The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Real NBA Scouting Reports: Ben Simmons vs. Jaylen Brown. Plus Former Broncos Linebacker Brandon Marshall.

Episode Date: January 6, 2021

Russillo hits on a couple of NBA topics, including Trae Young, the Knicks, and the Pelicans (6:00), before introducing a new NBA segment in which Ryen solicits scouting reports on two NBA players from real, anonymous NBA scouts—this week, it’s Ben Simmons and Jaylen Brown (19:00). Then, Ryen talks to Super Bowl champion linebacker Brandon Marshall about getting drafted late, making his way to the Denver Broncos, Peyton Manning stories, preparing for Super Bowl 50, the 2020 NFL playoffs, and more (33:00). Finally, Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (1:07:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

it's ryan rossilla podcast on the river network and spotify and here's playing for today we have brandon marshall linebacker from the nfl played from 2012 to 2018 was part of those awesome broncos defenses he's doing stuff for the Raiders now on their coverage, so we'll get a little story time with him, life advice at the end. But something new, I'm going to talk a little bit about the NBA, but something new that I'm doing this season on the podcast, NBA player perceptions from real NBA scouts, front office people, and coaches. So that's going to be the theme of some of the stuff we're doing.

We're going to do the first one today. It gets coming up a little bit later, and we have a life advice that I hope Kyle can help me out on a little bit here. But coming off of what I just talked about there, this is something I've been planning on doing for a while. Just had to make sure we get a lot of people on the same page. It's going to be NBA GMs, scouts. A lot of the advanced scouts are really good because they're out there watching pro players and then, of course, coaches from time to time. And the whole point of this is

there's a perception of two players. What is the perception as we talk about them? And then what is the perception? What's the reality as far as NBA guys? And here's the thing. Just like we disagree, NBA people that get paid to make these decisions disagree. So the first players that we want to do

are Ben Simmons and Jalen Brown. We'll get to that in a few minutes. Kyle, I do have to make a statement. I have to issue a statement here. There's a video going around of me in a bedroom that was produced by The Ringer by the ringer that came out from monday's podcast and i didn't know we were doing a breakout video for that one and so there's some clothing in the background ah you know what i didn't even know they put that out but i remember thinking in the moment that's an interesting choice didn't want anything on the walls just put it on the bed yep nothing on the walls in this bedroom is it my is it the master who knows i think i see the ocean is that what i'm seeing through that blue is that the blue tint in the window i never asked

not the ocean now everybody thinks it's the ocean or it's outside yeah it's uh actually stucco from the neighboring wall so it's like the view of okay you know when somebody says oh we put you further away from the elevator and you're in new york city and you go oh that's like the view of okay you know when somebody says oh we put you further away from the elevator and you're in new york city and you go oh that's like okay yeah i hadn't really thought about that that's great and then you realize you're walking through this maze of this old hotel in manhattan and then your view is just another wall stucco yeah another wall right outside like if you turn your head you know 91 degrees you're like what man i really thought that was the ocean i kind of kind of wish i didn't ask i gotta be honest it's definitely not the

ocean there's a railing that goes across it so maybe that's people thought that it was horizon or something i don't know i don't know but there are some out there that are that are really upset about the fact that there's a lot of people calling it dirty laundry um here's what i can say yes it was laundry i was cleaning out a closet i was donating some of the clothing to uh to a shelter i'm not asking for credit for that i don't think i'm a hero really but i just want to clear that up because people people were very about, I had no idea we were running a breakout video for that because it was a solo one. And honestly,

the Steph choice, I didn't think the Steph segment was, I suggested the awards. That's what I'll say. I suggested some awards that it didn't make the cut for some reason. Yeah. I don't know what's going on. We may all have to hunker down again about something.

Cause I, I'll put all this time into that awards thing I mean I'm talking to just get it right and I'm you know I certainly didn't go 32 for 32 some people thought some were funny other people thought different ones were funny right that was the whole point I was just trying to do something for the end of the season have it be a little bit more fun light-hearted didn't have a guest going so you know I was just doing something different but I thought okay well you can't really do a breakout on that and then i had that college football thing which again is sort of repetitive frustration with the college football world and i would say more in the media

side than that like everybody is cherry picking everything to make a point and i could just i could jedi mind you on any point that you make i just i can't i've done it long enough and it's really leads me to have an open mind instead of being definitive. I go, how state you really thought they were bad or they didn't deserve it. I mean, I had a problem with it, but I also didn't have a problem with it. You know, I was like, ah, maybe this isn't the right thing to do, but I mean, look, what's going on in the country this year. Like, I'm not going to worry about it. And then here they are playing for a national championship. We'll see how many Buckeyes are ready to go. Uh, as you probably have read

that there's some real COVID concerns with Ohio state and whether or not Ohio state had asked to have that game pushed back. And then, you know, look, everybody's going to sit there and be like, we never said that Alabama was going to say, yeah, you don't want to play us. And then, you know, we'll see what happens because I wouldn't rule out Ohio state's ability to score points against Alabama. I wouldn't think they could score points. But yeah, so when the breakout video came out, I was like, oh, so they went with the Curry one, which I didn't really even love. I just felt like he had 62.

I don't know that I made any new points that were all that great. But anyway, people listening to this podcast, maybe it's the first time because of this new thing that we're going to do or going, what the hell is this the podcast? No, it isn't. Let's get to it. All right. So I still don't know that I love the flagrant three title, but we're going to do or going, what the hell is this the podcast? No, it isn't. Let's get to it. All right. So I still don't know that I love the flagrant three title, but we're going to roll with it. I have three things that I want to hit on here real quick as it regards to some of the stuff you're watching. And that is, I feel like I'm big on

complimenting losing teams lately. So I didn't expect to be doing that, but let's take a swing at this. to be doing that, but let's take a swing at this. Is Trey Young Josh Allen? The reason I was thinking this is that when Josh Allen started, okay, first of all, Josh Allen hasn't had a good completion rate in high school, in college, in his first two years, and now he's at 70%, okay, just under 70%. he was 53 when he came in the league 10 touchdowns 12 picks his interception percentage was was four percent of his throws now it's two his qbr was 50 now it's 82 his touchdown interception split again now it's 37 10 he's an mvp caliber type quarterback at least the season that he had this year he's not going to win it

uh i would put a handful of guys probably ahead of him, maybe three or four, maybe it's not five. Don't want to argue that. But the point is that he went from somebody where I go, what is this? And a blip here or there, and really the support for him was based more on hope than it was reality. And now the reality is, is you feel like you have a stud who everyone in Buffalo thinks we now have a guy for the next 10 years. All right? Is that fair? Now, with Trey Young, it's slightly different because his bad stretch was summer league in the beginning of his career, and then he put together a nice run.

He really did. He was 28-3, and you go, oh, okay. This isn't a disaster he's going to play, which is something that I've always defended Trey on with his approach and some of the attitude. Not all of the approach, certainly, but that part of the Trey Young story I've always understood. Hey, you guys were making fun of me from day one. I wasn't even going to be able to play in the league and now look at me. And then he's an all-star in his second year. Okay. So I understand that evolution and his attitude and a chip on the shoulder that he would have

after being made fun of as long as he was. Because it was really, really bad, that summer league stuff that people were running. And look, it just didn't look good. All right. So now let's look at Atlanta this year based on expectations and what's going on with this team and how much of that has to do with a different Trey Young. So again, Trey wasn't ever as bad for an entire year as Josh Allen was. Trey's season last year, you could say,

okay, well, that's the same thing that we just got from Josh Allen. All right, fine, but we're also talking about winning games, and they didn't win any games last year. But now they're kind of hovering in that area. They're the eighth seed as of today. They're just over 500. They're good just by being good, by being better. There's a real chance and real hope that you go, maybe this team can make the playoffs as opposed to a

team I thought last year. Defensively, they were so bad. I didn't even want to hear it. And Trey was putting up all these numbers. Now, the traditional numbers across the board for Trey are still pretty similar, 29, 9, and 4. But here's what I've noticed. And this is something I've always tracked with him, just because when you watch it, you go, I don't know that it's a lot of fun to play with him, but I think now, not only is he adjusting his approach to the game a little,

but there are just better players around him too. And this is all still without Danilo really giving him a full season so far. Okay? So, Atlanta is getting it done for two reasons. They're 39% from three right now. They're sixth in the league at 39%, which is nuts because there's seven teams in the NBA that 39% are above from three. Last year, there were zero teams that shot over 39%. Utah led the league at 38%. By the way, Milwaukee is leading the league right now, shooting from three at 44% on 40

attempts per game. Their offensive efficiency numbers per 100 are off the charts for the first two weeks of the season. Defensively, they're not close to being the same team as they were. Who knows? All this stuff may work itself out. So we know that Atlanta is shooting better from three, and they're still not necessarily the top team. So it's not totally fluky. That 39 number probably dips a little bit. So it's not totally fluky. That 39 number probably dips a little bit. You also have guys like DeAndre Hunter who's shooting it better. Cam Reddish is shooting it better. I mean, there's guys across the board that are just shooting the hell out of the basketball. Bogdanovich has shot it really well, too. They're still trying to figure out some of the lineup stuff without Danilo.

Closing with Hunter and Reddish. Keeping Herter out there at times. Trying to figure out if it's Collins or Capella. The two worst three-point shooting players actually on this team are Trey and Collins as far as guys that are actually taking a lot of shots. So maybe that bounces back up for Trey. But here's the really important stuff, the tracking stuff. When you look at how long a player has the ball in his hands for Trey, it was hard to ever argue that anybody had it more than him. I think the only guy that jumped him in any of the categories would be DJ Augustine, who just, you know, that's part of his deal.

He's going to dribble the air out of the ball. These numbers aren't going to seem significant, but I'm telling you that they are because they're at least a step in the right direction here. The same way when you looked at some of the Josh Allen stuff, you go, hey, all of this is better. And granted, it was dramatically better year three to year two. This isn't as dramatic and it may sound like it's insignificant, but it isn't. So in 1920, Trey had 87 touches per game. It's down a couple. His time of possession was number one in the NBA. He had the ball over nine seconds every possession. That's an astonishing number. Far and away the

biggest in the league last year. This year, he's still like in the top five, but it's down. His seconds per touch last year, he was number two in the league. He's dropped almost a second per touch now. And the number of dribbles per possession, he was at the top again, about six or so with DJ Augustine, and then he's dropped down. So some of the possession stuff where he's just dribbling and dribbling, look, he's still going to do that. He's still such a good creator and such a good passer that he's going to have the basketball a ton, but he's doing it less. And part of that, I hope is not only his own approach, but trusting his teammates more and just straight up having better teammates. So that was something

that had to change despite his traditional absurd numbers for a second year player and all the accolades that go with that, where I don't think people pay attention to all the real stuff. Like a D'Angelo Russell, I think had 27 points in three quarters last night when Minnesota loses to Denver because Minnesota is terrible on defense. Minnesota lets you set up deeper, I think. And I look, I've watched every team, but not full 48 minutes, all of it, all the way through multiple times. But the depth that Minnesota let Denver get to offensively, you go, why don't you guys just get out of the way and make this easier so you can get the ball back quicker? You know, when I see a D'Angelo Russell who has all of the skill, almost too much skill that continues to

make him confident and dangerous as an offensive player, but when you just lose guys on baseline cuts because you don't want to pay attention, when you're just lost in the middle defensively because you just, I don't know, either you don't care or you don't understand any of those things, that's where I get upset with some of the players that get all of these accolades. And you're like, yeah, I know what he's doing, but I don't really think he's helping you win. But now this year, the team is at least passable defensively right now statistically. Last year, Atlanta was 28th in defensive efficiency. This year, they're 18th. The number is about five points per 100 possessions. So it's heading all in the right direction. And for Atlanta

to be just sniffing around that seven and eight and all that kind of stuff, because we still don't really know what to do with these records. I mean, the calves and the Knicks are in the playoffs as of today, the bucks are the seventh seed. Brooklyn's actually out there four and four after looking like they were going to run with this thing in the East,

which again, most of the stuff, unless it's an established team that, you know, exactly what you're getting. It's, it's still hard to go. All right.

I know exactly what I have after these two weeks. Like I thought Toronto was going to take a step back. They can't make a shot. That offense is terrible. Their half-court offense wasn't great last year, and now they're 1-5. They look bad. I mean, they look straight up terrible. And you're like, is Nick Nurse going to have a team that wins 20% of its games? Speaking of being in the playoffs right now, the Knicks are the five seed again, whatever, but that's great. That's great because there are some of these teams like Philly where I go,

okay, six and one, the defense is terrific. Philadelphia is the best defensive team in the league as of today. The offense, I don't think really looks all that different. I mean, Ben Simmons is fifth and shot attempts. I believe as of the last day I looked at it on the team, he's behind Curry. He's behind Milton. He's behind Embiid. He's behind Tobias Harris. So we can talk about their record and Hey doc, fix the Ben Joe. No, he didn't. They're just awesome on defense. He fixed the defense and they haven't really played that many tough teams. Whereas the Knicks, the Knicks

are four and three. And sometimes, hey, it's the schedule stupid, but the Knicks have wins against Atlanta, against the Pacers, against the Cavs, who are actually oddly good defensively, like really good right now. And Milwaukee, who's played with their lineup. So the thing that I would say about the Knicks here, and this is classic Tibbs,

and if he doesn't know you that well, like you that much, he doesn't like you calling him that. RJ barrett's at 39 minutes this year per game as of 30 last year julius randles who traditional numbers 22 11 and 7 the assist are nuts he's 40 from three he's been incredible um the traditional numbers some nights for rj give you hope the metrics aren't great on him but those guys are both jumping up about nine minutes per game under Coach Thibodeau. Some of that could be, oh, here we go, especially with these quick turnarounds and how weird the schedule is this year.

I would think at this age, they could probably handle that. It's 36 and 39 minutes. Some scientists will probably tell me, yes, it's a huge deal, but I think a lot of it's figuring out, RJ, hey, can we play? Let's get him out there as much as we possibly can and see what we have in this player. The last thing that I have is New Orleans. They're four and three. And after that Miami game, I know I came on here and was like, what are we

doing with the Pelicans? What are they doing defensively? Because I wasn't sure, and I knew they weren't sure either. Well, they fixed that part of it. They're fifth in defensive efficiency right now. So New Orleans, Van Gundy, they deserve a ton of credit for that. The problem is offensively, let me stay with the positives. They rebound, they get to the free throw line, and Brandon Ingram on these drives is close to unstoppable, and his playmaking, his assist numbers are up too.

Brandon Ingram is really that good. He's that special. But you can tell, as we thought with this roster, they're still trying to figure this thing out. That Pacers game, they shouldn't have lost. They totally pissed it away at the end. Go to overtime and lose. I'm going to get to that overtime

and something happened there that I thought was a mistake. But with New Orleans, they clearly, now they got the defensive numbers right, which you would expect with Van Gundy. They're mixing and matching, which I like. I like that they're experimenting with some of these lineups. They went small, really small against the Pacers in a spot because they were trying to figure it out.

And the Pacers can go small and go big with Sabonis and Turner. Obviously, with no Warren there, they're a little different. It kind of hurt them not having Ingram. But there's a lot of offensive possessions for the Pelicans, at least right now, where it looks like it's, hey, Ingram, figure this thing out. Whereas Zion is always going to get you numbers. If you play him 30 minutes a game, he's going to get you numbers without ever having to run anything for him. But the problem is I'd like to see a little bit more for him. And I think the biggest problem that I thought was kind of inexcusable,

I can understand what the staff was trying to do with the Pelicans and Zion, but they start overtime. They shouldn't be in it. Clearly, they're bummed out. They want to get Zion a bit of a break because Zion is just not in the shape that he needs to be in to be a long-term NBA player. And everybody knows about this. And so they didn't want to start Zion at the start of overtime. So at about 2.50, there was a stoppage and the Pacers were going to inbound it. And instead of subbing Zion in there, after he sat for over two minutes to start overtime, they wanted it probably, and this is exactly, I'm sure this is what they were doing. They wanted to hopefully get Zion in on an offensive possession. Well, okay. So you get away these things. Hey, the Pacers are about to inbound I can get Zion in now or I can let them inbound then send Zion to the scorer's table so that way we don't really have

him on defense and then we'll see what well you know what happened is you went another two minutes without him getting into the basketball game and so we're talking about Zion sitting for almost four minutes of overtime the first time he actually does sub in, fake handoff, right to the rack, and one. And the same thing happened with, it wasn't as bad as Malone and not wanting to ever play Michael Porter Jr. until he started to come out of the scene more towards the end of the year. And then we saw what he was capable of. But in that moment, it's overtime. Zion sat a couple minutes.

I felt like that one little thing that I'm sure wasn't anything anybody would get unless you were totally on the Pelicans. A lot of good beat writers down there are going, wait, what happened with this? Maybe there's an explanation to it that I don't quite understand, but I'm pretty sure that's what happened. And I think, hey, do we want to put ourselves in a situation where Zion's going to sit for four minutes of overtime? Well, the answer would always be no. So let's make sure that doesn't happen again. One slight, it's a hedge.

I don't know that it's a hedge. I don't know that it's a hedge. If I had a broker, I would call him and say, hey, should I be worried about this shorting Nick Batum position? Because when Batum started the year, I swear he was playing. He was. I mean, I wouldn't say it unless I saw it. He was playing as if somebody who just was like, I don't want anybody to figure out how washed I am.

But he's actually playing better for them. He's giving them some real minutes to closing. And that's the big thing I'll always look at is this closing lineups and how teams are closing and then kind of seeing some of the changes they make. Because most coaches, when it really comes down to those last six to four minutes, they know exactly who they want out there. And that kind of tells you everything, especially the way that they use them. As I've said throughout the career here,

one of the coolest things is people that work in the NBA and to a lesser extent other leagues that trust me enough to talk to me, have liked the show over the years. I know one of the great things about being on TV all those years with Van Pelt and then Danny afterwards is you'd go to these college campuses and the staff, you'd be there for a football game

and the staff would just say, yeah, we watch you every day when we're having lunch and it meant a lot to me anyway so um traveling you know my first uh my first time that i went out to like meet some of these guys i went to the portsmouth invitational in 2003 you know didn't have any money somebody said hey go down there you never know maybe you didn't hit it off with somebody that's when i'd rather work for a team anyway um which is funny because in the beginning i never ever wanted to be on the air anyway. I wanted to put all this time in for a reason instead of some takes.

So what I did here, here's the concept. I'm going to do this all season long. This is the NBA player perception segment. We're going to take two players and I'm going to ask front office people and coaching staff. It's all going to change all the time. It's all going to be anonymous where I'm going to ask for an office people and coaching staff. It's all going to change all the time. It's all going to be anonymous where I'm going to tell you what the scout,

we'll just call a scout thinks of these two players and how that may be changes or agrees with perception. Cause I think as of today, as great as Jalen Brown has been, and he's like, he's a total miss for me on the draft. I have plenty of ones that I'm proud of. I didn't see it.

I thought the Cal thing was a mess up there. No one was really quite sure who the third pick should have been in that draft. It was the Simmons-Ingram draft. And Jalen has progressively gotten better and better, and he's been incredible to start the season. And then you have Ben Simmons, who I think I like to say neighborhood a lot. What neighborhood does that player live in? What neighborhood is that quarterback in?

What neighborhood? How big is the neighborhood of the truly elite, game-changing, franchise-altering type of NBA players? I think it's a real small group. It's not a condo association with ridiculous HOA regulations. It is a small group. And I think Simmons is talked about someone who could potentially be there. I think if we were ever to just sample it all, I think more people think of Ben Simmons as an NBA star or soon-to-be star than they do Jalen Brown.

So this was the exercise. I asked three scouts about both players and asked them to compare them. I will now read you the scouting reports that I got from the scouts. All right, here we go. This is scout number one on Ben Simmons first

quote I can understand the perceptions that relates to Ben Simmons that you may have this guy was the number one recruit in high school the number one pick in the draft rookie of the year made all-star second year if you took guys that fit that mold if you look at that list a lot of guys became MVPs first team all NBA guys that went on to become franchise type players

so I understand how his early accomplishments on paper put him in the category of a franchise player. That said, I don't believe he's on that trajectory. I think that his lack of improvement, some of which may be related to his approach, hard for me to know from a distance, his lack of improvement as a shooter, lack of development of overall game, glaring holes in his game that make it hard for him to be good unless he's exactly in the perfect environment, perfect teammates, perfect coaches, the opposition that has some kind of weakness that he can exploit. That to me makes him less valuable than people think that he is. Because in the right circumstance when everything is good, the guy, Ben Simmons, is awesome. But there are a lot of circumstances where he's not awesome,

including the circumstances he encounters in the playoffs. You're playing good defenses that are locked in on you, game plan for you, take away your weaknesses, less transition because teams are getting back on defense. If you're trying to build a team that can do much more than just make the playoffs because he's done that in Philly, when you're trying to take that next step, conference finals, NBA finals, if he's going to be the number one, number two option on a team trying to get there, I don't think he's a great piece. He's a hard piece to fit other players with. I think he's an easy piece to take out of

his best stuff in the playoffs. At a certain point, lumping him in with the other players that were the number one picks, MVPs, Rookie of the Year, and what that trajectory usually looks like, he's not that kind of guy. I think that this has become more and more evident as time goes along. kind of guy. I think that this has become more and more evident as time goes along. Okay. So I asked him about Jalen, same draft class. I had Brandon Ingram over Ben Simmons before the draft for stated concerns, the stated concerns above. Jalen is a guy that had a lot of flaws as a prospect. Nobody knew that he turned into what he turned into. You're taking a gamble on a guy like that, but big, long, athletic. He's a wing player that had a chance to be a guy who could dribble, pass, and shoot, defend multiple positions, and the type of player that could fit with other good players. A game that could scale well into a playoff environment,

could use in multiple ways on and off the ball, use them in multiple defensive matchups that you might face in the playoffs. That versatility and how he fits with other good players and still be valuable on offense when defenses take away your best stuff, he's evolved into a player that has all of those things. And I think in the long term, if you're a team that's trying to win in the playoffs, you'd rather have him than Ben Simmons. Wow. Okay. I asked a quick follow-up. What kind of gap are we talking about?

He said, quote, Jalen Brown is the better player to win in the playoffs than Ben Simmons. If you're just trying to win some regular season games and you can build a team around one guy, there's a case to be made that Ben Simmons is the better focal point of a mediocre team. But if you're trying to win in the playoffs and you have other good players, I think Jalen is the better player, will do more to help you win in the playoffs, and I think he's training up more than Simmons, and I think that gap will only increase. End quote.

Okay. So, one vote for Jalen there. That was interesting, though, because he was... It sounds like a knock when he goes, if you want to make Ben the Simmons the focal point of a mediocre team, then that's fine.

I think what he's saying is that Simmons' talent level allows you to have him be the main guy, but if he's your main guy, there's a ceiling where he's not saying Jalen's necessarily the main guy, just if he's your main guy, there's a ceiling where he's not saying Jalen's necessarily the main guy, just rather have Jalen. Alright, another scout.

Ben Simmons. Quote, still needs to get stupid passes out of his game, but is playing better now, even with reduced scoring role. Applaud Ben a lot for taking slightly more of a backseat scoring and his stepped up effort defensively. The Ben Simmons is a top five defender in the league thing is real.

Had it down when he came out that if he cared, he could be a monster on that end and be a legit five-position defender and has clearly stepped up on that end in the last 18 months. Scoring will always be a struggle, but like the three he took against the Magic in the first quarter when the game was tied, but would have liked to see another when the game got away. Looks better in Doc's system and doesn't have to force as much.

Has done it a few times and looked best, ironically, against Washington, but want to see more of taking the ball down to a design clear out for a Ben post-up. We'll always wonder what if playing with Joel in this era, and that is not going to go away. If either player played with a shooter instead of the other guy, it could be even more deadly. But if Embiid is going to be this locked in and actually in this era, and that is not going to go away. If either player played with a shooter instead of the other guy, it could be even more deadly. But if Embiid is going to be this locked in

and actually in shape too, they actually look primed to be a real contender in the East. I've played only one team who finished over 500 last year, so far, but appreciate Ben and Philly as a whole not taking their foot off the gas. Remains to be seen, obviously,

if this keeps up, but Ben is playing like a legit Defensive Player of the Year candidate, an elite playmaker that puts him as a core level player. Okay, here he is on Jalen Brown. Quote, contrast Jalen with Ben. Jalen will never be as good unless he's the second option defensively.

And what he means by that is the team's number one guy who they want to shut down is Tatum, right? And so he's saying, okay, Jalen can produce, but it's only because he's the second concern for down as Tatum, right? And so he's saying, okay, Jalen can produce, but it's only because he's the second concern for the opponent's defense, all right? But he's taking full advantage of not being defended by the best defender on the other team.

Can't possibly see numbers keeping up all year, but right now have to appreciate the insane shooting percentage Jalen has put up early. Should note that top scoring outings happen against teams that are young, banged up, or in the first game and haven't played much together with their current group, but impressive nonetheless.

All right, that's a bit of a warning there. Look, some of these Jalen numbers are so off the charts that obviously it's going to regress somewhat. Shooting with zero fear. Shot still a tick slower and still thinks a little bit before pulling it, but is athletic and long enough that it hasn't been much of an issue. 50% from the side above the break so far. Big-time finisher still with how Jalen is shooting,

able to get this man off easy and attack the rim. Increased playmaking responsibilities with point guard play down right now, which is why he loves playing with Pritchard so much, but is a smart enough player to add more even when Kemba is back. I guess he's saying he'll be good. Still defending the best perimeter player as well. Love the intensity on that end and still competing even with more shots and a higher usage rate.

Is the perfect second fiddle. Stop if you've heard this before, but I think Boston's legit one year away now with Jalen and Tatum getting more accustomed to their new roles. But with play of experience already, there could see another trip to the conference finals with the uncertainty of what Philly, Brooklyn, Miami,

Milwaukee look like. I did a quick follow-up with him and I said, okay, what about the gap though? And I said, do you think you would take Ben? And he goes, quote, as crazy as it sounds, I would. Maybe that's me being soft, but I think there's a world where Ben is the best player on a conference finals team. And I just don't see that with Jalen. Okay. So one vote for Ben Simmons. Let's get to the tiebreaker. Final one. for Ben Simmons. Let's get to the tiebreaker. Final one. Okay, this scout did a bunch of background stuff on it too, which I thought was really, really interesting. Okay, Jalen Brown

first. Jalen's one of the best wings, again, quote, Jalen is one of the best wings in the league, excellent size at 6'7", 220, good length, very athletic, plays hard, one of the best two-way players at his position in the league. I can see him as an eight to 10-year all-star if he stays healthy. He has not had a history of injuries. Offense, excellent in transition. He can get to the rim, finish with either hand. Very good strength to take contact and finish. Runs hard in transition. Can play some secondary

pick and roll. And he's good getting downhill. Excellent in the dribble handoff game. Turning the corner. Not a great passer. His career assist turnover ratio 1-5 to 1-5. He's worked to improve his mid-range and three-point shooting. I know the assistants, and they rave about his off-season work ethic.

40% corner three shooter over the last two seasons. Would expect that to improve. Good back cutter when overplayed. Inconsistent offensive rebounder. Defense. First off, his give-a-shit level defensively is very high. Take pride on that end, and he's versatile. Can guard one to four with switching ability.

Versus small fives, he can guard them. Long, tough, and active. Gets his hands on a lot of balls. He and Marcus Smart give them two great perimeter defenders, good isolation, and pick and roll defender. Gets hit on screens and keeps coming to square the ball. Excellent laterally for his size. Jalen Brown is one of the 10 best wing players in the league.

Okay, let's go to Ben Simmons here from the same scout. Offense. Quote, has finishing ability with both hands. Will shoot the floater with his right hand very comfortably. He just glides down the court, but is fast as well. In a half court set, the lack of shooting is obvious. Defenders can go under, but must square the ball or he's at the rim. He is unselfish by nature.

Wants to pass first unless he's at the rim. Off the ball, he's very good in the dunker for drop-off passes. Very poor perimeter shooter, and like he doesn't look at the rim. Total non-three-point shooter. Doc says he's not concerned, but come playoff time, he will be. He must improve as a free-throw shooter, especially in the playoffs. Career 60% on five attempts per game. I know some of what's going on in Philly the past three seasons.

One of his problems is he does not put in the time to improve. Don't believe the IG or Twitter workouts you see his brother post. It's all phony. He does not work on his shooting. Everyone can see the mechanical problems, but he has not and probably will not address it. He loves LA and spends most of his time there in the offseason. He definitely has some Hollywood in him. If you ever get serious about improving his shooting and free throws,

he could be as good as Giannis, but I don't think he's wired that way. Lots of cool guy with him. Defense, excellent. Size to defend one through five, quick and strong, can guard switches, very good chase down and weak side shot blocker. Rebounds out of his area and starts to break. Usually does not defend the opposing point guard and that creates cross message to his advantage offensively. opposing point guard, and that creates cross-matches to his advantage offensively. He could easily average a triple-double, and I think he will at some point. The concern with him will be shooting in the playoffs. They've done a good job to surround him with shooting in a dominant center. Take either of those away, and he will struggle to win. I can see him being an all-NBA and one of the best point guard wings for the next 8-10 years, much like Jalen. Final thoughts.

I would take Jalen over Ben moving forward the next eight to 10 years. There is very little separation on difference defensively. Both are excellent in today's game. Shooting is so important and Jalen is clearly better and always will be in my opinion. Both are fantastic open court players. Jalen also has a more serious workmanlike approach to improving. The last scout gave me a bunch of background stuff on Jalen too, when they were scouting him coming out. And this is obviously not a team that took him, but, um, the background stuff on Jalen was incredible. Here's one quote, Jalen responds better to coaches who address him individually rather than in a group setting. He really sees himself as an adult and would like to be treated as one. His decision to not hire an agent was a sign of him proclaiming that he is an adult.

He came to the decision with very little influence from anyone outside of it. Like the back stuff, because a lot of times at Jalen, you were like, what's going on with this guy? Like, what's his story? And when you're young and you're maybe so determined and you are so mature,

it almost can be like a turnoff to people at times, especially for athletes, unfortunately. So yeah, I was surprised. I was surprised by that because I still feel like the perception around the two players is that Ben's the guy that you would want. Like if you're a Houston Rockets fan

and you traded for Ben Simmons or Jalen Brown, who would you be happier about? It'd probably be Ben Simmons, right? But that I was not expecting. I mean, look, that's two of three that said that. The other guy wanted to go with Ben Simmons. I'm sure he could find 10 scouts that all think it's Ben Simmons. But in the sampling of this with three different people,

a lot of people have different contacts. There you go. I thought that was really interesting. So we're going to do more of those this season. Joining us, Brandon Marshall, linebacker in the NFL, played with that Broncos team, won a Super Bowl, and now part of the Raiders coverage. And who knows, maybe a return to the league at some point. Let's start here.

What's it like for the first year really being away from the NFL? It's tough, man. I'm not gonna lie to you. It's tough. It's hard because it's something I did my whole life. I've been playing football since I was eight years old. And I had a pretty good career, right? I had a pretty good career. And so then for my knee to kind of start bothering me in 2018 and then it's still not be right in 2019. And I finally get it right. And I go into 2020 thinking I'm going to get a job that the Houston, Texas bring me in, but they don't sign me.

Then the Philadelphia Eagles talk to me all season. The Bills talk to me most of the season, but nothing happens, man. It's tough, man. I'm not going to lie to you. It was something I had to really work through mentally and emotionally. I'm 31 now and I still feel like I have some game left. I feel like I do.

I know I do. But it's up to a team to, you know, really believe that as well. So if we go backwards, play Nevada and that was, you know, they had a run there where you were putting out some really great teams, your fifth round pick. I mean, I'm probably, you're so sick of hearing the same shit over and over again, middle size, you know, two undersized for your position at linebacker. And then you put together, you know, it's a great career. I mean, it's a long career in a league that turns over guys really quick fifth rounder you're not going to get the benefit of the doubt or any of this stuff so what's that like in the beginning for you when you go from

can I do this to proving myself like I always think it's interesting how different the mindset is of the underdog in that spot so what were you doing where were you at when you came into the league yeah man it's crazy because it's crazy you asked that I was actually telling this story not so long ago the fact that I came into the league as a fifth-round pick, and I felt like my opportunity with Jacksonville, it wasn't a real opportunity. My first preseason game, I led the team in tackles, but I got a bad grade.

The grade is A through F. I want to say I got like a D or F. The second game... Wait, was it the right grade though? Were you like, wait, maybe I am just freelancing here too much. I'm just, or are you just. I was making, I was making plays, right? I was making plays, but I get what he was saying with the technical, the little technical things. I understand that it'll get you beat,

but I was making plays the next game. We played the saints in the preseason and I had one tackle and I had like a, a grade and I'm like, all right, you know, what are you looking for? You know what I'm saying? I literally did nothing. I felt like I was just standing out there on the field, but I got an A. I was like, come on, this is not, I had no effect on the game. So then, you know, as the season went on, uh, I wasn't doing the best on special teams. You know,

they didn't see my value then, but I really was getting cut. I got cut twice in one week. I got cut on a Friday, and I got brought back on Monday, and I got cut Thursday. So that was twice in one week. By the way, do you go out on – if you had plans for the weekend on that Friday, do you go out or do you cancel the plans? Because some guys would be like, I don't want to do anything,

and then other guys would be like, no, I definitely want to go out. I don't know. Yeah, yeah. You know what? I was in a time in my life where I didn't want to be like, I don't want to do anything. And then other guys would be like, now I definitely want to go out. I don't know. Yeah, yeah. You know what? I was in a time in my life where I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to do anything. Jacksonville, Florida is not a fun place

to be out like that anyway. So, you know, it wasn't like I was in Miami or anything like that. So I really canceled my plans. I was upset, man. I ain't gonna lie. I was hurting. And my second time getting cut,

I remember the GM, Gene Smith, he cut me. And then he started asking me about my family. He's like, how's your mom doing? I was like, come on. You got to be kidding me right now. You're going to sit here and fire me and ask how my mom's doing. Come on. You got to be kidding me, bro. You got to relax. Did you tell him or did you just say no? No, I was just sitting there like, because he saw my face. After he saw my face, I was really upset.

I was livid. I was trying to be professional, though. You know what I'm saying? Because at the end of the day, I got to be professional. I was trying to be professional. And then I asked my mom. He saw it. My mom moved to Virginia from Vegas at one point.

And he was like, oh, yeah, she lives in Virginia. Then he put out an encyclopedia and showed me where my mom was at. Or what was it? It was like a recruiting book, whatever the hell it was. He showed me, yeah, I used to recruit this area, da, da, da. I'm like, man, I do not give a damn what the hell you're talking about right now. You just let me go. So literally after that, I started driving down 95 South.

I got to St. Augustine and I was just trying to decide what I want to do. I'm like, well, I got a degree to fall back on. You know, I'm not sure what's going to happen next. Did you have any money? Did you have a little bit of bonus? Yeah, I had to sign a bonus. I had to sign a bonus and I had a few game checks. So it was enough for a head start, you know, for sure.

But then I turned around and I was like, you know what? You know, if I go out, I'm going to go out on my terms. Because I felt like the pressure I was getting from the coaches, they didn't like how I played. But it was weird because that's how they drafted me for a reason, right? And then so I decided I was trying to switch up my game to be like the other players that they liked, the other backers, but it didn't fit me.

You know what I'm saying? I'm me, right? So I got to do me, do what got me there, but also be able to take coaching and also be able to elevate myself and transform my game a little bit. So I turned around, man, and you know what? I was like, you know what? Hey, if I go out, I'm going to go out on my terms playing how I play the game.

And so they brought me back on Monday for practice squad. And, you know, it's funny because the Broncos actually called me. No, they didn't call me. They called my agent, tell my agent that they wanted me to come visit. My agent never told me. I signed back to the Jaguars practice squad. Then he told me after that, he's like, yeah, actually, the Broncos called you and they want you to come in.

I was like, yo, why won't you give me that option? So I fired the agent. I stayed in the practice squad. I was miserable at Jacksonville. What did the agent say, by the way? Because I have my agent stories too in my business, which I always think that this is very similar. And this is one of the rare similarities that we have with non-athletes is that every one of us thinks our agents are supposed to be doing more. And every one of our agents think that all of us are kind of delusional

about what we're able to do. I mean, unless you're at the very, very top and those guys are always taken care of. And then when somebody at the bottom gets a new agent, I'll go, okay, just so you know,

though, this doesn't like change your life. Like you're still going to have to do all this stuff on your own. And then they're going to maybe, so what does the agent say to you when they go, oh, by the way, like you could have maybe been in Denver,

but now you're stuck in Jacksonville in the practice squad. This is fascinating. I love this stuff, so keep going. Yeah, so I asked him. I said, how come you didn't tell me? You're supposed to give me every option and let me decide. This is my career. And he was like, oh, I thought we decided you were going to stay in Jacksonville.

I'm like, look, look, look. Obviously things change. With that new information, things change. Because I probably would have left, look, obviously things change. With that new information, things change. Because I probably would have left, to be honest with you. Because how it was going, it was just going terrible for me. I was like, well, I might need to change the scenery. You know what I'm saying?

And so he basically made the decision for me, without presenting the opportunity for me. You know what I'm saying? And that's one thing that I wasn't feeling. I didn't like it. You felt like he was saying, hey, he'll have a better chance of maybe still surviving this because they drafted and putting him somewhere yeah so he was making a decision right and i get that i get that because typically the team that drafts you is more invested in you right than anybody else but at the same time all i'm saying is you're supposed to give me every option.

Give me all the options. Let me decide. And then talk me through the options. Like, look, if you go to Denver, you know what I'm saying, they're not, they didn't draft you. They might not be as invested in you. Or if you stay in Jackson, you know what I'm saying? Just give me all the options and let me decide.

Right? That's how I feel. And he never did that. So anyway, I ended up letting him go. I hired a new agent and my new agent actually found out from the Jags, I guess,

that they thought I had a bad attitude, which is crazy because nobody's ever said that in my life. I'm like, oh, that's just an excuse. So that's what

the issue was with me. They thought I had a bad attitude. Is there any chance that they were right? That you were pissed off and that it was the beginning and maybe you didn't realize it but you were giving off a vibe?

Like, I'm not trying to challenge you on this. It wasn't around. No, maybe. No, no, no, maybe. One thing about me, I'm very cultured, but I'm open to other opinions. Maybe, because there were some times where I just felt like there was playing favorites. I wish he was there, man.

If he was there, you'd be like all right well they went because i'm like how they was doing we was 2 and 14 2 and 14 right it was terrible man it was just a bad situation uh it was the worst it was did you have friends from that team i got two friends uh one of my homies his name is julian stanford he still plays and my other friend was antoine blake he played for a while which still is well because i was going to say if you told me you had zero friends from that group i'd be like well i don't know i don't know who to believe now because then yeah no i had a couple yeah i had a couple friends man i had a couple friends even terrence knight uh pot roast yeah that's right guys yeah so there's not gonna be any 2 and 14

reunions like 10 years coming up absolutely not so then you actually end up in Denver so take me through that transition because that's when you became a guy that you know football fans started to know which I think is the cool part of your story so Jacksonville cut me a third time

and they wanted me to stay on the practice squad and they asked me if i would stay i said yes i needed to keep my keep a job right i was playing i was playing the game i'm like there's that you want to stay i was like yeah even though in my head i was like nah i'm out of here um then oakland called well then denver called me they said we want you on practice squad then oakland called me wanted me on practice squad so i I was like, okay, I'm weighing my options. I called Terrence Knighton.

Potts Russell was in Denver at that time. He was like, yo, bro, I think you should come over here. You know what I'm saying? You have an opportunity to learn and grow and yada, yada, yada. And so I was going to choose Oakland because I felt like they were – maybe I would have got up on the active roster faster because they weren't as talented as Denver. But I thought it was the same situation.

They were losing. You know, there's a lot of turn up when you lose. Head coach defied. So I was like, let me go to a stable place. I went to Denver. And they loved me. Oh, man. I was on practice squad and I was getting scout team player of the week.

Out of the 16 weeks I was on scout team, I probably got the scout team player of the week at least eight times. Like at least half of those weeks. I was killing it. I was killing the scout team, I probably got to scout team play of the week at least eight times. At least half of those weeks. I was killing it. I was killing it, man. I always say this, man. I appreciate Adam Gase and Peyton Manning for showing me

love because I really truly believe that they're part of the reason why I got up on the active roster. So because of what you were doing in scout team against Gase and Manning? Oh, man. Adam Gase would come up to me before practice. Give me your best scout team story

going up against Peyton and then... I obviously have to ask you a Gase story because... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Man, I guess. Well, I mean, I picked them off once in practice, but you know what?

Once or twice, but it was one time we was on the red zone, right? We was in the red zone and, and he was like, called his audible and switching his formation, whatever he did. And as he was doing it, I was, I kind of like looked at the host, the whole picture. And I looked at what a running back was and the formation.

And I said, it's a sprint out sprint out sprint out right i told everybody sprint out sprint out hayden stopped from his cadence looked at me me mugged me and then snapped the ball and it proceeded to spread out it was a sprint out like a little rollout pass and i knew it and the crazy way the crazy thing is because i never forget how he looked at me he's like how this motherfucker know what this is you know and i just think i was just locked in i was i was dialed in man denver developed me you know i'm saying like they call it the development team i feel like i developed on that practice squad it was it was it was just uh it was just night and day you know what i mean so um I got paid on that one.

Okay. I'm going to ask you a question here as somebody that doesn't know the answer, which is the reason I'm asking it. But I imagine there's a bit of a hierarchy on who can make the call, though. I mean, I know that, look, there's middle linebackers and safeties that make your calls and all that kind of stuff. But because you're on the practice squad, what if you get that wrong? What if you call sprint out and it's like, again, that's not your call, but you're recognizing the play and you're wrong about it?

Like I can't imagine they'd want three different guys screaming and guessing on defense about what the play is going to be. Nah, you know what? To be honest, if I'm wrong, it doesn't matter because it's scouting. At the end of the day, they're trying to beat us. We're supposed to lose to them anyway. Yeah. Right?

They draw a place for us to get beat by them. You know, so... But if I'm right, then it's like, oh, shit. You know, he's right. You know what I'm saying? Like, look at this kid. You know, but if I'm wrong,

it just doesn't matter because they score a touchdown, okay, next period. You know? Gase right now, no one can believe this guy's been head coach twice. His press conferences are weird. He looks weird.

His quotes are weird. All of it seems weird. You know the guy. What do we that don't know anything about him need to understand? Because if this guy gets another head coaching gig, people are going to lose their minds. I love Adam Gase. See? I love Gase.

I love Gase, man. He was always good to me. Always solid, always competitive. You know, he used to come up to me before practice. Like, yo,

I got some place that I'm gonna beat you. You know what I'm saying? Like he, like he was competitive. He was lighthearted, good energy. He was smart. You know,

I don't know what happened between Denver and, uh, what was his first head coach job? Miami. The dolphins. What did they go to the playoffs? They went to playoffs one year with, with gaze. I think, uh, What happened between Denver and – what was his first head coach job? Miami. The Dolphins. Did they go to the playoffs? They went to the playoffs one year with Gase, I think. I thought they won like 10 games one year.

Yeah, 10 games. First year? Yeah. Yeah, they won 10 games. I'll look it up while we're doing this. Yeah, I'm not sure what happened, but I know it's a lot of variables with that. But he was great, man, in Denver. He was great, man. I loved

him. And, um, you know, they lost a wildcard game in Pittsburgh. Are you right? Yeah. Yeah. And, um, it was kind of, it was kind of weird for me to see him in that press conference with his eyes looking crazy. I was like, okay, that's not the Adam I know. So that Superbowl team with Denver, you were, you were second to Danny Trevathan in tackles that year. Yeah. I remember being on the air, watching Peyton every week, and you're like, okay, it's over. But that defense was so – what was that like to know

that you had to carry that team even though Peyton's still the headliner but he's just not close physically to what he was even a couple years prior to that? Yeah. You know what, man? I'm going to be honest with you. We loved it. Yeah, You know what, man? I'm going to be honest with you. We loved it. Yeah, we loved it, man.

I'm not going to lie to you. We enjoyed it every minute of it. We knew – we fully knew and we fully loved the fact that the game was on us week in and week out. You know, the coin – you know, they say – they coin the phrase defense wins championship, right? We truly won that championship. We truly won that championship. We truly won that championship.

And, you know, and that's no offense to the offense because they did that. They put up their points. We had firepower, you know. It was just some issues with Peyton, you know, some issues. He wasn't as fresh as he used to be, right? So, I mean, although we had the Mayo Sanders and the Demarius Thomas, and, you know, we had those guys, C.J. Anderson. Our offense just didn't have the firepower that we were accustomed to having.

And in my head, I kind of thought maybe part of that was also Kubiak's offense, but I'm not really sure, you know, because he was trying to put Peyton Anderson up more. But, I mean, it worked out. You know what I'm saying? It worked out. But we love that the game was on our shoulders. What did you plan for against Cam in that week leading up? Like, what was the number one thing that you guys were trying to think about? Because a lot of you guys will know by, you know,

as you're implementing the game plan, looking at the film. I mean, look, you're going to end up losing a game you thought you were going to win. But a lot of you guys will have, like, a really clear thing of, like, okay, this is what we know we're going to be able to do against this guy. So what was that lead up like for that? Man, you know what? We knew we could just play cover four. Simple.

Like we literally watched all of his games. We watched and then so keep to leave. I want you to go to your iPad. Look at all the teams, the defenses that they played against, and tell me what defenses are really actually good. And I'm like, damn, like they play against all these teams whose defenses are just regular, you know, basic, whatever. And we know who we work, right? So we play cover four, right?

And so what they like to do is they like to block them up. So they like to, you know, keep the running back in and keep the tight end in, run like two-man routes or three-man routes. So in our cover four, when I have maybe the curl flat or the middle zone, we were blitzed. So we would make it look like it was a blitz, but we was just running cover four because we knew they liked to max protect and throw two-man routes with Cam. And so we just had to put that pressure on them, and it worked. So you guys thought it was a layup? Oh, man.

We didn't think it was going to be that hard. And, you know, obviously, like, we respected them because of how many points they was putting up. Cam was the MVP. They were scoring. They was playing great. The second half comebacks that they put together in that second half of that season was incredible, right?

Yeah, absolutely. So we never took it for granted. never said okay it's gonna be easy but after you know watching them at film and we just felt extremely confident in who we were it was like oh yeah we're gonna beat them that's what we know i really do think that defense you know there are other defenses that get more but what what you put together for a couple of year run there. And then I still feel like the personnel was great. It's just the offense was so bad. You know, after Peyton, you're just trying to get a marginal quarterback play and you weren't getting it.

So who's the best defensive player you've ever played with? The best defensive player I've ever played with? Oh, man, that's tough. See, I thought it was going to be easy. The best defensive player I've ever played with. With, yeah. Oh, man. You know, he probably thought it was easy

because he probably thought I was going to say Von Miller. Yeah, that's what I thought you were going to say. Ah, man. It's a toss-up between him and Aqib Talib, man. Aqib Talib is phenomenal. He's phenomenal. All right, so why was Talib different? Because he was, but for you.

Because, well, first of all, he's extremely smart. That's what people don't really recognize. He's a very smart, a very smart player, a very smart individual at that. He's very smart. His technique is really good.

And he has great athleticism. So some corners like, you know, like Dominique Rodgers-Camardi, DRC, right? He's more of a, I'm just fast, so my technique could be just whatever, you know. Akeem was locked in on his technique and he was athletic and he was smart so that's why he's going to be a Hall of Famer

you know what I'm saying and he was huge I mean he was huge that's what I'm saying 6'1", 6'2", a big corner I've seen him lock up

Megatron well not necessarily lock him up but he's really kind of shut down Megatron for Megatron standards right

shut down Julio Jones he AJ Green like this guy is is my favorite corner that I play with. I'm not going to lie. Well, actually, no, Champ Bailey's number one. He was number two.

Wow, that was quick. Okay. So do this for me. Were people afraid of Tlaib a little bit too? Because he was like a real dude. Is there an element of that where you know it's hard to imagine you know 50 guys running around having anybody be too afraid of somebody else but he always felt like a dude that he never quite knew yeah i mean i think most

people just he just commanded like a different respect you know he was uh he was loud but like he backed up his talk you know he was he just wasn't all talk with it. He was loud, but he was putting in the work. He was doing what he needed to do, man. He would talk because he likes to talk, but he was a guy you could count on day in and day out. Practice, I'm talking about too. Not just the game. You could count on him in practice.

I think he had a different type of respect. I think some receivers probably feared him because that's how he would, like, line up and he'd talk to them, you know. He'd be, you know. He's actually funny, too. He's real lighthearted, funny. But he commands a different respect than a lot of people. Yeah, I had DeMarcus Ware on before, and he said when he decided to sign there,

like, he looked at Tlaib and, like, Tlaib, they were were on the same flight out and he had never talked to him never hung out with him or anything like that and then he he thought like he was like wait why is to leave flying to denver and then he to leave was like are you signing here he's like maybe he's like well if you sign here i'll sign look i mean you guys you guys are nuts i've always just loved von miller because i think physically he just looks different. I've had these different theories that I feel like his hips are lower to the ground, like he has shorter legs, and his torso is abnormally huge so that he can get like 45 degrees and still pop back up. He's got like weird superhuman dimensions that I've never seen. Go ahead.

Actually, you said that. That makes sense. He does have a longer torso because he's taller, right? But he has a longer torso. His legs aren't as long. Yeah. But they're huge. Yeah.

You know, his legs are huge. But he can get down to the – the way he can bend is ridiculous. This is what I'm saying. The way he can bend. Yeah. Oh, he can bend. He can bend like crazy. His athletic ability is ridiculous.

Like he's the best athlete, you know, like that, that I play with like athletic wise. Is he a hillbilly though? Is he a bit of a hillbilly? What's that? What's the hillbilly?

Yeah. He's got like his chicken farm. Yeah. He's country sale, man. Ron is around his country man he bought us all cowboy hats he bought you know i'm saying he's a country dude he loves the farm and like you said he's got chickens he's like he's a cowboy you know so it's kind of different but i love that it's real yeah that's what i what I like about it. It's not bullshit. Okay, so as we get to the end of your transition here, and you just said, hey, I think I have a lot of game left. This game is cruel because once they feel like you're dinged up,

nobody even wants to give you a shot. Is that how you feel right now? Yeah, 100%. Even though teams were taking my calls or team was interested, you know, I think a couple of factors this year, the COVID,

it took you like six days to even get into the building. Right. Also, they're like, well, you know, I don't know if we want to give him a shot

because he's, you know, he was hurt. We don't, the last film on him wasn't his best film. So we don't know what we want to do with this guy.

But, you know, I've been staying in shape. I've been training this whole year. You know, the whole year plus, honestly. And, you know, I'm hoping for another shot, man. I'm hoping the game hasn't passed me by yet. I'm hoping for another opportunity to show, you know, that I'm healthy

and I can still play this game at a high level. So you were working, as you said, off the top doing some of the Raiders stuff this year. So what's that been like? Do you enjoy it? I know a lot of guys want to, hey, man, I like talking to the game. I still want to be around the game. Maybe I'll get back in and that kind of thing.

But it's also going to be kind of tough too. I mean, I know I've been doing this a long time, and I think some former players just step right in and go, I'll be fine. And then they're like, oh, wait, there's a little bit more to this. And I know it's not necessarily like a full-time thing, but how's that been, at least least for you kind of seeing it from that angle i like it i'm not gonna lie i like it it's it's uh it's it's different i mean for me

it's kind of it's kind of like second nature because you know i can just sit there and i could talk the game you know um you know i do it on channel eight I don't read off a teleprompter. You know, I don't get, you know, time to write things down and have it said. I really just ask me a question and I can go and I can go off my knowledge. And, you know, a couple of things I do want to do, like a couple of seminars and some boot camps and stuff like that to improve. But I think, you know, it's fun. I'll be honest with you. I see why you guys do it. It's fun. I like radio. I like TV. I love it all. And, you know, it kind of makes me happy, man. It doesn't give me that same thrill as a game or that same type of deal. Yeah, it's not quite as thrilling.

No, it's not as thrilling. But it's something that I enjoy doing, I'll say. So, you know, to kind of ease the pain of not playing. Yeah, the worst day is not that bad is how I look at it. So you saw the Chiefs lose to the Raiders up close. And I ask everybody, especially guys that play defense, is there anything that you see? Is there anything that you would say, hey, look, it may not work,

but this should be your game plan against the Chiefs defensively and then having the personnel that actually can back it up? Yeah, I mean, I would say outside hey, look, it may not work, but this should be your game plan against the Chiefs defensively and then having the personnel that actually can back it up. Yeah, I mean, I would say outside the Falcons, the Raiders is probably the only team that really played them well defensively, you know. I know it's kind of a high-score game, but I want to say, if my mind is correct, I want to say it was more...

I don't think they were... I mean, I've noticed they ran some man coverage, but it seemed like it was a lot of cover three. You know, I think they ran, like, a lot of cover three. They mixed in some man. They had some trap coverages. I think they were doing a lot to kind of confuse my homes. You know,

his, his, a couple of his interceptions were actually played, you know, against the Raiders. Yeah. So I think they did some things to confuse him a little bit because he usually doesn't make those types of mistakes.

Can you even look at his eyes then? I mean, I know that's what you guys kind of default to, especially your position, you know, you're Roman a little bit more as a linebacker. Yeah. But, you know, look, you still have to look at his eyes just because he throws some no-look passes. You can't.

I'd love to know what anybody thinks could actually consistently work against him for 60 minutes. Yeah, it's tough because it seems like in the fourth quarter, he always finds a way. The last drive, the last go. If you put the ball in his hands, it seems like he finds a

way and so yes you read his eyes um he's good at looking you off he's good at he's good at everything i'll be honest with you he's good at everything man so i know he he'll throw his no look but a lot of times he's really good at looking you off and that's probably where he got the no look pass from like okay i'm looking at safety off but i know i'm throwing over here and he probably just started trying out of practice you know what i'm saying and so in the game now he looks off looks off and he and he's right on top you know i'm saying and he gets his target so when you're looking at this is something i always talk with chad jilfer about right because i feel like the numbers are so out of control that we'll talk up quarterbacks,

really, Hey, this, this guy threw for three 50 and three touchdowns and he's awesome. And I'm, I've never been more convinced how empty some of these numbers are. I mean, the same thing's happened in basketball a little bit too, but do you, can you look at the playoff quarterbacks and say, okay, this guy can beat anybody. And this guy's like a product of the system. Like golf is always kind of the default one that we've brought up in the past where you go, he's not reading the full field. McVay is completely in control of what's going on there. And they've done a good job with him and he's physical enough.

His abilities are enough to kind of keep up with the rest of the stuff. But when you'll look at like a Josh Allen, you go, Oh, that guy's a nightmare or there's some holes there. Like take me through some of the guys that maybe you're really, really impressed with and some others you feel are maybe a little more propped up. Yeah, I mean, just like you said, Josh Allen. I'm extremely impressed with Josh Allen. You know, his development his first three years in the league is outstanding.

They did a hell of a job getting them digs, man. And Josh is making all the throws. He's running well. I think he's definitely in the MVP conversation. Aaron Rodgers could beat anybody. He could beat anybody, man. What about Baker? Because I already know Rodgers is good.

Okay, all right. So wait a minute. There's a tone. Nah, nah. What's up here? Your tone completely changed. Their head coach came in, and he did a good job with Baker Mayfield. I think he's a product of

the system you know he's definitely a product of the system baker is not someone who i see as an elite quarterback or will be an elite quarterback i mean he could you know you never know anything could happen but you know i don't get that vibe from him you know i'm saying i don't get that vibe from him like mr trubisky is you know he's lucky to have a good head coach right um like you said golf there's a reason that they do playoff uh i'm sorry play action so many times more than any other team because that's it's going to help jared golf the playoff action i mean i'm sorry the uh play action the play action oh it is the playoffs so maybe that'll be a new turn the the play action helps golf

tremendously. That's why they do it. That's his thing. If they had a... Like in my homes, it wouldn't be so much play action. I'm telling you. It might be McVay, but McVay has done a hell of a job with golf. Who else is in the playoffs? Obviously, Ben Roethlisberger.

Ryan Tannehill. I, Ryan Tannehill. I think Ryan Tannehill, that's an interesting one. Tannehill, I think he's improved. I think he's improved. He still definitely has holes, but he definitely

improved from Miami to Tennessee. I think it was with that benching or that, you know, when they let him go or they trade,

whatever happened to him, I think that set off something in his mind and I want to say that it elevated his game a little bit. Also or they trade, whatever happened to him, I think that set off something in his mind. And I want to say that it elevated his game a little bit. Also, he has Derrick Henry. Shit. I mean. Why is their defense so bad?

I saw, I like to go and look at like man-to-man zone, but I also think like if you're really good and you play man-to-man all the time, people are like, oh, it's because they play man-to-man. But then there's plenty of teams that play man-to-man that suck. And it doesn't, it's not scheme. It's usually, but there. I thought it was interesting because I've been looking at it all year long. At one point, they were allowing 60% of third-down conversions.

They finished the season last. It's like 51-52%. I get that they're a playoff team, and they have a really good record, but God, when I watch them get burnt over and over and over again, it scares me in picking them long-term. You can't be a man-te team if you have no pass rush.

I promise you. Because rushing covers go hand in hand. So if you want to run man, you better look. Our Super Bowl year, we ran man. We did a lot of man. A lot of man. A lot of cover. Because you had unbelievable ends in line.

Exactly. Absolutely. It was crazy. So if the Titans don't, because first of all, Clowney's not getting home and he gets a lot of money for not getting home. You know,

I know he affects the game in different ways, but he doesn't get home. So, I mean, they run a lot of man, but nobody's getting home. So, I mean, they're going to get torched

at some point. Yeah, right. I mean, and Clowney had the meniscus thing too. So, all right. I'll end on this one who were your super bowl picks before the season started and then how is how's that holding up and then we'll ask you to kind of reset it now the playoffs are going yeah yeah so it was uh actually

uh the seahawks and the chiefs before the season started okay and how are you feeling you know i'm definitely going to teach still um i kind of want to see the Bills play the Chiefs in the AFC Championship. I want to see that. That'd be interesting. But I got Chiefs and, you know,

they got to go through Lambeau, man. I got the Packers. Chiefs and Packers in the Super Bowl. I think they're both the number one seeds. So you're going Chalk. You're going Chalk with them. That's fine. I think I'm going to be picking the Chiefs

for like the next 10 years. So I'll just go ahead and preview. Right. It's not going to matter. I mean, it's ridiculous. Who think I'm going to be picking the Chiefs for the next 10 years, so I'll just go ahead and preview. It's not going to matter. It's ridiculous. Who's going to beat them? They'll have to have a turnover of personnel and maybe a couple lean drafting years where defensively...

I never will worry about the weapons. He could turn dudes from Purdue into number one options. No offense to the Boilermakers who used to run that spread before anybody was doing it. But I was just trying to think of like a school that hasn't put a ton

of skill guys in lately. But this means now a bunch of Purdue people are going to get pissed at me because I randomly said Purdue. All right. That's Brandon Marshall. Where can we find your stuff?

Follow you. Just keep up. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Bmarsh2h. It's B-M-A-R-S-H-H. So yeah, hit me on that I really appreciated this man

it was a lot of fun I still am laughing thinking about Gene Smith asking about your mom after he cut you I was just dying from the jump

I can't believe it I can't believe it enjoy the weekend man thank you thank you you too man but cool thanks a lot man I had a lot of fun with that

that was a lot of fun we'll do it again oh yeah oh yeah absolutely I fun with that. That was a lot of fun. We'll do it again. Oh, yeah. Actually, I'm with that. I enjoyed it. 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. Okay, we're going to crank it up here a bit here on the life advice.

Lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. There's a level. We had one that was pretty interesting, Kyle. But, you know, I don't know. I don't know how deep into the abyss I want to go with some of the topics. So we'll go a little PG-13 here with this one. Okay, love the podcast. My one critique is that you are having the wrong effect on Kyle.

Sometimes when I'm feeling really awful, I just want to hear your life advice. And his timestamps are always in the wrong places. Wow. Just coming to Kyle. What's that all about? You know what? Let me just explain this to America. This is called dynamic ad insertion,

which means we don't bake these ads in anymore. This is a new way of making money. So, uh, I don't know what ads are going in and they're going to change from time to time. So I'm going to get it as close as I can. And,

uh, other than that, I don't know what to fucking tell you. Okay. There you go, Kyle. And that's, that's Kyle hitting you with the truth, America. So there you go like that. Okay. Uh, he said he was just messing around. All right, here we go. College student 21 about to graduate in the spring. I've already been accepted to a job as an engineer programmer starting in next August. I just want to email in because I think I need help, but I'm not sure what to do. My first problem is I smoke weed a fuck ton. Basically every day during breaks like this holiday break. I just had a recent break of my ex-girlfriend in one and a half years and my uses upticked a lot since then. I've quit for

stretches like three plus months long when I needed to focus on school and stuff, but I always come back to it. I think it just helps me with that anxiety and terrible guilt I feel all the time. My second problem is that I'm addicted and obsessed with sex. I'm not saying this to brag or anything because I seriously feel really ashamed and awful inside. It's actually not hard to find people who want to have sex if you scour the message boards on Craigslist, join anonymous groups in your area, and swipe a lot on Tinder. Obviously, this has all gone down during the pandemic, and I abstain from all of this during my relationship.

So he wants to let us know he's not a cheater, but he's just super into weed and, and knocking boots. Um, but when I was, uh, when I was am single, it goes really out of control.

I think so often about sex that I even sometimes think it would be so cool to be in porn or something where I could even get paid. Okay. That would be, that would be a pivot from the engineering stuff. And I think there's probably a lot of people. Yeah. I think there'd be a lot of people that would be more interested, but just family reunions alone, weddings, they'd be like, Hey, how's work? That's Rick. He does porn, you know? And he comes over, he's like hey everybody like hey rick we're all going to talk about you as soon as you walk away all right so you know i think that's i think that's why probably more people that would do it but you know again family reunions jamming dudes up

all right i think i need to seek help for this but i'm not sure exactly what the risks are for this behavior since i'm always very careful about protection. The thing is there haven't been any negative consequences so far of my behavior. I know I always know when to cut the degenerate shit out and focus when it comes to school. I earned a 3.82 GPA majoring in engineering. Shout out high GPAs

out there. All of you bore one out. Minoring in math. Engineering is not easy as anyone who's never taken a class can attest to um i am moving to california for my job after graduation where weed is legal and i think this might make it worse for me not sure what to do also i think it'd be awesome to hook up with girls in california especially those i could smoke with so literally in one sentence you're worried about it and you're like man I can't wait to get going and

just smoke a ton of weed out there. Is this living, is living this kind of lifestyle sustainable? No, is the quickest answer. I've come into work high numerous times in the past couple of years and no one ever notices. Sometimes I almost relate really hard to Justin Blackman or Josh Gordon. Okay. I have a talent and skill in science and research and engineering but i can't get out of my own way with this shit and it's going to catch up to me do you have any friends that live like this not anymore no you start at 45 the number of guys that you're friends with uh better you're like yeah you know what um actually reese davis was out of control no i'm just kidding i was just trying to think of a random name that like would be the absolute

last guy that you would ever think of this. So let's, um, let's not do the obvious stuff. Okay. Let's not do that. That's not where you're coming here. Cause the obvious stuff would just say,

Hey man, so I've spoken so much. We don't do this stuff. It's not safe. All right. Cause you already know that you already know that you're clearly a smart guy. 3.82. What's up?

But you're, you're having some guilt about it, right? You're feeling a little guilty about 3.82. What's up? But you're, you're having some guilt about it, right? You're feeling a little guilty about it. Okay. So, uh, I lived with guys that the last apartment I think I ever lived in, I think it was end of 02 into 03. And then at the start of 03, I lived on a friend's couch for about three months until I finally moved into a place of my own. And I haven't had a roommate ever since. And the reason I went to go sleep on this guy's couch is because I was at one point, um, prior to, uh, prior to that move, I was living in this, this kind of dumpy area of Boston with a couple other guys.

And, you know, everybody likes to smoke weed. It was never my thing, but I'm telling you, like I could see it. Like they, if they didn't have weed around it wasn't gonna happen now we all know um that of all the things you could do weed is is not even close to being the worst one uh i'm not gonna turn this into a pro cannabis podcast but what i'm just telling you is like look i never it was wasn't ever anything i was interested in it just wasn't didn't do it for me um yes if people decided to just smoke weed at night and not get shit faced then people probably a lot a lot safer. I don't feel like debating any of those things because I think most of us just get it without getting to any of that point. So it could be a phase. It could be a phase. You could be 21. Oh my God, I smoked weed all the time. Then it's like 25, 26. You kind of

get it out of your system. You start to feel more guilt that you're already feeling at 21. I mean, the fact you're even feeling any guilt at 21 and you don't think you're awesome for doing this, I actually think is a really good sign. That's a good sign that you already, like the fact that you sent in this email, I would say most guys in your situation right now wouldn't even think they were doing anything wrong. And if they did and didn't really know what to do, they wouldn't even write the email. So I'd actually give yourself a little pat on the back for going, hey, you know what? This probably isn't cool because eventually it's not going to be cool. Okay. Eventually it isn't going to be cool. Eventually you are going to find somebody on Craigslist. You're gonna end up in a parking lot with no

pants on your wallet missing. Okay. Um, I don't know how you even mess with those sites. I'm not talking about the mainstream dating websites, but you know, some of that, some of that classified stuff out there that, that creeps on the internet. I don't know. I mean, if that's your thing and it's worked out for you, all right. But clearly, you don't like doing it all the time. Clearly, even though you like being high, you know that you can't keep doing this all the time and showing up to work and nobody noticing it. It actually makes sense, especially for somebody who's engineering and math, and you're probably just figuring stuff out and nobody would notice. who's engineering and math, and you're probably just figuring stuff out and nobody would notice.

But I remember, you know, let me put it this way. For those of you that are younger and you've made some kind of mistake, and it doesn't even have to be a huge, huge mistake. You know what I mean? You get too drunk on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and your family's pissed at you because you're hung over and they're giving you a hard time or, you know, maybe something that's not the most serious, but a little bit more serious happened. The older people in your life are going to be giving you a lot of shit for it, or at least they should be. They are because they've been around.

And this is the part where being older, where the person who's been around is right. And they're doing this because they care about you. And they're getting on your case because they've seen bad things happen to friends or loved ones throughout their life. Because what will happen with most people is you go through this phase and then you're out of it. And that's what it is. But the older people are always worried about the people that get progressively worse. And it's not a phase that, hey, I'm smoking weed every day and I'm doing this. And then it's like, okay, but when you start to form these bad habits, you either get so sick of them that you break them, or this is just the

foundation of a really fucked up lifestyle for the next 10, 20 years. I'm serious with this stuff. It's kind of like, you know, an older person can see a young guy, you know, drink, and then he'll be like, Hey, you know what? Like I've got buddies. And the first thing the young guy says is, Oh, fuck off. Like, Get away from me. I don't want to hear it. Give me a break. Just because you guys are WWII, I don't want to hear it. But what that guy is doing is saying, hey, you have some tendencies here, or you have something going on with you that if you don't correct this, that it's going to end up being a much bigger problem. And so that's where you got to kind of give shout out to the older people because they've seen bad stuff happen to relatives.

They've seen stuff happen where it was when the guy was in his 20s and doing stuff that was kind of stupid. You know what it isn't? It's just it's not not stupid anymore in your 30s. It's like a total turnoff. So, you know, maybe you have a couple more years in you of this. It's like a total turnoff. So maybe you have a couple more years in you of this. Maybe the guilt won't kick in. But if you're turning like 29 and 30 and you're still doing this all the time and you're single and your buddies aren't calling you back as much or your family's kind of like, what the hell's going on? And then maybe one day you smoke a ton

of weed before you go to work and somebody smells it on you. Now, all of a sudden people are like, hey, that's the guy that smokes weed every day that he comes into work. And maybe no one will care in California. I don't know. But the fact that you even are thinking this right now is probably a positive. But for anyone else listening, I think there's always this, most times, most people can screw around for a little while, get it out of their system, and then they're kind of good to go. And yeah, there's always this grass is always greener. Like, oh, maybe I got married too early or maybe I should have done this or maybe I should have. Look, after I read the Motley Crew book, I was like, I don't think I go out enough. But I know that in working in bars

and having an extended adolescence myself, that there will be people around you where you're like, this is funny until it isn't really funny anymore. And that's when it becomes a much bigger bummer or much more of a guilt-ridden existence than anything you're going through right now.

So maybe in a year, maybe at 25, maybe at 30, you're over it. But if it's 35 and shit didn't feel like it worked out, you know, whose fault is it, Kyle? Well, I'd say, uh, really only on the weed part of this.

Um, when you get to California, you're not going to be able to stay out of the shops because it's so cool coming from a place where it's not legal. Um, that's fine. But then it becomes, I think, sort of like a bottle of whiskey on the shelf. Like it's not like all the time. It's just sort of like you keep it in a box and you go to it. I think that part will probably fall away. And then the last part, even though you think nobody knows at work, sometimes I think maybe somebody knows. I worked with a guy who thought nobody knows. And when he left, he was like, that guy was always high. And I was like, yeah,

that's so funny. He thought nobody knew. That's all I'll say. That's great. I love that. Let's do one more. Here we go. Let me set the stage for you. I'm 34, father of two, beautiful Maureen. He's in Celebration, Florida.

I take my kids to our local outdoor courts. That's right they have courts in Florida I still want to know what Florida's doing what's going on down there they just decide like hey yeah we're not we're just pretending nothing's going on okay my kids

are three and six we get there an empty court perfect I'm shooting around my kids are riding their scooters and in this moment life's really good about 20 minutes in cool cool guy, maybe 20, pulls up on the mom and dad Mercedes. Okay. All right. Rocking some Nike Monarchs, black tee, black shorts, some gray tights underneath. My man pulls out a huge Bluetooth speaker and moseys onto the court like he owns a joint, sets up his speaker and proceeds to play some hardcore rap music. My guy was clearly ready to hoop.

Now look, I'm not so far out of my youth that I can't appreciate some good music while getting some shots up. All right, we're all on the same page, but my guy clearly sees me out there with both my kids and thinks to himself, I bet this dad and his two kids are really wanting to listen to some little yachty or whatever else he chose to play.

Regardless, I'm at a loss for words and don't want to come across as the old man telling the kid not to turn his music off. But what is the guy supposed to do in this situation? What is the proper court etiquette? By the way, P.S. My guy was trash. I'm 34 with two kids and would have smoked him.

Did he say monarchs? Yeah. Why? Is he talking about air monarchs? Yeah. Okay okay what do you think he was talking about my dad wears those to walk around i don't know uh yeah that's actually yeah what what the fuck my mind is blown now great call kyle uh why was he wearing if he's 20 little yachty gray tights underneath did he describe him as gray flint tights no just gray tights i was gonna say this is an incredible email all right tough one dilemma this is a dilemma my first instinct after reading

the email is that once he sucked then you tell him to turn it down if you're really good if you're really like i'm serious the first thing i thought i was like oh if he sucked yeah tell him to turn it down i was like if he looks like he's got some some game the handle's kind of tight he's hitting fadeaways kind of looking down every now and then to see if you saw that he hit a you know ridiculous pull up off the dribble then you gotta you gotta respect it and you know just just have your kids listen a little yachty for the day tough one tough one because um you know just just have your kids listen to a little yachty for the day tough one tough one because um you know there's there's an element of being young where you just like fuck everybody else you just are and it's it's lame you know i remember one time we went to a movie once and it was so stupid what we were doing we're like throwing a football around in a movie theater

and we thought it was funny we were like 20 and i still think about it 25 years later and i was like that's such that's such a shitty thing that you did and we just didn't care it was like a dumb movie and we started throwing a football around we thought it was hilarious and now i'm i still feel bad about it 25 years later because like some older guy was like all right dude and he was right he was right and that's what i don't know i don't know why guys do that. Sometimes you're trying to show off for girls when you're that age. I mean, look, that doesn't necessarily stop, but I guess there's a way there's a way you could have said, Hey dude, look, I totally get it. And then you start trying to, you start trying to like connect with them. Like, is that the new DaBaby? Oh no, my bad. Yeah. That shit's fire.

Just like your Monarchs. So I guess there's kind of a way you can approach it. But the problem is, is if the guy is that ridiculous about it, he's probably not going to be cool about it either. Like if he's willing to size up the situation and then go, all right, well now I'm going to crank up this hardcore rap early in the morning while there's a, what he's talking about? A three and a six year old.

And he has no self-awareness on that. He thinks he's what he's doing is cool. If you go to approach him, he's probably going to piss you off even more and be like, whatever, man, I need, I need my beats because there is a development now with all the Bluetooth stuff and the speakers and all like i think it's cool that music is everywhere but sometimes i'm like yeah i don't i don't need this much music everywhere and the beach yeah yeah the beach part is the beach where i'm at it's it's not that bad it's more like the bike path like everybody's cranking but again when the bike passes you it's not like you're listening to it the entire time but there's just been a uh there's been a growth in hearing other people's music with the access to smaller and smaller bluetooth speakers so i think you could have turned it down a little bit i mean the other

thing you could do so you don't have to ever confront that if you're on the hooper side of this thing like where's some earbuds, man? I mean, come on. There's a million different kinds right now. Yeah. Wireless. You don't have to worry about, I mean, I was sitting there tucking an iPod in to my back pocket of my shorts, then running the wire down the back, my spine into it to try to

keep as much freedom on my shot as possible. And then of course, like any movement that was, you know, trying to do something else. When I was trying to perfect that Kobe fake baseline dribble, baseline turn thing where he leaves the ball in the air, turns back to the middle and then comes back and grabs the basketball baseline and cuts. I think I worked on that for six months once.

I was in my twenties. May have tried it in a pickup game twice. So I feel like that wasn't the most efficient use of my time, but you kind of can't win on these cause it's all on the other guy. And if the other guy's a total shithead about it, then you're going to be even more mad. And next thing you know, you know, you're beating up a 21 year old or 20 year old in front of your kids. So, uh, you know, you could give a look, you could give a look like, hey, what's going on? But then he might just think, hey, what does this old fool want? Does he want to run?

Does he want to play to 11? Nor you could have said, hey, how about if I beat you to 11? You turn that down and you leave. Retirement game. There's a lot of options. There's a lot of options. But we all know, anyone that's been through this, we all know. The chances are that 21-year-olds or 20-year-olds, I don't know why I keep rounding up here,

that guy doesn't listen. The fact that he already did all this stuff and he's got all this gear on. And he sucked. If he really did suck and was wearing this kind of gear, the conversation with this guy isn't going to go anywhere anyway. So, I don't know. That's tough. I'll tell you, though, there's times when I go to play hoops and you have like full court

ready to go. And if there's a dad with his kids, you want to be like, okay, look, I'll give you 30 minutes, but, um,

you know, you could probably have your three-year-old shoot a ball, a foot in the air on the grass too. You know, you could, there's probably another place you could not accomplish anything and not take up the court for the entire afternoon also so you know it's a tough one because people get real selfish you know some of you probably think i'm wrong i think there should be a time limit i go and i've done it i've sat it out and waited and waited i've seen

a guy with his sons play and hold up fives. I've said, hey, look, they were here first. Let's see how long it goes. And you wait. You kind of shoot around a little bit. Then you can sort of do this deal where you're playing a half court and your half court game starts to creep further and further across the half court line. Yes, next thing you know, you're like, wait,

is the tide coming up here? Like, no, we're just slowly, slowly forcing you off of this court here. But you know, if a guy's there with his kids, you got to respect it up into a point,

I think. But yeah, I don't know. I went way too long on this one. So there you go. I think we, I think we covered every angle without coming up with a clear solution. Please spread the word.

Subscribe to the Ryan Russell Podcast. Ringer, Spotify. We'll be ready to go previewing wildcard. We can also doing something with Kevin Clark and the Ringer for the wildcard deal. I'm going to be doing a live show with them on Saturday. I'll have all the details. I'm pretty sure I was already given all the details, but I'll look at them and then say'm pretty sure I was already given all the details, but

I'll look at them and then say exactly when they are on Friday's podcast. So be on the lookout for that one as well. Thank you.