Spurs–Thunder Now a Best-of-3, Knicks Rolling But… Plus Draft Intel & All-NBA Snubs w/ Sam Vecenie

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peace with San Antonio's dominant win at home against the thunder. San Vasini of the athletic joins us now. He's back home. How long were you in the states? I was in the states for a couple of weeks and now back home. It's lovely after right like a hundred thousand words of draft guide.

It'll come out nearly June at some point so we're excited. We're pumped and there's a whole lot of playoffs too. So I'm excited to talk about that. Yeah, this series, this is the easily the worst game. It's good because it's now best of three but this was a snooze fest.

Then I think one of the things that was alarming is

when Hartinstein had all eight of okc's points and the first non- Hartinstein

points in the game were SGA making a layup with three minutes to go in the first quarter. I mean, think about that. That is nine minutes and only Hartinstein has scored and it just spoke to an offensive struggle all night long for the thunder. Well, you know, two pronged issue there obviously, right? So first and foremost, Oklahoma City does not have Jail Williams or AJ Mitchell.

They're two best secondary creators, right? So without those two being on the court, it felt like San Antonio was just like we're going to totally sell out. We're going to stop Shay from getting anywhere into the paint.

“We're going to have Wemby help way off of Hartinstein and that's how Hartinstein gets those four”

early floaters and we're going to make life absolutely miserable. We're going to send crazy elbow help and we're going to make Shay a passer at the end of the day, which is what happened in game three, but in game three, Oklahoma City made shots and in game four, obviously, Oklahoma City does not make shots. They go six of 33 from three in this game. So like part of me wants to, I don't want to just like totally wipe this off as a

shot variance game because I thought that San Antonio's defensive intensity and pressure left

by the Seth Castle was unbelievable. And I think that Julie and champagne was incredible defensively.

Shay a passer and the guys that were on the court for Oklahoma City did not make shots when Shay passed the level. Yeah, we've had games, whether it's the Karuso game where he has 30,

“I think game three, like I was still sort of an awe of the thunder after that game going. Okay,”

so let me get this straight. Like the bench goes off for this team in the first half.

And then when it's kind of like an eight or nine point game, they play SGA with four bench players. Both bigs are benched. AJ's hurt, obviously. So it's like Wallace, it's Karuso. They benched door and they go small with J. Williams. So it's SGA with four bench guys and they extend the lead at San Antonio. So when I was watching that and then they had the number today where it was games one through three, 51% of okay C scoring was from the bench. I was, you know, you're like,

you just start adding up all the numbers. You go, okay, McCain goes one for ten. Karuso is zero points. J. Williams is one for seven on three. Isaiah Joe didn't make a three. Everyone that's been kind of impressing us with their depth for this team. And I think there's some stuff as like strategy and how they were going to play each other. The entire time like he got nothing, meaning SGA, he got nothing, zero support from anyone tonight. And, you know, one point there were four,

31 on threes, four of 31. It's, it's really genuinely crazy. I think that you can again, take the series one of two ways and I really don't know the way that it's going to land. I thought after game three, Shay had kind of solved the problems, right? He figured out when exactly the nail help is coming, hit the kick out to the same side. They get some sort of reversal or the

“shot just goes in. Easy enough, right? And that's how Shay ends up with a bunch of assists in both”

game two and game three. But now with both AJ and Jaydub seemingly out, you know, I don't know what their status is for the rest of the series, but I don't know. It doesn't seem awesome right now. I think it's a lot closer. I think it's genuinely a toss up at this point where it could go either way. And it's just going to be entirely dependent on to Jared McCain, start making threes. McCain was really good in game three, but he went two of ten from three in that game and he

goes over five from three. So tonight in game four, so do we get like a reversion to the mean in game five at home from Jared McCain at some point from three, like either we know can make threes. Do we get Jalen Williams game? Do we get a Alex Cruz, so, you know, secondary standout game because he's been awesome in this series again. So I don't know. It's, it's a toss up to me genuinely. And it's a huge part of this as well tonight was they were much better in the non-wemby lineups as

well. Uh, it felt like in game two and game three, they just completely like, oh, the rope, when Wemby was off the court, it reminded me of the old, you know, Nicole Yokeh teams, when Yokeh would leave and it was just about have to outscore when Yokeh was on the court. Tonight was a lot better in the non-wemby lineups, Luke Hornet showed up. Yeah, that was pretty staggering. Like there were some numbers that I was looking at from game three

with the, we aren't off from Wemby that didn't even make it sense because it was like gone in 60 seconds type of stuff where you're like, okay, so now now this is done and I also thought that okay, see, and something I brought up from the first game, like I was surprised that Daniel would take out SGA when Wemby was also out too. I would have thought he prioritized

always having SGA getting a chance to go with Coronet in there, uh, which we've seen from

“the other teams, you know, whether it was Portland or Minnesota, um, I think sometimes these coaches”

get too stuck or too married to these sub-patterns that sometimes it can ignore. I mean, it sounds crazy to say, like, how can you not figure that out? But they actually, they've done a better job of having them out there when it has a matter. But tonight, you know, it doesn't, doesn't really matter because it kind of revered it back and then playing them straight up and then helping to SGA as you mentioned, which is what led to all those

lobs for Heart and Stein earlier in this one. But because Heart and Stein looked like he was going to be non-playable in this series. So then you had the Caruso Fest because that's actually, like, I counted up, I don't know, 223 point attempts from game one out of 4445 that were all by who Wemby's assignment was. So either he was ignoring them because of what they wanted to do. It was like, hey, they're not going to play their bigs. We're not going to put you on chat. We're

going to put you on a three point shooter that we're willing to give up the same way Cleveland

does a Josh Hart. And then Heart and Stein has this incredible impact on Wemby and Yama

in the series. And then it's like, well, maybe we're just better off having him junk this whole thing up. And so that it felt like the whole thing is kind of cycle back to looking like San Antonio may survive this, just playing everybody straight up the whole time in Wemby and Yama not floating

the regular season. Well, I'm so glad that you brought up the sub patterns as well because I thought that Mitch Johnson did something really smart tonight. He changed Wemby's sub pattern in the first quarter. Typically, Wemby will come out around like the seven and a half minute mark, the six and half minute mark somewhere in that ballpark. And today, he just played them through until I think it was like the three and a half minute mark in the first quarter when he first came out maybe the three

minute mark something like that. And I thought that kind of threw off what Oklahoma City was doing.

So it's not always just a chess match in terms of the, you know, the ball screen coverages in terms

of the way that Oklahoma City is playing, you know, Wemby in terms of the way San Antonio is playing Shay. Sometimes it's the sub patterns as well, where it gets totally thrown off. And then you

“have to try and find an answer. You have to try and find offense when Wemby is off of the court”

because you've played Shay for a certain amount of time and you want to get him a blow. You know, I think that the way that Mitch Johnson decided to kind of throw that off in this game was really, really, really smart, especially the way that Wemby had it going in the first quarter. He was just so aggressive and just really sat at home. Yeah, super aggressive. Who do you think is the blame when they can't seem to get Wemby closer and other games here to the hoop? As they are

a heart and shine to me, like I think that heart and shine is a really, I never got the, he's not

going to be able to play in this series that heart and shine because he's a really mobile defender for a guy who's seven foot one. He's massive. He's physical. And to me, the whole thing that you have to do with Wemby is you have to make a machuting guard is opposed to being like a real power forward center style guy who can catch the ball, foul line and in and score. I think heart and shine has genuinely done a really good job of just making him play further away from the rim and making

his shots come further away from the rim in half court settings. I thought that San Antonio tonight as much as anything did an amazing job, especially in that like second quarter, third quarter of trying to play up tempo again. I thought Oklahoma City did an amazing job in game three particularly of kind of just saying, you know what? We'll give up the offensive glass a little bit. Right. We'll just let them, you know, grab defensive rebounds if they have to. Right. But we want to

stop them from getting up tempo. We want to stop Steph Castle, Deere and Fox from playing it's speed, Dylan Harper from playing it's speed. And I think that in game four, you saw some early transition offense buckets for Wemby, right? You saw him run out. You saw Castle run out.

“You certainly saw Devon Vessel had a couple. Like I think that the key for this series on some”

levels is Oklahoma City being able to slow down that transition attack. As much as anything and they can slow down the transition attack, it makes life a little bit easier when guarding Victor Wembin Yamma because they can just body up with heart and shine. That's a really good answer, but I also think it's, it shouldn't be this hard. There shouldn't be entire quarters that seem that they go by and they're like, how like my thing with him would be, let's throw them for bad

lops. Whatever the good lops are, let's throw it. Let's make sure we have four bad ones that have that feel like they have no chance. They get almost like showing somebody in football play where you're like, all right, let's let's at least show this so that they have to worry about a little bit because it feels like they've had long stretches where um, and I love your answer because it's like if you can stop any momentum for Wemby Yamma, it just is asking a lot of human being

that big to be like, hey, now start your power back up and find a way to fight through all this, and then have the catch beat. But there shouldn't be as long stretches that they have with him not

ever getting a touch like from the restricted area down. And what I'm basically talking about

to the blocks or whatever, just not at the elbow, something five feet in or on the side of the pain or something. Um, but you know, tonight tonight he was, I got to even try to pull the team back in the game. Like in a playoff game, he's trying to throw it off the backboard and you're like,

“all right, it didn't work. But I think I like it. I think I liked it. That's where I said is that right”

now because he was so aggressive. Well, I think he did it in the third quarter too. Like he threw one off, I couldn't tell if it was a real shot or if it was him just throwing it off the back board to himself and catching and finishing. But I liked that too. Like I thought it was fine. I don't disagree with you to try to run more ball screens where he's rolling to the rim instead of popping. Right. Like I think that's a completely sound strategy and the other thing that that does is

is it pressure or is Oklahoma City's defense in the corners as well. Because at that point, if you throw a real shooter in the corner, if you throw a Julian Shampenny in the corner and it's the same side where Victor is rolling to, you're putting a lot of pressure on that tag defender, right? He has to decide, do I bump Victor on the lob and try to stop him from catching the lob? Or do I end

that idea. I'm totally fine with them playing more toward rolling when be all the way to the rim.

“In getting him touches, I think it's a great idea. But the key there too is also the way that”

you're interacting at the mesh point of the screen, right? Who are you running that with? Are you running that with Castle? Because if you're running it with Castle, what Oklahoma City is going to do then is they're just going to go under the screen and they're going to bump when be before you even get downhill, right? So it's, you know, do you do it with Fox and, you know, I think you probably go under Fox screens as well, like defensively. So it's just, it's

a little bit better with Fox. Yeah. I've liked it better with Fox because his first movement,

even if you're going under, he's so quick that you're sort of freaked out a little bit. And that's like if he gets a step on the small guy, then he's good and then he's good enough. He's just really good at changing everything, although he didn't get his first bucket. Like he'll just fox is another one. He'll have entire quarters around like he's out there right now, which speaks to Harbour, which speaks to Castle, but it happened. Yeah. Fox literally didn't take a

shot until I think one minute left in the first quarter tonight. Like, didn't take a shot. So that is exactly right, Ryan. I think that they really wanted to get Wemby involved early. I mean, they start out first set, get involved the elbow, let him try to jab step, try to drive past

heart and shine. Heart and shine is able to get his chest in front and he takes that little,

you know, 16 foot jumper. And then they get the offensive rebound out to Wemby for three and then he gets roll. And then it's just downhill at that point. And now he goes for 33 tonight. He's just, he changes the game geometrically. And in terms of his skill set, just more than any player of ever watched playing basketball. Jever. I mean, yes, that's kind of right. Being 36, like the closest I can remember is shack, but shack obviously defensively was not quite when

Bias. I think shack is a little bit underrated defensively. If you go back and watch some of those

“Lakers teams, he just completely shut off the paint for everyone, basically. And that's why they were”

pretty good defensively. Then you had to double them all the time on the block. If you didn't, it was an automatic bucket. I think shack is probably the closest thing, but even then you still are getting like the vertical, you know, 35 feet away from the rim. I probably have to get a body on this dude because he'll knock down a shot, you know, kind of threat that Wemby brings that way, too. So, I don't know, man, like I just don't know what you, I don't know what you do with this dude

to be honest with you. Yeah, it is the right answer. I mean, that's kind of where we're going with all this stuff. And we could talk about like the voting and everything, but, you know, I was, I was hanging out with somebody, a coach here the day, and we're just like, you know, even if they don't win this, because of what's happened in a few of these games, say, you know, I don't think they have to win the Western Conference Finals for everyone to be starting next year, going like

“it's his league. Yeah. I don't know, man. What do you think the next three games?”

Who did you pick before the series started? I picked Oklahoma City in seven. I still think I'm going to say that. Man, the J-do of the end Mitchell changes things substantially to me for Oklahoma City. If they just got one of those two guys back, I think that they win the series. If they don't get either of those guys back for either any of these three games, I think San Antonio wins the series. They, one of them back by games seven. I think that, say, I think Oklahoma City wins.

You know what else is really weird about this team? And I'm talking about OKC here. Is that they're incredibly comfortable to a point where you almost like it less when they're losing. And this may be entirely unfair. And, you know, whatever, they've already won one of these. And they may be on the cusp of doing it a second time. And it might be a generational thing to because Minnesota has had a couple of these games the last few years where you're like,

you're getting your asses kicked. And you guys don't really seem to care. Then other times Minnesota's getting their ass kicked and they do care a lot and then probably put

their energy in the wrong place. But, you know, I've never really seen a team losing by 30 in the

playoffs. Have like a good time except for OKC. OKC's kind of sitting there. You have no idea if they're up 20 or down 20. And maybe that's a good thing. But I can't help but always be like a little annoyed tonight. Like watching. I mean, this is probably me being entirely unfair. So I'm just admitting it and wondering where you are with that because there's just so many times with this team. I'm like, you guys are you bothered by this at all? And maybe that's a good

thing is that they're not bothered by it. I think with Shay, he's the one that he is so stoic in the way that he presents. And, you know, guys like Jada, like Jared McCain, like they're very

frustrates you from time to time. But like with Shay, he's so stoic. Like you don't really know

“what he's thinking a lot of the time. I think he's pretty pissed. Like it looks like he's pissed. But”

also, I don't, I don't know, man. Like it doesn't bother me. Like these things, I just try to think about the X's and O's. I tried to think about the way that matchups are getting in dude's heads. Like I think chat is so shook right now, watching him on offense. There was a kick out three to night from the corner on the left side where like, I don't think I've ever seen him wind up into a three pointer longer than he wound up into this three, any still short arm did and still didn't even

get it to the rim or barely got it to the rim. And around the rim, like, he is kind of gunshot to go up for these layups. He tries to dunk on Wemby early tonight and Wemby just swats him. And I thought that it just completely kind of tanked his game the rest of the way to be honest. And I'm definitely a check guy. I think he's an unbelievable defender. I think he's had a really good defensive series. But man, it just feels like offensively that dude is in his own head in a real

“way against San Antonio. Totally agree. I love that he tried that dunk, you know, and the fact”

that Wemby, I mean, the fact that Wemby blocked it clean to on top of hitting else. And there was no argument, you know, because I was like, man, that was clean. And then chat knew it was clean. He just like timed it perfectly and got to the ball. But I was like, all right, that's really good. Because there's there's this balance. And again, it would depending on what's side, you could do in this pod Friday. I'm breathing about this team because I just couldn't believe

the depth and how they showed it off and all the different stuff that they wanted to do. And then decide to size down and then they pull it, you know, pull away with the different set of guys out there. But like McCain is not afraid to a point where it's like, should you be a little more afraid though, dude? Like a little bit more afraid. So he was one for ten. It's some point I don't know what he finished up at because they made a bench to him. He'll help take 20 shots in 20 minutes.

Like he doesn't. It's like it's, it's a worth. Yeah. And then there's Wallace who doesn't even look at the hoop whenever he's driven the ball below the three like the free throw line. I would say the number of times I've seen him go in when he's there, he doesn't even pretend. It's like, I'm not doing this. It's almost like he has something else to do. He's like, let me just make sure I get out of here and I'm over here with the ball. You know, I think SGA is good with it.

I think there are times where some of the other players like try to challenge when be when they can. But the problem, I think you just nailed it with the chat stuff because it's like, man, when you're the

other guy out of this three-headed monster, you always get to kind of float offensively when J-Dub

and SGA are cooking like you can have 12 with a three in a dunk and nobody really gets on your case. But considering his profile and like who he's supposed to be, this is the kind of game where he's supposed to, you know, be helping SGA here offensively as opposed to what happened tonight.

“Well, he's made 13 more NBA today, right? Like that's what you would expect that player to be”

able to do and he's very skilled. Like he is somebody where when he has space to operate and he has shooters around him who are making shots, he can drive and get down hill and get to the rim and finish. And he's obviously a great finisher at the rim on rolls and in the dunker spot. But I think we often think of chat as this guy that can create his own shot. But against St. Antonio, he really can't and part of that is just like a physical limitation. It's not really the strength even to me.

It's the fact that he's so kind of high-hipped that he can't really create leverage down hill, right? And because of that as well, he also has kind of a high dribble. And when you have guys like Steph Castle and Demavicelle and Julian Champenny who are trying to dig into your handle all the time, like I'm sure he feels like, man, like, I can't really, you know, dribble into that like 14 foot range without getting ripped to some extent. So I don't know, man, like, I think they need to

find a way to maybe get him into like some empty side actions a little bit more, get him a little bit more space to drive. But yeah, he's got to, he's got to figure it out on offense because if the end of the day for Oklahoma City, the Wemby problem is not going away. Like, that dude's just going to

get better. And to me, if chat, like, in some way, can't be that third offensive guy or tonight,

he needs to be the second offensive guy. If, you know, the rubber might hit the road faster for chat than we think. We're not there. We're not remotely there yet with chat. But he's got to step up. He's got to be the guy now that's able to at least find an answer. Maybe it's just drilling three's from the corner. And okay, see, gets him some open looks from the corner. By running other rollers to the rim, there has to be an answer for chat to get rolling on offense. He has to find it.

New York is one 10 straight playoff games. I think they're a good team. I think that's an impossible

realizing like Philly's a mess. Cleveland's a mess. And they get the last two from Atlanta. So I kind of

felt like no matter who won the East. I was going to be kind of underwhelmed by the whole thing. And I didn't expect the next year going to be up three O on this Cleveland team. And we have all the same Cleveland things to worry about and to talk about here. So I guess what I'm doing is I'm making

“I'm not doing a good job in this, but it's like hey, credit to the next. But I think this entire East”

like all of it is less impressive by the day. If you're watching a different sport when we watch the Western Conference versus the Eastern Conference right now. So you're totally right, man, to go ahead. Look, it just feels different. It's so much slower like these dudes in the Western just more athletic. They're more aggressive defensively like you can see it just in terms of just how much faster they play.

Like the fact that the winning team in this series and the first three games dropped 120 is like

almost impossible to me. Then you realize they're playing it away faster pace than what the nicks are and what Cleveland is, right? So yeah, man, like I think New York has been wildly impressive. Like I wouldn't take anything at all away from them. They have taken care of business and the way that they have to take care of business. I do think that I am unimpressed with Philadelphia

“without Joel and Beat. And I am unimpressed with Cleveland. I think that Kenny Ackinson has not”

been nearly aggressive enough in any aspect as a coach frankly. Like he's just gone with the like Ivonne Drogo. If he dies he dies, mentality out there with Harden and with these long runs that the nicks are going on without calling timeouts. And man, it's it's hard, Ryan. Like I want to just be wildly impressed with the nicks and I am wildly impressed with the nicks. They are they are mentally tough. They have five guys out there who can create shots and knock down shots and Josh Hart's like

totally fearless and if Hart doesn't have it going, you go to Shaman or you go to Doos McBride. But part of this is that I definitely am unimpressed with the competition that they have played. And I do think they have an awesome matchup against Cleveland because Harden is just unplayable in games where teams can go five out and have five creators out there. Yeah, I'm not I'm not telling you like I just think when 10 playoff games in a row usually

means you're like one of the all-time teams. And I think the nicks look really good in the face of consistent disappointment from every corner of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Yeah. So the right team is going to get out of the east so that that part of it feels right. But I can't believe Cleveland couldn't give him more of a fight. I can't believe that Kenny Adkinson said analytically we won two out of the three said quote we're two out of the three

and expected score if you believe in process at all that like man take the ladder. I don't throw that at them. I see it for myself. And if I have this feeling I can go to our analytic table and be like man the expected score was like one pointer two us just shooting way below expected them shooting way over it. So all right two one Cleveland series lead. You can't say that Kenny. You can't say it. No. That's what I'm trying to do. Why the crazy squads have seen from a coach.

You just can't I mean it was also like when he was like Derek Royce the top five players like we have numbers you don't we're like well yeah we have those numbers too we just don't believe that Derek Royce the top five player. I asked Derek Royce if he thought he was the top five player

“he said absolutely not. So I don't know I don't know if that's what's happening here. I think”

Mitchell's been disappointing. I think Harden has been exactly who do I expect him to be. I think the double big for Cleveland actually looked like it would work in the series at times. I still think there's some depth stuff there with Cleveland that I like and whatever. I mean I don't know with them being down if they get swept into the out of this thing I guess it'll just be like hey

Brunson's better than any of your guys. I'll never think Mitchell's better than Brunson for a long

time how about that promise. Yeah I don't think that's crazy. I will say what has been most impressive to me about the next is the different ways that they've been able to take advantage of what your weaknesses on offense right like this genuinely you know defensively I have some questions because I do think there are ways you can take advantage of both towns and Brunson being on the court together. Offensively I do think this might be a genuinely special team. I will say that because you look

at the Philly series what do they do they just played Carl Towns away from the rim the whole time made him the primary initiator allowed him to average like eight assists per game in that series right

he's able to come up with he's elite is an isolation ball screen player is an isolation player

“okay we're just gonna let him destroy matchups. I think that they have a lot of different ways”

that they can beat you like you can go too big and just dominate the offensive blast with Mitchell Robinson you can go small with shamit and go five out and just space everywhere all the time like they just have different ways to beat you that I think are at least intriguing in a final series I don't think they're gonna win the finals I think whoever comes out of the west will win but I think they at least cause more problems than they get credit for on offense. Yeah that's fine um

because I think Brunson is like I love the game um game two Brunson where it was like you kind of

knew hey we're not gonna go let you just cook somebody the way you did harden the first time

through so we're gonna send you doubles and then Brunson was just like you didn't think I was gonna be ready for this or be able to figure this out and then it felt like the one else I could leave them was ready for everything else that they were doing so there's like a disconnect

“I think Kenny's had a really tough series and in that I don't say that very often I'm not just talking”

about the timeouts you know I'm just there's some stuff that happens with this team you know whenever there was a backline defensively of miles with Brunson of Jordan Clarkson you know going up against Mitchell and Mobley and Mitchell gets past Mitchell Robinson in the switch and you're like okay so this is the backline like you've got to just drive drive relentlessly drive put your ball handsers in position to try to break the pain and get in there

because like Mitchell Robinson's gonna be behind you after the screening and you're going up against three guards that are not exactly known for their defense and I think there was one drive out of that entire alignment um as I was sitting there watching that game of something still blue coffees new can lattes are here crafted with a hundred percent Colombian coffee each can is a good source of protein and comes in two smooth flavors espresso cafe mocha and espresso sweet cream

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it's too negative about the next I guess I'm just like Cleveland could have been an NBA final team like that seems impossible to troit with their flaws no boss and messed up again no feeling messed up again no you know Atlanta Toronto like the right team is going to be in the NBA finals from the east but I'm just so collectively unimpressed with everything around them I I do get it like I think that's a reasonable take to have honestly I am I think a little

bit more impressed with the next than you are but like I can't sit here and deny the fact that the east is a disaster man like it like honestly if you're Cleveland here moving forward what what do you do with this roster you have James Harden who's essentially a free agent who you know picked you guys it feels like to come to you because he thought he could get another deal you have Donovan Mitchell who is getting older and you're probably going to have to sign to him

to like a crazy extension like it's crazy to say this but you know this is a successful run they went to the conference finals but is this like do they realize that this might be it and did they try to pivot out of this in some way I don't like I don't know what they do here now

“after this probably recign everybody right that's what we most likely think because they go hey we”

spent resources on Mitchell we're always afraid of losing them so if you just max them out you know

whatever because it was a shorter deal when he did the deal in 24 put us in the position that we're in now Harden away from the no trade cause to go to Cleveland he has his player option which is massive but it can be non-guaranteed so it's a little different than him just if he's not getting the number that he wants from Cleveland it's like at 42 million if you can just say like oh hey I'm an opt-in well then I think it's partially guaranteed so my guess is that they've already probably figured

out for something that's like two in the 60 or 70 million dollar range which feels ridiculous because I just don't know why you'd want to sign up for this and why you'd want to give the kit like cool thanks to the regular season man thanks for the offensive rating in those 20 something games the whole point of having him here instead of Garland was then I had Mitchell off the ball as much

that we saw was Garland in the regular season so the probably just resigned everybody but it's a

really expensive team where you probably need to keep doubling down on these contracts just to have something and say hey you know we made it the conference files to be clear to be there will be fine and at least we're in that neighborhood when in reality I just don't know if you are James Harden in the playoffs is averaging 19 points shooting 41 31 83

“only 5.7 assists per game so this is a career low I believe going all the way back to”

like the Houston days for him in terms of assists he's averaging 4.6 turnovers per game in the playoffs playing next to another like stud guard back in the Houston days if he average 5 turnovers in a game you were just like all right whatever you know we have nobody else who can handle the ball it's fine yes don't have a Mitchell here to be able to handle the ball he's still turn the ball over like crazy like I just I don't know I didn't love the deal for Cleveland when they did it

I didn't really like if the clippers either and I think it's probably going to work out for them so I was probably wrong about that but I don't really I don't know I don't get the Harden experience like we've just been here now in the playoffs for James Harden for literally 5 years in a row Ryan three of those years are in the east which is the worst conference in the playoffs I just don't

understand how we can like run this back again with James Harden if you're Cleveland I would never

want to my thoughts are pretty established on old Jim but I don't think you make that deal unless you know that he's going to become in back and then you talk yourself into all this stuff I mean look it's very simple he's not comfortable out there during classmates he's not a comfortable player he does not want to shoot not to say he's going to have zero points all the time because it would have 19 in game three didn't hit a threes was just usually not interested if it's like

86 86 in the fourth quarter even if he has like 14 points to his name he's just not going to want to shoot man he's not comfortable in these games and I don't think we need more evidence to keep saying the same thing over and over again now I agree it's just not for me I don't think that look I don't think it's for for many people except desperate general managers and good for Harden because like if he actually just went to market like who would give them some of these deals

I don't think you would get that clitoris deal that you got well this is where you get into the bird rights trap of the NBA right we're all these teams feel like they have to resign somebody because

“if you don't then what how do you replace them given the rules set right I think James Harden”

has taken better advantage of the bird rights trap what if James Harden Ryan is just like a collective bargaining agreement genius and we don't know it what if he's like hard cousins yeah well that's like hey what what if he just knows the CBA better than we all do what if he's going to be the next great general manager um I don't know I don't know is he going to be is he going to

send a Clara games on Tuesday in person be like other any second round or share feels unlikely

does feel unlikely let's talk some draft man month away we're gonna have you on again for just an all draft episode of the pod um do you want it what do you want to do you want to do Intel or do you want to do momentum that kind of stuff or I don't know so so here's the here's the question that I'll ask you first like who have you watched that we can talk about because that I know you're a little bit early still and what you're doing

so well it's kind of pathetic now um think I've watched everybody in the lottery but I know I'd need to do like another pass so you know what I'm saying yeah yeah yeah not totally so when you've watched a die Mara like what has been because Mara you mentioned like risers and followers right it feels like after the combine everyone's really excited about a die Marx they realize the 7 foot three and has a 9 foot 9 sanding reach and can pass and can do all this stuff like what was your

thought on him I couldn't believe um from what I watched to now the way he's talked about

“I think it sounds like two different players because there's another Mara that I didn't watch”

because I look I think there's some stuff about him that's impressive I really like his passing I think I just talked about him this week I forget what I was talking about him with here on the show but I'm a little shocked about how much momentum he seems to have I think he looks like a starting center like I think he looks like a solid starting center I wouldn't say he's like a

he's going to end up giving good value to a team but like I've seen people come out of the woodwork can be like oh Oklahoma City has to you know use 12 and 17 and all their picks to try to trade up for a die Mara because they need somebody to stop Victor Wembin Yamma I'm just like you guys out of your fucking mind like like what do you think a die Mara is going to do against Victor Wembin Yamma when Wembin Yamma pops the guy can only play drop coverage so it just doesn't work in the way that you

“want him to work I don't so like I love Mara as a passer I think that he's a really efficient”

score around the rim I think that he can play and drop coverage really effectively I worry about the

hands a little bit like I think that he doesn't always catch the ball cleanly which sometimes can

hinder his ability to make the high level passing reads that he needs to again like I think he's probably worth a lottery pic a second half of the lottery you know player just because I think he's going to be a starting center and those guys are worth the value but I just don't really get the like upside case here for Mara either the people seem to be trying to make we're on the same page then because that's basically the stuff that I was seeing is because he was 73 and then he

had all these measurement comps that were like really good after the combine and like yeah but I've never heard him talk about like this all season long whether it's you guys that do the draft stuff

or front office people like I've never heard anybody freak out about Mara and then it felt like

after the combine look I think it's a very weird space now to draft coverage where there's like guys announcing their presence with authority online in ways that kind of shock me but I get you know

“I mean what does it really mean it's like you have to you have to be credentialed to have an opinion”

on the draft like anybody can have an opinion on the draft but some of these some of these draft sites man they're mudding the waters with like what's what's out there and I thought the Mara stuff after the combine was like who's who's saying all this and I think it was like a lot of those independent draft people that got really excited about his measurements yeah like the thing I always say about the combine here is and you were at the combine I was not this year you were at the combine

like when you talked to NBA people did you get the impression that like anybody really changed their stock in one way or another and by that I mean like went from being a first like a late first rounder to a lottery guy or you know like guys help themselves for sure like Baba Miller playing well in the 5 on 5 helped them help them but like most NBA teams have the information already by and large that they get at the combine they wanted officially they want to know

what the measurements are for sure they want to know what you know a guy's vertical is but they watch these guys play all year like we have a good sense of what a guy's vertical is going to be Kingston Fleming's you came in at a 6 3 1/2 wingspan everyone I talked to you know from Houston to the NBA folks said like yeah he's probably and I've like a 6 foot 4 wingspan ended up being a little bit short and that but like basically the same number right

the things that people care about with the combine are the medicals and the interviews the guys who go through the interview process with teams and you know teams get a feel for them one way or another that's really it like it's hard to move your stock one way or another unless you're like going nuts like Jalen Williams did hit the combine and like showcasing no I'm from Santa Clara and I'm just better than all these dudes playing the 5 on 5 yeah especially this group

that played because the NIL until this cycle's out and gets caught up like this was probably

one of the worst groups that I've ever seen play so normally there's always like a couple

first rounders you could excited about there's still could have been a couple you know guys it's thinking of the first round that we're playing in this group but it was it was the least exciting that I can remember seeing play in person in quite a long time because there's just all these second rounders that are coming out so like what we're really doing is we're trying to think about like hey we're the third rounders because a bunch of the second rounders are back

in school do you have an order now like how deep can you go from the top where you feel comfortable to then you're like I have no idea so like I'm flipping back and fourth on number one

“right now honestly other than that pretty deep but number one is the spot where like I keep”

flipping back and forth between Booser and AJ in my mind and it's not like someone asked me this question of if you have like a hundred poker chips to put down in front of the three top prospects so Darren Peterson AJ to Bance of Cam Booser like how would you split those poker

35 for defense and 30 for Peterson I think they're all like razor thin margin between them I think

they're all awesome but I'm trying to decide basically okay as Booser just a total basketball

genius and we're just way underrating that on some level like this guy might be the smartest player to come into the NBA draft in I don't know since Luca maybe like that's that's not something worth

“diminishing I think especially given how multi skilled and versatile he is as a like people think”

of him is just this bruiser who plays with his back to the basket and it's just like not even close to what his game is like he can play as a screener he can play as a ball screen ball handler he can play in isolation a little bit he can certainly attack close out so he can knock down catch and shoot three is a 39% from three he's just like a very multi-prong multi-skilled offensive player who can also pass it in a lead level like and then I go back to defense and I'm just like man like he just

gets advantages that other guys can like he is athletically dominant in a way that it is impossible to find basically in terms of his balance his explosiveness the way that he just lives at the free throw line like that guy's gonna average ten free throws a game at some point in the NBA I think which one of those two is more valuable right and I I don't know is the answer right now I keep going back and forth on them and if you know if that's a cop out I'm sorry but I really genuinely

think they're both incredible where are you on is it just Caleb Wilson for them for you yeah

yeah I've been like a little bit lower on him than some people I don't think he's like this elite level defender the people do you talk to coaches in the ACC like they pretty consistently try to attack him defensively because they thought that he wasn't great on the ball he doesn't open his hip super well he doesn't back pedal super well so teams felt like they could attack him and then off of the ball he's just not is reactive as you want him to be on the back line like he has

a lot of killer highlight real plays defensively it's just really hit or miss and then offensively you know if it's like he's six foot nine yawness with a seven foot wingspan and I don't know how does that work Ryan like feels like less valuable to me wow would you be tempted to take all right let me do it this way wag or flimings or a cuff for just for you who's gonna have best for me wag or flimings or I'd probably still take a cuff

“at the end of the day I think that he's I've come around I think he's the best that to be a like”

pretty dominant offensive player of those three I think he is as catastrophic defensively is anybody I have seen since probably try young and I don't know that he's so good on offense Ryan like he plays off of two feet he is elite in ball screens he can finish from all three levels he's become a 40% three point shooter you know he is an awesome decision maker as a passer like I don't know like him and flimings or clothes swaglers in this conference up I think I'm just going to

go a cuff the safest of the three to me would you wagler I get it if you know I just I think wagler has something to him that's harder to figure out the way like when we see where a cuff does well you're like okay when Houston with all these guys that have been around are having Kingston bail them out of tough positions that tells me like a ton it's like hey late shot clock get it back to the freshman despite the run that this program has been on brilliant not all those guys right

“but I think there's something about wagler where he he just makes it very hard on defensive players”

and you don't realize it until like you're defending him you just kind of like what the fuck is this like it's a little slower you like I'm not going to let you get there I'll shit you're there and now you're right on me you know what it is well it's on it uses he uses the threat of his pull-up jumper better than any player that I've seen in a long time he's he uses that

like extra split second on the hesitation dribble or the inside out dribble to just make you think

oh no he's going to pull up and he holds it for like just that extra split second right like when you watch guys who feel like they have that extra split second to operate compared to everybody else

you know Patrick Mahomes can just hold on to the ball that extra split second longer

“because he knows that he has time that's what Keaton feels like to me he knows that he has that extra”

little bit of time yeah and I just think that that's something that like is such a great sign that he's he's figured out some of that kind of stuff like hey I'm not as quick I'm not as dynamic athletically as some of these other guys but like what can I do where it's like hey he's just going to open again he just got past that guy again like how how does this keep happening over and over again eventually you realize like it's just kind of what he does would you if you were told to say trade this pick for

Jalen Durin number 11 yeah you said I said I would say I would trade number 11 for Jalen Durin I'm okay Jalen Durin had a great year this year he was a fantastic basketball player I'm want to you know say that up front it is insane to me even based on just the regular season to vote Jalen Durin over Scotty Barnes for all NBA it's like kind of crazy to me

“I think I did so like here's my here's my thing Ryan it's the the things that matter in”

basketball right or can you create your own shot can you help your team when the possession battle

can you defend in can you pass right like we always talk about like dribble past you defend

can you shoot as well obviously is important I mean Durin certainly helps when the possession battle he's a genuinely great rebounder but he doesn't he can create his own shot a little bit like they started to throw him the entry pass at the high uh poster it's top of the key and he was able to drive centers to the rim right but he does that like a couple times a game I don't think we're going to sit here and argue that Scotty Barnes is a worse creator of of shots than what Jalen Durin is so

Scotty's a way better creator he's a drastically better defender I thought Durin was like okay

on defense this year I didn't think he was great Scotty Barnes is one of the five best

defenders in the league this year for me he passes exceptionally well he's an unbelievable passer and playmaker for his teammates he thinks like at a super high level I want guys who can dribble past shoot you know defend and think those are my five like real pillars of basketball right dribble past shoot defend think Scotty does all of those things more effectively outside of maybe shoot if you just say that Durin's a better score I guess but like now that's not that's not

right because you could be looking to feel a little percentage you can go you have as it's like just

“limited I mean think about it he had plenty of opportunities to take more shots if you want to”

class a couple weeks and I know I look he's still gonna get paid a lot and this could be one of those tricky things for Detroit where it works out they're benefit that it's like hey we didn't have to maximum because it was like so bad in the playoffs and then it was a working out for for the team side of it but it was it was bad I mean it wasn't it's like the biggest drop off of regular season production to postseason production of like I forget how they're doing the number off

it was an elderly and bailer I think it was there's something like that yeah like the 19 16 or something yeah like the but the easiest way to explain that is that if you look at Jalen Durin's you know 12 high scoring games this year right he had 26 points or more in all of these 12 games it was nine of those games came against Washington a catastrophic like early season Dallas team that had no idea what they were doing Indiana Brooklyn Memphis in March New Orleans

Oklahoma City without shade Gilgiselle Exander, Chetholm Grin or Isaiah Hartnstein and then two good games against Toronto and Cleveland like I want to give them full credit for those games those are great and then the 11th highest scoring game came against Chicago where they're starting centers Gershon Yubbicelli and then their 12 high his 12 high scoring games against Brooklyn in March with 26 so nine of his 12 high scoring games this year came against teams that either like

weren't trying to win frankly or were sitting guys and we're not healthy right so I'm not super surprised that it didn't go super well on the playoffs either based off of that when you're just destroying bad teams at the end of the day true but I do think I do think you can probably dig through

you're right it was so glaring it was so glaring that all of a sudden like so you're not comfortable at all the only time you ever look good was it game was it game six that they got and you were like hey look at there's that intention there's that aggressiveness like you're a fucking beast man like you know all you need is one two dribbles down you're going to have to get your shoulder to somebody that seemed to be what was a little frustrating with him so it's like

did you think this was going to be easier getting to the right yeah it's not like just because it's caught off just because Allen's there just because Moby's there the times were maybe unfortunately both of them are there because Moby's playing off the star and it's super credit you know it's like it's probably on you four five times a game you just can have to go into them and see if it works man yeah you just had no no interest of ever like going oh wait a minute they're

they're gonna block my shots I'm not going in there and I genuinely thought like in the regular season

he got a little bit better with that stuff it's just that it wasn't consistent enough first and

“foremost for me it's like I don't know man like I think we can simplify this stuff really easily a lot”

of time is their single-general manager and basketball that would take Jalen Durin over Scotty parts like even coming into the playoffs let alone at the end of like obviously after the playoffs that was true I don't think there's a single-general manager there'd be like hey we'd rather have this guy than the other guy after the playoffs it should be over 30 I would suggest there's probably a couple that thought like Durin is this center pillar all of these things but like Scotty can

play center too if the thing look I I I I was upset with myself after watching that first round series against Cleveland going like don't doubt Scotty anymore like it wasn't that I was doubting them you know I liked him before the draft like everybody else but then I was like I think he might just kind of be this every thing but maybe not spectacular any of them and then to see him in that series doing the shit that he was doing knowing the anger was gonna stink the whole time or not be available

or miss every shot or not want to take shots like he had to do a lot of that on his own and I like if there are small wins for teams that lost in playoffs it's how I feel about Scotty Bars going forward

and I love that you're making this happen because of third team all in vivo that you're just

still in peak season form with this even though we're wrapping up both the conference finals so I'm just yeah it was one I get annoyed with these awards a little bit too often I'm the crazy person that will like yell about all defense teams in the big 12 like Jayden Bradley

“making all defense in the big 12 just because I think that it's like it's like low hanging fruit a lot”

of the time for me if it's low hanging fruit there are a lot of cases I will hear out across the board right I'm all four people have differing opinions I'm all four people having like different thoughts on things but man the Scotty over during one was just like man this fell easy and we just didn't we didn't get there and Scotty was different player in the playoffs like he's he's averaged four free throw attempts per game in his career and he averaged eight

per game in the playoffs right he was clearly much more aggressive trying to get downhill after game what was that halfway through game two he figured out he could just go through heaven-mobilies chess every time but yeah I don't know man the low hanging fruit stuff

stuff it gets me typically I don't think we need a third all defensive team though

just for the record like I was having a hard time with it at the end like I was leaving a couple guys off I'm like all right well that's that's fine I'm gonna leave a couple guys off and then somebody's like how can leave him off like well you know just kind of like 13 guys maybe for the there's 10 spots yeah it's all right people will be okay let's see over under total playoff games three and a half left

“um over just because I think that okay see San Antonio goes to set”

so we have one more which connects and then I think that the other one goes set at least one more I hope Cleveland does their part and let's just move on does their part loses yeah I would like them and then Kenny could be like well we got two or four two or four analytically but we're gonna I guess we're not playing any more games even the way one two or four tough coke for our guy so that is San Vasini you can read him on the athletic

and check out his game theory podcast and youtube page where they're breaking down everything after the playoffs and going into the draft and we'll have you on again man thank you thanks Ryan the alliance march is on on a sunny night hope everybody isn't showing their holiday weekend we've got seruti cows just in the background already working on the audio so we're not gonna have

baby out in four games in Cleveland what he got well we'll throw off a cows bed he's he's got

next money line he's saying they're closing it out figured one of us had to take that so um and that's minus one thirty so good bet you know numbers not bad things that was gonna help our god that's the last couple of weeks no if he didn't take it I was gonna take it it's totally fair bet this is not a shot of cob whatsoever so he's taking next money line and I'm gonna go I hit last week um I think that was game two no one whatever the

game was James Harden under under 18 and a half points so see if I can get go two for two year in the series all right so I'm gonna go say am I am um Merrill what do I have eight and a half over eight and a half over eight and a half

“all right I love that's what I was gonna do is yeah that gives us plus four or five I was like”

what other guys I was like if I don't like Harden to score what other guy do I think it's gonna score I'm not gonna pick Mitchell I was like yeah do I go moldy do you go now and you know what Sam Merrill great pick I love it so all those three Dix money line hardened under and Sam Merrill over plus four or five love it Sam you just have to score and get eliminated sports book dot drivekings dot com you want details five I drive a Ferrari 355 Gabrielle 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 today's life advice is brought to my Microsoft 365 copilot what if you can add an AI assistant to your work without leaving your workflow built in a Microsoft Word Excel and Outlook copilot works where you work help can you do more in the apps you already use in Word copilot helps turn

scatter notes into a first draft and excel it generates insights from your data and an outlook

it cuts through the noise to get you up to speed faster the apps you know go further with copilot learn more at m365 copilot dot com slash work the boys are here how's everybody it's been a long time okay all right let's go hey guys six or a 30 yeah not screw it around today fix some fix some problems six or two 30 current Jim stats three times five sets or 175 pounds on the bench three 15 for deadlifts rabbit stats two rabbits

Kyle we get up I'll forge this guys contact who are brothers but have to be kept in separate

“cages because they will fight to the death honestly these two of the worst pets ever other rabbits have”

been great but got I hate these two some brothers just don't get along man we're different but we're the same she that's uh there's like a video going around like these two turtles that are like

100 years old and of just basically been fighting their entire lives and they can't be in the same

pen together do you hate anyone that much kind of respected like he would don't forget you know yeah with the original beef was too you know but they just yeah he really think about like what's a long as you could be mad at somebody I mean certainly there's levels of somebody doing something to you or a family member that you'd be like okay but like I'm talking you know slights yeah there's someone I'm still bad at I don't have a few people yeah I guess so you do so really because you don't

really ever get no you know who this um do we have any of the same I don't think you dislike this person as much as I do but there's a very specific reason he's uh I don't want to say this well wait I know who you're talking about yeah we're who that's a spicy one yeah this isn't fun for me I don't like but it but it stems it stems from yeah like just he was a douchebag I didn't even know him really and uh he was you know taking shots that an old show of mine and

“I didn't know who he was and I will never forget that ever but I don't have a lot of bees but”

that guy I die don't I don't like. By all the way yeah you don't have a lot of beeps you're not a huge uh grudge guy we're talking about something this the other day oh it was vampire we're talking about this I said it's funny how we romanticize athletes that have grudges but if you're just a regular guy that holds on a grudge forever no piece of stuff like this guy's a fucking competitor this guy just walks the earth every day looking for ways to be motivated to get get back at

people and it's like well how come when MJ does it it's fucking cool but if Ryan is like you know still mad at a program director from 20 years ago who gave him a fake contract and we've

I'd sign up we don't agree upon it until my agent's sorry why do I have to like that guy

“if we're a pro basketball player they'd be like he got signed to a contract by the sporting news”

it was a three year extension he went from 25 grand a year to 110 he was so excited he actually started

looking at cars that worked and then four weeks later the race never kicked in and he called

and said hey where's that race they said oh we're just doting the eyes and cross in the teeth don't worry about it it's in my hand right now layoffs Monday yeah I'm not mad at all I was thinking about money oh really I've decided I don't care anymore in this moment it does yeah that is funny like like with the mom of mentality working in office probably not he better he pretty good yeah maybe a restaurant yeah back out where do you rank out of our 20 sales guys 13th yeah but he just

stares everybody down all right yeah yeah yeah every summer my wife and I host a barbecue weekend for our friends we cook rabbit without talent now just kidding they host a big weekend barbecue

“for the friends it's evolved over the years drunken shit show into a more relaxed hang with”

honey of non alcoholic beers this year I want to do something memorable similar to the time

riot rented a pony for the derby party was memorable we don't have kids and I'm willing to spend some money on something entertaining and ridiculous for the sake of the bed I'm looking for your input on which of these ideas I should pursue or please offer some of your own high and water features over the top water balloons square guns backyard water slide non lethal explosives I'm sure you get a high-rotection license if necessary holy shit a gas station hot dog roller

to supplement our grill and smokers who guess can grab a snack at any time a professional historical impersonator Ben Franklin JFK what do you think would be the best pony show equivalent for this year's party so guys looking for a theme for his summer barbecue you guys ever do that maybe I knew I don't think so yeah we did well we had a world cup of beer pong party two world cups ago and that was awesome years that that was 2018 US wasn't in that one bummer

we were team England it was fun actually kind of met my wife that way indirectly you so yeah it was a good one you know beer pong yeah save a lot need an extra person

“shout out Matty I think we made a made up of football game with like two camping chairs”

for the start of the football season once in college but I don't even think we really made up a game but yeah that was the closest thing to a theme I think we ever did yeah that Kentucky Derby

thing was like I'd never really bothered to throw any kind of party there's still some planning

stuff from that that I didn't necessarily love I thought it was like a joint affair next thing I know I paid the bill for everything and then that for the people like picked out stuff and then I was like so what's going on with this I'm paying like four grand to have these people over today it was a great time it was an awesome party it was a great time that was maybe the most hungover I've ever been in my life there's also two phases of the party which is like a

classic staple of of back in the day although I remember we had a party at a house I lived in once and there was an older guy that was visiting and I still think it's one of the funniest things I have ever seen he was really good with art like he was good with spray painting I wouldn't call him a graffiti guy necessarily but he was just really good at painting he just was a very creative person and we had this like theme this timeline theme of this party and so everybody's right in costumes

and you know everybody's dates are all excited so I was kind of stuff and this guy was setting up and he spray painted a city skyline on a white sheet and then he put like a moon and it worked you know it was like using spray paint and then he used the spray paint to like accentuate the shadows and all this stuff and then he just wrote make out city and he tapped it in the corner and I know it's super reassuring stuff I just think it's so funny so maybe try that it might not go

over as well with adults so make out mural I wouldn't really like how much how much he didn't mention how much space he has right to do because I mean that was like he's got a lot of space he's got to come a pie or technique if he needed to if he's got a lot of space I will say people in my life just brought this up to me last weekend people still talk about it people I haven't seen in a while my going away party we had we had a lot a lot of people showed up for my going away

party when I moved to LA obviously but what was really so special is we had buy-in from enough

if you can mix it up you can even have like some kids in the mix too if everyone you know agrees not to let go ahead hunting or whatever you know but that was like a legendary day just because everyone bought into kickball that was awesome yeah I like that a lot yeah you actually that gets me one ball four bases that's it you know it's kind of a hit and this would just be a throwback to you know like Collin I don't actually score it ever but like just have a good old version like 90s

party 90s really in right now parents trying to like hey I'm gonna raise my kid like a 90s kid like do the 90s thing and just have like I don't know it's like snacks like a long day ball yeah like

yeah yeah I would that's that's to me always but dressed like that you know you get the the

bright color situation was a good good look back then that could be fun what's though I'm gonna raise my kid like a 90s kid I missed that podcast yeah um it's kind of like a you know highlights for kids in all summer you know biking you know maybe like hey I'll let you kind of go outside and just come back around dinner time and I'm not gonna like you know be inside on the iPad all day it's probably like watching 90s movies like better low situations like

the ones that are made today yeah like I don't know you know I'm clearly like there's you know they're in the you know back then so not smashing pumpkins team A's and team that too yeah

“just to press like team spirit back that on repeat but no it's I think it's more just like a”

I don't know less screen time kind of thing just dumb way to say less screen time yeah my kind of sounds like yeah uh yeah you can do a theme thing there look I don't know I mean it depends on the activities the impersonator thing I've seen this happen before like the impersonator things good for 10 minutes and then everybody's like now there's just an impersonator like hanging around like it's not funny anymore if you think they're still here what's he doing yeah right

although that guy and Instagram that invites over the impersonators to his apartment in LA and it's just him I don't know how real that stuff is but my daughter couple those are hilarious like he breads a Tom Cruise for an hour and he just starts going like man you know he's like doing the whole thing the guy jumps up in the couch and then they're like 15 minutes he's like what do you want me to do like there's no one else here it's just you maybe he's like just keep going like

I pay for the hour and then he has a buddy come downstairs the surfboard he's like all right see later so there actually was his roommate in the house and it's like you hire the Tom Cruise and Personer just yourself so uh one of my friends had an Elvis impersonator at the wedding there's something he wanted to do and it was kind of like his thing or it's like look what I did but I don't know I don't remember people hanging out with Elvis all night I know I didn't talk to him

what about like a magician that goes to bars like everyone doesn't have to gather

and never learn those guys the one that mingles like he doesn't have to be the center of

attention he just comes up to a group of like six guys and like he's like well that might be one of the bar magicians yeah the opposite actually it's the three guys that you girls just figure out a couple of ways to talk to people you fucking bring it to your cards it's like hey wow that guy you guessed the card right let's get out of here yeah I don't know I'm interested to do an audition that you all will make awful job reset refocus here

what's the best party you've been to within reason

“kickball kickball kickball okay okay yeah yeah you just want to avoid things you have to”

keep track of yep that's good advice but the beer is on the frame so we get a wife out of it so it depends on the training group my friend group wants to keep track of everything like just hyper competitive like we do these ultimate tournament things where it's like you know yeah but it's all guys yeah it's true so I'm gonna say kind of sick though look I'm not telling you it's not awesome just to me I think I got two movies out of it

yeah so look if you did I was in one I would say we've done a hair which is just a horrible

job I'm not a terrorist okay then if you want to get on track first of all everyone fucking loves

fireworks and if you even if you tell them you have firearms if you show them your fireworks thing at the beginning of the party they're gonna be like dude wait till seven o'clock rolls around it's seven like should we wait a little longer is it the time for fireworks I'm not a food July party no it's a weekend barbecue yeah but it's also 2026 a Rudy so you know I'm I'm disappointed almost halfway through 2026 they were not doing you know we should do

it a little bit more man in the pirate there like department yeah I've done like 1970s yeah but I

“feel like 1976 I mean I don't remember a ton but I think people were way more in to the”

by centennial than the ramp up to this one it just feels a little lukewarm going into it although you could see somebody tweet me and like I don't even feel like celebrating July 4 it's been like all right you cool I got some stuff cooking up for this year I might be making a couple runs to PA if you know what I mean so physical care if that's pt it's okay Jason here oh

I give you like three great things for whatever I guess you guys are off to that wait you give

it's kickball and like kickball magicians at first kickball magicians at first did if you put

all those three together I mean they're gonna write about it in the paper all right anyway fair

“I don't know man I just don't think you should have in person there because people are gonna”

get sick of Ben Franklin quick yeah I was going to suggest if you want to do the magician thing you could have asked the mentalist over but he just got it you just kind of got how it didn't I think owes the mentalist in oh sorry oh it's not I don't know it owes us oh see I mean come on at this point it's gonna be Oz between the show and the doctor I think he's got to be Oz but that's yeah that's not what I mean I think about it I just don't know anything about a real

magician because like if that's all bullshit at least some magician we know he's tricking us but it's impressive instead of like put this into a phone and then like I promise I won't look at it yeah people are really coming after Pablo on that one I don't know maybe the magic world is it's like hey he's a magician like no shit but then there was another guy that had done all this work the Pablo had on I thought it was really interesting and it was kind of like yeah but if you're doing

TED talks talking about how you've mastered reading people and it's really all you did if you don't get caught phone off yeah sounds like the magicians actually hate them so you know I don't

“know if you think that's a blow to the community oh I think the magician community is at at each other's”

throats so I don't think it's all directed at Oz I think it's just a fairy I think it's a hostile

industry to get into I've always felt that and no one could change what's the next okay here we go

for a couple newlyweds what's up guys player comp Duan Blair I banged down low dominate the pores but not big enough to make an impact the next level I have my first wedding it's not our first one Blair by the way I have my first wedding anniversary coming up I have no clue what to get my wife the first year is paper oh yeah I was that like it was like silver gold and it can work so I don't know what to do I don't think that I didn't fall any of those I don't even know

but I do yeah because when you when you do Google them it's like hey wish I you know they they tell you like get a you know I don't know a drawing of the two of you or something it's like not all I do that oh my god they go on forever I guess they would have to right yeah seven here is desk sets yeah this I think I got the wrong list desk sets yeah your seven is copper wool slash desk sets this is just the Google AI though what if you're not coppers is there a different one all right so back to the email

which apparently there it is so through research best ideas I have so far as buying concert tickets to a concert you've been talking about seeing and then printing them out I can't decide it's an awful fucking idea or not it should be pissed let me know what you guys think about that and what the boys did for their first anniversary thanks fellas I think this could be a good learning moment you know I think you just try to go bigger than whatever she'll get you hope you do that

and then you'll get an idea for what this holiday means to the both of you because I mean I think in this day and it means different things to different couples so I just texted by life because I don't even remember a social issue response I have gone in the movie they're the the music

route that the concert ticket route and it's always it's always a hit and we have to say if you know

your wife yeah and we actually do have some frame tickets I don't know if it was an anniversary thing but like if she wants to go to this thing you're gonna buy her this gift it's thoughtful it doesn't I don't know again yeah cows right there are some there are some wives who probably take this like a little bit more seriously than others so we take it way less than you you know you don't need to budget 600 700 1000 for every it's like especially if you got it and it's a rough time it's like

after valentine between valentine saying Christmas or something you know like depending on when it is I think I've gotten her different jewelry things like you know I think I got her a necklace one year

“but it was like something that you should want and she like probably picked it out even before hand so it's”

not like I was really like diving deep into the research of that so you know you can't go wrong they're really there but I think if you just put thought behind it your wife loves you I don't think you I really don't think you can go wrong don't see it out but and then you got a budget for you know how long like your three can't be the same as your five five's like a bit five's like you know the first reunion for like your your high school and shit like that and then you know seven maybe it's a little bit

a down maybe it's a down maybe it is a desk set I don't know and then 10 is 10 is big you know you really run out of ideas desk set that's just a juckel set about treaty like well like right now look no like oh Ryan answer yeah so it's like recognizing where you're

know whatever and then she has a few then you guys decide and then you frame your treaty

and it's on paper oh life did get back to me um she says maybe an apple watch I did get an apple

“watch for an universe I don't remember it was my first one and she actually needed it”

travel so lot love vision kind of thing yeah oh maybe she needs a description of a little bit of a I was a little bit hurt. Yeah, right before it media. I'm trying to upgrade our electric toothbrush. Yeah, I don't know I'm trying to stay in the paper lane. I'm gonna out. Yeah, I couldn't I actually did my wife's broken origami Oh, yeah, old snow

No, wasn't my what was it it was just mother's day didn't know what to get my wife and

Land on it. I got a gym back and she loved it Yeah, Mother's day. I mean it could just be as simple as like a book. I think I don't know it depends. It's like a murky one, you know

“What does it mean to everyone involved my guess is a lot of wives out there are like hey if you want to kind of just not fall the paper rule”

And get me something sweet for like 250 bucks that'll work. Yeah Well, although it was just doing a drawing and not being good at it would be the best ever

When I use it on like you can yeah, I don't talk to you. No, no, you just do it alone

some stranger Some stranger can't capture your love the way you can sure me taking any art classes find it at the bottom a little heart Somebody had a commission dream for my wife and I Charcoal it

“Isianic because it commission. What are you fucking?”

Yeah, my sit it was honestly a great sheet my sister in laws great idea. She had this commission and She got it. She's like I'm gonna be honest. It's not good And she's like I'm gonna give it to you anyway, and I'm glad she did. It's bad. It's bad You have a painer that was hired to paint your wife Now both of us. It's a picture of both of us actually and I think my dog and

You know, it's just like a drawing. It's like a sketch kind of thing, but it's nice and it they just she just like whoever did it Just butchered our faces and I'd love for you to climb into that attic this weekend and maybe snap a picture I don't think if it's your of it. Yeah, yeah next life life. Every every photo you've shown us recently has been like topic of conversation You don't pull up photos unless there's something to discuss so

There's a reason to liveers when there's visuals involved. It's a bad one Yeah, so yeah next time. I'll fish it out Okay, well, I hope everybody enjoyed a later Edition earlier release of the run so we'll show thanks to Tom over haven't drops There you go, sir Rudy and Kyle, please check out our full episodes on Netflix and

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