The Ryen Russillo Podcast - A Forgotten Team in the West, and Should We Stop Waiting on Giannis? Plus, the Scrappy Warriors and KD’s Biggest Problem, With Logan Murdock

Episode Date: January 20, 2021

Russillo shares some NBA thoughts on the Jazz, Bucks, and Wizards in a new edition of the Flagrant 3 (1:30) before talking with The Ringer's Logan Murdock about some of the Warriors' impressive games this season, Logan's time covering the team, the effects of the short turnaround between NBA seasons, the NBA's newest superteam, the Brooklyn Nets, and more (12:00). Finally, Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (49:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, what's up? This is Ryan Russillo from the Ringer Podcast Network and Spotify. The plan for today, Logan Murdoch is going to join us. We're going to talk some hoops with him. I got the Flaker 3 off the top, a team you may have forgotten about who's been terrific lately, and then Life Advice at at the very end including construction and modeling so two of my big big time uh areas of expertise so that's the plan for today okay like we said off the top logan murdoch in a very short amount of time here with life advice let's start with the flagrant three it is towards the later part of January.

And do you know who your number two seed in the Western Conference is? Well, it's the Utah Jazz, a team that is now 10-4, a half game behind the Lakers. They're ahead of Portland in the division. They're ahead of Denver in the division. Again, no one cares. I still can't believe Oklahoma City was actually 500 earlier this week with one of the worst point differentials in the league. But Utah's the story here. They started four and four. And since that time, they've won six straight. They beat the Pelicans

last night. They beat the Nuggets where they didn't even play that well in the game. They turned the ball over. They missed a million free throws. They smashed the Hawks, postponed against the Wizards, destroyed the Cavs, beat the Pistons by 10, beat the Bucs by 13. And they were just straight up better than that. Here are the Bucs. We kind of feel like we're over. We'll get to that in a little bit. But the Bucs are still a really good record and all that kind of stuff. But Utah has won these six games by about 15 points on average.

They, this year, are ninth in offense and sixth in defense efficiency. Last year, they were ninth in offense, but they were 13th in defensive efficiency. So they had a big drop-off for a team that prior to last year had kind of built their identity through defense. Because last year, they turned into this terrific three-point shooting team. They were number one in the league from three at 38%. This year, they're at 40% and they're fourth. So at the top, the very top of the league right now, and it'll correct a little bit there. There's a bunch of teams there, just a few teams, over 40% and Utah is one of them. So they're still shooting the hell out of the ball. Mitchell, I wouldn't say has been great. He's

been better lately. Clarkson's been a terror offensively for him. Ironically, Gobert, he was doing the defensive stuff for them, but he's having like his worst offensive season in six years. And maybe that's a good thing for them because it's less touches or whatever. Actually, the field goal percentage and the free throw shooting percentage is way down for him. So it's not necessarily just a completely different role in that offense. But we know they can shoot, but they're just collectively playing

far better defense than they were last year, which got kind of lost in the whole thing. Like if you had said at certain moments, and I'm not trying to go Christian Wood casual here, but if you're not super locked in, you would go, oh, Utah, you know, good defense. They've got different guys in the wing. They can throw at you. They were disappointing by their standards. And I think even with that roster and they shot it better than anybody else. Like, it's just kind of funny how your perception can still be this stupid Steelers thing that never goes away. It's like, oh, when I think Steelers football, I think of them running the football and all those things. It's like, yeah, actually a bunch of years, the last decade

plus they were past first team and it wasn't even close. Houston. Okay. If I said to you, hey, what about Houston? Be like, oh, that's a team in the playoffs. They get hot at the right time. You know, they're actually bad. The Rockets were bad at shooting threes last year. They led the league with just over 45 attempts, but they were 24th in the NBA at 34.5%. So Utah was just better than them shooting best in the league. A team like Houston, whose identity is this three-point shooting threat, and this team actually didn't make that many threes. So looking at some of the other stuff, they're eighth in rebounding.

So Utah has a really nice profile there, and they're beating some good teams. The Milwaukee game in general, blowing out some of these other ones. Am I looking at them now as a team that would come out of the West? I think I got too excited about them last year with that kind of stuff, but we've probably had too much of a negative correction on Utah. is that when it's the bad hangover and then there's a bad new first impression. And this happens all the time. I mean, it drives me crazy because it happens in baseball even, where a team will come out to like, hey, the Orioles are 3-1. What are they doing differently this year, guys? You're like, I don't know.

They won three out of four games. Like even the worst team wins 50 plus 60 games. So at any point, even the best teams are going to have a four and four stretch. And Utah had their four and four stretch. And this looks a little, this is really good for them,

but it's way better than the beginning of the year where you're like, hey, is this team just 500 and they're not going to be any good? So Milwaukee, as we mentioned, that Utah win a little while back. Milwaukee sits at 9-5, second seed.

They're actually technically the second seed, but Boston Bucks 76ers are all barely separated here by percentage points because the game's played. So all three of these teams, I mean, really, the top of the East is pretty crazy because it's only separated by a half game from the fifth seed to the first seed. But the Milwaukee Bucks have another hangover deal here where a couple of years ago, losing to Toronto, it's being cited as kind of this turning point for different things. I look at that as Toronto figured some things out and it was a good enough team, good enough to beat the Warriors that were limited, but good enough. And that was impressive.

They come back and win against them. Last year is a complete disaster. I mean, what happened to them against Miami? A Miami team, and granted, Butler's only played half of their games. Tyler Hero can't shoot right now. Bam's missed a couple games. I mean, the Miami start for them to not even be in the top. They're a below 500 basketball team.

Like, I'm not ready to be like, hey, they were this total fluke last year, although there were some that were saying that. I'm not ready to necessarily go there. But that series against Milwaukee was just so bad, I don't even know what to do with it. And so even when Milwaukee is going to have probably another really nice regular season record, their offensive numbers per 100 are off the charts. You know, year, it was

Dallas is the best ever, but it's because everybody's gotten better, so it kind of all boats rising tide type of stuff. Milwaukee's offensive numbers are even beyond that. It's like 117, 118 per 100 possessions to start it. Drew Holiday, whenever I watch him, he just looks bigger. You're always like, hey, he's a guard, and he just looks bigger and bigger, even sized up against some of the other bigger forwards in this league. And Middleton's just really steady, but they lost the Brooklyn game. They lost, as I mentioned, the Utah one. They had that weird one with Dallas that came down in the last few possessions. So unless they're undefeated, it's almost like everybody's just waiting around going, well, what the hell am I supposed to do with the Milwaukee Bucks? Which is totally fair. These are the rules now. This is

what happens to you when you have that kind of a disappointing season against the Heat or series, I should say. But Giannis, he went one for 10 from the free throw line the other day. His free throw percentage is in the 50s now. And I remember a stretch, I think it was March or February of 19, and he shot a really respectable number from three. And I thought, oh, here we go. We're seeing this development. And if you go through his monthlies, all of his game logs since that time, then he'll immediately be shooting like 20%. I think he has a couple months where he's in the teens from three. So whatever we want his shot to be, unfortunately now there's more evidence that it's just never going to be there consistently enough that you might not do any better than 30%. But now adding in somebody who

gets fouled as much as he will get fouled because he constantly has the basketball, I don't want to say a... Maybe it is the best way to say it. Instead of these moments where like, what is Giannis going to be? Like, what's this final product going to be? Imagine him going at LeBron. LeBron, Anthony Davis, even Kawhi. The more we've seen it, the more we just trust those guys

to close an offensive possession where I know I made the mistake over the course of just a few weeks where I felt like I was constantly changing. Like, wait, who's the best? Who's the best in the league? Oh, look what Giannis is doing. Look at Kawhi finishing and all these things you're like you know I probably should never get

an awful LeBron Giannis I don't even know that he's even allowed to be in that conversation right now especially on top of seeing him miss so many free throws in just this month alone you're like what is going on with him so I don't know that we should ever be waiting for him to close out be the shooter that has this option this part of his game game. Because even two years ago, when I finally felt like it was coming around, it was kind of fluky. And he's more likely to have an awful shooting month followed by an okay one. And we're on year eight here. And I know he's 26, but the numbers, I don't know why we're holding out hope, but I'm kind of at the point where I'm like, you know what? I don't think I'm going to sit here and go, man, and when he adds a three, it's going to be incredible because I don't think that day's coming. And now he's 57% from the free throw line in the last month.

Speaking of threes, probably the best example of a mid-college football season tweet came from me about the Washington Wizards. And it was a bit of a hey of Beal and Westbrook or all that. Like, they have to make the playoffs in the East, right? Like, they have to. And it doesn't look like it's going to work out that way. They're terrible. And you know who's been awful? I know this is shocking to hear.

Westbrook. I know what some of the raw numbers are. We don't have to keep doing the Westbrook rant over and over and over again. But it was funny because I would go, hey, let me go back and check. Because I would watch them and go, let me check and see what he's doing from three. I was like, is he taking threes again? Because I bet he's taking threes again. Because remember, last year, he was shooting in the 20s.

He had a month where he took five threes a game in a month and shot 20%. And then he did it again. I think he was below 20%. And he was right around four or five attempts per game. And you're like, this is ridiculous that you keep taking these. And it's not even a passable number. Like 30 is bad, but you could at least talk yourself into, well, he's just trying to keep people honest, even though at 30%, it's not what you want. But they went small. He went on an absolute tear, put up huge numbers and just stopped taking threes. It's like, hey, this thing that I don't do very well, I guess I'm just going to stop doing this because he'd get to the line and he could get to the rim nonstop. I mean, he averaged a career high 22 and a half shots per game, ends up making all NBA, which is actually kind of crazy because it was like two really good months. And then the

rest of it, I'm not going to get on him playoffs and all that stuff. He was hurt, all that. So I looked at it and was like, hey, I wonder what he's doing again. Like, oh yeah, that thing I'm not good at, I'm going to do that five times a game again. So he's at just over 30% barely. And he's from the floor, a career worst 38%, but he's taking five threes a game overall again at 30. And they're terrible. The Wizards are not going to be... I mean, I was like, man, maybe they can get into one of those bottom four

in the eight seeds in the East. And that's something I completely regret even having an open mind of. But I would still think if you go, I don't care what the rest of the team is, in the East, Be that's something I completely regret even having an open mind of. But I would still think if you go, I don't care what the rest of the team is in the East, Beal and Westbrook, shouldn't that still get you flirting with eight? They're closer to 15 than they are eight.

Okay, Logan does a pod here with our man Roger Bell, who we've had on a few times, and I want to welcome Logan in because it's been a bit. We haven't really ever talked. So here we go. I know you joined the Ringer in August, but you came from the Bay Area where you're still located now. You covered the Warriors for a bunch of years.

I'm sure you're probably slightly aware if you've listened to one thing I've ever done that I have enjoyed this Warriors run and I love Steph. So the beginning of the year, I was like, man, this doesn't look very good. And it's been better. It's had some ups and downs after a turnaround where Steph started going off. But what do you make of who this team is

and their chances of even making the playoffs this year? I always put their ceiling at about, well, after Clay got injured, I put their ceiling at about seven or eight, and that's where they are right now in the standings. But Steph has to do a lot for them to be good um they don't have a front court um they you know Wiseman is is still developing and they're relying on a front court of Smiley and Kavon Looney right now so they they have to they have a lot of things to figure out um they're doing better than I

expected they showed a lot of heart in uh LA beating the Lakers the other night, but there's some moves away from actually becoming a contender again, in my opinion. I don't think that they're even close to being a contender right now. I think that their ceiling right now is the fun playoff team that maybe can make

some noise in the first round, but it's a far cry from what they used to be. Yeah, I don't think even the best version of this, I can't imagine they're hosting a playoff round in the first round, but it's a far cry from what they used to be. Yeah. I don't think, I don't think even the best version of this, I can't imagine they're, they're hosting a playoff round in the first, not with the depth of the West and the top. You mentioned Wiseman. I love the moments. I loved at least the beginning where it was kind of this confirmation, at least for me, where I was kind of like, why is there that much of a debate about this guy? But now it's, is it, I don't know what's going on with it now where some of the minutes have been fluctuating a bit there what do you think the issue other than him being

young and figuring out kind of where he needs to fit in and all this stuff but i don't want to say like oh he's regressed because that's ridiculous it's only a few weeks but how have you seen his story kind of change throughout the year i just feel like uh teams have just been scouting against him now they know what he is they They know what he can do right now. And the key right now is for him to adjust to that scouting against him. He played really well to start the season. He was actually my pick for rookie of the year. But I think now people are starting to get a hold of his tendencies.

And you usually see that after the first month or two with a rookie. You usually see teams kind of figuring them out and the step that they need that he needs to get to is um figuring out the adjustment to him and once he does that i think he'll be fine and he's only like 19 and he's played like what 20 games in the last few years i mean he he needs this experience he goes basically from high school um barely plays in college and then is now into the league so i think under the circumstances he's doing pretty well yeah no all of those although all of those things are fair um when you were there for the the best version of it um what was your favorite part of covering that team? I think my favorite part of the covering that team was you knew there was a, there was a

show every night you could feel it. You know, you knew that you weren't going to see anything like this again, every time you stepped foot in the Oracle, right? You knew that, um, you know, you had the best shooter of all time with one of the best forwards of all time and one of the best moments of all time. And, um, you could feel that whenever you walked into the room, I got there, um, the year that the, the year that they won their last title, that was my first year on the beat. And, um, you know, I guess it was all downhill from there, but it was fun, man. It was really, it was really fun to, to um to watch that team play

on a night in night out basis and somehow i never took for granted and i'm quite honestly man i miss it i miss i miss watching that form of the warriors because that was how basketball should be played is it i don't know if annoying is the right word, but it was such a great run. And then it was over in a way where we're like, okay, well, I kind of can't wait to see what Steph and Clay and Draymond are going to look like. And I think one of the things that was always a little frustrating is that if one of the big guys were hurt, when Clay goes down or when Durant goes down, then people started criticizing the depth. you're like okay but given the option right every fucking team does this okay and then it's like all of you guys are forgetting that harrison barnes and iguodala and that you know boga and there are all these other little pieces and even you know festus azili wasn't great for him and that that came seven and 16 but it was it was

almost this like really dumb statement on who they were as like you know they just don't have enough depth they're like well they don't have enough depth because they spent the money on these four guys and every team would do this like this is insane what are you talking about yeah i will push back on a little bit i feel like a i mean one one critique is they could have done better with their mid-level right they got they their mid-level exception they wound up signing nick young which didn't work out um they on those on those guys that you need to hit on when you know you're going through that run they just didn't and they were just good enough to overcome it and i think that uh one thing that the warriors have

to do right now is reinvent themselves through the draft which they have not been good at during that run they were not good at that and that's something that's going to have to get better and it has with Eric Paschal and things like that, but they needed to hit on those mid-level, but to your point, they were just so good at that time that it didn't matter. It didn't. The bench

also came up when they needed to. I think about that game six in Houston in 2019. That bench came through. You talk about Jonas Jarebko. You talk about Quinn Cook balling. The bench had its moment in spurts when Kevin was on the team. I will say that.

Yeah, no, the draft part of it is real because, I mean, they just were missing. They were trying big guys. Their fallout didn't work out. They tried a few guards. None of it was working out. But, you know, as somebody. But as somebody that I've looked at Ainge's track record and you go, okay, well, what's worse? Screwing up the 20s or screwing up

one, two, and three. And when Ainge hits on Tatum, when most people were either Lonzo or obviously Fultz, or when it's Jalen Brown and nobody really knew who the consensus three was then, I'd rather that. And Bob Myers has had that. The Spurs have even had this stretch where you go, what the hell are they doing? And now when you start to watch him, you go, you know what? Like they may have hit on a few of these guys now where it looked like the Spurs, this great organization couldn't get things right for a bunch of years. So you're right.

Like obviously they could have done better with that. But I guess whenever I would see, because it was weird in 18, even with a group that was healthy, it was just funny to think of the Warriors not having enough shooting in a playoff game. Now against Cleveland, it didn't matter. But against Houston, you go, the weird thing is they're guarding three with five and Golden State doesn't have any depth for shooters beyond the three best players. It was really weird.

Yeah, they just, I mean, I think there was the illusion that, you know, were a three-point shooting team and they were in a certain amount and in a certain respect but the fact is they had three of the best shooters of all time and that really just that really just uh covered up the fact that they had no shooting you know what i mean they did they had that was they had three of the best shooters of all time and like if one goes down you would feel that um to your point about houston man those series were so fun to watch those series were so fun to be a part of um houston i know they're they're going through a lot right now but back then man i have so much respect for houston and like a slight bit of disappointment they were the only team that really gave the warriors their best punch right they were

the ones that were not scared of golden state they were the ones that took it to golden state it was fun to see a team actually do that even though they always crash and burned for the for the most time they were the ones that stuck their chest out um every year and uh i really respected that houston team i know it was a bit of a tangent, but that just made me think about Houston was a fun team to watch. I've been long on the record. Anybody knows I can't stand the whole Houston thing, but I always give them credit for at least trying

and what almost happened in 18. Honestly, after Game 6 and 19, I just feel like Rockets fans, you guys can't really say anything anymore. After Game 6, 19, you're sorry. You've got to hit delete. You can't send on this shit anymore so anyway before doing a 30 minute retrospective on the warriors the reason i because i could do it too but the reason i like they still have this this perception of like hey

we're like the answers we're never going to see that again post durantant. But do they play with a sense of like, why are we supposed to concede anything? Like if they're in a very unique space, because I think other teams would look at it as a complete throwaway season and they'll have moments where I go, wait, this looks really good tonight. Especially after the disappointment with Wiggins in the beginning and Oubre, you know, look, he's not going to be this bad. He's going to figure it out a little bit, I would think. And Damian Lee's been really good for him too. So I guess that coming off of that, where like Draymond and Curry are going, hey, we're still, we're not 40. Like we're not a part of this. I can't imagine how much that weighs on them as they see themselves, which may be different than how the rest of the NBA world views them.

Right. I mean, they've never felt like this ever um they've always that team with uh draymond clay and uh steph have always won a certain degree i remember talking to draymond last year about this he always used to say like i've never lost this much i don't even know how to deal with this i don't even know what this is even like i don't know what's going on you know um and i think that this year at the very least, they knew that they were going to fight in a way that they couldn't last year because of all the injuries and things like that. Honestly, I thought if Clay was healthy, I thought they would be a bit better than they are. Obviously, they'd be a bit better right now and probably be like maybe just scratching at the five the five seat or something like that just one of just with the fact that it's a quick turnaround there is uh you know

players aren't uh you know players are going to be sitting out i thought the warriors were just going to be one of those sneaky teams and they are to a certain extent right now but um this team has has a heart to it and you saw that at the Lakers game, right, where they're down 19 and they come back. You can say that the Lakers were lazy, and some of that is true, but the Warriors fought, man. I think you're going to see games like that where the Warriors just win games they're not supposed to

and still be in eighth seed this year. I think that that's something fair. They'll just be one of those fun teams that make it into the playoffs and build for next season. Whatever that means. Yeah, if you're going to fight, you're going to win a handful, if not more games in this version of an

NBA season. And this is something you and I were going back and forth on, so I'm open to any theories that you have. I have a few as well. But I'll have nights, I admit, as much as I love the league, I'll be like, this product isn't the best version of it right now. but I'll have nights. I admit as much as I love the league, I'll be like this, this product isn't like the best version of it right now. Okay. All the blowouts that we've talked about teams getting down.

I've asked people about it. You know, something I brought out a few weeks ago, which I think is legitimate. It's like when you're down 15 and you know, no one's there, it's a different vibe and teams are a little quicker to mail it in. So I think your personality of a team,

that's why I also think we could have some misleading results where whether or not you think Miami was a fluke finals run, could we have some fluky run where in the regular season somebody's a three or a two seed, and then once it turns into playoffs and things are cranked up a little bit more and who knows what version of basketball we're going to have by then. I just am wondering if there's any part of you

that thinks we're going to get results that don't make a lot of sense because some teams are taking it differently because there are a lot of nights where I watch games and I go, yeah, I could have done something better with these six hours because I didn't learn anything tonight. Right, right. I think that's the consequence you get from the quick turnaround, right? And that's something that was a debate in November. Hey, are we going to start the season on Christmas? Are we going to start it on MLK Day? Now, I don't know if those next few weeks were going to make any difference, but that's the consequence you get when you have such a quick turnaround.

These guys are tired. They're in the middle of a pandemic. They just had that emotional roller coaster in the bubble. I'm sure we both have friends that went to the bubble. It was hell in there. And to have that quick turnaround, I was expecting the play to be pretty bad. Now, was it this bad? I'm not sure.

But I did expect it to not be as great. Because I remember watching the lockout year. And the beginning of the lockout year a few years back wasn't great basketball. No, it was bad because it was like you could visibly see who cared and who didn't. I think this generation is actually so conscious of how they look. I mean, look, there's a couple of guys are going to let themselves go, but I think it's such a workout Instagram posting all your stuff now that if you're not keeping up fitness wise, you feel like a complete outcast. So that generation didn't care like this one does.

I think that's a little bit of a difference. Yeah, that's a fair point. But, but again, like, I think that the quality of basketball just has to do with the turnaround, man. It was, it was brutal. You know what I mean? You, some teams had to come back after not even, you know, 60 days, you know, after, after the final final so i think that's a consequence of the turnaround more than anything and i think that play players and hopefully teams will work themselves into a lather and we'll finally see good basketball but this is the consequence when you have a turnaround like that yeah and having a quarantine like in the bubble you had no choice so you could almost accept your boredom and your singular focus. And I know no one ever

wants to feel sorry for anyone that's making that kind of money and the trade-off and all that stuff. And I get it. But if you then add into it, okay, now you're going to go 70 games and you're going to have the real life distractions that everybody else has. But then we're also going to be asking you to hopefully not do anything, put anyone in jeopardy, go through all these testing and then come out and then have these turnarounds where I think sometimes too, when the team just plays the team they played before, they're like, all right, whatever. Like when Miami destroyed or excuse me, Milwaukee destroys Miami and they're playing them like next night and they lose and you go, well, what the hell am I supposed to do with that? But listen, bro, like, I don't know how about any you know i know i'm a 20 something right now if you put me in a in a room for four days

especially in a hotel even if it's a hotel room in la and i see la i can see la but i can't go out and hang in la that's gonna mess with your mind you know what i mean that's gonna mess with a lot of things they're not in quarantine in a bubble but they are in some cases in quarantine in in in cities right like especially now with the with the peak um i don't know what to make of these these wins or losses right now i really don't it's it's it's it's weird even when we talked about the warriors lakers uh game there was no part of me that said oh the warriors are just better than lakers right now i just feel like the Lakers just got lazy down the stretch. You know what I mean?

And that was human nature. But I feel like you're going to see games like that throughout this season. The test is going to be during the postseason when, you know, guys are way more locked in no matter, you know, what the circumstances are. And I think you're going to see that more in the coming months. You know, just more guys locked in as we go through the season. You covered Durant then at the end. What did you – well, I'm sure you've been asked this before,

like his exit and everything. Was there one significant interaction that you had with him where you were like, okay, it's so important for him to now that he's done what he did here to do it again in a different version where it's his? I never got that. That's a good question. I never got that, that he needed to do that. I think that was more honestly in his head that I need to do it somewhere else that I need to do it in another, in another, in another organization, which mine, because I mean, let's be real this story's

been told a lot like no matter who is coming in um what free agents coming in that is steph's team the warriors are steph's organization that's that is who um you know steph can really do no wrong in golden state and so um any person that comes into Steph's ecosystem, it's no matter how accommodating Steph is, like, it can be tough. You know, you gotta really just be, um, you really gotta be, I guess, secure with yourself to just get into that mode. And I think that, uh, Kevin saw that, you know, he wasn't going to be, never be the guy he's going to get the statue. He's going to get his Jersey retired, But he's never going to be that guy with the Warriors. It's always going to be Steph.

And I think that he wanted some of that to build his own thing. And I think Brooklyn was a perfect place for that because it's not the Knicks where there's a built-in history. And now he can really start anew with a new franchise. And I think that he's wielding some of that power right now. So what do you think he thinks of everything that's going on now in Brooklyn? I mean, there's the Kyrie part. They get hard and so it improves his chances.

But being around him a little, I think a lot of us were kind of like, hey, I love Kevin. I've always liked his personality. Yeah, we could critique some stuff. We could do it to all of us if we want to. But I kept thinking, why would you hook your wagon to Kyrie? And so the hardened part has completely made up for the fact that this team was below 500. I know Kevin had missed some games, and then it's still a Kyrie day-to-day. And Kyrie can say all the right things. He would say, hey, man, I needed a break. And people are like, okay, okay, fine. But then there comes a time

where that just isn't going to work anymore. It's just not going to work in a team setting, and you need to be a little bit more accountable. So what do you think he's thinking about everything that's happened there in just a very short amount of time? We're not even talking a month with Brooklyn. We've already had all these different storylines. I think that Kevin is seeing what the difference is like when you see a friend that is your homie and is your best friend,

but he lives across the country, then as opposed to like living with him or living alongside him every single day right and i think that um kevin's from the onset of of being in brooklyn he was going to put his arm around kairi and make sure that um you know all that narrative narrative. So he was trying to protect Kyrie. In his mind, he's trying to protect Kyrie from all this other stuff. But I think that he's learning now what comes with that, right? When you are a big brother to Kyrie

or whatever the case that their relationship is, when you are a best friend to someone, you have to see this other side of that. You have to see, you know, all the flaws that come with it, too. And not to say, you know, we also and I don't want to speak too much on Kyrie in that respect because we don't know all the facts of why he left. Right. They said his family's issues. They said that there's stuff that happened in the capital. I can respect that. Right.

But the rollout wasn't great. You know, you do have to you got to tell your team. You got to tell your team and i think that's been the biggest thing with kairi and i know we're talking about kevin but i think that's the biggest thing with kairi is i think you know when you hear like hey i had family troubles and hey i had um you know the stuff the images at the capital really messed with me i can rock with that you know i can I can see, I can see how that, that can play off,

but the rollout has to be so much better. You have to hit your coach, hit the coach the night before, hit the team, hit the group chat, the team group chat the night before, you know, not just before the game,

you know? And I think that there's some things that can be done with Kyrie, but I think that Kevin is starting to see that part of it right and i think that this is just going to be the test for him with kairi and uh all accounts right now is that you know they're still they're still best friends they still um talk every day i don't think that there's anything right there but i think that kevin is seeing the side of um what it's like to be with your bFF every day. You see the goods, but you also see the other side.

Plenty of friendships have ended after becoming roommates. So you're right about that. So when I talked about them off the Orlando win, I'm like, all right, look, can we give this? I know what it's going to look like for certain nights where they're going to look unstoppable. We know what they could do shooting-wise. They're going to be worse defensively with Harden and no Jared Allen, but there could be some transaction

coming a little bit later. I mean, it happens with a team that looks like they're primed to do some things. And they were getting off of DeAndre and playing Jared more anyway because it just, look, he's better defensively.

And they had to at least move some kind of talent, he and LaVert, out of there. So I know kind of what to expect, but as far as the playoffs, I was a little confused as to why everybody, well, I shouldn't say everybody, but it felt like there was a mass amount of momentum to being like, man, the East is just Brooklyn's, when I think there's other teams in the conference I respect, and I think they're a tough team to bet on in the playoffs because of Harden's history and because of the uncertainty of where Kyrie's going to be at come months from now.

Yeah, I could see the uncertainty, but also, man, that's the most talented team in the East. And, you know, we just talked about the Warriors and lack of depth, but it doesn't matter because the team is great, right? And the three best players are great. I think, and I said this on the ruins, but you can check out every Monday and Thursdays on the ringer NBA feed.

But anyway, I said this, that I'm more concerned about their front court, man. Like, I think that when you have, especially when you're playing, if your aspirations is to play against the Lakers in the finals, you're going to need to sure up that front court.

I think that playing against Anthony Davis and playing against all these front court guys is going to be tough for Brooklyn. And I think that they have a chance to make the finals this year. I don't necessarily think that they're going to win it. They have the goods to win a title this year. And that has to do with just their front court. I think that they're going to win it they have the the goods to win a title this year and that has to do with um just their front court i think that they're fine um whether kairi is in or out i think that that kevin and james is lethal man we saw it even in spurts against orlando um you know they were just taking turns it was like okay see in a lot of ways where just taking turns isoing um and the pace is really good and you know going into the pick and roll and things like OKC in a lot of ways where just taking turns isoing and the pace is really good and going into the pick and roll

and things like that. It was a fun thing to watch. So I think that they'll be fine. They're going to show up the front court. Yeah, the best part about this, though, in comparison to the OKC two-man game is that Harden is such a superior passer at Westbrook. And they're much more mature as players. Yeah, I mean, I did a little bit of Westbrook off the top. Was more mature as players. Yeah, I don't...

I mean, I did a little bit of Westbrook off the top. Was anybody paying attention to what's going on down here? I'm like, this is even worse. And I wasn't a huge Westbrook guy. I'm like, this is going even worse than even the strongest Westbrook fan could have imagined. So, then in the East,

for you, you think it's their conference, but you don't like them in the matchup against the front line for the Lakers, which is the Miami thing. And hell, Miami may have done Boston a favor because I think Boston was going to have a brutal time with that Lakers front court. And Miami can talk about injuries and all that kind of stuff. I don't know where all that size is coming from.

I mean, it's no shame, though. The Lakers are head and shoulders above the rest of the league. I mean, in terms of depth and just, um, star power, I mean, it's no shame to be, to be like, Oh,

the Lakers are going to win the title this year. It's not really, I don't think that's too much of a hot take right now. Um, so I, I think it's the Lakers title to lose right now. Favorite part of working with Raja. Um,

my favorite part of working with Raja is My favorite part of working with Raja is, man, he brings it, bro. And this is something that I, you know, when you usually, if you see like a former athlete who doesn't really have to do this, maybe they'll mail it in, you know what I mean? Maybe they're just not on it. Bro, he is on it, man. He said this on the last podcast with Rip. This dude turned down an invitation to go golf at Michael Jordan's golf course with Rip Hamilton and maybe Michael Jordan. I'm not sure. But he had a chance to do that and he turned it down to do the podcast. And I'm like, why would you do that? You know, that's Mike's court. It's a once in a lifetime thing to do. But I think my favorite thing is just that he brings it, man, that he wants this.

thing to do. But I think my favorite thing is just that he brings it, man, that he wants this. And I feel like everything that he brings to the hoop court in terms of mentality, he is bringing to this podcast with his preparation, even the guests that he brings on. We don't get Tim Duncan without Roger Bell and his relationships. And I think that's a testament to him as a person. And so I think this is hard work and just his will, his want to his oomph to want to be really good in this space. And I think that's just been a treat to be alongside because I ain't gonna lie. I was nervous, man. Retired athlete in Florida. You know, he doesn't need to do this, man. It might just be a hobby to him, but he brings it every every episode.

Yeah, that was my experience in that he also like he does a great job with the story part of it but also making it part of the analysis you know it's not just i love to get stories from guys and all that different stuff i thought the duncan pod and check that out again the real ones with logan and raja the duncan part was great and it was and we know that duncan wasn't this huge egomaniac anyway when he played but were you surprised that he he was kind of talking himself like in the beginning about maybe he's not even i don't know it was weird as if he was talking about there was this other alternative path for him as a player that wasn't nearly as good when i go you know what when you're at duncan's level no matter where you go you would have eventually figured it out so i don't know if he was being just super deferential to the spurs and the

organization and david robinson and pop and all stuff, but it was at least very revealing. It was showing an incredibly like, nah, maybe humble is not the right word, but a side of him where it was like almost self-doubt at the beginning. Yeah, it was, it was interesting to hear that. Um, but when you, you know, when you research, um, Tim's story and, um, you know, just even when he was, I'm sure you heard in the podcast of just him adjusting to America and him adjusting to these different things. I think maybe his ability would have been good enough to win anywhere that's maybe the organization isn't as strong to help him overcome those, you know, those doubts about making it in this country. Maybe he doesn't, you know, maybe, you know, maybe he doesn't do great alongside Allen Iverson, you know, maybe.

I don't know. Yeah, put me down as a yes vote for that one. For sure. I mean, he's just not going to be the same. I'm just being contrarian um but i i'm just saying that like san antonio i think he just recognized that san antonio for in his life space at that point was the perfect perfect place for him and perfect place for him to thrive um and but yeah like anybody you know he was balling in the finals his second year like he was a veteran

he was taking down prime shack as a second year player on a finals run tim would have been fine i'm sure tim would have been fine wherever he went maybe he wouldn't want maybe he wouldn't want the title so soon probably maybe that's the biggest difference but i think he would have been fine yeah that's 100 true i mean you know that spurs team getting them and spurs fans i want to argue they didn't tank at the end and start resting guys more it's like hey look shut up like you guys there's no shit yo there's no shame no one's making fun of him bro right all i'm making fun of is that you guys want the title and to pretend that you were above it all when it was like yeah that's not really what was happening um i remember it was an interesting place i remember going like who's this popovich guy i

think he is it's just an nba fan in my 20s i'm going wait so they get duncan and this guy this fucking guy just decides he's taking over and it's like oh i'm gonna keep it i'm gonna keep it a bug with you like so i was a um you know i put this on the pod and everybody knows this you know i grew up a lakers fan and you know as aakers fan, you're taught to think, hey, man, this Spurs team is boring. They win games, but it's not great or whatever. Man, I did research on the research you do when you're interviewing a player and things like that. Yeah, I'm looking at Duncan, and I just wish I appreciated him more than I did

because that dude was tough as nails. And his postgame was great. He was an all-time great defender. He was so great to watch. And, you know, I think that the narrative that the Spurs were born is just terrible, bro. Like, they were tough as nails. And they were a great team and entertaining.

All of that. I love Duncan. I picked them to go to the finals, I think, for almost a decade straight. It's kind of like the Holmes thing that I'm going to be doing with the Chiefs where I go, you know, I don't know that I'm going to pick anyone out of the AFC until like maybe 2030. I did it with the Spurs forever. I mean, my co-host would make fun of me.

He'd be like, this is so annoying. I'd go like, what? I mean, I'm right every other year. So why would I try to pick against it? And I just, I wish more people, I think we're in an era now because of the shot attempts, the three point attempts, and actually the free throws haven't really dropped off all that much. The heavy usage stuff. I mean, I've been on this now for a couple of years where we're starting to look at some players that are putting up these really big numbers and saying they're stars. And then I'll look and be like, Hey, they're 20 and

38. And we're Duncan didn't do some of that stuff. You're like, why the hell are they always 50 to 60 wins? And why are they always there? And I know, look, I know there's a couple of playoff blips, but when you're basically doing it for a decade and a half, um, you're going to have some playoff exits that you don't you don't love but that's there's just winning plays man there's winning plays and then there's some guys that don't understand winning plays and are psyched that got 27 in a game and it and it actually starting to drive me it's starting to drive me more and more crazy because we have more of those players and i don't even know what the argument is to me the argument is you don't really

know what you should be looking for and duncan was the epitome of going i mean i that's you know i still think that like they're even with all these 20 point scores and things like that you still know who the best players are in this team i mean in this league there are guys that separates themselves from the rest of the league so in a way like even in 0304 there were some guys you know like the michael reds of the world that scored 20 points but you knew they weren't franchise cornerstones right i think there's still there's some guys, you know, like the Michael Reds of the world that scored 20 points, but you knew they weren't franchise cornerstones, right? I think there's still, there's just guys like that right now. Maybe they're just getting more pub right now. But just like then, I think now you still see that there's still like seven to eight guys

that can change a franchise's fortunes. And then there's the other guys that just score 20 points a game. But I just think now that it's every, the league is just getting more pub now franchise's fortunes and then there's the other guys that just score 20 points a game but i just think now that it's every the league is just getting more pub now um and and different mediums to where you can guys can guys can talk uh themselves into any other player in a way that we would just say nah your opinion's stupid and now i think that now you can you see a lot of players that in social media with this echo chamber that anyone can talk themselves into anybody and you're just like what that doesn't make any sense but then

these guys on social are like well you know there's this there's this there's this that makes this guy better than this guy when clearly the eye test says nah this other dude is a top five player and this other dude is just a 20 point score score. So I think it's always been the same, but you're just seeing more of an echo chamber towards guys you wouldn't normally get for. But if I were younger and a guy got 27 and 11 boards or assists, I would just think, I'd be like, holy shit, that guy's awesome. And now I've seen enough of it because there has been this higher end of scoring

where, you know, look, I'm going to keep banging the drum. It doesn't seem to be getting picked up much. That's why you got to get the eye test, man. That's why the eye test still needs to be important. You know what I mean? Like, not all triple-triples are created equal. You want to know why people dumped on the eye test, though? Okay, and you started reading more and more people,

like when this first stuff started blowing up, you know, early 2000s, where there was some real benefit. I mean, the idea that we were doing points per game to try to judge who an offense was is like the dumbest thing ever, you know? And you're like, oh, wait, maybe it's opponent's field goal percentage. Oh, we can just balance this for everybody with pace and do 100 possessions. Like, thank God this stuff actually happened because it was archaic and stupid the way we were doing it before but the reason that the eye test like if anybody is dismissive of it and be like oh your eyes lie to you confirmation bias and all this different stuff it's like you know what also is way easier because i had to do it a few times over the years as a talk show host doing it every day i'd be like shit i'm going on in utah i haven't watched a jazz in

two weeks i got caught up. All right, let me check some PRs. Let me check this. Okay, let me bullshit through this for my eight minute hit. And I think a lot of the guys that argue that stuff, it's like, it's just way easier to do that and check in on a player and check in on a team and go through a couple of numbers.

And you can do it in a few minutes as opposed to making sure you've watched this team play for like 10 hours in the last two weeks, which is, that's why it's like, look, there's so many times I'll look at all that stuff and go, yeah, that's not what I'm seeing though. I think the biggest thing, like I think what's wrong right now is that, you know, you, you kind of push back on the eye test and like, you don't want it to always be just the eye test, but you don't always just want it to be analytics, man. I think that what we need in this is a bit more nuance in how we look at the game because it's not all about numbers and it's not

all about eye testing. You'd have to meet somewhere in the middle. And I don't think that we've been necessarily doing that. We haven't been meeting in the middle of the last few years. It's always been either just strictly analytics or strictly eye testing. I think you could use both resources to make a great team. Yeah, I still like watching games. Hey, that's Logan Murdoch. Again, The Real Ones, Monday, Thursdays, as we set up the top

with Rajah Bill. And make sure you check out his work here at The Ringer, man. Appreciate it. Thanks, bro. Thanks for having me. You want details? Fine.

I drive a Ferrari. 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.

At lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. I got to be honest with you. I think I was being a little ambitious on the Damon John stuff to have some emails sent in. So it's not really an issue with the emails. It's the issue in the execution that I'm reading an email to another guy that's not looking at the email. And some of this is too detailed that, you know, it's going to turn into him having to take notes and asking me a bunch of follow-up questions. So I'm going to try some more vague stuff with him. The fitness ones I think are going to be easier to pull off with my guy, but the execution of this, I can already tell there are going to be some issues potentially.

So we're going to pivot. We're going to slightly pivot away from that, get back to what we're good at here. Okay. Let's get to this one. promise you know i don't want to turn this into too uh too aggressive but the the title is that the a brother the brother of my girlfriend wants her to model t-shirts because of her body all right so hey i'm a 30 year old uh in buffalo taking time off doing bills things, looking to get some clarity because my girlfriend's brother wants to have her model his shirt company's women's line. Aren't there enough influencers looking for some clout to keep from having to ask his own sister? He promises that her face will not be in the photos, but she has very distinctive tattoos that cannot be hidden. Is it not that she is wearing a shirt with his logo, but that it's a deep cut showing

everything off? I assume he wants to use her because she would be free, so there isn't even a cash benefit for her. She thinks it will help her brother out greatly, but I think his clothing business is going to fizzle out once all his close friends buy an item or two. I'm fairly certain me and everyone who listens agree that this brother has made a bad decision, but how should I go about telling him she won't be modeling this? We all live in the same city and this could get weird fast if I handle it wrong. He's trying to rush this into

happening so he can be ready for him to get his pre-orders before the summer. Already, it's a bad business plan. I mean, the Bills are a game away from the Super Bowl. Who knows what's going to happen with Mahomes here? And these shirts should be ready for pre-order now. All right. So winner, we've got stimulus checks flying around. So, you know, why, why are we doing pre-orders for bills shirts a summer after a playoff run? Okay. Number two, it sounds like you're pretty like set when you phrase it this way. How do I go about telling him she won't be modeling this? So you're convinced that you're in control here. And you may not be.

If your girlfriend is saying, hey, I want to do my brother a huge favor here, you might lose this one altogether. Siblings are different. I would never in a million years be like, Hey, I have these new Rusillo hoodies and I have a female's line and I'm going to ask my sister. Like, I just wouldn't, I wouldn't ever do that ever. Um, but maybe this is just a different relationship here where they get along in a very different way. I'm going to try to sound weird about it, but I just, it sounds like she thinks it's cool.

So if it can't be like, if there's no way to pull this off, I think you're just going to be bummed out about this. Cause is it really up to you to tell her that she can't do this, especially if she wants to do it for her brother to help him out. And then ultimately you have to ask yourself like what, if you think it's weird? OK, fine.

But like, what's the massive hang up here that some friends are going to notice that it's her modeling a T-shirt? Does it bother you that much? It's not an underwear line either. Right. I mean, so far, Kyle, it doesn't say anything about lingerie. You're right. You got to look at her Instagram. Does she already have pictures floating around in similar garb and if so then this is a

non this is a non-argument my guess would be in 2021 right yeah totally that if she's on instagram there's probably a few pictures there where you know she's she's not dressed like a nun so uh i think you're just going to lose this one. And I don't know that it would be worth fighting this deal. I remember I was a while ago. It was a long time ago. I was dating somebody who had done some modeling and she got asked to do a topless stunt double scene for Anna Faris, I believe. And so I was like, wait, what?

She's like, yeah. Anna Faris, I believe. And so I was like, wait, what? She's like, yeah. She goes, it's like 10 grand. And it's a scene where she's running away from something. And then I would be running topless down a street in the movie. But you won't see my head, obviously, because I don't look like her.

But we're like the same body type or something. So yeah, it's 10 grand. And I was just kind of like, Whoa, uh, what do you think? Where are we going to do it? Yeah. I was like, are you going to do it? Um, and I, you know, I'm not trying to sound like some cool, totally understanding guy and everything, but I mean, I knew that wasn't my, I wasn't, if she had said she wanted to do it, she was going to do it. And if she didn't want to do it, she wouldn't want to do it. Like my, she wasn't asking me for vote. I wasn't offering up the vote. I was just curious kind of where her head was at with it.

But I also knew that once it got out, everybody was going to be able to say like, oh, that's, you know, everyone's going to see my girlfriend topless in a movie. And some people are super into that. I don't think I am. So I don't think it would have bothered me, but I don't know that I would have loved it either. You know, it wouldn't have been like a lifetime hangup. Uh, you spent time with this person and all that kind of stuff. But you just said, you know, look, I couldn't, it was a, it was a pretty incredible answer. She's like, I just couldn't look at my parents. She was like, even if my, my face isn't in it, she's like a 10 grand is a lot of money. Um, she's like, but I just couldn't do it. I'm just going to do it. I think the key thing is here, man, is even if it's bumming you out, you have to understand

that it's your girlfriend's decision. And it's even more complicated by the fact that it sounds like she actually wants to help out her brother. So, um, you can get really worked up about this, but I mean, she's wearing a t-shirt. So, um, I don't know, but I think there's better things to be worried about. Okay. I like this one. We got a home renovation question. Hey, Ryan, love the show. 33 years old.

Bought our first house after years of grinding away. We saved, we invested, and now we bought one of the lower end homes in a very rich area of the country just outside of New York City. All right. All right. Little American dream for our guy here. Perhaps because of my upbringing in a lower class family, but I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to my new home. Smallish master bedroom, outdated kitchen, don't care. We know where this is going. Happy to have a roof over my head. I own a freaking home, for goodness sakes. I never thought I'd be able to say that, but my wife is less understanding, which is fine. She wants the house to be perfect. I love her and I want her to be happy. She wants the house to be perfect.

I love her and I want her to be happy. One thing she cannot stand is the wood paneling in the basement. No way. She doesn't love the wood paneling downstairs. It's really dark and really pockmarked. I counted yesterday. There are 150 wood panels and about 15 half inch holes in each panel. Oh my God. I've attached a photo below.

This is not in my house, but a similar situation that I found online. So one option is to spackle it and sand it and then paint it, which would take forever. Another option is to hire a professional to sheet rock it. One is obviously cheaper than the other, but painting it is much more labor intensive and in the long run might not satisfy the missus. She's looking for something more mid-century modern, wood panelinging mid-century modern see this is where i go like all right do we have to have the sconces and cathedral ceilings the first week of the new house or can we can we ease into this a bit um okay she's looking for something mid-century modern wood paneling just doesn't do it for given your background could bride provide some advice is it worth the weeks and weeks of labor to fill these holes and paint the wood or would you just spend the cash and do it right now?

Okay. Well, it sounds like you're on the frugal side of things and you're not into spending the cash. I don't know if it's possible. Can you spend the cash and is it going to be okay for a little while? Is it going to stress you financially for a few months? I mean, only you know that stuff. okay for a little while? Is it going to stress you financially for a few months? I mean, only you know that stuff. And sometimes there's ways to just, you find a way. If this is the most important thing, you spend that money now, tighten it up somewhere else. It's not like you're going to be traveling. It's not like you're taking a ton of vacations. Sometimes you can start doing those calculations in your head where you're like, you know what? In normal circumstances, maybe I couldn't pay for these renovations because I have these other expenses. But considering

everything that's going on and how much longer this is going to go on this year, you know, you're probably not getting on a cruise ship anytime soon. All right. So got to ask yourself that now, sometimes people get married and like one of the, one of the people is, is too frugal. And then the other person has no concept whatsoever and just starts spending like crazy. Um, I have friends that are in relationships like that. And sometimes those just work out and then sometimes they get divorced. Okay. So we don't know what's going on there. So if it's a money thing, I would explain to her, hey, we just got this house. I think it's great that you bought a more rundown place in a higher end city so that the time that you'll put

into this, because if you did it that way thinking, hey, I'll buy the entry level house in the more expensive town thinking that you're going to remodel it, maybe that's a conversation that you had with her. The wood paneling thing doesn't fly, man. I mean, people were making wood paneling jokes. So now as far as doing this yourself, you have to be honest. Are you actually going to be any good at this? And I know it's awesome to go to fucking Lowe's and Home Depot and pick out shit. And then you're like, oh, you know what? I'm going to grab another utility knife. And as far as my spackling, my spackling inventory is low.

And let me get a putty knife here. But I'm also going to get a five and one. And then I'm going to do this. Next thing you know, you get a tool belt on and you just feel awesome. But do you really know how to do it? Because if there's one thing I've learned in working in this as a younger person and then older is that so many people think, you know, it's not so much construction. People really think they can paint. Everybody thinks they can fucking paint. And most of you suck at it. You don't know how to cut edges. You don't know how to load up the brush. You don't know how to hold it. Like that

used to be my favorite thing when I would start painting and my buddies were like, oh, I'd love to paint it. And I'm like, do you paint? Be like, yeah, I know how to paint. I would go, show me how you hold a brush. And in two seconds, you're like, okay, it's like watching somebody play basketball. As soon as they dribble, you go, oh, okay, this guy can play. This guy plays horse with a cocktail in your other hand. So you have to be honest about this because I'm telling you when you start these projects and you're not good at it, it's like way worse because then you feel like emasculated. You feel like, okay, now I screwed this up. And then it's sitting there and it's even worse because

you've taken some things apart. And then once it starts to kick in that you totally had way too much confidence in your own abilities and you're realizing this is way bigger deal and you can't handle this then it's sitting there and now your wife's reminding you how much worse it looks like now and then who knows contractor comes in and again he's just going to bring a sub so like you need a gc for something like this but then he's going to look at me like oh this idiot didn't even know what he was doing and he's probably going to whack you with an even higher estimate. So these are all things you have to worry about because trust me, I wish I were a little better at some stuff. Electric, zero, no chance. Plumbing,

forget it. You might as well give me a harpoon and a boat telling me to go find a whale. I'd have a better chance of that than doing any sort of plumbing stuff. But I'll admit even a few times construction wise, especially being out of the game and I'm excited about my DeWalt setup and I'll think, Hey, do I actually know what I'm doing right now? Do I know how this is going to end? Or do I need to step back? Let's measure twice. Let's cut once. Let's, let's get a level out. Let's make sure we're doing everything right. Let's not rush it because you haven't exactly been doing this a lot. You haven't been on the job a ton lately, okay? So why don't you relax and make sure you're doing this right? And when it comes to the paneling part, like I'm sure you can take it all down,

but are you really going to do sheetrock? Are you really going to do the corners properly? Like, do you know how to do any of this stuff? And then on top of it, are you going to paint it and make it look good? Or are you going to paint it where you think it looks good, and then your wife is embarrassed and lying to her friends about like, oh yeah, because there's paint all over the place. So there's a lot going on. So if you're good at this, if you truly are good and not just, hey, I think I'm good. I'm going to watch some videos and I'm just going to pick out all these

tools that I don't need. Just pay somebody else to do it, really. Because there's all sorts of people out there that can go, oh, I can do this. I'm going to save all this money. And your wife is going to be just as annoyed if you do a bad job and it's new than as bad as it looks now with the wood paneling. And trust me, based on this picture, this looks bad. Okay, that's life advice.

Lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. I'll let you know when you can start getting the fitness questions in now. This is going to be easier. There's a few coming in now. I feel like I let you down a little bit with the Damien John thing, but trust me, he's going to feel way more let down if I'm reading him series of emails for a good chunk of the interview. So we're going to get some advice from him about his start

and all that kind of stuff. So we'll do it that way. But to make it out specific to all the back and forth and the information that he's not going to have from the email, I just think I'd be wasting everybody's time and I don't want to do that to you guys. All right. Talk to you this week. Thank you.