close on that as a reminder when Buffalo gets the football back. That field goal made it 24-19. Baltimore has the fumble on the Andrews catch, which was just a disaster. Like I said, we'll get to his day here in a second.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It was huge.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

What's the point of it? Um, I agree. I agree. I'm just at least justifying why I could understand the initial flag on it because of the angle and what he thought that he saw. And I think this happens a lot with officiating and I would always wonder whether it's football or basketball. Like I'm thinking about this, uh, there was a Sixers game this year, right?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And Jenna Schroeder was officiating for the baseline and there was already getting a little hot and Drummond had a play where it looked like he pushed the player down to the ground and Drummond ends up getting ejected. And then they bring them back in, which is once they overturned it because they knew that it was wrong. And she basically was making the call on something.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

She didn't know why something happened, but the end result was that somebody was on the ground. And I wonder if officials feel like over time you're better off going with that even if you didn't see the first part of it because more often than not that you're going to be right. And look, that game ended up being weird and B got ejected the whole thing. He deserved to be ejected in that one.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I think what happens with some of these quarterback hits is if I think what could have happened happened, then I'll likely be right. Now look, on the second one, you're asking defensive players to do something that's impossible now. It's a bit like Baker has figured this out too. Like Baker...

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will go down in a way where there's going to be physical contact, and yet now everyone's conditioned to think, I can't believe the quarterback was touched. You're like, dude, the quarterback was standing up two seconds ago. And they just dropped straight to the ground. Right. What am I supposed to do? Kyler Murray had a play on the sideline this year where he's veering towards the sideline.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

The defensive players give up because they're afraid of even breathing on the dudes.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah, and the sideline stuff is the defensive player has no choice because now you'll see flags where a player was inbounds but veering out of bounds, so then the hit carries itself out of bounds. But there's also been times where I've been pleasantly surprised. There was a hit, I think it was the Lamar hit, where they kind of used common sense.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

You know what was the funniest thing about that was one of the offensive linemen for the Ravens came over to shove

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the bills player and usually the defensive player gets killed because he's not prepared for it and the offensive lineman's kind of allowed to do it everybody just kind of understands the way business is done i think oliver got up and like jacked up the old lineman like he was ready it was the wrong it was wrong it was the wrong goon to the party right now you don't see that very often um having said all these things the kansas city thing that plays out on social media is bullshit

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And at 24-19, Buffalo moves the ball all the way to the Baltimore two-yard line. On third and goal at the two, Allen is stuffed. You're like, wait, that play that works all the time that everybody knew we were going to run, that ends up getting stuffed. And Allen has this weird Brett Favre moment.

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

They had pass interferences that were not called in their favor last year on two games that I can think of. They had the offsides thing on the Tony play. It's just the numbers do not back it up. But the problem is Saturday was so gross. But ultimately, do you think that's why Kansas City won?

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What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It just wasn't working for him. All right, let's talk main event here because I opened with it, so we'll close with it with us. Buffalo gets past Baltimore. Your first thing, you've got a 10-minute monologue. I don't want you to go 10 minutes, but we already did that. But the number one thing you have to get off your chest, observation of this game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah, 21 yards at the half.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

where it looks like as his back is to the goal line, he's looking back at a skill player to his right who wasn't really even that close. He's like, is he about to pitch that? And clearly there was a moment where he thought about it, and it looked like it would have been a disaster. And luckily he didn't. But now at fourth and goal, the Bills and McDermott have a choice to make. And in this...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

The two mistakes from Lamar are massive. The Andrews one. I mean, you just keep chalking up the turnovers and the other team is going to turn the football over. It's going to be tough to beat anybody that's good. It's almost remarkable they got back in this situation to even tie this football game up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Would you say there was a moment late in the game where Buffalo's up and I'm like, do you guys think you're up like 14? Do you think there's four minutes left in the game? Because at 12 minutes, I'm like, you guys are more worried about the clock here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Because I thought at that point, it's almost as if they were so afraid to make a mistake, they didn't want to put themselves in any position to lead the one. And then I think they just felt like they were really conservative. And conservative with Allen and the way this offense has developed and what it's turned into.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

There's just a lot of stuff you have to worry about, even if the number one targeted receiver isn't... isn't a huge threat you know it's shakir but it's not it's not like oh my god like how are we going to stop this beast We have to double-team him the entire time. It doesn't matter. It'll be forgotten by the end of the day. But that's the problem. Would you agree with that, though?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

The fair catch picks always look pretty bad. I don't have a ton of stupid picks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Hey, I love Milano. But yeah, Romo was kind of married to that take because I think he saw it live and then it came back to the replay. He was just kind of sitting in the hole. You know what I love what they did with Milano? And I think Romo did a really good job of explaining this is how they would kind of shift their front line.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

and Milano would start if you're on offense he'd be on your left side and then he would kind of trick you into thinking he wasn't in the play but all he really was doing was spying you to the right side so it was as if they wanted Lamar to think he had a running lane there and then it's still up to Milano to make the tackle which again I don't like anybody's chances against Lamar in space but this is a real thing like they've done a good job against Lamar in the rushing attack like it wasn't

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It's a threat, so it exists, but it wasn't like it was something that was a problem for Buffalo's defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Movement, I don't know, because look, teams should have been going for it on fourth down far more, but then it bleeds into like, why are you doing it here? And I love that they kicked a field goal. I did. I understand going up to two scores, and it's like, no, the game is over. That's the way you do it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Is Matt Collins' job to get one catch potentially... That's somebody I would fight. Right. I didn't know if you were going to like Matt Collins or hate Matt Collins. I think I know. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Okay, perfect segue. We did this with you back in the day. I may bring it back for select athletes. En garde. I'll let you try my Wu-Tang style. That sound means we're bringing it back. Could you beat up this teammate with our guests? Okay. So we're going back to the 2009 Steelers. Okay. Let's start with Heath Miller.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Okay. I promise that race was not part of the theme here, but Brett Kiesel.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Sometimes guys are just so aggressive in the thought process that you're assuming way too much. What if you go for it? You just ran the Allen play. It doesn't work. Do you run it again, and it doesn't work? Are they that ready, that hyped up for it? The most important possession of the entire season for a defensive front for Baltimore? They just stuffed it on third down. Do you get cute?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

That's right. Historically unprecedented. We've got our pick for the national championship and why Ohio State has a chance to achieve unprecedented redemption. Love that word today. And life advice. Buffalo wins. They're headed to the AFC title game. And that's where I'm going to start. And I'm going to do really the open on that. And then we'll get to all the other games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I did not expect that answer because sometimes when I mix it up on the contestants, they'll be like, come on, dude. That's ridiculous. Tai Chi, that's a balance thing. So who knows? Yeah, a lot of balance in there. I may have to get work. So let's end it with the headliner then, James Harrison.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Sounds like a no.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Well, I think you were very fair. You might have been a little... I think you were a little self-deprecating in this. I think with the James Harrison one, though, all of us from the outside would just be like, I guess that's just a loss. I did this with Teddy Bruschi once. Like, I expected Teddy to not pick anybody, right? Because it's just Teddy. Like, I did not expect Teddy to win.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Right. That anybody would get him. And then when you name that one dude... Were you surprised? Because we don't know. And then they'll be like, no, actually, like, I mean, it was some random, like, defensive lineman in the rotation that I had named. And he was like, no, because that guy would kill me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

The great thing with you is I can do this with you multiple times, so we'll do it again next time. We'll pick some guys from the Jets. Willie, enjoy the rest of the week. Enjoy your snowstorm. Enjoy your chili. Oh, man. And we'll talk to you again soon. Appreciate you, brother. Ohio State Notre Dame for a national championship tonight, like everybody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Do you give Allen a run-play kind of decision where he can just get out to one side and decide what he wants to do, but then you're giving up the other half of the field? There's just so much that goes into the decision. And I think the part that's ignored far too often is what's wrong with going up eight points? Even if they score the touchdown, they have to convert the two.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

All the hours, all the tape, lifting all those weights. This is why we do it. Watch a national championship that I wonder, is this less popular? based on the brands and the fan bases, is this less popular than a Georgia-Alabama game? Is this Mets-Yankees-Subway series? I had a tough time with that, but that might be my own thing for Ohio State-Notre Dame. Maybe. I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

But what we do have on the table for Ohio State is an unprecedented chance at redemption. Now, a year ago, after Day had lost to Michigan again for the third straight time, Now, when he lost to Michigan, they were ranked fifth, third, and third. We'll get to this year's loss. They lost the third straight time. It's just not going to cut it, right? It's not how this rivalry goes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

You keep losing this game, you're supposed to be fired. And the parallel that I made essentially was that, yeah, remember when Michigan fans are doing the exact same thing with Harbaugh? Maybe it wasn't Michigan fans. I think the loudest voices were national media members that just resented the attention. Harbaugh shows up on the scene. It's going to be different.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

He's going to demand that attention. I think he actually tapered off on that a little bit. Remember, they had to rework the contract, but I always felt like, look, if Michigan's happy with him, and he's still recruiting, and he keeps losing to Ohio State. If you look at this historically, how different is it than everything that has happened?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Because Michigan beat Ohio State in 2011, and then they lost in 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19. And the result of this game has almost everything to do with your approval rating among the fan base. So it's like, well, he's not beating Ohio State, and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

They had flirted with a playoff appearance I think a couple times during that Harbaugh run, but since they were losing to Ohio State, it was like, this isn't going to cut it. It's like, well, actually, you weren't really beating them before you got there either in 2015. So what? Like, okay, I know you get real bummed out about it, but are you sure you're going to do better?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

If Harbaugh is still invested into it, if the boosters are okay with it, if the administration is okay with it, Are you really sure? Because they had that disastrous COVID season, but for the most part, they were in the mix. In the mix, at least enough for me to think, I don't really know that you need to make that change.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And despite Day's struggles against Michigan, the third straight loss last year, I was like, yeah, but Ohio State kind of starts every year in position to at least, there's disappointing years, but they at least start

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

from a place where you figure, and granted it's a little bit different with the big 10 expansion, but certainly over the other years before all these other teams showed up from the West coast, like their path to playoff contention is almost like automatic, depending on what happens with that last game. So are you sure you really want to do this, Ohio State fans?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

There's also some math in your favor, and it's probably more of an aberration on this season, but two-point conversion historically is always around like 50%.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Because they has lost three straight. Well, when they lost the fourth straight to an unranked Michigan team that couldn't complete a forward pass, the answer was unequivocally yes. I mean, I like the segment last year. This year, I was after that loss. I was like, okay. Reasonable Ohio State people. Brian Windhorst. We love Windhorst. Big Ohio State fan. Listen to his podcast all the time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

He was like, yeah, all right. it might be time. And now Ohio state sits hours away from a chance of winning a national championship, which didn't seem like, well, you can't say it seemed impossible because with the playoff expansion, it's like, no, it kind of is possible. And that's why it's unprecedented because any other team that had lost that game is not in the 14 playoffs and it's just over.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And you get to hang around Columbus and, not playing in the Big Ten championship game, stewing on four straight Michigan losses, and maybe Day doesn't even survive. But the reason I look at tonight is a chance at unprecedented redemption because there was no system that would ever even allow it. And again, this is not a complaint about the system. I've already done it too many times.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I don't know if I can make a pact with you that I'm just not going to do it anymore. I think we know come August I'll get warmed up again and have a few minutes in me. But to win a title, Which, again, I'm picking Ohio State because I don't know how you pick against them right now. You want to talk about the Will Howard game that's supposed to happen? The last time it happened was Michigan.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Look at his numbers in the playoffs. This thing is scary. And you could say Texas was in it, and they were in it. I mean, they were lined up for a game-tying touchdown. But the biggest part of Ohio State's struggles offensively was their own fault. The penalties and getting backed up those four straight possessions, which you talked about the night after the Texas win with Vance.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

this year it's in the 30s like low 30s i don't know the defense has figured this out one of the only things i could think of is that is everybody's so aggressive now that you have teams who stink on offense in the red zone meaning touchdown percentage because there's a lot of teams it's like well you know the math said this it's like yeah but your touchdown percentage in the red zone is like 27th in the nfl why are you going for two you're not good at you're not good dude um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

So this will be an all-time full-circle moment, recovery from whatever you want to talk about. Redemption, right? That's probably the right word. Redemption in a way, if Ohio State pulls this off, that we've never seen before because no one's ever been allowed to have this kind of second chance. And I would think a national championship would be enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

to get over what happened in Columbus a month ago. But, you know, it's going to be like, sweet sweatshirt. Is that the year you lost to Michigan when they were unranked? And now for the official plays for the national championship. The line is still Ohio State minus eight and a half on FanDuel.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

right now and what i first want to do is i have something i'm going to do and then we're going to do the official four leg uh we hit the four leg ohio state texas that's g scott special we'll get to him in a second here what i like to do is if i could look for two legs here where i get ohio state in a manageable spread with something i think would happen if i'm picking ohio state then i look for those things so ohio state minus two and a half jeremiah smith anytime touchdown score is paying out at plus 116 so again you could just play ohio state straight number minus eight and a half

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Who knows? Maybe they stomp him tonight. I don't blame anybody for picking Notre Dame. Just momentum-wise, the two teams looking at it all, it's just kind of hard to pick them unless you're just trying to zag every now and then, which I am certainly a fan of. But at least you're down to a much more manageable spread again for Ohio State. And again, even though Smith was shut out against Texas,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

You understand the thinking with that. All right. If we're building this out to four legs with a bigger payout, though, let's get exciting. All right. So Riley Leonard plus 25 yards. That is 25 more yards plus 235. Now, G. Scott, we've been doing the G. Scott 25 or more yards. If I did that, that is plus 704. Tight ends can be a little tricky. Why do you like G. Scott so much? I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Every time I watch him, I just always feel like, what if we go G. Scott two or more receptions? So that way, if we get screwed in the yardage thing, you know they're going to look to him at least once, maybe twice, a developing part of this Ohio State offense. I think that's the move. So, Let's look at it. Jeremiah Smith, anytime touchdown score. Ohio State, minus two and a half.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Riley Leonard, 25 or more rushing yards. G. Scott, two or more receptions. Paying out right now on FanDuel at plus 443.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Life advice. The email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail dot com. We've got Sir Rudy. We've got...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

kyle anything to report any updates on your worlds nothing yet i don't think the the new rankings are out so i have no johnny's information to give you but uh we should be seeing their name in that top 25 but that's all i got yeah no nice performance against the hall this weekend uh people a little down on the big east though people down on me tweeting about the big east and the johnny's during football games not quite sure how people don't understand that's why you do it what do you know but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Why can't I have the Johnny's on another TV, especially when there's only one football game on? And why can't I have an opinion about the Johnny's? Like, is the NFL window not dominant enough that we can't fucking have a thought about anything else? I guess I just don't understand football's on reply guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I wouldn't put Baltimore in that category, but I was just trying to figure out, like, maybe it's just random. Maybe it's completely random and it doesn't mean anything, or does it mean that more teams that shouldn't be going for two are going for two, and that's why it's dragging that number down. So, of course, the Bills go up the eight, and there's still a lot of time left.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Well said. Smells like updog in here. Oh, that's brilliant. Okay. Let's see. Got one that feels pretty serious. So let's start with that one. And then another one that came in. As soon as I started, halfway through reading it, I checked what time it was sent. Usually all mysteries, like the aggressiveness of the email, be like, oh, we get a 2.01 a.m. here. All right, 5'7", 170.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

This one came in during the day. So very straightforward, very adult email here. NBA comp late stage Damon Jones after the Springs and the jump shot went. Damon Jones was arguably the most confident above his abilities of any play. But he had some nice stretches there with LeBron playing off the ball. LeBron... You know, a lot of those guys made all of them better.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

All right, probably better in skills competition than actually playing the game of basketball. Long time, every episode, listener, Ryan, I've been tuned in since I had to download the Scott Van Pelt Show and the NBA Today podcast from the ESPN PodCenter and load them onto my iPod Touch. Well, thank you, sir. Thank you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

My wife and I have a two-and-a-half-year-old son and now a five-month-old daughter. My son recently attended a birthday party at a local jungle gym type establishment, the kind with low houses, climbing apparatuses, where everything is intended to be completely kid-proof.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Living up to his father's late-stage Damon Jones, underwhelming athletic profile, my son managed to flail into a set of unexpectedly exposed screws, resulting in an alarming amount of blood, an emergency room visit, a $10,000 settlement. $10,000 set amount. Okay. So 10,000 is a rounded number to make the on-air verdict easier to follow. I'll do the math afterwards if needed. Well, thank you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

My question is, what is the right way to equitably distribute the money? The kids have college saving funds. The obvious answer would be just to put 10K in my son's college fund and let it turn into good money in 16 years. The problem is... I get a little squeamish thinking about giving my son what might compound a $50,000 leg up over his sister. Some other facts to consider.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

My son will have no long-term physical damage or scarring unless he loses his hair.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I'm not sure you were supposed to laugh that hard, but I'm going to let it happen. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

What I know you're asking Baltimore to do, if you go for a fourth down in your stuff, you're like, okay, but they've got to go 97, 98 yards to score a game when you touch down. Well, the point is that touchdown would have been a game winner. And who knows what kind of clock management they're running and how much they're leaving on the clock there, right? Who knows? Like, I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

This guy is like, really? I wonder what this guy does for a living because it's, you know, it's like he does house home appraisals. Right. Yeah. Fact number two, given he is two and a half, he will have no conscious memory of this. Fair. I was almost hit by a car in Nantucket. Once I was pretty young. Um, then a woman ran out the street and gave me a peanut butter cookie, but I have immune memory.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Anyway, fortunately, my wife and I have decent insurance, and most of this was covered. Would splitting the money up between my kids be the right thing to do? Is my daughter entitled to any of this money, even though my son is the one who paid the iron price? Are my wife and I entitled to any of this money?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

We do all right, but we have far more than $10,000 in debt between a house, a car, child care, and indescapable post-holiday credit card debt. How should we divide this money? What's fair for everyone? Thanks. The guy's looking forward to the next 15 years of listenership. 15 years. Whoa. It reminds me. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Well, this guy has quite the conscience on him because I can think of, I tell you who wouldn't see a fucking dime of that money. If he were two and a half, me. Kyle, how about your parents? No, dude.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Happy little island.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Happy settlement, mom. Yeah. So, Rudy, I mean, you know, I don't want to put your parents on blast here. I think Joe would probably put a little something aside for a young Steve.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

This one will not work itself out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I'm going to get you 10 grand later. I'm going to get you the equivalent of 50 grand later because that's not happening.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I don't have an answer to that. So even with Baltimore going 88 yards, getting backed up on the holding penalty on the return, they score the touchdown. Lamar's terrific on the drive, right? They line up for the two-point conversion. They get the look they want. Andrew's out to the right side. At one moment, it looks like he catches it. The announcers thought he caught it. I thought he caught it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah. The conscious things like we have to kind of factor that into all of this because I was thinking of some things like, okay, wait a minute. If you're in debt, if you get out of that debt, as opposed to paying money towards interest for just awful, stupid debt and money, that's not going anywhere. If you can wipe that out and then take that money that you're saving and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

They can go towards real things. Can you reroute it that way where this $10,000 goes down for a really good cause? And then you're making up like, again, quality of life over $10,000 is a bit of a stretch here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

But are you setting yourself up with more financial freedom and being able to use incoming money in better ways by not having to pay down this other bad debt because you feel like you have to start day one to start funding your college kids thing? I'm going to ask a tax question because I'm fucking back. I'm sorry to those of you that think you're the hero. Oh, I didn't even think of that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

You know what's funny is I didn't even know. All I knew was that it was Snoop Dogg. Like, cause I was like, God, is that funny? That is so funny. Cause I completely forgot. Yeah. Um, all right. So maybe I'll, I'll leave that tax rant alone, but to have people think it is because of today, uh, is there a tax tax?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

is there a yearly tax thing, Saruti, that because you're paying into the college fund that kind of presents it? I think I'm answering this sort of knowing the answer, but you know better than I do, where it makes sense to have this money be non-taxed year to year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I guess I was just wondering if that becomes non-taxable income that's being contributed towards the college fund each year. I'm not talking about when you're taking it out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yours specifically. Like, hey, I make $50,000 a year. These are my expenses. Okay, well, I can't tax you. Again, it all depends on the rate and whatever you fall into here. I guess I'm I'm asking a question I don't know the answer to, and I don't think I want to have an accountant on call. I don't think we need it enough. Maybe it comes up a couple times a year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I think this emailer is like, this guy seems like a really good person. Yeah, good guy. He seems like a good guy who's making it more complicated than it needs to be. I would say if you're in credit card debt and you're paying out a couple hundred bucks a month in interest on a debt that you can't get down, and you're just fucking blindly paying all of this interest

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

That is one of the worst possible ways to be spending your money. So delaying the college fund or not maxing it out. And again, I don't know what you can do every year here on this. I actually think that's the right call because it's going to send you on a path to spending your money in better ways quicker as opposed to writing this check for credit card debt. It just sucks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And then you see the ball just kind of dribble onto the snowy field. And you're like, this thing is over. And Mark Andrews, that's a tough one. That's a tough day. I think it's important to remember, though, that Buffalo is going to get the football back with 133 left after that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And the rate is what are you talking? 20 plus percent, 21% on some of this stuff, depending on the card that you have. Uh, that's just nasty, nasty stuff that you should not want to be involved in. So it doesn't mean that all of a sudden, like, dad, we can have a porch now, you know? Um, and now all your kids are going to like have better friends and, and, I'm not being dramatic about this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I just personally despise when I hear of anyone that I'm friends with, that I care about, whatever. I'm like, what? And granted, I was an absolute moron with my finances for a long time. The major issue was I didn't have any money. That can definitely get in the way. It's usually a tough one to get around. Right, right. Like, what do you think some of your root issues were?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Not having any money was number one, and then decision-making. Then having three credit cards is number two. Right. So like, look, you want to put a grand in each of the accounts to feel like it's even Steven, even though kids not going to have most likely weird hair as an adult. Um, fine. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I don't know that your kid at 18 can be pissed at you if the other kid had a better start because of an accident that happened to him. And the fact that everybody's so young here, I think most parents would just pocket all this 10 grand. The fact that you want to do something right is commendable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And maybe doing something right is getting your family, getting your household out of some awful, awful, pointless debt. And then if you want to, and I think because of the email, you'll probably hold yourself to the standard. make it up for them later on because start doing some of the math on how bad the interest payments are going to be. If you don't get this $10,000 in credit card debt now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah. Right. Like maybe you take them to a vacation that you don't want to go to. Right. I think of the parents that do that. Like, what did you do? Oh, we took him to this thing. It sucked. 9 hours to Great Wolf Lodge. Yeah. Both you and your wife had zero interest in this destination. I actually don't even understand how parents do that. You can't pick something that you would like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

That's actually probably a pretty low percentage of parents. Like how many parents are out there? Both are like, we hate the idea of even going to this place, but we're doing it for the kids. Look, soccer practice is a different category, but just like full on summer vacation.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

with two timeouts, and the fact that Bassett hit the 51-yard field goal going in that direction at the start of the fourth quarter, again, it's an assumption. I think Buffalo probably finds a way with Allen, because remember, you're moving the football on third and fourth downs, so you're asking the defense, you've got to convert. You've got to stop all of these extra downs on that drive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah. We never, we never, I tried to go to the spectrum so I could watch Moses Malone. My dad was like Philly. Fuck that. Yeah. Like for four or five years in a row, I was like, can you just take me to the spectrum so I can see Moses and then Charles? Because Moses was traded in 86. And he's like, I'm not driving to Philadelphia for a fucking Sixers game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It's like, all right, but we go to Hartford for UConn games. So it's a lot closer. It's a lot closer. All right. Good luck with all that. And it's up in 18 years. Hope it works. Let us know. Okay, all right. Let's get to a guy who just cannot stop hooking up. Whoa. Forgot to mention the friends with benefits part. Hello, friends. Jim Nance voice. 37 years old. 6'1", 176. Precise measurements here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

No basketball comp. I don't watch or play at golf comp. Nick Dunlap. Good enough to win it, but I'll also shoot a 44 on the back nine and miss the cut, but I'll chug a beer with you. Exclamation. Anyways, dot, dot, dot. So I signed up on Bumble with every intention to just have ideally multiple strictly physical relationships. It was going well. Lots of matches. I live in Los Angeles. Don't worry.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

You can say all the cities and names. There's no shortage of beautiful women here. This guy's just like, and then my dad who works at, just kidding. All right. So you already know how it works. Actually, I don't know how it works. You do. I don't need to bore you with a matching and small talk details with these women. question mark, females. There's two women in jeopardy here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Now, I told you guys I want to keep it strictly physical. However, I did fail to mention that minor detail to these ladies. I thought it was on my profile, but it is not. Are dudes keeping it strictly physical on their profiles?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I won't like you. Here for the banging. Totally will take the L. Hand up, Doug Christie style. Okay, I used to watch some ball. I still can't get over that Doug Christie mic'd up thing with Ellis where he was telling his own player to make sure he didn't give the ref too hard of a time when he wasn't really even giving him. And he's like, well, you know, we have a standard here. Fascinating stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I'll leave it at that. All right, so now I'm splitting time with Amanda and Liz. Man. All right. He didn't want to change the names. Maybe this is the whole point of the email. Two matches, juggling it all. They're both, they both are cracking wise on me, wondering why I can't stay the night or why I can't come over Friday or whatever the day may be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I think Buffalo, with the timeouts and Allen, and what Bassett just done, I think they probably would have gotten the game-winning field goal. But again, that's a massive assumption. I will listen to arguments that tell me I'm wrong. So what's fair with Lamar Jackson? Let's take a look at the stats. 18-25 yesterday, 254 yards, two touchdowns, the one pick. The pick was terrible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Because if I'm not with Liz, then I'm with Amanda, vice versa. So now it's snowballing on me. I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm single. Just looking to hang out. I always think of the time a girl tried to extort Yarmir Yager after she slept with him. She took a selfie with him while he was sleeping and was like, yeah, I'll post it for you. I'm not married. Year of age, smile. Hmm.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I don't remember that full Jager details.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It's not that sketchy other than she took a picture of him, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

What are you doing tonight? I'm going out Yager style. Uh, I don't love quotes either of them. I've had sex with both. It was awesome. They're great in all aspects.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

They're great in all aspects, but I have zero interest in dating either of them. I just think about the lonely guys listening to these emails being like, kill this guy. Um, Those feelings of theirs are not as casual. Amanda just made a joke that her lease is coming up in a few months and asked when mine is coming up. All caps. Nope. Not having that convo. The Lions game was about to start.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

See, this is just like, this guy's just riffing. He's riffing pretty good for a later at night email send. I guess I can't just rip the bandaid off and tell him how I really feel. Should I? Maybe one more round of hookups and then break it to them. Do I do it at the Red Lion? Silver Lake. Kyle, you ever been there? Heard of it. Never went.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Cerruti, put down your dad cap and think with your dick and give me some solid advice. That's when I double checked what time it was sent. All right. This one. Attached a pic to perhaps just get a better feel if I'm the asshole or not. Well, there's some aggressive ink, bro. Some aggressive ink. But that's an assumption.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

If this were sent 10 years ago, I'd go, oh, I'd make all sorts of... Now it doesn't mean anything. Okay, who wants to go first here? Kyle, you seem ready.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Good starting point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Chester Portal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

He didn't see wrap. Safety, I don't think. And they ended up getting a three and out, and Buffalo punted. So the score taxation in that didn't necessarily happen. He had a 114 quarterback rating, not QBR. That's his third highest in a playoff game of his career. Number one overall is Pittsburgh last week. Number two is Houston last season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I think she's moving in, potentially.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

She found a roommate.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

That's got a settlement for 10 grand. Put that towards the security department.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I don't think you should have.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Hey, look, the ladies love Cerruti at ESPN. He has no idea. Some of the scattering reports I would get. So, dude, you're not going to shame my guy. And I think it's just because he became an adult pretty quickly overnight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

going multiple hairdo combos from different European soccer players and checking out UEFA media guys to figure out what he was going to tell his barber to staying up all night smoking darts and playing with leads, you know, and then all of a sudden he's fucking banging out kids, dogs, mortgages, and a great wife.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Like it happened fast, but it doesn't, it doesn't mean there wasn't a window in there where there'd be a girl on TV being like, is that the guy that's, is that the knighted guy? Like, yeah. works on my show. Yeah. Girls, girls like Saruti. Um, I think Kyle nailed it in the very beginning is like the age thing is like how, you know, there should be a moment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I think again, we're speaking to the male side because, uh, three males and we could get kind of this nasty like gender. Well, if they're doing it to us, then we can do it to them and that whole deal. And you wouldn't necessarily be wrong, but, but I would think you'd get to a point where at least, all right, I can tell you from my firsthand experience, twenties could not give a shit. Don't care.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Don't care if I'm wasting your time. Don't care how you feel about stuff. Don't care. Um, and that was a bit of a carryover where I was like really, really nice. And then I noticed, I was like, the dicks always seem to be doing better than the non dicks. Like, what's that about? And, um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And then I was like, I guess you just be like a little, like, just don't care about anything and then you'll be better off. And look, I sort of regret feeling like that was the path because it kind of gets in the way you sort of stunted the development of relationships because you're, you're still kind of dealing with this, this, this younger relationship.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

thing that you've developed and i want to say like in your adolescence but college and post 20s and those first years like those first years after college and everybody's in the city and it's sort of real real now as opposed to fake real being on your own it's like real real but also depending on your financial independence or uh having zero financial independence like impacts a lot of these decisions i know i'm rambling here a bit but like i think it's all baked into just how you

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

going to treat other people in romantic relationships right some of it comes down to like security are you insecure you know can you actually be that secure in your 20s to begin with um because i think there's like there's insecure 20 year olds and there's like insecure 40 year olds where you're like what the fuck is wrong with you so i do think the mature thing to do and i don't know that it's that a man needs to do it more than a woman needs to do it but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Lamar ran it six times for 39 yards, kind of held in check for the most part. His second lowest rushing total in a playoff game. The other was 34 yards against the Bills four years ago. So the Bills have done a good job containing that, even though we're talking about different personnel four years later. The interception was on second and 11th.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

as you get older, you know, some of the things that have happened that haven't worked out, haven't worked out because you didn't like the person because you feel like you owe it to this person because you do care about them that you're like, I don't want to waste your time. I don't want to be deceitful. I don't want to lie.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I don't want to get in the way of whatever personal goals that you have for your life and building a family and all of this stuff. So if I'm going to be misleading and I don't know how misleading you were, you know, like they're on Bumble. They met up with you. Sounds like you're awesome. Both these girls like you, you're,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

But I think 37 is around the age where you should start to take some accountability of what you could potentially be doing to them by, I don't know if you're misleading them a ton, but there's going to come that moment. And sometimes it comes way too early in a relationship. Sometimes it comes when it's way too late and then people are even more pissed off. But,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

times where it hasn't worked out for me would be a realization of like i do not want to be wasting your time i actually do care about you and i want you to reach your goals and it's going to suck to think about you with somebody else but i'd rather those things than you have all this massive resentment because you signed up for a partnership where you were not aligned at all so yeah i think 37 is about the age like good for you like i kind of get it and it is tough to just start the courting phase being like just so you know dtf onlys okay like that's it right because it

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

You got to be some kind of like Josh Allen type

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

dude to be pulling that kind of stuff off right to bring it full circle from the beginning of the podcast and look some of those guys it does work and it does exist like there's this one dude who I met who just was that way about everything just completely open he did have a place in a really nice stretch of LA so it's sort of just all baked together work for him where it was just like from the jump everybody understood he wasn't a long-term bet and because of that freedom it kind of worked for him good luck figuring that one out I've never been able to figure it out but again

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

close here i think the mature thing to do and if you want to take it upon yourself that a man is more likely to have to do it we can pretend it's all or whatever maybe i'm being a little old in it a little outdated but i think it's the responsible thing to not waste people's time all right even if it's going to cost you a roll around in the old shack

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

You know, like clearly your track doesn't want to lose that. Right, right, right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Maybe be a bit more forthcoming, but whatever these like little short term wins for you, they're not even close to adding up for what is like a long term loss when the partner.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

is completely in the dark about what your long-term intentions are and i will never think that that's the wrong thing to do um even if you're selfish and it's costing you something in the short term how do we feel yeah i mean his question was am i the my answer is leaning yes

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

bad, but the fumble was much worse on the next possession because Von Miller runs it back to the Baltimore 24. That's a touchdown. It's 14-7. So now you're actually paying that score tax with this. So Lamar is going to win his third MVP, it looks like, based on everybody's projection on the postseason voting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It also doesn't work a ton in general. Right. Like very few guys, the original point, like most of you aren't going to get where you want by saying that's all you want. Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah, juggling.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It's, it's a bit like being the town tough guy. And if you're not that, then it's like, Oh, you know, so-and-so is always juggling all this stuff. It's like, yeah, cool. I've caused myself massive headaches and all of these people are going to hate my guts like for years beyond this, but it's so, yeah, so cool. Right. Exactly. You know?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I mean, I think that's why when you hear about like older guys juggling stuff, you're like, dude, It's not exhausting.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Willie Colon is going to join us here. So Buffalo's taking on Kansas City again this week. And they're getting a point and a half. That's the opening line at Arrowhead. We've been there before. We've seen this before. We've seen it in Buffalo as well. I don't know if it's because of Kansas City having this absurd regular season record, despite not being the Kansas City that we always expect.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I have revisited my thoughts on cheating based on far more understanding of the complications of marriage without being is, is my point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

A lot of prep. I just think I was more naive about it until I'd had more friends that were just married longer. And, you know, having deeper conversations about what was going on specifically with them. I, I'm entirely less judgmental about it. And honestly, the main reason I was super judgmental about it before was it was married guys fucking with my thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

So that was, it wasn't like I was like, Oh, you're so all true. No, no, it's not even a morality thing. It's like, Hey, don't fuck with me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah, right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Yeah. Say hi to your kids for me. All right. That'll do. A little spice there for you at the end. Awesome. Good job, Oregon. Thank you, Kyle. Thank you, Saruti. And we are back tomorrow. Less than 24 hours. We'll have a fresh episode off the college football national championship. Ohio State, Notre Dame. I can't wait to do tomorrow's show. It's going to be a lot of fun.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I've made the hardened comparison before with Lamar because I thought it was just so bad earlier on. And I don't think it's the same thing. Now, clearly something was wrong if they had to change the entire offense and bring in new coaches. The personnel is a little bit better because Lamar was always kind of lacking in the skill guys as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

We're going to have David Pollack, who was actually my last guest ever on my ESPN podcast. So another full circle moment. Please check out the YouTube page and subscribe to the podcast. Ryan Rosillo, Fingers Popped. Must be 21 and older. Present in select states. For Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

But the Harden thing that I'd always talked about, like when I watch Harden in a playoff game, I can just watch and be like, something is just wrong when he gets into these games. And now he's getting older enough that my expectations aren't necessarily that high. But At least with Lamar, it's getting better that maybe that isn't a fair comparison anymore. I think that's kind of where I'm at.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Like, yeah, he wasn't great yesterday, but he wasn't terrible. And some of those stats, prior to what he's put together the last couple games, like the entire portfolio was just bad. The wins-losses things for quarterbacks can almost be... I know this sounds kind of stupid, but when quarterbacks are eliminated, it's... It tends to be kind of like, what's wrong with this guy?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Because it was happening to Allen last year when he was being like, Lamar would be brought up on a talk show and then it'd be like, yeah, but what about Josh Allen? You're like, seriously, you guys want to build a graphic and put those stats up side by side?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Because Allen was five for five, or excuse me, five and five, five wins, five losses in his playoff career before the two wins in this 24 to 25 season. But the numbers are incredible. He's now at a 23-4 touchdown split, throwing seven more rushing touchdowns. The rating's over 100.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Versus Lamar, who for his career is now a 10-7 touchdown interception split with only three rushing touchdowns, an 84 rating. And now he's 3-5 in the playoffs. The Mahomes factor, I think, is destroying some of these quarterbacks because normally it's like, hey, let's take turns at winning some Super Bowls here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

or at least winning a conference championship, and Mahomes just isn't letting that happen. So you can look at Lamar and say, okay, well, Josh has got him twice now and Mahomes last season. Allen's lost to Kansas City three times. So, you know, what are we really talking about here? I think the best way to talk about it for Lamar is that it's getting better, but it's certainly not what you want.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Not from somebody who's about to win his third MVP. And the fact that he's going to win the MVP against the other guy, they had to head stuff here. Like I understand all of it, but I thought it was a lot worse earlier on. And even with the mistakes yesterday, is, is there something to feel a little bit better about? Probably not on Monday.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Maybe we'll do that on August, the Mark Andrews fumble and the two point drop. At first it was discussed as something that like, Oh, You know, this is actually going to hurt Lamar. I think it hurts Lamar today. But does it help him for the more nuanced conversation about who he is or who he's becoming as a quarterback? Because even though Lamar had the earlier mistakes, the fumbles disastrous.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And of course, the two point conversion causes a chance that, you know, maybe over time and maybe pulling this thing out. So instead of just going, oh, he lost again, and we're talking about the 25 season, it's like, what's wrong? I don't think it's a what's wrong with this guy because I do think it's getting better.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And you have something very specific to point to from a teammate that had an awful game that led to Lamar taking an L and another one head-to-head against Josh Allen. So instead of being eliminated by Phillip Rivers in his first game, where I didn't think he was very good, and look, there's nothing wrong with being eliminated by Phillip Rivers. Tannehill's a little bit more problematic.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

I don't really want to pick against Kansas City, but I guess I'm doing it. On Monday, I'm doing it. Maybe it's a little Buffalo hangover and the excitement of their win, but I'm picking Buffalo again. And I don't love it. And we'll see if I change my mind. I'm usually pretty stubborn on this stuff, so I don't know that it will happen. I don't know. It's not like I'm going to Kansas City.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

That terrible Tennessee game Lamar had years ago. But now if it's Allen and Mahomes, is that really the worst thing? Final thought on the weekend. I feel terrible for Detroit fans. 15-2. That Vikings win. Home field. Indoors the rest of the way. Goff and everybody flying around. But we knew that the defense... it was going to be tough to win all of these games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

Win three straight to win a Super Bowl. How about just get there, right? If you're Detroit, you can still get a shirt. However, the NFC North, this dominant division, did it just have an SEC season? The NFC North outscored its division opponents by 8.7 points per game. The best a division did, again, versus non-division opponents, since the 1970 merger. 0-3 in the playoffs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

At least Texas got a game. So the NFC North doesn't have the history of the SEC. I think we'd agree with that. The North had a better regular season. Probably some nicer wins in there. Perhaps. but a division that was just so dominant this year. And you can get into, okay, who were they playing on the other divisions? I always think of the Patriots, Matt Castle, 11-win season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

It's like, how did they do it? It's like, well, look at who they played in the AFC and their NFC assignments, their division assignments for that year's schedule. Could that have something to do with it? But to have all three of these teams playing not win one playoff game after putting together that kind of resume during the regular season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

And I think it has a little bit to do with the quarterbacks as well, maybe just like the SEC, because golf was disappointing, love was certainly disappointing, and Donald had a nightmare day against the Rams. We're going to do more on the rest of the playoffs. We've got the Jaden conversation with Washington, Philadelphia, and we'll do that with Willie Clump.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

What’s Fair in the Lamar Criticisms? Jayden’s Run and the Chiefs' Dark Arts With Willie Colon. Plus, Notre Dame–Ohio State Picks.

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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

A packed wildcard weekend. We'll break down the headlines, the stats you should know, and a little QB legacy update potentially as well. Chris Sims breaking down all of the games, what he loved from Jaden Daniels before the draft, obviously what we've loved his rookie year, maybe a peek ahead to Baltimore and Buffalo, and just what teams are doing to certain quarterbacks around the league.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

no look it's uh it's a it's a long run especially back in the day when we used to do like eight days down there all right so right i want to start because i went back this morning and watched your draft reaction to jayden daniels okay don't worry don't worry um what i thought was really interesting because i want to start with him because that was the best game and it continues this magical rookie season where you start thinking like what's possible because this franchise completely turned around uh

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

What it's like, again, as a non-Commanders fan, any of us just watching football, in that moment where you're like, yeah, this rookie QB is going to come in and he'll probably set him up for the game-winning field goal drive because it's what we've been seeing the majority of the season all year long.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Let me just ask it this way. Your perceptions of Jaden before you did the film work and then ultimately like what what kind of convinced you that this I don't even know that we thought any of this was possible. But what made you like him? Because it was very clear based on the way you had talked about him while the pick was made that there was a shift once you had done the work.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

To have that kind of confidence, this calming, like, yeah, I'll probably figure this out, against Tampa's defense, where I think it's important to get to some of those numbers and what this team had been doing in the second half, it's just weird. It's weird to watch a rookie QB and think, Yeah, he'll probably just figure this whole thing out. And he did it again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

So whenever I and again, I do it from a limited amount of understanding, which I just think is important to remind somebody like you to play the position and everything. But there's certain things that I'll look for. I forget who was recently I was talking to or like I look at play calling to kind of tell me how a staff feels about their quarterback. Sure, sure.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I always think that's the best indicator. It's like, well, if this is what they trust him with or don't trust him with, that can confirm or refute some of the preconceived notions I have about a quarterback's ability. What did you see with what Cliff has done this year, maybe even specific to last night? Because he had to move the ball down.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I mean, look, it's a playoff game, so it's not like they were going to be conservative with the whole thing. But what do you see with some of the approach with Kingsbury of what they trust him with that tells you what we should think about Jaden, not just for this year, but the rest of his career?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I have a Philly question, but I want to start with Jordan Love. What happened yesterday?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

He completed all three passes on that game winning drive. And then again, the keeper on third and short where he runs it out to his right, dies the first down. So at that point, Tampa is just going to be behind the clock and it's not going to matter. When was it over? I'll do that for all the games. This game actually wasn't even over.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I mean, we can point to Watson being out and then Dobbs goes down and then Reed gets cracked in the arm. But, you know, I felt like the Minnesota game, either one, you can pick either one of them. But the building towards the end of the year and feeling like they had a chance to get that one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

My concerns about Love, for whatever he was this year, I'm not going to go into next season being like, well, they have a real question of quarterback there. I'd need to see more bad games before I would start questioning the long-term viability. I would agree with you there. I would agree. Right. But yesterday, even with the receiver injuries, it just felt off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And, you know, it's an awful start. I mean, there's another part of it, too, that I kind of talk about there a little bit in the open, because once Green Bay lost in Minnesota and then you have Detroit beat Minnesota in a game that I certainly didn't think was going to happen with all of Detroit's injuries.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

It was almost like I was searching for another NFC team instead of Detroit, which seems unfair. So then it's like Philadelphia. So this is really a based on our expectation that Philadelphia could rep the NFC, but Green Bay's defense was fantastic considering the circumstances. Was it anything you thought they were doing to Jalen Hurts?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

with zeros on the game clock because the kick hit the upright on the right side and then snuck its way through and Washington advances against this Bucs defense where, let's remind you, it's a defense that had given up only nine points total in its last five second halves. They give up 10 in the fourth quarter last night, and now their season is over.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Were they taking something away from him that felt like, despite the win, it wasn't exactly the game you'd want from him?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah. And I brought that up too, as I was going through the hurt stuff in the beginning, like if this was a very unusual lead up to all of this, but the reason why we're going to be, you know, it's, it's very simple. It's, it's why I wouldn't spend a lot of time beating up on Denver today because my expectations were fairly limited.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Whereas Philadelphia, like I'm wondering if they can win a super bowl. So you're going to be a little bit harsher with it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Right. Let's go. Let's look at Pittsburgh. Do you think they made a mistake going from fields to Wilson ultimately?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Washington, if you want to talk about how tough this was against this Tampa defense, the commanders four straight from first and goal to one, they got back to a couple of times, right? They end up going for it. They don't get it. Tampa has the ball. A couple of plays later, Baker fumbles the handoff. And so Washington starts again with great field position.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah, I'm with you. I did not think it was a mistake. Clearly, they felt like there was elements of the offense that they weren't maximizing, but really this team fell apart because of their defense. I don't know how anyone can look at the numbers. I mean, that was something scoring defense-wise.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

You're like, all right, well, if they keep playing like this, maybe they can manage them through, but none of us really thought they were coming out of the AFC in comparison to these other quarterbacks. Right. you know, it's disappointing, but it's like disappointing in what way? Like you didn't get one, you didn't get one upset at the other team. I think that's what it is.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah, I have kind of done a full circle moment with Mike Tomlin where, you know, in the beginning, it's incredible. And then there'd be certain times... Again, it was probably more Patriots-based because I was so close to it at the time where I felt like they would come out with the coverage and then it just... That would be the... That's the plan. Yeah, right, right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

You would just be like, well, this... You're just going to let Brady know what you're going to do. Yeah, he's just going to tear you apart. Right, right. And so... There was hints of that, by the way, in that game against Baltimore where it's like, so the mesh point is attack Henry the entire time and you don't think Lamar's going to figure this out?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

and they don't convert until fourth and two, and that's the touchdown. So that's like seven straight times they had stopped him. It looked like Tampa was going to be able to hang on because of that defense. It's just really hard to ask any defense to do that eight straight times, and they had done it seven straight times, but it wasn't enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Shocking. I mean, TJ had a hit on Henry that was unbelievable if Henry had still had the football. Right. So... There was moments where I was coming back up, but then I think about some of the stuff that Tomlin has done here and how often he's gotten to the playoffs and some of the quarterback struggles that they've had where I go, okay, well, the overall is still a really good grade.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I'm putting you on the spot here a little bit, but when you think about coaches... that are more willing to adapt in-game versus coaches that game plan the entire week and then stick to it no matter how it's playing out? Who are the guys you think are perhaps more adaptable versus the guys that you think are a little stubborn?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Quarterback legacy update possibilities here with this one. Sure, the Baker, whatever. The Baker season and Tampa season, especially offensively, Coming down to a field goal, I think this is a really good season from this team. That was not among the heavy hitters in the NFC.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah, because there's, you know, it was nothing like Prime Belichick back in the day. Right, nothing. Whatever was happening at halftime, you were just like, well, they'll figure out a way to be competitive. Like, whatever was working in the first, it's just not going to work in the second half because it doesn't mean they're going to win every single game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

But it's an amazing feeling when you're aware of it or your expectation is that they're going to figure this thing out. Right. Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't, I remember asking, you know, Chris Long, who has been on the pod a bunch of different times, I was always fascinated with just further understanding, like, what do you guys talk about at halftime?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Like, what do you and he was, he was funny, because he goes, honestly, it's all on the back end for us defensively. He's like, we You wouldn't really even have to sit in on the meetings. It would be more coverage based stuff. And they just tell us up front, like, keep doing what you're doing. Yeah. Do you have a lean on Buffalo Baltimore here?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Because, you know, Lamar standard, which I feel like the criticism is totally valid as much as we all love him, as much as I would pick him to be my MVP this season, jump in on that wherever you want to. But, you know, what's going to happen? Like the Pittsburgh game is not the standard here. The Buffalo game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And unfortunately, even if Lamar had something great statistically, there's going to be people coming on Monday saying, oh, it didn't happen again. Statistically, he hasn't been as good as Josh Allen. There's no debate when you put it side by side. Exactly. So I don't understand how that one kind of got cranked up last year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

The Chiefs, right. The Chiefs almost don't count. Like, the rule has changed. I got you. I hear you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

They're at home.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Statistically, I know we covered the offensive stuff, but nobody really thought that they were better than Philadelphia or Minnesota or Detroit. I mean, hell, we'll get to Green Bay here, but you get the point. They were not in that group. For them to lose a home playoff game, obviously very disappointing, but not a shock here. Daniels, this is the start, potentially, of something really special.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah. I love that Shakir stat. I had no idea. And they basically during the broadcast, they were like, no one's going to know this, but Jamar chase was number one in the NFL and yards after the catch. It's an absurd number. It's almost 800 yards, but Shakir is number two. Yeah. Number five 97, which is still crazy that chases like 200 yards ahead of Shakira's at number two. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Do we do a little Justin Herbert here? Sure. Sure. Might as well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Well, as I say in the open, the first game he was brilliant, but they blow a 27-0 lead. And there you go. That was two years ago. This game... nothing's more frustrating than blowing a 27 to nothing lead in the playoffs. So let's just start there. But the way it was playing out and that football sense of like those moments or where you feel like, okay, this team's in control.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And when is the swing going to happen? That's an ugly loss. That's a really ugly loss for the chargers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Teddy Bruschi, our guy, saying this morning, the best rookie quarterback I've ever seen. Philadelphia beats Green Bay, 22-10. It could have been Morris if Saquon wanted to run it in. I do want to see a running back at some point, like up three with four and a half minutes left to go, break one free, and then slide. And then be like, yep, team first. Like, nope.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I think I regret not starting with Stroud just because it's, I'm getting a bit into like, because the team's eliminated, I'm sort of starting with their story here first. Because I'm with, like when you think about the resources and the personnel with both offensive lines, there's no way that the Chargers offensive line should look worse than Right. And worse than the Texans offensive line.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And you're right about the playmakers. I mean, we all know Stingley's insane at corner. And this was the rep on him coming out. He's backed it up. Lassiter has the big play. I'll show you who I every every week you watch the Texans. He feels like he pops up. You get Anderson. So you Daniel Hunter. Yeah. Like you're watching them wreck.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Everything that the Chargers is doing, the game is entirely shifted. But when it comes specific to Stroud, because, you know, there was a side-by-side of his rookie year and then this year. And, you know, when something's new, when you think about it, it's kind of like the Jaden stuff right now of, like, what's possible, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

You get so excited when it's brand new and you think of Stroud, you're like, is this possible? And then the stats take a bit of a dip. My thing with him is that there's still that third nine out when you need it to the sideline where it's like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

it's right where it needs to be no doubt about it that's nasty so like if i think about lamar on the touchdown to justin hill to end the first half justice hill right i don't know i call him justin um alan figuring out everything the detroit play where he gets flushed out avoids the sack to his right during the regular season okay right homes we've just basically every week with mahomes

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Where is Stroud for you on fixing these disaster dropbacks?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I don't know when it'll happen, but it's going to happen. Somebody's going to do it. Somebody's going to slide in the most ridiculous way ever because now everybody thinks it's awesome. Anyway, Saquon's done more than enough this season, though, so this is not to be critical of him. So the headline for this one is Green Bay awful start. Awful. And Green Bay's defense was incredible in this game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

That's an incredible win considering just the tone of that game to start. But you're right. At 6-0, you're going, is this going to be just one of those weird... But then it was just a blowout. And I think the first throw by Herber into double coverage, I mean, you just can't make that throw. No. The lad throw, you could argue it's a little high for him. The third interception's not on him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Definitely. Yeah, right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And then you're right. It's not like... Yeah. It's not like... Exactly.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

No, but I'm just saying, like, you know, he's not as big of a... Oh, yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

That's the kind of throw to where you just know he's like there's no way he thinks Lester's making like getting inside of that. He's, you know, like there's certain interceptions where I'll, I'll see, or at least I'll feel like, okay, this is what he thought. And you have to imagine when he's looking at the tablet, he's like, how the hell did he get out?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

You know, how did, but it's double, like you can't, especially with the momentum and everything that's happening. Exactly. All right. Here's, I have a couple things here. I don't even like this one. So you can, you can just jump all over me. The Bo Nix story for what it is this year is incredible for the Broncos.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And they're not winning that game in Buffalo, especially if Buffalo's not going to make any mistakes. It's just not going to happen. And this front for Denver that I think is, again, one of the most underrated groups all season long. even when you have a couple of plays, like when things break down, it's still not going to matter against Josh Allen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Like he's still going to burn you enough over the course of the game. Right. I just don't know that you could just disrupt him for, you know, however many plays you're running on offense to dictate the game. So, you know, mistakes on the road, the whole thing hit the first touchdown. It's just not going to happen unless Buffalo just starts hurting themselves a little bit there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

But the ceiling for Bo Nix, this is going to seem so unfair to Denver. That's all right. Did the Broncos replace Russell Wilson with a cheaper Russell Wilson?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Do you understand what I mean there by ceiling, though?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

The play calling?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Packers fumbled the opening kickoff three plays later at 7-0 Philly. 139 into the game. Not great, Bob. Hurts got off to a good start, 6-6, then missed his next seven throws to finish 13-21, 131 yards. But they didn't really need him to be great. Let's remind everybody here that Hurts, it's really his first full game since December 15th.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

That's a much fairer answer. And again, it's a working theory. In prime Russell Wilson, Broncos fans would be like, hey, that's awesome. And I'm not even saying my first year Denver Russell Wilson, but it's more to, with some of the play calling stuff, feeling like, is there a ceiling?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And for me to sit here and ask Bo Nix on the road as a rookie to get Denver back into that game against Buffalo... Like, it's just not a very long list of quarterbacks that have been playing for five to ten years that I would expect to be able to pull that off. So at no point was I expecting Bo Nix to be able to do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And against my original point, I think the red zone stuff, especially when you look at the splits and how effective he was, you know, even the best quarterbacks, you can feel like when that field gets really short, It's tough. It's like, man, I don't like 90% of the throws. I don't even like any of these down here. And I felt like, you know, maybe they were being a little protective of them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

But again, it's a working theory. All right. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah, and with Peyton, too, you just expect that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

you know, they're going to, they're going to open it up even more with him as he moves forward. All right. This is, this is something that I've heard you talk about and I don't know if it was on CJ.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I think it may have been on golf actually, now that I think about it, but the things that you'll notice with how defenses perhaps change their attack over the course of a season is they get more film like in season on the quarterback. It's not like golf is brand new here. Uh, Is there something to that?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Is Goff the guy that I think I remember you a few, it's more than a few weeks ago, maybe middle of the season where you felt like, okay, defenses are actually doing something with him that's different. Like they think they figured something out, even though Detroit ends up being the one seed here. It wasn't like scoring was an issue.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

He went out with a concussion against Washington, barely played in that game and didn't play the last couple. So he hadn't played. This is when this was not a normal lead up to him getting back to playoff action. So, yeah, it wasn't it wasn't good, but they didn't need him. And I think it's to be entirely fair. Like, let's see how the next one looks here. But Jordan Love threw three picks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

A shift here as we close. Yeah. Let's talk Texas.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

What is your relationship to the quarterbacks there?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

All right. That's a good start because you never know. Like if Yeah, I hear you. No offense, but like in the past with somebody else, it might be like, yeah, he works out of my house. Yeah, right, right. Yeah, yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Like, okay, this will be pretty clear and unbiased. Let's go. You understand this dynamic maybe better than anybody to be Arch Manning and to have that name and then Ewers. Like, at no point did I think, hey, they should bench Ewers even though there's just a lot of stuff with Ewers I haven't really liked and I think it, It was a culmination of events.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And I don't know, this oblique injury apparently is the most, like, devastating oblique injury. You know, look, I just think there's some stuff with Ewers where when he's dropping back, you're like, what's the processing speed? Like, I know you're calm and I know everybody loves you when you're calm and it's working out. He's like, oh, he's so poised.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And it's like, man, sometimes you're a little too poised. And then you have this thing waiting around that everybody's hyped about. So again, I'll say it for the audience, not for you. At no point during that game did I think, hey, you know what would be totally fair and reasonable? Put Arch Manning in the game here to ask him to go ahead and get you to the national championship game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

But how do you see the dynamic, one that, again, you understand better than almost anybody?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

We've got life advice without Oregon, which is a disappointment, but enjoy the podcast. Let's recap NFL Wild Card Weekend. I'm going to recap all of the games with the headline, the stat you should know, when the game was over, and then some other stuff at the very end. We start with Washington's 23-20 win, a walk-off win against the Tampa Bay Bucs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

He had the one-on-one shot where Slay made a great interception running step-for-step with Wicks down the right sideline. Next possession, Green Bay misses a field goal. Next possession, they throw another interception where Philly's starting at Green Bay's 45 and they actually held them to a punt. So Green Bay's defense, Cooper, by the way, is going to be a stud for the Packers.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

That's Chris Sims. You can check him out, PFT Live. Of course, NBC, Football Night in America on Sundays and his podcast, Unbuttoned. That was great. Thanks for the visit. Enjoy the playoffs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

No, no, no dependence. So we got a view over here. Thanks, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Let me tell you what's required. Our email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We've got Kyle and Saruti. No war gone. Saruti's our technical director today for the show. Has anybody got a war gone update on the marathon? I think by his tone, we knew we weren't getting shit from him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

To be entirely transparent, there's zero chance any of us felt close enough to him to reach out and ask how he did. Did you guys send him a text?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I think it's a little weird not one of us feels close enough to the guy on the show.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I thought he worked at ESPN. We don't know anything about him. Really.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I don't hate it, but I'm just saying at no point did any of us, even for the show's sake or just for this moment right now, go, hey, I wonder how he did in the marathon. He was talking it up. Oh, I thought about it. You thought about texting him?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

You don't think if Kyle was off today and was running a marathon, one of us You don't think any of us would text him?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

They stepped up in ways they needed to answer it constantly because this offense was a mess. And yes, The receivers, Watson's out, Dobbs goes out, Reed went out at some point, but Jordan Love just was not very good. When was it over? You could say when Goddard beasted, just beat the shit out of Valentine three times on the way to a touchdown.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

We'll do it. There you go. That's going to be fun. All right. we had a lot of people chime in on the last thing on Friday night, uh, which was a different, thanks for everybody, uh, checking that pot out by the way. But, well, I mean, we knew when we were reading it as it developed, it was just sort of funny and it didn't make a lot of sense, but it is a bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And I guess it's guy from, um, I guess it's the gazpacho soup guy from, I think you should leave. who's awesome in that role. He's like, do you have a nutcracker? Remember that? She's like, eat some of your walnuts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah. And they're playing like, It's not charades, but they're just trying to name celebrities and he just keeps naming. Anyway, this me recapping the bit is doing worse than any possible bit could ever do. So we'll keep it moving. But yeah, I mean, I think we knew it was kind of fake, but I think I appreciated how weird it was as we were going through it. I got to be honest.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Well, I'll send it to you because I found it. And you know what I do appreciate is that people were at least fair enough with that one. They're like, that was a bit obscure, you know, because it just anytime that something like that happens, you're like, do you think three dudes know everything about everything? Like, that'd be a lot of stuff to have to know and be aware of.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And that was one that was off our radar and was far enough off everyone else's radar that the people that did know it were like, hey, you know what? that's not a terrible mess. So thank you for being so kind on a Monday. So earlier in the year, uh, all right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Airpod stolen, but tracked checking in from Utah, average gym stats, probably in the 850 pound club, uh, in the gym, but training for a hundred mile race in Colorado this summer. What's up with these fucking guys lately? All right. I love it. I love it from you guys, but man, Fortunate to have met each of you on a separate occasion.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Sir Rudy at the Ringer NBA Live in Utah bought Kyle a beer out bar hopping in Salt Lake and Ryan at the meet and greet in Manhattan Beach last month. Shout out. Legends. Here's my dilemma. My AirPods went missing out of the console of my car during errands on New Year's Day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I thought maybe I'd misplaced them, but yesterday the AirPods appeared on my Find My app at a house about 20 minutes away from where I live. My first move was that I drove to the house. Knocked On the door about 10 times and no one answered. House is normal, middle class townhome with non-threatening vehicles in the driveway. That would be something I would immediately look at.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah, would a no fear sticker make you go, fuck these people or I'm turning around?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Is there a vanity plate that makes you less worried versus one that would make you turn around?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Like if it was a Metallica kill-em-all thing? where it was like somehow the DMV let him put Kill Em All in some creative way in the plate, I think you turn around. Yeah. Right? That's fair. If the plate said Disney, I'm knocking. Sure. Wargon, yeah. It's like, yeah, I have your iPods. You left them at the live show. Like, I didn't know you lived down the street from me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah, there's a lot you don't know about me. All right, so the question is, what's my next move? Surely cops wouldn't care about a pair of AirPods, is my assumption. Hence the vigilante justice approach here. It's not even the cost of the AirPods at this point or the hassle to get them back. It's the principal that I know who has them and they're hiding in plain sight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I mean, he hit him on the catch, he stiff-armed him again, and he stiff-armed him a third time on his way into the end zone. That made it 16-3. A side note about that play. Xavier McKinney, that shot of him talking to Valentine on the bench, like, what happened? Like, did you see he beat the shit out of me?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

One of my thoughts was to leave a ransom note, Venmo me 200 by tonight and I'll just turn the case or I'll just turn the case over to the police. Now, ransom note, this guy is, well, he's running 100-mile marathons here. I think you might be the one people should be scared of.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

that's like the wire where they have the guy. I think the lie detector test is the copy machine. Yes. Like would anyone actually believe that? I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I'm listening.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Um, All right, so if I'm only 200 by tonight, I'll turn the case over to the police. But that's also a risky approach, as they'll know I know and likely won't answer the door again. I'm definitely not afraid confronting the thief face-to-face. Again, he says, I'm definitely not afraid confronting the thief face-to-face, but need the door answered for this to happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Would love any thoughts or feedback, fellas. All right. He said, you can change my name or you can knock. So... We could read his name, but we will just do him a solid here. All right. A couple factors in a story here. I don't know, Kyle, we haven't really heard from you yet. So why don't you just kind of take us where we need to go?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Like, you now want to scold me and have you have to explain what everybody just saw as if it wasn't embarrassing enough to have this tight end just beat me for 24 yards all the way into the end zone? Now I got to answer to you, dog. That could have been very good. But it wasn't over at 16-3 because...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah, that's kind of it. You're already crazy enough. You don't care. You're the one who knocks, dude. You actually said you could use my name after giving us your location.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

So if you've already knocked on the door, other than getting in the way of your training regimen, I don't know what stopped you from parking across the street if it's a neighborhood that you're not afraid of, if it's a house and the whole deal and everything going on. If you were undaunted at this point, then why not just grab a sub and Richard Dreyfuss this bitch?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah. See what goes on. And then you see, here's what I think you should know, though. If this is a single-family home, before you get real heated, is there a chance there's Greg, the 12-year-old, stole your AirPods?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah. So just, you know, they, you could be entering something. Cause here's the other thing I've, I've noticed that, that even when somebody's wrong, Our internal hatred of being wrong, even when we know we're wrong, will lead to this defense that it'll get turned into, hey, do you have my AirPods?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

The guy may have stolen your AirPods, but he's so mad that you showed up to his house that he'll start some sort of verbal confrontation of like, how dare you show up to my house? If this person is a thief...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

again no offense kyle but like the thief's code of it's my fault for having my car unlocked yeah like oh yeah sorry my bad i'm the dick you're right you can just do whatever you want yeah yeah totally totally get it do you want to slash my tires while you're at it just teach me a lesson good for you so so smart this will really sharpen me up moving forward thank you from stealing for stealing from me uh

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

like we know with the sport of football, there's always a chance to get back into it because they did get back into it. This game was 16-10. Green Bay got two possessions after that moment, but it was so many mistakes. There were just so many mistakes in this. Now, a stat, is this alarming that Philadelphia went two for 11 on third downs? I don't know. It's all forgotten.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Just so you know, like it's something else you have to factor in here is there could be a kid out back just rocking out to, you know, who knows what Sabrina Carpenter right now is hot, I think. So you could just be dealing with something. You could be dealing with an adult who has no idea what you're talking about.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

So you might want to go in here, even though you're already like potentially staking out the guy and you've already knocked on the door. You know, maybe you don't want to watch him and then follow him to a target and then be like, hey, bud, how's it going? Here's the deal. You guys have my AirPods. But I do kind of like where your mind's at with this. I had a stolen phone.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

The next morning, I woke up, checked it, knew exactly where it was, and was like, all right, I'm packing up, and I'm going up there, and I'm getting my fucking phone back. And then around 1 o'clock or 2, I looked at the map again. I started looking at Google Street View. I was like, you're not going there for a phone because you can afford it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

to go buy another one because that could get, that might be way more, you know, I just watched Pulp Fiction again. It was like, you're, you're not that guy. You're not going up there. And I was like, chalk it up to the game. I like where your head's at. I like that you're willing to do it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

But, um, I, I had to be real honest with myself and say, you're probably not going to go to this neighborhood to go get your phone. It's over.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah. Right. I mean, you could just go, Hey, this could be a mix-up. Maybe you grabbed it or whatever. And then he can be like, I don't know what you're talking about. And you're like, Hey, it's right here. And then it's like, well, what mix-up is he had the mix-ups actually that he just stole them out of my, my car.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

26.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I can already guess. 5'7", 155. Played soccer collegiately and continued to play low pro semi-professionally abroad in the past few years. Abroad. Yeah, because semi-pro is usually alert for more organized men's league. which always sounded cool if you were telling somebody that. But the fact that you played overseas and did it, I'm willing to give you a lot more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Like you can win your entry money back? A lot of people do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

No, because I remember like I was on a men's team in Vermont after college. It was like, yeah, you know, we travel a little bit. It's like not really asshole. Like I'm calling myself out, right? Like 23. So then I remember when I was playing in this Watertown Mass thing and some guys be like, oh, that guy played some semi-pro. And I'm like, I don't think that means.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I think it's pretty much the NBA or the G League at this point, guys. All right. Anyway. pick up Ball comp, Steve Blake, solid on D, crafting the paint with passing and finishing around the rim and have an average jumper.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Anyway, I recently got into a debate with one of my roommates that thinks it's totally fine to sit or lay on our couch in the same clothes he just wore for a workout at the gym or training session at the field. Training session at the field. So you guys are like a bunch of athletes running around here. To give you some background, my roommate is 23 and also plays soccer competitively.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

He's a goalie. For those that don't play soccer, they're commonly wired a bit differently. Suri, can you back that up? Yeah, that's probably true.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

All right, so his days are typically filled with team training and or sessions at the gym. The other day, after we both just got back from a 90-minute training session, yeah, these guys sound like, I don't even care if it's not even that cool. The fact that after college, you just have goalie training sessions at 23, and then you're traveling for soccer at 26. Do you have a third bedroom?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

All right. So, uh, get back. He decides to lay on our couch with all the clothes, socks included from the session we just had. This isn't the first time he's done this. So I finally jokingly passively aggressively said, Oh, so you're a big sit on the couch and your same clothes. You're just sweating guy. It sounds almost like word for word. Something I would say to somebody. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Unless Philadelphia loses the next game, then people will point and be like, well, you know, the offense was really good against Green Bay. Quarterback legacy update possibilities. Hurts nine points for that offense in the game against Tampa last year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Which led us to going back and forth on whether or not it's cool to do. From my perspective, the couch is in our living room, which is a shared space, and that it's not okay to sit on the couch in those clothes when myself, the other roommates, and our guests also sit on the couch.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah, seriously. Not to mention we occasionally host and have friends or family crash on the couch. Eesh. All I'm asking is that he at least change into a separate pair of clothes before doing that. Not even saying he needs to take a shower, which I feel is a reasonable ask. His argument that it's dumb to change clothes or shower because he typically

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

typically is going to the gym later in the day to which i reply then lay or sit in your own bed in your sweaty clothes if you don't want to change he also states there isn't a difference between someone coming into the apartment after sitting on a bus or a public space like a restaurant because that's just as dirty that's to me that's that's dude math right there

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

To me, that's an irrelevant argument because in this hypothetical, there's no way for me to know the state of cleanliness of this person as opposed to where I just with the guy where we're both inside sweating or know that he just came back from the gym and is clearly sweating all of this to say, I myself am not a clean freak or a germaphobe.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I just feel like this is a courteous thing to do with the people you live with. And it's a matter of principle of being a good roommate. I don't think it's too much to ask or is it would love to hear the crew's take on this. Um, I got one. All right. I got one. Huge fan up the Chelsea.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

You could be cute and say that they didn't score a ton, but again, if you take away the Barkley touchdown, which they would have had, you know, we're talking about maybe 29 points in this game. You could also point to the fact that in the last two games that Hurts has only run it for about 20 yards per game, but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

If you're going to do this... He's just going to sit somewhere else. You're right. He's 23. I know who both of these guys are. At 23, if you had told me, hey, I don't like you coming back from training sessions all sweaty, I'd be like, I don't like that you told me you don't like it. And that would be it. And war would start.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And if I were the 26 year old, I would, I would sell the couch and then you would come back and then all of us would suffer and have nowhere to sit. Camping chairs. Just to try to one up. Yeah. I mean, like you can ask me what I would think now and you're going to get a fairly reasonable response that it's right. Like you shouldn't, there's a different level of,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I just don't think we should be able to... I don't think we should be very critical of Hurts from just this game, considering everything that we talked about with him being the protocol for so long. Jordan Love. Five picks in his last two playoff games after a brilliant debut against Dallas last year. But he did throw a pick late too on first down against San Francisco.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

of transportation of whatever funk dudes are given off. Like, as opposed to just sitting on a, how many people would ride in the bus coming to your house too? You should ask him that followup. You get a bunch of Metro people just stopping by. All right. So like you're playing that, uh,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

that sort of germaphobe angle on it, like a dude full-blown workout dripping with sweat right into the cushions and that building up over time, that's a far more dangerous game than just someone stopping by that was out and about in society. So the sweater is wrong here, but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I'm just telling you at 23, and I can tell from the tone of where this email is, I don't know if you're dealing with an only child here, maybe the youngest, maybe two older sisters, and then he is the youngest. So sometimes that even cancels out the only child math of like, it wasn't that I was the only child. You're just going so far the other way. Yeah, it's that out of spite.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

It's like I have I have only child tendencies on top of I had two older sisters that baby me. There's like a 10 year gap in there. So like I could never do anything wrong on top of being spoiled the entire time. So I'm just going to sit here in my Kappa or my Diodora gear and just fucking sweat, bro. And there's nothing you can do about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

You guys can designate a section for him. He's not sitting in it. Beanbag, he's not. The only real move here is you have to sell the couch. And then you have to get folding chairs from Ames and set them up four wide. You can sweat in your plastic $10 chair. There you go, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah. Nobody wins. You pull the pin. Yeah. You pull the pin on the grenade in your hole.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I support it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I would. Man, I could do it for like months. You're like, oh, really? This is what you want to do? Larry David level commitment to this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

It gets back to the one plate, one bowl, one knife, one fork, one spoon thing that we try to do. And then one guy started hoarding the spatulas. And he's like, well, that's my spatula. Like, no, no, no. There's house spatulas. We can't have six fucking spatulas. He's like, well, you guys didn't clean it last time. So now it's my spatula.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And, you know, next thing you know, somebody was late with their end of the cable bill. You come back. You're like, why are we watching VHS tapes? Be like, we don't have cable anymore because we couldn't handle it. Just a planet imploding on itself.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

No? Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Granted, there was only like a minute left in that game. So what do we have? We have one really good playoff game from Jordan Love. And we have a comeback against San Francisco where the stat sheet isn't necessarily great. And then you have yesterday's disaster trending down.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I was scared.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

What does Google say?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

The guy told you to kill it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Wait, wait. He wanted you to kill it in a way where it could still be studied?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And the Just for Men Confidence Award, we're going to give it to Jordan Love despite the loss when he signaled for a first down when he was short of the sticks, giving off Kelly Oubre vibes with that one. And just a reminder, Tom Brady was great yesterday.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

You're going to snap it at the C7, but diagonally, you asshole. We really fucked this one up. Yeah. How did you not know that? I saw, this is crazy, but I don't know why it popped up. But there was an ad for like a hangable bat house to put on your property where they could just chill. And it was like a nice little piece of woodwork. And then I thought, why would anybody want that?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Like, hey, mosquito village. You can just put it right here on your porch and interact with the mosquitoes. Sure. I don't know. Maybe some people are super into them. It would seem to lead to some problems.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I'm not saying they're not.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Except this guy told you to kill it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Just the one. But if everybody... What if everybody killed it? Yeah. True. You know. It's like the Chipotle hot sauce thing all over again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Steve. We'll have a war gun update for you if anybody... No one's going to actually reach out to him. We'll hear from him. It'll all be new for us, too, on Wednesday. We'll recap his half marathon at Disney, see if he got any new ink. And you can watch it on YouTube, on our YouTube page as well. Please subscribe to the podcast. Ryan Rosillo, Ringer Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Must be 21 and older. Present in select states. For Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Tom Brady was great in the broadcast when he talked about Jordan Love changing the play and pulling the ball on a run so he could have the one-on-one shot against a backup corner to the right pylon. and that's why the offensive lineman was illegally downfield. Did a great job on the Hertz audio at the line of scrimmage where he's like, well, reload, reload means going back to this or whatever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

The headline for this one is that it's Washington ending a massive playoff drought. It's incredible whenever you go back and look at some of these things, but it's the first win for Washington in the playoffs since 2006. It's only their fourth playoff win as a franchise since they won the Super Bowl in 1991. in these numbers every time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Then he had a couple of zingers in there. Tom Brady was good at this, and he's going to get better, and that's not just because we're lifelong friends. Next game, Baltimore-Pittsburgh. Baltimore wins it 28-14, doubles them up, doesn't feel that close. The headline is... This Lamar-Steelers stuff is probably over. It doesn't mean now that Lamar is going to beat the Steelers forever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

He's still got a lot of football in front of him. But remember Week 11? Your boy was lost. I couldn't figure it out. I'm like, they're not going to beat him again this year, right? Lamar hasn't played in a lot of these games, the history, and I'll get to it again. And then Pittsburgh beats Lamar and the Ravens again, 18-16. It was a weird kicking game, remember, from Baltimore. A bunch of mistakes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Boswell off the charts. I didn't see a lot of let Boswell cook tweets during this game. So then in week... What do we got here? Week 16... 34-17. It's like, all right, this makes a little bit more sense because after the Week 11 loss, Pittsburgh had won seven of the last eight against the Ravens. Granted, four of those losses and one win without Lamar playing for a bunch of different reasons.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

You go back to the game log, we covered all this stuff. But I think this game proved two things. That Lamar can fix the worst plays and... there's a ceiling on what Russell Wilson can do, especially when the defense falls apart.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

So I think that the Steelers-Ravens history stuff, I don't think we go into the next matchup in 2025 and be like, the Steelers have just kind of owned these guys for no apparent reason because of these two games. And I think in the playoff setting, more so than even Week 16, you see what the gap is. So stat that tells the story. The Steelers now...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

with this game have given up 27.4 points per game in the last five, all losses, a team that went from 10 and three to 10 and eight. Uh, those of us that doubted the Steelers viability as a real contender coming out of the AFC, it, it was more about the quarterback and the fact that the rest of the quarterbacks are all awesome.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And Russell Wilson at this stage, even though there was a nice little bump and I would defend him. Um, if people are saying today that field should have started because that defense was a mess and Pickens missed all of those games. So I've already explained this story. You know, I don't need to continue to defend my guy. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

But that's why we doubted, and we doubted them when they had that defense dialed in, and we were doubting them. And this game kind of played out the way I think it was supposed to play. Stat that tells the story, at halftime, total yards, Baltimore 308, Pittsburgh 60, and 164 rushing yards for the Ravens in the first half, the most for an NFL team in the first half of a playoff game since 2019.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Maybe I'm the only one that's always blown away by some of the droughts that we're Not as familiar with unless you are a fan of that team. Jane Daniels, man, needed one first down to run out the clock and set up the game-winning field goal. It wasn't a touchdown. Obviously, it was a game-winning field goal, but let's talk about what Daniels has done this season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

When did we know it was over? Maybe when we heard this speech.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I can't imagine being a veteran teammate, being like, dude, find somebody else. It's like when somebody's handing you a pamphlet. Like, have you thought about your relationship with, like, nope, I'm just trying to get home before kickoff, brother. When was it over? On the field, probably the Justice Hill touchdown, second and five, scrambles all over the place, 21-0.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

All right, quarterback legacy updates, possibilities here. I think Russ is ineligible after 13 seasons. He's a Hall of Famer. He's got a Super Bowl. He was terrific in Seattle. Lamar, we're not doing that. Not for a wildcard game. We'll do it next week after Baltimore and Buffalo.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

However, though, interesting point, this was actually the highest QB rating Lamar Jackson has ever had in a playoff game. Buffalo, Denver. We've got time just a little, uh, what's the headline? Big 10 media makes same playoff committee joke all weekend long. Uh, when was it over when the plane landed stat? I don't know. Um, Denver was only 3-12 on third and fourth down. Time of possession, 42-18.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Look, this is a great season from Denver. It was. Rookie quarterback. You got the right guy in charge in Peyton. The defense was really good. And they had massive, massive cap restrictions. Granted, Bo Nix was kind of like free, so it offsets all the dead money that they had. But they're heading in the right direction. Nobody thought they were going to win this football game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And you're not going to win this football game when Buffalo doesn't make any mistakes. So there you go. It was fun when it was 7-0, Broncos fans. Admit it. But this happened, and then it was 31 straight to close it out. But who's getting mad at Denver today? Who's questioning this Denver team? A little hyped. A little too hyped. Nobody was doing that. Nobody sane would be doing that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Quarterback legacy update. Bo Nix not eligible for this. Josh Allen, see Lamar. We'll do it next week. All right, last game. Houston's win against the Chargers. The headline for this, are people so pissed at Justin Herbert they can't love CJ Stroud? Yeah, I think is the answer to that one. Like a lot of you, when this game started, just like Chargers are in control, they're dictating everything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

And it's only six, nothing. So what the hell's going on here? Stroud had a tough pick early. Herbert matched it with even worse pick to lose all the momentum that they had. And I think the most important thing from this game is that CJ Stroud stayed in the fight. The defensive line stayed in the fight.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

The defensive line disrupted really a lot of what the charges wanted to do with the charges offensive line that, you know, you're not Houston's offensive line is worse than the chargers is. And it didn't look that way for a day. Um, a stat that is perhaps important quarterbacks this year against Houston's defense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

12 touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime this season. That's the most ever for a rookie in NFL history. He had five touchdowns in the last 30 seconds of regulation or overtime, which is two more than any other quarterback since the 1970 NFL merger. If you think about

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Josh Allen went nine of 30 golf, a season low completion percentage and five interceptions. Is there something there? So Herbert has the four picks. If we look at the Rosillo interception point chart, uh, three is the worst. Two is not as bad as three. And, and one is, that's not really on him. Um, So I assigned Herbert three, two, one, and one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

So that's seven interception points out of a possible 12. Winston usually, if he has four picks, it's usually a 12 bagger on my charts here. And when was it over? Probably the pick six. Final thought here. Robert Griffin III had a tweet that said the National Media Association better hold Justin Herbert accountable for his playoff performances like they do Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

I agree with that, and it's about time we start ripping Bo Nix, too. Wild Card Weekend, we got one more game, but joining us now from NBC Sports and, of course, his podcast Unbuttoned and PFT Live, it is Chris Sims. It's been a while, man. Good to catch up. How are you?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Wild-Card Weekend Recap: The Jayden Daniels Show, Herbert, Love, and Tomlin Questions, QB Legacy Updates and the Arch Manning Future at Texas With Chris Simms

Yeah, I stopped getting invited to some of that NFL gala stuff. So I was in the mix for that some of those early years and I would I would run India. But I don't I don't stick around as much now in the Super Bowl weeks. I try to I hear you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

But

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

How is everyone? I'm good, man. It was an up and down weekend. We had the Franz injury news, which was a bummer. But then my guy, Chalamet, just what an incredible Saturday for my guy. Game day?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

Well, I didn't get a chance to watch it live because, uh, Oh, there was, you know, kid stuff on a Saturday, you know, the deal I was trying to get for the bigger games. Yeah, that's true. I was away for a couple of days and I come back and my, my extra Twitter reference should I have a thousand notifications. So I did watch it later.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

I mean, you know, someone, someone said I'm growing out the mustache just to be like him. I can not confirm or deny that, but it was a, it was good, man. And I liked that. He called, you know, his TV dad, uh, McConaughey picked Texas because of them, obviously the L, but yeah, It was good. It was, it was, it was like a big, I feel like, you know, ratings boost for him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

Not that he, I mean, not that he didn't really needed it, but like the dudes dudes now are like, wait a second, shall may ball knower.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

Yeah. I gotta be honest, not a big Bob Dylan guys, but I'll probably see the movie just because of, because of him. But to go back to the basketball stuff too, do you remember that video a couple of years ago that came out where it was like, he was dribbling the ball dangerously high. And it was like, man, is this guy actually like a non-athlete? But yeah, he's recovered from that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

I think he looked, this is put a great weekend for him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

No, and this is going to be controversial. We've kind of talked about this, but I've met Gyllenhaal, and Gyllenhaal was awesome. How are you, though? We want to know how you were with Gyllenhaal. I was great. We were so tight. I've told the story a million times. Oh, sorry then. No, it's fine. But he came into Mike & Mike. It was his first hit. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

He like he is. He's like, but he's my guy. But yeah, Chalamet would probably be, too, because just, you know, the interstellar stuff. And would you hold on too long? Big Dune guy. You hugged it out with with with Joan Hall. You're trying to get out of a Trump. No, it was Chalamet. Yeah, I would be uncomfortable. Yeah, I'd be uncomfortable if you were like Sidney Sweeney or Timothee Chalamet.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

Who would you be more uncomfortable with? The answer is Timothee Chalamet. No doubt about it. Nice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

Here we go. I've always had this. Hold on. I've always had this idea, too, though. Love it. Like a television show where two divorced couple, the divorced couple, they just do a draft of all the stuff that they own. Like a live draft. Fucking love that. It's like, I'm going to grab the house. First overall pick. It's a big one. And then it's like maybe a snake draft situation.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

Or I mean, maybe, maybe like you don't have a ton of equity on it. You don't want the house, you know, and it's kind of a burden to you. Right. Have you seen the fucking furnace in that thing? I mean, good luck.

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CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

Feel good vibes about you though. Yeah. Yeah. You can change me. You can't, you can't go into this being like, you know, she's, you have to take some of the blame. You have to show some humility. Like, cause if you just say it's all the other person's fault, then they're not going to believe you. And that makes you look like a shitty person. You have to be real about it.

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CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

But I would not, I would not go into any specific detail unless you really get to know her. And then you actually have to get through the, you know, some of the, I'll start unpacking some of the stuff that you went through, but I don't, and then if she's too into it, like that's almost a red flag too. It'd be like, no, no, no. Tell me more. Tell me more.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

Then you're like, why this is what you, why are you so interested in this? So I would be vague, take some blame and then hopefully just kind of keep it moving on to Cincinnati.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

I have three. Shocked, actually. I think I knew you had one, but I'm shocked you got three. None of them are very visible. I have one on my wrist that is 23 in numerals. I was born on November 23rd. 23 is my favorite. No, you know, it's a funny story. I was born in 88. And growing up, my parents weren't really big sports fans. And my mom was like, why is 23 everywhere? This is awesome.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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My son was born on the 23rd. She didn't understand the Michael Jordan craze. She just thought 23 was like some special number. Um, so yeah, I had a lot of 23 random bull stuff that she didn't really know was actually, it's kind of a miracle. I didn't end up a bulls fan, but, uh, 23 is a big, big number for me. And I kind of like the, the Roman numeral vibe is listen, it's played out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Everybody has it. It's fine. But I think it looks cool. And I like it. I like it on this box. It's like, you know, you can kind of see it, but also it's sort of hidden. And I got two on the inside that were kind of like last minute deals that I did with my wife when we were on, I think it was our second or third anniversary trip. Um, Those were less thought out. I don't have enough ideas.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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That's the problem. I like tattoos. I think they look cool. I'm with you, Kyle. I think people, when I see a good one or I see somebody, a professional who has one, I'm like, that person probably went through some shit and is good at their job and has tattoos. They're probably double good at their job. But I just don't have enough ideas. So if you have a good thing, think it through.

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And if you have something kind of creative and that you want to do that is really meaningful to you, or if you just like a thing, like Kyle's got the OSP thing. I actually think that tattoo's kind of awesome now. No, I know. But like, it's, it's, I don't know. Like it's, it's kind of endearing. It's who you are. You know, like I, it's, I, I like that about you that. Yeah.

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The sleep thing's kind of crazy though. Cause you have to, it's like, you know, you need to, you know, a lot of things you need shading. It takes like multiple sessions. Like that's a real, real big investment. It's a huge change for people that know you. Yeah. I hope it's not a koi fish when it's all done and it's just like, awesome. Right. Japanese culture. Exactly.

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I gotta be honest. The lion thing too. The line thing too is, I mean, I'm not trying to disrespect anybody listening and might have one like good for you. Maybe yours looks good. It's kind of played out. Like all these soccer players have like big lions on their backs and they've got the, like even my guy, Christian pool is like, he's got the two eyes here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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It might be a tiger situation, but he does like this, you know, it's like, all right, you know, cool. That for a celebration. Awesome.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

yeah i don't know um i had a buddy i had a buddy who had a cover up too like he got one on his arm when he was like 18 19 and he basically put a sleeve over it to cover the whole thing up i mean the sleeve is intense it's it's better than what was there before but it's intense dude a lot of the 18 year olds ones are just terrible my buddy got this terrible yankees one and it like i don't know if the this person was like experimenting with that sounds cool

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I felt like there was always this. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, I have a buddy who has like the burn the ships, you know, and a cool kind of fall on him. Like that's something subtle. That's, that's pretty cool.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Well, the bad ones, I feel like tattooed on your shoulder. I can't wait. Ryan, the bad ones I feel like in your age bracket is more like the barbed wire thing, like the dudes that got the barbed wire biceps or the lower back.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

No, definitely not.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

CFP Bracket Breakdown, Unfair Paths, and Format Alternatives With Todd McShay. Plus, How Many NFL Teams Will Have New QBs Next Year?

No, never have.

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More Luka Trade Fallout! The Pulse of Mavs Fans with Will Cain. Fox to the Spurs. Plus the LeBron, Klutch and Lakers Plans with Jovan Buha.

Just so bummed. Just so crestfallen. I mean... I feel awful and it doesn't get better. I was at breakfast with some of my buddies this morning and they're like, why do you care so much? I'm like, what happened to you? When did you lose your humanity and your passion? This is what I sign up for, man. Like, We all have the way that we come through loving sports.

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Mine is through the prism of fandom, Rosillo. And it is fandom through the channels that were a birthright that I was born to. That's the Texas Longhorns, Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars, and Dallas Mavericks. And that's the way it has been. And I never made a choice.

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And to see one of my loves gutted, 100% gutted, the spirit and soul ripped out of it, it's just, it just feels like a real loss of hope. Wow, that was intense and efficient. What bothers you the most? Okay, what bothers me the most is that whoever made this decision, and I always respect that, you know, even when we were together, you talked about, I have sources.

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meaning you have sources, Russillo. You don't do this through, like I do, the prism of the fan. But on this one, I do know some things. And what I have been told and led to believe is this was really heavily, if not exclusively, driven by Nico. So, you know, I don't want to focus all my fire on Nico Harrison because I don't think it can be completely true that he does a decision like this.

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You know, we know that there had to be sign-offs, but as far as driving the decision... What has me most upset is there is no understanding from whoever made this decision, we'll presume Nico Harrison, that the role Luka played in the psyche in the city of Dallas, and it's singular, and it can't be replaced. And I posted this on X yesterday.

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It's the type of thing that a championship doesn't just replace. So if I even accept the most, you know, superficial... that, oh, this makes us a better basketball team. Charles Barkley says it makes Dallas perhaps the second best team in the West.

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If I even cared about the X's and O's of that right now, and it worked out in the most optimistic manner possible, and they win a championship this year, I don't think it's enough. I don't think it replaces having an iconic figure who's not just the face of the franchise, but I think, you know,

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the face of the league, and if not the face of the league now, with some certainty, the face of the league within five years. And to rip that out, who's a homegrown dude that we brought over, that had doubt around him. I debated Stephen A and Max on whether or not they should, you know, they should take DeAndre, or whether or not DeAndre Ayton's a better pick, or,

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I don't even remember the name of the dude that Sacramento picked second or third. Bagley. Bagley. That was the type of debate we were having. And it was like, no, no, no. We got Luca. We pulled off a heist somehow. The basketball gods gave us this unicorn. And he proved to be everything that you ever wanted. And he just represented more. Honestly, he represented more than championships.

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And I will say this. This is like the Mavs trading Dirk in 2006. And if the Mavs had won the championship in 07 and 08 without dirt, it wouldn't mean as much as winning in 2011 with dirt.

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Okay, so from the ownership side of this equation, I'm going to tell you what I think I understand. And that is this. This is an organization, the new ownership, that allows its managers to run their businesses. Whether or not that's the casino business, the hospitality business, and maybe now the basketball business.

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So this ownership group, by the way, is largely divested from Las Vegas. They don't own the Venetian. They don't own casinos in Las Vegas. And trust me when I tell you that there is a belief widespread that Texas, forget Dallas, Dallas versus Vegas isn't even a comp. No business owner goes, I think I'm moving from Dallas to Vegas. No, that's not a comparable market decision.

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But the idea of Texas is a big time investment. you will see gambling legalized in Texas. You will see casinos built in Texas. You will see the Mavericks somehow tied in to all of those things. So that's not happening. I don't think there's any way this is tied to moving the Mavericks to Vegas.

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And the NBA was doing them a solid, get Luka to LA and help out our ratings and you can move the franchise to Vegas. No, that's not That's not real. Russillo, people name their dog Luca here. Like, it's... There's not a comp, man. Here's the best I did. I tried to think about this. Because, you know, me on my thing saying, you know, a championship doesn't heal this wound.

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I don't know, just two or three championships? Well, the closest comp I can come up with, besides the hypothetical of them trading Dirk, is Jerry Jones firing Tom Landry in 1988 into 1989. That was a big deal. Like, there are old head, and you and I are old heads now, but Cowboy fans who never forgave Jerry Jones, despite the dynasty of the 90s, just did not forgive him for doing that to an icon.

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Now, the difference is Tom Landry was really down. Like, the Cowboys were not good in those two or three years leading up to Jones' purchase of them. Luka is, like, right now entering his prime, and they just came back from the NBA Finals. So even that comp falls short. I don't know how from a PR perspective you recover. And maybe I'm wrong. And I guess I hope I'm wrong.

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Like maybe three championships. And I know that sounds ridiculous. Maybe two championships heals this. But I don't want two championships right now. You know what I want? I want Luka to be a Dallas Maverick.

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So what's wild about that, and he's completely validated today, but is the idea that Nico Harrison is bigger than Luka Doncic. Clearly, he is bigger than Luka Doncic because he did this. And if that's because ownership believes in him, you know, so much or this is their style of management to allow people to make decisions. Um, it's shocking.

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Whatever justification Nico runs out that it's what sold. Let's do a couple of them. So the, the defense thing, that's total nonsense. I, and I know a lot of fans are gonna sit there and go, well, I've watched him get destroyed. I don't care. They were number three in the league in defense last year after the trade deadline, after they got Gafford in Washington, they were third in defense.

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Does that make them perfect? And Luka's not a liability on defense in the finals? No. By the way, Boston was better than Dallas. That's the end of that story. I don't care about it.

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No, but the point is that doesn't cause you to navel gates. That's not a long look in the mirror. You ran up against a really good basketball team in Boston. So I don't buy the defense thing whatsoever. The

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only way i loved what you said with bill this weekend you said i repeated it at breakfast i don't care if he's smoking cigarettes while bringing the ball up the court he's luka donchic i mean that's perfect i don't care about his conditioning right now um Now, I do think they worry about his long-term, how he wears long-term.

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I do think they think, okay, we're one year away from the supermax, $70 million a year. He is clearly not that dedicated to getting in peak physical condition. How does that play? I don't know. 30 is still five years away. So for me, I'm like, it'll play fine. I don't care about what he is at 30. But are they worried he's not going to be good at 27, 28? And you're sitting on this deal?

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I'm curious what you think about this, One of the only things I could come up with, and again, I posted on X is, you know, you love the NBA. A lot of people think that I won't because of my politics, but I love the NBA. Specifically, I love the Mavericks. So I don't have a vested interest. I don't have a political desire to kick the NBA in the crotch. But I do.

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I am capable of reading facts and the ratings are not good. Quite honestly, Russillo, I rate higher at four than the NBA does in primetime. Whoa, early. Shots fired. They may beat me in the demo, but I'm going to be honest on that as well. Not by that much. So the point is the ratings are not good for the NBA. Okay, all the people go, well, kids consume the NBA different, TikTok.

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You don't monetize social media in the same way you monetize a TV contract. So you have to ask, at some point, is there a correction in the TV revenue market? Like the NHL had a reset in the mid 2000s when their salaries got out of control.

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And you say, okay, well, if that's coming for the NBA, are these super max deals at $70 million a year unsustainable if the current economics of the NBA don't continue? Maybe they do continue. Maybe they don't. ESPN has an endless appetite for live sports programming. So I don't know, but that's the only thing I can come up with. But even at that, Rosillo, this ownership group is loaded.

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Like they've got a lot of money. So I don't think they're a penny pinching ownership group worried about the, you know, the black and red of a financial spreadsheet into the future.

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Both sides though. You remember. You remember both sides because you remember the debate about, oh, the NBA is going to replace the NFL. It became a proxy culture debate. But all I'm saying is- That was another Cuban thing. That was another Cuban thing. Cuban was trying to say that. Yeah, he drove that.

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Well, all I would say on that is I think ultimately I'm in the same place as you. I'm spitballing trying to find a rationale for something that is on its face unjustifiable and irrational. The money side of it, and you're right, well, first of all, the league's primary revenue source is TV contracts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So if viewership goes down, you would think at some point the value of those TV contracts would go down, but it hasn't happened to your point. They keep going up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And that's in part because TV itself, cable is declining and live sports and to some extent news are the last holdouts. And so kind of their land grab becomes more valuable as everything else goes down. You do wonder at some point, does it catch up even to those highest points on the mountain? But again, this is why I don't disagree with what you're saying.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Luca's $350 million deal would be within the scope of a current TV rights deal. So you're not gonna pay bad for it. You've already got that revenue baked in. So I'm with you. Again, it's gonna take me back to, I think Nico, I'm gonna let you take this where you want. It's clear that Nico saw Luca Two things. I think you're right. He saw him as a problem, okay?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I don't think everything was as hunky-dory behind the scenes as you'd want to believe. Whatever that means. How you manage a star, your relationships with stars, even Luca's relationship with other stars. I'm not suggesting there's anything bad there, but maybe I've been led to believe it's not as rosy as it always looks. And secondarily then, Nico saw Luca as an asset, not as an icon.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And there's a difference. And so that asset, he was willing to flip. And maybe he's right. Maybe they're now better on defense. And maybe they have a two to three year window where they're, you know, the Mavericks aren't gone. They're going to be very competitive, presuming these 31 year olds don't get injured. Um, but I don't, the problem is he's not an asset.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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He's not just another player, even a very good one. He's an icon. And I don't think he's just an icon in Dallas. I think he is a lead and that's obvious. Now look, he's going to be the face of the league because he's a Laker even more now, you know, and you just traded away the icon of the NBA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Well, um, yeah, Well, the one team thing feeds the conspiracy back to the ratings. Oh my God, we got to get ratings up. Make Luka a Laker. I don't generally believe. Well, do I believe in conspiracies? I'll let the audience decide whether or not I believe in conspiracies. You want to just do 30 minutes on that for a minute or so? Should we just dig into a few?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Okay. All right.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I guess, you know, like like intellectually, like theoretically, yeah, that would have gone down easier. But in the end, I wouldn't have won it. And that would have also that wouldn't have been any good either. If you had said that I literally this is kind of personal to me. him to Milwaukee for Giannis. Maybe. Maybe I could get behind that eventually. Maybe. That is the one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Because I really like Giannis. I just don't. There's nothing else. I don't care how many first round picks. He's Luka Doncic.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Well, I kind of know what you mean by I've become one of those guys. I mean, I'm not doing faux humility when I tell you I've never thought about it in that way. And I'll be personal with you in the audience. And you and I texted and I said... Look, to do what we do, you have to have a combination of a couple of things, which is narcissism, insecurity, and ambition.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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But, you know, I, of course, am ambitious. And to have my name on a show and have my own hour on Fox News is incredibly flattering. And it's somewhat of a celebratory moment. But the real celebration for me is that I've been making a commute. Dude, I haven't unpacked my dop kit. for nine years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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That includes my time back to ESPN when I would go spend two or three nights in a hotel at the Homewood Suites in Bristol. I guess technically it's Southington. But I have lived out of AdoptKit for nine years except for the one year of COVID. And I moved back to Texas five years ago where I'm from. And I live in Dallas and this is my life and this is where I'll die.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I'm never moving, at least not as a primary residence. And to get to do this from Dallas is the real victory for me. That's what it is. They made my dreams come true when it comes to, I get to go to my son's Friday night football games. I'm not missing soccer games anymore. I'm not commuting to New York. That's it. Everything else for Scylla is icing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And as for our friendship, stick around because maybe I'll put you in my cabinet.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

More Luka Trade Fallout! The Pulse of Mavs Fans with Will Cain. Fox to the Spurs. Plus the LeBron, Klutch and Lakers Plans with Jovan Buha.

That's what I'm, that's where I'm leaning right now. Secretary of commerce, Ryan Rosillo. I don't know. What does that guy do? Something big tariffs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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God, you know what's interesting? This came up this weekend. I was at one of my kids' soccer games and somebody brought up hate and vitriol. And I was like, you know what, man? I've got pretty thick skin at this point. The most I ever got is not in politics and not at Fox. It's at ESPN. And that's by nature of a lot of things and topics and times that we were all going through from 16 to 20.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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But I think... You know, what's the biggest difference? From an audience perspective, there's an alternative media to what I have to say on Fox, who will really, really nefariously cut what you have to say and recharacterize it, but you just let go. I'd let go of that. I had friends at ESPN. Everybody wants to think that I didn't, that everybody hated me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Maybe they did behind my back, not to my face. I had friends at ESPN. I loved my five years at ESPN. I loved working with you, talking. My favorite thing about what we do is, well, now I have a relationship off camera. When the microphones go off, do we have more to say? Do we have more to hang out? So Rudy will testify this. Every commercial break, I went into the control room

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So did you, you know, and I remember this and I'd hung out, hang out with the guys, you know, Bubba, Cerruti, we talked, I loved being with the fellas. I have, I certainly had that, uh, at Fox, but now most, a lot of my connections have gone on to run the secretary of defense or the department of transportation. But, um, it's, it's been real similar at Fox.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I have great relationships at both places and, That's my favorite thing. It's LeBron and D-Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. I now know the value of working with your friends.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Uh, no, no, I don't. Uh, my wife used to tell me, Hey, she used to say to me, why don't you start? Cause you know, okay. Also there's the design of first take, which is the design is get to the disagreement. The first take is not fake, except it does away with the pleasantries of normal conversation that you could call fake, that most of us do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So in other words, like, don't go, well, I see your point. You know, honestly, Max did too much of that, and that's why it didn't work for Max on first take. I see your point. Get straight to the part where you don't see their point.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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My wife used to be like, why don't you just say like at the beginning of some of these really contentious conversations, you know, I see your point or I get that and here's where I agree and then go in. And I'm like, no, like I'm going straight for the counterpunch to the notes right off the bat. I mean, because I do have a deep disagreement and so we might as well get to it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I'm going to answer that two ways. You're going to find both unsatisfactory because I think I know what you want, but I don't think I can give it to you. I have a lot of, I think I have a lot of self-awareness. I know you do. Boy, you think about this stuff a lot. You think about it too much. But I think about it a lot too. Like, how does this work? How did I do? Why did that not work?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Which is good. It's like watching game tape of yourself, which I don't. I don't think you do either. I don't watch game tape. But I do think about what I said and how it played and these kind of things. But I don't change. So that's the problem.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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The funny thing is, I don't know if I believe that or not. It's hard sometimes with Rosillo's sarcasm. Was he super hard on himself or was he super proud? The thing about it is, though, at the end of that, I know this sounds like I'm patting myself on my back, but I know myself at this point. I have one currency. One. It's authenticity. Believe it or not, I don't want to be the smartest dude.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I just want to be real and I want to be me. So I'm going to do that in both places. And that's the same. And that's just the way it is. Let the chips fall where they may. You're also asking about something else. It's behind the scenes stuff. I was never more laid back, Rusillo, than I have been. When I went to law school, Rusillo, I stopped caring about grades.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And it was the most liberating three years of my life. And I learned more. I just stopped. I didn't want a big law firm job. I wasn't trying to make 150 grand my first year out of law school. I didn't want that. So there was no point in me trying to be law review. So I didn't. And I learned so much. When I got to Fox, I have not... Of course, I'm ambitious.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So I'm not going to pretend like I didn't have conversations or like, where is this leading? And do I have a path? But I didn't angst about it. I was pretty laid back about I'm doing this. I'm enjoying my job. We'll see where it goes. And there's a lot of reasons decisions are made to your point. I don't know them all.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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And I wasn't as surprised as anybody when this came down, but it really helped being laid back and not trying to white knuckle the steering wheel.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

More Luka Trade Fallout! The Pulse of Mavs Fans with Will Cain. Fox to the Spurs. Plus the LeBron, Klutch and Lakers Plans with Jovan Buha.

Right. Well, it took a while. I mean, I'm no overnight success. I've been doing this for 14, 15 years. I'm 49 years old. Are you 50? You're 50. That must suck. Sorry, man. Well, not yet. Your birthday's right after mine, I think. We're real close. Are you April? August. August. See, we don't know each other that well. I just knew it started with an A. So I'm a little older. Close.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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You have two choices. But... You know, I'll tell you two things. He seemed to work against one another. One of my friends told me one time, hang around the hoop. Hang around the hoop. See what kind of rebound bounces your way. Most people take themselves out of the game. Most people strap on their own suicide vest and blow up their own opportunities. And I think that's true.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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I think that's really true. So hang around the hoop. The second is, You, and you and I talked here and there, but you're an inspiration in that you're an example of what is increasingly true for everyone who does what we do. You don't have to white knuckle this. You don't have to worry about backroom politics. You don't worry about who likes you and who doesn't like you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

More Luka Trade Fallout! The Pulse of Mavs Fans with Will Cain. Fox to the Spurs. Plus the LeBron, Klutch and Lakers Plans with Jovan Buha.

You don't worry about the tap on the shoulder because you can go build out there on your own like you have done at Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

More Luka Trade Fallout! The Pulse of Mavs Fans with Will Cain. Fox to the Spurs. Plus the LeBron, Klutch and Lakers Plans with Jovan Buha.

So let me just say, don't let there be any riots in the corridors of the ringer. We're just friends who talk sports. Next time on the YouTube special, we will talk about how to address the Mexican drug cartels, what the legislature will do with the tax rate, and cutting the deep state. We'll get into all of that. So save your angst for that episode. I do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

More Luka Trade Fallout! The Pulse of Mavs Fans with Will Cain. Fox to the Spurs. Plus the LeBron, Klutch and Lakers Plans with Jovan Buha.

You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

More Luka Trade Fallout! The Pulse of Mavs Fans with Will Cain. Fox to the Spurs. Plus the LeBron, Klutch and Lakers Plans with Jovan Buha.

What is up, Russillo? This is interesting. This is fun. I appreciate the invitation. I am honored. I'm flattered. No, this is, I'm excited to be with you again, man. What's up?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

Yeah, I did.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

So I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

Like, I just, I don't think that's... You don't want to be given, like, a handshake emoji.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

Yeah, I mean, it sounded like she thought you were having a bad day. Maybe tell her, hey, this made my day. Show some enthusiasm. Can't wait to see you later. What I'm confused about is, did he tell her that he was sending this question in to us after she sent him this?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

That doesn't seem like the right move to me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

Yeah, based on the information from the email, the emailer did nothing wrong. And I think you just need to like make that super clear that, you know, all you did was go for a drive. Like, that's all.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

Did the emailer even know that she was being unfaithful? Like, did he know that she was being unfaithful? I don't know. Or did the girlfriend inform him that after?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

We don't know. So like, I think you just got to, you know, nothing happened. You got to trust me on this one. Won't happen again. You know, we'll steer clear of her, but I didn't do anything wrong in the moment. All we did was go for a drive.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

Was hoping for a December to remember. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

Jesus. Maybe not that pricing. Nice pull, Mike.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart as QB2? Plus, Senior Bowl Takeaways With Todd McShay and a Memphis-Portland-All Star Tales from the Couch.

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Is the Shedeur Thing That Complicated? First-Round NFL Draft Reactions With Albert Breer. Plus, the Nuggets Look Cooked.

To me, it look like a level coming to me. I got to do a little bit of treat. Who else in the level can say yeah? Yeah!

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Is the Shedeur Thing That Complicated? First-Round NFL Draft Reactions With Albert Breer. Plus, the Nuggets Look Cooked.

I know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Is the Shedeur Thing That Complicated? First-Round NFL Draft Reactions With Albert Breer. Plus, the Nuggets Look Cooked.

That's not...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Is the Shedeur Thing That Complicated? First-Round NFL Draft Reactions With Albert Breer. Plus, the Nuggets Look Cooked.

You dug a hole to start. Yeah, you're down 10-0 and two minutes in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Mahomes overrated if he loses this game. Is that where you were going with it?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

It should be, but I don't know. That fourth quarter, they played in week 11 and week 16. Week 11 was when Daniels was having the injury stuff, and he had that little lull in the middle of the season. I just remember watching that game and re-watching it. There were plays to be made that he didn't make that he's been making the rest of the season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Then you get to week 16, and they get the commanders for five takeaways ahead. And you're like, all right, five takeaways. You're winning that game. You look at it statistically every time. But the commander scored touchdowns on like three of their final four possessions. And it was Daniels with his legs. I mean, he had a fourth and 11 where he takes off for a 29-yard scramble.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

He had another fourth down where Jalen Carter, it's kind of what you were just talking about with the, hey, force a guy to scramble. They basically did that, and Jalen Carter's waiting for him, and he just sidesteps him, takes off, and picks up the first down. So I think in terms of game plan, the Eagles, this isn't a game where you're aggressive and blitz Jaden Daniels.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

He has killed that all year, been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL against the Blitz, and that's not how Fangio wants to play anyway. So I think it's a big game for, hey, their four-man pass rush, Jalen Carter, the rest of those guys up front, they've got to control the game if they're going to contain Daniels.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Yeah. It's, it's tough to prepare for the whole offense and it's all, it's because of him, you know, like you can have the quarterback run game. He might be the best downfield passer in the end. I mean, his touch on these downfield passes is incredible. If you look at some of the advanced stats, he's top two, top three, and all of those. So you've got that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

He's able to attack the middle of the field. That was a big question of him. coming out of the draft as well. You know, does this guy throw to the middle of the field or is he, cause Jalen hurts is a guy who does not throw to the middle of the field. And Jaden Daniels has done that at a very high rate. So he's been incredible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

And the other thing with that offense is the rate at which they go, no huddle. I think it's like over 60% of the time and no other offenses above, I want to say 25%. And so it's, Now they're getting to the line of scrimmage and now you got to be sound and all right, you're getting lined up and now, all right, is he keeping the ball? Is this play action? Are they going downfield?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

So it is a tough group to prepare for. And Jalen Carter for the Eagles plays like over 90% of the snaps. He's on like that Max Crosby plan of just never come out of the game. I think that's a factor here. If you're going no huddle and you don't have those breaks in between plays, does that limit his effectiveness a little bit?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

So that's something to keep an eye on because Carter took over that game against the Rams last week. Like he made two plays on that final Rams possession where if he doesn't make those plays, the Rams are in the NFC championship and we're talking about an amazing comeback.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

So that is one way where the commanders can say, hey, we don't have the best offensive line, but this is a way to maybe tire out the best defensive players on the other team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

I think this is the most cautious version of Jalen hurts we've ever seen as an NFL quarterback. You know, I think early in the season, he had some games where he turned the football over, uh, And then as a, I don't know if it was as a team, if it was a meeting, if it was just subconscious, but they said, Hey, we've got Saquon Barkley. We've got the best offensive line in football.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

And our defense is coming on with Vic Fangio. Now I think it's the best defense in football. Like you don't have to be a superhero. Let's just not turn the football over. And that's at the expense of, of everything. Like you watch these games. If he's not sure he's tucking the ball and running or taking a sack, he takes seven sacks last week in that game against the Rams.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

So it's either a scramble, a throwaway or a sack. It's only 25% of his past plays. He's not even targeting a receiver, which is you know, the highest rate in the NFL. So you can really take it both ways. I mean, you could say, hey, he's doing what's being asked of him and he's doing what it takes to win. They literally have not lost a game he started and finished since September 29th.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

That's the last time he started and finished a game and they lost. So you say, I understand why he's playing that way. You could also look at it and say, Is it going to run out at some point, you know, when, and if they do, and now they're in the NFC championship. So maybe it's a stupid conversation, but it's not a pretty passing game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

I mean, they had 65 net passing yards last week and I know it was snowing. That's the lowest total for any team in a playoff game in the last 10 years. Like everything we know about the modern NFL is you're not going to win a lot of games with 65 net passing yards. So this is kind of like a bizarro Eagles team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

This is sort of a, you know, stuff the nerds in the locker type team where they'll run the ball, offensive line, defense, take all your passing numbers and who cares? They don't apply here. And so I keep waiting and waiting. I've had this conversation for months now. can it last? It's going to catch up to them eventually. And now here they are one win away from the Superbowl.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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So maybe I'm, you know, maybe I was off this whole season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

it's funny when you compare the two quarterbacks, like if the commanders win this game, the only thing we're talking about is Jaden Daniels was Superman. Like that is their path to win the game is Jaden and the Eagles. We could be talking about them getting to the Superbowl and you and I could be having the same conversation in two weeks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Like, yeah, they're in the Superbowl, but the passing game doesn't look really good. It just speaks to kind of what's being asked of each quarterback. You mentioned the offensive talent with the Eagles. I mean, it's the best collection of offensive talent they've had in my lifetime. I mean, it's ridiculous when you really look at it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

best offensive line, probably in the NFL, AJ Brown, Devante Smith, Saquon Barkley, Dallas Goddard. Like it's just, when you look at the position, Jalen hurts is in, you know, I'm sure other quarterbacks are watching this going, man, I wish I had one season in my entire career where I had that group. So I'm with you overall.

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Yeah, this actually started, I feel like, for them in last year's divisional round game against the Chiefs. If you look at that game, it was one of the most efficient offensive games for any team all season. And they still lost because they couldn't produce explosive plays and they missed a field goal and Mahomes is Mahomes and all that. But yeah, I think they really leaned into it this year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

I think these Eagles games have followed a similar, you know, blueprint for a lot of the season where you watch it and go, all right, the defense is playing well. You know, the passing game's not that great. But third or fourth quarter, AJ Brown makes a play. Saquon Barkley makes all the guys I just mentioned.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

They have such a great collection of talent that at some point, one of those guys just does something and that flips the game. And all of a sudden they're up by 10 points and they win. So I like the commanders with the points. you know, Eagles do have some injuries. You mentioned the Hertz one. We don't know how mobile he's going to be in this game. He's playing with a knee injury.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Their center cam Juergens who took over for Kelsey, who has been really good. He's got a back injury. Goddard, you know, has an ankle injury. So there are some kind of not the main guys, but kind of the secondary guys have some injuries. And I just, if Jaden Daniels is an underdog in the playoffs right now, I'm just going to go ahead and take the points because he's been that good.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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They are running the football on first and second down at a higher rate than league average, where like five years ago, you know, we would say you have Josh Allen at quarterback. what are you doing? Like put the ball in his hands, let him cook. But they've kind of leaned into this. They've got an awesome offensive line, a huge offensive line that can really run block.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

And that's been sort of the way they've played this year. And the other thing aligned with that is they're turning the football over at the lowest rate of any offense in 25 years. It's crazy. Four percent of their possessions this year have resulted in turnovers. And so they've kind of leaned into it when they need Josh Allen to be Josh Allen. He can be third and fourth down late in the game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

But yes, the run game has kind of been at the heart of everything they do this season. That's been the big change with this version of the Bills team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

And he still got it if he needs to. Like the basketball player, if he needs to take over in the last four minutes, I think Josh Allen obviously still has that. And it's been a funny sort of transformation to watch. I mean, he had that play last week where I think they're in the red zone and he's getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

And there are players, remember the play where he's thinking about lateraling it? Like you can kind of see it. in his eyes and his motion, but he doesn't do it where you're just thinking, man, a couple of years ago, he might do something crazy like that. So he's got, I always loved watching him even when he was doing those things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Cause I said, he plays every play like it's fourth down in the super bowl and the games on the line. It doesn't matter if it's week four against the Raiders or it's actually a playoff game, but he has kind of adjusted the way he's played. And yeah, you can't argue with the results.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Yeah, I mean, you look at that game and really the last two games I was looking at, and it's actually been on the other side of the ball where the Chiefs offense has been really efficient against this Bills defense. And specifically, they've been able to run the football where you talk about the Chiefs and Mahomes and all that stuff. And that's not the first thing that comes up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

But I think it's going to tell us about the style of game we're going to get. Like, I think it is going to be one of those where we say Bills nine play defense. 74 yard drive. They just took six minutes off the clock and then Chiefs 11 play, you know, 80 yard drive. And all of a sudden we're going to get to like the middle of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

And you're going to be like, these teams haven't had the, had a lot of possessions. So like every little thing gets magnified, whether it's a special teams miscue, whether it's a random turnover, all those things. Cause I think that's the way these two teams are playing right now. It's not explosiveness. You know, you look at the Chiefs,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

They produced explosive plays at the third lowest rate of any team in the NFL this year. The Raiders and the Browns were the only two teams less likely to produce an explosive play this year than the Chiefs. It's been methodical, move the football, let Mahomes create on third down.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

So yeah, I think when you look at that game earlier this season, and again, even going back to the divisional round, I think it's going to be that type of game. Long drives, not a lot of possessions. Every little mistake is going to be magnified.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

No.

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Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Yeah, I'm 100% with you. I don't know many quarterbacks who would like if they got to choose their style of play, especially someone like him with the talent he has. And we've seen it. I mean, those Tyreek Hill, Kelsey in his prime type offenses, it was just... Unbelievable to watch when he would just get back there and launch the ball 45 yards downfield and drop it in the bucket.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

It was beautiful. So I think it's been two things. I think one is just kind of the league-wide trend where all these defenses right now are saying, hey, play with two safeties deep. eliminate the explosive pass plays at all costs. And I think that kind of started with having to stop those Chiefs offenses. And now it's all over the league. So I think that's one. And then two is what you said.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

I mean, look at the supporting cast. You have two tackles who can't, you know, who have had issues to tackle positions. Now they've sort of figured it out with Tooney, but you can't block well. And then just the supporting cast, like it's not great. I mean, I laugh when I saw like the MV, you know, the top five MVP thing where I'm still going like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Put some of these guys in that, you know, in that Chiefs offense and let's see what it looks like. Like it hasn't been perfect this year. I'm not saying it has, but I still think he's doing more with less as much as any quarterback in the NFL. So I think it's been a combination of those things. But yeah, I think they would love to get back to playing the way they did, you know, a few years ago.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

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Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's been out there now. I think it has affected them a little bit, like the guy who's replacing him at guard and the run game a little bit, but it is an unbelievable job by him to just be playing guard. They drafted a guy, they signed a guy and they're like, nope, yeah, stick Tooney out there. And for the most part, he's held up really well.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

I mean, that Texans pass rush is better than anything they're going to face the rest of the postseason. So, you know, if you could survive that, you're going to be in good shape the rest of the way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Yeah, it's so funny to look at the two teams and you're like, who is the man coverage issue on either? There's not a guy who you're like, oh man, you can't play man against this guy. He's just going to cook somebody one-on-one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

So it is interesting in that respect that you have two great quarterbacks, but they don't have that number one pass catcher who's just going to dominate a one-on-one matchup. So yeah, the Bills have been mostly his own team this year, but McDermott has shown a willingness to switch things up more, I think, than he has in the past. I mean, you look at that game last week against the Ravens.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

I've got the bills too. I hate it too. I hate myself for doing it because I know my feeling, what it's going to be like on Sunday around nine o'clock Eastern time where I'm going, you idiot. Why did you try to do this again and outsmart yourself?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

They played a different style than they had been playing all season. They're aggressive. They're blitzing. They're playing more man. And so does he bring that... into this matchup as well. You're right about the scrambling.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

That always makes me nervous against these two guys that if you're playing man in these situations, how many times have we seen it where it's third and nine and all right, they're taking off and it ends up a 15, 20 yard scramble that kind of breaks the back of the defense. So the man coverage that has to be aligned with the rush plan. are you spying somebody?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Do you have somebody in the middle of the field? That's kind of that, you know, take away those crossing routes. So there are a lot of elements to it. That's why they're so good. There's not a, you know, hey, do this one thing over and over again. And you mentioned it with Kelsey against zone. I mean, he's just like freelancing and hey, find green grass, find the open space.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

I don't think, and I've never seen anybody do it the way he and Mahomes have done it, where it's like, if you're just playing zone, he's going to be able to find an opening and find a completion. So yeah, there is no, Great answer, but I think you could see them lean into some of that stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

But I just feel like, you know, from a narrative standpoint, I felt coming into the playoffs that Josh Allen or Lamar, one of them was going to finally, finally break through. And so I'm basically just sticking to a previous take. That's my analysis.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Yeah, it is exactly like you described it, I think, where you're saying, hey, if you're going to scramble, if you're going to leave the pocket, we're making you go to this side, and then we're going to have our off-ball linebacker, whoever it is, Milano, like you said, waiting there. Now, like you say, he still has to make the play.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

Yeah, no, it's a good play. Mahomes, out of structure this year on those second reaction plays. And I think it's because of the supporting cast. It's not because he's a different guy, but just like you look at it statistically when he's holding on to the football, it hasn't been as prolific as it has been in years past. No, I'm not a dummy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?

I know that on Sunday, he could just go out there and hold the ball and make seven plays like that where he reminds everybody, no, no, no, I am the best player in the world right now. But just the guys they've had, you know, they haven't had the same luck there on those scramble drills as they have had in the past.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

This episode of the Ryan Russillo podcast is brought to you by AT&T. I want to talk about guarantees and the lack of when it comes to windows in the sports world. I love what the Cavs did this year. They know their windows right now, and there's no guarantee that extends beyond this year. We think it could, but many teams have done so in the past.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And one of the benefits of having Chris Paul is like the identified roles. When I watch San Antonio now, even with the Fox acquisition, which they're still kind of figuring out, When being to this point of being out of the season, it felt like they knew the rotation. They knew what everybody was supposed to be doing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

The sub patterns granted with last year's roster, they were trying a bunch of different stuff. It wasn't necessarily a very good team. I think Kelvin looking much better looking like the Kelvin I used to like a couple of years ago has also helped as well. So it just feels like it's a more identifiable team, um, What do you look for?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Because like he looks like a better player, as you'd expect with just a year of experience from him. So I don't I don't want people to take a simple approach of Wambayama into year two of like, well, you know, how much better is he? And does he take too many threes? What do you look at to better understand where he is improvement wise from what we saw in the second season?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I'm as Canadian as it gets. I'm not Canadian, but I'm pretty Canadian. My mother's side of the family, great-grandmother, she lived in Sherbrooke, died in Sherbrooke. Summers and Ayers, Cliff, Magog, Albert Mines, Moe's River, Milby. Roos's Point, if you get lost on the way back. I make my Toronto jokes. Some of those Raptors fans, I'll hate you forever, but that's not fair to all of Toronto.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Okay. You also get to see the Suns. they were eight and one to start. They're 18 and 28. Since then, they had a stretch where they won eight out of 10, where I still didn't like what I saw. And now they're losing games at another clip. And when you start looking at projecting who's in or who's out of the play in game, and clearly the women, Yama stuff is significant. Um,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

You know, I don't know if Dallas can lose that many games, you know, depending on what the health situation is with Anthony Davis. It just feels like one of the teams, maybe Golden State, one of the teams in this group is going to be like, oh, that guy, like that guy's out of the actual playoff picture. Do you think that's the Suns?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah, I thought his answer about the dynamic in the locker room was very telling because I think it was Ramona Shelburne and was it, was it with someone else? So I don't want to leave anybody out if I'm, I'm not giving credits. Maybe I'll look it up a little bit later as we're doing this, but it was describing or hinting at a toxic workplace, locker room, all that kind of stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Maybe some of the surrounding areas, because if the business is true and you left your moms in the hood, somebody go smoke that ute. So I'll never necessarily get over that. I remember going back to 1996 Team USA playing Canada in the World Cup of Hockey, I believe. We were over at Berkey's, Howe, Sloat, Berker. I had a bunch of the hockey guys over. We were, what, 21, 22? They were like 24.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And then Duran addresses it, basically dismisses it all. But as he's suggesting why it isn't, he's not doing a very good job. He's like, hey, some guys are in the training room. Some guys are doing their own thing. Some guys are off here. They're on their phones. It's like you're actually describing something that sounds like it's not that tight of a group or a group that's all that connected.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And by the way, like nobody, people just rarely would go, yeah, once everybody kind of realized I didn't want to be here, then I kind of ruined the vibe around this entire team. Look, we had heard this summer that he wanted to be in Houston. That playoff elimination was embarrassing. Minnesota was laughing at those dudes.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

They had a good offseason for what they needed to do and get work done in the margins. I've actually been kind of impressed with some of the stuff they've been able to pull off, and I felt like they had come in. But the Tyus Jones point guard part of it, what we liked about it in the beginning, like, hey, what a great concept, have these guys play off the ball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

When I watch Phoenix, it's still Booker having to do everything. It's still Booker having to do everything despite the Durant stuff. So Durant's still going to have all these numbers. When I watch Durant now, there's just certain nights where it's a reminder of his greatness. I was watching, I forget which international game it was because it was in the Netflix.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I think it was because it was in the Netflix doc that I did where we were talking about Team USA and what they had done this past summer. But there was footage of Durant earlier, and you were watching that game. Again, you're going, Durant in that moment was the best player on the floor of anybody that was out there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And I know that's a few years ago, but I guess I'm just becoming more and more confused about Durant. I just go, what do you want, dude? What do you actually want? Because as soon as you get what you think you want, you don't seem to want that either.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Last year, you could point to okay, here's what the record is when the three guys play. Okay. And they had that ridiculous, like just off the charts, bad clutch offensive rating. Like it was so bad, Kirk, that I don't, I didn't even know that we could do. You were just like, that can't be real. And like, that's kind of how it's playing out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Cause I do think sometimes in the clutch numbers, you can have such bad stretches where the number looks terrible. And it's like, is that really who you are? And then I don't know what it is. I didn't look it up this morning and I know they were back in the game last night and then they, you know, get run out of it towards the end. But that number was a lot better.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I maybe I'll look it up again here. I have, I have a to-do list while I do this interview. This usually doesn't happen all that often, but, But there was a turning point of that where like, okay, well, that makes more sense that it's better now. But I'm with you. I mean, look, 18 and 28 since that 8-1 start. Who do you like better, Memphis or Houston? Who do I like better, Memphis or Houston?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But yeah, some of the NHL guys, Timmy, Saint, Juice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

sorgi whatever we're sitting there with all these canadian dudes some of those guys are american that i just named i just like saying hockey names and we're watching look we didn't care about the result of that game 48 hours before it we probably forgot didn't care about the result of that game 24 hours later maybe six hours later but we sat in a big room we watched the game we cheered like american idiots you know maybe we played free bird it was kind of fun seeing people dress up like ben franklin all the music and all that stuff you know america fuck yeah but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I think the job part of it that is ceiling if he's playing consistently and peaking at the right time is the tiebreaker. If you look at the two teams, maybe you don't even look at them as tied because this has not been... like the best production season from Ja, Jaron Jackson's taken it to another level.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

The fact that they seem to find rotation guys in the draft as well as any organization, they can just kind of, you know, they made a decision on LaRavia's contract, which at the time probably made sense. Maybe they regret it a little bit later on, but he moves out. I think some other teams liked him enough

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

to think that he's going to be a long-term role player, but here's a team fighting for a two seed that's like, you know, we're actually okay moving him out with some of the other guys that they've gotten back because they have just really good depth in those stages. But I haven't always loved the Jha stuff from this year, but I know that it exists.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

It exists to a point where if he's playing for a month or two straight and he's healthy and he's good to go, I would expect him to be back at like peak Jha levels with a better Jaron Jackson. So I think that's the right call because that offense with Houston, I'm scared to death of it in big spots. The turn taking, the ganging up on Van Vliet, the defense is going to be terrific.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I'm not worried about that. But again, that's another team where you look at the offensive rating and some of the clutch stuff for them. Their clutch numbers in general are just really weird despite having a 19 and 15 record in those games. And by the way, Phoenix is 10th in clutch offense this year. So I knew it was better than it was last year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

History tells us your window is shorter than you think. There are no guarantees. And then there's the AT&T Guarantee. It means connectivity you can depend on, deals you want, and service you deserve. Or AT&T will make it right. Visit att.com forward slash guarantee to learn more. AT&T, connecting changes everything. Terms and conditions apply. Visit att.com forward slash guarantee for details.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Let's talk Cleveland. I love the DeAndre Hunter ad. I even like the Javante Green ad because it's clear they are stockpiling wings here. Hunter makes sense because he's a good player. The Javante part of it, I'm like, okay, this makes sense. They have to figure out how to throw multiple wings, even if their closing group could still be Struce as the fifth guy, depending on the spacing needs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I can see Atkinson mixing and matching. Normally, I'm like, hey, look, who are the players? That's who I'll pick against. That's who I'll pick for. But Atkinson has done, I think in the case here, one of those rare on-the-fly movements where it's just like, look, we have the pieces already here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

We need to play the game a little bit differently and certainly having better health this year than last year's part of it. I went from nice story to I'm fully on board with them winning the East, even if I still will pick Boston in the series against them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Um, these guys were devastated. I mean, these guys were really bummed out. All right. And I think one of the smart ass guys, the American guys from our group was like, dude, Canada, there's nothing to pay. There's tons of great things about Canada guys. Don't worry about it. A lot of great exports. Some terrific products. No reason to hang your hat. It's just a game, guys. It's just a game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

When I asked you about Memphis and Houston, thinking about who the two seed can be and the rotation of teams that have been the two seed at certain stages here of the season, the reason I would ask it that way is because when I look at Denver, I go, okay, fully formed and with Jokic. And the Aaron Gordon piece was a big part of like, hey, what's wrong with this team?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

and the depth issues that you worry about in the regular season, we're not going to worry about as much, but I think at least Brown is, is improved to a point where I think playing with Jokic just unlocks, like there's stuff, there's some Brown stats, stats, excuse me, where you're like, okay, well that's, that's pretty impressive. And you're like, okay, part of that's the credit to him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And the improvement is athleticism, but it's also the fact that you're playing here with Jokic. So I think we'd agree that it's, it's okay. See, and then it's Denver there, but let's talk defensively and the trends because we, Denver is not there defensively. Maybe we don't worry about it with them because we've already seen them do it. 17th in defense this year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Last 15 games, they're actually 18th. The Knicks are a good example. They're 18th on defense. They're 11-4 in their last 15, but they're 22nd in defensive rating when you go over the last 15 games. So they're winning all of these games. And I like the Knicks. I would... I would give Denver the benefit of the doubt in a way that I probably wouldn't give the Knicks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But defensively, some of the stuff, the standard that you have to be at to be considered a real contender.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Meanwhile, pouring it on, realizing none of us really cared as much. However, I think a lot of us cared last night. So I don't think it's fair to do that to Canada by saying, well, it's not even really a sport that we care about. Because we cared. I cared. I was rooting for Team USA. Binnington standing on his head in the beginning of that overtime. Looked like Team USA was going to pull it off.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Okay, so do we have that number? Because I know that we were talking about it this morning off the air. I'll update it then because I don't have the latest number. But basically, if you look at the Thunder's defensive rating and where they are in the season...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

that they're playing in the differential based on like everything we're talking about all time stuff so it's not just the best defense in the nba this season where they are in comparison to where everyone else is in the rest of the league with this offensive explosion that continues every single year we're looking at like one of the five best defensive differentials in nba history so it's not just the best defense this year and look i'll tell you there are certain nights where i've watched them and the audience already knows this but i'm just rehashing with you

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

That fifth game of the season, I think, against Wimbinyama, they horrified him. They hounded him. They're like, if you wait, we will attack. The Houston in-season tournament game where Houston couldn't even get their first pass set, like whatever they were running, they were having a hard time. And I'm not even talking about the entry pass issue, the endangered species, the entry pass, but

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

they couldn't get the first action to go because of what these guys do. And, you know, I was watching when Cleveland played against them and those, that, that first game was a lot of fun where Carol Slivert came in and, And he did hit a couple of corner threes. But Karras wants to create on the ball. And you could just think what Kenny Atkinson and his staff is saying to him. They're like, why?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

We know how we have to play against him. You've got to move. You can't wait. Because if you wait, they attack. And Karras Lavert's just out there dangling with the basketball. And it's just a disaster. And I don't think Kenny even brought him back in in the fourth quarter, even though he had made a couple of threes. And granted, he's not even on the team anymore. He's a perfect Atlanta Hawk.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

You cannot screw around with them. And now they get Chet back. And clearly in the games that Chet's been back, he looks a lot like you'd expect Chet to look, a guy who hasn't played basketball in a really long time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

So I think Chet offensively brings them something that maybe makes them like there could be a version of events as the season closes where every single person is picking OKC once the playoffs get started.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I'm not the trained hockey eye that you're going to. Defenseman, maybe defensively. Team America, goaltender Team America, forwards always a little behind Canada, but is the gap that big anymore? I don't know. But I understand what this means to that country, especially with my background.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

um i picked him this summer so uh i can't wait to see what they look like with chet and some of the defensive stuff and i think what kind of offense he's able to just plug and play and be off the ball here a little bit okay last thing before we get to our bigger exercise of the rebuilding teams and i don't even know if portland's in that right now they probably are but i know they lost last night to the lakers who we didn't even touch on here today

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Who do you think has the toughest spot right now? Because the guys on part of my take asked me who's in the toughest spot. And I picked Charlotte, even though there's other players on Charlotte that I like, only because I feel like they have a Lomelo decision that's heavily influenced by probably the people in business affairs and...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And I was thrilled for McDavid because I think when you're the best in the world, it's nice to have one of these moments kind of on your resume. But as I was off this week, because I will continue to miss All-Star Week, I will put out shows. I will not do live shows. I do not want to go to All-Star Week. I did it a few years ago with Salt Lake, walking around. with my lanyard in the concourse.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

just the people that their priority may not be on the basketball all the time. It's like, what do we have to sell? What attract and LaMelo is a clear attraction who they've invested in. And that may be a tougher decision than some of the teams with lesser talent on rosters.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I'm not including Miller in this wanting to get off of them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Was that kind of a Brian Keefe diss from you?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

What about Kula Bali, dude? Would you do LaMelo for Kula Bali? Okay. All right. I have to stop. I have to stop because I want to do this. I want to do this. Although Toronto might be in a tougher spot than everybody because size decided to pay Scotty Barnes next year. We like a lot. Brandon Ingram, who they just traded for quickly. RJ Barrett, hell of a talent.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

those four guys next year are going to be making $137 million combined. You want to get weird and throw in Purtle, then throw in another $20 million. Purtle at $20 million, probably not the worst deal that you're going to have there. This is a very strange approach to building a team. I mean, like these guys that are kind of good, but you wouldn't want to pay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

It wasn't even in the arena. I'm like, why am I here again? Why am I doing this? Thank you to the players in the NBA. Thank you for the CBA. It gives us this nice little break, and I'll continue to take that break because I think the game stinks. I've watched it, I think, twice, maybe one or two times in the last 15 years, only because I had to do something work-related. I think that number's true.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And I'm not including Scotty Barnes in this. All right. And some people felt like Simmons was kind of turning the page on Scotty Barnes in a way that I had to push back on a little bit more when we were – We were talking and doing his trade value ranking stuff because it just felt weird that Paolo was eight. Scotty Barnes was 58. I was like, I like Paolo better, but is it 50 spots?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But those four dudes to be spending $137 million on next year is not necessarily the way. Like if there were a seminar in Vegas, they will not use this as a way to be like, this is what GM should be doing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Okay, final exercise. I told you last night, I want to come up with I want to come up with the best starting five, not who are the five best players in the NBA based on everything that we know right now to this point of the season. If you were building the ultimate starting five to compliment each other, maybe I'm just in that hockey mode right now.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And I'm just thinking about teams and players and talents that compliment each other. I have mine. I want you to go first. Um, and then we'll kind of maybe work through the exercise together.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I just don't watch it. You know how I fixed the All-Star game? I don't have expectations for it. It's terrible. So the problem for the NBA, though, because of the timing part of this, is that what I noticed,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I like this because the original draft, we had four or five of the same. And then if I switch out something, then it would be four or five of the same. So I didn't, I didn't think we would be this aligned. Wait, tell me about your Derek White approach.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Okay. It starts with Jokic. Best player in the world. Good place to start. Also a deferential player in the best possible way. You wish he would shoot more sometimes. Although in that stretch where there weren't a lot of healthy teammates and options, he started cranking up the output a little bit. So he could crank it up. He could have more counting stats if he wanted.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

He just doesn't see the game that way. And he makes everybody around him better. So because of that, I want people that are also good off the ball because the ball is going to be in Jokic's hands such a large amount of the time. So I agreed with you. I still think Steph is somebody that off the ball. The great thing about Steph in his career is he's another guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

from afar as i was away is that the discussion as this four nations product was incredible and a dramatic culmination last night was going up against the worst week of the entire nba calendar and that's the all-star game everybody hates it nobody likes it everybody complains about every single week again fix it by having no expectations for it that's the way to do it um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

You don't think he'd get 50 during those prime years all the time if he wanted to, but it's just not the way that he plays. And the fact that they run so much throughout his entire career where he's not initiating the offense with the ball in his hand um, he would be happy to be playing off of Jokic. And if you needed Steph to run point for you at other times, then you can do it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

So when I thought about the defensive part that you talked about earlier with Jokic, cause I too had those same concerns about him. Um, although I think guys like, cause if you've listened to those first two, you think, okay, so you don't want to be good on defense. Like where are the defenders?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

First of all, I think defensive stuff becomes a lot about awareness and positioning than it does just awesome, contests at the rim because we didn't even have contests at the rim the way that we used to have. And it's not so much like lockdown. No one will be able to dribble around me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Jokic and Steppard, two guys, despite their defensive limitations, are always positioned because they're smart players. They understand the positioning part of that. So do I want to put Wemba Nyama next to Jokic instead of Giannis is what it came down to for me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And if I have Jokic out there, I mean, Giannis is going to find a way in whatever the five is, right? So I don't want to make this sound like it's a critique of Giannis, but at least with Wemby, I can have him space the floor while I get all that defense, where with Giannis... Is there any way that it clogs, especially when I add my two other wings? What do you think of that?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But the timing of it all, which is what will happen a lot with these discussions, like, what are we doing today? What's going on? And now everybody's talking about being like, man, the NHL gets it and the NBA doesn't. As an NBA guy, here's the thing. You should try this. You can like things and also think at times they're wrong.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Okay, so if I stay with Wemby because of my spacing thing, and you made a fantastic argument for Giannis, then I would go Tatum and then I would go Ant. Now, immediately you're like, where is SGA? You're out of your mind. I'd be a little worried about a backcourt of Steph and SGA defensively. I think SGA's...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

oddly he gets like defensive player, like defensive team votes, which kind of surprises me a little bit, um, with him, but he also doesn't have to be the defender that these other guys on the team, because they just have such great options. Um, Because if I had Jokic, Steph, Wemby, and Tatum, then I'd need a motherfucker. I'd need one motherfucker, and that would be the Ant role.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And Ant, off the ball, I mean, look, the shooting is terrific. It's at 41%. We could talk about him settling a little bit. But I think ball in your hands, can you get us something when everything breaks down and you're just on a side? I think Ant is still one of the best players in the league at that kind of stuff. And you'd put Tatum in that class as well. And certainly SGA is right up there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But Tatum... It's basically become the point guard of the Celtics. So you can move him around in a bunch of different ways. Maybe the limitation there would be, is he going to be as good off the ball? Is he going to have the same catch and shoot numbers? What are SGA's catch and shoot numbers? Because he initiates so much stuff off the ball. If I went Jokic, Giannis, then I would go Tatum, SGA.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

If I'm Jokic, Steph, Wemby, Tatum, then I have to have Ant. Because I need one dude who... It's my Matt Barnes thing. I need one guy... that may do something that is a little in the gray area. I think every basketball team needs one of those guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

You can have a favorite player and that player can do something wrong. Some people should try that from time to time. You have LeBron decide to opt out right before the game, hours before. It was bullshit, and it led to fair criticism of it. But P.K. Subban went on, former hockey player.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Was there any thought to Aaron Wiggins?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I just love him. If we had to force a role player in there, sixth man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Okay, well done. I like the exercise. I don't like... I just think how much Wemby's shooting would improve instead of like pull up threes off the dribble when nothing else is working offensively where against having Stefan Jokic run around, you probably end up saying, leave Wemby.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

He was on ESPN, and he's essentially getting into the culture and how he, again, it's kind of an interesting balancing act of being able to talk about the culture of basketball versus the culture of hockey. But Subban... was able to get away with having a discussion maybe others wouldn't be able to get away with. So I find that kind of part of it fascinating.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

That is Kirk Goldsberry. You can check out his work on The Ringer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

How about this? How about we wait like a little longer than three or four games before we start to say that LeBron's legacy is damaged because of Luka's performance a week in, where he played two games, had a week off, then had another game. Like, can we chill out a little bit on that? Like, I understand some of the arguments against LeBron, as I understand anything, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Like, okay, yeah, I don't love that either. You are absolutely telling on yourself. If you're like, well, this LeBron guy, we finally have all the results in. He's not a great teammate. Look how bad Luka's been after missing two months.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Depends on when they play Denver. So it's second round exit against Denver. I don't think the Lakers can get to the Western Conference Finals. That feels impossible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Life advice, the email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We've got Kyle. We've got Cerruti, Wargon lurking. A little disruption to the normal show with the all-star break, which I will continue to take with the players. Thank you. Thank you for the CBA for that one. As I mentioned in the open, walking around Salt Lake a few years ago, I go, why am I doing this again? There's no games. So, yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

So here we are. We're live and ready to go. We have video as well. So good to see everybody. What's up, sir? You got a nice smile going.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Because look, there are a lot of things in the NBA over the years that I haven't liked. I remember looking back at a five-year stretch of the top 20 scorers, and I think the number that I had had was like Those guys had missed 20, 20 plus percent of available games.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

No Linkin Park from you, Suri?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah. No, I'm glad you guys got Bill out because the Denver show was interesting because he was texting me and he was like, what are you doing? And that was always back to like the Van Pelt stuff. Van Pelt never wanted to go anywhere. He just wanted to know what everyone was doing at any moment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

So especially when I was younger, like if I rolled into a town, like I was going to meet up with friends and it was just understood. And he would be like, are you going out? I'm like, yes. Like, where are you going? I'm going here. Oh, how late are you going to be there? Like this late? Like, do you want to come with us? Yeah, I think so. But let me just get settled here first. Yeah. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

No problem. Like in the beginning, I would fall for it. And getting settled was. Tell all your buddies. Yeah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah. And then it would be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

just then he would just go dark and in the beginning it would not i don't know i got over it pretty quickly but i'd be upset i'd be let down i wanted to hang out with my friend and he would just go like oh you know and then the next day i'd be like what happened he'd be like oh you know it's just was watching a movie and then i would learn i learned that he didn't ever want to go he just wanted to know what you were doing just go through the motions don't think i'm gonna be kept in the mix you wanted to have options yeah yeah right just didn't want to have fomo

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

If you want to do a year to year, which isn't the most scientific thing ever, the top 20 scorers last season in the NHL, 14 played 80 or more games. The top 20 scorers in the NBA last year, zero played 80 games. Only three didn't play 70, though, because it's been improving because I talked about that five year stretch. Go back to 17-18.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Or maybe he really wanted FOMO. That was his high, just constantly being updated on stuff, you know, because then I would kind of downplay it like, oh, I didn't really miss much or whatever. And that was, again, in the beginning when I didn't understand. And then later on. I would go out. It was last night. It's one of the best nights ever had. Like I wouldn't downplay it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I would, I would upplay it. But Bill in Denver, cause I have all those friends there. And so they're literally across the street and he was, he was kind of like, well, what are you going to do? Are you going to go there? Are you going to like, what's your plan? Like, and I went, I'm going across the street and you are welcome to join.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But if you don't want to, this will be the last communication. Yeah. There'll be no more further updates. Right. Right. And guess what? There we go. And everybody got full bill. And now he's on a text thread with one of my friends, which I think is one of the most impossible. Like I try to remind people of like, this is a major, major accomplishment.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

You're on a text thread with bill. Cause bill liked you that much. Yeah. And my friend sent some horrible texts and I get worried. I'm like, oh, this is one of these ones is going to be the last one. Yeah. This one could go dark pretty soon. Kyle, you said something about jury duty. I hear that in the distance.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

There were eight top 20 scorers in the NBA that didn't play 60 games. Silver's done a better job with this. I think the teams have done a better job with this. I think teams were obsessed about it. I think members of the media were obsessed about rest and all the stuff. Which, by the way, the headline... Doesn't really work.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah. They've heard life advice. I like the cut of his jib. So I had it when I was in college and I was getting summons from home. And so that was kind of a weird Martha's Vineyard thing. And I think my father was just like, hey, the guy is in college like he he doesn't have a car. uh, yeah, it was when I didn't have a car when I was there, like, I don't know, the first couple of years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And then I did get it in Boston. And I remember when I walked in, they like started, they started up Mrs. Doubtfire on VHS in the room as we were waiting. And they were like, you guys are going to treat for you guys here. And I was like, I can't do, I can't do Mrs. Doubtfire in these, these, C minus subs. So I went to the, what is it, the bailiff? I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And I was like, hey, can I run out to my car and grab a book? He goes, no, you can't leave the premises. I was like, I'm just grabbing a book.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

He's like, we can't let you leave. And I go, my car is right in the front. He goes, all right, fine. And he was, I wasn't like, I just kind of couldn't understand. I was like, exactly. Like, am I a prisoner? So I was like, can I just, you know, get the book? I think I asked the second time. And he's like, fine, I'll just walk out there with you. And he walked with me to the car to watch me. Wow.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah. He's probably seen a lot of runners.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah. Yeah. And then, I don't know, 10 pages in, somebody came in and they go, they settled. So you guys are free to go. So that was it. I had a high school teacher that was really upset that he had never been asked. It's nice to be asked. It's nice to be asked.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

It is kind of cool. like this teacher all that much and it like um he just he kind of like epitomized like the og of of some of the things that you may not like from dudes today but he was older he was like an older man maybe the og soy boy so he just he spent half a class i remember just being so upset

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Because I think we had, you know, one of those dudes who was too old to be in the class, in the class. And he was gone because he was in jury duty while he was a high school student. And he's like, oh, lucky, lucky bastard. You know, we're like, what? He goes, yeah. He goes, I've never been asked. I've never been asked to be on jury duty. And he was just so incredibly upset about the whole thing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I don't feel like the leads is dramatically healthier now, but I think the teams are mandating it. The players are taking the criticism. I'm not telling you there weren't players that were thrilled to take a few more nights off. But a lot of this stuff is because of the new science and all the resources that were invested in this stuff. So everybody is going to listen to these people.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

So whatever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I think that's insane. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Which got people really excited for Pump. Just two years later. See, I'm not a big Aerosmith guy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

When I was 12, I really liked him. And then... Yeah, it kind of phased out of that a little bit.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But Do This Like a Lady is insane. They kept going. I mean, they just kept going. I think Armageddon, that soundtrack, released every single song. I think I've said that before. Okay. We haven't done one question, so let's get to a couple. Josh Allen writes in, and this is one of the rare times you can use the name of the emailer because this question is about his name.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

No need to censor anything. I'm not worried about anyone recognizing me from this. Let's skip the gym stats. 6'3", 210, NBA comp, Luke Longley, not Australian, but I spend a lot of time in the post setting up teammates, grabbing boards, getting putbacks. I'm all about getting the flashier players, letting the flashier players steal the spotlight. Here's my situation. I, unfortunately...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And I don't know that you've had the results that have protected people. But the whole idea of that is so not like hockey. that part of it would make people completely turned off from the NBA or disgusted by the entire approach. And I think that's some of the discussion. But we need to actually talk about how these games are played. Okay? There's a major difference.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Share a name with a famous NFL QB who happens to play for the Bills. I know Josh Allen is just a combo of two pretty common names, but I've never really had a deal with sharing my name with a very famous person until the last few years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I work in a client-facing role in commercial insurance, not sales, but I meet new clients and prospects frequently, and especially during football season, I'm forced to endure the same dumb jokes over and over. On conference calls and in meetings, I get hit with lines like, better help Insert client win his fantasy matchup or nice game on Sunday.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Josh, it's like they think they're the first person to think of this joke every time. Ryan, I feel for you. You know what it's like when people think of the first to point out your you spell your name with an E. I know it happened again last week. I've tried playing along. I'll say something like, yeah, maybe I should track down where he banks and make a withdrawal.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But honestly, I just get more annoyed each time. Once in a client meeting, I introduced myself as Josh Allen. But when I'm QBing, I'll be helping you with risk management. Crickets. You don't make the joke. I make the joke. Clever girl. And deservedly so, it was a terrible dumbass joke made just to cut other dumbass jokes off at the pass. I'm 42 years old. I was Josh Allen first.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Why should I change my name? Michael Bolton. He's the one that sucks, right? This is my name, damn it. I'm not changing it because some dude from Fresno happens to be good at throwing a football. So my question, what's the best way to handle this bullshit? How do I respond to the next jackass who thinks of the first to spot the obvious? Man, I got bad news for you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

AT&T I'm back, and I'm ready to talk hockey, but I'm also ready to talk NBA. Both were talked about. Both were compared. Some of the stuff I get, some of it I don't get. That's the monologue. Kirk Goldsberry, we're talking NBA with him. The Spurs-Wemby situation. We put together our most complimentary starting fives with today's players. Life advice and a jury duty update from who else? Kyle.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah. That's not going to happen. And he's going to be really good for a long time because he's young. Yeah. So this isn't going to get better anytime soon. And I do like what the emailer said here is that if you make the joke first or if you do anything, like the other person feels like you're the asshole.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

That's one where there is a massive disconnect from the person that was like, oh, I had this really cool, funny thing you're going to say. Or if you're just annoyed and you relay your annoyance to open mic guy, then the open mic guy is like, a little sensitive, huh? And it's so incredibly frustrating. Yeah. If you go the aggressive path on this one. So I think you need to come up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

You're going to get a lot of practice with these comebacks, man. You're going to get a lot of practice because this is going to go on for years and years. I think this is just like anything, a new skill that you're going to have to learn. You're going to have to hone your craft, shave off the rough edges.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And in a couple of years, you're going to have incredible jokes, great comebacks, funny things to say as you prepare for it happening all the time. You could just say you're the defensive end. Maybe that works. Didn't he change his name, though? Did he?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

No way. What if you just played dumb? Like my buddy Blasco, who whenever there was any kind of confrontation, he would just ask what over and over and over again.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I would laugh way harder if this guy introduced himself as Josh B. Allen after I met him two years ago. That would be great. Whoever gets it gets it. Right. I would look at him and just go, really got to you, huh? They broke you down. Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, what would you do here, Kyle? What would be some of your comebacks? Can you think of any?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I know this is shocking, and I can't believe I have to be the person that has to do this sometimes, but Can we be fair about how a hockey game is played out and how an NBA game is played out? The NBA, it's what? Eight guys, maybe nine. Five or six of the guys play 30 plus minutes. 30 plus minutes of the 48 minutes. The top guys in the NBA play 35 minutes a game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

That's a massive reach, and I don't think it's that big of a hassle.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah. I mean, nobody really gets named that anymore, but, uh, yeah, I don't think we did a very good job with that one.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

okay um got a lot of feedback on the road people have never read the road before i've now read the road they understand why i hold it in such high regard um some people were like it's really depressing didn't need that sorry is that corresponding to the movie the road because i did see that now in the book the road you want everyone to survive in the movie you're like yeah whatever

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

NHL, the top guys play 25 of the 60 minutes. Their shifts are like less than a minute and then they rest. They have... what, four lines of forwards? So there's 12 players there, six defensemen that you rotate. So it's 18 players versus eight or nine for the NBA. And the top guys are playing 25 minutes total of 60 with shifts that end less than a minute of ice time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But it is based on the book, right? Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. Just want to make sure. It just didn't... It was a really hard thing, I think, for someone to capture in a film. So it was something I... I went into it way too hot. Way too hot. Because granted, the movie had already been out. It's like, we didn't hear much about this. Incredible book. Probably my favorite book of fiction ever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

So is it even possible to be served adequately going in with that kind of deal? Right. Like, I don't even think that's possible. All right. We need we need another one here where I feel like one quickie here. Yeah. Yeah. Do some work. We had a million people so mad at the Venmo guy. So the Venmo guy is still listening to us after we said, what's wrong with you?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Just so you know, like no one has your back. Nobody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Right. Right. Okay. Do we do a heavy one? No, I don't think we have enough time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah. Well, the thing is, the last batch. They're manifestos. So I was going through them this morning and I'm just like, man, dudes are like, some people will be like, all right, I'll make this quick. It's like 80 paragraphs later. How long do you think these things are supposed to be? Okay. Is my friend being used for a green card? This should be simple.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

5'10", 185, pickup comp, late career, Udonis Haslam, not great, big team, first guy. My friends like having me on the team and everyone gets fired up when I rarely hit a three. Names have been changed. One of the core guys in our group, Nick from college, recently started dating a girl, Katie. He met on the apps.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Nick has always been a bit of a hopeless romantic, but unfortunately hasn't had a ton of luck in the dating world. So we found out that he met Katie. We were all super excited for him. The only problem is that Katie is an international student, recently graduated, and her school visa is going to expire towards the end of the year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

When the group found out about this, we were bummed out for him because we assumed this would probably mean the relationship wouldn't last very long as he's going to have to return to her home country. Or worse.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Yeah, doing the long distance after only dating, let alone knowing each other for a couple of months might not make a whole lot of sense. To my surprise, I found out that Nick has been slowly informing her friends of the past few weeks. He's planning to propose to Katie at the end of the month so that he can get married before Visa expires so she could stay in the United States.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

All of the girls in the group are adamant that this is a bold font on adamant boys. Bad idea. And the guys want to talk some sense and then begin to reconsider. The guys are fairly split. Some agree with the girls, fewer indifferent with the stance. And if he really wants to do this, then we should be supportive even if we don't do it, even if we wouldn't do it if we were him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

So the question for you guys is, should we step in and try to convince him not to propose? If so, how hard do you think we should push? Is our guy Nick being used by Katie for a green card? A few things for context. Thank you. Nick has always been a fairly impulsive guy and has had many faces that he's gone in and out of over the years. That's not great. Uh, most everyone, um, Let's see here.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Most everyone in the group has talked to Nick about this in some capacity, but no one has ever really explicitly told him to do this. And in the general senses, Nick understands that this is a very quick and possibly impulsive, but still wants to go through with it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Nick does seem happy, but when he talks about her, it doesn't seem like he's head over heels in love, but more of the mindset of I'm happy enough and I'm sick of the dating scene. So why not get married? Well, here's a couple of good reasons. Katie's a decent amount younger than Nick. She's low 20s, and he and Nick, the rest of our group is around 30. Katie is Nick's first official girlfriend.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

They've only known each other since September, and they plan to get married in the summer if they go through with this. Yeah, terrible, terrible idea across the board. Now, granted, if your boy Nick just isn't He might be way more into her than you guys realize, but he's incredibly embarrassed about the whole dynamic of this stuff. On the surface, this is a bad idea across the board.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I think it's terrible. I also, I got to be honest, did we know which country she was from? Does that play into the calculus here? It probably does. Maybe it doesn't feel great to say, but I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Not like I would do this, but go ahead.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Do you think the NBA effort would be a little bit better if you were playing 18 guys? less than 50% of the available minutes. You play four possessions and then you would go on the bench. Now, maybe I've lost you or maybe you think that's interesting because there is something true about basketball that I don't know where it comes from.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

He's screwed. His first girlfriend at 30 years old. She's foreign. But that's a weird thing to be inspiring.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

If he doesn't have anything, if he doesn't have any cash, then, you know, who cares? Like, he might be fine. Well, the other thing is, right? You get the futon.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

When is she arbitration eligible? Okay. That'll do it for us. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Oregon. Thanks to Steve. We now have video that corresponds. for the podcast episode. So that's great. We're excited about that. You also check us out on YouTube. Please subscribe. Brian Russillo podcast from Ringers Spotify.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Maybe it's just that you're the fucking man when you're an awesome basketball player because in basketball, unlike any other sport, if you were that special, you find ways to get buckets, get it done, and you win the game. Where hockey, a million different things have to happen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Most of the hockey games that are won in the playoffs and overtime happen because it's just a mistake that the other team made. Football, you can do everything right. Somebody else does something wrong. It doesn't matter. Baseball, you hit it right at somebody. You know what I mean? Like basketball is the sport.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

If you are that special, you can decide the outcome on your own because you're only playing five guys at a time, right? So like basketball, There's some differences with the way the games are played. Hockey lends itself to be played at such a ferocious pace because you're out there for like a minute. And then there's all these other people that play.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

The timing thing is another thing that I thought was really weird about this. You're comparing the hockey stuff to basketball stuff at the worst possible basketball time, which I've already mentioned.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I watched all the Team USA stuff. That Serbia game is going to be one of my favorite basketball games I've ever watched in my entire life. The way I felt about that game. How much I enjoyed that game. The comeback part of it. And yes, that little...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

moment of pride that i think is kind of cool to feel about your country accomplishing something even if we're the favorites because everybody's coming for us every single tournament and it's this massive disappointment we don't win the gold and the steph stuff that is one of my all-time favorite games that was great passion that was that was the right culture those are all the things that you cared about and it happened with the same guys that are from a league that just got shit on for a week right it happened this past summer in a way that i think all of us embraced

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Would you watch that game and then watch Brewers-Marlins in August of 24 and go, man, baseball's got a real problem. Did you see... Those basketball dudes, did you see the culture and the passion that they played with? Of course you wouldn't do that because it was the fucking Olympics against a regular season game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And again, I'm not saying the Four Nations thing necessarily was the Olympics, but I think that things are very different. I love basketball, okay? Sometimes I don't love the NBA. But we know NBA players, which can be both good and bad. It gets back to the roommate theory, right? The longer you know somebody, the less likely you are probably to like them.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Do you think of all the people that you've had a lot of access to? Is the list a lot longer of people that you like, or did you grow tired of a lot of different people? Sometimes with the NBA, I feel like we grow tired of these guys because they've been in the spotlight for 20 plus years. I mean, Kevin Durant had a tweet the other day about hockey.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

He was basically inviting you to stop watching basketball, which is really stupid. and just so self-centered when you think of like, yeah, that'd be great if all the best stars in a sport told their fans, go watch something else after you've pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars based on a television contract and all the daily interest on your league.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Like that's just the wrong message, but it got even dumber. And I liked the rant, but he tweeted out something like, at least there's like loyalty in hockey. They don't trade the player. Are you fucking kidding? It's the most creative league in the world. When it comes to trading its players, they'll trade anybody dude in the NHL. And maybe the loyalty thing splits both ways.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Does the NHL have a list of NBA players? Excuse me, does the NHL have a list of players like the NBA where four years to go in an extension, they're demanding trades? Or in this case, before an extension even starts, NHL players are demanding trades? Maybe that's the turnoff, like Durant did, like Ben Simmons did, like Dame Lillard did in a very short amount of time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But again, the tweet didn't really make any sense. So whether it's like or dislike an NBA player, it's because we know them. Do we know NHL players? Like, look, I'm sure a lot of you that are big time fans of the NHL are sitting in your town. Like, do you know Nathan McKinnon's deal? Leading scorer in the league right now. Consider the second best player in the world.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Let's talk a little hockey.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Do you know anything about him? If you're listening to this pod, you right now. Like, you may not even like basketball. Say you're an NFL guy and you just like the monologues. You're like, yeah, well, you probably have an opinion on Durant, on LeBron, on Chris Paul, on Russell. You probably have opinions on a bunch of these guys.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

And I agree with a lot of the arguments that I heard this week. But I think specific to what was really getting the headlines... It was this victory lap for the NHL against an NBA All-Star game that no one has cared about for a long time, including the players. In June of 1994, SI had a cover. It said, why the NHL's hot and the NBA's not. That was 30 years ago. You want to do the TV deals?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I'm not going to do those because it's massive. I mean, the ratings are down for both leagues and this kind of stuff. So look, the NBA has plenty of things to criticize on the to-do list. The to-do list is, by the way, never going to be finished. But the function of the way the sports are played and the timing of this argument

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

were incredibly flawed okay let's talk some hoops kurt goldsberry with us now part of the ringer also professor former for office staff member good to see you man it sounds like the entire crew was in your neck of the woods or not the entire crew but a good chunk of guys down there um hoping to see some spurs in action which is probably where we'll start so good to see you great to see you ryan it's again it's great to be with the ringer and you're right we had a we had a good crew down here

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

Okay, so let's get into the Wemby thing because that's kind of the headline piece of this. There's a lot of different stuff that we want to do here. I'll admit, when I heard the news that he was going to be out, that he was going to be out for the season, the thought crossed through my mind of, is this all strategic about him?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

But then when you think that it's a blood clot, the serious nature of a blood clot, Look at timelines of other players that have had this, how much time that they've actually missed. You are obviously very close to this organization. So he's out for the season. What do we need to kind of do to set the record straight about what this is?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Hockey Was Fun! But Are the NBA Comps Fair? Plus, Wemby’s Future and the Perfect NBA Starting Five With Kirk Goldsberry.

I want to talk about when the year one to year two, because if you look at some of the counting stats, a lot of it's very similar. Some of the metrics are similar. There's also some wind shear stuff where it shows improvement. But funny enough, like the offensive stuff was a negative, but that was a negative because of the collective, I think.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

It was hard because I'm a big... I mean, I love Sam. I know him. And he had a hell of a year. And he deserves it. And the narrative... Everybody was just waiting for him, I feel like, to kind of fall off the cliff. I'm like, this is the true Sam. And I was bummed for him. I don't... I do look at the playoff game and be like... And I know Orlovsky's defended him. And I know Dan really well. It is...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Not all on him. Again, these teams just had a great plan of how to attack that line and those protections and all that. But yeah, to hold on to the ball, and it just felt like it felt a little big. It felt a little big at the moment. It's just he couldn't handle it. I'm still a believer that you can... I mean, system and coaching is everything. There's no doubt. So I'm with you.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Like, unless Kevin's with my, I understand teams are going to be a little wary. That's why I think he's not, the market's going to be there. I just don't think it's going to be what, if he would have balled last couple of games, it would have been fricking through the roof. I do, I do believe in a, like, look at Bryce Young. Like, I just look at Bryce Young, and that was a small sample size.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

But I do believe in, like, resets. I do believe in, like, kind of just, like, I got my confidence back. Now I know what I can do. I hope these two games don't destroy that from Sam because I do think the body of work. I mean, 17 games, dude, and he balled. Like, he balled. I mean, he had a great year. And system aside, like, he made a lot of plays this year and stepped up.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

So, and I look at Bryce Young. Like, Bryce Young was dead in the tracks. Kind of shitty team. He was awful. sits out and comes back and like play pretty damn good. Like, which was crazy. I'm like in the same system. So there is something about that. But yeah, man, I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. It's going to be interesting to see.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And then, like you said, the college, you know, the quarterback, the draft class is just thin, thin this year, like very thin. There's only a couple of guys that I would take, you know, in the top few rounds.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I like Jack. I like Jackson dart. I do. I think, I think Cam, I don't know. I think Cam Ward's probably number one. I mean, you know, we're going to see a lot in the next three months. You know, there's going to be a lot of stuff going on. Cam Ward is electric, I think. And I was, Shador is really good. We saw, I've saw him up close a couple of times. Really good player. Like, really accurate.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Good arm. Sees the field. Can make plays. Cam is just a little bit of a... Like, got more juice, you know? I mean, you've watched him play. He's got more juice. He's experienced. Like, he's played a lot of football. He's not like an Anthony Richardson where you're like, oh, let's go based on the talent and the ceiling. Like, he's played a lot of ball. And I like Jackson Dart.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Three years, three years. Yeah. Like three or four years, four years. Maybe I think I was a senior. You know what I was, I came back from my senior year. I hosted him in the off season. He actually told a great story. He was a big time recruit coming out of Pittsburgh and it was like SC, it was pit with one set ended up getting him, which is a great story.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I think Jackson Dart is... is interesting. He played for Kiff. That goes a long way. He threw for a boatload of yards and won a lot of games in the SEC. He's tough. He can run. He's built well. He's a thick kid. He's like 6'2", 6'3". Can sling it. And he's got a lot of moxie to him. He's got a lot of moxie to him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

So I think he's one that will kind of climb up the draft boards and maybe sneak into the end of a first round, maybe an early second round. I think those are the three... Probably by far and away. I know you were just declared. I was a little shocked by that. I thought he should come back to school for another year. But yeah, those are the three I think that will kind of stand out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I I've, I've sat here, I've been to every, I've been to two of the three Notre Dame playoff games. I mean, my God, dude. And I I'll say this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I respect Notre Dame for obvious reasons. I really like Marcus Freeman. Um, but I just, you know, like I love Brady Quinn and we just talk so much shit and I just, I just can't stand Notre Dame. And, um, I, I went to the Notre Dame Indiana game and I went to the orange bowl. It was, we got in a coach and I got into the hall of fame, which was pretty cool.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

So it was Notre Dame Penn state, which was a fun week. And so I was with Brady in the box when they want to kick the field goal. And I'm just like, my gosh, like we're going to see Notre Dame again. But, um, look at Indiana fought back in that game too. Yeah. All that being aside, like Notre Dame's are in there. Odinard is a really good team, man. Like they're really good. I don't,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I think Ohio State just runs away with it. I think it'll be similar to what we saw with Texas a little bit. Just a slow burn because Notre Dame's defense will keep them in and then they're just the second. The difference between Texas and Notre Dame is Texas has more firepower, I think, offensively. than Notre Dame. Notre Dame has a great run game. That's about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

They don't throw the football consistently enough. As much as I do like Riley Leonard, I think he's a great kid. He's tough. He's done a great job. Like they, they just, they can't get in a track meet and that's what this game is going to be. Ohio state is playing at a different level in the playoff than, than any team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And, you know, on big noon all year, we said it and we were at the Michigan game. It was just like, we were like, what, what just happened? Like it was, it was shocking to be there. If they ever were to put it together, there's not a team in the country that will beat them. And that's how they're playing. And I just don't see, Notre Dame doesn't have enough, in my opinion, to win that game.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Well, the big thing was they took Jeremiah Smith out of the game. To me, when people say that, which I totally get, you can watch a film and you can try to game plan. But like Ohio State's going to coach up to Chip Kelly is going to coach. They're going to scheme as well. They're going to change some things up. They're going to move Jeremiah Smith around.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

But that's that's the point of last last game. Jeremiah Smith, who's a freak, was a non-factor. And they still, you know, they had the big screen to Travion. But I still think they dominated that game, you know, for the most part. And Jeremiah Smith didn't do anything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

He actually got emotional talking about it just because he broke his leg his last year in high school. And like, He basically said everybody pulled the offer. Everybody, I guess, including USC, which I didn't know at the time. And Dave was kind of the only one that stood by him. But I remember him coming out. And this was back when I had I had borrowed a friend's Hummer. Okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

So, like, to go in and think that Notre Dame is just going to completely shut him out and, like, hey, let's hope Abuka and Tate and all these other guys beat them. Like, it's just that's what makes them so difficult. They had too many guys. Like, you can't, you can't, you just can't. The key is Will Howard. And Will Howard has been awesome in the playoff. But Will Howard all season.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

we would talk about is like, he will just give you one or two a game, like that. He will give you one or two game. And that's what he did against Michigan. And they ended up losing. He hasn't done that in the playoffs. So that's, and Brady and I've talked about that. It's like, if he gives them a pick, you know, or kind of like drew out, right?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Like you just give them something, give them a touchdown. And all of a sudden Notre Dame can kind of, Notre Dame has got a great defense, but it's, it is a copycat kind of like bleed, just like the NFL. But I think it's just hard, man. Like Ohio's chip Kelly's a really good coach, Ohio. And the difference is Ohio state's defense is elite too. That's the difference. It's not just offense.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

It's both sides of the ball. So I think it's going to be, I like Ohio. I think what's the spread like eight and a half or not or something like that. I think Ohio state's going to cover. I think they're going to win big. And I think the fourth quarter, they'll really kind of the role.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Did you go? Have you gone to any playoff games?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I'm assuming you watched all of them, right? I did watch all of them, yeah. Are you a believer in the 12? Do you like the setup? I loved it. I thought it was great.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I think a reseeding will come probably as early as next year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Because I still think Oregon... I said all year, I thought it was... Because this year was... I thought this year was great because that CC wasn't dominant, how they had been. And... Why was that great? What? I'm just saying this year was great because the parody was like Georgia. I said it all year. I'm like, Georgia's good. Georgia's good. Like, they're not great.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Alabama showed their true colors. I love Lane Kiffin. I've talked to Lane. I said, Lane, shut up, dude. Like, go win the last game. Go win a team you're favored by 17 points and you're in the playoff. Like, stop bullshit. You know, like...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

So this is, and the reason why I could do that was because I had relationship prior to a high school, you know, like that was the, that was like the NCAA rule back then, if you had a relationship or family or whatever. So we drove him around in a Hummer, uh, It was me, probably Alex Holmes, who was our big recruiter, who I'm sure you might know and have heard stories.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Yeah, they're good now, of course.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

He just can't help himself, dude. I'm telling you. I don't – I talk to Lane – I feel like I talk to Lane once a week about just anything. Right. I know you guys are boys. Our kids are close friends. Obviously, I've known Lane forever. It's like he just – I know him, like, when he was tweeting all that stuff out, and I literally texted him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I was like, you really don't believe you should be in the playoff, right? Like, come on, dude. Like, give it up. And he just... He's a pot stirrer. He's always kind of been like that. That's always been his personality. I love the dude, man. Like, I love him because he is... he just, he is, he is who he is. He's not a frog. And that's why I love him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Like he, he, he is, he's like the little brother sometimes that you just want to like, dude, shut up, man. Like go to your room, like go to your room and be quiet until we tell you to come out. Right. And, but he, he loves that role and that, and it's kind of him, man. Like he, he doesn't, He's learned a lot.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I think he's grown a lot, obviously, but he's tell you what, dude, he's a hell of a coach. He's a hell of a coach and players love him because he treats him. He treats him well. But I love I think I love the playoff. I think the receding, like you said, Oregon got hosed. That top half of the bracket was ridiculous. But Ohio State, they've earned their way like they've earned their way. Notre Dame.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

notre dame too they've earned their way too i mean penn state's a good team georgia like they they've earned their way to get there and i think i think it'll be good it'll be exciting but we'll see uh yeah because i'm i'm still impressed with notre dame against penn state in that game um because i thought penn state was a tough out with that one georgia um

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Because he had the flash in the game when Beck went out, and I was like, oh, maybe he can run, right? Maybe he's got a little more to him, and... Honestly, I was dead wrong. I was like, I thought he would play. I thought Notre Dame could win that game. I just thought they could do some more with Stockton. But then I was thinking, oh, shit. He's just not ready. And Notre Dame's defense is elite.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And he was telling us the story. I told him, I said, I remember being in the car with you, but I don't remember anything that we did that weekend. And he goes, literally, he goes... He goes, oh shit, man. I remember everything we did that week. And I was like, well, I am married with kids now, dude. So let's not, let's not go there. But I guess SC pulled the offer, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

So...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Are we going to talk about big noon games or what?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Um...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I mean, to say the run is over, I wouldn't agree with that, but I think the shift has happened and it's already, it's happening currently. And I, I hate the portal. I hate parts of the portal. I'm sure you do too. But NIL and the portal has completely leveled the playing field. And I've heard a million stories from coaches and these players. And you see it. You just read it. But...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

No, the days of, and I was a part of this at USC, the days that like stacking teams and recruits going because, Oh, I'm next in line at Alabama. And when Saban was there and the five stars, like getting, I'm getting recruited as a backup and this and that, like, it's just, those days are done. They're gone.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And that's what we saw this year for the first real time, especially with the expanded playoff is like, other teams' ability to build teams and create more parity. I just don't... The SEC was operating at a level that no other conference could over the years. Were they paying players? Hell yeah, they were paying players. That's been going around for a long time. That's okay.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Everybody knew that, right? And the SEC's been doing that for a long time. And I'm sure the Big Ten is... Everybody's done that. But to the level that SEC was doing it and those teams... It just, no one could compete. Now you can, it's just, it's a simple fact.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And then, and then Dave came in and, and got him at Pitt. Obviously he was great at Pitt, but it was pretty, it was pretty, he was one of the few, I say this, he was one of the few that got away from Pete that I think Pete really wanted, but he had a bad injury. So.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Now you can, and a team like Ohio state, when you have a payroll, a team like Texas, and then like, even like Cole's committed to SMU, like SMU has got a shit ton of money to pay players. So you're going to start seeing kids that are like, man, I can go play at SMU and ball and get 80 catches or throw for 4,000 yards.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Now, all of a sudden these coaches are getting really good football players that just are over trying to like, you just don't have to go to those schools anymore to advance yourself or to get paid. And that's... It's just that simple. And that's what we saw this year. And that's why the shift has already happened. And the 12th team, I think, creates more of that, more opportunity.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And... Look, I don't think the SEC's dead by any means. I don't think, like, it's... This isn't a Big Ten now and all this. I don't think... The ACC had a... ACC was kind of shit this year. And Clemson ended up being a pretty good team. SMU's gonna get better. I think, you know, like, it's just... It does go in waves, as you know, but that's why I love where we're at.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And then eventually with the ref share and like the cap of these teams and all that, you're just not going to see the dominance of one conference anymore. I just don't, I don't, I don't believe that. Like, I think SC is going to be back at some point. I don't know when, I think SC will be back.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

No, I believe to an extent everybody was taking care of players. But my point is when Bama's rolling or Georgia's rolling and that's where every... And again, it was always like there's two things when you go to a top school. You go for... to advance yourself to the NFL. What's the best place that can get me to the NFL? And then like coaching, right? Like just those types of things.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

It was like, where can I go to develop and get to the league? Um, those were kind of the places, right? Like just, there's only a handful that was, dude, that was Pete Carroll, USC. Where can we go? We're going to come out to USC because that's where we can go and advance. Cause that's what Pete's sending kids to the league. And then on top of that, SEC, like there's just a lot of money there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And that's that's been happening for a long time. And so, yeah, I think it's happened all over the place, but to the extent of it happening there, I don't know. And on the fact that they're just dominating and winning, and that's even more enticing for players to go.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And that's why you just saw the SEC dominate for so long and really good coaches like Saban, Kirby smarts, a great coach, but here's my thing. And then I got to go to my kids assembly. Here's my thing. I don't, I just, I think what the SEC does, And the thing I hate about this the most is, and Lane says this, it's like, well, top to bottom, it's this and this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And I'm just like, that's just, it's just BS because it's not top to bottom. Like, when was the last time, like Tennessee, like Tennessee is a good team. Tennessee hasn't been, I don't even know the last time since they've been great. Like Peyton Manning, maybe? T. Martin, it'd be 25 years ago.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Florida hasn't really been good since Urban, maybe. I mean, I'm sure there's years in there. Vanderbilt, like South Carolina.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I hate the argument that, well, they're the best team, the deepest team, every week is tough, this and that. Urban stands by that a little bit. He's coaching it. I haven't, but I'm just like, Illinois, South Carolina is kind of a great example of a bowl game. Again, it's a bowl game, but it's just like, I just, that's the part I don't buy with the SEC. It's like the middle of the pack.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Well, they would win this game. They would like, that's just be, I hate that part. Georgia and Bama over the years, LSU 2019. Like, of course I get it. Maybe the top, two, three are better than the big tents top because then it drops off, but you just can't sit here and tell me that, well, the middle of the sec would dominate the middle of the big 10. I just don't, I don't believe that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I just don't. And because I've seen enough evidence in bowl games, I've seen enough evidence in common opponents. And that's, I think that's what frustrates someone like me or someone like, obviously we do cover the big 10. Like I wish, I wish we had some sec. I think it's a great conference, but I think that's just the narrative that's always pushed. And that's what was pushed for the playoffs.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

It was pushed by South Carolina. It was pushed by Ole Miss. It was pushed by A&M. Obviously, A&M had to win. But it's just like, that's the part that bothers me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

It is sincere. It was literally the reason why I kind of recommitted that seat was Pete sold me. Like he just, you're like, God, this dude's a salesman, but you never, to your point, you never really, you never really felt it. I would just say this, like Pete is maybe, and you probably know this, like the most, the biggest competitor I've ever met.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

We know a lot of competitors, but he's just has that. So like, whether his personality is the way it is like that dude, like was the ultimate, ultimate competitor and everything. And that's what he preached upon us, right? Like that was the culture he created was competition was being the best was all that. And he did it in a fun way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And I always tell everybody like, like we had a lot of fun and he loved like, you know, the celebrities and all that. He loved all that. but when it was time to work, like we worked and if we fucked up or screwed up, like he made us like there were consequences. So it wasn't like some BS thing. Like he held us accountable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And I think that's the difference sometimes when you get some of these guys with raw, raw personalities and energy. And it's like, we were tough as hell, man. And like, that was, that was what he created. Um, and it worked back then, you know, nowadays it's just harder because of

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

everything else that's going on i think kids are a lot softer these days obviously and moving around and now they're getting paid and all that back then like we didn't have that so um he was terrific man and by the way he still has tons of energy so it'll be interesting to see if he i know he interviewed for the bears that'd be interesting to see if he if he uh i don't know if he does or not but if he gets a job you know well since we're here i was going to ask you about it anyway we'll get to the college part of it do you what relationship do you have with kayla williams

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

We're cool. We developed a pretty good relationship when he was at USC. I texted him a little bit this year, but I wouldn't say we're close enough where I'm going to hit him up and say, this is who your new head coach should be. These kids, they're such a... there's a big gap I think between my era and this generation of kids, you know, I think not all of them, but like, it's just different, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Like I even see it with Cole. I mean, you know, my oldest son, like you just, it's just a different generation of, of kind of how they go about things with, with the phone and social media. And just like, it's funny, man, we had, we had a Kurt Warner on our pod a couple months ago and he, He actually told a great story.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

He was telling me, he's like, these kids these days and these young quarterbacks in particular, he's reached out and Kurt's one of the best Hall of Famer, one of the smartest guys I've ever been around. And like a guy that like, I would want Cole to be tutored by because he's so cerebral. He's so smart in the way he sees the game. And he was like, I've texted...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

reached out to all these young quarterbacks and like never returned phone call. And like, it's just, it's just, and that's not how now me and Caleb are, you know, we're not like that, but it's just like, just like a disconnect, man. So, um, I'm rooting for him. I, I, you know, I got to know him. Um, he works hard.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

He's a good kid, uh, pretty tough situation I thought this year, but actually played pretty well, you know, obviously despite everything else going on.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Yeah, look, I think there's two things. And this is what we're seeing a little bit with Sam Darnold in that situation. As I look back, and I had Caleb number one, and I think most of us did. And then I'm looking back and I'm thinking, well, Jaden Daniels is, and he was, and obviously playing in the SEC, probably a more polished player than Caleb coming out. Just the way he threw the ball.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

the defenses, the scheme at LSU, you know, his ability to, like, it was just different. And Caleb, despite being tutored by Lincoln, who has a great track record of those guys, like, it was a little bit more backyard football, right? That's what made him so special. And that necessarily wasn't his fault, because USC was, the offense line had been pretty bad those couple years.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Gosh, I will, like, die on a hill, and I lived this. You look at the bear situation and just the coaching and all of that. And then you look at, and like, I love Dan Quinn, man. Like I think Dan Quinn's, I was just reading an article the other day, like kind of what he did to build this locker room and all this. And like, I'm telling you, Ryan, you know, this, like it is night and day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

If you have a great, coaching staff and whether it's Cliff or a coordinator, quarterback coach, and just a head coach who gets it and who understands. And that was me in Houston with Kubiak. It was like a reset on my life. I was like, holy shit, this is how football should be played. Like I'm getting coached. I'm having fun. I'm loving the environment. The team's bought in like.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

that wasn't, it wasn't necessarily like that in Arizona. It was just different. And I'm not saying that's like Chicago and Washington, obviously, because Washington hasn't been great for a while, but like when you got a staff and a coach and a system and you just understand what you have, especially that position, man, like, you can look at what Jaden Daniels is doing.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And Cliff is a big part of that as an OC. And I would liken it to like Sam in Minnesota. And like, I don't think Sam's going to be back in Minnesota, but like, look what he did this year with Kevin O'Connell. And just like, a system and a coach who knows how to coach. So I think that's the difference between Jaden and Caleb this year.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And that's why we've seen Jaden flourish and Caleb's numbers were fine. And like, he had great receivers and all that, but like, I mean, look at, look at, look at the coaching, man. Like he, you know, OC fired during the season. Like it's hard to win that way. And hopefully they do right by him because I think he, I think he showed enough.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I think he showed enough to where like you can build around him and, and be, you know, be a playoff type team.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I still like Luka, man. Just give me the slow kind of chunky Euro. Just I'm going to do that.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Josh Allen. He, I mean, gosh, there's so many great ones. Like you say my homes and like, I love Lamar, man. I've known Lamar for a long time. I just love the kid. He's just a great dude. Josh Allen is a monster, man. Like he is a monster. And I don't know if you've ever stood next to him. I don't know. Like if you know him at all, like he's every bit of six, five, like two 50 and he's huge.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

And he's a great dude. And like his game, I just, I love his game. I love, um, he's tough as nails. He runs guys over. He, he, he's, he is that team. Like he, James Cook's a good player, but like he makes that team. And that's kind of why I think he should be the MVP.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Obviously there's a debate and Lamar has been great, but I think just Josh Allen and the way he plays, he's just a, he's a dog, you know, and in his own way. And, um, I don't remember.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Maybe you think, I don't remember a guy kind of built like him, like, like Roethlisberger was big, but Roethlisberger didn't run, you know, like Josh Allen is, is a big dude who can run and trucks guys and now can throw. And just, I don't know. That would be, that would be me. I just, I love his game. I think he's, he's unbelievable. All right. Who would you, who would you, who would you be?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

His favorite show was Power, because Jerry played, I don't know if you watch Power, but Power, Jerry played Proctor, who was a lawyer. uh, empower. And, uh, it was fricking hilarious, dude. And then we talked, uh, we talked a little bit about me hosting them on my recruiting trip, but that's for another day.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

It's kind of like, it's kind of, I was, I was just thinking right now, like maybe Cam Newton, like, right. There was just guys that were so physically imposing at that position that like, I think Cam's a level above anybody that I've ever seen. He's, he's ridiculous. But like, just as far as like,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

If you meet him in the hole as a defender, like you said, there's only maybe on one hand guys that you'd be like, I don't want to tell Derek Henry is that guy's running back. Obviously, you just don't want to get in front of the dude like Josh Allen is is is like that, which is it's hard. You don't get that at the quarterback position.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I think he's going to, it's no one's talking about the chiefs there. I think they're going to pound the Texans. Then bills. I'm rooting for the bills. I kind of, I'm just, I'm rooting for a bills lions matchup. I don't, you know, like I, I, again, and I, I like the chiefs. I have no, I love Andy Reed. I think my homes is like the greatest superstar that you kind of like, kind of like a Steph.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

It's like hard not to like them. I'm still a big Kelsey dude. Like, I love the Chiefs and I respect what they've been able to do. And no one is talking about them. It's like they went 15 and two and the number one seed in a down year, apparently. And you still got to go to Kansas City and beat them in an AFC championship game, which is really hard to do.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I would not be shocked if they're in it again. I just wouldn't. And no, no shock would be. Yeah, I don't. Right. I don't know. I mean, I think people want to see someone else. I would love to see Josh Allen and the bills or even Lamar. I think those are great teams, stars, fun to watch good coaching, all that. And I'd love to see, I'd love to see Detroit make it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I don't know something about something tells me just Detroit, something's going to happen again. And they're just not going to, you know, they're going to trip up somehow, but I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

Gosh, man, what a fall from grace the last two weeks for Minnesota. It's quick. It's tough. It's tough to win. I'm telling you it is. And then what, what did I know? We'll talk. What's your take on Sam? Like, I feel, I think he's going to get paid somewhere. I don't, I think, I think Daniel Jones is going to be their starter next year, Minnesota.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Matt Leinart’s Favorite NFL Playoff QB and Notre Dame-Ohio State Pick, Plus the SGA Show in Cavs-Thunder

I think him or JJ, I think they keep Daniel and they let Sam walk to go get, you know, go get like a,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Friday feedback episode. Not really sure what else to intro. I think you get it at this point. Friday feedback for you. We don't do these all the time, I'll tell you, but we're excited to do it. So let's get into it. We've got Kyle, we've got Saruti. How is everybody?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

No one ever hears somebody's voice for years because it's the same thing as reading a book and you're imagining what the things will look like based on the description of the thing. And then you go look at it, you're like, oh, that's different. It's like, yeah, because you made it up in your head.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

So whenever anybody's like, oh, you don't look like you sound, it's like, well, how is that even possible? Who have you ever met that you listened to and never saw a picture and be like, you look exactly like the person I had imagined in my head all this time.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I think you've got to watch it. It's because it was like one of those things that was such a big deal and everybody's like, oh, this is so good and it's incredible and then you see the scene.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

It's so absurd like towards, like there's just certain things that are happening.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I'd already forgotten about it. That scene was, I'll never forget Somebody talking about like it was a quote tweet and somebody was explaining like, I just wanted, you know, Barry to, I wanted to set clothes. I wanted Barry to explore the scene and like whatever that character would do or whatever. And then there was like another director and people in Hollywood like never go at each other.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Um, and I mean that more like in the, the way it works, like you're not going to see a director necessarily shit on somebody else's stuff. I know there's examples, right? Scorsese is like Marvel movies.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Like I know it's not a zero instant argument that I'm making here, but the normal way it works is you're just not going to have a lot of writers telling other writers their scripts suck and all that kind of stuff. Cause it's just hard. Right. And in this case, the other director being like, yes, and that's also as a director why you can tell people to not do something. And I was like, man.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

All right. Anyway, we covered it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Let's see if I can get the screen up as I read these. Never just a nephew. What else you got? He doesn't like that one. I don't either.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

No, it just means you're more than a nephew. Okay. But he wanted to go, you know, he wanted to get two Ns.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Tough audience. Being the star of a show named after someone else. I don't think I love that one either.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Producing the Stars. And Afternoon Sigs. Afternoon Sigs would be pretty good. Friend of the Frolic. We're getting warmer. Poughkeepsie Pats fan. That feels like, I think they're editors. I think that's like a slur.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

All right. This next one works if you become a millionaire. From Selling Sigs to Seven Figs. That's great. Thank you for reading this. That's not the title. Although would that be, would that be the best title?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Has anybody ever written a book that just said, thank you for reading this? I bet you there probably is somebody. Yeah, no doubt. That'd be a good one. Thank you. If you were just the friendliest.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Where are the Kyle things are?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Very good. Girls Gone Kyle, if you were a real ladies' man. you'd have to have a few divorces under your belt. Yeah. You'd have to be like a real Bob Evans run. Bob Evans book. Maybe he wanted to start like just parse through that. No, I got done reading Bob Evans book. It was like, you're not doing shit with your life. Nothing. I also felt that way after the Beatles doc.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I was like, now these guys are doing something.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

What the fuck? You're gonna watch the Raptors. Um, okay. Uh, Let's see. What else do we have? Speaking of Kyle, this untold master story that was teased on Bill's pod. Need it for stats. No need for stats. Excuse me. Just want to answer this burning question. Bill teased a story with House maybe two or three years ago after Kyle went to the Masters with him.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Something about maybe they can share it once Kyle's married and there's some distance from it. Well, Kyle's married, has 17 rabbits. Can we get the details now? This will likely only grow the legend of Kyle.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

make some money off it later i guess i don't know i'm just not interested in doing that right now and i'm not interested in you being uncomfortable about telling the story so i'm not going to keep pressing here i don't know that i really was but you're not just for the record you're never telling the story i'll never say never right but uh yeah keep keep on moving

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

This is the hardest I've seen. So Rudy laughing forever. So page, our golfing friend. So wait, what happened?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Rudy's dying right now. If there's no hidden meaning behind this, just it was gorgeous.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

You just decided to post it in the feed. You can get a post-it for everyone to see. Here you go, everybody.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I don't know if I've ever seen him laugh this hard.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I'm like, all right, I'm going to keep moving. Keep moving. That was good. Was there an answer? Anyone there? You're not writing a book, though, Kyle. Would you write one?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

So, Rudy, producing the stars? No. Nah.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

So, Rudy, you've heard me. Now listen.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I actually... I haven't talked about any of it because I'm not allowed to, but I'm... Things are awesome on the writing stuff, so... I mean, I could do like a mini victory lap of something, but I'll just hopefully wait for the bigger victory lap because there's like a lot of mini victory laps in Hollywood that make you feel good about, you know, what you're doing and everything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

But I'm not actually allowed to say what it is. So that's what I'm going to talk about. No, I could have talked about it on the podcast. I, I probably should have done it there now, but this is going to run as a podcast too. So I get, I catch a lot of shit from people that don't like me for, for being like, Oh, good luck with all that or whatever.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Um, things, uh, you know, I feel really good about where I'm at and it was tough. It was really tough in the beginning, but I also knew it was something that was going to be tough. Like, you don't just get off the plane and be like, yep, making your TV show like what you did here. uh, doesn't work that way. So maybe one day I'll do like a much more in depth of like what I learned about it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Okay. Let's start with some Cerruti ones. These are different than Life Advice. They're kind of just feedback about the show.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

But I was actually putting a lot of this stuff that is in this book that I'm writing, but I've, I hit like a really tough spot with this book where I just didn't feel like it was even close to as good as I wanted it to be. It was 270 pages. Of course, the Rudy's heard these rants, um, 270 pages, like raw pages, knowing that there'd be edits and everything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Cause at one point I was like, do I have enough here? And then I did it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

with the word count into book format and i was like oh my god and so no publisher would ever let me for a first book even though i don't know that i'd ever want to write one again let me do a book that long but it was important to me when i saw like people that got book deals and i would always like look when i like going to barnes and noble and i would look at books and be like okay this guy was on bravo like season two of this show and he's got a fucking book and then it would be like 164 pages and then i was like if you're writing a book like write the book

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And so I want it to be longer than that. But as a first time, I'd be lucky if they would okay like 215, 220. The problem is creatively, I needed to take a break from it because I just didn't think it was really good enough while all this other stuff that I'm doing is going really good to this point with now the goalposts continue to move. So there we go. We got a little writing update. Wow.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

No, the original title was like, I was in like an angry phase when I started writing. That's always good. Yeah, right. I was like, and this guy fucking sucks. There's still a couple of those in there. There's some people that I felt like weren't the greatest people ever. But I also call myself out in it quite a bit. But that's the problem is when I was writing it, I was like, I don't really know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Like when you write a script, you have to know how it's going to end. Uh, although there's probably plenty of movies and be like, did you guys just have an idea? And then we're like last 30 pages, we'll figure it out. I think there's a lot of movies that that's happened. Um, TV shows a little tougher, you know, to get somebody to go, how is this going to end and then be behind the whole project.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

So I don't, I don't know what's going to happen with that, but I, I won't give up. It's just, uh, I needed to take a break. So I don't know what the hell we're doing right now. Should we read an email?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

No, you're right. We have not. So let's read a couple more. This is about a loose format of anything that we'll ever do anyway. Hey, Ryan, instead of getting swole working on your speedo lines at the beach and watching sports, you might think about picking up a book once in a while. I usually don't get called out for my lack of reading. Once again, Yeah. Go ahead.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

That's good, though. It means, you know, it means not everybody's is locked in. And, uh, this is what feedback's for. Maybe then you would know that dog man is a classic literature series and sold over 60 million copies. Uh, the above should be read in a tone of righteous indignation. All right. So I think this person actually totally does get all of it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Cerruti versus Kane. Fellas, couldn't help but notice that Steve was gone when Will came on the show. Care to comment? I'm sure that I'm not the only listener that noticed that after Steve's comments about Will on the pod a few months ago, heaven forbid if you have a guest that supports a president with a 70% approval rating.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

They're just fucking with me and all seriousness though. Yeah. So this person does know they're not making fun of, uh, my reading choices. The books are incredibly popular. I read all of them with my kids. They're hilarious. They're a mix of the Simpsons style of commentary and Cormac McCarthy's absurdism. Okay, the latter might be a stretch. Now you know. Love the show. P.S.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

My female wife is starting to listen to get into life advice. Starting to get into life advice, so watch out.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

trying to get that all right um my father was the greatest samurai in the empire great intro how howdy gang i'll keep it short and fast uh how much time goes by before a life advice email gets tossed to the side if i write on a saturday and just get read by the following friday should i abandon all hope that it gets the spotlight i can only imagine how many emails you guys receive on a weekly basis thank you very much p.s ryan i also i too visited the

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

WWII Museum in New Orleans. It was absolutely incredible. In order to digest all of the information that place has to offer, it would take two to three business days. Yeah, I didn't even make it halfway through in like two and a half, 245. So I will go back. I loved it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

There's no rhyme or reason to how any of the emails, it just, they come in and then Kyle sips them, runs them through the old sluice box and then I go through those. And I may miss some all timers. You know, I'll admit there's probably some Mondays after a football weekend where I'm like, let me skim a couple.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

The blind ones where I haven't pre-read anything, which probably happens a little too often. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes people get one through. There's not really a thing. But if you sent one in like a few weeks ago, it's probably already lost.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Yeah, but I mean, we've had people in the past just be like, you have to read this, you have to read this, you have to read this. And it's like, you know me. It might be great. And if I see it like seven times, I'm like, you need to have another hobby. Yeah. Then spamming the shit out of us with that. But then sometimes they're really good, too, to Saruti's point. So...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I don't know that every single one gets read because there can be some really busy days, which is great. Cause dude, when we started doing that part of it, I just was trying to figure out kind of a light way to end the pod. Something we'd all look forward to something that, Hey, if you didn't like the guest in like the open, then maybe that would be fun.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And it's not like it's the most original idea, but I just like, just like a script. I like having a good ending. And at least with life advice, we know we're going to have fun usually for 20 minutes. And I, you know, it's funny because I look forward to these, even this today, like you go, Oh, we have got this long taping schedule and all this stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I just have so much fun with you guys when we do this and that it's lasted this long that I still have this much fun that it's always like a fun part of the taping day. Not that the other parts are hard, but there's no pressure. Like there's monologues that I do where I get done. I'm like, that wasn't as good as you wanted it to be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

It's like, all right, well, it's too late now because now we got to do the guest and make sure you have that. And then I'll have interviews where I go, you didn't fucking, you didn't, you didn't map that out good enough. You mailed it in with that guest and I get pissed at myself. That never happens with life advice. It's always fun. It's always something I look forward to.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Um, I don't think I have a great answer for that. I think the boats that they used, uh, storm of the beaches in Normandy there. Oh, we're made there. We're made there, but I could be wrong. Uh, I shouldn't, I should have a better answer for you there, but, uh, I think there was a lot of manufacturing and probably a lot of shipping out of there.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Although there was a lot of shipping out of, uh, Virginia. Like I think that might've been the majority of it. At least when I was reading about the African campaign, uh, Um, I think that was who, who did that one? Uh, Rick Atkinson. He's got a multi-volume thing on world war two.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Yeah. So I'm about to start a new James Holland one that has Italy. Uh, I read his Normandy 44 one, which was terrific. But when you read the Rick Atkinson one, which one is it? Um, I don't know. This is good content though. You read any fiction? Rarely. Like I'll read Cormac McCarthy. You know, I've read a bunch of his, I read of mice and men the other day. Um, casually read of mice and men.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I've read that since high school. Yeah. It takes two days to read it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I read The Road again. I'm not to be super weird or emotional, but I don't know that I've ever read a book that makes me feel the way The End of the Road does in Cormac McCarthy's book of it. The first time I read it was maybe 15 years ago, and I was like, I mean, it was a kind of like, think about this.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I read, I didn't finish it before I went to bed and I woke up and the first thing I did was I read the end of his book. Like I couldn't do anything until I had finished the book and then I went into work. And it is like the power to be able to make people feel something like that just from writing, uh, is, is pretty incredible. I think it's pretty inspiring.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And now we're getting really fucking weird and deep on this Friday feedback. I'm trying to find this book and I can't.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

An army at dawn. Uh, yeah. All right. When we sent over, when we sent the boys over to Africa, uh, People did not do a very good job of packing ahead of time. Incredibly inefficient. They had to go through all their inefficiencies. No, they would put the ramps to get the Jeeps off. They'd put the ramps onto the shipping containers first, and then they'd put the Jeeps in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

So then they would land and go... Now, where are the ramps? Yeah, right. Tons of stuff. Tons of stuff like that. It was just incredibly inefficient. And Germany thought, this is going to be a joke. We're going to smoke these guys. Desert Fox. And they didn't. So anyway, that was really good. But yeah, I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I mean, in that time, I probably could have looked it up instead of staring and then giving you a speech on the road. Yeah, but this is why we have video.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Hey, you know, you want to talk about getting pissed. I get so mad when I don't retain stuff.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I mean, a lot, a lot, a lot of work to do over there. I mean, there was a joke and be like, yeah, and some of his stuff that study stuff that actually happened. I like fiction. I'm sorry. Uh, what else? I don't think I've, I don't know. Fiction wise. I read wool and we, we had the author on with silo came out for Apple TV.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Uh, I did read the Martian and I kind of felt like it was just, everybody was talking about it. It was like, you know, yeah, uh, that was like a good flight book. You know, it was on, I'm on a plane and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. Um, and I, I read all the Vonnegut stuff cause I was, uh, obsessed with him as a kid.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And I went back and read cat's cradle because cat's cradle was like one of probably the first book, like it's 16 years old where I, I thought, Oh my God, like I can't, I can't believe somebody could do something like this and create this world and all this different stuff. And then there's like a lot of Vonnegut stuff that connects.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

So I would, if I sat back and decided to read like Vonnegut for a couple of weeks, I'm sure I would enjoy it, but I just am. I'm very, uh, much of the nonfiction stuff. I'm reading a new thing now too. Uh, Susan wise Bauer on volume one. And it's basically like the start. Um, it's basically like the start of civilization, just like the first recorded Sumerian memories. Yeah. There you go. So Rudy.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Right. Um, you know, it's funny. It's like every single origin story starts in some version of like a flood. So like Noah's Ark is not just for you, you know, there'll be like a fish that tells a dude to climb a mountain. The flood comes and then the fish is like, you're so smart. Thanks for believing me. You're in charge of everything.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

So a lot of, a lot of civilizations all study all starting with the same, um, flood storyline. Boy, this might be the worst or best one we've ever done.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

This is a niche one. Can you please get in touch with New England wings and have them rebrand to New England? It was sitting right there and they missed it. New England Wings was the go-to for UVM people of a certain age. And I got to be honest with you, that email is so good. New England?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

It's so good.

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Friday Feedback!

It's so good someone had to have.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

All right. Ain't no hobby. Hey guys, whenever Tyson Fury comes across my feet or TV screen, my mind immediately goes to his appearance on the pod a few years back when he took his pre-fight locked in mindset way too far and offered up the worst interview of all time, at least until Ryan challenged him and broke through.

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As RR might say about a quarterback who's unafraid of throwing a few picks, I actually came away more impressed. Can you guys share some other stories and moments that you've been most impressed with each other? Thanks so much for all the entertainment over the years. That's from Oslo.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Wasn't a very good question.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Has there been a time that you have something off the top of your head that has impressed you about anything we've done, Saruti?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I couldn't believe how many people liked that line. I thought it was kind of like a throwaway just to make the point. And I didn't even think it was all like that. But I don't know. People seem to like it. Cerruti already knows like how I feel about him. in that I can throw all sorts of stuff at him and he somehow makes it make sense to me.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I'm not the easiest to work with, not because all the stuff of people thinking I could be difficult. I'm not that easy to work with for somebody who's on the creative side, because I basically know exactly what I want to do and I'm likely always going to do it. And more often than not, I've been doing it long enough that I trust my instincts.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

But the little edge that Cerruti can add for me on some of the stuff that I don't think about... And the amount of times, too, that Cerruti will say, hey, maybe you should try this, maybe you should try that. And then I don't do it. And yet he'll still be like, I'm ready to offer up something else. That takes a lot. It takes a lot. I would say for Kyle...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Just when we think we've got the full scope of it, just when we think we have it all, we never do. And you've talked about the soft jabs. And sometimes I'll think about as the host going, hey, you can't soft jab Kyle all the time about the rabbits. You can't soft jab him all the time about the background. But it's not a bit. You present yourself in such an incredibly honest way.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And it's so much fun to talk about your background because it's fucking crazy, Kyle. You have all of these stories that don't make any sense. I think it's important now as you've gotten older to make sure that like we always package that and how funny that was, as opposed to like when you're really young and first starting with us.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I probably wasn't as sensitive to the idea of like, hey, I don't want to just like that was only two years ago, dude. Like, I don't feel like getting dumped on 20 minutes at the end of a podcast three days a week and you handling that. in the way that you've handled it is not an easy thing because I, I hope it never felt like I was like, I'm going to just beat up on Kyle.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

It was just, there were so many stories where I didn't know what to do. Like when you had the adult roommate that may or may not have been in jail and you're like, how do you, how do I not have more followups or how is that not crazy? Or how do I not bring that back in a recall? And you've always been so good with it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And I think there's also a part of it now where it's kind of funnier that we can go back and laugh about it because it's not your current situation. But you deserve a lot of credit for that. Wow, that was super nice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Okay. We'll do one last one here. How about that? Is that... Yeah. Does that make sense? Or did we just leave on that one because it was so nice? Everybody was so nice.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

How many ovens does one man need? Let's see here. So it's only two ovens.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

There's a microwave. Yeah. There's two baking ovens. There's also like a bread drawer in there, which usually... What other kind of oven is there than a baking oven? Well, there's two different baking ovens, though. There's different styles of it. Basically, guys, this was a house that was built, and I bought it, and one day I'm going to have to sell it. So...

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

You're going to want that second oven in there. There's a certain level these kitchens have. The coffee maker I've never used. I don't know how to make it. People have come over and been like, oh, hey, can I make a coffee? I'm like, I don't know. I don't know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Yeah, you were back. You were actually here. I mean, has anybody ever listened to a fucking interview on the show before? How often am I in it being like, hey, Saruti, you want to get in on this?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I think the instructions. Well, there's no pods here either. So I, you know, they're, they kind of look, there's some nice stuff in this kitchen. I used to cook all the time. I used to love cooking, look up recipes, challenge myself, try to figure this stuff out. I don't cook as much as I used to, which, you know, kind of pisses me off. All right. I think that's it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I think that's all we need for today.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Other than that, yeah, that was good. Okay, that'll do it for us. Thanks for listening to Friday Feedback and watching on our YouTube page. If you have any feedback for us, it's fridayfeedbackr at gmail.com. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Sruti. And I'm Ryan Russillo at Ringers Butterfly. Must be 21 and older. Present in select states.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

For Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-

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327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

We had a guy in Boston who was the producer and we were all obsessed with our fantasy baseball teams back then. We were really annoyingly obsessed about it. I was so weird about it. And then we'd get Buster Olney on the show and he would keep him on hold asking him about different transactions that would happen. And we, the hosts, we'd get so fucking mad.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And we would just be like, stop holding up the guests. in getting in the way of the actual time we have with the guy in the air. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it just has nothing to do with it. It has nothing to do with it. I mean, to me, this is an email from somebody that's so politically charged that they see everything through that lens.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And then they're so into Will and his politics that somehow Cerruti not talking in an interview, which he never does anyway, is seen as saruti, unless the email is just completely messing with us.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

where any of us align and i mean i'm not gonna get into it politically but like there this is a great idea i'll get like you're a great idea you're a guy i don't know i've thought about just going hey i'm gonna do 15 minutes on this right now but it's actually more fun it's become more fun and look there's some things i agree with will on and there's other things i don't agree with them on yep i know it's shocking

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

but I thought he was really good. Most people in life, you know. Talking about the Mavs. Yeah, talking about the Mavs. Okay, another Cerruti one. Can Cerruti get a word in, please? Long-time listener, first-time emailer, love the show. However, the amount of times Rosillo interrupts Cerruti during life advice is becoming unbearable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Please let him finish a thought or just don't have him on the segment at all.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Cerruti has the toughest role on life advice. I just go, you know, and then I wrap a bow back up. I talk, I would say generally, I would say every life advice I do. I'm like, you could have been shorter on that one. But, you know, Again, who gives a shit? Kyle just comes in with the perspective. And then Cerruti has this spot where he usually just always goes third. And so how much is left?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

So then Cerruti has to kind of figure out what can I say that's actually a little different? Can I actually devil's advocate this a little bit? So Cerruti easily has the hardest role of the three of us on life advice. Maybe we rotate it like a volleyball, like a gym class or something.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Oh, I know.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And there's a lot of times... That's how it should be.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Yeah, but I don't... I think there's times I can be just shorter with it, but sometimes you just sit there and you're like, okay, am I thinking of every possible angle? I probably would say life advice feedback that we get. It's not even Friday feedback, but specific to a certain way we answer.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And every now and then there's some helpful stuff, but there's a lot of, I can't believe you guys didn't do this part of it. It's like, well, after you had like a few days to think about it, you know, like we're doing these things on the fly. I think I can get a little interrupty, um, you know, but I, I just try to notice when I'm doing it.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And then if the email is really long, maybe I'll have Rudy or Kyle go first. Usually it's going to be Kyle going first. Cause I just feel like from the audio sense of like, you've already talked this long and then you're just going to answer for as long as you do. Um, I would say in general, I probably could just be shorter about a lot of things that I do, but I don't know. I talk for a living. So

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Okay. Um, I'll try to be better at that. Wow. You know, we could have done that in a show meeting maybe off the air.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

No, no. I'm totally kidding. Wow, you guys are dicks.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

listening to the show from january 8th and i'm really surprised the level of snark and assholishness you guys threw at oregon about running the disney half marathon guy signed up to do something hard that a ton of people can't do without a guarantee of actually succeeding he's clearly into disney based on his tattoo combine those two things i didn't understand the rest of the show laid into him like you did if you've never a run a half marathon b go to disney by choice or c wake up at 5 a.m to go do something hard if you could avoid it that's fine

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

but you made it seem like Oregon is the asshole and that's not cool. Life advice is one of my favorite segments of any podcast. Usually you're right on the mark for the kinds of things people should do. Seems like you should take your own advice about being supportive to your friends and coworkers, stuff they're invested in.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Even if you think it's stupid, you don't have to celebrate it, but you shouldn't shit on it. Dave.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

He hits us with repeated shots and we're just so freaked out by it. Like I'm learning about him the same way the audience is. I thought he worked at ESPN. He never did. I didn't know anything about him. I thought I kind of knew him as like a side guy at ESPN. And then he was like, I've never worked there. I went, oh, okay. So I guess I don't know you at all.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

And so every time something is uncovered, we're so floored. At least I know that I am. We're experiencing it at the same time the audience is. Yeah, for the record, I think having a Simba tattoo and running a half marathon at Disney is not the coolest thing. I laughed. But the thing is, is Wargon came on and said one of the first things he ever said to us. It was unbelievable.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

He goes, I'm not cool. I've never been cool in my entire life. And he just said it. And then it was like, now we're just off and running. And actually, he's the winner in all of it because he's not holding himself some cool guy standard now. But, you know, a lot of us have spent a life pursuing. So there's just this honesty with him. that is incredible.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

But if it came off as, I think you're a loser for doing this. I mean, I'm very consistent on the, if you're going to do something physical, like good for you, but I just, the whole part of it with him where it's the two hour, uh,

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

lounge visits for the espresso martini so he gets to the airport like five hours early really just finding value and cross country travel yeah we keep going back to that well and then it's like yeah but i'm actually going to disney for the half marathon and it's going to rain and it starts at 5 a.m em and i get sick and i have a massive manhole cover blue simba tattoo on my shoulder and

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Like I was just overwhelmed. So if I came off as like not being supportive, I would say I regret that because I'm always going to be supportive of somebody that's going to test themselves physically. But it was a lot for me to handle. And there's no way I wasn't going to stop endlessly laughing in that moment because I'm so fascinated by him. And I mean, what?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

He just sat there with a Penn State sweatshirt and didn't say anything for six months. And now we've got him in the he's in the cut. And now it's like, I can't I can't I don't want him to turn his microphone off as quickly as he does. And he does. Yeah, I just covered.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

He'd be great.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Is there a rabbit place you could drop them off without her knowing?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Whenever we do that stuff with him, he's like dying laughing. So unless he goes home to his wife and he's like, those guys suck. Yeah. Gotta work on this fucking show again. But wait, is he married yet?

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I'm expecting like an Isaiah Hartenstein thing where he's like, I'm actually black. Like everything's on the table with him. I'm serious. I'm not going to rule out anything with him. Here's another war gone email. See, this kind of sucks that he isn't around because you just know it would be gold. And I understand when he first started on the show, I was like, he's probably not ever going to talk.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

Does he think he's going to be on life advice with us the whole time? One, he could not care. And then all the months of like, well, I don't think we have room for it. We don't really need it. And now I'm like, I want him to talk. Like, I want him to say something. His hit rate, he's like Chalamet right now. Okay. Wargon sounds like he's 15.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Friday Feedback!

I'm not really criticizing him because he seems like a good hang and he's been a nice addition to the pod. Whenever he chimes in, though, I can't get the image of a funny freshman chopping it up with you three. It's endlessly entertaining.

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