The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - NBA Mailbag: WHO Can Dethrone The Celtics? Potential Warriors Trade? Too Much Jayson Tatum?

Episode Date: January 11, 2025

Jason Timpf answers listener questions during an NBA mailbag segment.Jason discusses what the Oklahoma City Thunder can do to raise their offensive ceiling, what team in the Eastern Conference has the best team to dethrone the Boston Celtics, whether the Nuggets should consider trading Michael Porter Jr and what potential trades the Golden State Warriors should consider in order to right the ship.  Timeline: 4:00 - Introduction 4:45 - How can the OKC Thunder raise their offensive ceiling? 12:30 - Jayson Tatum’s usage rate 16:45 - Should Nuggets trade Michael Porter Jr? 28:30 - Which team is a fun watch for a fan whose team isn’t winning? 30:00 - How does it feel to have Colin Cowherd compare Jason to Ryen Russillo? (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) #Volume #Herd Follow Jason Timpf on social: https://twitter.com/_JasonLT https://www.instagram.com/jtimpf15/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at The Volume. Happy Friday, everybody. Hope all of you guys are having a great week. It is Mailbag Day. Thank you to all of you guys who submitted questions. Remember, if you want to submit questions, YouTube, full episodes, go into the comments, put Mailbag, colon, and then put your question,

and we'll get to them on Fridays throughout the rest of the season. You guys are the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel, so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT, so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed, wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight.

It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and a review on that front. We also have brand new social media feeds on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the Hoops Tonight channel. We're releasing content throughout the year. Make sure you guys follow us there. And then like I mentioned off the top, keep dropping mailback questions in those YouTube comments

so we can hit them throughout the rest of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. Hey, how's it going, Jason? Love the show. I've been a fan for a while. My question is about the Oklahoma City Thunder. I hear a lot of people say that they are a team that needs to find a way to raise their offensive ceiling.

but can throw a halacious defensive punch. From a historical perspective, do you think this year's thunder is more comparable to the 04 pistons, the 08 Celtics, or the 09 Lakers, and how they are made up at this current moment? So ironically, the team that I actually think they remind me a lot of is the old thunder in the sense that it's more of a too big type of look and it's younger, right?

Like as we talk about the Celtics and the Lakers from 08-09, those are very veteran teams, not a lot of young talent on those teams. and obviously the Thunder are more infused with youth. So, but in terms of basketball build, there's similarities across the board. Defensively, yeah, you're similar to the 04 Pistons, although I would say that the 04 Pistons team

didn't have nearly the shot creation talent that Shea Gilders Alexander is. The 08 Celtics remind me of this team in the too big look where like your four and Kevin Garnett is this very versatile offensive player and more of a play finisher at the center spot, but it's kind of similar there. And then Paul Pierce being like this guy in poor spacing that was asked to make a lot of mid-range jump shots.

The Lakers are the team that I'd probably compare them to the most because of the two big look, versatile offensive four, but just that heavy reliance on tough shot making from Kobe Bryant, which obviously was a huge part of this Thunder team with Shea. And I talked about yesterday, actually, after the Cavs game, how Shea reminds me a lot of Kobe Bryant in that stretch. Well, you talked about raising their offensive ceiling is a really interesting point, though.

And I think that's going to be the main question mark, because I've talked a lot about shooting. When it comes to the Thunder, They're still, I haven't checked after the Cavs game, but after the Celtics game, they were down to 20th in, or I think they shot well in that game, so up to 20th, I should say,

in three-point shooting on the season. And, like, they've just continued to make shots as of late. Like, these are a couple of big games. Like, they didn't lose to the Cavs because of shot making. They made shots. They lost to the Cavs because they couldn't get stops, which was ironic and just a testament to the Cleveland defense because that same, or Cleveland offense,

because that same Thunder defense just put the Celtics in jail in the second half of their game, right? But, like, there is a certain decision that the Thunder are going to have to make at the deadline this year, which is, are we good enough on offense to win the title? And there's a tendency in a lot of these situations to be like, oh, we have time. And I'm not going to sit here and pretend like this is the last shot for the Thunder because it's not. But as we've seen so many times throughout NBA history, every time we think there's a five to eight year window, it ends up being shorter. It's usually not like the Warriors.

They're the exception. It's usually a lot of turnover. It's usually some guy wants a bigger role. This guy gets squeezed by the payroll. We don't want to be a second apron team, so we let this guy go. There's usually something that leads to a like kind of a pullback in talent in these sorts of situations, right? And so the question is, do you feel urgency to try to win this season? And that's where you kind of have to find a sweet spot.

Like, let's take Cam Johnson, for instance. I haven't done the exact machinations of the deal, but let's say it's Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins. Like, it's a lot to give up. I like Aaron Wiggins a lot. Aaron Wiggins is just a pro. I've been talking about him a lot. Like, I'm amazed at his ability to drive closeouts

and defend, knock down, catch, and shoot threes. Isaiah Joe has been one of their most reliable shooters of the last couple of years. I understand that's a lot to give up. But if you get a really high level player like Cam Johnson, and you can sit at a situation where it's like, I know who our small ball groups are. Because you know who the big groups are, right? Shea, J. Dub, Dort, Hartnstein, Chet, right?

You know, with the small ball groups, it's going to be Shay, Dort, J. Dub, Chet, and then somebody is that fifth guy. And there's flaws with all of them. With Alex Caruso, it's like a really good defender, but man, he can really struggle to shoot sometimes. You talk about Kaysan Wallace, a little undersized, also can struggle to shoot sometimes. You talk about Isaiah Joe, really skinny and undersized, right?

Like there's downsides with any of your office. options that you go with. A guy like Cam Johnson, it's like pretty solid, permanent defender, big athlete, and really good offensive player. So like, you could see that as an opportunity to raise the ceiling. And it's just, I'm not even saying which direction that I personally would go. I'm generally a pusher chips in kind of guy, but like, I think it's completely defensible to just ride it out with this roster if you want to. But Cam Johnson would be the type of guy that the thunder could go for that would just raise their offensive ceiling without having too much of an impact on their defensive capabilities and legitimately increases your chances of winning a championship this

season at the expense of a little bit of depth. So, like, that would be an example of a move along those lines. But again, like, I think there's a case to be made that they should just ride it out as well. And I think that that's going to be a really tough decision when the time comes. I am a Celtics fan, but I'm also a fan of the game. And I really enjoyed yesterday's game between OKC and the Cavs. Congratulations to Atkinson, who is a very good coach. But at the same time in defense of J.B. Bicker staff, we shouldn't forget that Garland was far from being himself last year, and that Mowgli seems to have improved a lot during the summer, or maybe is that Atkinson's effect? Aside from that, who do you think has the best chance to dethrone the Celtics in the east?

To me, and so far, every team being healthy, Celtics included, I really only fear this Cavs team. So here's the deal. With the Atkinson, J.B. Bickerstaff stuff, we had Carter Rodriguez from the Chase Now podcast on earlier this year. And he talked a lot about how, like, a lot of these concepts, like, were things that J. Bickerstaff was hammering. J.B. Bickerstaff did preach playing with pace. J.B. Bacerstaff did ask Dary's Garland to take more threes. There was a lot of things that he was preaching behind the scenes that just didn't resonate. And that happens sometimes. That's why when you ask me, like I'm not going to sit here and pretend like Atkinson's not doing an incredible job. He is doing an incredible job. He, it seems like a shoe in for coach of the year this year.

I'm all in on the Kenny Atkinson thing. But if you asked me to list the number one reason why the calves are better this year, I would go with the improvement of Darius Garland and Evan Mowley as individual players. Health is part of it. Natural player development is part of it too. Atkinson has then pushed that up into a team that's playing at over a 70-win pace, but to me it's the talent influx.

Jared Allen's a little better, Darius Garland's a lot better, Evan Mowley's a lot better. That's allowed Donovan Mitchell to be more picking his spots, and they have this depth of role-player talent. talent. Ty Jerome has really panned out. A lot of Dean Wade's healthy and playing great. All of that has come together and made them into this more successful team. But like Atkinson is part of it. And again, I think a lot of times when it comes to these coaches, sometimes it's just like one voice doesn't resonate and the next one does. You know, it's no different than if like certain

people told you something that was critical. You might, you know, laugh it off or or, you know, roll your eyes. But if like a different person told you the same thing, you might be more willing to listen, right? Like, it's just kind of a new voice in the room if that makes sense. As far as your last question, though, who has the best chance to throw in the Celtics in the east? I agree. The Cavs are the only team that really threaten, in my opinion. I still watch Nick's games and watch Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns get picked apart in space.

I just still worry about that with any sort of Celtics matchup. The Bucks, as good as they are, same sort of thing in terms of entry points where they can get attacked. Those are teams that have a puncher's chance. I don't want to say they can't win, but to me the Cavs are the only team that I think is on the same. tier as Boston and a team Boston should be appropriately scared of. I had a lot of people talking about titles in my YouTube videos. All I'm going to say on this is I don't make the titles, guys. The volume has a marketing strategy that is company-wide that they do with this kind of thing.

I just make my notes and I make a show and then my team handles the rest. So just something to keep in mind. Next one. Hey Jason, long time watcher, first-time mailbagger. Been a fan of the show since the volume days and I just want to say it's been a pleasure watching this channel grow to what it is now. Thank you so much. It's been cool to watch as well for me.

I'm coming up on three years at the end of this month. I'm watching from Melbourne, Australia, so I get to tune into your videos first thing in the morning. Keep up the good work and analysis. Someone posted a stat, though I don't know how accurate it is, that since 2022 and Jason Tatum's usage rate is above 33%, the Celtics have a record of 49 and 3. Given their current struggles,

albeit coming off of a championship in January basketball, should the Celtics try to change their philosophy around the way they play? Should the Celtics play a little bit more heliocentric with Tatea making all the decisions. Maybe it might make them win more games during the regular season. Or is this just a mid-season lull for the defending champs and we should expect to turn around come March and April?

It's just frustrating as a Celtics fan to know what they're capable of but not play up to their standard this year as opposed to last. Keen to know what your thoughts are. I'm exactly there in terms of the mid-season lull. The Cavs and Thunder are really good. But they are playing this season with a ton of urgency on a night-in-night-out basis because they're both kind of on the verge of something special. right? Like the Thunder are just barely below a 70 game pace. The Cavs are over a 70-win pace.

Like, it's very possible for both of those teams that if they take some losses and they get off of that pace that they might tone things back a little bit and get a little bit conservative down the stretch of the season. But most importantly, they neither of those teams have ever played beyond the second round. So with the Thunder not having that experience, with the Cavs not having that experience, they don't even like really grasp or understand yet the fact that there's two months of playoff basketball at the end of this. thing if you want to get to the promised land. The Celtics are aware of that. The Celtics know the real fight is on the horizon. The Celtics know that it doesn't really matter

what they accomplished during the regular season if they can't win the games in May and June. So like, they're dealing with that lull. And that's led to a little bit of a gap in the standings, but I still view the Celtics a hair above both of those teams. As far as the Jason Tandum usage rate stuff, it's always tricky when you start talking about record

and talking about game-to-game stuff because one of the things that I think is really fascinating and you guys as fans will notice, especially you guys, you fans that watch the same team every night. Every basketball game is different. You know how you watch your game? You watch a game, you're like, oh, this is the Derek White game. Like, he's got it going.

Oh, this is the Jason Tatum game. Oh, Al Horford hit five-threes this game. Oh, this is a Porzingis game. Like basketball games, you start with a plan, and then things start to happen and the game just starts to go in all these different directions based on how things are going and every game looks different. And there's something to be said about the teams that have some more consistency there,

but like in these, specifically in an advantage creation like mismatch hunting, you know, killer whale offense. It just depends on the night. So yeah, on the nights where Jason Tatum is hooping his ass off and he's grabbing more of the reins, like he's one of the best players in the world. So when he's at his best, it's going to be really hard to beat the side. Celtics. And I'm not surprised at that manifests in a good record. But what makes the Celtics dominant is they don't need Jason Tatum to be super duper star every single night. They need him to

be hyperversional defensive player and advantage creator, which sometimes manifests in him becoming more heliocentric and taking the reins of the offense to a greater extent. But I think that has been what has led to the success for the Celtics. Back in 22, it was too much Tatum and Brown. Now it's, there's a lot more of the ball popping around everyone's involved. I wouldn't overreact to this lull. I think they're going to be fine. Most importantly, guys, like, there's a, the, the Cavs and Thunder optimism is a runaway freight train right now. Like, it's literally a runaway freight train. Everyone's on this bandwagon. That should appeal to Boston's pride a little bit. That should help them to get off their ass and to lock back in

and play some better basketball down the stretch of the season, which I expect them to do. Next question. I personally don't think that the Nuggets should trade Michael Porter Jr. I think he's a good compliment to Yokic and has been playing very well and more consistently lately. Where is all the buzz to trade him coming from? And do you think Denver is actually considering it?

MPJ is younger than both Jimmy Butler and Zach Levine and offers better rebounding in height than both of them. If they made one of these trades, would you lower the Nugget ceiling and decrease their odds to win a championship this year. I definitely think it would hurt them, especially in the long run due to the age differences. So as far as the trades go, the big thing for me is it's just super high risk.

Like you bring in a guy like Jimmy Butler, he's better than Michael Porter Jr. But Jimmy Butler is a very different player than Michael Porter Jr. And Michael Porter Jr.'s off ball scoring is so immensely valuable to this Denver Nuggets team. But Jimmy Butler does a ton. A Jimmy Aaron Gordon, Christian Brown, 23, 4 is a much better defensive 234 than Christian Brown, Michael Porter Jr. Aaron Gordon. it's an influx of defensive talent. In the half court, you gain more versatility.

You still have the Murray-yokic two-man game, but now you have Jimmy Butler, who can either run two-man game and is just a much better version of Jamal Murray in terms of matchup hunting in ISO situations. So there's upside. My thing is the upside is relative to what they could fix

in-house with Michael Porter Jr., right? Same thing goes with Zach Levine. There's upside, right? Zach Levine is just an awesome offensive player, really good movement shooter, a guy that brings some of that offball scoring that Michael Porter Jr. does, but also bring some on-ball scoring, could be a two-man game partner with Yokin. That's pretty effective. But he's not, I don't think he's the type of off-ball defender and rebounder that Michael Porter Jr. is either. So there's risk there, right? I look at it from this perspective. Do I think, I think the reason why a lot of these teams are, or a lot of these fans are looking at potentially making a trade for Denver is because

they're worried. They're looking around and they're like, we look like a tier two team, which they are, for the record, Denver's a tier two team. They're not on that top tier with Cleveland, Boston, and Oklahoma City. And so you feel like you're not there. However, take this Denver team out of the equation and let's look at it in a vacuum. Yokic, best player in the world. If Jamal Murray can get back to 85, 90% of what he's like, and he has been playing better as of late. Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., Christian Brown, a fit that I actually like. Those five guys, I still think they're one of the scariest five-man lineups in the league,

especially with their ability to get better over the course of the season by getting back to their previous peaks as players. So you have to ask yourself, what gives the Nuggets the best chance to win the title? Everyone getting back to form and riding the continuity and Yokic's greatness to win in the playoffs, or a gamble. And there's been a lot of examples in NBA history,

like the Russell Westbrook trade, the Lakers where it's like you take that gamble thinking you're going to raise your ceiling and instead the bottom gets pulled out from you and now you're digging out of it for years. I think for this Nuggets team between those two options, their best bet to win the championship is to bet on continuity to bet on that five main group. That's just what I would do. That doesn't mean you don't explore options. It doesn't mean you don't look out there to see something can't be done. I just tend to lean towards that being the best option. I would look for like if you were to make some type of deal, I would try to do something with like,

Zeeq Najee's contract, something with the bench group to try to bring in talent by attaching draft compensation, just to increase your depth, maybe give you a shooting option at the two over Christian Brown in case that he becomes an offensive issue in the playoff series. But like, at the end of the day, like I think that team has a lot to bet on when it comes to continuity. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to. First people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes.

I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast. People could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series

because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing.

That man, hell get to fly. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not. stand by and allow any power however great take over another country from iHeart podcast Saigon please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman you don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam I should stop talking so much I like hearing you talk one city a divided country and the war that tore America apart this for Vietnam I've taken a hit from

Japanese ground fire you're pouring petrol all over him he's holding matches I'm on a landmine. For free time! Let's get out! Freedom, vomit! Run! Saigon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting, here's madness.

The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Crimless, we're joined by our first ever guest. Oh! Sorry, our first ever human guest. I don't think I could be in the same room with Shamrock the parrot. I'd be too nervous.

That's right. The very funny Will Ferrell joins Rory Scoble and me, Josh Dean, for an episode dedicated to the many crimes committed by people also named Will Ferrell. They called to his fellow officer for the nippers. What are the nippers? Very good question. No, I was thinking, would that be a good name for like a salad dressing? Simple assault.

And it's a play on word, salt? Maybe not. I say we invest and we see. There's only one way to know. This did not amuse the cops. By the way, normally the cops are amused, but this did not abuse the cops. Will even comes clean about some of his own crimes. I didn't get caught.

You know why? If you don't want to be suspected of anything, you whistle as you walk. Listen to crime lists on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Jason, love the show. I'm a Warriors fan, and I'm thinking about what trades we should make to become a real championship contender. I don't really understand the reason to trade for Vosovic or some mid-center because our best lineup in the playoffs will be Draymond at the 5. I like Cam Johnson if the trade doesn't include Wiggins or Jonathan Cominga. We probably won't get LeBron or KD. So I thought about the trade that would send Camiga and other role players with draft capital to New Orleans for Zion.

I think the Warriors, as a winning environment, would help Zion get through his struggles off the court. And as a basketball fit, he would just bring some downhill dominance that would open up everything for everyone in offense. On defense, he just has to do his job, and I think the defense will be fine. The trade is high risk, high reward, but if everything goes right, I think it puts us in a much better spot right now and for the future, and I think Zion would make us better than someone like Jimmy or Brandon Ingram. So what do you think about this idea? Is it stupid, or is there any trade that you would have in mind for Golden State?

And do you think a healthy starting five of Steph, Dennis, Cam, if we can pull that off two, Wiggins, Zion and Draymond, and the bench with like three reliable role players can bring us another chip? Sorry for such a long question, but I need to hear your opinion, have a good one. Again, this is really high risk. So, like, with me for the Warriors, I keep saying this, but they're an up and down team that's going to stay afloat in the regular season. So I don't think they need to do anything until you get to early February. When you get to early February, it's about how desperate you are

and what you're planning on doing, right? I tend to agree with you. A Cam Johnson deal that doesn't include Jonathan Kamanga is my favorite deal. I think Cam Johnson is a shoe-in fit within the Warriors' offense. If you can pull that off, that's the direction to go. I think that that has real ceiling-raising potential with very little in the way of risk, right? But there's a lot of people that could benefit from Cam Johnson. You might not win that bidding more.

You might find yourself up against it in February and have to really go all in. When I look at the Zion fit, I saw this going around Kevin O'Connor suggested it on his show, I think, if I remember correctly. There's real upside. Zion, when he's healthy, is one of the hardest players in the league to contain in terms of dribble penetration. There's a lot to get excited about in terms of a Zion Steph two man game. There's some complications. The Draymond Zion fit in particular on both ends of the floor, meaning when Zion's looking to drive, he loves these slot drives. You get them on like the right wing, you create a gap where you have Steph spacing on the left wing above the break,

two corner spacers, Draymond's probably in the dunker spot. And Zion loves to just get to the high hesitation dribble with his left hand and then just try to get a left hand to drive towards the middle. And he's just going to run into Draymond's man and help a lot of those situations. In Steph, in Steph Zion two-man game, Draymond's man will be available and help a lot of the time. So there's some clunkiness there, but it's an undeniable influx of real offensive talent. On the defensive end of the floor, I don't mean the fit in Draymond and Zion in terms of Dremon. I mean, Dremont would have to find a way to help Zion on the floor as a coach and communicator to make sure that he could be a viable off-ball defensive threat.

Point is, really high risk. So you wait till February, and maybe that ends up being your best option, but you got to look at how things look when you get to early February. And we will. We'll talk about that when we get closer, but like there's a lot of risk with Zion, so you would just want to wait to see how things look in terms of the information when you get into that early February stretch. I would be lying to you if I didn't say I wanted to see what that looks like, though.

Three more quick ones. As a depressed Warriors fan, what do you think would be a fun B team to watch? I'm looking for a team that is a unique and exciting star like Steph, but is also more winning, so both teams I'm watching aren't losing frequently. Thank you for all the content. I see the Kaz, dude.

I've really, really enjoyed watching them this season. Darius Garland in particular is a player you guys will really enjoy watching. He reminds me of Steph in his ability to get wherever he wants on the floor, although Steph does it by weaponizing his shooting, with elite ball handling. Dary Scarlane has like otherworldly quickness. And it's really fun to watch him pick defenses apart. Evan Mowgli's a lot of fun to watch as well.

They play hard every single night. They're super well coached. Their off ball player movement and connectivity on offense is top tier. They're an incredibly fun team to watch. Check out the Cleveland Cavaliers if you haven't done so yet. Next question. Mailback question. Keon Ellis for the Lakers. Perfect.

Yeah. Kian Ellis would. is the ideal type of player I'd want next to Austin Reeves. But I don't think the Sacramento Kings are ever going to do a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. They're just a team that I think, they know that they're fan base. Because Kings fans love Keon Ellis. If you trade Keon Ellis to the Lakers, a team that all Kings fans hate, you will get your fan base to revolt on you.

You'd have to have a pretty incredible return on that deal. Last question. Did you catch the Ryan Rusillo podcast? about three years ago when Colin Cowherd was the guest. Early in the show, Colin basically said you were Rosillo, as in working harder than anyone else in the business, even mentioned that he told you to take weekends off and wanted you to spend some time with your wife. Also said, knowing that everything, also said knowing everything isn't what makes an A plus sports talk show host, but things like timing, humor, and some extra icing on the cake. I've noticed that I used to listen

to every podcast episode you made in your first years of the volume, but haven't been able to do as much this year with the expanded coverage. So I'm wondering, how have you taken Colin's comments to Ryan? Really appreciate the show. and learning more about the teams I'm not familiar with. Keep up the great work and be sure to take some time. So ironically, I was at, I was working out at the gym. My wife and I have a membership of this place called F-45. My wife did it for years before I did it.

And then I got kind of roped into trying it. And then I immediately fell in love with it because it's just an awesome basketball workout. A lot of like conditioning-related leg strength, which is just awesome for basketball. A lot of like different types of leg strength exercises from different angles, different weight distribution.

and a lot of knees over toe stuff, a lot of single leg stuff, a lot of stuff that's just really good for basketball. And it's just been really good for me. I'm feeling great physically as a result of it. But I was working out at at 45, and one of the guys in there that works out just ran up on me and was like,

hey, I was listening to the Rusillo podcast the other day, and they shouted you out. You need to check it out. And I listened to that bit. And it's kind of funny because, to make a long story short, like, this was a dream of mine to work in this business. I, like, worked two jobs for a while

to try to make it happen. And when I got my opportunity, I became like paranoid or terrified of losing my opportunity, losing my footing in the business, so to speak. And so I worked with a layer of desperation, especially in the first two years to where I would work on vacation. I was taking travel equipment with me. I was doing six episodes a week during the regular season, 14 episodes a week during the postseason, I was just killing myself. And shout out to my wife and my friends and stuff and family at home for being supportive of that. But I was, it was stupid.

I shouldn't have done that. But I did because I just really, really wanted to make this work. And Colin, Logan, our head of content at the volume, those guys were all behind the scenes so supportive of me taking more time off. And more importantly, like when I'm taking time off, not working. Like, like, I remember recording of multiple videos out of my cruise ship room on an Alaskan cruise in the summer of a couple years ago. You have any idea how stupid that is? That's so dumb.

Like, why was I doing that? It was the summer. Like, it's just not necessary. But, like, it was just kind of the way that I was doing it. And this year, I did so much better. I went on my ski trips. Didn't work. Like, did little basic things like pre-recording content so that I could take the occasional.

three-day weekend here or there. Or over the summer, when we got into that like August, September stretch, you guys saw, I only did new episodes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. There's just no reason to kill myself during that time of the year when there wasn't anything to talk about, really, right? And so I've been better at it. I think I could probably still get better. My wife is still talking to me about trying to cut back.

I struggle with that. I feel like I've already kind of cut back to the point where I'm comfortable. but we'll see how it evolves over the years. It's just, I know what it's like being a fan of a show. I'm still a fan of some shows and wanting to have new content. And I just, I know that that matters to you guys. And I always feel this like anxiety about covering teams. Like I will, you know, obviously I hit the Lakers and Warriors Celtics, those teams a lot.

But then there's like this group of, you know, 15 other teams that are relevant in the league that I'm always rotating through. And I always just feel this like, God, I got to hit this team. team. Like, I really need to hit this team. Like, there's some teams, like, there's some teams that I, I feel that anxiety now. Like, I need to find time to hit this team. I need to feel time to hit that team. And like, like, then I'll look back at my feed and I'll be like, I've hit on 25 teams in the last three weeks. Like, why am I, you know, why am I so concerned about this? But it's just like, a lot of times it just is that, that anxiety that kind of leads me to just do that extra episode, force that extra thing that I probably shouldn't. But I'm getting, I'm getting better at it as time

goes on and I think the big thing that I just want to say, you know, since we're at the end here, like, you know, it's been three years as of February 1st and this has become such a cool thing to watch grow. And I'm just incredibly thankful for you guys because I just wouldn't have this opportunity. I wouldn't have the setup that I have right now if it wasn't for you guys and supporting me and supporting the show. I just, I am just incredibly thankful for you guys and I could never express it enough. But that's all I have for today and for this weekend. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys.

I hope you guys enjoy the weekend, enjoy some relaxation. We will be back on Monday with our usual routine, power rankings and the whole bit. I'll see you guys then. What's up, guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting hoops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us. But if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.

Hey guys, it's us The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips.

This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they hit a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex?

Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. so let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.

And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis keep coming to you. You know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love.

This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.