← Green With Envy: A Boston Celtics Podcast
Green With Envy: A Boston Celtics Podcast
Can the Celtics Match Up with the Spurs and Thunder? + Giannis Trades and Mediocre Life Updates
01:05:36
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- [00:00]
A
Tis the season of gifting and holes to deck. And the who's in Whoville were in love with new tech. Where can we find Sonos and Samsung and Nintendo? They shouted. Would they find it in one place? This they questioned and doubted when suddenly a who yelled, walmart's the place to start. And each who added headphones, TVs and games to their carts with Walmart, their shopping was done in a flurry. They cried out, who knew? And ordered their gifts in a hurry. Shop the latest tech gifts in the Walmart app.
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B
Whether you're gifting, decorating or treating yourself, Lowes December deal drops are here to help you save more. All month long, get up to 50% off select holiday decor. Plus get up to 45% off select tools and accessories. Shop new December deal drops every week this month and get so much more out of your holidays. Lowe's we help you save. Selection varies by location while supplies last.
- [01:00]
C
This is Mike Gorman and you're listening.
- [01:02]
A
To Green with Envy with Will and Greg. All right, everybody. NBA cup schedule has got the Celtics in a weird place here. A lot of off days. So we took a little break from doing some post game Celtics. We're recording this on a Sunday night. Celtics play the Pistons Monday night, maybe tonight if you listen to this Monday morning. So we're going to take a little break here. We're going to pass the rock here. We're going to take a look around the league. We're taking a look at the cellars. We're going to jump around to a few different topics so you don't want to miss a thing. So sit back, relax, take tune in. You guys know the deal. This is Green with Envy. Let's lock in. What up, what up, what up? Welcome into another edition of Green with Envy. As always, this is your boy, Will. We checking in. How you doing? How you living? Joining me as he does each and every time, my best friend, co host and the coach of our podcast, the one and only Greg Manakis. Greg, how was your weekend, man? We're recording late here on a Sunday night. So how was your weekend?
- [02:15]
C
Weekend was pretty good. I, I'm excited to talk about some of the stuff. You know, we're going to do a little past the rock segment today. Not to spoil the, the rundown for everybody, but that's, that's what's, that's what's going to happen. So I think I'm going to save some of the, some of the stuff for passing the rocks. I think I got some good stuff that we can kind of dive into. But I'll just give you, you know, just brief overview of what went down Friday. Boys night with James. Danielle was out happy hour with some co workers. And then last night was a girls night for her. So she was out with your lady and all the friends down here in Austin. So it was back to back nights where I was on my own. So watched a lot of sports and ate a lot of junk food. It was pretty great.
- [03:01]
A
It's not bad. Me, you, and our guy Lipsack. I basically had a boy, a virtual boys night. Basically just kind of texting through the cup game, which we will talk about here quite a bit. As I mentioned at the top, the schedule's been really weird. A lot of off days. Celtics had a game on Thursday night against the Bucks. Got. They're got cracked by Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Pors, which, by the way, Greg, did you happen to check the. The score of the Bucks game this evening?
- [03:26]
C
Yeah, they lost by like 40 to the nets.
- [03:29]
A
45. You underestimated it. 45 to the nets tonight. Isn't that just, you know, that's just how things go some nights. Some nights Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis can't miss a shot and The Celtics missed 16 straight threes. And you know, it is what it is. So with that, we didn't feel a pressing need to come in here and break that game down, just to be real with y'. All. So we let everything play out with the cup. Celtics will have a big game on Monday night. We're gonna have something for you guys Tuesday afternoon. So we are going to record live probably Tuesday afternoon, or if we don't record live, we'll put it up that night. We'll see tbd. But we're gonna have a good episode after we get Celtics pistons because that will be a big one. So we'll have a lot of coverage for you on that. But let's. Let's just jump right into it here. So let's. Let's cue the music and we'll pass. You guys ready? It's the plan, Bobby. We're winging it, Jerry. Yeah. All right. So, Greg, do you want to get this started? He's had a few things you wanted to save or I've got something here that I can jump us off into if you prefer.
- [04:41]
C
Is yours basketball related?
- [04:43]
A
It is basketball related. Yeah. Yep. And I think we already have Greg frozen here, so that is a great way to start this episode here as we have Greg frozen on the screen. So we're gonna let Greg go ahead and get unfrozen. But as I'm sure most of you did last night, Greg kind of started talking about this. So I'm gonna set this up for us because this is going to be where I want us to go first. Last night, NBA cup, we had the first game, Eastern Conference. We had the Knicks and the Magic. It was, it was fine. Game was okay. Got to learn a little bit things, a little bit things about those two teams. See. Greg, are you, are you back? Are you. Are you clocked in here?
- [05:28]
C
I. Dude, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I'm back.
- [05:33]
A
It's all right. We got you. We got you now. So I'm gonna go first because I've already started to, to set this up for, for the audience here. You haven't missed anything. I. I did a good job stalling while we got you.
- [05:44]
C
Well, we got you back a buster.
- [05:47]
A
Exactly. So I want to start with some NBA cup thoughts and we can talk about Nick's magic later. That was a fine game. But last night was all about OKC and the spurs. Right? Like that game, to me, it felt like the future. Right? That's the future of the league right there. Just kind of looking at that. So I think there's a bunch of different ways that we could just talk about the game itself, what it means. Now I want to look at this from a Celtics level lines. And I started thinking about it, Greg and I started thinking about looking at those two rosters, which okc, we know they're a complete roster. They won the championship last year. They look even better this year. The spurs are kind of chasing them and obviously they have an accelerant known as Victor Wembanyama, which is, you know, he obviously takes them to a whole new level. But the rest of that roster is, I think, a lot better, a lot quicker than people even imagined it would be for this year. And so I started thinking about the Celtics looking at those two teams because we're still in the middle of our timeline. Right. Like, I know we're on pause with Jason Tatum, but we're still in the middle of our Jays timeline. So those are going to be when we look at the top of the league, the type of rosters that we need to compete with. And so I want to start here open ended to you. And then I have a few notes that I wrote down. What stood out to you most, watching that game between those two teams and what you think about the Celtics team.
- [07:09]
C
The thing that stood out to me most was how Victor Wembanyama made everybody else look very human. You know, like Chet Holmgren oftentimes look like, looks like a unicorn out there. Shay, that was the first time I've ever seen Shay look mortal. In the past, like two years, you know, every time I tune into a Thunder game, Shay just has his pulse on the game. Every, he's, you know, puppet master on, on offense, he's doing whatever he wants to do, get into his spots and, and last night he looked mortal. Jet Holmgren looked mortal. And it's all because of the juxtaposition standing next to Victor Wemenyama. And when you think about the Celtics roster in the past, having a 6, 9 do it all forward like Jason Tatum and a 6, 6, 2 way wing like Jaylen Brown was enough to be a contender, like perennial contender in the league. Where you look at any other team, you're like, hey, we're starting with these two guys. We feel pretty damn good about it. But looking at that roster that the spurs have just because of Wembanyama, like, he's the one, the accelerant, as you said. I think that's a great nickname for him there. It's just, it's just different, man. I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was the depth for both teams and the amount of ball handlers and playmakers that were out there on the court at all times and two way players out there on the court at all times.
- [08:35]
A
So I think that's what jumped out to me. And yeah, the accelerant, as far as the nickname for Wemby, maybe that works better for us for Stan Van Gundy, who, you know, Alien. You didn't like that one. That was interesting way for Stan, man, to take that last night in the broadcast. But we'll, we'll let that one be. If you don't know what we're talking about, you can go, go look that comment up. But I, I think again, the depth is, I think what really, it's the depth and the versatility of that depth, right? Because you look at these teams, Greg and I looked last night just at those, the, the players that played and both of these teams kind of have people in reserve that didn't even touch the court that they needed to, you know, still give them a certain quality. Like, you know, guys like whether it's Kelly Olenek. If you need stretch shooting bigs from, from the spurs, they have a guy in Carter Bryant who's a rookie that hasn't touched the floor we know the Thunder could lose anybody seemingly and just replace them with somebody. We know that.
- [09:26]
C
But I just want to pump the brakes on Kelly Olenek. I think Kelly Olenek is pretty washed at this point. Fair enough.
- [09:32]
A
My point being San Antonio has other reserves that, that we could, could look to here. Jeremy Sohan's a guy that I can, can look to that defensively like, has some versatility. But the big point to me, Greg, that stood out is, and you kind of nailed it here is each team has about three to four ball handlers, like really quality ball handlers. Each team has at least two bigs they can rely on, one of which can usually shoot Chad Holmgren, Victor Wembanyama, and therefore allows them to play with one big, with two bigs and at times with no bigs. With both team. Both teams do quite frequently and we've seen the Celtics kind of enacting that this season. And then they all have, they each have about four to five versatile wings that really kind of go across that two way spectrum that you mentioned of being able to play, give you offensive versatility in some form or fashion and then being able to defend really kind of, you know, some guys one through five, some guys two through five, some two through four, like there's, there's all these different machinations that, of lineups they can use. And so I look at the Celtics and it's like, and looking at our roster, of course I'm looking at this roster from a Tatum perspective. So I'm putting him in. We're not there, I think on the level of these two teams, depth wise, but I don't think they're actually that far away. That was one of, one of my conclusions. We're certainly not there. I want to be very clear about that. Yeah, but I think when you look at the Celtics, you look at their ball handlers, you look at Peyton Pritchard, you look at Derrick White, you look at Jaylen Brown, you look at Jason Tatum. Those are kind of the four that I think I would peg for this team. The bigs. We know that there's Nemius, Kada, there's nothing else right now. That's something that needs to be solved. That's, that's just an issue. And then you look at the versatile wings. Right. Of course you mentioned the Jays. Right. Like they're going to be a part of that mix. Jordan Walsh and Josh Minot. We're still waiting to ensure that what we're seeing is real, specifically with Jordan Walsh to this level because If Jordan Walsh is on this level, hell, yeah, throw him in the mix. Josh Minot still probably a little bit more erratic than some of the guys that you can look at on the Thunder and the spurs that they can continually rely on. But then you have potential in, you know, Hugo Gonzalez. You have, you know, Sam Houser who's, you know, something. I don't know where you want to put him in comparison to the other guys, but to me, I look at what the Celtics are building out, and I actually felt, despite the fact of how scary that game looks for those two teams and what they can potentially be, not just this year, but the next two, three, four years. And I actually don't think the Celtics are that far behind. They're behind, but they're not that far behind is what. Is what I left with last night. Maybe that's too optimistic. You tell me.
- [12:12]
C
I honestly was not expecting you to go there. I did say a couple pods ago that there's a world in which the current Celtics roster construction actually makes more sense for where their NBA is trending to the previous roster construction, right? With kind of more plotting bigs like Porzingis. Horford on offense is more of a plotting big, but defensively can really move his feet and, you know, great defender. We all know that about Al Horford. But when you think about the KEDA aside, all the guys with the versatility that you can go small ball five, right? The lineup that I really want to see, the minute Walsh J's and Derrick White lineup, like, that's the type of lineup that I think you're talking about, right? Is you just have all these guys that can play both ends of the court, just play with a ton of pace, a ton of energy, and can just be really handsy and physical. Because that's the thing that kind of stood out to me watching the game last night. Even though the Celtics are starting to, like, find the archetype of roster and archetype of players, they don't have Lou Dort, they don't have Alex Caruso, they don't have J Dub, right? Those three guys, they're the. The defensive, like, dude, the defensive talent. That's the only way to describe it, like, how talented those guys are on defense. The handiness, the Alex Caruso dn up Wemby after D up Jokic in game seven of a conference finals, like Lou Dort coming over that Wembanyama when he's going Statue of Liberty and he's all.
- [13:46]
A
Like, clean as hell. Yeah, blue.
- [13:48]
C
Dort's Six, three. Dude, like, how do these guys make these plays? J Dub was just unbelievable on defense as well. Like picking Steph Castle clean, picking Harper clean. Like, these dudes are just top level defenders. Like all. Every single one of those guys could be in the running for best wing defender in the league.
- [14:09]
A
Yeah, it's. It's truly unfair. And the crazy part is Wemby came in and played 20 minutes and they. To your point, the crazy part was he had five turnovers, felt like seven, eight, nine turnovers, even though he was crazy impactful in 20 minutes. And it was a testament to the Thunder's defense. But then also I thought it was just an incredibly resilient game by the spurs because they got knocked in the mouth and it looked like early on, Thunder, we're just gonna run away with this like they do almost every game. You know, we commented in our group chat like, hey, I'm very curious to see what Fox, Castle and Harper look like in this game. And early on they didn't look like. Right. Like it looked like, oh, they're, they're gonna get rocked tonight. And you know, to their credit specifically Castle and Fox, you know, Harper's a rookie. Like, you know, he was fine for, for a rookie, but like, Castle and Fox responded in a big way basically from about midway through the second quarter, all the way through the end of, despite a couple, certainly from Castle, some turnovers, you can look at that or you got to cut those out. You just can't have those. Versus the Thunder. And they left. They just left me extremely impressed with everything about those two teams. Yeah, and that's the future basketball.
- [15:26]
C
I think what really impressed me about the guards for the spurs is how none of them got sped up in the game last night. They all continued to play at the pace that they normally play at. Even though Castle made some stupid turnovers. It wasn't like it was. I don't even know how to describe. They were just kind of dumb. Like he, he would drive the lane, get caught in the air and throw like a skip pass to the corner, blind skip pass to the corner where there was a guy already standing there like he just wasn't seeing the floor well. It wasn't like the Thunder speed was giving them problems. And from, from what I saw, Fox was the fastest guy on the court, as he always is. Harper played, although he didn't play well. He didn't get sped up at all. Kind of similar to looking at A.J. what's his name? A.J.
- [16:09]
A
What, the bansa?
- [16:11]
C
No, no, no. The. The Guard for the Thunder. The lefty.
- [16:15]
A
Oh, A.J. mitchell.
- [16:16]
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kind of like the way that he played in the game last night, like he wasn't sped up at all. Very Jalen Brunsony, just like playing at your own pace. And all three of those guards, I thought did a really good job. And that's one thing with the Celtics and bringing it back to the Celtics is like, how many guys always play at the pace they want to play at. Right?
- [16:36]
A
Yeah.
- [16:37]
C
Pritchard, he. He can. But he, he can definitely get out physical than out athletic. He typically has. Has a good handle on his pace. Derrick White, he's not a guy that I think really plays at his own pace against like the elite, elite defenders. I think overall, I would say yes to that. But when you go up against a team like okc, he can definitely get sped up. Jaylen Brown, we know, can get sped up even though he's amazing. Jason Tatum can get sped up even though we know he's amazing. Right. So, like that level of ball handling, just like inherent DNA, like, do the Celtics actually have that to compete against these, like, top level defenses?
- [17:20]
A
Yeah, that'll be a question that they have to solve. And you know, it's. It's interesting to think about and watching what's developing around the league right now. It's. It's something that, you know, in Celtics, this is something I had as a bullet point. I don't think we needed to use as like a. A full segment, but, you know, south. There was an article in the Athletic this past week by 36 executives who were the top front offices. Celtics came in second. OKC was number one, but Celtics came in second. They've got a lot of evidence that backs that up, so it will be on them. And I, I think it's really interesting to see, you know, what we take away from this year and what that looks like going forward. Let's go to you, Greg, here. Let's. Let's swing the rock back to you.
- [17:58]
C
All right, before we go to me, we got a lot of activity in the chat here, so I just want to kind of catch up here. We got a comment from Rob. Version one, Celtics healthy. JT and a serviceable backup big from contending in the East. I agree with that. I think we're on record kind of coming around as believers Right. In this team. As long as JT decides to play this year and the organization allows him to play this year. There was a. I was a Himmel's box. Somebody came out with the report that he might not actually play this year.
- [18:27]
A
So got several, I think they phrased it as he has several more, you know, checkpoints or check marks that he's got a hit and he's right now pretty, pretty far away from that. But again, we talked about this. There's at least a full two to three months before we would even expect them to come back, so. Right, that tracks. Yeah.
- [18:44]
C
Agreed. Alex. Producer Alex. Sup guys? It's Alex. I'm not home right now. I thought I'd tune in on YouTube and ask you guys if you talked about KP's mysterious virus coming back. So we did touch on this on the last pod. I don't know if anybody tuned into that one, but a friend of mine actually was diagnosed with POTS recently and, and apparently it's a real thing and it is debilitating. Like this person is struggling, life is completely upended. Overall, I think like they're not at risk of like dying or anything like that, but just like the day to day existence is tough where like they were talking about wearing a heart monitor or like one of those watches that tracks your heart overnight and, and apparently like at night heart rate was like 140, which is like peak level of like strenuous activity. Right. So it can be really tough. So now that I know it exists in other people, I feel really bad for him because it sounds like it's impossible to kind of just like get through.
- [19:51]
A
And the thing is like your friend compared to, you know, I mean, compared to KP and the resources that have been put into this thing.
- [19:58]
C
Right.
- [19:58]
A
And it appears that obviously it's recurring. It's, you know, the. I was reading today, like whatever the plan was that was set up, it was manageable and it made sense and now it's kind of recurring. And, and I think Shams had a report earlier today that he's. They're just going to take a couple weeks and just like try to monitor it and figure out, you know, what's happening. And ultimately it just sounds really unfortunate. Like yes, it was frustrating as Celtics fans because you're just like, what, what is this? And now that it's been diagnosed and it's kind of something that sounds like, you know, and it's crazy because the, what was the injury from the, the finals that was like 13 people in the world that ever had this injury. Yeah, that KP had. Right. So like, I mean, honestly like KP is, is really injury plagued, but hitting like some of the most, the strangest, most random injuries and illnesses that not just occur to athletes, but occur to anyone, really.
- [20:55]
C
Right.
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A
Is what it seems like.
- [20:56]
C
I mean, really unfortunate how many people are 7 foot 4 and can do all the stuff that he can do. Like he's already like one of the three people in the world that can do that. And it was like one of three people in the world that have these other things going on. Maybe he's just not meant to be 7 foot 4.
- [21:14]
A
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- [21:42]
C
Excludes Massachusetts.
- [21:44]
B
Whether you're gifting, decorating or treating yourself, Lowe's December deal drops are here to help you save more. All month long, get up to 50% off select holiday decor. Plus get up to 4:45 off select tools and accessories. Shop new December deal drops every week this month and get so much more out of your holidays. Lowe's we help you save. Selection varies by location while supplies last.
- [22:15]
C
Another comment here from five dollar footlong. JT doesn't catapult Boston into championship contention. I still like Neemi, but he's not skilled enough to compete against a Wemby in a playoff series. I don't think anybody argue with that. Comment from Rob. Yep, Just confirming that KP has pots five dollar foot long. Gafford, Sharp and Zubots are just placeholders not worthy of draft capital. I'd say Zubotch is worthy of draft capital.
- [22:43]
A
Yeah, I mean, I see a couple comments in here about that and it's like, and a few of these are just measuring up to Wemby. Nobody's measuring up to Wemby. We just, we just, we just mentioned Chet Holmgren like two episodes ago. Is probably gonna be all NBA this season. And the block that Wemby had on Chet is the type of block that you see a seven footer have on a guy who's six two, right? Not, you know, and it's, it's seven five, blocking seven one or you know, whatever the, the height difference is. So if your standard is who can hang with Wemby? Like that's it. That's a, that's a bad premise. Right? Like you're, you're not gonna find. I mean, you may have to match up with them and you gotta find. To your point, Greg, you gotta find the Caruso.
- [23:21]
C
Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Like, Brad, Alex Caruso.
- [23:24]
A
Yeah, you're gonna find that guy six.
- [23:26]
C
Guy with great hands that can get up under him and make it difficult for him to get his shot off. Like, even that ridiculous fade away that Wemby had where Caruso swiped down and blocked the ball and then falling over on the baseline. No, the one that was on the. The left elbow. Right?
- [23:42]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [23:43]
C
He posted a Caruso. Crusoe swipes down. Wemby regains the ball as he's going away from the basket, goes up the shoot again. Caruso hits the. The ball again, and Wemby still hits the shot. And that's when he, like, pointed at him and stared him down. Like, wy's just unbelievable, man. Like, there's no matchup in the league. That's. That's a good matchup against Wemby. Some of the stuff that he was doing in that game last night where he's just like, you know, go go Gadget arm reaching over somebody to just tap the ball dome over here. And then he's just making a ridiculous pass that way. And he was clearly, like, rusty. He had a whole bunch of stupid turnovers and was, like, forcing the out of it. But, like, the impact that he had in 20 minutes was absolutely ridiculous.
- [24:22]
A
That's the thing. He wasn't even that great last night. And, like, he was like. He wasn't that great, but he was at the same time.
- [24:27]
C
Exactly. Yeah. I mean, that was by far the most, like, sped up, I guess is the best way to say it. I know I said it earlier, but sped up. I've seen him since, like, his rookie year.
- [24:38]
A
Right.
- [24:39]
C
Like, the Thunders just have a habit of doing that to people.
- [24:41]
A
Yeah.
- [24:42]
C
Okay, let's see. Good with the.
- [24:46]
A
Yeah, we're good with the chat for right now. Give us. Give us what you got, Greg.
- [24:50]
C
All right, we're gonna go out of basketball. We're gonna bring it to life, okay? Because our girls shout out Lorde, shout out Danielle, shout out all the girls in the Austin girls group. Astronaut Barbies, I think is there is their little group chat name. They go out to a girls dinner last night.
- [25:08]
A
Right.
- [25:09]
C
So you, me, you and Liptac were texting each other. Like, kind of worked out perfect for us because we just get to watch basketball and be dumpy.
- [25:18]
A
Well, I told earlier today, I was. I've been. When she told me about this, like, maybe Thursday, it was sometime after I knew that. That OKC and San Antonio has happened that night. I told her I started planning this immediately. She was like, yeah, I wonder why you didn't push back at all. I was like, I had. I had no problems with it. I was. I was very excited for last night.
- [25:36]
C
Kind of perfect. Kind of perfect. So here, let me just set the scene for you, Will. I ordered myself a medium pepperoni mushroom pizza from Domino's and chocolate lava cakes from Domino's. Because there's like a. A deal on UberEats. So I grabbed that, ate the entire medium pizza to myself within, I don't know, 20 minutes. I just crushed it like old school. Can eat whatever I want, Greg, Even though I can't do that anymore. I ate the entire pizza. And then I had one of the chocolate lava cakes, Danielle and I had the other two tonight. But it was just so much fun just watching the game. But what I was thinking about is, like, what the girls were talking about at this dinner. And, you know, they're talking about their guys, right? You know that that's just happening. They got. They gotta be talking about all the ways that we pissed them off or whatever. And that's just what. That's just what the girl's gonna do. Right? I get it. But today when I woke up, I was like, you know what? I think I gotta prove myself. Because I'm sure there was a lot of stuff that was, like, thrown out there about, like, you know, things I might be able to do better in comparison to some of the other guys in our. In our friend group. Right. So this morning I got up, cleaned the entire kitchen, but not only just cleaned, I like, cleaned the. Out of the kitchen. Like, I cleaned the microwave, I cleaned the fridge. I was doing all that stuff because I was just kind of anxious. Like, I got a little nervous that Danielle was, like, hearing great stuff about all the other guys in the group and. And maybe would just start looking at me like, this motherfucker's lazy as. He needs to do more around the house. So I. I made sure I made a point today to clean the house and to be loud about it, you know, banging the dishes around, slamming the cabinets, all that stuff just to prove that I was doing my thing and that I can. I can contribute over here.
- [27:29]
A
Yeah, I didn't do that. I went and played golf this morning. Yeah, no, I mean, I. Yeah, I. I wasn't. I'll just be honest. I just wasn't super worried about that. We've also had where I've been, like, off work for. On my, like, second stint of paternity leave. So I've been, like, already trying to be like, oh, hey, like, I'll. I'll take as many, like, overnight shifts as I can when the baby.
- [27:49]
C
There you go.
- [27:49]
A
And, like, you know, the whole. Our whole house was sick for, like, two weeks, so it was, like, it was just a drag for everybody kind of all around. So tried to. Tried to step up in those moments, and honestly, I was just reveling and having the night to myself. It was just, like, super needed and super nice, and so. Yeah, no, I mean, I. I understand what you're saying, because I've definitely. I mean, I think we all go through moments like that where, like, you know, you're sitting there and, like. I mean, even today, it probably happened at some point. I had to. Dude, it was called Way too cold be playing golf today. I. After nine holes, I was like, you guys keep going. I'm out. And called it. So came back. But, like, there's times where even, like, that I'm just like, ah, God, I want to just sit here. But, like, you know, Laura is, like, doing something productive for the baby, right? I gotta do something. So I'm like, all right, let me go take the diaper bags out. Let me go. Let me go do something here. Like, you gotta, like, push yourself a little bit.
- [28:46]
C
You know Why? I also felt like I needed to prove myself because Danielle was out with co workers on Friday, and she came home and she was asking me, like, if I knew what her favorite book was. And I was like, I think. I think it's Wheel of Time. Like, it's either Wheel of Time or Harry Potter. And she's like, no, it's not. And I'm like, oh, okay. Well, what is your favorite book? And she's like, I've talked about it so many times. It's India or Inda. I think it's called Inda. It's right over there. It's, like, literally on the bookshelf. And she's, like, pointing at it, and she. You know, she's had a few drinks, and I'm like. I'm like, I mean, honestly, Daniel, I've never heard you mention this before. You may have talked about it, but you always talk about Wheel of Time. You always talk about Harry Potter. You always talk about. What's the guy's name? Terry. Terry. I forget the guy's last name. But she has, like, tattoos from, like, her favorite books. I'm like, you don't have a tattoo of this Book. Serious. Like, I don't think it can be your favorite book. You know what I mean? And she's like, I've talked about it being my favorite book and talked about wanting to get tattoo. So I was also kind of like, coming into this the next couple of days with that in my mind, like, oh, she thinks I don't know what her favorite book is. So I. I really gotta, like, listen extra hard. Good.
- [30:00]
A
Have you guys ever had, like, a. So this happened maybe, like two. Maybe a. A year ago, a year and a half ago or so. We were at a friend's. I forget if it was an engagement party or they got married, like, separately. We had like a. You know, like a small. Like, get together with them and some friends on. On Lorena's side. And, you know, we got officially married a little over a year ago. Right. Again this month. We've had two weddings, whatever. And so they were like, oh, let's. Let's just do, like, on the spot, like this random. Like, newly married. Like, the newly.
- [30:32]
C
Yeah, yeah, whatever.
- [30:33]
A
Right? And in my head, I'm like, sure. But in the background, I'm like. Like, I don't want to look. Like, I don't know. And honestly, we smoked them. It was great. Like, I made it. Made me feel great. We good? We. We were very on the same page. But there was one question where something very similar to what you're saying came up. Whereas, like, what's, like, your favorite movie or whatever. And I can't remember what I said for her. But then she. But I now know that it's the Devil Wears Prada. And I was like, hold on. We. Let's back this up. It's kind of like your same logic, which is why I was tracking with it. I'm like, hold on. Yeah, we've been together for. At this time, like, six years, like seven something years now. That's your favorite movie. How come you've never asked me to watch it? If it's your favorite movie, you would have asked me to watch it. Or you would have been like, this is a movie I gotta watch. So I did the same thing you did, where I'm like, listen, like. And I can't remember what movie I said, but it's like, something that we had to have. Well, I think I might have said, like, love, actually or something, because we watch it every Christmas. So I was like, all right, I'll just. I'll just kind of go with that. And. And so I had the same. It's like the same rat. I Know exactly where your mindset was. Like, you might have mentioned this movie, but, like. So I made us watch it because I've actually hadn't seen it up until. Yeah, this is your favorite movie. I have to watch it now. Like, I have to know what your favorite movie is. So we need. Here's my question.
- [31:52]
C
Is the devil an actual character in that movie?
- [31:57]
A
I mean, or is it just someone. Okay, a real. Yeah, just a boss is a real. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Not the actual devil, but, yes, but, yeah, I understand where you're coming from on that. So very much aligned with. With that thought process that you had there for her favorite book.
- [32:14]
C
Cool. Yeah, that. That's what I got for my. My pass on the rock.
- [32:18]
A
Okay, thank you. All right, back to me here. So I've got something. Are we gonna do Mediocre Life update or we're just gonna keep this in Pass in the rocks? I do have something non sports related, but I want to see how we're. How we're playing.
- [32:30]
C
No, we'll do an official Mediocre Life update.
- [32:32]
A
Okay, then I'm gonna save my. My non sp for that. The other thing that I want to bring up here, this is back to basketball. I'm already kind of tired of all the honest talk, so I just want to ask you, like, the more that I think about it, because last night, again, watching the spurs, they're one of the teams rumored, and we were talking about this a little bit, like, who potentially could make a move for. For Giannis, interestingly. I know, at least as of last night, we'll see if this has changed. You were like, I think they should go for it because of the reasons that it might help them match up with okC. Yeah, I don't think they should do it. And I think, honestly, the more I've really thought about this whole Giannis situation, at least right now in season, I really think there's only maybe two teams that should actually trade for Giannis. Everyone else should either hold their. Unless the bucks are just going to give them away. And I think there's only two teams that should really significantly go after. Go after Giannis. But I'm also getting tired of all the updates already, but I wanted to get your thoughts.
- [33:37]
C
I mean, so let's just say what I said in the. In the group chat first. I said that the spurs should trade Steph Castle and picks and salary or whatever to make it work to get.
- [33:46]
A
Giannis, which is the issue in my. In my opinion.
- [33:49]
C
Right. I take it back that it should be Castle, it should be Harper, because I think Harper is already like, they already kind of have that in Fox, like a lefty point guard that can, that can really like handle the game and everything. And he's a better version of Harper right now. Whereas Castle, like the two way versatility of him. I didn't realize how big Steph Castle is. Like, they said on the broadcast last night that he says he's 6, 7. And I didn't believe it until I saw him. I hate that you said that.
- [34:23]
A
I'm cool, man. I'm cool.
- [34:27]
C
And I was like, oh, he's bigger than sga. And I, I kind of didn't realize that he was actually that big. And I think you need somebody in that mold of a player to compete with an sga. When he was the, he was the main guy guard in sga. Real quick tangent.
- [34:45]
A
Yeah.
- [34:45]
C
I know we were talking about how great that roster is and everything, but we had Champen. Champen is like getting real minutes for the Spurs.
- [34:53]
A
Did we have him or. We had the. We had his brother.
- [34:56]
C
I think we had that one.
- [34:58]
A
I think we. I think it was his brother. Well, let's put a pin in that. I'll try to look that up while you keep talking through this. But keep, Keep talking.
- [35:06]
C
The Giannis thing is the question. What do I think about Giannis and like all the trade or should people trade?
- [35:12]
A
The question is, the question is, who do you think should trade for? Yeah, okay, let's. Let's go there.
- [35:17]
C
I still think the spurs should do it. I think especially after watching if you can build a package around Harper. I don't think it should be Vassell, but Harper, Harrison, Barnes, Sohan, and some, you know, picks. You should absolutely do that. Like a hundred times out of 100 you should do that because I think you're actually the best team in the league. No question. If you're able to somehow keep Fox, Fissell, Castle, Giannis and Wemby. I don't think there's a question. I, I don't think you. Losing Harper and losing Barnes, it's like, yeah, you lose a little bit of depth. But are you really saying, like, oh, I would rather have Harper and Barnes than Giannis? Like, absolutely not.
- [35:59]
A
No. But he. So here's the thing for me is, like, and so, by the way, it was Justin that we had, not Julian Champagne.
- [36:07]
C
Okay, so not. This first guy was the brother.
- [36:11]
A
I know because I made that mistake before, too, because at first I was like, man, that guy didn't really impress me when I Got like a little bit of run with the Celtics. I was like, ah, that's his brother. That dude can shoot. I like. I like Julian and he was guarding sga, right? And so that's part of my versatile wings, right, that can kind of. He can. He's a knockdown shooter. And like, at certain points, they kind of had him playing anywhere from the 2 through the 4. At times they went with that, like, kind of all. They kind of went with that Celtics version of like, you know, whether it's Champagne or Barnes, whatever. You want to consider the. The nominal five, like, they have like, all wings out there, basically, ball handlers and wings. So to your point about, like, Harper, and this is my issue with like the spurs specifically trading for Giannis, and why, if I was gonna do it, I would actually probably try to center the deal around Fox, even though I think he's the best player right now, is it just takes too much to get to Giannis's contract. Like, if you're gonna make Castle or Harper, the guy like Castle makes 9 million or just under 10 million, Harper makes 12 million. Million. You got to get to 54 million. And so then from that, you're match dollar for dollar. I don't know if it's dollar for dollar, but you got to get pretty close, right? You got to get like, get up there or then you got to start adding in, you know, another team. It just gets real complicated and you're going to be throwing in picks and stuff. And so now all of a sudden you're looking at between the cell, Barnes, Keldon Johnson, Kelly, Olynic, whatever you'll throw him in for. For salary at 13 million. But that's still leaving you with quite a chasm that you got to fill. And now between Johnson, Bonds and Basel, those are all really important guys to your depth. And we mentioned before, like, that's part of competing with okc, that you have to have a certain level of depth. So I think the point that you're making of, like, who would you rather have Giannis or Harper and Barnes? I. I totally agree with. But to me, it's. You can get there a lot easier with just Fox and Barnes or Fox and Keldon Johnson, and then you're bringing in Giannis and then you have the. Whatever it is, three to five years with Giannis, and then you're keeping your younger guards. You have your. You're doing. You're doing what this. What the warriors couldn't do. The two timeline thing where you have Harper, Castle, Wemby and Then you've got, you know, Giannis in the cell, I guess, or this is not even that old. He's 25.
- [38:29]
C
Yeah. Yeah. I'd have to take a look at the contracts. I think the cell was really impressive last night. I've never been a big Vsel guy.
- [38:37]
A
But finally the Vassell that I've been wanting you because I. I've liked. Okay. So for the audience listening, I like. I wouldn't say this is. He's not one of the guys that I probably like, rave about, but I just like him as, like, a really quality two guard. Like, he's just. He's a pure two guard. Like, in the sense of what I think at least if you're in your mid-30s, that you grew mid-30s and above when you grew up with, like, what's a two guard look like outside of, like, the Michael Jordan group? It's like Devin Bissell. That's kind of what I. What I envisioned. Devin Bissell, Bradley Beal, at some point, like something to that effect. And I've always said that. And Greg just keeps going. Never see it. I don't like it. I don't think I've ever seen him. I like it. We went to a game last year. It was the game, right? We went specifically to see Wemby. Wemby gets the heart condition. He's, you know, he's out for. Against the blood clot. He's out, right? Literally, the game they were in Austin the night before is when it gets, you know, announced. We're like, well, we just got these really nice seats, and now we're watching a Pistons team that we didn't know was going to be who they are today, which is nice now that we got kind of a glimpse of them and the spurs team that was, like, kind of underwhelming last year. So it's like, cool, let's just try to enjoy this for what it is. And Devin Vassell could not have been worse. He was awful in that game.
- [39:47]
C
Every time I've ever seen him, he's been terrible.
- [39:49]
A
And last night I was really pumped that he gave you a game of like, okay, I've seen this a couple times before. This is. This could happen before. This is the Devin Bissell that I think I'm a little leery about throwing into a trade just because he plays so much better when you put him in the right context.
- [40:09]
C
Right. So looking at their contracts, Barnes makes 19, Johnson makes 17. That's 36 right there. He said, you got to get to 54.
- [40:19]
A
That's Giannis. Yeah. 54.
- [40:21]
C
Okay. Kelly o lck gets you to 49. Okay, so Barnes, Johnson, Olenek, and then Sohan gets you to 50, 55 and then all the picks. Right. So you could get rid of your end of rotation depth with just contracts and get there. I don't think that's enough to get Giannis. Maybe it is, maybe not. I think losing Barnes, Johnson and Harper, to me, I take Giannis over to having those three guys any day. Like, I don't think Barnes and Johnson do enough for the team. Like Harper, you're losing something big, you're losing something now, you're losing something in the future. But Barnes and Johnson, Giannis, like, come on, like, what are we, what are we talking about here? It's Giannis.
- [41:11]
A
Yeah. He's also injured a lot, man. That, that's just the thing is, like, he's like, I, I understand what you're saying. I think when it's Harper plus the picks, I just, I, I think if we're talking about like, oh, like okc, they're a team where basically anyone outside of SGA goes down. I, I don't know anyone that I would, that would. I still might pick them in almost every series in the, you know, against anyone in the league. Right. All of a sudden now you're relying on Giannis and Wemby with their health and like you're kind of accelerated your timeline. You've lost some of your safety net. Like, I'm not saying I wouldn't do it. I'm just saying I wouldn't feel great about it. I don't love that as much as if I can make a quicker replacement where if it's Fox and Kelden or Fox and Barnes, like, my. Nothing changes about my law, my short term, my long term plans. I want to win right now and I want to compete and I want to secure that Wemby has a solid foundation going forward. If I can do that trade, you know, so that's where I'd be at. But the other teams outside of the spurs, that I think it makes sense for, I think, I don't think any other team in the West. It really makes sense for the other teams that I think are both in the east and the team that. And then, you know, it's. Obviously I'm not the first sayings. A lot of people have kind of have brought this up and convinced me that I do think this is the best move. I think the Hawks, the Hawks make them absolute most sense. I think as A partner is. If they can. And, you know, I would, if I were them, I would take Jalen Johnson off the table. Do it kind of on your terms, but basically between Trey Young, Dyson Daniels, Risha Shea, you know, a congruent, Whatever it takes to get it done. Outside of, you know, Jalen Johnson, you have contracts with KP as well. We just talked about his POTS issue, you know, and he's got.
- [42:48]
C
What does that do? What does that do? Does that make them contenders? Like, do you think that team is.
- [42:53]
A
Going to beat for the Hawks? Yeah. I mean, it makes them the favorites in the East. If they, if they keep. If they, if they can. If they're trading Trey and let's just say it's Trey, Risha Shay and, you know, a bunch of. A bunch of picks. Let's just say that's the, that's the deal. Right. I think the Hawks become probably the favorites in the East. If you add.
- [43:14]
C
Yeah, Jalen Johnson and Giannis play the, like, almost the exact same type of basketball. It's going to be redundant out there. They're going to have a hell of a defense, going to be athletic, all that stuff. They're going to be a real problem. They don't have. They won't have any shooting and they have. They're going to be taking the ball out of Jalen Johnson's hands when he's been a revelation this year. I, I see that as like a huge fit problem, to be honest with you. I, I don't think it, I think it makes the Hawks better, but like, to say, oh, this no brainer, the Hawks have to do that. I just don't see that. I, I think the basketball fit is like a real problem there. I do think.
- [43:48]
A
I mean, I don't believe in the Trey Young business, so if I'm getting out of the Trey Young business and that's fixed.
- [43:52]
C
Yeah, that's fair.
- [43:53]
A
Yeah.
- [43:54]
C
Yeah, that's fair. Watching the Thunder last night, they've got a lot of guys and it felt like with their. Then they're never fully healthy, so, like, throughout the season, they can just kind of play, mix and match whoever they want. When it mattered last night, guys got squeezed out of minutes, guys got squeezed out of the rotation. There's a real argument that they could consolidate and put together to get Giannis, like, easily. I, I know it's, it's like kind of crazy, but, like watching them and like, how much it felt like there were just minutes would go by. I'm like, where, like, where's J Dub like, where's Lou Dort? I haven't seen Lou Dort in forever. It's like, oh, you're taking Caruso out of the game right now. Like, what are you doing? I think there's a real argument that, like, they could be the. The sneaky team to just be like, you know what it. Let's just go get Giannis. Let's just ruin the league.
- [44:45]
A
I don't think they do that. I mean, again, the argument was if they lost last year to the Pacers, I think they absolutely would have done this right. Like, here's. Here's a bunch of picks you take. You know, we can package whatever together. They're. They're 24 and 2. There's no chance they're doing this right now. Again, I think if they pull a Warriors, say, and they go 74 and 8 or win 75 games and then fall in the, you know, in the, in the NBA Finals, then, yeah, then I can see them being like, hey, here's two first round picks this year, two first round picks next year. And here's, you know, whatever they need to do to, you know, outside of. Of sga. Maybe sacrifice one of Jdub or Chet and. And go get Giannis. Like, then I could see that being a possibility in season. I. I just feel like they're. The vibes are too good with that team. I don't see that. That happening. Right.
- [45:35]
C
So they could get there will contract wise. Hartenstein makes 28.5, Dort makes 18. Right. So right there, that's 46. Or is that 46? Yeah, 46 million. The player I think has to be. So you got to throw in AJ Mitchell, you probably throw in Topich, right. And just Usman dang. Or somebody like that Aaron Wiggins in there.
- [46:04]
A
I would say you. Yeah, if you're the Bucks, I think you got it. Like, if you're not gonna get Cheddar J Dub, which I think the Thunder would not probably do, like, you have to. If you get A.J. mitchell, if you. If you believe what happening with A.J. mitchell is real this year and you get case on Wallace plus the draft picks, then you're at least like, we're getting our backcourt of the future and we're getting a bunch of traffic.
- [46:26]
C
Yeah, I'm cool with that. So ksan Wallace and AJ Mitchell, Hartenstein, Dortmund for Giannis and picks.
- [46:36]
A
Yeah, I mean, that's. I think that would be on the table as one of the best offers. Like, it's, It's.
- [46:42]
C
That is.
- [46:45]
A
Gonna be really weird. It's gonna be really weird to see what Giannis goes for is what it's coming down to. And someone. Someone said the other day, I can't remember what. What I was listening to, they were like, yeah, like, I don't know if the Bucks are gonna get as. They should get more, but they might not get as much as what the, you know, the Nets got for Mikhail Bridges. Like, that was what people were saying, what I heard in the podcast today, and I was like, that's a scary reality. If you're a Bucks fan. To be hearing that podcast. Like, that would. That would make me curl up in a ball. All right, all right, let's go back to you for one, and then we'll do Mediocre Life Update, and then we'll get out of here.
- [47:20]
C
Let me see. I. I didn't bring a lot of basketball content to this, to be honest with you. We're talking a lot about basketball, but I didn't personally bring a lot of basketball content. So are you okay with me saying another thing that's not basketball related?
- [47:36]
A
Yeah, go for it.
- [47:37]
C
All right. Put James on a leash the other day.
- [47:43]
A
I know.
- [47:44]
C
I sent you a picture. I think this is too big of an update to be a Mediocre Life update, so I'm gonna go passing the rock. James is really tough to control, man. Eight, seventeen and a half months, when we're out for walks with the dogs, he will just take off. And, like, you take your eye off him for half a second, he's, like, rolling down a hill towards the water, and you're just like, dude, we really need to figure out a way to, like, corral you, because I'm walking the dogs. It's just Danielle. James is quicker and faster than she is, so he's just like, boom, it takes off. So Danielle's like, all right, how do I. How do I actually control this little guy? And she went out and bought a leash for him. I was a leash kid a couple times in my life. Okay. I remember being at the. Yeah, I remember being at the San Diego Zoo.
- [48:35]
A
Leashes were a thing when we were kids.
- [48:37]
C
Yeah.
- [48:37]
A
Yeah.
- [48:38]
C
They're still a thing.
- [48:38]
A
I don't remember that at all. I mean, I know they're. I mean, I know they became a thing because I've, like, seen them. Reference. I'll be honest, I've seen very few in the wild, but I don't. I don't remember this, like, being a thing. Like, I remember it becoming a thing. Like, as I was older, I don't remember it, like, in our childhood being a thing.
- [48:55]
C
I remember them, like, on your wrist, right? There would be, like, a. A leash. It was a leash on your wrist, and as you were, like, walking, it was the Washington D.C. zoo, not the San Diego Zoo. And I remember, like, walking around as a little kid and being tethered to my siblings, Right. And I don't know if somebody was controlling the main tether, but I was definitely tethered to other human beings as I was walking around there. This was like a leash. Like, he had a harness. There was, like, a little strap on. And I was like, he. Like, people are gonna be like, what the is this family doing with their two dogs and the little feral child? So as we were walking down the street, like, people are driving by and James is just on a leash. He's not, you know, walking on all fours or anything, but I saw people, like, kind of. Kind of pointing to him like, look at that little bab on a leash. And Danielle and I were very aware of how ridiculous it looked. I don't know if we're gonna do it again, to be honest with you, but for at least one time, James is on a leash. We tried it out. We might have to do it at the airport, but it was. It was a little rough.
- [50:05]
A
Yeah. You sent me the picture, and I was like, oh, my God, he's a leash kid. Like, that's all I could think about in my head. And, like, again, like I said, I have not. I. I know of this. I know people have done it. It. I've never really seen it in person. I do think of. Have you ever seen the Modern Family episode where they. Where they put a leash on. On Lily?
- [50:26]
C
No.
- [50:26]
A
So they go to, like, Disney World and they put a leash on her, and they're trying to control her, and, like, half the family's embarrassed. Half the family is like, oh, my God. Like, I don't know what else to do. Like a kid controller. And then at one point they find, like, another family that, like, also has their kid on the leisure. So they start talking, and of course they turn it into, like, you know how like, when sometimes the dogs start sniffing each other, then they get caught up in the leashes, and then they're trying to, like, like, cross over, and it's. It's really, really, really good. But, yeah, I mean, listen, one thing I've. I've definitely known and know even better now as a parent myself. You gotta do whatever the works. You just gotta do.
- [51:03]
C
Yeah.
- [51:03]
A
It doesn't. Doesn't Matter. You'll deal with it later. Like, you gotta do whatever works. But the leash look is a look. It's. It's a look for sure. Yeah. I came home after you had said that to me. I forget. I was busy doing something, so I didn't see it for a little bit. And I came home, I was like, oh, yeah, by the way, Greg sent me a picture. They put James on a leash. They said what? She's like. They did what? Like, yeah, James was on a leash. And so, like, honestly, like, yeah, Like, I mean, so for me, like, right now, my daughter is still, like. She doesn't. She's not walking, and she's not even crawling yet. So, like, when we go for walks, she's. She's in her stroller. But, like. Like, you know, my dog. My dog is like 75 pounds. He's got a ton of energy, and sometimes he's great to walk with. And it's like the best, like, half hour of my day. Other days, I'm like, I can't get this 15 to 20 minutes over with quick enough because you're seeing squirrels and you're lunging at them. You're seeing a dog across the street, and you're, like, not aggressive, but he's doing, like, this, like, runs in a circle, like, in place, because he wants to go run across the street, and I gotta, like, yank him back. And, like, if I don't. If I have my headphones in, I don't catch it in time. He's like, Yankee taking me across. So, like, honestly, the other day, or. Yeah, it was. Was it today or maybe yesterday? We went for a walk and, like, you know, you say the magic word. The. The guys on all four legs, they. They know. They know the word. So, yeah, we always say stroll, and then we never go for one right afterwards. That's, like, kind of our code word, but, like, walk. When that gets said, he knows. And I think we said it by accident when we were gonna go out with the baby. And so he's getting all into it, and. And my wife lode is like, so are we gonna. We don't really know. I was like, you know what? I'll just. I'll do another walk with him when I get back. I just don't want to deal with it. So, like, that's. That's. You know, and we'll see what happens when, you know, when. When my girl Mariana is out walking around. We'll see what that looks like. But my current solution is just. I'm just gonna do two walks. I'll do. I'll do one with the baby. I'll come back, we'll put her. Put her take a nap, and then I'll take a loop. I'll take a loop with the big guy, because the two of them, when they get a chance together, we'll see what it looks like. But. But I can understand where you're coming from. This is what I'm coming to. Yeah.
- [53:08]
C
And I think, like. Like today we were out at the store. Like, he's not on a leash at the store. It's just like out on a family walk when we're walking on the sidewalk near cars, right? Like, you can't have him just taken off towards the street. We didn't have our stroller with us. We wanted him, like, getting exercise.
- [53:27]
A
Yeah.
- [53:27]
C
There's a pond in our. In our neighborhood, right. Like, he could very easily just, like, literally roll down the hill and go into the water. So, like, you were. You know, we're protecting him. We're doing it for his own good.
- [53:40]
A
You got to do what you got. Like I said, you got to do what you got to do. And every. Every kid is different, so whatever works. But it's a look, and it's. I think it's good. To your point earlier, you're gonna get some looks. That's. That won't change.
- [53:53]
C
Definitely. Definitely. All right, Mediocre life update. Let's do it.
- [53:57]
A
All right, let's queue it up here real quick.
- [54:16]
C
All right, dude, that's enough.
- [54:17]
A
I know. I let. I let it go for one, One. One beat too long. I was. I was looking for something else here, so I didn't get a chance to. All right, let me just jump in and go first here, because I got. I got. I got one for you here. You consider yourself a soup guy, right?
- [54:31]
C
Come on, bro.
- [54:33]
A
I know, I know. Just for the audience.
- [54:37]
C
I'm not gonna dignify that with a response. Yes, I am. The soup.
- [54:40]
A
I know you're a soup guy. I'm doing it for the audience, the audience. Greg is a big time soup guy. So today in Austin, and this feels shitty, knowing how that it was snowing and extra cold in Boston, but it was cold today in Austin. It was, you know, big wind chill. It was like 40 degrees. Felt like 25 or something like that. Like, really, really cold. So it felt like a soup day. So, you know, after a little bit of pampering, me and the lady went and got a little. Some pedicures, you know, felt a little fancy for the day. Was like, it's a little chilly, Will.
- [55:06]
C
Said for the audience. Will sent a picture of him getting a pedicure while watching the games.
- [55:11]
A
And it was locked in, baby. You know, And I think I jinxed us. I think I just didn't. Didn't go well for the past at the end. We were feeling. Feeling ourselves a little bit too much in the group chat early on, but. But afterwards you're like, all right, let's go get some soup. And I like soup. Definitely not a soup. I wouldn't consider myself a soup guy. Wing guy Got some wings last night as part of our. Our dumpy NBA cup night. Talked about earlier. Yeah, baby. Spicy lemon pepper. And. And so we went and got some soup today. And, you know, I. Everyone, when. It's just. When certain times, it just feels right. Want to go get some soup? Gotta say, man, had some bad soup. And a bad soup can really ruin your day. I really hated everything else. Like, I got a soup and a sandwich, and the sandwich was okay, but it was made even worse because I hated the soup. And my wife, also, her soup was mediocre at best. Hence mediocre life update. Yeah. But just wanted to say like, or ask you, as a soup guy, what are the things that I should look for in, like, a good soup spot? Because there's one place here in Austin I think is overrated. It's called the Soup Peddler. So every time I type in soup, it just comes up with a soup peddler. Yeah, it stinks. I was making this case to my W. And so, like, every time I type in, I'm like, no, gotta find something else. So, like, what are the things that I should look for in a good soup place?
- [56:30]
C
So where did you go today?
- [56:33]
A
It's just like, it's. It's a chain, but it's like. I think it's called La Madeleine. It's like, it's a French spot, but.
- [56:38]
C
Ah, yeah, okay.
- [56:41]
A
Yeah, okay. See, see, this is the thing. I've. I've had like a sandwich from there, like once. I know what it is.
- [56:45]
C
But yeah, you gotta. I mean, you gotta go to a real restaurant, want to get a soup. You know what I mean? Like, I think if you go somewhere, like, for example, like a Panera or something like that. If. If you're saying that Panera, soup and sandwich is something that you look forward to, then I just disagree with the things that you look forward to in life. Like AUB ON Pen. Like a place like that. Like those, like, chain restaurants that serve soup are not good soup places. Like you got to go to a restaurant that is a legitimate restaurant that maybe is the only of its kind that is going to be serving you soup. Like for example, here in Austin there's a place, I don't even know if it's open anymore, but I used to go to this place called Amaya's. It was like Amaya's Taco Village or something like that. One of the best. Yeah, one of the best chicken caldos I've ever had. And there's I think like two amayas in the city of Austin. I don't think there's any more outside of the city of Austin. It's just like a local restaurant. Like that's where you want to get your soups from. You know, removing the high end restaurants out there that are always going to have some good soup. Like you got to go to like a real, just like straight up restaurant to get your soup. Not some like chain.
- [57:52]
A
Yeah. I mean there's only one place in Austin I thought, cool, because this is the thing is like that's a Mexican place. So it has like, it has like a few Mexican soups where it has like that, the caldo that you mentioned. It might, I haven't been there in a while, but maybe it has like pozole or it has menudo or something like that.
- [58:03]
C
Yeah, yeah.
- [58:04]
A
Like I was like in my mind I was, what's up?
- [58:08]
C
Menudo stinks.
- [58:10]
A
Yeah. I'm not a dude. My, my Mexican family does not. They, they don't understand that. I, I, we honestly, we end up having pozole is awesome. And so we end up having pozole a lot more than menudo. Because I don't like menudo. I'm okay with, with taking that, taking that, taking that burden. But I, the thing is like I, there was one. Remember this place called Gordo's here in. Yeah, yeah. Gourmands. Yeah, that was my soup place because that had like actual good soups and sandwich. That was the great soup.
- [58:40]
C
And they had soup in a bread bowl. Like legitimate sourdough loaf dug out the middle of it. The soup goes as long as you.
- [58:47]
A
Didn'T get the clam chowder, which I did one time. That was a mistake. But yeah, other than that it was, it was a great place for, for what you needed. I don't have any places like that here in Austin. When it's just like I need like, because like to your, like the place that you mentioned, it's very specific. Like I kind of want like like, the full range of. Of soups. Like, I want to have, like, the broccoli cheddar. I want to have the French onion option. I want to have the, you know, if it was a better place. Clam chowder. I like that as an option. You know, whether or not you count chili as a soup, it's. That's kind of in between, but it's on a lot of soup menus different times. You're, like, attracted to, you know, tomato soup. Not. Not my. Not my jam. But if you're. If you're gonna get a grilled cheese with it all for it, you know, I just wanted to have, like, that. Those range of options, and I didn't really have that, and I was wanting it today. And. Yeah. Bad soup. So end of the story. Bad soup kind of ruined my day. And part of it was just. Wasn't even hot, which is, like, the basic premise of soup. Yeah. Like, it's. That was. I got a broccoli cheddar, which is basically a cup of. Cup of, like, lukewarm cheese. Yeah.
- [59:49]
C
It's disgusting. Dude.
- [59:51]
A
Question. This is the last thing, though. Go to yours here. How. What is your take on soup temperature when it's served?
- [59:59]
C
Great question. I should not have to, like, react, obviously. I don't want it to be, like, scalding and be like, oh, like, it's. It's too hot. I would say the same temperature that you want your bath.
- [60:18]
A
That's a weird way to put it. That just threw me like that. Just the. The visual. Conceptualize that, like, if I put my.
- [60:28]
C
Hand in it, like, I. I want my hand to be comfortable. I want my hand to be like.
- [60:33]
A
Like, puts his nose in it.
- [60:38]
C
Exactly, exactly. That's how I feel about my nose.
- [60:42]
A
You're gonna. You're gonna go like a. Like a Woody woodpecker. Just put your. Put your nose in it. So here's what I think, because we talked about this as well, because we both didn't like the temperature of our soup. I think soup, to your point, shouldn't be so scalding hot, but I think it should. Like, it should be hot enough that you can taste it, but there should be two to three minute cooling down. That needs to do, like, it should be. Yeah.
- [61:10]
C
A couple degrees within your cup of coffee.
- [61:13]
A
Yeah. Because you shouldn't be able to get your soup and then just start digging it. Like, that's. That's. That's not. That means it's not hot.
- [61:18]
C
Yeah.
- [61:19]
A
Like, it needs.
- [61:19]
C
Okay, okay, here's. Here's the Perfect temperature. When you have a couple minutes before you. You dive in. I don't have, like, an actual number next to it, but when you can, like, dip your cracker in. In your cracker, like, immediately gets kind of soft.
- [61:34]
A
Yes. Or better. Your bread. Yes.
- [61:36]
C
Or your bread? Yeah, like bread or cracker. I like.
- [61:38]
A
Okay, let's get off soup. What do you got here, Greg? All right, by the way, somehow we've got an hour on this. This supposed to be a quick episode. Somehow we've got an hour already. I don't know. I don't know how we do this to ourselves, but continue.
- [61:51]
C
All right, do you want a household chore mediocre life update, or do you want a clothing mediocre life update?
- [61:59]
A
Let's do clothing.
- [62:00]
C
All right, I'm wearing it. New white T shirt, baby. I've been a Hanes guy my whole life, and Danielle told me. She was like, you know what? Like, your Hanes shirts, they're just like, they. They feel a little cheap. Don't really like them. They get dirty too easily. You need a new white T shirt. So we go out Black Friday, and that's when I. I bought this new pack of T shirts. I have one over here just so I can kind of show the audience what we got here, what we're working with. So this is a Stafford. Can you see that, Will?
- [62:37]
A
I got it. Yeah. Okay.
- [62:38]
C
Stafford large. I didn't know because I was blocking.
- [62:40]
A
Like, Matt. I got you.
- [62:41]
C
Yes. Stafford. Like Matt. What I really like about it, one, the cotton is a little bit more structured than a Hanes. You know how Hanes kind of get, like, very flimsy feeling? I don't know how often you wear Hanes, but they also hug the neck a little bit higher. Okay. So, like, a lot of my T shirts will be, I don't know, like, maybe an inch, half an inch lower than this. Like, this is, like, really hugging my neck and really structured around the shoulders. And it feels classier to, like, I would feel more comfortable wearing just this T shirt out versus, like, just throwing a hands on and walking out. So, like, it can serve as an undershirt, but it can also serve as the main shirt. And I think that's kind of where I am in my life with my.
- [63:23]
A
That's a big difference. So that's. That's where I was gonna ask, because I feel like Hanes is meant to be an undershirt only. Right? Like, I mean, you can certainly. Anything you can wear out, like, you don't give a. You can just like, wear it out. And like, I think, like, so this.
- [63:35]
C
Is right next to Haynes at the store. This is like. It's like Hanes and then this right next to each other.
- [63:40]
A
What's the price point? You don't have to say the exact price point, but, like. Like I'm saying for comparison with Hanes, was there. Was there ever.
- [63:46]
C
Great question. I feel like it was 27 for 4.
- [63:50]
A
Okay. I don't buy a lot of. Pack a lot of white T shirts, so I don't.
- [63:54]
C
I don't.
- [63:54]
A
I don't know.
- [63:55]
C
But I don't know. I can't remember.
- [63:57]
A
Anyways, it seems like it's a higher price point than Hanes, so therefore, better quality. Quality is likely what we're. What we're looking at here. I love a good white T shirt. I just. I've given up that I. I tear to the point that Danielle was making. I can't keep them clean. I don't. And also, like, for me, I'm the worst at washing my clothes as far as, like, keeping them in their crisps form. So, like, clothes that I do, like, I'm, like, very, like, a handful. Like, at least for, like, a little bit. I'm like, all right, I'm gonna wear this. I'm gonna be very delicate with it. I want to make sure that it's nice, because once it starts to fade, once it starts to lose any type or, like, the neckline gets a little bit. They used to have those commercial. They're like, oh, does your neck look a bacon? Like a bacon strip? Or whatever? And, like, that's, like, a lot of those, like, Hanes ones can get to. Then I'm just like. I throw in the towel on it, right? And. And so this is back. We were talking about the hat last week, where I'm like, I'm. I'm just bad at apparel and clothing care, which is why I hesitate to spend good money on that type of thing. So I'm just like. Even when I try, I usually kind of fail whether I'm not doing. You know, and some of these need to. You know, instead of going in the dryer cycle, you're supposed to take them out, let them, you know, air dry or whatever. And I'm just. Honestly, I don't do any of that. I'm. I'm just. Which is why my clothes end up sucking. And then I'm always like, every six months, I hate everything in my closet. Let me go spend 100 bucks at Marshalls and go re up my wardrobe. And then we'll repeat this in six months, and we'll just keep doing the day I die. Yeah. So I like that you found a good white tea.
- [65:28]
C
Try it out.
- [65:29]
A
I don't. I don't. I don't wear a lot of. Do you wear undershirts a lot? Like, when you're like, that's. I don't wear a lot of undershirts.
- [65:37]
C
I wear a lot of shackets. Right. So, like, I think it's really important with the shacket to have a nice under you to have, like, a nice undershirt, whether it doesn't matter the color, because I wear my shack. It's open, right? So I'll have, like, this with a shacket on top of it with the. With like, the necklace hanging down. And that's kind of the style that I. That I go for. So I. I do. Yes. Short answer. I do.
- [66:00]
A
Okay. Okay. So that's the difference. I just. I don't do that a lot. So that's why, like, I. I don't have that same. Same knowledge when it comes to the. The undershirt world.
- [66:11]
C
Maybe I'll buy you some for Christmas, buddy.
- [66:13]
A
Hey. There we go. I wouldn't mind that. I think I did actually recently buy technically a. A shack jacket. Is that what we're calling it, a shacket? Yeah, I think I bought one from. From Costco recently. I don't know. It's a little heavier than I would imagine most jackets to be. So maybe it's just a coat. I don't know. Could be fooled by some marketing. That wouldn't be surprising. All right, we've got an hour and five minutes. Let's just wrap this thing up here. Just for anyone that might still be listening, we are going to have an episode coming out on Tuesday. Supposed to have a special guest lined up. Gonna leave it as a little bit of a mystery, just in case, because you never know what might happen. But hopefully we should have some really good insights from Celt. Celtics. Pistons. Pistons, the one seed in the East. Celtics, the three seed in the east. Going into that game. Should be great. We'll have that for you. Plus anything else that comes up between now and then. Greg. We did it again. Somehow, some way. Our longest episode featuring 20 minutes of basketball talk. We did it again, baby. They don't call us the best for no reason. We'll catch you guys later. It don't take much no more Until I hit the floor Every time I hit this high it's you I find it don't take much no more until I'm at your dark.
- [67:37]
C
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