The Ryen Russillo Podcast
‘Would You Rather’ NBA Player Debates, More Celtic Concerns and a Scoot Revival? Plus, Willie Colon!
Thu, 13 Mar 2025
Russillo starts with another edition of Tales From the Couch following OKC’s win in Boston (0:45). Then, Ceruti comes on to ask Ryen a series of ‘which player would you rather have’ questions (20:01). Next, Willie Colon joins the pod to debate Aaron Rodgers vs. Russell Wilson, share his favorite free agent signings thus far, and reveal his favorite offensive lineman (43:19). Finally, Life Advice with Ceruti and Kyle (79:00) ! Is what I’m doing considered stealing? Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, livestreams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Willie Colon Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, Mike Wargon, and Jonathan Frias This episode is sponsored by State Farm®. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.® Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What did we learn from the Celtics vs. Thunder game?
The Awakening.
Also, some other nuggets that I have for you. We also do a little Saruti, who would you rather have? We taped this before we saw Cooper Flagg go down with a severe sprained ankle. So, that's the alert. NFL Free Agency. More on what's next for a bunch of different teams. And just talking football with Willie Colon. And life advice where we didn't really answer any questions.
We're going to start with a little Thursday Tales from the Couch. I'm not going to go through the entire schedule of last night because this is a really important game, a potential NBA final. So I don't know if it's Thursday Lobstervations, but we'll come up with some kind of title that I'll probably forget about weeks later and never say it again. So Oklahoma City wins at Boston last night.
A lot of you, I'm sure, you watched that. Thunder without Jalen Williams and the Celtics without Bucs. who last played on February 26th. He's played 32 games this year, obviously injuries, but this illness thing is very strange. So, you know, there's the kind of default whenever Boston loses.
Well, they don't have Przingis because Przingis changes who they are with the five out stuff they can do on offense and the rim protection. We've covered a lot of that stuff. Yeah. And when they're fully formed, Boston feels like the default favorite on FanDuel as of today. Boston's plus 185 for the title. Oklahoma City is now at plus 185. Cleveland's still at plus 500.
I think that has more to do with Boston being in the East necessarily than who FanDuel thinks Cleveland is as a team. When it was at plus 700, I actually bet it because I was like, that just doesn't seem right. That just seems like a massive amount of value. Even if you're just going to hear so many people just look at Boston and go, well, they won it last year. Cleveland's still sort of newish.
Oklahoma City's younger. All the stuff that we've been talking about the last few weeks. But I kind of land on, I think Boston's the third best team in the NBA. Let's go through some of the game. There's score versus feel, which I talk about all the time. The score can be close, but how does the game feel?
It's 33-30 at the end of the first quarter, and it didn't feel like a three-point game at all. Boston took 22 threes in the first quarter. Paint scoring 18-zip. Oklahoma City. Boston took 36 threes at the half, most in any half in NBA history. 63 for the game, third highest total ever, 32%. And that shooting just completely fell apart for them.
So we could get into the variance part of it, a three here, three there. Boston gets the win. Everybody feels a little bit different. Okay, maybe, but I really want to get back to feel. Other than the third quarter stretch where Tatum got it going and Boston was attacking, considering how far away that they start,
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Chapter 2: Who would you rather have: SGA or Giannis?
And I know it's simple to say we'll close out against anybody who's a decent shooter, but there was one play in particular where he was kind of coming up, not fast break, but the transition of possession. And I love those shots in there because the defense isn't really settled. People are kind of scrambling to their matchups.
And, you know, Chet was trailing the play a little bit, and it just looked like Boston wasn't looking at him as, oh, you know, we've got to make sure we don't take our time getting to him because he's such a good shooter.
Size mismatch, it's not so much get it into the post on some kind of switch, but if he gets switched up on the perimeter, his handle is good enough, even his size, and it can still look a little clunky because he kind of bends down and backs you down and everything, but the shit works. And he gets to the hoop and he gets good looks. His touch is terrific. They ran a handoff with their 4-5.
So it was a two-man game with their center and power forward where Chet was like, throws into Hart. I keep saying Hart. Hartenstein. And then...
chet ran a cut where it was like a fake dribble handoff and then hartenstein turns around and like makes the layup you're going dude you're running this with your center and power forward that was in the first half of the game so he also can switch on the perimeter and he's long and athletic enough where you know there's times maybe you feel like tatum going downhill and getting into him is a matchup that you like because again tatum is so spectacular with this stuff but there's a lot of perimeter guys and chet just kind of
Venus fly traps you, you're not going to get by him. Even if you think, okay, I'm smaller and I'm quicker and it's the seven footer, I should be able to just dribble past him the entire time. And then depending on whether or not the Thunder want to go with the double big, you've got Hartenstein at least allow, like I've now said his name two different times again.
You've got him in kind of this floating thing where he can still be a little bit to the paint if you feel like you need him to come over and help. And I think that was also part of the thing that Oklahoma City was willing to give up last night is that even though Horford was six of 12 from three, that's 12 three-point attempts from Horford.
It felt like a lot of times Oklahoma City was like, you know, we might be okay giving up that shot, trying to stay solid defensively here. So the free throw disparity was massive. But I don't want to hear it, Celtics fans. When you take 63 threes, when you take 22, where are the fucking free throws supposed to come from? Sometimes you guys have to be honest.
Now, like any game, you can find a couple clips to try to post something and prove your point. SGA had the BS going a little bit there in the fourth quarter. You got one call that was a little nasty, but there was contact. There was another one where he tried to fall down that was gross. But what about all the other ones? So when you're that far away,
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Chapter 3: What are the latest NFL free agency updates?
He had 26 a game two years ago with the Nets after that trade, and then it went down to 18, and then everybody's worried about his shooting, and they're like, what's up with his form, and all that kind of stuff. I just liked it for Bridges, and I know he's had some – kind of up and down games this month as they figure out who they are with Brunson being out.
We're a week away from an update on his ankle, but at least with Myles McBride, You're like, okay, you should still feel really good about this Knicks starting five. So I just liked it for Bridges because I think there were some kind of doubting moments and you could go, how are you giving up all these first rounders for this kind of guy when he hasn't made it all-star? I just really liked him.
And I thought that net stretch two years ago proved that the ceiling for him offensively was at another level that he just didn't have the opportunity for. And maybe it doesn't always show itself at times with all the different players that you have in the Knicks that are really good. So, like I said, we're a week away from an update there.
Mitchell Robinson, six games back, wanted to sort those defensive numbers for you. So back on February 28th, the Knicks are 5-3, so not six games back. He's played in six. The record is at five and three, right? They're third on defense. I don't know if it's small sample or what because we've been knocking the Knicks defense all the time.
So are they figuring out something defensively with Mitchell being back here? Because offensively, they're actually 26th, which is really weird. So I think it's Brunson being out, then the next two games, not necessarily the greatest schedule after that Lakers thing. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that There's some numbers here that you could potentially be excited about.
I'm just not sure how real they are right now. Minnesota was the game I thought I was going to be talking about a lot this morning with their game at Denver last night, and there just really wasn't much to break this down other than a very impressive win from the Timberwolves. This is six straight, their first six-game win streak since the end of 23.
I think prior to last night's game in Denver, you could argue that it was schedule-related because it was Phoenix, it was Philly, it was Charlotte, it was Miami, San Antonio. But winning by 20 at Denver, and I know Aaron Gordon, but that's a really nice win for a Minnesota team where it's important to remember the way we talk about different teams.
I have been incredibly disappointed with Minnesota because I have a – I would say going into this year, coming out of the summer, even without Towns, I had expectations of, can this team actually win the West? I mean, they're obviously looking at the standings last year. They were... right in the mix for a one seed and getting the Western Conference Finals.
And even though it's been up and down, you know, defensively, they've been really good after the first couple weeks of the season. So that hasn't really been the issue. I think it's been, what do you expect from Randall? They're winning games, the reincorporation of him. DiVincenzo finally looks like he's in a bit more of a rhythm. They have...
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Chapter 4: How does Aaron Rodgers compare to Russell Wilson?
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This is something we're going to do and put it in the vault here. Because I guess we've done this before. So the concept is pretty simple. You've heard it before, but who would you rather have of these players? I think it's fun to kind of do it maybe twice a season. So we'd had this list, and now's the time to get to it. So there's no prep. I don't even know what these are, which is, I think...
the way to do it today. Yeah, that's the mood I'm in. So let's go for it.
Yeah, it's funny. I think we've done this twice before. People seem to like it. We did it at the beginning of last season. So I think like October of 2023. So it's been a while and I went back and listened to it this morning.
uh some funny stuff in there we did it we did steph versus katie one which was which was good we did a luca versus devin booker we did a luca versus mb that was coming off that like weird lucas season where it was like is he actually that great like the efficiency is bad like the usage rates too high and then obviously he goes to the finals so uh good times there seems like those are obvious now um
We had an AD Embiid one, too. The part of this that's funny is that in the moment, you'd be like, oh, yeah, and then just looking back, which I think is important when you're thinking about different trades and stuff, like for real, how much of a swing there can be, at least perception-wise, of where a player is. Wait, so what was the Luka one? Did I pick Booker?
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Chapter 5: What's the future for the New York Jets?
Chapter 6: What life advice can we learn from the latest NBA debates?
Maybe it's, it's short term.
Giannis. He's going to win MVP.
I understand. I was looking at MVP voting last night. I consistently, I think over three years, it's not like I've had a vote for a decade, but I think I consistently have Giannis higher than other people do. If you ask anybody else that, I don't know who else would say Giannis higher.
It kind of does feel like we've forgotten about him, which is shitty. Would you say Luka over SGA too?
No, not right now. I mean, I think peak Luka is better than peak SGA, but... There's just too much unknown of what will Luka look like. All that time off, the kind of up and down. I think the best version, again, I've already said it, so I don't need to repeat it.
The best version of Luka to me is a better basketball player, but I would feel way more comfortable just signing up for whatever this SGA is going to be the next couple months.
Yeah.
You?
All right. How about Donovan Mitchell or Ant Edwards?
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Chapter 7: Who are the rising stars in the NBA right now?
So, like, the SGA will look at their record, look what they've done, because that's going to be the deciding factor against Jokic, but... Then I never hear Mitchell ever. So I don't, I don't know what, I mean, granted Mitchell's numbers aren't SGA. So maybe it's as simple as that, but I was thinking about it the other night when I was trying to figure out my vote.
I was like, you know, let's dig into the Mitchell thing. Cause there's also like a minutes thing with him where he's just playing less because they've been beating teams the way that they have. And I probably should double check that stuff right now. So look, I, I like ant better. So I'm just going to say Ant, even if I can understand that right now is the worst time to say that.
You? I think I'd go Mitchell. The Ant thing is like, he's always going to have it with the defensive side of the ball. But I don't know. There's something about Mitchell right now. Do you think the Cavs are as good as they are if you just swap those two guys?
So...
SGA on the Cavs and Mitchell... Donovan on the Wolves. So if you put Ant Edwards on the Cavs, are they where they're at now? Yeah, I think they'd be fine. You don't? No, I don't think they wouldn't be fine. I just think there's something about Mitchell right now that's just kind of... He's on a different level, I think, than Ant.
I mean, the step-back thing from losing Cat, the team maybe is getting a little bit too much in my head, but there's just something about Donovan and... the way he's playing. And I think Ant is the more well-rounded player. He's bigger. He's obviously a little bit younger, which I don't think really matters that much in this exercise. But I'd give a slight edge to Mitchell, right?
I think I got to give credit to Mitchell right now. But I think most people would take Ant. And I think you're, I wouldn't argue with you.
Yeah, I'd rather have that size. I'd rather have that defense. Yeah. All right, this is a fun one. I mean, the SGA stuff, if we're bringing that one back to, I mean, the advanced stuff for where SGA and Mitchell are right now, it's the advanced part of it. It's like not even close. Again, what SGA is doing. at least on some people like free throw merchant.
I hate that, but yeah, I look, I, he takes more free throws. He plays three more minutes a game and he's, he's still like, you feel like Cleveland still has to share it a little bit more. Um, but the, the Mitchell advance SGA, if you put that up blind resume, you'd be like, one's a one seat and the other is like a seven seat in the NCAA tournament. It's not even close.
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