The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Hypothetical NBA Finals Questions, Plus Steph Curry’s Extended Prime With Anthony Slater

Episode Date: June 2, 2022

Russillo and Ceruti bounce some NBA Finals questions off of each other (0:26) before Ryen previews the Finals with The Athletic's Anthony Slater. They compare Steph Curry’s 2022 season to past campaigns and discuss helpful stats to understand the matchup between the Warriors and Celtics, Gary Payton II’s planned return to the Warriors, Finals picks, and more (30:51). Finally Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (1:02:48). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Anthony Slater Producers: Kyle Crichton and Steve Ceruti Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today's podcast saru and i go old school asking nba finals questions some hypothetical stuff and stuff that doesn't make any sense but it'll be fun anthony slater on the finals and an extended run for this golden state team and life advice get. Get ready. It's the NBA Finals. Let's get ready for the NBA Finals. We're going to do some old school radio stuff here where a guy just asked the other guy questions. And so Cerruti is going to ask those questions. We've put together a ton. He's terrific at this.

So get started. Let's go. All right. I think this was my first ever radio segment, by the way. It was like Cerruti's 10 NBA questions. It was my first ever on-air thing on SVP and Rosillo back in the day. So it's harkening back to the good old days. Let's go.

Yeah, maybe you've improved. I would hope so. I would hope so. All right. And here we go. Number one. All right. Which team has a better chance to get back sooner?

Okay, let's just do a little PSA. Yes, we realize the finals haven't started yet. We're already doing a recap of who would get back. We understand how absurd that is. This is evergreen content. Right. Look, hey, man finals haven't started yet. We're already doing a recap of who would get back. We understand how absurd that is. It's evergreen content. Right. Look, hey, man, welcome to July Radio. I love this question because I think it's actually really hard.

Because you can do two different things here. I'll start with the one that maybe, I don't know if it means less or more, but we can look at the conferences, right? So it's not just who the team is. You look at the rest of the conference. Because if you look at the East, there's still it's not just who the team is. You look at the rest of the conference because if you look at the East, there's still a lot of competitive depth there.

And it's not like Boston won 60 games, 60 plus games. And you go, well, this team's going to be in this two or three year window, which they may be in year three of a longer window here by playing the Eastern Conference

finals a year ago than having all their disappointment and whatever. So is Miami going to be better next year? I think that would be unlikely. But again, this is all based on offseason stuff that we can't predict. Milwaukee's going to be really good.

There's no question about that. They would more likely or most likely have Middleton. You know, I'm not going to start predicting injuries a year from now in the playoffs. The Sixers, even though, you know, it's a little messy right now

trying to figure out exactly who they're going to be. Full season of Harden, maybe. Maybe it's a little bit better. Toronto's sneaky going to be better. I just think they will be better because I like their young guys so much. So I think that's five teams there with Boston that are kind of in that group. And the second tier of teams, and look, Brooklyn can't be this bad. There's a version of Brooklyn where things come together and they win a bunch of't be this bad there's a version of brooklyn where things come together and they win a bunch of regular season games and they're a real threat a year from now i don't think that's some ridiculous leap to project that out uh chicago could be better atlanta could be better and i think cleveland's building something too so there's a lot of depth

there through the east if we look at the west phoenix is still going to be good uh memphis will probably have like another another year under their belt, feeling like they left something on the table with Ja being out. Dallas is still going to be good. Utah won 49 games. I don't know what the team is going to look like. Denver, you would likely have Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back. So that's a team that you're worried about.

And then Minnesota and New Orleans should be on the rise. I still don't know what to do with the Clippers. The safe assumption is they're better than a 42 and 40 team because they've been getting their guys back but that's a lot of hey everybody's going to be back and everybody's going to be healthy and that's not necessarily the case so other than looking at the conference depth which I think is debatable on both sides of how hard it would be let's look at the teams themselves is there another ceiling beyond this for Tatum if Tatum wins an NBA championship he's going to be talked about like as a new ceiling guy.

And that's totally going to be warranted because if that's what he does, now we talk about Tatum in a different way, which also leads to more scrutiny when you start flirting with that top five area, which is totally fair and will be, I think, justified at that point. The reason I say Warriors is that I think the Warriors' possible depth around their current stars, though an unknown gives them a better chance of like having a really special team if Kaminga takes a leap if they get anything from Wiseman Poole's continued growth like there's a lot of stuff there with Golden State you're like well what if all of these good things happen with them where I think the Celtics team is pretty close to who they would be unless somebody like how much better would Smart be? How much better would Brown be? How much better would Grant be?

Is Grant Williams all of a sudden going to become a guy who's making three or four all-star teams? I think Grant's been awesome. His story is awesome. But I think there's still more untapped potential with who Golden State could be

because of some of the young guys on the roster than Boston. So I'll say Golden State. Really long answer, but we got there. No, I think I'm kind of on the same page. I think the key word, though, is sooner. I think Boston gets back to another finals with Tatum and Brown, at least,

as the centerpiece of this group. But I think Golden State has a better chance to get back there next season just because of everything that you said. And also, next year, I think Milwaukee's still probably the best team in the east like i don't know if that's a crazy thing to say i mean i think i would presently

constitute if i get everybody brings everybody back and they're pretty much similar i mean everybody can improve around the margins but i i think milwaukee's still slightly better now if boston made the finals next year i wouldn't be surprised but i still would probably pick milwaukee in that situation um but beyond that, you know, I guess Philly, it's mostly just the Bucs thing. I'm more afraid of the Bucs in the East than I am of any other team in the West. I'm sorry, if Aiton's going to be gone,

yeah, the Suns are going to be good next year, but I don't know what exactly they're going to look like. Am I ready to say Memphis is going to be a final team next year? I'd still probably take the Warriors another year out there. And then when you go beyond that, it depends. I mean, Dallas certainly adds another piece. And then when you go beyond that, it depends. Dallas certainly adds another piece. Maybe anything's possible with Luka, but I kind of feel like

they over-exceeded their expectations already this season. So it's really just the Milwaukee thing for me. I'm more afraid of Milwaukee than any other team in either conference, and that's why I'd probably take the Warriors. Totally fair. To suggest that you're going into next year thinking the Bucs are the team to beat in the East, even if the NBA titles won by the Celtics.

I don't think that's going to be a ridiculous thing to say. All right. Next one. Next one. Here we go. All right. Most important player in the series not named Steph or Tatum. Who is it?

It's Clay. It's Clay. Wow. Yeah. Because if you get what are we going to do with this guy, Clay, two games out of this series, that tilts things. And the way Clay closed the Western Conference Finals, the way he closed the second round, those were big spots for him to go off, especially in the elimination game against Dallas. against Dallas. So that's what you're always kind of looking at here with Golden State.

Like, what kind of clay are you getting? Because I still think you kind of know what you're getting day-to-day with Brown. You know, he's going to get your buckets. There's going to be some nights where it doesn't go as well.

You know, Brown might be the other answer. You know, late game, hey, get them something going offensively when everybody sells out to defend Tatum. So I wouldn't say somebody's crazy

for saying it's Jalen Brown, but I think there's a version of clay where that tilts the series, but we just don't know how often we're going to get it. Uh, wow. That's that's. So I was, I was kind of kicking around Jalen.

I feel like Jalen's the easy answer though, but I'm, I agree with you. I think you kind of know what you're getting with him game in game out. I mean, you know, his peaks and valleys aren't insane. Like some games are better than others,

but you know, for the most part, you know, I know what I'm getting there. And especially on the defensive end, I went with Marcus smart, better than others, but for the most part, I know what I'm getting there, especially on the defensive end. I went with Marcus Smart. Call me crazy, but if he... Go ahead.

Wait, as the third most important player in the series? Not the best player. I'm not saying he's the best. I think if Marcus Smart, if he knocks down shots in a couple of these games and can help them steal a couple games, maybe in Golden State, and he plays the defense he's capable against a lot of these games and can, and can help them steal a couple of games, maybe in golden state. And he plays the defense.

He's capable against a lot of those perimeter players. Like I think the Celtics win that. I would, I would probably pick golden state, but if Marcus smart does that, I could see the Celtics winning the series. Like, I think he is kind of the X factor in this.

If like, if he makes shots, I guess you could say the same, same thing about like a lot of their fringe guys, like Derek white, if he's good defensively and knocks down some shots, the Celtics have a chance. But I think Marcus smart is actually the guy where if he's hitting those,

if, if they leave him open, like Miami kind of did in game seven, he's knocking down some of those shots and becomes an actual threat. I think, I think the ball, I think Boston wins the series. Yeah.

And the Derek White things become popular. Like he could swing. He's just not going to, you don't get enough opportunities if you're Derek White to swing an entire series. So yeah, hit a couple late threes. Hey,

you won that game, but smart has Derek White to swing an entire series. So yeah, hit a couple late threes. Hey, you won that game. But Smart has far more opportunities to impact the series, not only with the shots, but also what he's going to do against Steph. And I still think as annoying as it is to defend Steph, he just has to feel so much better about the physical matchup than Butler just taking him down low. And that got kind of weird. I think it leads in well to the next question, too, defensively all right who do you trust more the warriors offense or the celtics defense if rob williams were 100 healthy which i don't think we any of us think that's possible i'd say

the celtics defense but since it's not uh there's there's uncertainty around that and i don't know what boston's going to do i think sometimes they're going to look big and sometimes they're going to look small we're going to see how it works night to night because i don't know what Boston's going to do. I think sometimes they're going to look big and sometimes they're going to look small. We're going to see how it works night to night because I don't think it's a constant pattern of substitutions where these are only the seven guys that we're playing and we're always doing it this way and we'll just see what happens. I think Emei has shown that he's very flexible,

which I love about him as a coach. So if Williams were healthy, I'd pick the defense, but instead I'm going to go Warriors offense. This might be the hardest question. I went Warriors offense too, just because I think if they get hot in one quarter, they could steal a game. Whereas if Boston's defense slips for one quarter,

that'll cost them a game and vice versa. So I think Boston's defense at its peak is probably, man, even saying that out loud is kind of weird. I think Boston's defense is better than Golden State's offense, but all it takes is Golden State for one hot quarter and they can steal a game

and that's the difference in a series. So I'm going to go with Golden State's offense. Yeah, maybe this version of Golden State's offense, which I still think some people are having a hard time with because it's still not what...

I don't care what the per 100s are. It's not as horrifying. I mean, we're talking about Kevin Durant. Yeah, Kevin Durant is not on the basketball team and Klay is coming off a two-year snuff play. So it's not even worth talking about. We already spent too much time on it. Go ahead.

What's the bigger deal? Jason Tatum winning his first title or Steph Curry winning his first finals MVP? Worst question of the entire rundown. It's a bit of a troll question, but also engagement. People are going to love this one. Yeah, a lot of engagement on this one.

Steph already has a finals MVP. The Western Conference finals MVP. He just won it. So we don't even need to bring this up anymore. The only Magic Johnson Trophy Award winner, by the way. Who else? Nobody else even has it.

He's the only guy who's ever won it. So what's up? No one else can say that. What if he wins it next year unanimously, back-to-back, Western Conference Finals MVP? If you don't like Steph, you love that he hasn't won a Finals MVP argument. He should have won it in 2015. It was ridiculous that Iguodala won it.

Tatum, and by the way, even without all that dumb, stupid social media backstory to Steph not having a Finals MVP, even though Steph makes the offense go all of those years, Tatum winning an NBA Finals changes way more of the conversation around Tatum than it would be for Steph, who already is like sneaking into some rare,

rare air for all-time greats. So, moving on. Tatum winning a title, anytime you join that club, your entire career is different, as Charles Barkley. I think the Steph finals MVP thing... What was that? You got some Chris Paul jokes

lined up, too? What the fuck? Sorry. Honestly, that's probably a better one because Barkley still is Barkley, but it is what it is. Tatum joins that club, and his career is different from still is Barkley, but it is what it is. Tatum joins that club and his career is different from here on out and that's the way it is. Steph's career is already different. I think the finals MVP thing is just a troll talking point. It's not actually a serious

basketball conversation that people are having. As you, I think, pointed out, a lot of the people retroactively said they probably should have voted for Steph and they just got caught up in the Ingo Dahl moment in that series. I kind of think it's ridiculous that we even put that much stock into this weird award. Actually, Bill and I

were arguing after the pod after Game 7. Not really arguing, but Tim Bontemps voted for Jimmy Butler to win the Larry Bird Trophy in the Eastern Conference. I actually agreed with him and Bill was like, no, you should never be able to win the award on a losing team. It's all kind of subjective.

Like, it's just that's the way it is. And like, we get caught up in the moment and storylines. Steph was the reason that the Warriors won that finals. Like, I'm sorry. It is what it is. He's the best part of the team. If he's not there, they're not in the finals. So, like, the fact that he didn't win that award to me doesn't make any sense. It's mostly just like a Twitter and talk show troll talking point. So,

it's definitely Tatum winning. Alright, so we're in agreement on that. On the Bontemps vote for Butler, I'm not against the possibility of someone on the losing side having such an amazing series and then maybe not having one guy from the winning team

to go ahead and pick. So I'm not philosophically opposed to ever voting for somebody on the losing side. I would be for Butler who was terrible for three games. Yeah. So, heard or not, you can't play as poorly as Butler did

in three of the seven games and then also be like, you know what, because of what he did in one, six, and seven, he's going to win Eastern Conference Finals MVP. Sorry, you'd have to do that every single game and lose for me to vote for you. That's fair. That's fair. But the principle alone, I think someone on the losing team should, in the right circumstance,

be able to win that award. So anyway, it just tells you how much this award actually doesn't really matter. All right. Next one. Thank you. What would be the worst possible TV show tease at any point during this series? Okay. The first take, get up, undisputed, coming back.

What do we got? I've thought about sending out a tweet that's like all caps with the guy shouting emoji being like for the people that needed to hear this steph will not pass michael jordan if he wins this title you know just like wait a minute who's who does need to hear that is anybody listening to that because there's just going to be i'm just telling you right after somebody wins title, a lot of dumb shit gets said. So would you have somebody that would even dare to do some sort of could step surpass MJ's resume? I would never rule anything out with us idiots. All right.

So you would go, here's how you would do it. You come back from TV. You're filling in. You're like, man, wait until they get a load of me. Greeny would be sitting next to me. He's like, Ryan Rosillo is here on Get Up this morning. And you had something very interesting to say to the pre-show meeting. And I find this shocking.

This is truly shocking stuff. What was your thought on Stefan and the great one, Michael Jordan? And I'd be like, all right, well, hey, ISO cam. I shouldn't have said the great one that's too gretzkyish yeah i'd be like well look you know mj won his sixth title in his 13th season he was 34 years old steph just turned 33 in march he's played in his sixth finals he's not going to take probably five years off um so he's on the path to perhaps surpassing so then you start rounding up in a dramatic way and next thing you know like when you're counting rings for guys every now and then they'll have three and then you go he's probably gonna get three more and you're like what are you talking about

like you can't just like that's just kind of how we love giving out rings that way yeah we yeah we round when somebody wins a ring we round up on the next rings pretty quickly. So I also remember, too, when Cannell and I were doing the show, and I think Cannell, it was during the 16th season when they were running. He didn't believe it, but he was like, I'm bored. I'm just going to try to come up with something. And he suggested Steph could pass Michael Jordan. So if anyone thinks that no one would ever say this, my co-host did. And I was like, I don't even think you really believe this.

I think you're just, he's like, why can't he he it was one of those like debates on the show sure right sure i guess i used to love like when we would debate finer points of something and there was this guy that i used to work with it would say and nobody would know who he was so i'm not it's not worth bringing up but he'd be like were you there do you know were you there i'm like if every single point that i'm going to make is going to be countered with was i there then i'm just going to tell you like i've lost every argument if that wins it okay i could still form an opinion on something that happened without being there people doing a long time people are going to keep doing it um but with the stuff like you didn't play guy you didn't play guys also you know or you don't know ball guy yeah you don't know ball dude yeah right i mean once

again i understand i never played for anyone in the game that anyone ever cared about i don't understand all the terminology because i never had great coaching uh and all of those things and so when the voting starts going around guys like me who never played are the enemy and then guys that did play fuck it up way worse than we did. So, you know, whatever. That was a side rant. We're not even part of the open. Let's keep it moving.

Could there be a Steph LeBron thing, though? Could there be like a weird Steph LeBron? Yeah. You took mine. Because going through it, and if you look at the top 10 that they had on ESPN.com for the top 75 players of all time, Jordan was one,

LeBron was two. Look, I'm a huge Steph guy. He's not better than LeBron James. So then you got Magic, you got Wilt, you got Russell,

you got Larry, you got Duncan, Oscar Robertson, Kobe, Shaq is 11, Durant is 12, Hakeem's 13, Julius is 14.

Steph is 16 on this one. I thought I saw a different one where Steph was. This is so hard to start moving up this list, which is stating the obvious. I mean, Steph probably, you know, would he end up passing Durant? Shaq, the Shaq seems like the cutoff here for Steph. Because I think that would be the reasonable, not, holy, what are you doing on this tease for a TV show? It would be, does Steph enter the top 10?

And a bunch of people would say, yes, Steph is now a top 10 all-time NBA player. Think about that statement. That's insane. But then it's like, okay, do your 10. And once you start getting to Kobe and and shat you know does he jump those guys like that seems almost blasphemous to say but maybe it's a conversation then you start getting duncan and larry bird and you're like i don't know then you start thinking like wait can i just put him ahead of somebody like larry bird is that is that possible

that's a ringer is it allowed anyway well um ko I mean, I think KOC said if he wins another title that he is a top 10 player of all time. Yeah. All I'm saying is the LeBron stuff. The MJ thing was a joke. The LeBron stuff that someone will do it if Steph wins a title. Someone will do. Did Steph have a better career than LeBron? And the answer is going to be no.

All right. It's just, I'm sorry. Sorry for the Steph fans out there. Okay. I had two real quick. Similar. Both Celtic win scenarios. First one coming up.

Who ends their career with more titles? Steph or Tatum? It's going to happen. A hundred percent. We know. I don't think that one's going to happen. No. Whenever a team wins,

maybe not exactly that one, but whenever a team wins a title, we always want to turn them into a dynasty. We want to know how many they're going to happen actually no whenever no whenever a team wins maybe not exactly that one but whenever a team wins a title we always want to turn them into a dynasty we want to know how many they're going to win so that's going to be the next that's going to be the questions like did the celtics go back to back can they win three straight like there's over under three and a half rings for jason tatum in his career like that's what they're going to do so like i could see them looping step into it and they're going to be like hey can you get four um the other one i had look who are you talking to on the Dynasty thing?

I agree with you on that one. It's like the start, because no one could just win a title and be like, hey, what an awesome season. This team's great. One of the most remarkable turnarounds we've ever seen with a game and their attitude.

If they pull this off, this will be one of the single greatest turnarounds for a franchise I've ever seen in professional sports because of how just meh they were for that long. And then to turn into a title winner. But you're right. No one can ever just show up on Monday

and depending on whatever day they would have won the title, no one can ever show up to work the next day and pre-show going, yeah, really good season. It's like, no. Can they be a dynasty? Well, I don't really want to say that, but could they? I guess they could. All right, Rosillo B-Block Celts dynasty.

And that's why I make fun of it after every team that wins on Twitter. This one might be better. This is another Celtics win scenario. Coming up, why LeBron should call Steph Curry about playing for the Warriors next season. That's a good one. Although LeBron was hoping

it was going to go the other way around where he just started miraculously like complimenting Steph like crazy. I mean, LeBron's had a few this season. He was complimenting Steph like crazy, hoping that Steph would be like, man, LeBron likes me? That's awesome. I should go play with him. Steph was like, I'm good. Then he had the Sam Presti is the best GM ever

because the Lakers didn't make a trade for John Wall, and he was hoping that Presti would draft his kid with all their extra picks. Then the last one was LeBron saying Mark Jackson deserves a head coaching job while they had zero interest in making him the Lakers head coach. Hoping that if LeBron said he deserved a job,

that because they have the same agency, that Mark Jackson would be getting a job because another owner would be like, man, LeBron James said Mark Jackson should be

a head coach. Let's hire him. Even though he didn't have interest in making him his own head coach. The sub-tease of that, by the way, would be, can LeBron be the new Kevin Durant for the Warriors? After they lose the series, he can get them back to the top.

I don't know about that one. I think I would shoot that one down on the pre-show. You would, but I mean, we've seen what happens in those pre-show meetings. All right, another one. This is actually non-finals related, but great. Who would you rather have one off next season? You get one of these guys on your team for one year next season. Russell Westbrook, James Harden, or Ben Simmons?

I hate that question. All right. The first thing I think of is who still likes to play basketball, and it's Westbrook. Two of the three guys don't seem to enjoy it a ton. At least Westbrook likes playing. And you're like, would you really go Westbrook? And let's do this non-roster-based and non-financial decision

because the financial part of this alone, you'd probably just take Westbrook and be like, it's only one more year um harden quitting on two teams in a year bothers me it just does call me difficult you've mentioned it yeah yeah and uh you know there's a lot of dodging shit that happens like oh look at you guys you're like you're fishing for some sort of conclusion that you hope is there that isn't there. It's like, yeah, if Doncic quits on two teams in 13 months and starts throwing games and has a Sacramento on his resume,

yeah, then we can start talking about Doncic like hard a little bit. But until we get there, let's hold off on those comps. They play similarly, but I don't think they're the same guy for a franchise. Is that fair? Is that okay to say? I think I'd go Simmons because he's young, and I think there's still hope. There's still hope that whatever version of him returns,

it's not Westbrook that's chaos and it's not Harden who just would be like, I don't feel like doing this now. Even though Simmons just decided he didn't want to play, he didn't decide he didn't want to play for Philly. I don't know.

It's a brutal answer. You feel wrong no matter how you answer it. So, there you go. There's different scenarios that you can play out based on what team you have that these guys are entering. I think in a vacuum though, assuming I'm running this team, I'm going to assume that I like this team, that I like the team that I put together.

Two of those guys are franchise terrors. They come in and they ruin your franchise. I don't think Simmons is that guy. I think Simmons can come in. If it doesn't work out, then he honestly just doesn't play. That's it. It doesn't really change anything.

Also, the upside is there. He doesn't have to be the guy either. You can maybe have a third or a fourth option role for him, fifth option role. If he likes that, then there's some upside there. So you can maybe have like a third or a fourth option role for him, fifth option role. And if he likes that, then there's some upside there. If you bring Westbrook into your team, yes, he cares. But he's also, there's like, if you have like a fringe playoff team,

he could also completely tank that and ruin the chemistry of the team and your season is over. And then with Harden, you're right. He can decide after 10 games, he doesn't want to be there anymore. At least with Simmons, I know he'll go away and be quiet if things don't work out well. and that's why I would go Simmons yeah I don't know that Simmons was was great for two franchises like Brooklyn's like oh he's not playing and then Philly um all right last one here and I'm gonna ask Rudy this do you think I'm actually rooting for Golden State yeah I do you do yeah I do I think this is so weird i i view you more as a celtics as a warriors

fan than a celtics guy like i i don't it wouldn't even cross my i know some people are like oh ryan boston homer he's on with bill like two boston homer guys i know your background but i almost feel like you with your like as you've grown up in the last couple of years like you're more of a warriors guy than you are a celtics guy so i yes i do think in the last couple of years, you're more of a Warriors guy than you are a Celtics guy. So yes, I do think in the back of your mind, you like Steph, you like Bob. You want to see them succeed. Now, there's always your dad.

The omen of your dad is also involved in this too. And I know you want him to be happy. I totally understand that. But yeah, I think in the back of your mind that you're rooting for the Warriors. I can't really lose. That's me. I just look at the world and I'm like, I can't really lose. You know, that's me. I just look at the world

and I'm like, I can't lose, Mr. Positivity over here. Because if Steph gets one... The thing is, is that what I try to explain to people is that when Boston... I want Boston to win,

but when they lose, I'm not devastated the way I was when I was younger. When Boston would lose big games, shit, the Sox could lose a Blue Jays game in April and I'd be upset.

I don't process it the same way. Blown saves on a Sunday night baseball would linger like a grown-up's hangover. And on Thursday, I'd still be like, man, if they just didn't walk the leadoff guy. I seriously used to think that way. The Sox could have won Monday, maybe getaway day, Thursday.

You know what I'm saying? They would have had multiple games since the blown save, and the blown save would still be in the back of my head. Losses stay more than the wins. Right. No, once I had the job, it wasn't so when they – so if the Celtics were to lose the NBA finals, I'm not going to walk around the next day being like,

I don't want to do anything, where I would have been like that for multiple days when I was younger. Pre-job, early 20ss mid-20s not a lot to offer society that guy uh but i still want bought like i want to sit there and talk on the phone with my dad and be fired up about boston and the city is due man the city is due the city needs this right now i saw a tweet this morning that was like so happy for self-expansion it's been a long time it's been a long You guys have waited a long time to get back to this point. I'm like, dude.

It has, though. Read the room. Come on, man. Come on, man. I love when somebody's just won a title and then they win another one three years later. Man, the city. It's the most myopic thing you can do. Do you realize how bad some of these other cities have had it?

Say that to a T-Wolves fan. Oh, man. It's been a long time, man. We're back. Congrats to South Expansion. I know you had to pay your dues there for a while. Please. They've also been in the mix, too. It just annoyed me. It was harmless. I'm not angry at Boston Sports guy. I get it, but

come on. The other thing with the Warriors deal on our relationship is that we first started working together like in the beginning of the thing, of Steph. So it was Steph all the time. The Celtics had down years. And because I was basically so frustrated

with the Celtics for such a long time, just from watching him, it wasn't like, again, it was bothering me, but I would just watch them and go, what is up with this team? That I think I had so much more of the national perspective stuff because the Steph story in Golden State.

But it is always funny when somebody will respond. If you do look at, and I don't want to spend some time on this, but when Bill and I do things, this is how labels and just assumptions work with people. Bill and I will release a finals pod. It's like, oh, a couple Celtics guys. And you're like, well, you don't listen. You didn't listen to it. You didn't listen to it at all. You just assume, hey, Ryan's from there, Bill's. I get it with Bill. I mean, a couple of Celtics guys. And you're like, well, you don't listen. You didn't listen to it. You didn't listen to it at all.

You just assume, hey, Ryan's from there, Bill. So I get it with Bill. I mean, that's part of the brand, you know, and it's not, it's exactly who he is. But for me, I- He doesn't shy away from it either. Yeah, right. He's hiding something. You're the one that downloaded it.

What did you think was going to happen? But to think that I'm sitting there for two hours going, you're right, Bill, fucking green teamer. Let's do this. You don't listen to the podcast. You're just going, oh, those two guys. And that's, I think, unfortunately, that is a sign of how we handle a lot of things

in society. All right. So what's the answer? I'm rooting for the Celtics. Come on. The NBA Finals are here and so is your chance to score big on FanDuel Sportsbook. Throughout the NBA Finals, FanDuel is giving new customers $200 in free bets, guaranteed, when you place your first $5 bet. Bet the money line, point spreads, player props, and so much more.

Plus, you can combine your bets for an even bigger payday with the same game parlay. So, I brought this up earlier this week. The Steph Curry over-under on first quarter points, I just think that he lets the game kind of flow in the beginning, not to Chris Paul levels. Granted, a couple threes and a foul, now you're hosed. But it was eight and a half, and we talked about it. Did we move the line?

I don't think so. It's now seven and a half over-under Steph points. It's going to suck if I give that out and it's wrong within two minutes, that's on me not making any refund guarantees or anything like that. But I feel like he's more likely in this series to kind of facilitate, be the gravity than he would be to just coming out and putting up a ton of shots, like a different player who just puts up a ton of shots and be like,

well, don't even bother with that one. So that's kind of the one. And thenoston is now plus four that line has moved almost all of the public bets have been on golden state i think it was 87 this morning but the public money um and again this is this is above my pay grade on some of this stuff but uh the smarts like some of the stuff that you're reading out of Vegas and being like, hey, some of the smartest bettors are all betting Boston Moneyline, first game,

and also for the series. So it seems like the sharp money, as they like to say, is on Boston. So there you go. Just sign up with the promo code Ryan, R-Y-E-N. If you haven't tried FanDuel, you can see all the lines, all the different stuff that you need because now is the perfect time to give it a shot

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Anthony Slater of The Athletic covers the Warriors, does a great job, has been on the podcast previous times. So let's do it. Let's do a little NBA Finals. I want to start with this. I always feel like Steph is this weird player in the way we talk about him at times I mean you know whatever I mean maybe it's not weird but you get the point in that like there's a standard that we hold him to because of some of the stuff that he's done in the past it's almost

impossible so here he is he's 26 a game he's 45 from the floor in the playoffs the three-point shooting is pretty much in line with what he's been for his career there's some numbers that may dip a bit but the metrics are really good. Again, the rebounds, the assists are there. And yet, as you point out, it's almost like, yeah, has he been awesome? And then you're like, oh, I guess he kind of has been. So who is Steph now as a player in comparison to maybe nuclear Steph that was like 47% from three? I think he's a more complete player. You know, they've talked about it this season, like year 13 is his best defensive season.

I didn't go through NBA history, but I'm not sure how many guys we can be like, yeah, year 13 is when they were at their best defensively. Just stronger, the conditioning. I think you continue to see it, especially you look across the league at the Hardens, Luka, even in that series. Just the way a lot of these guys

deeper in series, deeper in the playoffs in that series. Just the way a lot of these guys deeper in series, deeper in the playoffs, in the season, tire out. Or maybe they show up to camp, not necessarily in the best shape. I mean, that's a story in the league now. Steph doesn't. I mean, Steph has been in insane shape every day I see him for the last however many years. And I do think even if the numbers,

particularly the shooting percentages are not not unanimous MVP stuff, he is, I believe, beginning to develop the narrative that LeBron kind of has, which is the longevity. I mean, he's going to age really, really well. And I think you can already see that coming. And a few more seasons ahead, as long as he avoids injuries, that this is the beginning of that really elongated prime that is going to be such a part of LeBron's legacy, Chris Paul's even now. And that's what's happening with Steph, I think.

I think his driving is the best I've ever seen. And when I think back to the 16 collapse in the finals, and there's some conversation about how he may have been slightly limited physically, not to take anything away from Cleveland because of what they did in those last three games. Kyrie and LeBron is like otherworldly stuff. So I felt like there was a difference that was exposed at times. You go, you know, some of these bigger wings are still just going to have a better time getting to the rim. And where Steph, if he doesn't have an angle where everybody's thrown off by the shot or him shaking somebody with his dribble, like him finishing at the rim is not going to be the same.

When I watch him now, it feels like much more of a weapon in his game than before something kind of had to break down. I feel like he finishes better. He ends up on the floor all the time, which is a little alarming long-term. But I don't know if you see it that way. Look, the shoulders, the body type,

there just seems to be more of a threat there that he can finish against some more contact than he could just six years ago. He's buffer. And there's been somewhat of a... Especially as he was going through that weird slump this season, some of the fans are like, he got too swole, he can't shoot now.

And he would laugh at it because he really does follow everything. But he just laughed at the idea. He was like, trust me. I would know if my added weight affected my shot. He says it doesn't. But it certainly has helped him on the drive, absorbing contact.

You mentioned him falling. A lot of that is because he's willing to jump into a big, I think a little bit more, take the hit, fall down, believe he can finish through contact, which is a main thing. And then I think a little bit more. Take the hit, fall down, believe he can finish through contact, which is a main thing. And then I think the other thing, starting really in, I'd say, 2019 finals, KD goes down, Klay eventually goes down, Nick Nurse goes really overloaded,

box in one, throw everything at him. I think a lot of coaches around the league when that happened and when the Warriors roster then devolved into what it did afterwards, were like, let's just overload, go crazy. Don't give many threes, you know, chase him with two bodies out to 33 feet. And he had to adjust. I think it's part of the last couple of seasons has been adjusting to those

type of defenses. And one of those things is like, I can no longer get a 32 footer anytime I want. I need to always, you know, go to the rim to loosen the defense up. So I just think it's, it's the strength, but also just him adjusting to the defenses. Yeah, I thought part of that shooting slump was, okay, this is ridiculous how I'm being defended.

And it's that balance for the superstar for any team. You know, the real superstar is going, I can't pass out of the double and pressure every single time. Like I have to take some shots here. And that's something I don't envy for any of these dudes because there's a lot of times that really smart, great players are making the right play. But it's like, if you take two shots

in a really important fourth quarter of a game, then people are going to be like, what's wrong with you? And I thought he was pressing a little. I thought the chase for the record screwed him up too. I think you would agree with that. And then I also thought what was funny about last year on some of the shooting was because he knew he didn't really have any help.

I thought it was the most flopping I'd ever seen from Steph. And what also makes me like him is that he did it. And now that he knows he doesn't have to do it as much this year, it was like this weird year where he goes, I guess I'm just going to start falling down like other guys do and initiate contact at the landing. And then it was like it went away once he realized he had his dudes back. There was a funny moment in Portland preseason game number one. And I remember I even talked to Steph

before a shoot around of their first preseason game and Kerr a little bit. And the storyline at that time you could probably remember is the new rules on the perimeter where if you kick your leg out or you do the hardened stuff, refs are not calling it. Kerr's big thing is

they're maybe not going to make... That won't be a whole season thing, but man, they crack down on it early. They want to make... Refs like to make a statement early. And he did a flopping kick out three, fall down, look at the ref. And he gets up to look at the ref. And you usually see Steve come over and join

Steph in the argument against the referee. He starts joining the referee in the argument against Steph they're both like you cannot do that this year and you know really ever since that you have seen I think less of what you're talking about except that people started calling it again um after it was a nice little run we all had there we enjoyed it it. But I would watch it consistently and be like, oh, it's creeping back in. There was like a couple things that maybe they were a little harder on. And the thing that sucks is

if you're a player that is built on that, even though I don't respect you, when you can see certain games, we're like, oh, wait, you guys just decided tonight I'm not getting these calls. It completely screws guys up. But again, that's not the case here.

Yeah, I think the point guard stopped 80 feet from the hoop back into the defender and fall down. I think they've maybe called that a little bit more. But I mean, you're generally right. All right, let's talk about some of the stats that matter here. Because offensively, Boston, after the All-Star game was incredible. They were the best offense, and Golden State was a mess. I don't know what to do with any of the post-All-Star break numbers for Golden State because it just doesn't mean anything.

They went 11-12. Boston went 17-5. In the playoffs right now, Golden State has the best offense. I mean, that's a crazy number for Boston. Boston's offense is eighth in the playoffs, and their points per 100 dropped over 10 points from where they were at post-All-Star break. So, look, that's the playoffs,

but it's also something that slowed down with them a little bit, but the defense is still really good. Were there any numbers that you were digging through here that you felt like meant anything? Because, again, a lot of the playoff stuff is also matchup-based, so you could still be misled thinking that you understand where these teams are statistically i do think the warriors like number one offensive rating is uh you know informative because as you mentioned a lot of their lineups they're playing in this playoff this is the first minutes together i can remember the

last time i was on your show we were talking about that small ball lineup because it was like two games into the denver series they'd never played it together. It was like they have a 119 rating, basically, on the court. We're like, is this the greatest lineup in history? And now it's like Steve Kerr's afraid to play it because they discovered it's too small. And I just think the playoffs, particularly the Denver series and then early Memphis series, was like discovery of lineups that work, lineups that don't. Because, I mean, as you know, Steph, Draymond, Clay, 11 minutes together all regular season.

So much of what they're doing now, they couldn't do it in the regular season. So the fact that I think Memphis, particularly the back half of that Memphis series, is a very good defense. Dallas had been a good defense. Denver's its own story. But I think I saw a stat that in the non-garbage time of the Dallas series,

they had like a 120 offensive rating, something like that. I mean, this machine's working pretty well right now. And that, to me, matters going up against Boston, which will be the best defensive team that they've seen. But to me, it kind of compares a little bit to what Memphis could do after Morant went out. From the Boston side, I don't must ask you. I mean, what has been going on with their offense?

Because you talk a lot. I'd be going around pregame talking to Warriors people and they always want to talk about the other conferences series. As second round, I'd be going around talking to one of their execs and it'd be like, Boston in five. there was so much confidence from the warrior side about what Boston was becoming but it would always be like well you said Boston and five you know why are they struggling with Milwaukee why is it suddenly a game seven why are they struggling with Miami there I think there was some surprise that it wasn't more dominant from Boston on the other

side of the bracket the offensive stats I think you can point simply to 14 games against Milwaukee, Miami, you know, that to see that fall off. And that's kind of gets back to like, you know, some of the earlier series or be like, look at Milwaukee's numbers.

Like they played Chicago, you know, like, look at, look at what Miami's done. All right. They played, they played Atlanta.

But we do know that those are two really good defenses. I don't know how much of this is real and what it means. And I know in the preview that you have with some of the Celtics guys, it's, it's a storyline, but I don't have the answer to it. Was there still some hesitation of, are we really these guys,

despite the regular season turnaround that was Epic for them and then being in the playoffs and some of this group falling short, which again, I don't think really mattered because I think those teams are sort of overmatched when they were younger. It was, was there something that they needed to do to break through? I would have thought that was game six in Milwaukee and then to close out the Bucs at home that they wouldn't have had to then flirt with disaster with Miami. It does linger in my head that will this be something similar where it's Golden State is so comfortable with this?

That part of this is... Boston may win the series, but I don't know that we'll ever see, oh, Golden State wasn't ready for this. That seems absurd. Or will that leak back into it? I also think that one of the biggest things with the Celtics offensively that they did figure out, especially once they changed personnel, was, okay, like we see with all the stars,

selling out two against that guy, he's going to make a play off of it. Taking Josh Richardson out of the equation was smart. Taking Schroeder out because it just didn't make any sense because then he would just try to dribble forever and iso on his own. And having other pieces that wanted to move the ball were a little bit team-oriented off of those double teams. That seemed to work, and I thought it regressed at times again in in the playoffs and especially when teams would pack the paint and you know you sag off at derrick white uh although he burnt miami towards the end of that series on hitting some big shots but they're just people can get mad at tainan for not taking shots there just wasn't a

lot of room to drive and they can get a little stagnant when they're waiting for him to bail them out. It is not where Golden State still almost... I always feel like the great thing about Golden State is they still trust all five guys in those big moments.

And it didn't seem like there was a trust factor. It looked like some of the players maybe didn't trust themselves as much in some of those bigger spots to close the game offensively. I think Derek White, you kind of alluded to it there,

but his offense is big in this series because the Warriors will dare him. They did it. I wrote a preview and kind of put it in, but the second matchup was the only one that Derek White was involved in. Boston won it pretty easily, but Derek White goes 0-8 in that game, 0-5 from three.

First possession, he's on the court. It screamed what their strategy was because Kaminga's on white on the left wing. Poole is on Tatum on the right wing. Obviously, you don't want Poole on Tatum, but Mike Brown immediately gets out of his seat and yells at Kaminga like, go double. Get off, Derek White. Doesn't matter.

Kaminga runs over, doubles. The ball has to get swung. Derek White, wide open three. Short rim. Bad miss. Then you continue to watch the game. Poole's on him mostly. They're telling Poole kind of those soft closeouts, like let him shoot the three

and kind of throw the hand up late. He's a hiding spot for Jordan Poole, who, you know, the Warriors want him to survive defensively to use him offensively in the series. And I just think he's the selected, the guy when he's in the game, you can selectively double,

throw an extra body at Tatum or Brown. So if he does what he did late to Miami, I think Boston's got a much better chance of thriving offensively. Okay. What is it to the Celtics record against Golden State during this run? And I know that some people push back on it saying, well, wait a minute. Four of the wins, I think, were when it was a fraction of this group. But then it it saying, well, wait a minute for the wins. I think we're when it was a, a fraction of this group, but then it's like, okay, but everybody else in the NBA played them during that time too.

And if Boston's the only one that has a winning record against them, what is it to that? Like what do you have any thoughts that warriors people have shared with you on what this matchup means and why it's been Boston. That's been more successful than others. Big wings, defenders, shot blockers. A lot of times that's been more successful than others? Big wings, defenders, shot blockers a lot of times.

That's historically given the Warriors more trouble. I think I can say it now. They were more fearful of what Memphis was compared to what Dallas was, and just what Memphis presented from an almost reckless defensive standpoint. They're overselling for turnovers. Jaron Jackson Jackson flying over. He might foul you, but he also might block your shot. So when Steph's going to the rim or pulls going to the rim,

it's like, wait, wait, where's Jaron Jackson. Suddenly they get against Dallas, which, you know, I think a lot,

you know, has a, at times safer scheme. And, but it's like, you know, you're not fearing Maxi Cleaver. You're not,

you know, struggling to just pass it from one wing to the other because some wing is really, I guess, denying ball really hard. It's just athletes and youth. And I think Celtics have always had that, obviously, with their two young wings. But beyond that, smart as a Curry defender,

I just think they profile as a pretty solid defense. What is interesting, though, about the... Steph Curry's kind of gone off the last few years. You know, you look, I think he had like a 40-something, like an 11-3 night last season, I think it was.

And then, I guess, the last Kyrie season with Boston, I think he had like a 49-point night. So it's not like they just shut Steph down. But, you know, historically, they do play the Warriors better than most teams. Is there anything to the smart

injury on Curry? Like anything lingering there? These guys know they'd rather talk about the Dylan Brooks foul at this point. You know, that's the one. Like, I think they're like, yeah, man, that Marcus Smart play was like, you know, a little dangerous in the Brooks foul. Happened. They're like, whoa, like that is the type of foul that we can't have. You know, I don't think so.

I mean, even Draymond said it. I remember Draymond walking down the tunnel post-game kind of telling people like, hey, you know, like that wasn't that bad. That's Marcus Smart. And then he came in and kind of gave his messaging post-game. But Draymond is probably going to have two or three plays in this series that are bordering on something like that.

And I think they know that. So maybe you hear Steve Kerr say something early in the series because they want to get the referees, you know, in the storyline. Like, hey, watch out for Marcus Smart's defensive tactics, just strategically. But I don't think they're sitting there thinking, like, Marcus Smart is dirty at all. He'll probably get booed.

I will say that in Chase, but that's more the fans. Okay, let's ask about some of the other lineup stuff here. So, Gary Payton is going to be back. It's not necessarily, we don't know game one, but the plan is that he's going to be back here soon. Yeah, he's the type of dude who, like, you know, you give him the medical green

light, and he's like, alright, I'm on the court the next second. I remember preseason, he was trying to make the roster, and he was coming off a hernia issue where he was not really ready to play, but he had not won the spot. The Stars wanted Avery Bradley. It was this whole drama within the team. He's like, I got to get out there and show

something. He came out still kind of hobbling on a hernia issue and had 11 just unbelievable minutes up and down the court. Four dunks, I think. And he won the roster spot then. And I just think he's... If this was Kaminga going through an elbow fracture, I think they would have said, you know,

shut down for the season, you know, protect his future. This is 29-year-old unrestricted free agent Gary Payton who's just cracking the league. So, you know, he is pushing the play. And I do expect to see him in the first couple games. The big question with him, he actually became a respectable three-point shooter this season, but he cracked his left elbow. That's his shooting elbow. And they're just saying today, the day we're talking,

they're going to let him stretch his three-point shooting back out to three-point range today in practice. So this guy has not been able to shoot a basketball for a month now. So, I mean, if I'm Boston, if he does play in the game, I'm trying to bait him into threes early just to see, does he trust it? Does he have any type of rhythm? Because, I mean, that's not an easy injury to come back from. No, that was nasty. I hated watching that. Like now when I know what's coming again, and I made this, it's not a joke.

It's just an observation that when we see leg injuries, people get freaked out about them being replayed. But then we see Peyton's elbow go the way it did and just break on landing. And it's like, no, it's cool because it's an arm. We can watch it over and over and over again. Porter ready to go game one, right? Seems like they were having them.

I saw post-practice he's out there like sprinting yesterday. I mean, maybe they'll be careful because they have two extra off days after one, but I think we will know more post-practice today. My guess would be Porter, yes. Iguodala is such an unknown. Every time I think he might be coming back, he hasn't. But I do think you will see

Andre Iguodala one more time this season, which means one more time probably in his career. Yeah, three games against Denver and about 17 updates on his status yes he played 42 minutes against them seriously that's all teens 17 is low so all right i guess you kind of answered that part so let's let's talk size uh if i'm picking boston i'd go they have real playable size not hey cool i'm glad you're tall.

Thanks for rebounding and screening and stuff. But now the game is in the balance and you're not going to see the court. Horford has faced the most isolation. So I don't know if people still think they can go past him, but they can't. And the numbers in one of your preview point that out. And then you have the loony part of this where your colleague, Marcus Thompson, pointed out that he's grabbing almost 22% of available rebounds in the playoffs, which is 44th all time in playoff history, which is saying something. He's kind of found, like, that's what I love about the playoffs. Sometimes you'll think, okay, this is how the roster will work.

These are the rotations. This is what's going to happen. And then just basketball happens. And all of a sudden, like somebody who you didn't think could be played gets played. And same thing with Adams and that Memphis series, somebody who'd been banished. It's like, wait a minute, maybe we can go big here against Golden State. I don't know if that means anything in this series here. So it feels like Boston has real playable, big options. And I think at times it's going to look like an advantage. I think at times it's going to look like Boston goes, you know what,

let's just keep Horford out there and go small around it because of how Golden State's flying. I think both things are going to happen. I just don't know which one's going to happen more. Yeah, I think Robert Williams is like a huge swing factor in the series. I remember before that March game, the one that Steph got hurt. By the way, they were terrible offensively in the 14 minutes prior to Steph getting hurt. It's like late second quarter. They have 25 points. A lot of that was Robert Williams just roaming around and like, you know, it was pre meniscus injury and he was like super quick laterally up in the

air. He got a couple blocks on Jordan pool that were like really acrobatic, but that's obviously not the Robert Williams we're currently seeing. It's, you know, talk about 17 updates for Iguodala. I feel like it's just knee soreness questionable. Knee soreness questionable.

If he's not right, that I think negates some of Boston's size. But if he is, to me, that's a game-changing factor. Jaron Jackson, 15 blocks on the Warriors in that Memphis series. Robert Williams is that type of shot blocker. So I think that matters. So if Robert Williams was healthy, you would pick Boston is the sense I have. Yeah, like really healthy,

like seven full games of like unrestricted minutes and he was like blocking shots like he did in the regular season. I think I would, yeah. So how do you think it'll play out?

Because the fifth spot is still kind of a question mark and may change throughout the finals for Golden State, right, of the closing group. It would be Wiggins, Curry, Clay, Green.

And then what do you think is even possible with that fifth spot? I think, I mean, at this point, going into the series at least, like Looney's kind of won it. Like Looney's been really good, as you mentioned. But that requires Looney and Draymond to survive together offensively which is like that's their that was their big fear going into the playoffs that was their big fear against Memphis

where they just separated them wouldn't put them together and then suddenly by the late in the series like Draymond and Steve Curry or Steph Curry are demanding like look just start him like I know it's kind of a wonky fit in 2022 to complete non-shooters

but they like playing together that is their best defensive lineup. And Looney made it work because, you know, like you say, he's grabbing back an insane amount of offensive rebounds and he's scoring better. I mean, it's, you know, I don't know how much of it is this work that he's done with, you know, Nikolaj Jokic, his Serbian coach, Dejan Milojevic, who was really brought on to work with James Wiseman,

but hasn't really been able to work with James Wiseman, so worked a ton with Looney. And suddenly, it's more up-and-unders, more creative finishes, obviously the offensive rebound putbacks. But that has allowed, I think, him and Draymond to play together. Draymond was also much more aggressive in the Dallas series. He had to get double digits in, I think, all five games. That's going to matter because if you're Boston, you want to get everything

to where it's Looney having some type of contested layup or Draymond in the floater range. And they need to punish them because I think that's the shots Boston's really good half-court defense is going to end up giving up more often than not. Yeah, I mean, Draymond being at 30% from three, just keeping you honest.

I felt like he's still taking less shots. I mean, this is somebody who took 10 shots a game during the 16 run in the playoffs. And now, the last couple of years, he's six, seven, six, and under six this season. But the numbers would tell you he's not been more aggressive. and under six this season. But the numbers would tell you he's not been more aggressive. I feel like he's at least looking at the rim in a way

where other stretches, it felt like it wasn't even an option. So, you know, a couple threes, I felt like he had a couple against Dallas where if you're Dallas, you're like, you're going to be kidding me. Even though the numbers aren't,

like the numbers don't scare you, the boss is still going to sag off in the entire time. I just felt like he had a couple shots in that series that felt kind of like what he used to be like back in his early playoff days. They're demoralizing because he hits it. The crowd loves when he hits it.

Joe Lacob always stands up and gives one of those, yeah, and then he looks over at the bench and he's yelling, get out on me, get out on me. And they're like, we're not getting out on you, but damn. Like you said, that is the shot we wanted to give up. And they're like, we're not getting out on you. But damn, like, you know, that, like you said, that is the shot we wanted to give up. And now he's going to yell at us about giving it up. But if you, you know, you mentioned the stretches

where there is more aggression, less aggression. Like he has toggled back and forth in these playoffs. You go look at the Memphis series. The first, I think, five games, he's sitting at five points or fewer, like low amount of shots. He was a major offensive problem in the series. I don't know if it was the fact that apparently Kendrick Perkins

went on ESPN and had some thing about how Draymond was scared to shoot. But he then, in game six of that series, got hyper-aggressive, had a really nice offensive night, and then came on the podium and lit into Kendrick Perkins. Had a little back and forth. But ever since then, it's, you know, double digit points for game. He's going to shoot a three or two.

And it's just like, you know, like that open, they aren't 12 massive points that you're going to, you know, I'm going to write about, like that's the story of postgame. But like that just, they're almost unbeatable

when he's in double digits. Like just historically, you just look at the numbers, 10 plus points. You're not really, from Draymond, you're not really beating the Warriors. Yeah, it always is like ridiculous to go back and look at the numbers. 10 plus points. You're not really, from Draymond, you're not really beating the Warriors. Yeah, it always is ridiculous to go back and look at it too.

I mean, in 15, he took four threes a game, hit 34%. In 16, he took three a game, hit 39%. And then it went off a cliff. Like at 17, he was still taking them. But 31%, and then it just slowly, slowly. And some of that is the team construction in 15 and 16 prior to KD's arrival. But, I mean, think about that.

Draymond, three attempts a game in the playoffs, 39% from three. And that seems like a completely different person. I think that guy's gone. Yeah, I mean, dude, there was some stat and, you know, of course, he put it up on his Instagram. He loves to hype some of his stats. But it was like, he has 150 career playoff threes

and Dirk Nowitzki has like 148. I mean, obviously, it's very era-dependent, but I think people forget. No, I think that solves it. I never realized that he's a better shooter than Dirk. There you go. Well, Carl Anthony Towns also. But he used to hit a bunch of threes.

Remember Game 7 against the Cavs? They lost the game, but didn't he have like 33 points, hit like seven threes or something like that? He was their offensive player in that game. Like you said, I think injuries have caught up. He had a shoulder issue, hip issue that kind of jacked up his shot, and he's just never rediscovered it. You're right.

He's 15, excuse me, 32 points, 15 boards, boards 9 assists 6 to 8 from 3 11 to 15 overall yeah that was game 7 and how many points did the Warriors even have in that game not that many no I was I had it on the other night is 89 points yeah he has 32 of them can you imagine that game playing out in 2022 usually now it's like 120 points that draymond has seven of them uh is there any wait before i do kind of a bigger picture final thing in your and i already know your pick but we'll share it here with the audience here in a second um pool i get the sense from you that it could be a little feast or famine there obviously he's going to get his chance here um but these are different wings you know wonder if Jalen Brown is going, okay, cool. Maybe Klay isn't there defensively. after what was a great scoring night in game three in Boston.

The final numbers were great, but those were some awful, awful turnovers in that game. And then it becomes more apparent to the opponent, like, wait a minute. Hey, whenever he drives, just attack. Swipe down at the whole thing. Maybe this is better for him with the perimeter options that he could be attacking here. But I'm just kind of curious how Poole factors into all this. Because clearly he's so good offensively, he'll get a chance. But I'm wondering if there's a weird thing where maybe he's not closing.

You mentioned Looney a little bit before. I think we'll see a couple different forms of this. But kind of where does Poole fit into this one now? Knowing that against Dallas, it's just basically contesting threes yeah i mean the thing about dallas is it was we're getting switched on to yeah relentless picking on him they wanted to get him switched now the warriors you know we're doing hedge and get back but that still presents its own you know challenges of you know you have to be locked in and physical defensively which typically pool isn't where you got to go kind of like hit Luka, get back to your guy.

And that's really hard because not only was it, you know, Luka trying to get the switch on you, but like they just, their offensive strategy is like, just give a little window. Luka is going to make an absolutely pinpoint pass, open three, they're going to shoot it.

Whereas, I don't know, to me, Boston isn't as mismatch thirsty. And, you know, you even talk to people around Boston that cover the team, and it's like they a lot of times are worse when they start really trying to go mismatch, one-on-one style. Everything kind of bogs down a little bit.

So maybe they're not as well built to just kind of pick at the scab that is Jordan Poole out there. Also, because I think the Warriors are more willing to slide over and help, maybe send selective double teams off guys because I just don't think they fear that three-point machine that

Dallas was where it was like, you sag off a little bit, it's like, bing, bing, three's going up. Where, you know, I mean, Boston can beat you from three, but it's just, to me, it's just a different type of attack where I just think they can help Poole maybe a little bit more than they could against Dallas. The Peyton inclusion

to me might shave his minutes because Steve Kerr and Mike Brown, they tilt defense when they can. If Peyton really is available and playing well, as you saw against Memphis when they started Peyton, I think they would prefer that in this type of series.

Final thought before we get your pick. The Klay performance against Dallas just felt like, okay, this is something, those Klay moments where he takes over a game, because Steph wasn't even, you didn't really almost need him in game five to close out Dallas there. I feel like there's been more clay moments of, uh-oh, is this guy back? I don't think he's stacked defensively at all,

but offensively, where are you at with him? He just has those big nights in his holster. I don't think they're as common as they used to be. Sometimes his desire to summon game six clay almost at all times can hurt them. There are games where he's taking some shots and you're almost under pressure like, that one was rough. The leaning

mid-ranger as he's going to the baseline and you look over at Steve Kerr and he's just like, clay. But because he's always trying to shoot himself into a hot streak. That's just what he does. Yes, there's the eruption night to close out Dallas. There's also the 6 of 18 night. So, but they, you know, like they're living and dying with how he operates.

And the truth is like the bigger the moment, usually the bigger he is, which, you know, that's typically, you know, opposite of, I wouldn't even consider him a role guy, but, you know, kind of a role guy at times. So you just trust if you're the Warriors that two out of these six or seven games, he's going to score 33 points. The other ones, he's going to score 15 on low efficiency.

He's not getting to the line, especially against a long defense. He's not going to be great inside the arc. But if he just gets hot from three, and you usually know early, we talk about different ways it's difficult to beat the Warriors if he just gets hot from three, and you usually know early, like, it's, you know, we talk about different ways it's difficult to beat the Warriors

if Draymond has 16 points, something like that. If Klay just goes off and has 33, like, you know, that's just, they're tough to beat because it's tough to stop him when he's hot. What's your pick?

I said Warriors in seven. I do think home court matters. I think these first two games matter. Just the rest advantage that the Warriors are going to have. But if Warriors lose game one, I'm ready to change that pick quick. Because I don't feel really strongly. Usually if you pick a series in seven, you're like,

eh, you know, tilt into the home team, I guess. I know. A lot of times you pick a team in seven, it's like you definitely think the other team's going to win. Especially if it's your team. Not even as a media member, but as a fan. When a fan's like, my team in seven.

Because I was hearing that from a lot of Heat people. I still kind of like Heat in seven. That means you don't really like them. And it still almost worked. Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Check out his preview. It's incredible. A lot of good work there. Getting you ready for the finals. Thanks, man. Thanks for having me.

You want details? Bye. I drive 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. Today's Life Advice is presented by Modelo. It could be about love, money, or in-laws. Life is always going to throw some serious challenges your way. And that's why Modelo celebrates people who show resilience and courage in the face of adversity.

Modelo, brewed for those with a fighting spirit. Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, Illinois. Life advice. Lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. No statements to be made today, I don't believe. I don't think we have any statements to issue. Post pod pressers. I don't think anything happened

on Tuesday, so I think we're good. Level of interest of Cerruti and Kyle doing a post-Rosillo Show podcast wrap-up. That would be... Did we get any downloads on that one, you think? Probably limited? I think it'd be sort of like the clay thing.

I think, you know, you hope for two of six, two of seven games to go well, but it could be really bad. Yeah, that one game, though, could be sick. Just shoot ourselves into a hot streak. I don't know. That's editing maybe to work. I don't know.

Yeah, no. I mean, we're guilty of it a little bit every now and then here uh our tyson fury post game was was was long uh warranted though that one but i um i think it's kind of funny when when content plays like i would never tell a show hey don't do that but that's an incredible like, hey, we needed to recap what happened on the show. And it's like, well, it's just a podcast. Like, I don't.

And then Steve goes to Kyle. He's like, you know, I didn't really get his third analogy. That whole thing. He's like, it's a little smell in your own fart sort of deal. Yeah. He's like, who's Al Thornton again? Why did he say he was right about al thornton let me look this up all right let's just stop talking and get to it this one

i think applies to a lot of a lot of people out there a lot this is uh high dude involvement uh situation okay uh chris is chiming in here. I think we're okay. Avid listener. Married 35 to young daughters. Clocking in at 5'10 and a half if I lie and say 6 feet. Put it on my license. Hey. Yeah, everybody gets it, man.

Here's my dilemma. I've been in a fantasy football league with my buddy since high school, celebrating our 25th anniversary this coming season. 20 years in this league, boys. So that's from, well, I don't know, 15 on. That's how that math works on my end. You guys double check that. Each year we do our draft in person.

It's become a date we all mark on our calendars because it's such a damn good time. As I get older, I appreciate it even more because I'm able to feel like a goofy kid again. Hey, man. I get it. This year we're all headed down to the Jersey Shore to our buddy's beach house for the weekend to host a draft, a little barbecue,

play some old school wiffle ball. This is, can I go? Love the Jersey Shore. Yeah, seriously. I've never hung out at the Jersey Shore ever. Man. Great time. Kyle?

Great time. You got a quick 60 on the Jersey Shore for us? In my youth, just had a great time. Haven't been back since I was an adult. I'm really excited to go one of these summers. All right. Sounds like that's on the jersey show in my youth just had a great time haven't been back since i was adult i'm really uh really excited to go one of these summers all right sounds like that's on the to-do list so uh the email writes in we've been talking about this weekend for almost four years now and we all agreed on a date in august way back mid-season last year winter of 2021 so we're talking you know these guys are almost 12 months out. My best friend, the league commissioner, is one of the two guys living out of state.

He's in Nevada. We try to call each other every couple weeks. In our last call, he casually drops in that he's going to try to make the draft, but his recent promotion at work is making it difficult. I immediately called him out on his bullshit, citing we all agreed to this date last year, and we've been talking about the 20th anniversary draft

for years now, and we barely get to see each other in general. To his credit, he did just get promoted. He's also he also just got married. We know where this is going. They were both impacted significantly from COVID based

on their line of work. To be clear, the plane fare is not the deciding factor. I get all that, but I'm also juggling two young daughters, building a business all while getting a degree. He's going to grad school here, business degree. I'm also the reigning league champ, so I'm planning on touting

the championship belt all weekend long. Truth comes out. Yeah. What's the protocol here? Do I push him into coming or do I sit back and let it be? In general, what's your thoughts on how to handle your best buddy showing up to big events

as we get older? I'm crazy busy, but I always plan my year out. You plan your year out. There's a disconnect right there. Yeah. You plan your year out. I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow.

Pretty sure you're getting in the water though. Probably going to be in the water though uh all right look man um i totally get where your head's coming back from this one but here's here's the deal you should be pumped that this has gone on this long because as you get older this is what happens this isn't some like i can't believe it's gone on this long i can't believe your crew like we have our crew right and we used to get together every year. And then we stop because guys get older. And some guys that will have kids will have wives that are like, absolutely not. It happens. Sometimes, believe it or not, folks, the guy doesn't want to go. The guy's like, I don't want to fucking go and act like an idiot all weekend and be hungover until Wednesday. And they don't want to do that. All right. Sometimes people love their family so much. They don't want to be away from him for an entire weekend.

So that's another thing. We in our group have given up on all the Boston guys. The Boston guys won't go anywhere. They'll barely cross the fucking street. So whenever the rest of the country is trying to figure out a plan, which we haven't been able to pull off in years, guys have just omitted the Boston guys from even being included. We have another guy who won't go anywhere unless it's a direct flight.

If it's a connection, he's out. If we pick a place, he's like, there's no direct flights from where I'm at. I'm not going. I think it is insane too. And he listens to the podcast. So yes, I think it's insane that you'll never go do something awesome

just because of the connection. I don't know what happened to him one time in a connection. He hates him a lot. He just refuses to go through Chicago. He just can't do it. There's also, as your friends, as you, everybody gets older, you're going to be you're going to be friends with a couple, like, it's

going to be your buddy and a wife. They're going to have two kids, right? And everything revolves around the kids. They're going to stop living in a way. Then there's going to be another buddy that gets married and they have a few kids and nothing changes with them. They're still doing whatever. And they just also have kids. And so everybody handles their own situation a little bit differently. But I would tell you, like, get used to this. Yes, you could give them a hard time.

yes, you could give them a hard time, but planning it out this far in advance, you're a planner. Non-planners, you know how planners can't handle non-planners? I think non-planners hate planners even more. Yes. So, you know, like when somebody goes, hey, are you good for that spring charity thing? I'm like, what the fuck are you?

Do you know who you're talking to? I'm like, maybe. I actually blew one off you know who you're talking to? I'm like, maybe. I actually blew one off last month and I had said yes to it and then I didn't even know. And then by the time it came around, I was like, are you still good to go for this next week?

And I was like, oh my God. I was like, yeah, that's not happening. Like, I can't believe I said yet. Not because I'm so cool. It's just because work for me, fortunately, unfortunately, always comes first. There's also another little

thing you threw in here who gives a shit if you're the champ or not yeah that's i know you give a shit but was was are you more upset that he's not showing up while you have the belt like if you would come in fourth would you be more okay with him not coming? It's probably packaged in there a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. We love that you listen to the podcast.

Is there any chance that maybe you're a little annoying? Thank you for listening. Web stars. Yeah. We've got to cover all the bases here. We've got to make sure we attack every question and email from all sides. So, uh,

I love that you care this much. I love that you want to keep it going for another 10, 20 years. I get it. You get so few of those weekends with your buddies. For me, if I had like a Thursday where I'm like, what are we doing tomorrow night?

Do you know how many years it's been since I've had a just casual neighborhood? Like, Hey, what's the plan tomorrow night? It happened. It doesn't happen. It wasn't happening in Connecticut. So then to be like, Hey, we've got all of the core guys together for, I understand your right to want everyone to keep having to do this. But what you have to accept at some point is there's definitely going to be a guy in that group, and usually more than one, that says, I don't want to do this stuff anymore. Or they can't. Or in this case, the guy just got married. So maybe it's the wife. He just got promoted. Maybe it's the job. You mentioned, as you explained, and I'm not going to share it all, what they do professionally. They're back at it right now. And so that might

just not work out. And it usually doesn't. It's great when everybody's still committed to it. It's great when you're able to pull it off, but I don't think you can be upset. You can maybe ask one time, hey, can you make this happen? If he says no, you're men, you're grown adults here. What are you going to do? Trick him into it? He's not going to do it. I kind of feel bad about the annoying part. I just think that I wondered why that was relevant to this. So I felt like it had to be addressed. No, I think you're right. I've got, I've got one guy in my, in my group of guys, I got, there's a New York city core, there's Poughkeepsie core, and they all, once a summer, they all kind of come up and we throw, we throw a party and we

always make it work. Sometimes we go down to New York city and like a lot of people come, one guy moved down to Florida like five years ago and just didn't come up the first time he took a bus because he was, he's, he's a little cheap, but he could, he could make the money. He could, he could set it aside if he wants. He took a bus from, uh, like Tampa to New York. I mean, just crazy to try to save a couple of bucks. And I think he spent like almost an entire day on a bus, but, um, but then he just did it. He just wouldn't. And it used to, I used to get angry because it was like, literally everybody else can make this. I think one time I, and I, and I wouldn't get angry to him. I think one time I called him after a few brews and just

was like laid into him a little bit, but we're okay. I was just like, man, what the fuck's going on here? Are we going to wait till I'm going to see you five years from now? I have to, I have to fly to Tampa. You're the only one down there. So anyway, um, he, so it's, it's kind of, it's known that he doesn't come anymore. We give him a little bit of shit in the group text. But here's the thing. This is what group texts are great for. This is another way to stay in touch. I think once you just realize that this is going to be the guy that stays in Tampa, what can you do about it?

So I think you could continue to be annoying or you can just razz him a little bit in the group text, which that's kind of what they're for anyway. A slight razzing. A slight razz. Exactly. And I think I think that the sooner you admit that and can make it some sort of an inside joke with you guys, the less like bitter you're going to be every time you make that joke, because I think you're pretty upset about it right now. And this is the first time it's happened. So I could see why that's upsetting, too. But life goes on. Just stay in touch in the group text because we can't all be everywhere uh at the same time so what can you do yeah i think you nailed it like the first time sucks and you're like a really deeply offended by it and then it just becomes like oh that's the guy

that doesn't really show up on the trips and you get older and the trips become less frequent like we had um like we have been trying for my buddies like all throughout our 20s or whatever i'm in my early 30s now. To plan a vacation with everybody. And the only time we'd ever get together was for bachelor parties. And that was it. So it was like, all right, you have to go to the bachelor parties, but you don't have to go on the vacation trips if you don't want to.

And if one of our buddies didn't show up, that would be a problem. It would be like, what the hell is going on? I get that you think this is kind of like a bachelor party thing, where it's like everybody's getting together. We got a beach house. We don't do this very often. Figure it out. But as you get older, some guys are just not into that. They're not going to do it.

They're not going to put in the effort. The bachelor party I was just at, actually, one of the main guys didn't show up because his wife wouldn't let him because his kid had a recital or something. I think she was like four, not even four, maybe three or four. Recital's not a big deal. Two or three. Hey, she's four. She's not going to remember this recital that he didn't show up to. recitals are a big deal dudes are like hey like she's she's four like she's not gonna remember this recital that she that you're that he didn't show up to but

it's a big deal like so you don't i'm i say that because you shouldn't like prioritize what's important in somebody else's life like i know it sucks for you but like this guy might be going through some stuff at work like you have to respect that and you know you don't know what the circumstance is um and you know i don't the marriage thing like you know i don't think early on you should be saying yes your wife should be saying yes or no to things that you do in your social life right after marriage like when kid when you have kids it's probably a different story but i'll just say that to say that you don't know like what pressing issues or things he has going on in his work life and his personal life so like you could razz him a little bit and like mess

around with him in the group chat i wouldn't give him too much shit i think it's fun like a little lighthearted stuff is fun but like this this shit just happens and at some point like one guy's gonna start backing out and he's gonna be the guy that backs out and then it's not gonna be as offensive to you anymore but the first time always kind of hurts the most how many wives do you think take the rap for guys who just don't want to do stuff all the time guys do it on purpose oh yeah yeah that's what i mean exactly like they're just like oh christina you know how she is she maybe she's never said no to anything and everyone thinks that she's I think it happens all the time. All the time. People

underestimate how many dudes are out there going, I actually don't want to do anything. And they just have this baked in excuse. It's like the new mom won't let me or something. Or like in high school, it was always like, I got to go home and eat first. I was like, okay, we're not going to see you again. You don't have to go home and eat first. You're doing it at 3.30. You got to

eat first. What the fuck are you talking about guy i think i remember it even happening once where we like then met up with whoever we were kind of giving the wife shit she was like what are you talking about i tell him to go visit you guys all the time i tell him to get the hell out yeah walk around the house like larry david all the time i've been begging him to go somewhere yeah so rudy does bring up a good point though shitting on four-year-old recitals never seems to be a good tactic yeah so let's let's refrain from that uh and it's just the way it is like every single relationship whether it's male female or or dudes or the girls trip crew there's gonna be people in the group where the relationship means more to them than it means the other person like there's just no this is it's never 50 50 like i'm a big visitor i like to visit my friends i also don't have my

own family if i had my own family i would do it less i would care less about it but it's interesting that when i do keep in touch with friends from school because i think like if you're in my friend group i'm a pretty loyal friend i look forward to seeing your kids like i look forward and again i'm probably in some fucked up deep seated thing in my own head replacing my void with like hey I want to go play with the kids because I do like kids but I'll talk to

them and they'll say something about another friend being like hey I've been here this long and so and so has never even seen my kids or this guy's never made the effort and I've gone so it can get a little weird but it's also this is not insightful this is just the made the effort and i've gone so it can get a little weird but it's also this is not insightful this is just the way the world i have one friend i forgot about this i have one friend who there was another friend from the group this is a different group right i've got

different pockets of core groups oh congrats uh yeah no i've got like five or six cores but they just they are like five or six friends dude nice yeah yeah i know four people i think uh and the dude hadn't visited him in forever and the great thing is both guys are big time like alpha guys and they're they're uh they're you know they were kind of like center of attention guys right and they they had a lot to back it up. They're both huge dudes. And one guy goes to visit the other guy the first time in forever. And within five minutes, he's pitching him on a cult. The other guy is like, hey, motherfucker, you don't even know my kids' names.

Get the fuck out of here. Is this a recruiting trip for you, pal? Yeah. No, seriously. He was like, hey, I'd love to catch up. Love to catch up. I haven't seen the kids or whatever. And they kind of like oh wow that's great this is awesome like somebody wants he's he's maybe making some amends for being out of pocket and never being

around whatever the hell else was going on and then he shows up and he just starts in on this pitch because he also pitched a different buddy of mine who almost was like ready to bite he's like have you heard about this thing i'm'm like, yeah, it's not really... New day. I'm not. Yeah, I'm not. Interesting thoughts, but I'm just not really quite ready to throw my clothes out, write you guys a check,

hang out in the woods for a month. All right. No offense to any of the cults listening. No, yeah. Well, really quickly, too, I think you guys would agree with me. There's two camps when you get older. There's the guys who get really comfortable with their life and don't really want to do anything else anymore. And then there's the guy that wants to get away from his life and wants to do every single trip. Right. So there's the guy that's like, I just got to get away from my kids, my wife. And he's like the one that gets after him on a weekend away with the dudes. And there's the guy that you have to basically drag out of his place to get him to hang out with your friends i think like as you get older you kind of become i'm not saying like completely one of those two camps but you kind of lean one way or the other

in those two camps and it sounds like you're in the camp where like i want to get after it and this guy's in the camp of like i kind of want to hang out at home yeah and look i'll also throw this out there too like saruti touched that you never know the full scope like maybe it's just as simple as the guy doesn't want to be able to make it and it could be that all right uh we talked about the wife girlfriend element of it where they're getting blamed a lot of times the guy doesn't want to go but there can always be other stuff going on with the dude like i remember one guy for a little while we're like what the fuck why won't he hang out with us anymore and then it came out that he was like i

actually quit drinking and i just couldn't we're like oh shit and you know and then you're and then you're like, well, you should have told him, but it's like, well, that's his thing. He doesn't want to, he's going to tell us when he needs to tell us and he'll share it when he feels comfortable in sharing it. And to get to that point of, of not wanting to be around your friends, like who are, who's anyone like you feel so bad about it after the fact that you didn't know, cause somebody told you, but like, that's his, you know, not to sound weird here, but that's his own journey of

figuring out what he wants to do. And so that'll, look, that'll probably happen to other people that are listening to this at some point too. All right. Female listener. She says we don't have many. Our female demographic has smashed through the suggested ceiling

that people had for this podcast. We're up like 300% on female emailers here recently. Yeah, femaleers. Femaleers, there you go. Good one, Kyle. Thanks. Just when you thought Kyle was having a C-plus show. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. I honestly thought

I had the best, whatever. You did. You always have the best. Your advice is better than everybody else. His floor is a B easily. Yeah, right. Yes. This is my friend Kyle. His floor is a B. Take two course lights.

That would be a great way if all of us just introduced each other that way. Our floor ceilings. Yeah. Yeah. Back to the female. Yep. All right. Back to the female. Back to the female.

I'm one of your apparently, we already covered this. I just started working with my friend's painting company a few weeks ago on a summer break and I know you talked about working construction job

in the past. I thought this gave me my first good excuse to write into my favorite show. Well, thank you for doing this. So for the past four years, I've been weight training three times a week

and take my dogs on a few miles long walk at least once a day. You'll do that twice a day sometimes? A couple miles? All right, so you're long hikes on the weekends. This person is fit.

This person exercises. The harmony profile. Yeah, right. This job is definitely a different animal. We are painting exteriors this summer, so I'm up and down on ladders on the roof

and sore in new ways. Any tips for dealing with the physical toll? I already do the basic stuff like eating well, drinking water, and getting good rest. I also stretch and get a massage once a month. I'm almost 30 years old, if that matters. Well, when I read this, one thing jumped out.

And you may not think about it, uh, but you are, as you know, as you're working out, you're challenging your body in different ways. So I don't know how long you've been doing this, but I say much like a workout, um,

going up and down a ladder and the tenseness of kind of being up there. Different people are different on ladders. You know, sometimes like when I took me a little while to get my sea legs on it, cause I didn't start by painting. And then I ended up hating a couple times and i think a couple summers i fucking hated it by the way um but it takes you a little while at least for it did for me uh to just be all the way at the top you know peak doing trim work and whatever and and you're way up there and so your body can be tensed up when you don't realize how tensed up you are because you're just

not 100 comfortable and it's not i don't realize how tensed up you are because you're just not 100% comfortable. And it's not, I don't think it's super surprising for people like 40 something feet up, not being super comfortable the first time you're doing it. And then you see somebody who's been doing it forever and they fly up and down the ladder. They're like not even thinking about it. So that could be that your body is tensed in a way that it hasn't been before. Because I don't, it sounds like you haven't been doing this very long. All right. So just like a new exercise, different muscle group, different approach doing it. You're going to feel a soreness you've never really felt before. If you haven't done the exercise that way, there's also something else that I think is very easy to forget.

When I started working construction, it's kind of just what I had done. So I didn't know any better. Like my hands were fucked up all the time and my back hurt and I'm in my early 20s and I'm lugging shit and I've got soot in my nostrils and I'm coughing because we weren't huge mask safety glasses guy back in the day in my dad's crew. We were not safety first. It was just sort of like, here's a shovel or there's a ladder or there's a hammer or here's an ax. here's a shovel or there's a ladder or there's a hammer or here's an ax. Here's a shot. You know what I mean? It was just, here's the tool, go do the job.

And when you start out doing things that way, you don't know any better. So if you were to say, turn 30 after working non-manual jobs, you're going to do the manual job. Like there's this, this kind of like romantic idea of like, man,

working outside. This is great. You know what I mean? This has been no desk for me. If you haven't done stuff like that ever, by the end of the day, you're going to be like, this fucking sucks. So I do think there's some kind of like, if you're born into it, you don't realize how much it sucks.

And if you aren't, and then you get to it later in life, not that you're old, but to just jump into any kind of manual outdoor labor at 30 is probably a massive departure from anything else you've ever done. So you have things that were easier to compare this to. I didn't realize how brutal it was until I stopped doing it. And then I think I did it like I came back to help once and I was like, oh my God. I'm like, I can't believe I just did this and never thought like it was the best motivator ever. Cause I go, you can be outside and that's cool and all, but this stuff is hard. This is tough work. So that could also come into play too. I don't know where it is in the country. How hot is it? Is there any way, you know, are you getting exhausted because of the sun?

Painting, sometimes you can figure out how to paint against the sun. You know, move, if you're doing the full house, trying to move the ladder around. That's something somebody else should probably try to tell you. Some cases it's not even an option, but it's something that we were always trying to figure out to not be directly in the sun the entire time and just go to the other side of the house. And other than that, yeah, I don't know what to tell you. I imagine with your workout background, it'll get better, but I just think it's always kind of funny when you never do it and you think like,

oh, this will be kind of fun. And then if you've never done it, you're like, wait, this actually, does it suck? Like, yeah, sometimes it's really hard. So Rudy, let's this will be kind of fun. And then if you've never done it, you're like, wait, this actually does it suck? Like, yeah, sometimes it's really hard. So, Rudy, let's start with you on this one. Although we do have Parks and Rec Kyle. So take it wherever you need to go. Go ahead, pal. I would just say so my dad, I don't have any insight on how to help this situation, but I do have a couple of stories.

I built a shed last weekend. And it was kind of sure. It was like one tractor. I was like, you know, nothing crazy. It was like one of those like plastic clicking ones. They have like,

you know, the, you put pins in them. There's like a little bit of drilling, but like, it's not construction. I don't know. My kind of foundation.

We talked about a slab. Well, so this was the, this was the debate. Like my dad wanted me to build like this concrete platform situation, make it super level. He's like, well, you know,

like the frost, it's going to be on level. I'm like, dad, I'm going to put some rock down down and i'm gonna put the shed on top of the rock and we're just gonna hope for the best and that's what we're gonna do so that's what we did so i leveled the rock out we built the shed whatever took you know most of a day and i remember thinking afterwards like all right this is like kind of cool but like do i want to do this tomorrow fuck no like absolutely not because this is insane um you know so it's like a one-off thing and and it's just the amount of respect i have for people that do that shit every single day. And I'll tell another story. Like, so my dad does plumbing, heating and air conditioning. And when I would come home from college, like my parents were big on like, all right, like, you know, you got summer break or winter break, like you got to get a job. Like, you're not just gonna sit home all day. Which, you know, I do respect and I thank them for doing that. Did you want to sit at home all day?

I mean, I did. I probably wanted to play like, you know, 30 Madden seasons and just like hang out and just, you know, chill with my buddies who are all back at home.

But, you know, he's like, no, you got to figure something out. You're not going to be here all day. So I got, I ended up working for my dad for like a week or two during the summer,

a couple times in college. And that's like, you know, you're in at 530 and you're out at 130 in the afternoon. So like everyone's like, oh, you got your whole day to, you got your whole day to yourself, blah, blah, blah. I was never more tired in those weeks that I worked with my dad than doing anything else

in my entire life. I would literally wake up at 5. The very last second I would wake up, I'd throw whatever clothes on, I'd go into work. I'd be tired all day. I'd come home and I would just go back to sleep. I was so into work. I'd be tired all day. I'd come home and I would just go back to sleep. I was so fucking tired. And I just remember thinking, the people that do this every single day, how much fucking respect I have for them. Because you're right, you probably get used to it. And I was just doing it for a couple months or a couple weeks every single year. So I didn't

have any stamina built up. And I'm sure these guys do. But it still doesn't make it any easier. So I have no advice to you. But I just know the feeling. I know how hard it is. And I know like, you know, I just knew that I was never kind of built for that. Cause you have to be kind of a special, you know, a special person to be built to do that stuff.

But I just, the utmost respect I have for people that work outside every day and the heat and the cold or whatever you see, you go by like you're driving on the road and guys like ripping up asphalt and it's like hot as shit outside, or it's like snowing outside and they're still doing all this stuff. I don't know, man.

Like you, I, they say, they say built different. Like we ironically say built different like those guys literally are built different and uh so no advice but i just i feel the pain man i respect what you do my my brother did foundations i think for a couple years after high school he didn't go to college and he was he was doing foundations and i would come back and i'd be like how are you doing and he was you know it was like he spent all day training mma and then as soon as you come back in the afternoon he'd eat and he was

asleep he just your body is just beat up like your hands are you know you got calluses all over your hands and they're bleeding whatever right because the because the guy like it's working for the wrong dudes too would be tough like hey you got any gloves like oh what are you those? You're like, can I just have gloves so my hands aren't destroyed? And then you have like a moisturizer, too. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I'm not asking for 50 SPF here. Like, are there any gloves around?

Kyle, go ahead. I mean, I noticed you didn't say hat. I think a hat would be a good start. Nice, good sun hat. Spent all day at the county fair a while ago and just bought a hat halfway through. Looked dumb, but find the one that works for you. I think that's great.

And also, if you really are going hard, I think you just might want to, I mean, I'm not saying stop working out. I would never say that on this podcast. But if you are like, if you're like, I've watched you sit down in the morning. Sometimes you're like, fuck, I'm sore.

If you have to then start a day right after that i don't know i would just i don't know think about maybe trying a different sort of off days off days or or maybe uh i don't know some yoga i don't know what you hey i'm i'm doing chest and shoulders today could i have tomorrow off and i'll be back thursday i don't know i just think maybe change that the way you do your reps maybe it's uh lower lower weight more reps i don't know i'm just think maybe you change that the way you do your reps. Maybe it's a lower, lower weight, more reps. I don't know. I'm just thinking if you're showing up beat to shit, and then you're also going to walk to two separate multiple mile things with your dog. Like, you know, I'm just saying, um, maybe, maybe painting outside season isn't all year. So maybe,

maybe take the time off, but I'm just, I think it's great though. I think it's great that you're doing this outside stuff. And, uh, I don't't like that you think i was just a ground screw guy so um i've done my fair share of stuff yeah i didn't i wasn't framing as you like to say but you know used to chop wood used to chop wood for lots of people that's a hard day's work chopping wood throwing it in the chop wood stacking it um yeah used to cut help my buddy's dad cut trees uh cut down trees in between houses and stuff that was nerve-wracking um. It wasn't just ground screw. Ground screw is my favorite. I said parks and rec because you're right.

It felt like a little bit of a... I don't know if it was an attack there, the way you presented me describing myself as a framer, but that's all right. I'm going to let it go. I appreciate that. I love the idea of Cerruti being hired to chop wood and then just within 15 minutes being like, you guys don't have a splitter?

Yeah, like, come on, get the hydraulic press out. Saruti would just be like, well, I don't care that I'm going to get fired. I'm just saying that you're doing this as inefficiently as you possibly could. Like, how hard is it to get us? Like, what's wrong with a firm? You can't just get yourself splittered, pay that off for the less. It does pay for itself. My dad will get annoyed because growing up

like he plowed the driveway he did the weeding he did like the mulching whatever and i'll you know i'll i don't i do some of those jobs i don't do all those jobs at my house and he could like the disappointment in his face when i tell him that i'm having somebody do my leaves it's actually so great but i do do like i said i built the shed i built our back we built the like a patio with some you know some pavers or whatever a couple summers ago. I do do labor outside. But the disappointment in my dad that I don't do every project myself is pretty funny. But we're just, again, he's just like a different dude.

You've met him, Ron. He just is, I don't know. He's great. He did some work on my place back when I lived in Connecticut. I had a couple HVAC plumbing emergencies. A couple. And he was always, yeah, we had a couple. More plumbing than HVAC plumbing emergencies. A couple. And he was always, yeah, we had a couple. More plumbing than HVAC?

Yeah. No, there was an issue where there was something with the AC and the drain line out of it was a mess. So it would flood this sort of back area

of a basement. It was never too disastrous. It wasn't a full basement flood, but it would be this one area that would start to draw water. And then all of a sudden you'd be like, wait a minute. And the thing is, is when you're looking at a house that's not brand new, check the basement for water outline stains that are dry. And I did not notice that on mine.

Homeownership sounds terrifying, man. It's my dream, but it sounds terrifying. Well, it'll happen. Don't worry about it. But the inspector could have maybe covered that with the amount of money they pay him but uh he missed it too so it was an issue and um sruti's dad had to come fix it a couple times i do kind of love the idea of asking for a personal day on a construction site i don't know if that's uh it's probably not a tv show or movie couldn't be built around that concept. Maybe a bad one could be.

Maybe you get a half a page dialogue out of that one. But it just kind of jumped into my head a little bit. Has there ever been a construction site TV show? I think it would work. Has it been done? Well, I was thinking of like, remember what is it? The Simple Life with Paris Hilton and what the hell?

I forgot her name. Yeah. And like they weren't doing like doing necessarily big time manual labor that way, but if they had a TV show of dudes like me who just had to do framing for a day or had to lay foundations for a day, I actually would watch that. I'd be terrible. You'd probably hate me. I'd hate myself, but

it'd be good television. What if they did Rat in the Kitchen, but construction style where one guy was just purposely cracking these stones, man. He's just nothing's level. Also known as electricians. All right, there you go.

That's like my plane comment, dude. I feel like that's one of those. No, I don't give a shit. Just knocking them off the list here. Today's life advice was presented by Modelo. Modelo knows it doesn't matter where you come from. It matters what you're made of. And when you need a little advice,

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Please subscribe to the Ryan Masullo Podcast. Ring your Spotify. Thanks to Kyle and Steve. We'll talk to you. Bill and I will be on Sunday. I'll be back Tuesday. Outro Music you