The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Conference Finals Previews and Ranking the Four Best Players Left With Tim Legler, Plus Life Advice

Episode Date: May 21, 2024

Russillo is joined by ESPN’s Tim Legler to preview the Western Conference (00:29) and Eastern Conference finals (23:27), and rank the best scoring options remaining in the postseason (37:18). Plus, another edition of The Alliance (54:00) with Ceruti and Kyle and Life Advice (56:39)! Which college should I go to? Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, live streams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out rg-help.com to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Tim Legler Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's podcast, we are going to go an hour with Tim Legler. We have a ton of stuff to get to. We're going to break down both the conference finals and a couple other things. It was awesome. So there's no open today because we went all legs and of course life advice and the Alliance pick. Enjoy It's Ryan Roussela podcast presented by FanDuel. The road to the NBA final starts now and FanDuel is the best place to get in on the action Right now you can check out the new and improved quick bets Which are back and better than ever for the NBA playoffs and FanDuel Find what you're looking for faster and easier with more props right at your fingertips.

You can check out live bets like three minute markets and exclusive live bets like quarter player props, player assist combos and more. So download the app today and bet with FanDuel, official partner of the NBA. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming so 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, 18 plus in D.C., end present in select states, gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RG-help.com. That's the sound of unaged whiskey, transforming into Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Around 1860, nearest Green taught Jack Daniel how to filter whiskey through charcoal for a smoother taste, one drop at a time. This is one of many sounds in Tennessee with a story to tell. To hear them in person, plan your trip at TNVacation.com. Tennessee sounds perfect.

We've got them. We've got legs from ESPN, Tim Legler, NBA analyst, and also the cohost of the All City NBA podcast. He has been with ESPN. You see him with Van Pelt, but let's just start again with Sunday night. I picked Minnesota as a kind of a coin toss thing. Then when it came down to game seven, even after game six, I went like, do you feel good about Minnesota getting Jokic at home in Denver and they're down 20.

And then it happens. Uh, what did you learn about the Timberwolves in that series? I think the first thing would be they showed that they've got the mental wherewithal to stay with the fight in a situation like that, because I'm, I'm like most people, I picked Denver to win the series in seven games and they're up 20 and I'm thinking, feel pretty damn good about my pick. And I don't think there was a person that was watching that game that did not think that that game was over.

Based on the fact that, okay, 20 is one thing. We see 20 point leads disappear in the NBA at a higher rate than we've ever seen because of the prevalence of the three point shot. Teams just get back in games unlike any other time in history. So the 20s not like the end of the world. Against that team, against that team that executes better than any team in the league in the half court. So you're thinking if you just get shots every trip, if you're Denver, just get shots, get something up on the glass, there's no way Minnesota is gonna have enough time to run you down.

Because also Denver's pretty good defensively, it's not like they're a total sieve, and now, you know, Minnesota goes nuts on it. You're thinking like, okay, this game's over. So the fact that they still believed was impressive to me. And they come out in the third quarter, and now I keep saying that we're gonna talk about

the defense so much as the reason for the comeback and the reason that we love them and everything else. I'm sitting there watching the game going, well, the first thing that has to happen is they got to make a couple shots because their offense was terrible in the first half. If the ball goes in a few times, now you have the belief that, okay, we we're gonna operate at a normal rate now offensively our Defense can string together five stops and you add them up and we can run this team down But none of that happens if you don't see the ball going and that's what happened for me about middle of the third quarter Denver was running those traps out on the floor against aunt and in the first half running those traps out on the floor against Ant. And in the first half, Minnesota was spaced poorly and they weren't making a pay on the weak side

when that ball came out. That changed in the third quarter. They started making shots on the opposite side of the floor. They started getting offensive rebounds because when you trap that far out on the floor, you have running lanes to the rim. Both of those things started to happen and now it goes from 20, all right, it's 12 timeout.

Totally feels different because now Minnesota is coming out of that timeout saying, well, now we turn our defense loose. Like this is now the opportunity. So to answer your question, Ryan, the first thing that jumps out to me, so impressed in that moment, in that spot that they still believed. And it's one thing to not quit. I'm not saying any team's going to quit necessarily in a game seven. What I'm saying is you got to actually feel it in your bones that you can do this. And that surprised me that they didn't succumb to that moment and that Denver didn't just continue to execute enough to win that game by 10-15 points. I'm very surprised by it. Still, as we sit here

now, I'm still kind of shocked at what I watched in the second half. Yeah, I'm still surprised despite how much I believe in Minnesota because just Denver at home and maybe there are some offensive numbers that told you, hey, they're not the same. I should say offensive numbers, but defensively you're right. It's, it's not like, you know, I look at this Pacers series that we're going to spend a lot of time on here, but I'll be like, Hey, there's going to be some moments in that series against Boston where it feels like the Pacers are just,

it's going to be impossible for them to stop Austin's offense because that's who the Pacers defense traditionally has been this year and then into the playoffs, but I'll save that bit for later. But to have that kind of belief and, you know, aunt had a bad overall shooting game, uh, Bill and I probably disagreed a little bit cause I just think of another guy went six and 24 in a game seven. I'd be, you know, if it was somebody we don't like, we'd be perhaps harsher, but maybe it's because he's younger and we like him so much that, you know, look, I,

for the guys that I don't like, you'd have to do it a handful of times in huge spots before I start going like, okay, well, I don't know that I can really trust this guy. We don't have enough of a resume from Ant and the rest of the playoffs are so good from him that, I mean, that's just the way he's going to be treated right now. Cause he's kind of the darling of the NBA, but you played on that. What the 96, 97 bullets team that got swept by Chicago, what the 96, 97 bullets team that got swept by Chicago, right? 96, 97.

Right. I know you probably feel like, hey, I only play like six minutes a game in that series, but did you notice something with the talented young guys? I mean, look, it's also Jordan in a Bulls three-peat team. So it's a little different, but I noticed things with sometimes with guys in their first run through the playoffs where it's not supposed to look like the collective game log that we have from Ant.

I'm sure you notice it. I don't know if there's any story from your time with Washington. Yeah. And actually one of the things that, you know, people, cause it's, it's funny cause this is the truth is the reality is we got swept. It was the best of five at that people, because it's funny, because the truth is, the reality is we got swept. It was the best of five at that time in the first round. And all three games came down to the last two minutes,

one possession games, all three. And including, so we lose two there, one of them, Jordan has 50 in a game in the first two. Then we go back to Washington, first home playoff game, we had this young core, this credible frontline talent. Washington, you know, first home playoff game with we had this young core, just credible frontline talent. And, uh, we go down and we're up, we have the lead inside of a minute, maybe

inside of 30 seconds and Scottie Pippen, uh, catches the ball, like in the corner, drives baseline, dunks it three point play. I can't remember who found him. You know, he gets laid out, but finishes the play and that was the game winning play. So we gave them everything they can handle. I remember after the series, Michael Jordan said that is the next team in the Eastern Conference. Like that's the team you've got to watch out for because we had all this youth size at

the time, which mattered in the NBA. We had shooting that actually, you know, you mentioned I didn't play a lot in that series. That was the year I missed 75% of that season because I tore my ACL at the end of the previous year and I just made it back at the tail end of the season. So I still was wearing a heavy brace on my leg and I wasn't a factor,

but we led the league at three points shooting. We had all this size. Jim McElveen had like nine blocks in a game against the Bulls in the regular season. Jordan gave us all this praise and all these compliments. And then the front office decided over the next couple of years, we're going to trade everything we have. We're going to trade all of these young bigs and get old guards. So we traded Rashid for Rod Strickland. We traded Chris Weber for Mitch Richmond. And that's the direction we went in

and it kind of fell apart pretty quickly when it looked like we were onto something. But there was no doubt that watching our young stars on that team play in that series, yes, man. Everybody was buzzing about what we could be. Unfortunately, we just made some horrific front office decisions that kind of railroaded the whole thing. I remember, and it's always a lesson in there, it's like that Thunder team from 12 that I

thought was really competitive in a five game finals against the Heat. And you're just going like, okay, well, you know, this is just their taste and then we'll see where this goes. And we all know where it went. And Rashid was already gone. And in that series, Juwan and Weber were 23. And I remember being in college and going like, hey, Jordan's right. Like as if Jordan needed me to confirm, but it just felt like, hey, they're just not there yet. So I bring up that part of it because we know that Ant is going to have more moments where,

you know, all of this stuff is the stakes raised here. It's like, okay, how does he close? How does he close? And we'll see how it goes. But Rudy's been around, Kat's been around, Conley's obviously been around for a while, but I want to focus on Rudy here because the two camps are never going to see the other side of it. I just saw the plus minus, the infrared stuff that came out where Rudy's like the most impactful player for the Timberwolves so far. I think he had the ball way too much in game seven. It won't matter because they won and he hit the ridiculous shot clock shot. He had another one out of his hands where I don't even know how it went in.

Um, but there's, there's always this divide with him and considering the matchup is a lot different now based on like what his assignment will be. I just wonder what you see with him right now and your expectations for him against Dallas. Yeah, I think he's going to have a little bit of a different challenge here against Dallas with his impact defensively. Offensively with Rudy, I don't think there's anything ever you can consistently pencil in, which is exactly what you're going to get.

So whatever, we'll see about that end of the floor. They've got a couple of young, bouncy, athletic guys in there that are going to be competing and contesting and just act with their activity. They're quicker off their feet. Like they're going to be fine battling Rudy Gobert, lively and gaffered. The other end of the floor is a different challenge

for Rudy Gobert. In the last series, he was able to kind of hover along the baseline. I mean, Aaron Gordon took five shots in that game. Aaron Gordon is critical for Denver, and he was a complete non-factor offensively because Townes, they went through this, made this decision. Townes is going to guard Jokic more, and you got to guard him, start with those possessions out on the perimeter more. And then sometimes you end up in the post at the end of those possessions, but you usually start out on the perimeter with Jokic and they're just gonna let Rudy then just go ahead camp out, keep an eye on Gordon Lurkin and just be there and Enric Havik and take away

spacing. And that's what he did. That's not what's going to happen in this series. Like, your challenge now with Luka Doncic and the way with he is the best I've ever seen at the late find. The late find. But it looks like he's taken himself into a tough spot. It's crowded. He leaves his feet. Here comes the one guy's draped on him usually. And now here comes Gobert and here comes this perfectly thrown lob.

At the exact time that Gobert leaves his feet to come help, here comes a lob around him, over him, a drop off, whatever, to make Lively and Gafford an offensive threat at the rim and make you pay for that. He also is great at the late find, at those opposite side of the court darts that he throws for threes to the corners, typically. That's another issue for Gobert. He's not going to have some dude down there lurking around on the baseline that he can guard.

Because even though Jokic is this incredibly versatile offensive player, he still gravitates toward the paint and the rim as the possessions get further and further. That's not the case. And Gordon's down there. That's not the case with Dallas. You don't have another guy down there that just sort of camped out where go bears, not going to pay a price by being able to help on the drive and also be a factor against that guy. There is no guy like that for Dallas. Those guys are spaced out at the three point line. So Luca is going to be the guy that's controlling all of this

and reading Gobert and Gobert is gonna have more ground to cover, he's gonna have more difficult decisions to make in this series than he did in the Denver series. And that's gonna be a fascinating part of this and that is where my eye is gonna be leaning and my touch screens I'm doing with Scott after are gonna be leaning in that direction. I wanna see the extent to which

this is a more difficult series for Rudy Gobert to defend and stay on the floor and be an impact player on that end as opposed to the Denver series. Yeah, I mean, Jokic eating him up in the post, it was always a little interesting to see Jokic go harder at Gobert when that was the assignment,

even though Townes is the primary assignment and then it's the Rudy Gordon thing that we've talked about. And like, you could see it in the regular season, okay, they want to keep him in the dunker. So now it's up to Aaron Gordon to be spaced out more, but he's not that kind of player and he's a complete no show in seven. And now Rudy's like, I don't even have to worry about him now. Um, because at that point, and I wonder if Denver got away from that a little bit, being up 20 thinking, okay, well, maybe we don't need to have Gordon bring it up as much and Murray's cooking in the

first half. So, you know, I know there was some different things they were doing to try to get Murray going. And that's the questions I'm sure they'd be asking themselves all summer with that part of it. But I don't know if it'll be the same thing that we saw when the Clippers came back against the Jazz and Rudy, where I thought that part of the criticism for him was unfair because he was having to cover the corner and then also retreat back to the rim. And it was like Terrence man, you know, it was, it was an absurd, but it, it might be PJ Washington. Yep.

Where, well, no, they're just going to have them on lively. Yeah. They're just going to have them on lively though. They're going to have them in the lively and they're going to run a lot of one five and then, then it's going to be up to him. I would say as far as a big in his ability, the best part of Rudy is finding a way to stay in front because he's not, Luca's not the super, super quick guy. He just wears you down with his hip and the drive and that late fine that you're talking about. So, you know, Rudy's not going to get stuck in the corner on PJ because I'd imagine that's the cat assignment.

And even though I was worried about the Durant-Townes matchup in that series, you know, Phoenix didn't really, Durant didn't really make cat pay all that much. It wasn't this obvious mismatch, even though athletically you think it would be. So it sounds like you're leaning Dallas a little bit here overall. I am, I am. And look, I've been, you know, looking at all of these different ways that these teams operate. And I do like Dallas a lot. Now, a big factor for me is Luca, how close to like normal he looks. Cause I don't think he looks normal. I think he's, I think he's, he's never going to play quick, but some nights he's way more decisive and he's moving better.

And I don't think he's been moving great in the playoffs overall. And then at some point, I feel like in every game, something happens where he ends up on the floor and he gets up and he's a gimping around a little bit. And so his ability, and it's not like he's got great separation ability off the dribble, but it's good, it's better when he's fully healthy. So that's a factor for me, I'm gonna be watching.

But here's one of the things that I took into consideration when I started thinking of the man, I really kind of like Dallas ability to control their end of the floor offensively against this defense. The matchup against Luca. Lou Dort has the number one quality that you need to guard Luca, which is physical strength. Because Luca is hitting you with shoulders and elbows and he's letting you ride his hip and he's not getting knocked off balance because his base is so wide and

he's just so strong. He doesn't have a lot of muscle definition. He's kind of like Jokic in that way. It's kind of funny because you can't identify a bicep if you look at these guys, but yet nobody can, like they're not affected by anybody. That's how strong they are. Dort is one of the strong, and by Luca's own admission, he's so sick of seeing Luke Dort,

he's so glad to move on from this series. Dort has the physical strength to not give ground when Luca is trying to bully you with his shoulder and his hip and his forearm on that offhand and getting you back on your heels so he can get into that little separation lean back. And not only by three but like that 16, 18 footer that he loves to shoot. Dort wasn't giving ground. Jayden McDaniels, Nikhil Alexander Walker, Anthony Edwards, and there was, you know, he's pretty solidly put together. They're not,

they're not on the caliber of Lou Dort in terms of strength You're gonna see a different level of separation for Luca By bullying those guys with his strength It's gonna be a little bit different and that to me was when I really looked at everything I started to look at that Okay Now let's just talk about Luca who's guarding Luca and the effect on Luca because I know dork did affect him But his inability to get the space he wanted. And he didn't have the lift when he did get space because it was because of his leg.

I think that he's gonna have an easier time with these guys than he had with Dort. And if that's the case and he's getting better separation and he's feeling more confident in his separation, I think you're gonna see a more efficient shooting series out of Luca. And again, the lob threat in the one-five pick and roll with Gobert trying to provide what he needs

with these shows and kind of sliding and the soft hedge that you're gonna see a lot of, he's not jumping out on a hard hedge on Luca Dodgett. That's a nightmare for him to get back to the rim. So you're gonna see these soft hedges where he's kind of sliding with Luca while the guard's continuing to get back and then he's gonna leave him to get back to the rim. So you're going to see these soft hedges where he's kind of sliding with Luca while the guards continuing to get back and then he's going to leave him and run back to the rim. Luca picks guys like that apart with his lobs timed perfectly to the guy that set the screen

running to the rim to the opposite side kick out. Like I said, the pocket pass that he can hit guys with. A go-bear is going to be in a no man land situation a lot in this series because he is going to be the primary 1-5 pick and roll defender for what you said. Cat will be the guy more on Jones and Washington. Go-bear is going to be directly involved in these ball screens with a guy that is much more lethal than Jamal Murray was. Anytime you wanted to put him in a 1-5. This is going to be a be a different animal for go bare to have to defend. And Luca typically makes great reads in that situation and beating you when you try to defend that. So that a lot of this comes down to how I feel about Luca

being able to operate in this series against this elite level defense. And I think he's gonna be pretty good, pretty comfortable. That was a lot of good stuff in there just because, you know, as you kept talking it out, I was like, would they ever go PJ at the five to try to space go bare out? But then it's like, okay, but I don't think you wanna invite.

Okay, but I don't know that you wanna invite that kind of lane deal for Ant on drives because of how well Live League's played. That's true, and look, there would be a steady dose of that, but you're gonna see some of that. And that's why actually, you know, I don't know how close Moxie Kleber is to coming back, but that's a factor.

Kleber, when he's playing the five, it's a totally different look. And that would force Minnesota to change things up personnel wise. That'd be a more difficult thing. Because now you're talking about a guy that's going to pick and pop. And he can get off four or five good clean looks at the three. He was a big factor in the Clippers series and closing that team out. Huge factor. I don't know how close he is.

I'm reading different things that says they think he's going to be available at some point. I don't know if that means game one or some point beyond that, but Cleaver could be a factor in this series as well as a different look because he does have at least more size than a PGAJ. Washington defensively as well. He's not going to, you know, he's not as huge a turn against Gobert in Towns and Anthony Edwards on drives, but more than P.J. Washington would be as your last line of defense. And then on the other end, he's completely different look with his shooting ability for a big guy. Yeah, I totally agree, by the way, McDaniels, because McDaniels, you know, harassing Booker until Phoenix figured out like, we're going to make this easier on Booker and not have to have him

tasked with bringing the ball up the floor. And let's get it back to him once we get set, which maybe they got to a little too late and then the Murray part of it and then whether or not Ant wants to take over. But, you know, I love Jayden's defense and I love the tenacity that he has with just being like, I don't want you to have an easy time tonight just getting it across half court against Luca. It's not going to mean as much because he's not a stout. Like you actually need, I think you need stoutness more than you need the length against Luca.

100%. Which we're already talking about here. Yeah, to your point, Ryan, real quick, and then I'll let you go finish up your thought. To that point though, that's the thing that's fascinating about Luca. Like when you see guys get picked up 75 feet in the NBA, for most guys it's uncomfortable because it's rare,

and it's automatically going to guarantee that you have to play faster. Because you can't play slow against that kind of length. That's not the case with Luca. You're never going to be able to speed him up or affect him while he's playing slowly. That's how he wants to play. So he's so wide. I've never seen a player, and Harden might be the one guy that's close, I've never seen a guy handle the ball in a tight window against an elite level athlete

and look more comfortable than Luka Dacic. I'm sitting there going, what would that feel like to be able to control your handle right in front of a guy that's got a 7'2 wingspan, that's one of the best athletes in the NBA, and you're just like so comfortable controlling the ball all slow, just looking at the guy and not even thinking for a second that this guy potentially could poke this ball away or you'll affect me in any way. And that's kind of what Luca reminds us.

So that's why the pressure on Booker, the pressure on Murray, the pressure that they put on some of these guards that are smaller, more slightly built guys and shorter is an impact. And by the way, okay, let's take the next four possessions. Luca can say, here you go, Kyrie, you do it. You bring it up.

You bring it up. You initiate. And so you add all of that up. It sounds kind of a one-sided conversation. Listen, Minnesota can win this series, clearly. They have home court. They just beat Denver. There's no question Minnesota can win this series.

I might be wrong about this. I'm just trying to give you from Dallas's perspectives the reasons I feel pretty good about them and why You know, I'm kind of on the record is picking them to win the series Even if it means a game seven because there's nobody in this league I have more faith in in a game seven on the road than Luca J don't get in foul trouble. No question and I'd imagine ants probably gonna close some close games defensively against Luca But then again, once you're running a screen, it doesn't matter and as great as Dort was I mean Luca still gonna have huge games.

It's just shocking to see only 24 points per game for Luka in a playoff series, because we're just used to seeing a three in front of every one of those numbers. All right, when we come back, we'll take a look at the East and rank the number one options for all four remaining teams. This NBA Playoffs Fan Duel is giving all customers two chances to bring home a big

win with a no sweat same game parlay every weekend of the playoffs. Just place a same game parlay on any playoff matchup and you'll get bonus bets back if you don't win. Bet on everything from rebounds to assists to three pointers and more. We bet game one, four legs. I'm pivoting to Mr. Underguy. We've got to turn things around here a little bit. Even collectively, we feel pretty good. We bet game one, four legs. I'm pivoting to Mr. Underguy. We've got to turn things around here a little bit.

Even collectively, we feel pretty good. Well, actually collectively, we feel terrible. Individually, we feel good. It's a very selfish team that doesn't seem to get the wins despite good stats. So we'll have the Alliance pick for you. Game one, Boston Pacers, a little later in the show. Visit fanduel.com slash Ryan, R-Y-E-N,

and shoot your shot on America's number one sportsbook. Fandual, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Must be 21 and older, 18 plus in DC, and present in select states. Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Opt in and minimum three leg parlay required. Bonus bets are non-retributable,

expire seven days after receipt. Max refund, $5.00. Restrictions apply, see terms at sportsbook.fandall.com. You and I are fairly aligned, I think, on just Boston because it always feels like this contradiction in that our expectations for them are massive, a title or bust kind of deal, maybe just a really competitive NBA finals,

but it's still gonna feel disappointing after being to six Eastern Conference finals, and it will be two finals lost to show for it, but that's if they get past the Pacers, who I'm incredibly impressed with their depth. I'm impressed with their offense, but out of the playoff defenses, it's still one of the worst ones and that would match their ranking in the regular season. Even though I think there were times against the Knicks and maybe it was because the Knicks, you eventually figured out, Hey, this is what they're going to do and it's not super complicated.

So you felt better about some of the defensive performances, even if the defensive efficiency rankings have them 14 out of 16 playoff team. So how do you see this one? Yeah. I love that point you just made. You know, if there was a blueprint for a team to, to, to, you know, that, that Indiana could guard it'd be the Knicks. Cause it's like, okay, you know, 140 ball screens with Brunson. Like,

you know, this is what it's going to look like. That's not the case with Boston, obviously. Now, look, Boston has moments where they, I think they help you guard them. And it's the one thing. Totally agree. I watched them some nights, right? I watched them some nights and I'm like, man, you're making it easy for the defense. Because if you're really committed to a certain style, they're unguardable. They are just unguardable. They hit you with a barrage that you just have no answer for. So it's going to be more complicated for Indiana. They'll question defensively in this series. And that's a challenge for them. Their offense is so good, it makes up for a lot of that.

And I, by the way, this isn't like, you know, like recency bias with this team in the last couple of weeks, Ryan. I wish I had video of all the meetings I've been in this year at ESPN, when I wanted to talk more about the Indiana Pacers, particularly after they got Siakam. And it's just not sexy enough, you know?

And so it's like, ah, we kind of didn't talk about it. And I'm going, man, I watch this team every night and I'm going, gosh, that's a fun, number one fun style to play in. I envy these guys for being able to play in a system like this. But just how hard it is to guard, how hard it is to prepare when they have this many guys that can make shots and they don't waste one dribble. There's not one wasted dribble on the part of Indiana Pacers over half court. And they're rare in that way because there's no isolation players.

They're guys that they're going to make quick decisions. They're going to swing it. That guy's going to shoot it or he's going to immediately put it back down and get into the lane or call a quick ball screen. But it's going to be super decisive within a second and a half. They're going to be getting onto the next action and then somebody takes a shot and everybody that plays for them can shoot. Every single player they have can make a shot. So they're very hard to guard. Their offense makes up for some of their

defensive deficiencies because they force teams to take the ball out of the net, which hurts their ability to score on Indiana early. But at the end of the day, Boston plays their style at their best, which is feet in the paint before they start looking for threes, they're a very difficult team, if not an impossible team to guard. Now, the Porzingis factor is important. I think it's significant. I don't know when we're going to see him. He's important because he draws Miles Turner out of the way from the paint, defensively as their only, Isaiah Jackson's addition, I guess, rim protector, but Turner's a different level. And then on the other end, being able to guard the paint against the number of guys to put it down and try to get into the lane against you.

For Zingas is important. I say the first two games, that sounds more like four to me. I don't know when he's coming back, but I think in the end it's a priority to get a split while he's out. But, um, Boston, if they play more to their peak style, they're going to win the series. I still think no matter what, I do think this is going to be a long competitive series. I think we're going to have a higher scoring series. I think there's going to be drama in these series, in all these games in the second half.

I don't think Boston's running this team out of the gym. They get back in games too easily the way they play offensively. So I'm fascinated. I can't wait. I think it's going to be one of the most entertaining series of the entire postseason. This is what I think is unfair about the Boston part of it though, because I agree with you. Like there will be a moment where you're like, uh-oh, like what if the Pacers were to pull this off? And does that mean tonight or Thursday?

But then it's like, OK, so then what are we saying? They're supposed to sweep everybody. Like that's, that's what they're supposed to do. Cause it's just not really the way that it works. I mean, even some of these dominant teams that had had a better history than Boston, you're like, all right, you know, they, they got got last night. You're like, this is, this is what's going to happen. So that's the part where I feel like what do people actually want from them? But I'm aligned with you on this. I think there's going to be a night where the Pacers

look unguardable. I think there's going to be a night where Boston looks really stagnant to close a game. And I don't know if that means one-one. I don't know if it means two-two, but if it's two-two, it's going to get really weird in Boston going, hey, whatever you think about this Pacers series, because as much as anybody wants to knock Boston for taking on Miami without Butler, Cleveland without Mitchell, and then Laver, and then Allen, Allen was gone for the whole thing. The Pacers took on the Bucs without Giannis and Dame missed two of those. And then Brunson breaks his hand in game seven on top of OG not being able to go. And then the other injuries the Knicks already had with everything.

So both of them have faced a lighter version of whatever going into this, but there are just too many moments now where the game five Halliburton scared the hell out of me. And I'm less scared now. I should say I feel better about Halliburton not only because of game six, but because of what they did in game seven. And what they did in game seven is like all time historic stuff shooting on the road against the diminished Knicks team, sure, but still,

like somebody has to have the record for the best shooting game in game seven history. And they just did it. So I imagine that offense travels and it's gonna be a challenge for Boston, even though on paper, there's no way I can pick Indiana. There's no doubt. Yeah, and look, I put it out there for public consumption.

I think this is going to be a six or seven game series. Ultimately, I'm picking Boston to win it. I think this is going to be super compelling. So looking at it also from Indiana's perspective, you mentioned Halliburton. Halliburton, for whatever reason, had two games in the last series in Madison Square Garden where you didn't notice you played.

And I just don't understand it. I often say scoring and shooting a basketball is an anticipatory act. It's not an afterthought. It can't be. Not at the NBA level. You can't catch the ball and then come off a ball screen casually and then go, oh, wow, I'm open.

Wait a second. I think I'm going to shoot it. No, you have to, every action you take as a basketball player, if you're an offensive minded player, you're expecting to get a shot up. That's just the way you think. Even if you're a playmaker because the first read on every ball screen since the day James Naismith, with the peach basket above his head, tried to describe a ball screen to those first couple of guys, right, with a basketball that had seams in it like a football, he said,

when you come off the screen, if you're open, look to attack and shoot, because that's always the first option. And so even that is an anticipatory act for a playmaking point guard, because that's the proper read. You have to make teams pay if they messed up that initial action. And for some reason in two of those games,

he was kind of like, no, not really that interested in looking for my shot, not really interested in scoring tonight. And I'm going, what is the deal here? What are you doing? Then he has great responses in the last two games, great responses, including game seven, when he hunted a couple early, put his toe in the water, was like, okay, I'm feeling pretty good. Not to mention, in fact, we just had three role players,

Neesmith, Nemhart, McConnell go 18 for 22. So I'm feeling really good right now that like I've got a lot of guys out here bowling. So who knows what was in his mind, but he dipped his toe in that water and it was game on. And when he plays that way, Indiana is a legitimate threat to win this series. If Tyrese Halliburton was a string together six or seven games like that, where he was just great every night, aggressive, they could win the series, but he's got a track record even in the first round. He had a terrible game one against Milwaukee. He didn't show up at all. Same mindset. Then he has two 30 point games. Then he goes back to being quiet again. Then he finishes strong.

I don't know, man. It's not like I can pencil it in. Tyrese Halliburton is this, and this is what you're dealing with every night. This isn't Luca, this is Tyra, I don't know. So let's see and if he has got more, if he got more aggressive mindset, most of this series, it's gonna be a bigger problem for Boston. I'm glad you brought up Halliburton and the shot in particular.

This is why I love talking to you. All right, so we'll look over some numbers here. His split this season before the All-Star break, he was at 40%. I mean, when he first started, I was like, what is this guy going to do from three this year for the first month or so? It was like this, this is insane, but he was 40%.

And then after the injury, after the all star break, played 26 games, still 32 minutes a game was 30% from three. So you were like, all right, is he still hurt? Like what's going on? The Pacers series, he was just under 30% from three. And there are two things with him where when I watched him coming out of Iowa state and how much I loved his playmaking and that for a college kid, he saw things, the other nine guys just, he was so much fun to watch. Cause you were like, he's the only

one on the floor that even saw this. And you're like, okay, how's the shot looks terrible? How is it going to hold up? Cause it goes in. And then if you go through his career, 41%, 41%, 42%, 40% and then dip down 36% after the injury that clearly limited him. And he was also incentivized to try to come back and play so he could get the minimum game requirement, hopefully make all NBA for all the other money and all that stuff. So the actual shot itself, I'd be like, does it still like, do the numbers lie to me a little bit?

Like, does he have to gather it in a way that makes it harder for him to get right up into it and some of those shots that we see other great scores have. And even though I've thought that his, his gather can take a little bit longer, eventually the numbers would have gone down and your point specific to this Nick series, you'd see him come off that screen at the break and you're like, it's wide open, it's right there. And he wasn't ready.

And I thought in game seven, it was, hey, this is a really easy shot for me to get into here. You know, you can still keep your eyes open for the potential playmaking off this. He seemed to be, and this is something that I love about the playoffs and it kind of drives me crazy. I mean, hell, we even saw two catches from Jokic, I'd argue, in game seven, where it's like,

why did you not shoot on the catch and then dribbled yourself into a way tougher shot? Like, Drew Holliday will do that in the corner, where he's not comfortable on the open catch in the corner. He'll up fake you and then he'll get to the side. And some guys, as you know, as a shooter, some guys just aren't comfortable shooting off the catch. They have to give themselves a reset dribble

and that's where they're way more comfortable shooters. But you see it with even the best players. And I wonder if Halliburton figured anything out, or maybe it was just in that next series where it's like, hey, this stuff off this flare screen up here, it's actually open, so stop dicking around. Totally couldn't agree more, man. And I'm like noticing in real time. I'm watching in real time going, like, literally, I'm expecting the release. And it didn't happen. And I'm going, it's like,

it's like he's still it's like he sort of halfway started to get into it. And then he aborted take off. And I'm going, I don't understand, what are you looking at right now? What are you reading that? When I see stuff like that, Ryan, the first thing I always think is, is something going on with the wiring. Like, is this a confidence thing? Like, what is going on with you right now? I don't understand it because it's this,

it should be so automatic with what you're looking for when you come off that action. Now look, for him, from the ball, from the floor to the release is longer and slower than most guys that are really good scorers that come off ball screens. The ball usually comes off a lot quicker from floor to release. It's slower with him. It's a longer load up the way he gets into it. But the difference is that fraction of a second of removing doubt or removing uncertainty. That's a half second quicker release for him. And that's all that

matters when he is not exactly sure as he's coming off what he's about to see or what he's looking for that extra half second. I'm talking not even a half second. It's a quarter of a second probably that I'm talking about is the difference between him aborting the shot or releasing the shot with confidence. And it's all here and it's all before he comes off the screen or before he comes off the flare or whatever it may be. And I don't understand what's going on with him in those moments. I don't know.

I'm not him. I'm look, I wasn't a player on his level. So people might think, well, wow, how are you questioning this? You were a role playing three point shooter. Yeah, come on, man. No, I played with enough guys and I've seen enough guys that operate in that space that are coming off ball screens that are lethal because they're that talented. And I know the difference between someone that is fully clear minded on what they're about to do and what they're looking for and how quickly and decisively that action takes place with releasing the ball. And I see guys with this tiniest bit of hesitation.

And that's what I've seen out of Halliburton in three or four games that they've played in the postseason. When he removes that, you got a problem on your hands defensively because he's such a great passer. He puts so much pressure on you with his pace and his right hand is so good getting downhill. When you add that component to the mix, you got a problem. And so that's, we're all fascinated night to night. What's it going to be tonight from him?

That was great. Let's finish with this exercise. If we agree that the four number one options are Halliburton, Tatum, Ant and Luca. Let's start with ranking the four number one options. Okay. And then let's, let's work ourselves five and then down and see what kind of names we come up with in order here. So why don't you give me your four number one options in order, see if we agree and then we'll kind of move on. Okay.

I'd go Luca, Tatum, Ant, Halliburton. That'd be my ranking. Okay. Uh, Luca Luca Tatum and Halliburton. That'd be my ranking. Okay. How do you feel about that? Luca, no brainer. I don't even know how anyone would debate it at this point. I think I'd go in ahead of Tatum and then I'd have a lot of them for it. Yeah, I think one and four were immediately clear and then the debate is two, three. And I think I'm giving Tatum a little bit more benefit of the doubt

than some of his detractors. And I'm also on the record as saying, look, you know, like there's reason why he still has to ring a certain bell. Because I actually think for him to like really put a lot of stuff to bed about him that people say and the skeptics and the doubters and the cynicists say about him. He not only has to win the title, I think he has to be the best player on the court in doing it. And I don't think that's a foregone conclusion anymore.

Like, you know, a lot of these teams, like, if Dallas wins a title, I don't care what Lucas shoots, he's going to be the MVP of the finals. We both know that because he's going to be the MVP of the finals. We both know that because he's going to impact the game and control the game and set the table for everybody to such an extent. And it's not like this guy's going to average 14 points a game. At worst, he's going to get into the low to mid 20s and he's going to also basically set the table, control the game.

So if Dallas wins it, we know he's going to be the finals MVP. If Minnesota wins it, I'm pretty confident it's going to be Anthony Edwards no matter what. He's going to be the final because they can't win it if he's not. Anthony Edwards will be the finals MVP. I think Indiana, I don't know, like Siakam could be the finals MVP if they won it somehow. That wouldn't shock me if it was Siakam that could do that And then for Boston, it's I think Jalen Brown could be it. Um, it's not necessarily Tate. I'm like that one 1a That differential it's murky now a lot of nights man, like who is one who's 1a on on a given night

I'm saying for Boston clearly Tatum is the more accomplished overall player Butalen Brownsman is so good over the last couple months of the season, I'm not sure every night necessarily when you watch a particular game who's the guy. You never wonder that when you watch Dallas. You never wonder that when you watch Indiana. You don't really wonder that when you watch Minnesota. We know who those guys are every night. That's not the case necessarily with Boston. So the debate is between Ant and Tatum. And I'm giving Tatum a little bit more benefit of the doubt, man, that I think it's a little bit more consistent with exactly what I'm about to see

out of him than maybe what I'm going to see out of Anthony Edwards offensively. Okay, a lot there, and this will be a good middle part until we get to the, the non number one options for their teams. I never have a doubt in my head about who the better player is between Tatum and Brown. Like never. Okay.

And I think sometimes like everything you just laid out, like, is that really a Tatum thing or is that just the depth of the Celtics that Derek White could have a couple of nights where like this guy, the best player on the team. Um, and then we know what he's not. One of the things that I did notice, especially against Miami is when heroes on Brown, I think it's a great credit to Tatum that he's like, okay, well, you're just going to put that guy in jail, Jaylen, and that's what you're going to do. And then Cleveland, you know, one of the things about that matchup before they

even had the injuries in the perimeter was just, okay, how are they actually going to match up with these four guys? Cause there's, there's like going to be two bad matchups out of all of it. So Cleveland's like, well, whatever, we'll just have a Corral on Tatum. And then Brown was on Strews and they go bad. It's so bad in one of those games. They actually switched it and put a Corral on Brown because it was like, well, this is what they're doing on their offense. So I actually think it's a credit to Tatum to see what the matchups are and it's going to happen in this series. I think you'll see Tatum have Neesmith. And then when you think of the other perimeter options, like a Siakam going to go to Brown,

because you can't really go Nemhart and Halliburton against Brown. Certainly not Halliburton. And the Nemhart size part of it, the TJ McConnell part that we've all fallen in love with and love, but like it's completely different against the length of what the Boston perimeter guys are going to be. So TJ is probably up against Drew or Derek White in there. So I wonder if you're going to see some of the same great Jalen Brown production. I think he was like 59% from the floor overall against Cleveland. He just makes these shots that I can't believe that goes in, but I think it's

some of the deferential stuff with Tatum that's making people think that he's not as up for this where I do think it's like the best example of kind of playing the game that's in front of him on top of knowing he's still going to get his points. But yeah, we get greedy about it when we start talking about somebody potentially being a top five player where I think Tatum, at least for the season was, was just outside of it because of what Brunson did. And then the other four that I think are pretty clear and Luca, Janis, Jokic, and SGA. So, you know, Tatum, maybe it's a Boston thing.

Maybe it's the history part of it, but like Tatum's really, really good. And I don't want to be called a hater just because I have the other five to six guys in front of him most of the time. And I would include Ant in that right now. And the Ant one's totally debatable because we saw what Tatum did in a game seven against the Sixers last year with 51 points, like you can't be just kind of okay and do something like that. So I wonder if we'll get what will be perceived as him not being up for it

when really what he's doing is looking at the Brown matchup that he saw in front of him so many times in the first two rounds. I like that a lot. I also like the way you were talking about these different matchups because I've been thinking a lot about that as well. I think you got it right. Neesmith, Tatum, Siakam Brown, and Halliburton, I think, no, he's going to be able to be fine guarding Derek White because you're not going to get in foul trouble guarding Derek White.

You got to put Nemhart on Holliday because Holliday is going to be more bullying you a little bit. And so you can't have Halliburton dealing with that. So you're going to have Nemhart more on him. You know, one of the most fascinating matchups, I can't wait to see it's going to be. And I just hope, just because I'm so, I just hope there's a flat out fist fight six minutes in to these guys playing against each other, Peyton Pritchard and TJ McConnell. I just hope there's a flat out fist fight six minutes in so these guys playing against each other,

Peyton Pritchard and TJ McConnell. These two dudes are two of the most competitive, quick, just fiery guys, man. They're about the same size, they're looking at each other in the eye, and I just can't wait. There are gonna be sparks flying off their sneakers. That's how quick these guys are moving

against each other. So I think it's almost like you're in Missoula, you're like looking down there, because McConnell's been unbelievable. So you see McConnell check in, you're like, oh, right now, let's go. We're gonna squash this fire right here before it begins. So let's put you in and let's just let a cage match

break out, man. Let everybody watch and let's just see what happens with those two. So that's gonna let a cage match break out, man. Let everybody watch and let's just see what happens with those two. So that's going to be a fascinating component to all of this. I like, I like it sat like, so it's overall, it sounds like what you just said about Jason Tatum is in defense of Tatum. Like you're, you're, you're, you're in his corner, man. Like you're fully.

I'm defending Tatum with right. Like I'm defending Tatum with, I, like I'm defending Tatum with I think a very reasonable, like tearing of him that I still don't think he's those guys and that's okay. Yeah, no, I think that's a perfect summation, man. I think the way you described that is great. Like there's some stuff that you're realistic about that is by his own doing, you are, you kind of have these things.

Like you're kind of holding off to the side, but for the most part, giving him a pat on the back as well for some of the deference in certain situations and some of the things he's accepting because he wants to win. I agree. I agree with all of that. Anthony Edwards, to me, like I love,

if you go back to the very beginning when we first started talking, you said if a lot of dudes had that shooting night, they'd be getting crushed even if they won. All right. Let's, let's talk about some of those guys. Jason Tatum at the top of the list. If Boston wins a game like that and Tatum goes six for 24, he's getting absolutely hammered.

If that's James Harden, if that's Paul George, right? Those guys are getting crushed despite the fact they won. It's the fact that it doesn't have a long track record of games like that in big spots, right? Where you can draw on like, you know, cause that's Harden and Paul George, like let's start listening. So basically it's Harden fans going, if Harden did this,

I'm like, look, if Ant does it 10 times in a row in elimination games, you got me. 100% right. And that's, he doesn't have a long list of it, but it was a six for 24. They just won it. And right now they're like the darling team and he's got this it factor with his personality.

He's very direct in his answers to questions and he's got a joy about him. And so everybody's in love with Ant. And he's new, he's new. We're nice to new, you know? No doubt, no doubt about it. No doubt about it. And so look I think it sets up Ryan. We've got I think we're gonna have Two phenomenal series. I don't think because some of these series have been weird. Obviously we had some real mismatches early

Boston hasn't been challenged. But one thing I'll say about the Celtics is the two times they were remotely in a little bit of warm water. But you drop game two at home, that's a little bit of warm water. You're like, damn, okay, we lost home court. And you know what they did in both cases? They didn't just win, especially in the Miami game. They went down there, and I didn't know this was a Star Wars reference. I said it on SportsCenter, and somebody said I used the Star Wars reference. I don't like Star Wars. I didn't watch Star Wars. I'm not a Star Wars guy. I said it on Sports Center and somebody said I used the Star Wars reference. I don't like Star Wars.

I didn't watch Star Wars. I'm not a Star Wars guy. I said they squashed the rebellion. I was thinking of it more like in terms of a political thing. Like I was analogous to like an uprising, you know, in like a coup attempt and like you squash it. And that's what they did in games three in both series. They went into game three on the road.

They said, okay, we're not gonna let this build to an anxiety level where now this, this big thing hanging over our heads. We're going to go in game three and we're going to stop this out right now. So to their, to their credit, yeah, you're right. The competition and been there injured teams, not great teams, but they still were tested and their response was impressive in both games. They will be tested. I think at a much higher level in this series against a team that is much more difficult to guard.

And by the way, this is going to be, I think, kind of up tempo. Both teams like to play fast. And so it's like a Rucker Park, drop the ball, let's go up and down. There's going to be moments in this series where you go six straight minutes, man, of just flow, which is very unusual in the NBA anymore. And I'm looking forward to that because I think it's going to be a little bit of a track meet at times.

You're absolutely right about that. I mean, there's so many Pacers regular season games I'd be like, wait, when was the last stoppage here? And there was a time when the officiating had changed overnight and there was a game with them with OKC where I remember watching and I liked to jot a few things down and I was like, wait, I haven't had any chance to like write anything down. And I go, look at these guys. They're exhausted because they're used to somebody eventually calling a foul on top of the pace that the paces like to play with. Okay. Just as we

finished, we'll make it really quick because we don't have to go into super in depth in this. I just want to pay off a little bit. If we were looking for the fifth best player then out of the remaining four, does it sound like you're going with Jaylen Brown or is it Kyrie right now? Or is it? I'd go, I'd go with Jaylen Brown because I think his, his overall aggressiveness and importance to their team as a scorer is, is, is more critical than Kyrie's and he. And Kyrie's proven that. Look at Kyrie in this last series.

And it was like, kind of like, wow, like Kyrie, another, again, guys getting beat up for playing exactly the same way and some guys don't. I mean, Kyrie was pretty quiet in terms of shot attempts and impact offensively. Now I'm giving him a lot of credit. I've been loving on Kyrie big time here for a couple of months, man,

because I've never seen Kyrie Irving show me he wants to win as much as she's showing me right now. And he's bought in, he's engaged, he looks happy. He's playing hard defensively. Some of his strong side to weak side closeouts where he had to run across the court because that was his rotation to run a guy off the line. I never saw Kyrie Irving do that before. So even though his shot attempts are down, he'd go a whole first quarter and take like two shots

and I'm going that and he's still playing hard. I give him a lot of credit, man. But in terms of just like every night, if you don't get, I think like a big game out of them, aggressive, offensive mind game, I think Dallas can survive Kyrie not being that way. I don't think Boston can. I think Jalen Brown every night's got to play that way. And so that's why I would put him as the next guy that I look at and say, okay, I'm pretty confident when I'm penciling in here tonight

from Jalen Brown in terms of production. Yeah, the Kyrie conversation is always kind of funny because the standard, our expectations were actually so incredibly low for him, despite the incredible talent. Cause you were like, oh wow, he's not disruptive. Oh my God, he's trying hard. This is great. And he had some incredible closing moments, but you're right. Like there were moments also in that series,

it's like, are you seriously just gonna take these first halves off? Like he did it in the closeout game too, where it's like, it's cool when you win. It's like, oh, he's getting everybody involved. He's setting the tone, he's playing with pace. And it's like, he's also turning down really good looks. Okay. He's also turning down because I was saying that at times too, like I'm tired. Like it's like,

I'm tired of hearing about the, oh, wow, he's getting guys involved and he's feeling the game. Like, stop, stop. There were bad basketball decisions in their legs. Everybody's going to say, right. Like, oh, you're just hating on him. No, I'm looking at Dallas like, hey, could they actually win this whole thing? And this is the first time I've been like, you know what, I actually think they could win the whole thing. He's a raw scorer.

You're a scorer, man. You eat red meat. You're, they throw you a steak and you eat it. That's what you do. And now all of a sudden, now all of a sudden you're like, you're taking this holistic approach to offense. Come on, man, stop. Like, go attack. So I'm giving him credit for that. The fact that while that was going on, he was playing

a hard defensively and he was also not moping, not pouting, like whatever it was, it was, and some of this is his own doing, but some of it was maybe it came, maybe he went four minutes and Luca did his thing and he was kind of like, okay, well, I'm out here in the past. Maybe that's a pouty moment for Kyrie. Who knows, but he's not doing that, is my point. But I agree with you. You better put that to the sideman in this next series. Because Luca's going to have everything he can deal with, with this defense. So Kyrie, you're going to... Funny, I thought Anthony Edwards was funny, his interview on TNT after they beat Denver,

puts the headset on, is talking back with those guys in the studio. And he said, I got Kyrie in the next series. I don't know if you heard that. But like, and everybody took that as throwing out the gauntlet, like challenging Kyrie. I didn't take it that way, but he definitely said it in a way that they've talked about that in house. Like, cause he was like, yeah, and I know I got to, I know I got to guard Kyrie in the next series.

And I was like, okay, just kind of slip that in like a game plan thing. Like where it was interesting to me. So Kyrie, like you can't be quiet in this next year's, like for a half, like you might not shoot well, but you better get them up because Luke is gonna need that from you. Yeah, that would have played out very differently. Had, you know, game six go different

and then all of a sudden it's game seven and OKC, where, you know, who knows what ends up happening there, but it was like these dueling storylines with Kyrie and that, Hey, isn't this great? And it's like, yeah, a big chunk of it's great. But if you're telling me to actually break down what is happening in some of these games for somebody that is this talented and that is closing as strong as he is, there's he is passing on great looks and then that, because they win the series gets turned into

well, that was just his approach to the whole thing. You're like, yeah, all right, cool. Yeah, cause then it means if they lose, then you have to say you still agreed with the approach, which no one would have done. And it's definitely something that I'll be looking at. And if Ant's gonna go, cool, you're gonna take the first 24 minutes off every night.

Well, then you're gonna get full throttle Ant here to close defensively if you're not gonna make me work cause I can see you Kind of passing out of decisions You are incredible. This was even better than I thought it would be Which is again not a surprise because you're one of the best if not the best to talk hoops with legs I can't wait to see you breaking all this stuff down with Vamppel every night We'll talk again, hopefully sooner than however long it was the last time we chatted

Yes, and uh kudos to Allison and her persistence, man. We made it happen, man. We're both busy guys. They did Aligned finally. I'm so glad to do it. It's always such a great conversation with you. I appreciate you having me on. I'll definitely catch up with you soon.

The Alliance Playoff Ready Alliance Edition. And what did we hit, three or four last week? I'm And what do we hit three or four last week? I'm sorry. We have hit three or four. We've been one off for three straight weeks. I tell you what that sounds like. Sounds like guys that are due big time. Well, that's the thing we've been saying.

Like we're all our records, like you're seven and five, Kyle's six and six. I'm eight and four. I've hit five straight, no big deal. Wow. I definitely jinx myself there. And then our bonus bet is seven and five. So we're all actually not bad.

We're just, actually we're one and 10 now. So there you go. Yeah, well that's not good. That's bad. So Yokoch from three. Whoa. All right, so let's, actually he shot better than that. But let's do this.

All right, so Saruti, I gave you mine last night and route and, um, I'm under guy for tonight. And all right. So just give us what we have right now in the payout. All right. We're going to do Pacers Celtics. Obviously you have knee Smith under 10 and a half points and Pascal Siakam under 22 and a half points. And then because somebody has to score for Indiana and I think Hal Bern's kind of taken a corner and his threes is like under 22 and a half points. And then because somebody has to score for Indiana and I think Hal Burton's kind of taking a corner and his threes is like over three and a half

is like where the line is right now. I'm actually gonna take Tyrese Hal Burton over 18 and a half points. So we've got two unders on a couple Pacers players and I'm gonna take the over on Hal Burton and then Kyle's gonna finish up with what? Oh, I've got a holiday 10 plus points. So we got our Celtics angle in there.

So Neesmith under 10 and a half half Siakam under 22 and a half Halliburton over 18 and a half points and drew holiday 10 plus points that gets us to plus 431. So, you know, pretty good odds. Okay. And because you've hit five straight, maybe to hedge it, you just take those four and then go Halliburton single play under the Saruti hedge. Ride the hot hand. I totally changed myself though, so there you go.

Yeah, my big thing was, I just think Neesmith's gonna be so hyper. He's gonna miss shots. And then I was like, let me just go under here. Cause I do think the Pacers, but it's more of a Celtics thing too, where I think the Celtics, because this is what happens, although it seems incredibly unfair to see them at eight and two in the playoffs

and go like, is tonight the game where you're like, what the hell's wrong with these guys or is it game two? And so far this year, it's been game two, but we've only had two of those game twos. So yeah, I'd expect the Pacers to show up in a couple of these games. And I just think that their offense can be that good and move the ball that well. And the pace that they'll play with, it's gonna keep them in a couple of games.

I just don't know if it's tonight. All right, there you go. Check it out. FanDuel.Sportsbook.com. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari. 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house5 cabriolet. What's up?

I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Life advice. The email address is lifeadvice.rr at gmail.com. Okay. We have, uh, where should I go to

college? Whoa. Yeah. I don't know if you want to completely lock into us, but alright, water down. School guys over here. Yeah, we're all small school guys. I guess on these guys. Yeah. You probably are the biggest one. Yeah. Mine. Mine's only one of our schools made the tournament this year. So, yeah, I mean, it's kind of crazy that I'd ever be with a group because at ESPN, it was always like, I'd be left out a little bit, you know, because there's a lot of power five guys walking around looking down on us.

I'm Syracuse guys. Yeah. I remember there's something that came up where we were critical of Maryland. And I think Vermont like heck or excuse me, Van Pelt heckled Vermont and I was like, do you think that hurts my feelings? Because I've never once like this is not a That's you can't you can't hurt my feelings by making fun of Vermont's lack of prowess Historically, but are dying by the cat amounts. Yeah, we're gonna get a year in year out Put some respect. I put some respect in Quinnipiac's

name though. National, national champs two years ago in hockey. Yeah. Oh, I remember. So you were fired up. Yeah. He was just insufferable. Quinnipiac Steve. I don't even remember. I get one championship. Come on. Yeah. By the way, the point is that you weren't, I think it was one mentioned right before the pod ended that year. Yeah. Like I don't think it was. I think it was, hey, by the way, before we sign off, shout out to Quinnipiac. Okay, so there you go, buddy.

He says he's a water down Jason Tatum, so not lacking confidence. Go to the gym six days a week, but no notable gym stats. That's weird. You go six days a week, but. That's weird. There's not, a week, but that's weird. There's not, there's not like,

you don't have a calf raise number in there. They feel pretty good about it. All right. But maybe, maybe he's a humble. Maybe he's the best combination ever. Here's a question, just a query. Would you rather someone be arrogant or fake humble? Arrogant. Yeah. Yeah. Every day of the week.

Yeah. I know what I'm getting. I think fake humble is my least favorite style right now. Right now of all time, it's the worst. Yeah, I hate it. It's terrible. Wait, you're saying it's like the belt can't be taken from fake humble in least desirable personality traits of dudes. There's probably like some sort of scale or graph where like, all right, if you're a little bit fake humble and you're super arrogant,

yeah, I'm probably going to dislike the super arrogant guy. But if it's equal, it's I'd rather I mean all right, if you're a little bit fake humble and you're super arrogant, yeah, I'm probably going to dislike the super arrogant guy. But if it's equal, it's, I'd rather, I mean, listen, if you're arrogant and you deserve to be arrogant, then I don't have any problem with that. Yeah. I think that's meritocracy. Sure. Yeah. Like when Muhammad Ali says any bragging, if you can do it. And I don't know if that's the origin story of that phrase, but it was the first time I learned about it.

And I thought, yeah, like kind of hard to tell Muhammad Ali to dial it down a little bit. It's a funny sentence. Right, it's Muhammad Ali. Like if he wants to be feeling himself from time to time, I think he's willing to do that. Or I'm willing to sign up for it. I think there's, you know,

I don't know maybe if there's a home builder in your neighborhood who's the best home builder going and he's a little arrogant at happy hour, all right, maybe. I mean, he's not Muhammad Ali, but he's the Muhammad Ali of builders. Is arrogance like, could arrogance be like story for everything, guy?

Is that like arrogance? Like arrogant enough to be like, these people need to know what happened to me in this situation. So let me just go ahead and tell you what happened to me. Like, is that arrogance? Is that like thinking everybody needs to hear it? I don't know. That's a pretty bad one too, right? Just a conversation monopolizer. It's like, oh, new subject. Guess what? I also like hockey. And here's what happened when I went to the Quinnipiac game. Like, I don't know. That's pretty bad too. Yeah. I mean, I think that probably gets a little too close to home for me to say that it's full narcissism arrogance.

Because I would argue, maybe Sarutti can back me here a little bit is when you're by yourself all the time, you think, oh, hey, I'm talking to this person. So now I need to tell them. Because I definitely had a little of that of like, oh, well, here's the story that I'm gonna tell you. And then you're just like,

as I got a little bit older, I'm like, you don't need all these stories. Not all these stories are great stories and not everything needs a story. Suri is just sitting there in silence going like, how does this one alone? Interesting. I mean, the amount of times and Ryan will call me up and we'll be talking about the show or whatever. And then it like just kind of moves into something else. And you go on like kind of a five minute story. You usually catch yourself. You're like, why am I doing this? I'm sorry. I keep wasting your time. Like you are aware of it.

I actually don't even dislike the stories. It's not even like, I'm like, Hey dude, I can't wait to hang up with you. You are aware though, like that. You are, you know, you like to, you'd like to tell a story, which is fine. Yeah. Yeah. He'll tell a tale. Um, another saying that I don't love because I think the fake humble thing is because I'm in sports and we've got so much fake humble in sports that then I can have that kind of convince me that that's why or the way so many guys are wired when that's probably not entirely true but there is there's some brand value in this fake humble stuff

totally people are like oh yeah I got out you know they've been media trained and they think that they're actually killing it when you're not killing it. We want to see you, who you are as a person. We don't want to see like whatever your PR person told you to say. That's why I think Ant is killing it so much right now because it's just so genuine and he's not giving you a fake humble at all.

And if he were around for three or four years, which he will be, and I don't imagine his personality is going to change, but if he were not to get a ring and it's like year five or six, and who knows? I mean, I think I'm picking Minnesota for the entire thing. Then it would be, oh, hey, this guy's feeling himself a little bit. Because then we just look at whatever you are and then look at the results and then define you by the lack of, or the ultimate results, which is its own conversation. But I heard a guy at the gym the other day, he was with his trainer the ultimate results, which, you know, is its own conversation. But I heard a guy at the gym the other day, like he was with his trainer and he said,

you know, he was just kind of being involved in the conversation because the trainer was really good. He was giving him some really good stuff. And the guy was like, you know, the definition, I was like, man, you know what the definition of insanity is? Saying the definition of insanity analogy to somebody else as if it's the first time they've ever fucking heard it. Okay. Back to the email. What was this one about? Divorce?

Yeah, no, no. Bad gym stats, something like that. Yeah, cat phrases. All right. I'm writing this asking for advice on what I should do as far as college plans to give some context. I tried going away to school for a year and absolutely hated it. It was not the college experience I was expecting and everything that it's hyped up to be.

Part of it was definitely the school itself, but I also hated the lifestyle of college as well. I was very homesick the whole time I was there and just wanted to be home. I eventually transferred back to a local community college and finished out my first two years of school. I have a decision to make about where I want to attend in the fall of this year. I'm not sure what to do. Whether I should stay home and attend a college around home, go away to school again, I feel like if I go away from home again, I'm going to get homesick again. And it's just going to be miserable time again. However, on the other hand, I feel like I have to go away to school and try to

make my own life for myself. My main reason for going away to school in my first year was to get out of my comfort zone and try to create relationships and connections to set up my future. That didn't end up happening because I hated it and didn't really ever want to make any friends and definitely did not find a group of core guys. I'm not much of an outgoing guy, an extroverted person. I don't really talk much until I get comfortable around people. Also, I'm not big on partying and only ever party once in a while.

I'm just stuck on what I should do in the future because I want to make new connections as friends, but at the same time, I feel like I'm just going to hate going to a new school again because of the lifestyle. I figured I would ask the guys opinions on this because you guys don't seem to have great college experience and else because you guys have been through it and lived it through that part of your life. Any advice generally appreciated a lot and I wish you guys continued success. I'd like advice that's okay. Look, a pretty standard problem here and you're just not like a lot of guys as soon as they get out of the house and have freedom for the first time. Like I could not wait. It was in the first place. you're just not like a lot of guys as soon as they get out of the house and have freedom for the

first time. Like I could not wait. It was, you know, my priorities were out of whack or we've been over this before, but I was just so happy to not be home. And there was an added element of living someplace like Burlington, Vermont, which might as well been, you know, Manhattan for me, because I was coming from Martha's Vineyard. What was your GPA freshman year, first semester of freshman year? It was awful. It was awful. But I also.

Sub two? Yeah. Because here's the thing is I showed up, I showed up with the plan that I was going to get my language requirement out of the way in the first semester instead of taking seven semesters of French. I was like, I'm really good. I'm fine. No problem. And we were writing like short stories. And I went- Same thing happened to me.

Yeah. So she was like a month in, she's like, there's no way. And then I took music theory because I really liked music, even though I don't know how to play any instruments. And I did some piano lab where I had to write out the music and the guy was like, how long does it take you? And I was like, eight hours. And he's like, it should take 20 minutes. He's like, you're gonna fail. And then I had to drop. That's so you.

Right. And then. It's been eight hours on something. Like I'm gonna do this. Dude, I was right now. I mean, you know, the low part in the piano, I was sitting in a piano lab, just sitting there like, writing out all the notes of whatever the assignment was.

And I was like really proud of myself. I was like, man, I did it. I knew I was going to be able to do this. People have no idea. They don't underestimate me my entire life. Beethoven 2.0? I have no idea. Yeah. The guy saw how many things I had. I was writing out sheet music basically. He just goes like, what? Whoa. He just saw the pages and was like, how long did this take you? I sat in a piano lab, which is basically just a room that's soundproof with a stand of piano and was just

going like note by note, trying to figure out the assignment. And I was like, I'm going to do this. And the guy was like, you're going to fail so hard. He's like, you don't even have to show up if you don't want to, like there's no way. And then the French teacher said the exact same thing. She was like, who's your advisor? But I was like, this guy, whatever. And she's like, what did you say? And he, I was like, he didn't seem super into me. And, yeah, right.

Cause I kind of just showed up. I was like, this is my plan. The guy's like, oh, you're already gonna figure it out, huh? Okay, cool. He's like seventh level French. He looked at your transcript. Yeah, he's like, oh, French did the perfect. Signed it right up. No, he looked at my course selection. That you a transcript? Yeah. He's like, Oh, French did the perfect sign. No, he looked at my course selection.

That happened to me. Yeah. He's like, what are you doing? And I went, I'm just going to get this over with. I don't want to do this for seven semesters. Cause we need, we had a language requirement for my major at that time. Then they actually dropped the language requirement, I think like halfway through, which was kind of like, you want to talk about something guys you

wouldn't think would care about. Like one of my friends was like, I just think it's ridiculous or dropping language requirement. Like this degree is not going to mean the same in the marketplace. And I was like, what the fuck are you talking about? Like you think that way? It was actually pretty mature of him. Shout out to Mark. I don't disagree with him. I'll be honest with you. I will say so in high school, it's one thing to agree with him now, but at 18, I'm like, it's Wednesday. Do you guys wanna go out tonight or not?

Do a Mario Kart? Anyway, so senior year, I had to take, I took an extra Spanish class. I was like, oh, it's an AP Spanish class. This'll look really good in your college resume. Spoiler alert, it doesn't matter. None of it actually matters. But because I took that AP class,

I got to school my freshman year. And for the language requirement, I had taken too many classes in high school that it bumped me to another level and I had to take like an advanced Spanish class and I didn't speak any Spanish and I walk in there only speaking Spanish the textbook is all in Spanish I didn't even have the textbook it was on backorder and the same thing the professor was just like what's going on here like you don't know you clearly don't know Spanish I'm like, I can't take the lesser Spanish class

because of the stuff that I did in high school, because somebody told me it was a good idea and I needed this to be better in college, which was a total lie. So sometimes those advisor things, man, I don't know what, I mean, maybe it's better now, I don't know, but it was a disaster back then. I couldn't be told anything.

And he sized me up in 10 seconds, was like, good luck. And that was it. And it wasn't just that we were all speaking French because I could actually speak it fairly well after five years that was it. And it wasn't just that we were all speaking French, because I can actually speak it fairly well after five years of taking it. I had a really hard time listening, which you're good, go ahead and search up there. And then we weren't, we weren't just speaking, we were fucking writing short stories, like being graded on tone and stuff.

And it was like, okay. And then I even dropped a course because I'd like signed up for the wrong thing. I fucked it up so bad right out of the jump. And then school was like, what is wrong with you? And I told them and they're like, okay. And then I even dropped a course because I had like signed up for the wrong thing. I fucked it up so bad right out of the jump. And then school was like, what is wrong with you? And I told them and they were like, okay, you're an idiot. And you know, we'll give you another chance, but that's because let's not kid ourselves. Now you're a famous alum, dude. Congrats.

Yeah. They never lost faith in me. Yeah. All right. So what should we do with this guy? I look, here's the thing, man. You got to get over this homesick thing at some point. All right, cuz you can't be 30 going do you yeah? I just don't want to leave. Oh really? Oh, oh Kyle. Well, I mean, I'm just saying like some some guys like some guys people Humans don't ever have to leave where they're from

like if you're if listen if you're from a you know a town with ever have to leave where they're from. Like if you're, if, listen, if you're from a, you know, a town with 1500 people, you should probably get out there. But I don't know if you're from like a place where you, you can see yourself living in your, I didn't say you did, but if you're from the Crown Jewel, and you really don't feel like you want to leave, I don't think that's a, no, but I guess my point is,

is college has really come to like put people in a hole these days. So if you're like, hey, I don't want to go out and spend the money on room and board just to be like this thing that I have to do. You're now to the point where, you know, you're, you're out of freshman year, you're not going to have to like find your new crew. It sounds like you're not even interested in doing that. So my guess is this guy would go there, get an, get an apartment, right? He's going to be a junior. He'd probably just get an apartment, maybe a single, like not, he's not interested in going out to the parties. I don't know if he's really gonna be joining

the Frisbee golf club just to make friends. He might just be like, I feel like I'm just doing this and now I'm putting rent on the books and everything else when I can probably just get this done. If you're in a place like the Crown Jewel, there's three good colleges that you could go to, Marist, whatever, and you could just do it that way and get it over with. Maybe it's not for you. Maybe you're not the guy that needs to be you know, Marist, whatever. Um, and you could just do it that way and get, get it over with.

Maybe it's not for you. Maybe you're not the guy that needs to be like, Oh, freedom. Yes. Like, let me go explore. Maybe that's not you. And if you could save yourself, I don't know, tens of thousands of dollars in the process, it sounds like maybe you shouldn't do this. It, it sounds like you, you want to stay local, but you also want to make new

friends, so that's kind of, I'm not going to say it's an oxymoron, but it's definitely competing. You're right. There's, you can't, there's some clear contradictions in what he wants, which he already knows. I mean, he's sharing that, but go ahead. You can't really be a commuter and make friends at school. It just doesn't work that way. You know, I remember there were people that committed to Quinnipiac and like,

yeah, I knew him in class, but like we never really hung out. You're just a different person than the people that are living on campus or going to the school. So is there, you know, I know Kyle, you said, don't add the rent thing to it, but if one of your goals is to make new friends and you want to stay local, then I think you have to go to a local school,

but you have to go to the school. Don't commute to the school. And if that's okay financially, then I think that's the way to go. If not, then you're really gonna have to try hard to get into some of those social groups and potentially stay over to these. But that's again, that's just like a really hard thing to crack because those people are spending time with each other all day, every day, going to the same

classes, living together, eating together. You're just never going to be in that crew. So, you know, and then you could say, Hey, I'll push it off to when I'm, when I graduate and I'll try to make new friends then maybe the work thing. That's, that's, it only gets harder the older you get. So if your main goal is to like you know obviously get a good education but then meet you know make some new friends you kind of have to do that now you can't do it when you're like a young adult does he have friends

in the we're in his local area though maybe they're in college but they'll be done soon too like I don't know maybe he's got people already in the town because I thought he said like I'm not really into like making friends I'm not outgoing I'm not I'm not into partying. I'm not into this. Like, I don't know, it sounds like this whole thing wouldn't be, you know, he sounds like the guy who I was roommates with freshman year was like, you guys go to bed too late. Like, really? I don't think we do. I think that's the latest we've got. You go to bed too late.

Like, well, we're gonna hate what we've got planned for tomorrow. But so it sounds like you're one of these guys that really, this, this doesn't fit the mold. Imagine the scattering report that guy had on Kyle back to his buddies. Uh, I look, I think this guy's really smart. Okay. Because he's, he's laying out what he wants, but also very self-aware about his habits, his personalities, kind of fighting the things that he wants. When he says, I didn't really find a core group of guys, you don't say that unless that's

something that you're aware of that you're missing and would like to have. The commuter thing is 100% right. I know it's hard for all of us to get out of your comfort zone, but there is something great, the list of things that are awesome about, you know, awesome about getting older versus younger. I, you know, I don't, I don't know who's winning that list. We probably complain about the things as you get older, but there is something about getting older and having this comfort that you don't have when you're younger, where your comfort is being not comfortable at times. where your comfort is being not comfortable at times. And I know like you could use all these examples to go against what I'm talking about,

that once you're actually in your routine and you're in your forties and you've got your family and you've got your deal and you're like, okay, none of this is what I'm gonna do the rest of my life. I'm gonna have a membership at the golf course and these are gonna be my guys and I'll take this one trip to ski and then we'll go to Cabo.

You know what I mean? Like, so I know that there could be a pushback to kind of what I'm talking about of, of mapping out the rest of your life. But I also think there's something about when you become really comfortable, you're more comfortable challenging yourself to do some different things. And I think about some of the stuff that I'm interested in now. And I was like, God, like, what the hell was I doing in my twenties? Like, was it all because of video games or was it like, I had this spare time.

I don't have kids. Like, I wish I had tried to do some of these things when I was younger, but whatever it was, I just wasn't prioritizing challenging myself enough. So for this guy who's like midway through college, that age, it's, it's kind of tough to go, Hey, I really need to get out there and challenge myself for this. Cause it sounds like you want some of these things that you don't have. And not everybody has to be an extrovert. Not everybody has to be party guy and everybody has to be the coolest guy, but you're going to

have to work at it just like anything else that you make a priority. Like if you're single for a long time and you want to spend time with somebody, you are going to make yourself like get out there a little bit more. You know, maybe when you check in through the hotel, you go down to the hotel bar and have a couple sarsaparillas and see what happens. And maybe nothing happens because you know, the absolutely haunting feeling is I'm going to go out tonight and meet someone because that never fucking works. And the same thing as a guy trying to make friends. I'm going to be, I'm going to make so many friends this semester. Like this, just not who you're going to be, but you said you're Jason Tatum light.

So you're going to have to figure out some things where you think these are fun social activities that aren't partying at an age where partying is absolutely prioritized. So that's its own challenge. And you're going to have to, you know, not give off new friends smell in some of these interactions. But, you know, the cool thing about getting out there is you start kind of learning about how people respond to you. And then maybe you're adjusting that on the fly a little bit. about getting out there is you start kind of learning about how people respond to you. And then maybe you're adjusting that on the fly a little bit. Like, you know, I know this sounds really simple and something a dad would say, but you're going to have to join a rec league basketball team, you know, prioritize the things that are away from partying that think can not

everybody you're going to meet. Like you might not meet the coolest guys in town who are like, Hey, we're bringing you in here. But I think the great thing about the email is you already know what's holding you back. And I would really advise against continuing down the same pattern of I like being home. I don't want to be homesick. I'm going to commuter school thing. And then you're going to be two years.

And as Saru said, it's going to get that much harder post college because everyone, there are a lot of people out there that are really eager at this time in their lives to make connections and there's a lot of guys like you, you know, thinking the same thing, but you've done a really good job of expressing it. So I think that's incredible that you're already at a point of like, Hey, I already know what kind of my hangups are here. So you're going to have to check some of those hangups and make yourself feel a little uncomfortable.

What, let me do the last thing that I got on this is what would you, what would he have had to say for you to be like, you're right, you should stay home. Like what, what would he have had to say for that to be the right move for you? Or do you think there's no situation where the move is not fucking go to your college that you like in your town? I'm so big on when you're younger doing something you don't want to do. Is that been your brain talking though if you're like thinking like I couldn't imagine staying there? That's definitely part of it. I think the answer is you know if he had high school girlfriend he has a very specific career in mind

and has like the next 10 years of his life planned out and he's not really that worried about like getting into new groups, then I would say, yeah, whatever, just do your thing. Like commute and you've already got kind of like life figured out, but it doesn't sound like he's, that's where he's at. All right, split decision.

Yeah, but Kyle, when I look at your deal, like you miss home and I think it's great that you've experienced these things to make you appreciate home more. You would not have appreciated home as much unless you'd gotten out. So maybe our email or eventually we'll just move home and maybe it's just a comfort thing for him and that's, that's totally normal and it's totally okay. But you will, and I've, I've said said this too many times but I'll repeat it one more time you will appreciate where you're from that much more if you go somewhere else and

don't like it. Yeah I agree. Okay uh two minutes can we do one in two minutes? Yeah I bet we can. Is Saruti a tool? Tool fan? Yeah, I love tool. No. Um, do you like tool? I don't know that into them, right? I like the, don't pretend if you're not really into this. I'm kind of unclear on the definition of tool. Uh, the insult.

So really not unlike gaslighting. I just sort of been like, wow, yeah, guess what? Like you said that, I don't know what it means really. I know it's not a good thing. No, it's not a compliment. I always thought it was somebody with like false arrogance, you know, just like a, like entitled, like thinks that they're better than probably what they are. I don't know. Is it pretty much like douche bag? Is that, are they synonymous?

I don't, I think they're a little bit different. I mean, here's the thing, like I, just to go, I'm a pretty like normal, humble guy. I have some opinions on things, but I don't, here's the thing. Just in case you're a douchebag. I'm a pretty normal, humble guy. I have some opinions on things, but I don't think that my shit doesn't stink, which maybe it comes off that way in the pod. I don't think it comes off that way. I'm not gonna answer, but somebody asked me

whether I'm cool or not. So Rudy, you wanna take this one? Yeah. Have to chest it. That's a Friday feedback one. We didn't have a lot of time. So I don't, normally I wouldn't ever do that. But I also, here's why Saruti isn't a tool,

is that we can do that email and he can just shrug and go, huh? And I vouch for him, but you'd also have to think that I'm cool. And you know, that's debatable. So, yeah, here we go. The slang term tool is an insult used to describe someone who is controlled by others, usually a male and is insecure.

Control. People do think I agree with you too much. People think I just like to show to Ryan. I knew that's where that was gonna go. Yeah. I don't know, man. We think alike on a lot of things. I think that's why we get along.

I always say that we dislike things more than we like things. And that's why we get along. Yeah. But I don't know, man. Like we disagreed on something this morning. So I don't know. What do you want me to tell you? See, I don't know.

Now this is, this has struck a weird tone now. I don't really like ending the show this way. I don't care. It's fine. If I was a tool, I would have a problem with now. I don't really like ending the show this way. I don't care. It's fine. If I was a tool, I would have a problem with it. I don't. It wasn't even really. Yeah.

It was like open ended and we just had to say no. And then we went deeper and we may have done more damage. Yeah. What if Kyle had been like, yeah, you know, he isn't my favorite guy, but the show's doing well. Yeah. Yeah. We all have our days, you know. Yeah.

I don't know. I don't think I've had a bad Kyle or Saruti day. I would say for the length of, you know, this sort of morphed into something at the end that people seem to like, which is great, cause I have fun doing it. But I don't know if there's been one day with the three of us where I've been like, screw this guy today.

I don't, I don't, I honestly can think I don't. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, unless you guys talk shit about me when I'm not on, but I don't think so. I was late to the stage that day in Oxford that I don't think anyone was happy with that, but I was live show though. Live show. Weird start time. Things going on that day. Oxford that I don't think anyone was happy with that. But I was live show though. Live show. Weird start time.

What's going on that day? Yeah. Yeah. I'm talking about like the general vibe of, of hanging out and chopping it up. I don't know that there's ever been a time where I've gone. Like I was upset with somebody. Yeah. I don't think so.

If I were in my thirties, I'd probably find something to get upset about. All right, cool. We ended on positive, I hope. All right. That is the sh- Yeah, there you go. Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Sarutti. Not a tool. Thanks to Kyle. And- Thanks, man. Yeah, man. Coolest guys I know. Brian Rosilla podcast. Check us out on YouTube, ringer Spotify. Must be 21 and older, 18 plus in DC and present in select states.

Fandual is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit F fan dual.com forward slash RG in Colorado, DC Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and Vermont Call 1-800 next step or text next step to 5 3 3 4 2 in Arizona 1 8 8 8 7 8 9 7 7 7 7 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut.

1-800-9 with it in Indiana. 1-800-522-4700 or visit ksgamblinghelp.com in Kansas. 1-877-770 stop in Louisiana. Visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Visit 1-800-gambler.net in West Virginia or call 1-800-522-4700 in Wyoming. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts

or call 1-877-8HOPENY or text HOPENY in New York.