The Ringer NBA Show - The Resilient Knicks Storm Back Against the Pacers. Plus, an Honest Conversation About the Denver Nuggets. | Group Chat

Episode Date: May 9, 2024

Justin, Rob, and Wos start by recapping the Knicks' comeback win over the Pacers to go up 2-0 (4:50). They also talk about the Knicks' injury woes and how that will impact them moving forward. Then they move to the Timberwolves, who are heading back to Minnesota up 2-0. They talk about what’s going wrong for the Nuggets and the outstanding defense and vastly improved offense from the Timberwolves (37:52). After that, they wrap up by briefly talking about Thunder-Mavs and Celtics-Cavs (50:08). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Justin Verrier, Rob Mahoney, and Wosny Lambre Producer: Isaiah Blakely Additional Production Supervision: Ben Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sure, the weather is getting warmer and you're probably planning your next vacation with your family, but what better way to avoid your family on that vacation than listening to three dudes argue about quarterback tears if you can trust a wide receiver over 30 years old, and if Jim Harbaugh still thinks chickens are nervous birds. Join me, Craig Horlebeck, along with Danny Hyfitts and Danny Kelly every week on the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. Welcome to Group Chat. I am Justin Barrier and joining me, the boys are back in town.

Rob Mahoney, Big Was. Rob, glad to have you back. Thank you. How did it go without me? Great, honestly. Well, thanks. No, there's different vibes, I would say, because I had to do the back-to-back on the weekend episodes

with just you and then just Waz. I would say with you, it's like an opportunity to talk about all the nerd stuff. I was like, let's go, Nikola Yovic conversation for 12 minutes. With Waz, it's more like, let's just be careful if we don't start a race war here. So different energy, but I like both. What's weird is when it's me and Waz, was starts busting out the stats. Like he goes full nerd when you're not around.

I just got to pander to whoever I'm talking to. That's really what it is. I know, Berrier wants to get his Northeastern bro blowhard on, which, you know, obviously I can relate to. And Rob wants to get into the weeds, the nitty gritty. You feel me? This is why we work.

This is why this show works, Justin. And here we're all together. I feel like the energy is just different when we're all together. You know, this feels right. This is full squad. But speaking of the energy being right and the full squad coming together, we have another announcement, which, Rob, I think you know what that means. Thank you.

Beautiful. So your boys are doing another live show. And not just any old live show. Group chat is kicking off the ringer's first ever residency this summer in Los Angeles. They're doing it at the L. Ray Theater. They're going to do a couple of shows between June and July. but group chat is the opening act. Group chat live Tuesday, June 18th at 8 p.m.

Tickets go on sale next Tuesday, May 14th at 10 a.m. Pacific. You can find out all the details at the ringer.com slash events early next week. Again, that's group chat live from the L.Rae Theater in Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 18th at 8 p.m. tickets go on sale next week, Tuesday, May 14th at 10 a.m. Pacific. Let's go. They really locked us in to a prestigious.

spot too. I feel like you know you want to be the closer obviously but we're we're being announced first in the starting lineup. I feel like that's something. Definitely something in a smack dab in the NBA finals which obviously we're going to be super excited about and covering also. Hey man, shout out to the Larry O'Brien trophy that made a stop at the ring of offices. Shout out to the literal trophy. The actual the actual NBA championship trophy was at the ringer offices today, got to snap a couple of fixed. That thing is 26 pounds. It's not light.

It's kind of crazy. Just super dope, super surreal moment for somebody like me who's been a basketball fan for literally 30 plus years. It really puts in a perspective when an 80-year-old team governor has to hoist that thing over their heads. You know, it's crazy. It looks like light work, but it's not. Well, maybe they'll give us some trophies or something to put on stage with us when we do

this live show because I got to say you're right Rob I think there's some pressure going first we have to set the tone for everybody else we have to kill it so they have to go on and follow us afterwards so maybe we'll bring some special guests into the mix who knows but we're going in between I believe it would be game five and game six of the NBA finals you don't have to miss any NBA playoff action you just come hang out with your boys and just just talk some shit you know as we typically do is that what we do here if we do anything else I I wouldn't be aware of it And just to reiterate what Justin was saying, obviously we like to have a lot of fun up here, but the live show experience is just a different thing.

It's just a different energy when you're, you know, have a live audience and you're able to feed off of a crowd. And it's just going to be a dope time. So make sure you guys get those tickets on Tuesday. Will there be jerseys? Who knows? There will not. I can assure you. I can assure you there will not.

Plain clothes only. I'll say this. Are we cooking some things? up. We got some ideas in the mix here. We'll see that. We're going to talk about the rest of the second round series, such as it is, but we have to start with the barn burner in Madison Square

Garden, one of the 20th so far in this postseason, Nix 130 Pacers 121. And my first thought was, is just the Nicks have some dogs. Like, every single game, it seems like it comes down to the Nicks just making those extra plays, those offensive

rebounds, those get on the floor, floor burn, Tibbsian style plays and yet again Di Vincenzo, all those guys came through for them. He's Italian. No, it's kind of crazy to watch

where, you know, Reggie and them are calling and Stan Van Gundy, they're pointing out that the Nick's strategy every single fourth is to literally bludgeon the opponent on the offensive glass and give the ball to Jalen Brunton and get the hell up out the way.

And this game was no exception The crazy thing, too, is that the Pacers went into halftime with a nice lead. And I thought the first half of this game is the first time I saw the Knicks get out-efforted this entire postseason. The Pacers were like a step ahead on everything in transition. Their passing was so crisp in the half court. Like, they were kind of dissecting the Knicks' defense in the first half. And I was like, wow, this is kind of crazy. Then, of course, Brunson, which I'm sure we'll get into.

goes out with a bad foot, misses the entire second quarter. It's like, oh, man, hold on. This might be the tide of the series shifting. And then inevitably Brunson comes back, has another magnificent second quarter, has a dominant fourth quarter, is every bit the closer of, like, I don't, I can't, I'm out of superlatives with like what this guy is doing every single fourth quarter, just getting it done. And these guys, you know, managed to get another win.

They won by nine. I think the score is a little bit exaggerating how dominant they were. This was a tight game, basically the entire way, for 90-something percent of the game. But, man, you just got to tip your hat to this group. For sure. And the contrast felt very much was like a do you have it early or do you have it late? And I do think the Pacers have had that going in both games. They're hitting the offensive glass in the first quarter hard.

And in the fourth quarter, it's a bunch of guys standing around and an offense that's not really going anywhere versus the Knicks have that combination where they're playing super hard. They are bludgeoning guys. They are battling for every loose ball and every offensive rebound they can get their hands on. But they're also keeping their heads.

They pull down the rebound and then they're looking to wheel and deal. They're trying to find the open man. They're not trying to force anything even in these like pressure-packed chaotic situations. And the fact that you can have it both ways where you can be that kind of gamer and play that hard all in those moments,

it's how you get through games like this. even when you're missing like half of your lineup. Yeah. Halliburton looked alive for the first time in maybe the entire playoffs. He looked like the Halliburton of old. He was moving. He had six shots the entire game in game one.

He was four for eight in the first quarter. So clearly he made a conscious effort to come out, try to do what he typically have been doing. And the third quarter disappeared like magic. And I think part of it, honestly, is that Brunson came back. Like it felt like both MSG and the team just sparked in a way.

that we've seen before where there's just like this magic going on with this team in that atmosphere and they all kind of rallied back and you saw those guys start to click into place

a little bit more than they had been a little out of sync when Brunson was out of there like I don't want to just chalk it up to just like the dark arts but was you've been in MSG plenty of times like

it does feel like something's going on there they just have just a special link to Jalen Brunson one of my Nick fan homies dubbed him the Savior just now. After this game. Not KD. I thought KD was the savior. The servant.

You get it right. You get it right. Close enough. Dude, the crowd literally, they just lose their mind anytime he makes a bucket, particularly when he's doing the one-on-one, just break the dude down in ISO variety, where it's like all of this dribbling, step back, long two, and he's just

switching these shots, canning them. It's insane. And Nemhart, he's just basically abusing the guy. I thought McConnell did a decent job of pressuring him, making him work, even frustrating him at times. But the proof is just there, guys. Like, in the first quarter, he was doing his thing. He went out with the injury.

He came back in the second half and just dominated. Like, the crowd is reacting to this because he's carried them through an entire series. and now he's doing it again the exact same way. The guy scored before this game, of course, can't not mention this before this game, four straight games of 40 points, leading the playoffs in scoring at 36.5 points per game. Okay, I'm sure that came down.

It's probably closer to like 34 now. Still, absurd. The people that had four straight 40 points is Michael Jordan, Jerry West, Bernard King, another famous Nick, but just he's just been incredible. He's averaging another eight and a half assist. The crowd is responding. Yet again.

Of course. He knew Rob was coming back. There we go. The crowd is responding to the best individual Nick playoff player since who? Since who? I don't know. Do you want to do that right now?

Because I'd ask you guys before we came on, like who's on the Knicks Mount Rushmore because I think this is becoming an increasingly interesting discussion because at a certain point, Jill and Brunson seemed like a guy, you know, he seemed like a guy that like the Knicks can maybe build around. Maybe just add some stuff and he would be the number three. At this point, he is the centerpiece for whatever they're going to do, at least for the fan base. And now I think we're in the conversation of like, where does he stand in terms of all of the Nick Greats that have come before him? What was? Who if you had to come up with your Mount Rushmore? I know we're

kind of on the spot here. Like, who is on your list? I mean, my personal Mount Rushmore is a little bit different and obviously a little bit more objective. I mean, subjective. Alan Houston and Spreewell and Pat Ewing are automatics for me. Wow. Particularly Spreewell, who-

He's got to be. Talk about a guy that had a special connection with the crowd at the garden. It was LaTrell Spreewell. This is Jalen Brunce's, what, second year with the name? It's crazy to think about it. He's already royalty. He's just been ushered in. It's bonkers.

But like, I've never seen a Nick this dominant on offense in my life. They had Carmelo Anthony in his prime, y'all. A guy with a pedigree with 10 plus all-stars, all MBAs, a Hall of Fame career. Carmelo has never been this good in the postseason in a New York Nick uniform. Even when Pat was at his best, a lot of his impact is happening on D.E. defense. You know, he's a center, so he's sort of anchoring the offense. But Pat early on, pretty early in his career for a big man, had developed a perimeter game, a face-up game. They weren't, like, basing the entire offense around like these, you know, inside out,

whatever, whatever type of thing. Jalen Brunson's on the freaking Mount Rushmore. Like the 70s, 70s guys, you know, Walt DeBusher, Bill Bradley, Earl the Pearl, those guys. They're legends. You know, I can't really speak to that. Bernard King, another Nick legend, who probably the last time a Nick player was this brilliant in the postseason offensively, which again, this was like 1983 or whatever it was. Guys, I was not even born yet.

So we're talking about 40 years in between Nick playoff brilliance on an individual level. Look, man, people always talk about how crazy insanity was and the energy and all of that stuff behind it. these were regular season games against Jose Calderon, okay? Like, at, like, at the end of the day, this is something of a completely different scale. Brun sanity.

Yeah. Brun sanity. Let's run with it. Nah. Nah. But it will not be forgotten that Waz tried to chisel Alan Houston's face into the rock over Bernard King. Well, look, man. Alan Houston, a dude who I would say will be most remembered in the NBA,

memory for there being a rule created to wave him without penalty. That is his namesake. Good player, great waving. Who should be on the Mount Rushmore? If we're not factoring in the warm and fuzzies from Wazza's childhood. Well, are we celebrating greatness or we celebrating relevance? Because, you know, I think with the presidents on the Mount, you can go both ways sometimes. Is Jim Dolan on Nick's Mount Rushmore?

No. Absolutely not. One of the most relevant figures in Nick's history. Maybe they check it's is. JD in the straight shot plays in the headphones that you put on as you're going through the tour. To do the guided tour. Okay. Bing Bong guy.

Is Bing Bong guy in there? Yeah, we need to find out that guy's name. No, but I mean, I think most people would say Bernard, probably. Bernard Ewing Brunson. And then the fourth spot is dealer's choice. I agree with Waz that I think spree is that guy. Hmm. No Starks.

No Col Alder. Somehow not Cole Aldrich. No, Stark's. Mason would get some, obviously, New York Nick fans are going to be yelling at me. Mason would obviously get consideration. He's like an Erd Nick. Charles Oakley, the same, right? You know, Huber Davis, not so much. Greg Anthony, not so much. Clyde, yeah, of course. Rick Brunson, not so much. But, you know, Charlie Ward is a guy that I hold near and dear to my heart. Chris Childs, right? Steve Francis.

Zach Randolph Stefan Marbury Shannon Anderson Yeah I heard Steve Novak was in the house For this game You know

They're really bringing everybody He's a legend Steve Novak is a legend Oh man Yeah no I mean Brunson was incredible I do think we need

To give some love To the other Knicks I mean I feel like They need to start playing The Bash Brothers Clips from Mighty Ducks Whenever Donovan

Dante Divensenzo or Josh Hart does something Because these are the two key stats I think from this game First of all, Dante Diefenzo, six for 12 from three. Which is his wise tweeted out just a link, no text during this game,

completely changed his three-point shot. Hart now averaging 46 and a half minutes in the playoffs. These are his minute totals from each game throughout the playoffs going backwards from this game. 48, 48, 46, 53, 45, 43, 48, 48, 41. How is that possible? what's going on there? He's not going to like live past 35. I'm like honestly afraid for him, but right now he is a legend.

This is kind of what's amazing about the Knicks, though, is, you know, Jalen Brunson leaves this game for a stretch. O.G. and Anobie has to leave for the entire fourth quarter and we'll have to see what his status is with the sore hamstring. Not only are you replacing what those guys do on the floor and they're awesome. You're replacing guys who basically play 90% of the team's minutes. And so how this roster stretches. to accommodate those things and still pulls out a game like this. I'm an awe of it.

I think a lot of it is Brunson and what he was able to do on that foot in terms of the D-King required just to get open every time when you're being denied that way. Beating Andrew Nemhard, who I agree is playing technically pretty solid defense and yet it didn't mean a damn thing any possession that Brunson wanted to go against him.

And then I thought OG when he did play gave them so much cutting and in the chaos of these moments, just like coming up with random points. It ended up having an awesome game to the point that when he did leave, Pascal Seaccom's eyes got a little wide at the idea of attacking Preciouss to Chua instead.

So we'll have to see what they look like without him for full games and just like how they get through 48 without OG in there. He was magnificent tonight. Even the guys on the broadcast were commenting upon what this guy was doing on offense. It was insane, putting it on the floor,

getting to the basket, made a couple of pocket passes, beautiful left-hand finishes in the lane. It was nuts with it. He made a bunch of threes. I think he had three-three-point makes in the first half. OG was magnificent in this game before, of course, inevitably coming out with what they're calling is a sore hammy. But, man, that had Zion vibes on it, honestly, when I saw it. The way he came up so gimpy on the attempt, could not move afterwards, basically.

they had to get a take file to get them out of there. That's obviously alarming. The Knicks keep losing players. I would say Zion was more mobile getting off the floor than OG was. And some of that's the shock of that moment, right? Like your leg seizes up, your body seizes up a little bit. We'll wait and see, but it didn't look good and it looked like he knew it wasn't good. Tibbs also refused to call a timeout.

They had like 10 seconds of a possession before they went the other way, even though OG was awfully. He's like, dude, just stand there in the dunker spot. You just have to gut throw. It was the most tib shit ever. These guys are going to die out there. Somebody's going to go down. Yes.

OG had the type of game, the offensive performance that I think he would like to believe that he does all the time. He had a lot of gripes in the Toronto era, especially toward the end there, where he wanted to expand his game. A very Miles Turner-esque plea to want to do more, even though he is at his best being kind of a straight line, straightforward 3-and-D drive to the basket when he has opportunity, sort of guy. But he looked awesome at times here.

Career playoff high, 28 points in this game before he went out. We'll see about him. Mitchell Robinson also out. Julius Randall also out. So these injuries are really mounting. Boyan Bogdanovich also still out. This is nuts. It's unbelievable. But we do have to talk about Isaiah Hartenstein, who functionally was the point guard for this team. And I actually loved the tweak that they made earlier.

early on there where it seemed like they were playing through Hartenstein at the elbow in order to get Brunson off the ball to get kind of circumvent some of the harassing defense the Pacers were trying to put against him obviously it helped later on when Brunson was a little bit more hobbled but Hartinstein man this guy just comes up with new parts of his game like pretty much every couple weeks here I'm just like I'm blown away this isn't new he's he's been this guy to this level though like some of those dimes were the nine assists today was kind of crazy The one where they trap Brunson near half court, he gives the pass to Hartenstein, basically sort of foul line extended. No hesitation whips it to DiVenzo in the corner, Splash 3.

I'm just like, just the speed with which he read the defense and knew exactly who to go to the ball with. just amazing, man. This guy is just incredible. And another thing that he was doing, again, they kept mentioning it on the broadcast, he's providing this like pressure release valve at the free throw line, right? Like he's just staying there.

Whenever guys get to drive all the way to the lane and the help inevitably comes, they know they have a safety blanket at the free throw line who can shoot that little push shot. Or again, we see it when they call that fall. double dribble on him in the back court. He's not afraid to put the rock on the floor, guys. Lamar Odom-esque, dare I say.

Okay, all right. Hart and Steve is, come on, Rob. Looking like the new Yokic, except he actually plays defense. Wow. All right. All right. All right. Listeners are getting a preview of Justin's Yokit's revenge coming up.

Feels good. But Justin, what was the Hart and Hartenstein collective, name? Heart Foundation. The Heart Foundation. Man, the heart to Hartenstein, like, drive hard into the teeth of the defense dump off pass is just like one of my favorite combos in basketball right now. Hardinstein was awesome, and I think it was great recognition by the Knicks of, okay, Brunson's hurting, clearly hurting. He's going to have to pick his spots, and yet he transcended that anyway. Where do we create advantages? Because it's not Josh Hart cooking one-on-one, unless he's taken it coast to coast off a rebound and attacking in transition.

It's not letting Dante try to break down the man in front of him or even running pick and roll. It's making use of all these cutters. Like making use of what you do well and the intuitive way that all these guys read the floor. And the fact that you have a high post passer like Hardinstein, it's what ties it all together. It's the mechanism that made a lot of the Knicks offense in this game makes sense. Yes. The Knicks have been able to persevere with all of these injuries that are mounting because all these guys are just keep raising their game enough,

pretty much every step of the way. But we should talk about the injuries in general here because the Nick series was pretty much the lone series left on the board that wasn't hampered by an injury to a star. Well, of the Julius Randall, I guess. Yeah, right. That was just a foregone conclusion going to the play.

All-star, all-MBA guy, Justin. It's true. Respect on his name. Because you certainly have been past podcast. Big Julius Randall guy over here. Mitchell Robinson star in our hearts. I love Mitchell Robinson, RIP. But these things are starting to mount in a way that I think is noticeable.

I am typically the person who's a wait and see with this sort of stuff. I think we can overreact sometimes to injuries, especially in the spotlight, in these big old moments, especially to superstars. When you look at the data sometimes after the dust is cleared, and it's like, actually, this is pretty typical, right? I do think now we're at the point where we have to. to start looking at it pretty hard and asking some questions because Kevin Pelton did a story on ESPN pretty recently suggesting that we are on a troubling pace where we were going into the second

round and it has only kind of snowballed from here like guys are playing like Luca and whatnot. But a lot of these guys series are probably going to come down to superstars not being up to snuff. And like here's another one. Brunson came back, Rob, but you know, there's still some lingering doubt here. It just feels like this is happening too much. Does it seem the same way to you? It's hard to say. I agree that we can be prisoners of the moment. My general opinion of it

is that when you zoom out and really look back, there's moments, especially once you get past the first round where somebody is hobbled. There's always like a star who ends up missing

game four of a series or is questionable and like tufts it out just to get back on the floor. Those guys are always in the mix. And especially if your team makes a long run, you're going to be missing

somebody crucial at some point. The magic of it is how you overcome that. And that's what the Knicks seem to have right now, is even though Brunson is ailing for now, they've been able to get the most out of everyone else on their roster. Could OG on top of it be a little too much? I think that's a pretty realistic scenario in terms of their long-term playoff hopes. But so far so good.

And I would say as we're kind of looking around the league, I think it hurts because of the specific players who are hurt are the high usage, like crucial scores and operators of their offense, right? It's not just Luca, but now Jalen Brunson and Jamal Murray. It's all these guys who their teams don't really function the same without them. Yeah, the stars obviously are the headliners. It's who a lot of the casual fans show up to watch. And so when Luca, again, the Clippers were such a limited opponent. He didn't play good in that Clipper series individually.

Of course, he made plays. He's Luca Donchish, but individually, he just could not score as efficiently as we've become accustomed to from Luca Donchich. Right. Obviously, the Jamal Murray situation, you know, I think he took the thing off the calf to try to trick himself into thinking that things were going to be better. But he looks like a complete shell of himself. Even poor Zingis, to a lesser extent, you know, he's the locking key, the secret to the championship in Boston. That's a big loss. Like, it's going to be hard for them to succeed throughout the rest of the playoffs when competition, you know, increases without poor Zingis. Like, you know, as much as I like to pillory that, like,

like he's one of their best players. I think it is tough. It's unfortunate, but I think it's just part of the NBA now, man. This thing is a war of attrition. You got to have your guns ready when you start the playoffs and the teams that have the most healthy bodies tend to have the best advantages.

It just is what it is, man. I think the broader question is how much are the rules to get guys to play in order to be eligible for all NBA having a trickle-down effect into the playoffs now. And it's kind of unknowable, but I think it's probably a bad at the very least PR sign that a lot of these stars are going down. How much of that is the cause and effect? It's really tough to say, but I find it very disappointing for whatever reason it is ultimately that pretty much every series, my analysis ultimately defaults to, well, if this guy wasn't hobbling, this could be a completely different series. I mean, Luca, first and foremost, is that.

If you watch that game one against OKC, like, he just wasn't right. And OKC maybe still wins that series regardless, but not even getting to see a full Luca, Kyrie backcourt go against that and try to overcome that. It's just disappointing. This was supposed to be just an awesome second round series. And so far it's been, you know, it's been fine.

I just feel like we've been doing that as long as I can remember, right? It's always, oh, Steph turns his ankle. Oh, Kevin Love was out. Oh, Kyrie was out. It didn't count. Oh, Chris Bosch missed those games. Like, there's always a caveat. He missed those games against Boston and Indiana,

came back, helped them. win that damn series in 2012. LeBron might not have gotten that championship in 2012. If Bosch didn't come back. But he did have like, what was it, like a rib, abdominal situation? This is stuff that goes on. It's just, I don't know, man. Like, you know, we're going to get into the Nugget series.

Like, the Wolves didn't have Jaden McDaniels. It was self-inflicted. He shouldn't have broke his hand. But, you know, they didn't have him last playoffs. He's proven to be a really important guy. And now the Nuggets have a guy. that's messed up. I just think this is kind of the flow of things in the league today. And look, man, so long as we're going to play this long as protracted as season, this is what it's going to be.

There's no two ways around it. I kind of fall in line with you guys. I think the one thing was troubling that I read in the Pelton piece was that All-Stars through the playoffs had missed one fewer games than All-Stars had missed in this first round. So this year, it was at 10 going into this round. All-Stars had missed 11 games in total in last year's postseason. So, like, that's the type of thing that jumps out to me and like, huh, maybe this is sort of something affecting this, but we'll see there. We should talk about Halliburn, another guy we didn't even talk about as being hampered here.

I guess the question is, at this point, do we think he's hampered? Because like we said in the first half was, Halliburne looked like the Halliburton of old. but then just kind of disappeared down the stretch. And I think you have to start thinking if you're Rick Carlisle, after you just pay the fines from your technicals tonight, whether you have to make some adjustments. You play TJ Moore down the stretch. He looked like he was going pretty well.

And then they pulled them from Nemhart to close the game. I think Hallie, his, I don't think he's right yet. Because early on in the season, when he was at his best, he was attacking the hell out of these closeouts. When teams, because that had always kind of been the book on him, make him prove it to you in two-point range. Make him prove it to you at the cup. Make it prove it to you driving towards the basket.

Stop, make a pull-up. Stop, make a floater. He was dominating in those areas early on in the season. And I think in the first half, the Knicks kind of just had the scouting report wrong and was just like, oh, let's just look at the percentage and just let Halliburton get a catch and shoot standstill. three. Or if he comes, you know, off of the pick and roll, let's go completely under, let him gather himself, check the wind, take a three and swish it. Like, that's not the defense. The book

on him right now, run him off the three point line and dare him to do something in two point range. That's it. And in the second half, they did a much better job of staying connected to his body. They did a much better job of running him off the three point line. And even on his drives, they played him for the pass. Right. Like when they, when he attacked the close out on the drive, they knew he wasn't trying to score and got a few deflections and turnovers off of that. So I think he just got, he got free for some open three point looks, but if the Knicks are on their job defensively, they're covering that thing up. Yeah. You're right that when he was driving, he wasn't even really looking at the rim at all. And that's a

problem. That's where you wonder, is it a lack of trust in that leg, given where his body is right now, is it him still going through, you know, initial playoff experiences and growing pains? And also, is it just like the complete mayhem of playing against the Knicks? When these guys are flying around, the game is incredibly physical. And even when you do get run off the three point line, you know, Isaiah Hardinstein's waiting for you in the pain, right? You've got big bodies and shot blockers, even without Mitchell Robinson, who are waiting to swat your shit away.

And you can see the hesitation there. You can see him looking to make the quote unquote right play. And in Halliburton's defense, not only was he a good score in that first half, I thought some of his passing was exceptional. The no look stuff that was opening up meaningful scores and opportunities. That's something that not a lot of point guards can do. But part of that job of running point is knowing when you have to score and knowing when you have to press. And right now he doesn't look comfortable when he has to press for his own offense. That's just the reality of it.

So I think the question probably comes down to do you need to play TJ Moore? On the one hand, TJ's been playing very well, and he definitely has some Reggie Miller in him. You know, he definitely will get into it in the way that you probably need in a series like this that is becoming so physical. And it has to be physical, because the Knicks are going to play like that

48 minutes a game, including Josh Howard. The perfect case. Indiana's own. The winner of our last live show draft single-handedly for team was, T.J. McConnell. The other side of that, though, he might cramp the spacing. And as you saw, like, pretty much when the broadcast brought up the idea that they had traded off T.J.

for Nemhart, Nemhart at least hit a catch and shoot three. He could do some of that, right? Whereas T.J. He might hit two threes this entire playoffs. And so, would you lean one way or another? I'm actually leaning T.J. has to play more. The Knicks are having, I can't believe I'm saying this in a playoff game in the second round. The Knicks are having trouble dealing with his pace.

Yeah. When he's in the game, he is dictated. tempo to the New York Knicks. And even so obviously I think Carlisle is just like I don't want to like mechanize all of my possessions because I have to put TJ on the ball when he's in the game.

Let's be real about that though because when he's on the floor your team becomes a T.J. McConnell team. Yes. Yeah. But it's working against the Knicks though. It is working. It's definitely working. The OB and, um, TJ lineup is dominating.

They are kicking ass when they come in. It's just their pace, their energy. They are like out hustling, outrunning, out-energing the New York Knicks when those two guys are playing. And so I think that's a good tradeoff, especially when you consider the defense that he's playing on the ball. I think the Nemhard thing, so the reason why it's tough to play him with Halley because it's just like, Are we just turning Hallie into a completely offball guy? It feels like we should be doing more with Hallie. But to me, Hallie's at the point where he should only be attacking closeouts and scrambling defenses.

He's just not really, I think he kind of should be going off ball, trying to get some movement jump shots going, trying to just be, you know, a spacer and a spotter. When TJ's out there, I really do think they need to find more minutes for TJ McCown. Like, I feel like I'm going to get struck by lightning right now. by saying that. He was unbelievable, though. And I think it also comes down to the idea of Andrew Nemhart, who has been a good offensive player for the Pacers throughout these playoffs.

He's been able to do some things that not many other guys in the team can do, like calmly step in and hit mid-range jumpers, like be a release valve on the weak side when the ball swings his way. I think he's done a good job. But we know what he is in the half court and it's not transformational. And down the stretches of these games, it's not really helping the Pacers be any less stodgy. And so then it's how do we rev up what we do? How do we change the pace of this entire game?

And the tempo with Halliburton and McConnell out there together is just turned all the way up. And that's something where it's like, do you want to do what's like marginally better for your half court offense? Or do you want to do what's going to get you out in the open floor more? And I think for as physical as this game is and it is playoff basketball, there are opportunities to run here. There are opportunities to run down the Knicks throat when they're hitting the offensive glass. but it helps to have another ball-pushing ball handler out there. And Andrew Nemhard is a good player, but he's not really that. And again, I think he's creating his own spacing with his dribble attacks.

Like he's forcing the defense to bend to his will, and he's making these crisp, smart passes. Also, this Ben Shepard kid who I'd never heard of in my entire life, cannot miss a three. It's insane. Like, and when it leaves his. I just know what's going in. It's incredible stash on that guy.

That's been one of the best, like, in-season role player emergencies. Ben Shepard did not really have a place on the Pacers earlier in the year. Ben Matherin's injury in part cleared some minutes out for him, and they, like, they invested, and it's really paid off. He's a good 3-&D player for them. Plus 12 tonight, y'all. Yeah, I thought this was going to be an advantage for the Pacers going into the series, and it was for a large stretch of game one.

And I wonder if it is going forward. now if OG isn't able to play. I mean, Tibbs' counter is probably going to be to play six guys at this point. And just to play his starters even more minutes. And I wonder if the running actually has more of an effect as the series goes on. Totally. Hilariously, before these injuries started mounting up even more, TIPS was as pregame if Alec Berks was like a possibility for the lineup.

And I think he said something to the effect of, well, everybody's a possibility. And that proved to be a reality. Alex Brooks came in, played one minute, never heard from again, just vanished into the depths of MSG. With Fandul, it's never too late to get in on the action this NBA playoffs,

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I like the OKC Thunder minus five in game two against the Mavericks. I'm not sold on Luca Donchich. Have you seen him kind of hobling up and down the court? Thunder looked pretty good defending him. And I also think they have so many wings at this point that they could probably lose half the roster and maybe still win that game. So give me the thunder minus five in game two.

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See terms at sportsbook.fando.com. Well, speaking of things that you guys would like to vanish, let's talk about game two of the Nuggets versus the Timberwolves. you know my friends I will be so proud as to not admit that in my darkest hour I think about my place

in this world you know what am I contributing to society like what am I offering up to the world I want to be skepticism no I think what I found in game one

is that my place is as the messenger you know a truth teller really yes to speak truth to power

to go from my ear, from my lips to God's lips, back to my lips, to your ears. Okay. To ask you this question. Tell me how my ass tastes. Tell me how my ass tastes. Robbie, how does my ass taste? Oh, boy. Yeah.

I fucking love it. This is great. I'm going to say what I said before this series, because I do want to kind of distinguish myself a little bit from some of the Yokic Nuggettes haters that have come out in droves. Well, you know, I'm definitely part of the pack, but I'm silent. You know, I don't want to actually. Part of the silent majority.

Yeah, I'm part of the super pack, but I just don't want my name to be published. I'm alongside some of these guys. I thought the nuggets no one's affixing an asterisk to their title last year. I never wanted to do that. I picked them to make the finals this year. Going into the playoffs even, I thought they were probably the best team in the NBA. The difference that I've always made sure to really harp on is that it's not about the nuggets. It's about taking the nuggets and turning them into something that they're not.

It's the hyperbole. It's the constant like glorification of the shit that's just, Frankly, is not true. It's like, we don't need to pretend like Nicola Yokic is fucking Hakeem on defense. He has been better defensively. Give him credit for that. In this game, he wasn't better. Let's make that very clear.

This is not good. Nicola Yokic being Hakeem Olajewan was never a take espoused on this. Why are you yelling at us about this? That's never. Just being pointed out to you guys, but it's for the world. Okay. We're willing to accept your takes on behalf of the world, I guess. Although I will say, Wozni, you did say pretty recently that Yokic was, I believe,

one of the best condition athletes in the world. All of a sudden, he's Michael Phelps. And yet he's getting run off the fucking court by the young hungry Timberwolves. This is my thing here. You think this is happening because he's tired? Not because he's tired, but it doesn't help. My overall point here is like we went a little too far. And I'm just, I've always been trying to, I know it's annoying when a team is kind of having its moment for someone to quibble about things that don't necessarily change the bottom line.

But my whole thing has been like, let's just be honest what's happened here. The West wasn't that good last year, right? Jokic was pretty okay on defense and he's a better defender. He's not a great defender. KCP, a very good quality 3 and D guy. He's not a fucking top 50 player. And then we went all crazy talking about this team. Who is we?

Who are these people? Some of it's you. Some of those are just things I hear on the internet that I've been like suppressing for an entire year right now. But it's just like, let's just be honest. They had a very slim margin for error. And it's come to bear in this series. Like you don't have Jamal Murray, one of your main creators.

You may have two. And all of a sudden, Aaron Gordon and KZP don't look as good. And I do think like you can give the wolves all the credit in the world. They have looked fantastic. And we should talk about that. For sure. But I think a lot of this is like some of the things that I've been talking about this entire fucking season.

I just want to assure everyone listening at home, no straw men were actually harmed in the taping of this segment. We have professionals standing by. Everyone is okay. Justin is just raging against the machine right now. And I'm not even sure why or how this is happening. But get your takes off. I want to have my moment.

I feel this pain. I get it. However, I just don't think. that's what's necessarily happening in this series. I think they're playing against an opponent that is a very good matchup. The opponent has a great matchup for everything Denver wants to do, particularly putting size on Jamal Murray and size on Yokic, right? Like putting size between that Murray and Yokic pick and roll,

like elite size in athleticism is great. I think, you know, the offense of the wolves is cresting at a time that, like, man, nobody expected this. This was a middling offense all season. They were literally the 15th ranked offense in the NBA by points per possession in the playoffs. They're number one, right? With a bullet. Like, that matters, right? Like, these guys are playing better.

Like, obviously, Murray is hampered. but I think if Murray were completely 100% right, they would still be having trouble in this series. I don't think Murray is right and the Nuggets somehow are beating these guys in five games. I thought Murray would be right enough for them to push it to seven and win, right? Home court, veteran know-how, all of those types of things. But like, I'm not wholly shocked that the Nuggets have two of their worst offensive games

in two years and they're down too. Oh, like, I've watched that game. Like, it made sense. Like, I'm sorry. Like, they're running up against the best defense in the NBA by far. See, okay. So here, again, I'm going to quibble here. I think you're right to an extent, though,

because the problem is that Murray is hobbled and they just don't have anywhere else to go to. We talked about this going into the season to not fill out your bench with a ready-made offensive player that you could turn to a Malik Monk type is leaving them completely exposed. And so, like, yeah, maybe the rules. Brown is definitely missed.

Yes. Yes. And also, like, relying on Reggie Jackson also got hurt in this game. He's hurt pretty much since the first round. So there are a lot of things that are mounting here, but I do think it is baked into the nuggets, like, calculus of whether or not they're going to win or lose in these playoffs that they consciously decided to go young with their bench.

Maybe that is like a better long-term strategy, but they did expose themselves. And I do think the wolves might have won those two games, but I don't think they would have just trashed them in the way that they had if they had somebody else to turn to outside of Murray. And that's the point I'm making. That's what Waz was saying too. It's not a matter of like Jamal being healthy fixing everything. This was going to be a battle with fully healthy versions of these teams

because of those structural limitations in the Nuggets roster because of how well the Timber Wolves match up against them. And the fact that in their current form, the Nuggets couldn't even get the ball inside the three-point line. Like they could not get into their stuff at all. And we've said all the reasons for that. The lack of sufficient bench help and really guys that Michael Mullen

will actually trust on top of that. The limitations of Jamal Murray due to his injury. The limitations of KCP and Michael Porter Jr. Both when they get run off the line, when they get challenged at their shot, they haven't been able to put the ball on the floor and make anything happen about it. The one thing we haven't really said,

and I say this because I think Nicola Yokic is the best player in the world, he hasn't been good enough. Like he just has, he has not played well enough to win this, series to date. And maybe that will change and maybe we'll see a dramatically different yokeish going forward. But particularly in game two, we saw him flustered and flummoxed in a way that we basically have never seen him in the postseason before. And that is entirely due to all of the wrenches that the Timberwolves have been able to throw at him. Not just, you know, Rudy Gobert

when he was out there in game one, but Nas Reid playing incredible defense. Kyle Anderson playing incredible defense. Cat coming in. Nas Reed, for God's sakes, y'all. They showed up. never been a good defensive player. No. In his career. And he blocked Yokic like three times on one possession. Like they're playing awesome basketball.

And Yokic doesn't really seem to know what to do with it. And if that's the case, they're going to be out of this thing really quickly. This is what I think happened in game two as well. I think they went into it like, yo, we kind of didn't execute at our normal level in game one. Let's go in and still do. because what normally works for us is our system working. Let's go in trying to attack getting system buckets. You know, all of this dribble handoff, yada, yada, yada, yada, yokich as distributor, blah, blah, blah,

because we know that's his first instinct. I thought that was a mistake. I thought they should have went in there being like, yo, Yokit, you got to go out and score 50. Dominate your one-on-one matchup. Make them do, they have to do, get them out of their base defense. The system is playing directly in. to the hands of how the wolves want to play this. You know, like one of the things they were doing, man,

where they're just sitting on Murray's pocket pass. And they're just like, yo, Jamal, like, you're not getting that pass to Yokic. Like, Yokich getting the ball on the move is poison for every single defense. We're not a lot with that. We're conceding your little floater, your little step back, your little whatever.

We're not conceding that stuff. Yokch has to get the ball. Probably got to get it, elbow extended or something like that, and just start working on dudes. That's it. The system ain't going to work with Jamon. Jamar Murray is one-on-one against, I think it was Nas Reid on a switch, tries to do a step back and got his jump shot blocked.

It's it. He's just been horrible for two games to the point where he's throwing stuff at revs and looking ridiculous. Like, bro, they got to scrap the game plan of system, system, system. You have to adjust. Yeah, the heat pack thing is embarrassing. Like, frankly, embarrassing.

It's real loser behavior. Really? I'm glad he wasn't suspended because I'd like to see him in the next game, but he could have easily been suspended for that game. But, Waz, to your point, like, the way the wolves have taken away the pocket pass

in that two main game with Yokic in particular, it makes the whole offense feel like a road without any outlets. Like, it's just a cul-de-sac. It just, they go down it, and they come out, and they go down it,

and they, there's nowhere to actually go. But this is the thing, know, Rob, like in the past, loading up on yoke that way, particularly when Murray has the ball, even in mid-range, was poison too. Like, that's what made this offense so dangerous. Like, just last round. You could hit mid-range jumpers back then.

You know, in that version of reality, he was hitting. And not even just that. Like, we're talking about the length and the ranginess of these guys. Just last round, he made a buzzer beater in Anthony Davis's face in a one-on-one, okay? Davis is close to him. He's not even coming off of guarding his screen. He's just guarding this guy one-on-one, and Murray was able to explode enough to create enough space to get his shot.

He just ain't doing that against the wolves. It just hasn't happened. Maybe he just doesn't have their energy reserves or whatever. They got to get off of that. Can you guys remind me, do you have any dietary restrictions? Are you about to ask us how your ass tastes again? Is that what's going to happen? I was asking about a sick and a head.

bet, no, just because it feels like there's a dinner coming my way. Look, the series didn't over, you know? It's not over until it's over. 2-0 series can flip. I'm not saying this one will, but they do sometimes. Sure. Having said that, I will be prepared. Thunder Mavericks, I said it up top.

This is really a bummer. Lucas hobbled, does not look right. Five for 35 from three, pretty much since he hurt his knee. over the past four games. Don't want to take anything away from the Thunder. Yet again, they've been awesome. We should talk about all that wing depth that they just keep pulling out,

like almost like a clown car at this point. They just got like Wiggins out there. It's like, all right, sure, he just scored 12 points out of nothing. But like, it's a completely different series if Luca's not the Luca that we know. I completely agree. Did we talk enough about the wolves?

I just feel self-conscious about how good they've been. And we kind of like brushed past them a little bit. 15 minutes about the wolves pretty much. Yeah. All right. I mean, look, I'm just saying we could do 15 more. But I agree with you as far as your take on the match. I like the effort, though.

Like, you're now transitioning to the wolves being the new nuggets. And I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun. Well, first of all, here's another thing. This is the thing about the takes game, Justin. I had the take last week. This was last week before the series started on in my feelings that this was the series for the NBA finals. Yeah, because that's called a hedge. No, the champion.

The NBA champion. Excuse me. No, I know. I know. Yeah. So, like, my takes is still in play here. I'm still got great takes in play. That's smart takery. I clocked that at the time. I was like, oh, no.

This is the golden parachute right here. Yeah, exactly. Look, we all have great takes that we've hedged. We all have great takes that have gone up in flames. It's all part of the game. I don't think I have. No, nothing that's gone up in flames? I think if we look at the body,

Don't judge me on my winners. Judge me on my losers because I have so few of them. We're going to bust out everything Justin said about the Nuggets during the 20-23 season. That's what we might need to do next. Just make sure you cut the tape before the new year, or after the new year, before it got a little dicey. But, you know, I found my place.

Here's some tape that I think you could dig up of what I've said, which is that I believe last season I predicted in the next two years, that the Thunder would make a conference finals. You sure did? It kind of looks like we're headed in that direction. Yeah. This team is deep. They are unbelievable.

They're confident. They trust each other. They have a distinct style of play that works against almost everybody. Even when you have bigs who can rebound and attack the basket and protect it theoretically, they can stretch you out. And when they have elements of the rotation that aren't working like Josh Gideon in game one, you pluck them out of the lineup, you throw in one of three other interchangeable wings who can all do great and distinct things for your roster.

And it just rolls. Like this team just rolls. And I think Shay in particular, adding to his game, like adding more stepback threes into his repertoire, being as shifty as required to get through the teeth of a Dallas defense has been really formidable. And it has been one of the guys in the postseason

who's been able to consistently get to the free throw line. A thing that people wondered if you would be able to do under this kind of scrutiny and with this kind of spotlight. And he's, I think he's been exceptional. Big up to Daniel Gaffert, who actually is a legitimate, one of the best rim protectors in the NBA right now. Like, that guy is a deterrent every time guys go up there. They feel his presence. Definitely.

So big up to him for that, that's a bright spot for the Mavs. But if Luca can't self-create, and again, they've sacrificed shooting in order to make themselves into a much better defensive team, is going to be a tough road ahead. for these guys, man. I just hope that Luca could find it within them to, you know, be a closer version to the top three MVP candidate that he's been all season. He just needs, like,

he needs a little more help when he's in this state, and it's hard to find it if it's not coming from Kyrie. That's the reality of the mass roster. Timorahway Jr's back. He is certainly back, and he will play minutes. That is something that will indeed happen. But I thought the third quarter, it wasn't a good enough Kyrie game,

and it wasn't a good enough Luca game and there's reasons for that, but that's what you need to win. And I thought in the third quarter, Dallas made the kind of real run where it looked like they might take it. And the Thunder, like Mark Dagnow called the timeout and they responded, Isaiah Joe 3, Lou Dort 3, Jalen Williams Dunk, Chad Holmgren 3, Shea 3, 144 run, basically game over from that point. And it just got worse and worse from there.

Yeah, I think that game one just laid bare how much the Mabs rely on Luca to a large degree and Luca and Kyrie to activate everything that else is going on there. And Gaffer did, to was his point, have his moments. And I thought he would be a factor in the series because he had the type of size and he was a vertical threat that might do something against Chet. You know, he plays with the physicality

at the very least, a guy that slight is going to have to wrecking with. Yeah. But he's also, he's also, look, I love the athleticism, the size, the motor, but he's got a little javel in him, too. Just to be sure. Like, he can have some wacky play. You know, he's not the, like, craziest, highest IQ guy basketball-wise, I would say.

So even when, you know, he is providing some stuff for them that's much needed and has been for years, I think he still has his limitations too. No cinnamon challenges, though? Do you guys remember that one? I do remember that. But, like, there's room in this offense for somebody not named Luca or Kyrie to get weird and catch the ball in space and have to make something happen. and Daniel Gafford more than you might like

is deciding that it's Daniel Gafford time sometimes like he'll do the keeper handoff and just attack the basket and the ball might fly like five rows out of bounce. He had one. It was, oh, it wasn't good. I wonder though if you tilt your offense more toward Kyrie. The order operations typically is Luca, Luca, Luca, Luca, and then Kyrie when you need him to. He's a bailout option. He'll run the second unit.

He'll do more than Luca co-pilots would in the past. But I wonder if now you just run primarily through, Kyrie and almost use Luca more as a decoy a little bit more often than they were in this game. That's where like I think the Thunder's length prevents a lot of that. Like they have so many good on-ball defenders and so many guys waiting and help. How was he

supposed to get through that, Was? I don't know. And this is where the Luca refusing to develop an off-ball game comes into play where it's like, all right, it'd be nice if he could just you know, do some stuff where that isn't so dribble dependent

that was complimenting and working off of Kyrie. Because obviously, we know Kyrie can be a primary ball handler, initiator, creator. But if Luker's just going to be standing around, that works directly into what the Thunder want to do defensively, as Rob said, man. So I don't know, bro. But the truth of that, even if, say Luca had spent the last 12 months going to cutting school. Becoming the D-Wade cutter type.

Come on now. The perfect NBA cutter. He's on one leg right now. He's not making Josh hard cuts in this physical. movement shooting. Come on now. He looks heavier too. I don't know if you guys have clocked this.

I wonder if like not doing any cardio. He never looks skinny to me. Even when people like, oh, Luca's in better shape, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, that dude still look fat to me. Even like between the start of the playoffs. And now, well, at least he isn't showing up in leather brown head-to-to-go get-ups like Shay.

Maybe we would be able to tell how much weight he's put on in that case. Is that what you're wearing to the live show? Yeah, that's what I meant by jerseys. Look, if we sell out all of our tickets on day one, Justin has to wear the full tan leather get up to our live show. I'm down. All right. Are you guys going to pay for it after you lose another?

And it's going to be pleather, guys. Don't worry. It's not going to be. No cows will get killed. No, no, no, no, no. For the sake of the bit. Let's talk about the Celtic series just before we go. Why?

That one's kind of a rap. You know what sucks? I thought the calves, like, they played pretty. pretty well for parts of this game. Yeah, for the Cavs. They played well. It just, it didn't mean anything. It didn't matter.

To me, the Cavs offense is so rudimentary, so predictable, so easy. Like, the Celtics are tailor made to guard something that simple with their ability to switch all of this stuff on and off ball. And it's just like, all right, Donovan Mitchell, go ahead. Dribble, dribble, dribble, try to score. Blot, like. Like, that's why I was more excited to see if the magic is somehow pull it out and be a more fun matchup for the Celtics, but I'm just not seeing it. Donovan Mitchell has to do too much is where I keep defaulting to as my just explanation for the calves in these playoffs.

And I'm at the point now. Mitchell seems not that long for Cleveland. I'm curious what a not Mitchell team will look like next year just to see if that galvanizes Garland and Mobley in a way that they just clearly are not in this setup. I'm not trying to blame Mitchell because he has been incredible at times. He had 50 points in a loss, but it's a lot of Mitchell. And I almost wonder if there is an addition by subtraction thing in the long view where it's like maybe that's just what we need. We need a little bit more ball finds energy here because it's just like it's stodgy in a way that like I just don't see them overcoming in the short of a time lapse.

It is staggy. It's very hard to watch the Cavs play right now and not be of two minds about it because Mitchell is doing a ton and too much, frankly, than is really. realistic for a team that's going to go deeper into the playoffs. But Darius Garland didn't do that much of anything productive with the ball. Evan Mobley does not look like he wants to have it in his hands except when he's like pivot, pivot, dunk. That's about all that he's doing right now.

And so then you're dishing to whom? Max Drews and Isaac Okoro for the most part. Keros Lavert has at least kind of shown up, but even in this game, not really. Dean Way, game three, coming back. Is he actually coming back? Do we know that? That's what they say. Wow, that'd be legitimately huge news.

But here's the thing. Donovan Mitchell, I do think has vindicated himself from last season's playoffs where he got smothered by the Knicks. He has been there to deliver in mass with scoring, attacking the basket whenever the Cavs had needed him to do that. But also how good can your team be when Donovan Mitchell's the guy who's called upon to do that in these moments every time? And the answer is a team that might advance one round in the playoffs,

and that's about it. Yep. Jared Allen, rib injury. apparently questionable, but he was also talking about him being in an excruciating pain. I feel like, it was like three days ago. They was like, bro, he can't even breathe without pain. Like, I don't think that guy's long for this playoffs, guys. I think he's done.

Seems unlikely. But yet again, it's Celtics. Answering the call. Can we say Jalen Brown? Jalen Brown fucking awesome in this game. Jalen Brown was dope. The jump shot looked automatic. That was, that was.

that was awesome. I know there's been a lot of Jalen Brown love this postseason. A lot of people like, man, if this guy had his own team, he'd be a killer. You know, so it was just cool to see him, you know, cook this way. But yes, yet again, the Celtics,

stand and deliver. My boys. My brothers. Your boys. What a corner for you. Everything's turning up JV. Thank you to Isaiah Blakely. Thank you to Ben Cruz.

Thank you to the audience for tolerating me in this podcast episode. I would like to pretend like I won't be this intolerable going forward, but we know that's not true. We know that's not the case. When I believe the audience will be able to see you being this intolerable starting with this episode, right? Aren't we live on YouTube today? Not live on YouTube, but live to tape on YouTube. That's for sure. Yes, sir.

Yes. Yes. Yes. We are now posting those recordings on YouTube. So if you're that type. You are one of these Gen Z sickos out there that gets all of your content from YouTube and watches it like TV. Watch us there. If you want to see the zombie pilgrim, the zombie pilgrim behind Waz's head during these episodes, it's right there for you.

I'm millennial and that's what I do. That's where I get my YouTube stuff. Just last week, I was in a, I was in a, I was in a, I was in a rabbit hole of homo sapien prehistoric. I could have gone a lot of different ways. It's just like our closest, like human ancestors and where they lived and how we have DNA that's connected to them. Yeah. Yo, we even, we interacted with these cats 300,000 years ago.

Believe it or not. It's crazy. I will go down a YouTube rabbit hole, y'all. I'm not above it. So human, missing link, whatever you are out there, come to our live show. All parties welcome, I would say, all up and down the evolutionary chain. Yeah. On that note.

CIA and Nicaragua, come on now. YouTube got it all for you, man. All right, we'll be back on Saturday. Must be 21 plus and 18 plus in D.C. And present in select states, Fandul was offering online. sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit fandul.com slash RG in Colorado, D.C., Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky,

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