The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Pacers Steal Game 1! Haliburton’s Confidence and OKC’s Tension With Tim Legler.

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

Russillo is joined by Tim Legler to break down yet another Pacers comeback. They break down Indiana surviving the first half, Haliburton’s clutch numbers, and how both teams will adjust (1:51). Plus, Life Advice with Kyle (55:30)! Did I handle a father-son confrontation on the golf course correctly? Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, livestreams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Ryen RussilloGuest: Tim LeglerProducers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, Mike Wargon, and Jonathan Frias Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Rise to rewards with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card. Terms and conditions apply. Well, we've never done this before, so we have. Because we have legs, I didn't want to do an open today because I was going to just be repeating the same talking points from an open that was probably going to be too long and then get into it all over again with legs and then lay out. So believe it or not, we have different interview strategies based on the interviews here. So I just want to talk hoops for the most part.

Legs talk about the hoops With a game one for the books, the Pacers keep this thing rolling. Once again, just unstoppable in those clutch moments. When you think they're out of the game, they are not. So they take the first one in Oklahoma City. So we'll get to some of the coaching decisions in this one, some of the no shows on the Thunder side and how the Pacers got back into this game

after a very erratic first half for them. So Pacers take the one on lead. We'll break after a very erratic first half for them. So, Pacers take the 1-0 lead, we'll break it all down on what's next with Lex. You're listening to the Ryan Russo podcast presented by Fandual. America's number one sportsbook has made it easier than ever to get in on the action during the NBA finals. And with live betting, the tip off is just the beginning.

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about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of this episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older in present and select states or 18 plus in present and DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem call 100GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. The NBA Finals kick off last night in dramatic fashion. Pacers with the bucket from Halliburton coming back in this, taking game one at OKC, and it's probably the best guy we can get on right now. I listened on the pregame,

I saw him at Van Pelt on the post game, and it's Tim Legler, one of the many voices at ESPN on the NBA. Okay, Legs, so the Pacers get this first one. There's just so much stuff we both wanna get into here. If you had to give us kind of a headline on how the Pacers did it, what's the thing that stood out to you?

Okay, so I think it would be, first, I would have to just say they survived that ridiculous display of ball security. Okay. That's really to me what, what we're talking about here, because normally, Ryan, Oklahoma city in general, on average, will take every turnover they get and, and convert it into a point or a point and a half. That's what they do every single night. I mean, typically, you turn the ball over like even, say, 18 times in a game against Oklahoma City, you're going to get anywhere from 20 to 25 points, somewhere in that range,

converted the other direction. They turn the ball over 20 times and a half. And I think at a half time, they only had nine points off of those. So a very, very strange thing happened in the first half of that game. That should have been, by Oklahoma City standards, a 25 point lead at halftime, from which Indiana is not recovering. So to me, that was the story of the game. The fact that they were still standing

right at the end of that, you know, you certainly, obviously the fourth quarter still played out in a very strange way, the way that they were able to, to, you know, just cut that lead and then ended up winning the game. They're not even close to position to do that if they don't survive that. And some of it was Oklahoma city not converting them.

Like they had numbers and they missed layups. They missed threes and transition. But a lot of it, if you go back and look at the first half again, look at the effort and the commitment from Indiana to get back. It's simple as that. Like sprint after the turnover to cut the ball off, force them then to reset

on a possession in which they don't score. I thought it was really, to me, the biggest story in the game because no one survives that against Oklahoma City. And first of all, we don't even see that to that extent. That's absurd. It's the most, I think they ever had in a half of the franchise history in any game. And they survived that. You don't do that against Oklahoma city.

And so that to me is the biggest storyline from the game that kept them in it to keep throwing punches. And eventually they start making some threes. I thought Oklahoma city started to look very tentative. They were waiting for the clock to run out. I thought the last three minutes of the game and Indiana just keeps playing and then here you go. But with this, to me, the storyline is the first half, just the fact that they didn't get buried for an avalanche of points off of the, off of those turnovers. This is a possession sport, you know, like anything and you sit there and you look at

like, how are you handling your possessions? And then what is your field goal attempt advantage off of these turnovers? And you're absolutely right. Like I remember looking at it and going, okay, it's not just 19 turnovers in the first half. It was 18 more shot attempts from the Thunder. And you're supposed to be down 25. The total number on this, which again is to your point,

25 total turnovers by the Pacers. So they cleaned that part of it up in the second half. And it's only 11 points. You give up only 11 points to this Thunder team on the 25 turnovers. And you're right, too, at the start of this game, and one of the great things about trying to figure out this series is, okay, the Pacers are great

with the basketball, they don't turn it over. But actually, the Thunder are even better in that regard, at least for this playoffs, for this season. And you're watching this happen and maybe it was because the turnovers were, it was pretty clear that they were, I don't know that they were uncomfortable. I don't know if the Pacers are uncomfortable. I think RJ had a good line during the broadcast where he was like, they actually, as fast as they want to go, they need to slow down a little bit. Like they're going a little too fast. It's leading to just some of this carelessness

that you don't expect from this Pacers team. But the fact they're down, what, at the half 12 points. Right then you're going, how are they only up 12 the way the Pacers play? You know, when I watch a game, you know how much I'm writing, I'm doing and taking notes literally at every trip off the floor. I'm writing something so I can remember it later to break it down.

And I'm telling you, I don't know how many times last night I either said out loud or wrote, how is this a eight point game? How are we in a nine point game right now? Like I just kept saying it because none of it added up. None of the measurables added up to think that Indiana just won a game in which he turned the ball over to that many times against the number one team in the league at converting those into points and didn't have anybody go off. This wasn't like a 40 pointer out of Seahawks. This wasn't knee Smith and game one against the Knicks. This wasn't Halliburton game four of that series. None of those guys went off. They played a

very mediocre offensive game and they turned the ball over 25 times and they won. It's, it's one of the most improbable things you're going to watch because of their opponent and what we've been watching all year. Ryan, I called probably, I don't even know, probably five or six OKC games this year. I think four in that building. And in every one of those games, at some point, it's a barrage of conversion off of your mistakes that you don't recover from. And they hit you with these things. And to your point, in the first half, I'm watching Indiana and I literally was going,

man, I don't know if this is like a situation where, okay, this is the finals and we're just, our brains aren't processing stuff. Was it a matter of, okay, maybe we can't throw pocket passes against this team after the fourth one got stolen. Maybe they're really good at their guards at getting their hands low. When we come off ball screen and try to throw that little pocket pass to the slip guy, they're

so good at having their hands low already. It's almost like they're taught it or their instincts are that good collectively. At least four of those they threw away. Maybe we can't just force the ball into Siakam if he's got a smaller guy on them and they're fronting. That was two or three of those. And I saw that repeatedly in the Minnesota series. Like Randall couldn't catch the ball because they were fronting him and he'd end up on the sideline, like pinning a guy still calling for the ball. And it's like, dude, get out of there. Like you're not going to get it against a team this quick. They had two or three of those. And so I don't know if it was just, wow, man, this is actually, we saw this own film.

We played against this a couple of times this year, but wow, this is even faster than we remembered it being. So now we got to be much more careful with the ball placement and where we're going with it. And they adjusted to it, cleaned it up in the second half. When this team gets shots there, this is one of the toughest offenses in the league to guard. I don't care who you are. And that's really what happened. The second half, they got shots and, and particularly the fourth quarter. And then Oklahoma city contributed to it by getting, I thought it just a little bit, I don't know, just they slowed down so much that they got out of their own rhythm offensively. There's definitely some stuff on OKC

that I wanna do here offensively, but staying on the paces with this, I think you're right. When you're not ready for OKC's defense or the opponent thinks they have some sort of mismatch, but it's a very predictable entry pass or it's a very predictable first thing, I think they invite that.

They're like, great. You think you have this advantage? Like, great, now we know exactly how to determine help. And where so many teams just go, all right, we got the switch we wanted. Okay, now we're doing this. And now we're gonna throw it over here and you're gonna let us get into it. OKC's like, cool. We we got the switch we wanted. Okay, now we're doing this. And now we're going to throw it over here and you're going to let us get into it.

Okay. C's like, cool. We know exactly what you want to do. But to your point about no one necessarily going off, that's what I loved about this fourth quarter from the Pacers. This was like the full display. This is what the Pacers can be at their best when it feels like everybody's getting involved.

Mathern has a couple early makes in the fourth quarter. Uh, you have the knee Smith three in the right corner that was an insane make. The Nemhart three where he just works SGA and then Nemhart takes another one, air ball and Siakam like the second time he's in place. He actually on the air ball one, he beat SGA to the spot. And then you had the Turner bank shot.

So this was like the full display of the team effort with Halliburton closing it out, which speaks to, you know, at times we're like, what does depth actually mean in the playoffs? And I think we've gone in circles on that one a lot, but this was like a showcase of who the Pacers have been all season because you're not quite sure who you're going to get it from. And I also think for the most part, I mean, other than Nimhart getting the ISO and kind of working it against SGA, trying to figure out how to get space.

They were really quick and also not, you know, the last possession. It's like, we're just going, we're going. And that had to be at least a great learning experience for Carlisle in this group, at least after game one, but now we understand the speed. Now we understand what they're what they're, they're just, that's always the reminder of the thunder. You cannot dick around. You have to make a decision and you have to be committed to it on offense.

It's very true. I think Indiana probably, to use a boxing analogy, they went back to their corner after the first round, they're like, oh, all right, this guy's pretty quick. He's faster than he looks on film. And then you make the adjustment and that's what Indiana did. They got shots and they, they're as lethal as anybody. If they get that, you know, it's crazy. And so here's Oklahoma city and they're forcing all these turnovers and everybody's, you know,

just like, Oh my, look at this defense. I've never seen anything like it, you know? And I'm thinking to myself, yeah, some of that's true in the first half. Some of it is that some of it is just Indiana. Like what the hell are you doing? What are you looking at? Like I could see from where I'm sitting on this sofa in the green room watching this game I could see that there's no angle to make that pass. So it was a combination of the two things And then I think what what what happens over time you realize like, okay, we're turning the ball over but you know what else

They shot 48% for the game But you know what else they shot 48% for the game. Like, so it's like when they were getting shots, they're such a good shooting team and they have so many guys that could make shots. If they just get one up, very good chance it's going in. So that's the one thing you look at this game and go, wow, as good as Oklahoma city was defensively, the first half is sloppy as Indiana was when Indiana got shots, they were still making shots. And so it's just a matter of, man, let's just take care of this thing and let's make them work a little bit more. And they did. And it was fascinating to watch the shift in swagger right before our eyes from about the nine minute mark to about like the three minute mark, a complete shift in certainty.

And you saw it, you could just tangibly see it at OKC. They were slowing down possessions too much. They were, it was very one dimensional. I mean, you know, they had super quiet nights out of jail and Chad Holmgren, I don't think I said his name the entire game. I don't know if I wrote his name down on one card that I was making notes for this game. Not once.

So they had some guys really underperforming. It was all Shay and Indiana was just like, man, we're going to roll the dice. Like this one dude is not going to get enough to beat us tonight if we hang around. And I saw that shift in the look in their eyes was just different in that moment. And Indiana, once they get to that point, man, they just feel like, now look, as to your point, Ryan, any one of those three or four things you mentioned go different, they win the game. You know, Siakam doesn't crash the boards on that play or the air ball. And he was in

the corner. Shea goes to South Alexander was face guarding him and tried to block him out with a face guard blockout. Siakam chucked him to the side, caught it, laid it in. What if, what if Siakam goes like halfheartedly toward the rim and starts to like get back on defense? They lose the game. If hell, if he doesn't get the extra free throw in the lane violation, they might lose the game. You know, if, if Turner doesn't bank in a three from the left wing, they lose the game. So a lot of things still went perfectly for them, but it all started with the fact that they, they got shots and their offense is formidable when they do it. Okay.

Let's talk about the thunder in the fourth quarter. Here's absolutely right. Right. You know, I watched the fourth quarter again this morning and it was another one of those games where you're watching it going, they lost this game. And you're thinking of just one of these trees goes down. So there were O five from three in the fourth quarter. All five threes are great looks. Um, there was the Jalen Williams stretch where you could tell from the last regular season game,

like he's not afraid of knee Smith, but they were hunting Thomas Bryant, which you're going to try to do no matter who you like. Anytime he's out there, it's like, okay, let's try to get this guy. And then it was a lot of hunting Turner. The Pacers brought Halliburton back in at 942 because I want to talk about Dignal and his decisions last night, obviously with you, SGA comes back in at 744. And one of the things that I think we all admired what the Celtics were offensively, but knew they became really hunt happy, and that was their downfall. Did you see too much of,

is like you think of, all right, you wanna get Halliburton in the action, you wanna get Turner in the action. Granted, it sucks when no one's making a three around you for the entire quarter. But I would agree with you that then those possessions, once it went from a 12 point game to like a four point game, it felt like there was a lot more tension for OKC in those moments. There definitely was.

And I'm just telling you even, you know, this is how it kind of works in the building that place, you, they blew the roof off that place. It's as good an environment as there is in the league right now when they roll people. You know, that anxiety in the stands is transferred onto the court. And you could feel that start to happen too in the fourth quarter. That kind of affects you the way you think. There was one guy that looked kind of like normal in terms of his approach to the moment, and that was Shea. Nobody else looked that way for OKC, which is surprising on a team that going into last night had won 80 games this year.

But they weren't in as many of these kind of moments as most teams are going into the finals to that point. And it just, it felt like there was this like shift in their confidence level. And next thing you know, man, they're very stacked in offensively on those last possessions. Even the last look, Shay got a great look. Okay. A great look. A great look. That's his bread and butter,

mid-range lean back, probably 18 feet. And Hallibur, he had separation. It wasn't like hand-on-hand contest. He got a clean look. He makes that, again, probably win the game. But it was like the whole possession and it's too prior. It just didn't feel like Oklahoma city was taking the approach that we are going to knock you out on this possession. It was a little bit too much hoping, not enough certainty. And,

and I think that to me is what I felt. And that's what really shifted this. And when he misses it, they're not calling time out. Carlisle getting a lot of praise for that. Listen, I am a guy and it's very circumstantial if I'm gonna call that or not if I'm coaching. In that situation, I really believe this, because I think Rick Carlisle is this smart. Because I feel like, I'm standing on a solid line,

I think I would pick up on this. When the ball came off the rim, Oklahoma City had four defenders on the opposite side of the floor from Halliburton and in the back court. Meaning there was this clear space and ability to get him the ball. If that's jammed up or muddled or guys are like spread out and Halliburton's kind of crowded up with that, I bet you Carlisle would have called timeout because it would have been like, what do you know? He's going to have to run back and get it. And like the fact that, that he could see, like we, we have a good, we have good spacing here to go up the floor.

He decides not to call it. I thought in that situation, it worked. You know, you go back to the playoff loss Boston had against the Knicks early when, when after the free throw and, and, and Missoula doesn't call it. You remember that game? He go, well, we just ran this action and we got a layup out of Jason Tate. I'm like, yeah, right. I think the Knicks are going to allow that to happen again. You're going to go length of the court with 11 seconds with a timeout. He doesn't call it. I would have absolutely called that after the free throw. Live ball situation totally different than a made basket or a dead ball.

It's just totally different the way you process it as a coach. So I thought it was a good idea to play it out. Hal Lemberton comes up to court. They don't force him to his left hand. Three different times, he stopped, went right, stopped, went right, stopped, went right. The third time he finally got to an open space

and went up over the top of the one guy of the five perimeter defenders they have, went right, stop, went right, stop, went right. The third time he finally got to an open space and went up over the top of the one guy of the five perimeter defenders they have, he would have picked the play against. And he got it, and he got the shot knocked down. Yeah, and I was watching Caruso on that play again, and Caruso's caught in the middle, and I still think Caruso made the right play

because he probably wasn't gonna get into the contest once Halliburton got into it, and then I thought what Caruso did was actually really smart because you're talking about Halliburton who's still available to make the pass really late in the possession. We know how he is, he can jump and look, chances are he's still pulling up. So it's easy for all of us to say, sell out and double and have Caruso crash into it, but he tries to get back to Siakam because Siakam is going to be wide

open if Halliburton decides like last second to do it and Halliburton is certainly capable of doing that. I love the no timeout. I love the no timeout against OKC. And there's another thing that happened here because I had a couple of different things on this. Cause you know, the offense with the Thunder, they score, they still score 25 points in the fourth quarter. There's a lot of free throws in there, but I just, even if you have the MVP and you're thinking about like what you want to do and what you want to attack.

Uh, I think that stuff, a lot of that high screen that this league is in love with, it just feels that it can become a little predictable. And then it also, you know, I think the human nature of basketball is that when you know, you're the only there for spacing, like that's such a credit to Siakam. I'm glad you made that point. There's a lot of guys, even in the NBA finals, that would be in the corner. That'd be like, I'm not running all the way in there just in case it's, it's, it's a loose ball.

Uh, that's a winning play. And, but I think over the course of like a game, there's just guys that are still thinking about getting back on defense, especially when you're talking about two teams that want to play at this kind of pace, but you're so right about Chad, I didn't notice him at all last night. It doesn't mean he's going to have a bad finals. He had a bad game one, but the Thunder went small at 324. And then I imagine Carlisle was probably like, cool.

If you want to go small. Cause they take Turner out at 307. So this game closes the last three minutes smaller and ultimately like kind of removes the Turner hunting part of this and at least Toppin is more active and then Toppin would even throw his name in there considering all the threes that he made as far as the offensive team balance part of it. So on the small decision, I mean it's easy to know the result here but how did you feel about that from the Thunder? I like I completely agree with you. Rick Carlisle saying to myself himself if you got if you guys want to play small versus our small I'm gonna take that because I think overall he feels like his five

He'll have on there are better collectively offensively than Oklahoma City's guys. I think that's what he believes The advantage one advantage for Oklahoma City and again I know it's hard because of miles Turner and his ability to shoot the three and it's a long recovery and run out for one of your bigs. Their advantage is that when they've played two bigs against most teams, like those two guys have great chemistry. They're both versatile defensively. Holmgren and Hartenstein can both hedge hard on ball screen.

They could switch occasionally. They track guys to the rim. They're very good at interior passing and throwing lobs to each other. Once the ball goes in the middle of the floor. And you took that off the table really, in this, in at least last night, they got beat by 17 on the glass. It's an, you know, and this was a problem for OKC last year. They were getting thrown all over the place and we're like, that's, that's the one thing that they don't have is a little bit more beef up front.

And you're thinking with home, with Hartenstein added to the mix, what that does is let Chet roam more defensively to collect rebounds because then he's probably matched up against a small forward. And Hardenstein's doing a lot of the heavy lifting, like in the banging with some of the bigger guys, you know, the yokichis of the world who they got them for probably.

You know, the Anthony Davises of the world, like guys like that. And now Chet can run loose, go in, collect rebounds. Chet can roam more defensively as a rim protector. They took that off the table last night. There was no differentiating factor Go in, collect rebounds. Chet can roam more defensively as a rim protector. They took that off the table last night. There was no differentiating factor with their two bigs at all. And as a result, Indiana is like, this is fine.

We like this. Because what Indiana is going to do to you is, and it was even more apparent when they had five guards on the floor, or four wings and one big, they over commit like to the drive to such an extent. And it's listen, it's, it's shell defense one-on-one and it's like as good as it gets in it, help and recover. But they are so on their toes, man, ready to go on any penetration on the weak side of the floor.

Indiana took advantage of that with their, and that's how really they got back in the game. The threes they get like later were shots that you shouldn't be getting when you're trying to protect the lead if you're Oklahoma city. And they gave up because their instincts are flood the lane on any dribble penetration. And now some of those closeouts, you're not going to get there in time. And Indiana, I said going in, they had to have a plus three or plus four made three point margin per game to win. They have to do that. They have to shoot the ball like that. What was it last night? Plus seven. So they're plus 21 from the three. This is even better than I said. And it really is

the reason they were able to be positioned to win the game. I thought Oklahoma city making that adjustment right off the bat, like, Oh, we're going to adjust to you guys. Wait a minute. You're the 68 win team. You're the, you have home court advantage. You're the favorite, prohibitive favorite to win this series. Why are you already going in saying I need to adjust to Indiana?

I think it should have been the other way around. Knowing that you're not going to play those two guys together as much as you normally do. I just thought the approach was we can't play them together against you guys. I thought it was a bad approach. And Dagnall is one of the smartest guys I've ever met in basketball. I don't think he had a great game because of that. Okay.

So there's a lot on that part of it that I want to dig into here because again, referencing that March game, Chet didn't play. Hartenstein was the primary focus of the Pacers attack. He left, didn't come back in the second half because of hip soreness, but he played two days later. And I was like, okay, well, you know, if anything, I don't know how much of this is relevant, you know, they really went after Hartenstein. I thought Hartenstein's minutes clearly were better

than Chet's last night, but you've noticed the game log here that they're more comfortable with Chet as these playoffs have built to close. They like that better than Hartenstein. So then Wallace comes in and Wallace actually starts on Halliburton. So the only thing I could think of is, is there something they felt like with the attack with the Pacers?

Or are they messing with them being like, hey, Dort's not on you right away. And granted, Dort ends up with Halliburton a ton. I was trying to figure that part out. But then you add in like Wiggins gets his nine minutes. I was legitimately shocked AJ Mitchell was in the game. I get that point. I can't believe it.

You're thinking, Degmelt's like, is he just fucking with everybody? Ryan, at one point I'm sitting there watching the game and I kind of, you know, I'm so, so I'm like, I take notes. I turned my head for a second. I looked down, I looked back up and I literally was like, who is that? I'm like, Oh, AJ Mitchell. Okay. Interesting. Interesting. You know, whatever. Four minutes. I mean, you know, Mitchell. Okay. Interesting. Interesting. You know, whatever. Four minutes. I mean, you know, yeah, that's not the game. He didn't swing the game or anything. It's like, but four minutes. Hey, listen, I do respect this four minutes. Get three up. That's

Dave. Just preach it to the choir. I think he got his three up in like 30 seconds, by the way, cause they were all get yours up. That's all I got. Second. You're in the finals, young man. You get four minutes, get three up. Good for you. It didn't turn the game, but it was still, it was like, what the hell it's like, it's like Dagnall just found like some loose change in his car. I go, what's this? I don't know.

I haven't seen AJ Mitchell, man. And I like AJ Mitchell by the way. I think the kids gonna have a nice career in the league. I was like, whoa, okay, this is interesting. He's played in three playoff games. I mean, real playoff game, like real minutes. He's played in more. I don't understand.

I don't know. AJ Mitchell probably was like, huh? When he heard his name. Really? Okay. So let me get back to this because I do know that like whenever it's brought up, players hate this. RJ brings it up last night. Like, what are you doing? You're starting with Wallace,

and this is not the reason they lost the game line, I don't think. But, you know, RJ is basically saying, if you're in the locker room, and then you know that they decided to change up everything that they've done, it's like, hey, look, they're adjusting to us. Maybe this is my non-playing career speaking out, but it just reminds me of like the high school coach where it's the team isn't as good and he's just trying to come out. He's like, we they're in our place and our history and I saw this stuff didn't run out of the tunnel and you're like, that doesn't really matter. These guys are a lot better than us. What if okay. See just said because of all the ball handlers that the Pacers have

because of the way they attacked Hartnstein, because of our comfort with Chet here and because Wallace is a really good player we actually want to prioritize these minutes and maybe give them a different look. Is it really the mental edge? I guess I push back on a mental edge that I feel like the former players feel like is a much bigger deal than I do. I just think that no look the mental edge component probably is not even really what I'm talking about as much. I think you have this team that's operated a certain way and certainly most of the postseason have operated a certain way with certain lineups, particularly the start of the game, start of the second half. This is what we do. And I just think the fact that you're

addressing your team and you're, okay, we're going to go with this right off the bat. No one's expecting that. And it's kind of like, oh, okay. So right off the bat, you just kind of like, you're like thinking a little bit more than you should be rather than just like, okay, this is what we do. And all coaches are going to say that it's more about us than them. If we do what we do and do it well, that's all that really matters.

There is some truth in that. And I think that it just kind of just makes you take, give a pause a little bit. Like, okay, that's interesting. Like, you know, thinking about the reaction to those guys, like in processing that, all right, we're going to change up our starting lineup for these guys. Cause we're worried about something with them. And I'm going, okay, I think check could guard Seahackam reasonably well at the start of the game.

And I wanted to see what would it look like against their lineup getting on the offensive glass and attacking them where you get the pick, the dive, hit the guy in the middle, and here comes the other big slashing along the baseline. And how does Indiana defend that? Like that's, that's a problem for a lot of teams. It's been a problem. They break you down and collapse you because of all gets in the middle of the floor and you still have another big running the baseline or under the basket. They didn't

really have to deal with that really at all. So the game became more of our strength. Now you guys are putting a lineup out on the floor. That's better for us. That's how Indiana viewed it. Now listen, despite all of that, they turn the ball over 20 times in the first half. So if something was working for OKC, I get it. I thought that had more to do with Indiana and Oklahoma city, to be honest, those turnovers and the way they were playing offensively.

It was just like, what are you guys looking at? And I was calm down once they did. And certainly during the comeback, like this is very comfortable for us. If this is what you want to roll out there. And I'm very curious to see what Dagnall does in game two a little bit differently. Cause of course you're going to feel chat. I think chat probably went home last night and he's a very competitive guy. And I think he's probably, he looked himself in the mirror.

It was a very disgusted with, with the fact that he did that no presence in that game. So he's going to be more of a force. And I think maybe Dignald gives him more of an opportunity to do that. And one way you would do that would be to play two bigs together. I think you'll feel chat home grid more. Let's see though. Let's see. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they just don't feel like that works against this Pacers team. 32 rebounds between Siakam, Halliburton and Neesmith.

Yeah. Last night. Let's talk about Halliburton and Nemhart, which is something that I noticed. I noticed in that regular season game, it's something that I think is so simple. Coaches don't do enough. And yeah, a bit of a rant.

It's just, hey, that regular season, our best player is awesome. We want him to have that ball in his hands the most because the points for possession tells us when he has the ball that this is who we are in offense. So let's just run more of that. I think the analytic influence has then, you know, kind of changed. Like this is a longer thing, but there are single offensive seasons that we look at historically and go, holy shit. And then I would argue, yeah, but the game has also evolved,

good or bad, into prioritizing your best player having the ball more, which sounds like really simple. Like, of course, if this is our best player and this is what the math says, then he should have the ball all the time. However, I think there are very clear examples of how that approach is completely disrupted once you get to the playoffs.

And if I'm another player, or if I'm a coach on the other side being like, okay, he's awesome, but if I always know what the fuck it's gonna look like, I'm just gonna get more and more comfortable over the course of the game, over the course of the series. Something as simple as Halliburton, and in this case, Rick Carlisle trusting to have Halliburton off the ball so much

more at the start of the offensive possessions because of the trust in Nemhart. That is one of my favorite things from last night. I'd like you to talk more about kind of like how that works. Well, then though that when that was an obvious tangible thing that they changed in the fourth quarter, because look, Halliburton is a guy that I feel like you have to impede his forward progress. And in some cases, that means when

the ball comes off the glass and Indiana secures the defensive rebound, I think Tyrese Halliburton is better than any player I've seen since Steve Nash at catching the ball up, moving forward up the floor on the outlet pass. And it's not an easy thing to do because there's all kinds of traffic. You've got to find a way. And also if you do it too late, it doesn't matter. So it's gotta be timed perfectly. As the ball's coming off, you kind of are already surveying

what angle can I take to give myself the best path to give the outlet guy the best way to find me while I'm moving up the floor. Oklahoma city is going to take that away from you. They're going to jam you up. They're not allowing those outlet passes to come up the floor. They're also not going to allow him to do what he did in for most part, the entire Nick series, which is when he does get the outlet. Now first guy he sees in resistance is over half court because now he's coming at you fast. He gets a little brush screen downhill to his right hand owning you, owning you. And they're not going to let you do that either. And it's going to wear you out. Look, he's

not a, he's not a, he's not big. He's very slightly built. He's not a physical player. It's, it's really handsy in the playoffs. Okay. So he's got more handsy guys than anybody in the league. They're all over you with touchy feely stuff, get jamming you up. And I think Rick Carlisle was like, this is going to be like running in mud. If this is what we're going to force the issue with this, Nemhart can handle the ball more than capable. He's actually a very good decision maker. And he's, and he's got, look, he's got some pop to his game offensively. If you, as you saw with that step back, he hit like, he can also do that. If that's what the situation requires, I thought it freed up their offense to the extent it needed to be in that moment to allow them more possessions, quicker,

shorter possessions with quality shots. Because if they have to eat up 18 seconds with Halliburton coming up, he's, you know, he's feeling pressure, gives it up. Nothing happens. He runs and gets it back. And okay, now you're down to six on the clock. You're not going to have enough time to pull off what they did. Nemhart allowed them to get into that stuff quicker with Halliburton off the ball. And I thought it was a great adjustment in the moment. And in this series, it's going to be important that he has a major ball hand responsibility because of the number of guys you could put on Halliburton that affect your forward progress and get you playing more sideline to sideline.

And that's a win for OKC. And in that stretch of the game, Indiana was able to get up the floor into the teeth a little bit and then spread you out and make threes and it's how they erase that deficit. After the Knicks series. Well, let me, let me give you two parts. I voted at Halliburton all NBA, right? Adam 13. I've never thought about him as a top 10 player in the NBA.

This Pacers story, you know, Bill and I had talked a little bit about like, if you look at this Pacers roster, it's just the roster that you want in the East the next five years. And I was like, wow, I still kind of default back to what I've always accepted as like the primary rule in the NBA. If you don't have one of those top five guys, if you don't have like number one and number seven, maybe in the new financial world, it'll be different. The Pacers are the first test of this,

or maybe this is just a really, really great team that is tough, is improved defensively. They have a great coach, and maybe this is kind of an aberration in roster building and all this kind of stuff. But as you bring it back to Halliburton, I was thinking about it more, because then after the Knicks series, it was like, hey, this guy's probably a top 10 player.

Especially after that brilliant 30 point game with zero turnovers and just, I mean, just like a flawless basketball game. Is there something about Halliburton that we have to understand that's beyond just, he's not getting you 30 every night. Okay. It's just not the way that he plays, but there are eight one and clutch games. And it's not just about the game winner, okay? It's just not the way that he plays. But there are 81 in clutch games, and it's not just about the game winner, but there is this control of the game.

Certainly there's a confidence in his game that is everything you would want in a special basketball player. But is there more to him quarterbacking a team offensively that is more of a benefit than maybe the other stats we always attribute to the top 10 players in this sport Definitely and I've adjusted my analysis of him as a result. I don't have a choice I used to be you know, like even last year and he had his meteoric rise

Right in front of our eyes the first half of last year before it season last year. No. Yeah, exactly exactly It was became literally he was the biggest talking point in the league in like December. Right? You're like, man, I knew this guy was nice, but this is absurd what he's doing right now all through the in season tournament and like all that. Right? And then, and then like, so now you're watching them a little bit differently. The ceiling's been moved. So you're like, clearly, okay. So now my expectation level in the ceiling on this guy is different. So I'm judging him by that standard. And you're like, clearly, okay, so now my expectation level on the ceiling on this guy's different. So I'm judging him by that standard.

And you're like, okay, there's some uneven nights in here, which is why, again, the level that you give guys and whatever adjective you wanna use, there are levels to this thing. And the guys that are truly reserved for that really top special place, they have that because they do it every night, literally every night. Doesn't mean they have great shooting nights every night, but it always looks the same. It looks the same. And usually

they do get to their number one way or another. And you're like, that's why that guy's a superstar. That's why that's a franchise player. Because hell or high water, no matter what the circumstances, what the defense or what kind of night they're having, somehow they get to their number and they do it every night and it always looks the same. Halliburton, I'd watch him some nights, man. And I'd be like, I just, he looks so passive. I don't understand it. And what I've come to learn about him is what I now probably was overreacting to his passivity. And I do still think there's some of that is true, particularly game five in the next series after that game he had, when he basically, like you said, it was, if that was a quarterback,

it's a one 58.3 QBR. That's what he did that night in game four. Okay. And the game five, he comes out and it's almost like he anticipated to himself. He's having an inner voice saying, well, they're doing a way in hell. They're going to let me do that again. So I'm just going to come out and let other guys do it. Like, cause I was like, they're not really up in you like to that extent. So there's some of it is still true. But what I've learned Ryan is this, it's, it's, it's more, this dude is in complete control of kind of like ultimately how he wants to play and how things are about to go.

And he has this incredible quality during pressure moments of being able to maintain the exact same muscle memory, which is what derails a lot of players in high stress moments. Your muscle memory fails you because you're over analyzing, you're going too fast. Something breaks down mechanically. You're just not processing things the way you normally do the rest of the game. He has that rare ability to process things exactly the same way as if this is a game against the Wizards on a Wednesday night in November last night. That in that moment, that's how he's processing it. That's how his muscle memory works on

the big shots. And that's why now I'm going to analyze him a little bit differently when he looks a little bit quiet or you don't notice him for stretches of games. I'm still expecting there to be a splashy finish to this or at some point he's putting his fingerprints all over this. Even if he hasn't to that point in the game where I used to like the next day I talk about the game and like Halliburton last night and I just kind of go in on him a little bit. Like I don't get this guy. I think I'm going to, I'm going to pump the brakes on that stuff a little bit with him

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Please enjoy Responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See after details. Okay, I have a number for you. And then I want to also ask you one last question on the way out here. So I was looking at like some of the best players in the sport and just looking at usage rate, which I think tells a good story on like how much a guy has the ball.

So if you look at Luca's usage in the playoffs, he right now is at 36.4, which is the highest in NBA history. And not surprising when you think about like the 22 team, I mean, he has back to back, now granted it was the 21 series, then 22 they made it to the Western Conference Finals. Those are back to back playoff runs with a usage rate north of 40, which is unheard of, okay?

The only time you're ever gonna see 40 is is like Westbrook, uh, it has like that all time year when the, when he won the triple crown essentially in the MVP of basketball, so Kobe, his usage rate in the playoffs was 31 he's got a 34, a couple of 34s in there. Yannis has for some playoff runs. He's got a 35. he's got a 39, he's got a 37, so it's up there. Halliburton this year, his usage rate for this Pacers team, as they've now played in 17 playoff games, it's 22. 22 is a really low number for your guy that carries you.

And if they win this thing, the credit is to him accepting that and not needing to be the 30% usage guy, not needing to take more shots, not getting to kind of his default numbers even if it's inefficient, because you're absolutely right. Like the best, the historically best players, it's crazy how often it's like, now Larry Bird doesn't have six points, you

know, LeBron James, whatever you want to say, but like, there's not going to be the playoff dud where there's zero points in there during the prime years for these players, Halliburton's usage in comparison to how we would stack them up against the other top 10, that's just not something that happens, but it is, it's not that surprising considering the way he approaches the game. I love the number. I didn't have that number and I'm going to absolutely steal it. So just giving you a warning, you're going to hear that shit on other places. Speaking of usage rate, mine's up, mine's up heavily in the NBA finals.

My, my own personal usage rate soars during this time of the year, and I'm all about it. So I'm going to steal that one. I actually heard another great number last night. I don't know if you heard this one. So in the NBA postseason this year, in a situation with 15 seconds or less to go in the game, shots to tie or take the lead in that situation last 15 seconds of regulation or overtime the rest of the league shooting individual shooting percentages in those situations four for 27 Tyrese Halliburton is five for five. That's not supposed to happen. That's one of the most incredible stats I've ever heard.

I actually had to get the, the Stephen A actually said it on this segment. I do a Scott last night, somebody research had given him that number, um, before he came out there and I was like, so went to commercial and I'm like, give me that number again. Cause I'm going to be all over that, all, all over that the next 48 hours and all the different hits I'm doing. I just think that's one of the most incredible statistical anomalies you ever seen. Or is it an anomaly? Is it just what this guy is about? Like he clearly feels super comfortable, man, releasing the basketball from his fingertips with heavy consequences. And not many guys are, man, they just aren't not where you feel

exactly the same as you do in an, in an, in an inconsequential game during the regular season. And so it's actually like his, his senses are heightened and he's still able to just maintain what he needs to, to make sure that ball is soft. It travels the right distance. He gets to the spot on the floor that he's comfortable. And he, and then he makes, he makes magic happen for this team. And it's like, I'm still sitting here, Ryan, you know, we're the next morning halfway through the morning. And I'm still kind of in a state

of shock that they won that game. And maybe I shouldn't be anymore, but Oklahoma city has been so much better than the rest of the league this year that it's, it's just really kind of incredible what Indiana was able to pull off last night and it's great for all of us because this is gonna be a lot more drama in this series now because of that and I think now we're getting a long one we're getting a six or seven gamer there's no question in my mind for the record Bird had two eight-point games in the finals against Houston there and in 81 don't you ever, don't you ever,

ever blaspheme Larry Bird. Just 164 playoff games as I said I was like there's probably a dud or two in there scoring wise. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I mean, but it's all right. All right, so what are you looking for? What's the first thing you're looking for to understand how both sides just dissected the film from game one. Well, I actually think you're going to, you're going to see, um, I think a more physical effort on the part of Oklahoma city. Um, cause I think they're going to watch the film and be like, particularly the fourth quarter of that game and not recognize themselves on either end of the floor. And typically what I've seen at Oklahoma city is when they have one like that, the very

start of the next game, the level to which they're up in you, the level to which you're feeling them defensively, you're going to see that at the very beginning of the game. And I'd certainly in the end, I can't turn a ball over to that extent. I don't think they could try and do that that many times in the first half. So they'll be better than they were. In terms of ball security, I think Oklahoma City's overall defense and contest rate and challenging you and what they do on the glass

and on the offensive glass, I think it's gonna be a different approach. It's interesting how one nine minute stretch can completely shift the desperation. Right. It has because Indiana wasn't necessarily desperate last night, but you did feel like, man, if they, if they lose both of these games in OKC, this is probably a five game series. That's how I felt about it. And now they've already gotten one. Do you have any idea like the amount of pressure in the building going into game two and what Oklahoma city typically has done when he feels some

of that, that's how they come out and start the game. And just, it's almost like this, just like reminder to everybody in this building. This is what this shit looks like when we, when we are at our best. And I don't know that they feel any part of that game was them at their best. The turnover is great. Not converting them. That's not, that's a team I didn't recognize that they didn't turn that into cash money the other way. I didn't recognize their lack of, of certainty offensively in, in, in like when the game

on the line, they definitely looked like they were stagnant and they just wanted the clock to run out. I think you're going to see a different mental approach at him. Now will he adjust, go back to the two bigs, see what Indiana does about that? I wouldn't be surprised. And if I were him, I never would have gone that way. He did last night in the first place, truthfully, not at the start of the game. Yeah. And if it's tight, will he choose to go small? Cause I were totally aligned on that. I think Carlisle and those guys are like fine.

Cause now we're taking away the defensive target because Toppin's more mobile and then Toppin's hitting threes again. Uh, I think the Pacers love their small center lineup and would probably be afraid to bring it out, especially if they're playing too big. So I'd, I'd, you know, maybe there's some advantages in the possession of movement and

having two guys having to chase it around. I mean, basketball can be funny that way, but over the long stretch, uh, I'm sure Carlisle was happy about that. So we'll see if that happens again. But I'm with you, man. At 94-79, McConnell inbounds the pass from the baseline. It's a turnover. J-Wil goes the other way. They're up 15 points. Granted, it's 9.27 left and the Pacers find another way to close out one of these games and you're right 25 turnovers 11 points only 11 points that's hard to do to only score 11 points off a 25 turnover. So credit the Pacers defense And last thing I wanted I'm gonna mention because we haven't mentioned his name

You just did and I have to say I have to give TJ McConnell a shout out for this reason I thought in the first half he was the only guy that looked normal for this reason, I thought in the first half, he was the only guy that looked normal. Like TJ McConnell looks exactly like he looks every night. And the way he continues to impact the game, like as a scorer, still amazes me. I mean, this guy just comes in there and he still finds he gets buckets

in such a short period of time. If TJ McConnell does not have that little mini run he had, they're down 16 to 20 points at halftime. does not have that little mini run he had. They're down 16 to 20 points at halftime. And this is a different outcome. So it's little things like that, that you don't even notice. It's so innocuous and buried into play by play in the line of the game.

He had a seven point run at a time in the game that they weren't doing anything and they were turning the ball every possession and he hits a three He gets a short little jumper. He gets another layup in early offense I don't remember if his other bucket was in the first or second half because he had nine points He didn't have a bucket. He didn't have a point in or he may had a free throw But I don't I don't he doesn't have a make he doesn't have a field goal make in the second half That is that he had all nine points in the first half

I thought I knew it was seven at least because it was in a very short period of time So he had another basket to hit nine points. He doesn't do that. They're down. I'm telling you They're not 16. They're not 12 as it was they're down 16 20 points and I don't know they're coming back for 20 So he kept doing the game And he looked comfortable and I just was like man. I love this guy How can you not love TJ McConnell like you, you know, he comes out there and like, dude, guys, this is how it's done. Like what's the deal? You know, everybody else is like looking like the ball is 400 degrees. They can't wait to get rid of it. And it's like, he just comes in there

and settles everybody down and does his thing. And it's a 12 point workable margin at halftime. It's funny that play you mentioned when he threw the out of bounds play away to Thomas Bryant because that was totally Bryant's fault. Bryant didn't release to the ball. He was sealing the guy and he was like had his hand up, McConnell throwing the ball from the baseline out toward like the top of the key and he's like yeah release now and go get it. Yeah he sealed it like he was getting a post entry pass. That's what I'm saying release and when he when he when J J Jalen was picked up all I was going in for the dunk I'm already looking at McConnell Yes, and I actually like George Sadano told me because he was doing sideline for radio. He was in the huddle McConnell was a basically ready to fight Thomas Bryant like and I'm going I

McConnell was basically ready to fight Thomas Bryant. And I'm going, I had a play, I remember in a game one time where a dude did that to me and I threw the ball at him. It was in practice. I threw the ball at the guy after. Sometimes you get so frustrated with the lack of IQ in the moment. Like dude, do what you're supposed to do. So that's kind of McConnell's fiery personality. They needed it last night. They needed every one of his nine points in the first half as, as innocuous as they seemed at the time, I'm telling you,

it kept them within striking distance and set up what happened later in the game. So I wanted to give a mad shout out to TJ McConnell for the way he played last night and settling those guys down when he came into the game. Was it Joe Wolf? I've got to not say the name because I never know. Kick it back to these guys. And I don't know what you never know. Some of these guys could have done time and they're like, Oh, yeah, right.

You know, leave me out of it. I don't need, I don't, yeah, I don't, I don't, I don't need that. So I don't, you never know where these guys end up. It was not, I will say it was not Joe Wolf. All right, good. I'm glad we were able to clear his name. I love the Joe Wolf reference out of nowhere. You're the best, yeah.

TJ didn't have any free throws, so all nine, you're right in that first half. This was everything I wanted it to be. You've been everywhere. Thank you for giving us some time and promo anything you've got because I know you're working literally every hour. I'm literally getting five minutes from now. I'll be going on all city NBA podcast Doing my thing with Adam Perez. We did that four days a week

So we were of course just breaking down everything you saw last night looking ahead to game two and then this time of year There's no telling you know where I'm gonna be Every day I get it open new requests and of course, obviously I'm always gonna make time for you man So I love coming on. All right, good stuff. Enjoy the finals. See you man It won't take long to tell you neutrals ingredients Vodka soda natural flavors So Uh, soda... natural flavors. So... what should we talk about? No sugar added?

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And best of all kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Lifeadvice, rr at gmail.com. That's the email to get in touch with Wargon or Kyle directly. What an amazing opportunity. You thought you were having a bad week. Did you know that little fact? All right. Let's see, man, the six minute mile thing will not end.

People are all over the place. Um, people, uh, either upset with me or saying people are confusing it with pace. Uh, it is fast because I might be confusing it with pace. I don't know. Eight minutes is fast? Are we saying six now? I feel like the number's changing

and the context is changing. I don't even know. I did ask our guy, Jonathan Frias, who's our video guy. He's like a real runner here in the LA Marathon a couple months ago. He said under five is very good. So he's taking it one step further.

That's insane. That's not what we're talking about here. Do we read one more of these? Oh man, fine. I don't know. I don't know. Runners or Raptors fans who you got more beef with these days? Probably runners. Or rise in the ranks. No, I don't think so because it's all over the place.

It's either you're totally right, and then there's other people who are like, do you understand how fast a six-minute mile is? I did double-check because again, I used to try to run a 10 miles an hour, I think, or whatever it is, like a 10 on a treadmill. I would see how long I could do that before I just felt like I was gonna die.

You're in the danger zone. Yeah. And I don't know that I ever could get the full mile. I usually could get it like a 0.8 and I would just be like, all right, you're gonna collapse. And I was always afraid because the treadmill, you know, the treadmill's going, it's not really up to you. I was always afraid because a treadmill, you know, the treadmill is going. It's not really up to you.

Yeah, it's easier to see footage. Take some longer strides. The belt goes a little more. Yeah, you can cheat the belt. Yeah. See, that's something I don't know, because now I don't use it anymore. That's for sure.

I don't know. Maybe I don't want to anymore, that's for sure. I don't know. Maybe I don't wanna read a ton of these. So let's just get to one of them. Or two. All right, a kid tried to steal my golf brush. What's up guys, love the pod six two 240, 27 year old male. No notable gym stats.

Player comp Boris Diao below the rim, post finisher who can knock down a three and feed my teammates. And Boris could really pass. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on.

I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on.

I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what's going on. I'm going to try to get a kid's bag. I confronted the kid's dad with whom he was there asking, did you guys find a

brush laying over there? The dad said no. Well I lost the exact same brush that is hanging from your son's bag I replied. Oh well we picked one up but that is ours. Further context, it's a quality $25 brush and I'm pretty confident that dad is better off financially than I am. I had about two inches and 40 pounds on the dad though I would never let it escalate physically. The kid, approximately eight years old, had no course etiquette as he almost hit me

with several errant chips before I'd even realized my brush was missing. How old did he say the kid was? I just missed that part. Eight? I was chipping the other day and a kid started chipping off of the green, but he was like 11.

Big no-no, right? Right before Shithead phase. So he was pre, he was the introduction of a book to Shithead. And so I said something. I was like, dude, are you gonna chip on the green? Ran off and then his dad was over there. His dad was looking at me.

And I wasn't outrageous about it. But I mean, it's just such an obvious thing. Don't hit your fucking wedge on the green. And the kid was nasty too. So maybe he just was like, I can pick it right off of this and not damage the green whatsoever. But I think most golfers would frown upon that and something needed to be said. And I was really nice about it.

I was like, are you really going to do that? Maybe I could. You're really nice about it. To me, that's being really nice about it. I don't know. I mean, what would you, what's a nicer way to do it? Hey man, it seems you're a shit head. Hey buddy, come, come take a seat over here.

Let me talk to you about this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so the dad and I argued, causing a scene around the practice screens and drawing attention from bystanders, I was embarrassed, almost caving. The dad was loudly dropping F-bombs left and right. His story didn't make sense though, so I stuck to my guns.

The dad's main argument that he had purchased the brush a year ago, lost it around the same time, but somehow picked it up over by where my bag had been. I mean, this guy's crazy. Yeah. The story, you busted him and then he just decided to try to go over the top. You know, which is, isn't it great when you're catching somebody in a lie? Because a lot of times people have that surprised face. Yeah. I can't wait to see what you're gonna say to this. I can't. Even if this doesn't work out, this moment is worth it.

Somebody I'm thinking of in particular that I know when this person is lying, they do like a big eye surprise and then the lies start to happen. It's gonna tell. Like, yeah, it's a terrible, terrible tell. But I can always, I'm just like, all right, see where this goes. Of course he declined with the excuse, wait a minute,

I told him I was setting a poor example for his son and he has to see his receipt for the brush. Plenty can see the argument if he could prove he purchased. I don't know, I'm not carrying receipts around every day. Yeah, of course he did. Unless you're about to get audited, I don't know. Yeah. He declined with the excuse that he bought it a year ago,

then he asked to see my receipt, of which I mentioned I'd gladly provide a digital copy. I even asked the kid, yeah, I guess you could argue that, hey, you know, don't delete the emails. I even asked the kid directly if the brush was his and he shyly gave no response. See, I think that's the thing, even though you're right

when you start asking the son who's eight in front of the dad, now the dad thinks he has license And I was like, I don't know. I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know.

I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know.

I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. Clearly you knew they stole your brush, so I don't blame you for that part of it. I guess you just, I don't know, I would refrain from, I would try to keep the kid out of it as much as possible. The dad stormed into the pro shop with his poor kid

demanding to speak with the manager. I followed behind assertively, though trying hard not to scare the kid any more than he already was. Dad was still swearing, causing a scene. I calmly played my case and pulled out my receipt from the dick's app. The kid finally chimed in. Well, mine has clear water in it and his has soapy

water. Uh oh. Dun, dun, dun. I got the kid in a lot given there was no way he could have known that I had soapy water in my mind in my brush if he never picked it up. The dad slammed the brush on the counter. This is finally an opportunity to reclaim my brush so I did and took it back to my car. After they left the shop, I went back in to apologize to the staff, I got a beer in the clubhouse to cool down. When I saw the dad storming back in with his kid, I quickly exited and drove away to avoid further confrontation.

Because I handled the situation better and charged it to the game. Is there any chance that dad's son may have been telling the truth? Uh oh. No, no, no. No. No chance.

It sounds like at first I was like, you know, it sucks when you think you're like, you think you've got a kid doing something wrong and you're like, Oh, I'll just tell his parent and this will be fine. And then you realize like, Whoa, this is a totally different game plan. They're running wildcat offense. I don't know how to do this. That is worse. And now I'm thinking the dad grabbed it up and was like, here son, this is how we do this.

Like I think, I don't think it was like a, like, hey, the kid grabbed this thing and put it on. I think the dad may have saw it and be like, look at this, just got you a new brush. What kind of cool dad I am. So I think, I think this was totally, I don't think this is the dad just like going to bat for his kid no matter what.

I think this is maybe the dad did something wrong, you know, and can't just be like, all right, yeah, we don't take stuff we find on the ground. It's not a teachable moment, because the dad probably did it right in front of the kid. That's what I think happened. I don't think this kid grabbed it. I think the dad did it, hung it on his bag,

and like, got you a new thing today, huh? How about that? So, I don't know, this is messy. It's certainly messy. You'd like to think when there's an adult in the situation that they could keep things, you know, this is messy. It's certainly messy. You'd like to think when there's an adult in the situation that they could keep things within a certain parallel and it sounds like this guy was not doing that. I'm not sure what I would have done.

I might have let it go. I don't really know. This is messy. $25 brush, you're letting that go? I don't know. I mean, the guy's saying no and now it's like him and his kid against me. And when I feel the tides turning

where maybe people are gonna be like, just because we don't like the situation, you're the bad guy, we're not gonna blame the kid. Like, just because like, you know, golf courses are supposed to be kind of like, there's a certain amount of etiquette, right? People aren't supposed to be yelling for the most part. You hear that occasional fuck when somebody hits a bad drive.

But for the most part, there's like, people are supposed to be on a little bit on their good behavior. And whenever there's like, if there's like an argument, you guys are screaming. I think everyone just wants it to stop. The guys on the putting green want it to stop, the guys waiting for the two, they all want it to stop. The pro shop people, and if there's a chance that this, my whole thing might just get turned around and be like, all right, dude, you don't have the brush, possessions is nine tenths, we're not pulling up security, I might just be like, I could see all this coming and I'm just gonna, I'll bow out.

So kudos to you. I'd be thinking about not saying anything once it got to a certain point. I'm glad you got the brushing left at what cost, but you won. I don't know what you're supposed to do differently. This is insane behavior from the dad. We need to bring back shame.

People just don't feel shame anymore. And it's absolutely outrageous. Yeah. Like, can you imagine teaching your eight year old son that like doing things like this is okay. And like we're believing our guy and like, same clip soapy water, like we're giving him the benefit of the doubt here. I can't even believe it. Right. Soapy Watergate. I can't believe that the dad is just okay with with this.

Political humor. What do you feel shame about Oregon? Try to do it for everything, you know, really try to feel shame for everything. Yeah. Okay, dude. How would a jury feel about the cross, a cross examination of the eight year old? I mean, the eight year old's testimony is pretty damning here, but would they go, I mean, the fact that, you know, honestly,

the way it's phrased based on what the emailer's telling us, the kid is describing what his brush was like, that's kind of it. I mean, if it's a movie, there's noise in the courthouse. That's the glass of seed in my cousin Vinnie. The other thing is this dad obviously is pretty like tuned up intensity wise.

Why did he relent? Why did he give up the brush? So really what I'm here to figure out is sure, there's a small chance that Emailer's completely wrong. I mean, I had, and I still remember it, it was 20 years ago and I'd had a couple of basketballs stolen at this nice gym that I belonged to because people steal shit. Like there's a gym here that has a basketball court where I like to have like a bag, a little duffel bag

when I work out because there's some bands and all that kind of stuff or whatever. So like if I want to get some shots up, you can't bring the duffel bag in and it sucks. I got like yelled at one day. It was like, what are you doing with your bag in here? I was like, I'm not, what I'm doing with my bag is not stealing basketballs. And the guy's like, you gotta put it in a locker.

I was like, okay. So I went, put it in a locker, and then you start to think, this is another one of those things in society where those of us that have no intention of stealing shit are inconvenienced by the people that steal shit. And so I had a couple balls stolen that I would leave behind in a locker, are inconvenienced by the people that steal shit. And so I had a couple balls stolen that I would like leave behind in a locker.

Yes, they were stolen. It's my, I guess some of you would say that's your fault for leaving a basketball in a locker and not locking it up. But I would still think the person that steals is more to blame, but I had lost a couple and then I saw a guy with a ball and I didn't like him for a while anyway. And I was like, Hey, can I, like, I opened the wrong locker and it was empty.

And then I saw somebody with these. So I was like, here we go again. And I was like, can I see that ball a little bit? And he, or something, you know, and he was like, what? Yeah, I was like, can I see that ball? And he was like, yeah, sure. And then I looked at it and was like, fuck, this isn't mine. And I was like, hey, here you go.

He's like, what'd you think? Thanks for letting me see that. Yeah, I was like, I don't know, I've had a couple of stolen. He's like, so you thought this one was yours? I was like, yeah, I Yeah, I was like, I don't know, I've had a couple stolen. He's like, so you thought this one was yours? I was like, yeah, I did. I was like, I thought it was mine and it isn't. He's like, yeah, who could ever imagine

two orange balls named Wilson in the same area at the same time? Great comeback from him. Yeah, he just let me have it and I fucking deserved it. And then I found like the right locker and I went, here's my ball, here's my stuff. But I was already pre- You were tuned up.

Like ready to go because of past historical events. So really what this is about is sure, there's a chance you're totally wrong. There's a lot of evidence that tells you you're not wrong. And the fact the guy got so crazy about it usually means, like my experience is that person is like going so overboard, they're compensating for the lie in this case. Granted somebody could just completely lose it

because they're accused of being a thief when the guy bought the brush. But the fact that this guy was so incensed about it the whole time and then gave up the brush tells me you were in the right. That's just a guess though. Yeah, I had a similar thing like this. I was in ninth or 10th grade, I think, and I was going to crunch, crush fitness right

next to Arlington High School. And I brought this guy who I kind of knew as a guest pass. So not crunch. Crush fitness. Yeah, crush, not crunch. However, there is a there is a crunch in Poughkeepsie now too. But my sister's blowing up. Yeah. And then, so we go in the locker room,

I bring him in the guest pass, I think it was like after school one day, and he spends like 20 minutes in the locker room while I'm outside. This is before I was like, you know, doing my GPS thing. This guy steals from multiple people in the locker room. There's like on camera, us being in there, and then me leaving,

but I guess there's no camera of whoever was going through this locker. Anyway, the cops are involved. This guy who had his wallet stolen is like yelling at me. I don't know what the fuck's going on. This guy didn't even tell me that he stole it. He wasn't like trying to split it with me. He just used my guest pass, just robbed a bunch of guys in the in the locker room,

like robbed the lockers and then worked out like nothing happened. Then he worked out what a great alibi. The guy is screaming at me. Turns out the kid who actually robbed it, his dad's a cop, a detective there now. He's like, I don't know if he's like on the case against me or something, but the kid's dad is a cop.

And it was just, I remember it was so screwed up and I couldn't believe, I think his dad came to my house and was like, it was just, it was crazy. But that was another example of like a kid who's maybe stealing and a dad who's fucking insane. My dad came to my house and was like, like, I don't, it was just, it was crazy. But that was another example of like a kid who's maybe stealing and a dad who's fucking insane, just protecting his kid.

I don't think I, I don't think I ever went to court. I think the kid maybe eventually admitted and gave the shit back, but it was like months of like, the cops are against me, what the fuck? This kid's crazy dad who's a detective was just like, admit it, admit it. I was like, what the fuck's going on? I brought your, brought your kid into, into CRUST just to try to get his, get him on his fitness routine. And he ended up robbing lockers and now I'm mixed up in it. So I don't know exactly how that translates. I just thought

that was a good story. I don't care if it translates or not. I just love that you were caught up in it. Yeah. Like not, not this. I didn't even I just love that you were caught up in it. Yeah. Like not this. I didn't even, I love that you mentioned that it wasn't even a plan and there was no plan to split any of the proceeds with you. Yeah. All right. Speaking of confrontation, need an update on the office guy fighting the old guy in the roof over a desk. You're right. We do need an update on that.

So if you're listening. Was I going for that one? Well, I don't know. I might have been. desk. You're right. We do need an update on that. So if you're listening, was I going for that one? Uh, potentially. Yeah, it might've been. Wow. That's a good one. Yeah. It was a real power, power play dynamic in an office. The guy would, it was kind of like open seating. So the guy would get to his spot earlier or his desk was his office being renovated. So the other part, lower level employees had open seating. There was a place where the emailer always sat and the other guy sat there.

And then he would go in earlier and then he'd be like, get out of my seat. And then get to the point where the guy was like, meet me on the roof. Boxing gloves or bare knuckle. Sounded like bare knuckle. It also sounded like nobody was going to fight anybody to be honest with you. It sounded like the emailer. It also sounded like nobody was gonna fight anybody, to be honest with you. It sounded like the emailer. The thing you say, baby.

Yeah. It's like, I'm not playing with email. How you do it, you don't really want an answer. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe the emailer got his ass handled. And that's the end of that. Yeah, as a, just, hey guys, checking in.

Went, met him at the roof. Guy's a badass. Just got out of the hospital. Sitting at different desks now. Looking for new work, also maybe able to retire at 27. Okay, this is for Kyle, this is a good one. Student exchange in LA, hey lads, uh oh. An international listener, thank you.

6'1, 155, biggest I've ever been. I'm on the bulk and it's been a grind. Why is gaining weight so hard? There's a lot of people listening to that sentence, hating your guts right now. Look, everybody's got a different ladder going on inside of us. So I think you should be happier that you're on that side

of it, although, hey man, I get it. It was really frustrating for a long time. Couldn't put it on weight. Comp, JJ Reddick, if he wasn't an all time great shooter. I'm writing this because I need advice from the LA locals who aren't going to BS me. I'm a 22 year old uni student headed over to LA from Sydney, Australia for six weeks on a short uni exchange program doing sports, business and media. I'm obviously really excited and I've always wanted to travel to LA given it's basically

a cultural touchstone of everything. I love sports, media, and film. I'll be studying for around two days a week, so I've got some decent flexibility. Two days a week? Yeah, you do. Jeez. Yeah, look out.

How did you get this approved? Although when I had roommates that went to Australia, I was like, what kind of work did you do over there? They're like, I did nothing. I did nothing. It's more about the intangibles, you know? I think one guy failed two classes, like going into his senior year too.

And then he ended up having, like he got to walk for graduation, but I was like, how mad are your parents? And he was like, they're so fucking mad. Like at least I'm walking, but as soon as I get back to New Jersey, I have to take like two community college courses that UVM's gonna let us.

Just to get this thing under the wire. Yeah. I was like, so where do they hand you? How like it's empty. It's just like a leather book thing. It was like. You give back. He's like, all because of Australia. I was like, what did you think you were gonna be able to do?

Just like pull it off. This is what I thought I was gonna be able to do. He's like, next thing you know, you're in New Zealand and Dan's like, what's going on? I got to hand in something. So guys were all over the map. It sounded like it was just a big. How to know one of our friends went to Ireland,

which you don't hear a lot about. I think he got his nose broken. Actually, that's 100% true. I don't think I know it. But I think he got get his nose broken. Actually, that's a hundred percent true. I don't think I know it. Uh, but I think he got all of his credits. So I don't know. You tell me who won. Anyway.

Um, so here's the deal. Everyone I've talked to in Australia is pretty polarized views about LA. I either think the it's the best place to live or the worst. So I'm coming to the experts to ask what I should know, where I should go. Any tips on LA culture? I'm obviously keen to go out and social what I should know, where I should go, any tips on LA culture. I'm obviously keen to go out and socialize network and meet as many people as possible, but I'd appreciate some guidance on how and where to do,

including tipping stuff. I've also heard LA is unlike most cities where instead of a city center or district that everyone goes to hang out, there are pockets of smaller areas that all spread out from each other. I also don't have a driver's license, so I'd imagine I'll be Ubering everywhere

since LA is so huge and there's no public transport. Any particular... All right. All right. So Kyle, why don't you take this one? Because I think you're better armed and more informed as a local than I am. Not really. I'm kind of set in my ways. I think you're probably have, you know, larger horizons than I do. I kind of... It's amazing how much things, how many things I don't know just that are bumping right up against my little pocket that we're talking about here so I don't that's true there's so much stuff I seek like tourism ads for California I'm like where the fuck is that like oh it's two hours away it's so bad yeah my god I'm gonna check to see my passports updated actually just get on the highway um I don't well look I don't know that I'm going to check to see if my passport's updated. Actually, just get on the highway. I don't know. Well, look, I don't know that I'm going to relate to a 22-year-old all that much.

I like the beach towns. Other people don't. And then some people are more like me and like if you're going to live out here. But if you're a student and you're 22, come on, Kyle. You've got to be able to come up with something. What was the train thing? Let's start there. Well, the train, get the red line.

That'll bring you like basically between downtown and Hollywood. And then there's a few stops in between. I don't know why you'd be there, but you could totally do that. Yeah, definitely Uber. I'd stay off the bus if you could. Did that for a while. As a bus vet? Yeah, as a bus vet, I'd say stay off the bus and just don't do the scooter, man.

Especially if you're new, you're riding on the road. What side of the road do they ride? Melbourne over there? Opposite. Opposite. Okay. Maybe stay off the scooters. People hate you. You're only here for a short time. You want to be liked. I mean, there's Hollywood. I'd say West Hollywood's pretty sick. You probably like West Hollywood or the Wilshire area, Fairfax, there's a bunch of pockets.

You're probably going to have to see the frolic room once, but you're going to see that's not going to be your daily. So I don't want to push that on you. My weeks are like, all right, when can I squeeze in a golf at Roosevelt? You know? Could this guy meet you at Frolic? Could he?

Yes. Yeah, I don't give him my number or anything, but yeah, he could. All right, so how do you do that? When you're getting close, man, just email the show again and put like bold alert, whatever, Kyle, Australia, and maybe he can meet up and do a Frolic. Ask Troy at Frolic, Troy will know what to tell you.

Okay. That was a terrible answer. We didn't do this, but honestly that's kind of it. Everybody knows their little neighborhood and that's it. I would tell you the people that have watched LA coverage on TV. I thought this place was like the worst and then I came to visit and I was like, I can't wait to move here. So don't let people telling you, don't people, the people that are just like

looking at certain footage going, that place is the worst. Don't let them trick you into it. By the way, war gone, quickly with the left side of the road. Japan, quick, where do they drive, left or right? Don't know. Germany. Wish I did. Don't know. Right side of Germany. I've been to Australia, so I know.

I thought maybe this was something, a gift, another gift from Wargon. But you know what he's great at? He knows every side. Instinctively, no. Right. Like. So here you go. All right. That'll do it for the show today.

Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. If you want to hit us up with some Friday feedback, it's Friday Feedback. Our Gmail dot com will do a YouTube only on that. Thanks to Kyle, thanks to Jonathan Frias. If you want to hit us up with some Friday feedback, it's fridayfeedbackrragmail.com. We'll do a YouTube only on that. Subscribe to that page and check out our video pod now on the Spotify app. Ryan Roussel, the podcast ringer Spotify.

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