Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano

Summary

The Ryen Russillo Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Are the Knicks Actually Better? Plus, Haliburton’s Likability, OKC’s Dominant Game 2, and the Warriors' Chances Without Steph With Jorge Sedano
Host: Ryan Rosillo
Guests: George Sedano
Release Date: May 8, 2025

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1. Knicks vs. Celtics Playoff Series

a. Series Overview and Current Standings

Ryan Rosillo opens the discussion by highlighting the surprising performance of the New York Knicks, who are currently leading the series against the Boston Celtics by two games to zero. This is particularly unexpected given Boston’s historical dominance and recent successes.

b. Game One Breakdown

Rosillo delves into Game One, emphasizing Boston’s struggles, especially their inefficiency from the three-point line. He states, “The Celtics missed 45 threes in game one. An NBA record missed threes.” ([16:38]) This poor shooting performance was a critical factor in the Knicks' victory.

c. Defensive Strategies and Performance

The Knicks' defensive prowess is a focal point. Rosillo praises their defense, especially their containment of Jalen Brunson: “The Knicks did one of the best jobs defending Brunson... They contained him effectively.” ([20:11]) He credits Mitchell Robinson for his significant impact on both interior and perimeter defense, noting his contribution to the Knicks’ improved defensive ranking.

d. Player Performances

• Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson: Rosillo highlights Randle’s steady play and Robinson’s defensive versatility, which have been instrumental in the Knicks' success.
• Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown: The Celtics’ stars have been struggling, with Rosillo pointing out Tatum’s missed crucial shots, such as “[...] Tatum didn't take that shot again, which was a bad sign” ([23:24]).

e. Coaching and Tactical Adjustments

George Sedano discusses the coaching strategies employed by Tom Thibodeau, suggesting that his reluctance to adapt may be costing the Celtics: “Can Missoula do that, too? And look, ultimately...” ([22:12]) Sedano believes that Thibodeau’s stubbornness in sticking to traditional strategies has made it difficult for the Celtics to counter the Knicks' adaptability.

2. OKC’s Dominant Performance in Game Two

a. Game Two Analysis

Rosillo shifts focus to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s impressive performance in Game Two against Denver, underscoring their ability to execute game plans efficiently: “Everything OKC did last night worked.” ([39:49])

b. Haliburton’s Impact

George Sedano praises Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) and his teammate, Haliburton, emphasizing Haliburton’s versatility and likability on the court: “His personality is the last personality that you'd get upset with...” ([33:24])

c. Team Chemistry and Coaching

Sedano highlights the Thunder’s cohesive team dynamics and the effective coaching strategies of head coach Mark Daigneault: “The confidence of Dagnal in the group and the willingness to understand that everything is a teachable moment...” ([43:31])

3. Warriors’ Chances Without Steph Curry

a. Impact of Curry’s Absence

The discussion turns to the Golden State Warriors and the significant impact of Stephen Curry’s hamstring injury. Rosillo expresses skepticism about their championship prospects without their star player: “I didn't think they would have a chance against Minnesota. And then, you know, Doc Rivers theory kicks in again.” ([39:49])

b. Tactical Adjustments and Player Roles

Sedano analyzes potential strategies the Warriors might employ to compensate for Curry’s absence, such as leaning more on Draymond Green’s rebounding and Rudy Gobert’s defense: “If Finch goes with Rudy, he can handle things without Draymond...” ([50:52])

c. Player Development and Future Prospects

Both hosts discuss the development of younger players like Anthony Edwards and their roles in their respective teams. Rosillo points out Edwards’ need to balance aggression with discipline: “Anthony Edwards needs to start figuring out a way to not upon landing after every layup attempt...” ([50:18])

4. Broader Playoff Landscape and Team Dynamics

a. Coaching Strategies Across the Board

Sedano emphasizes the evolving nature of coaching in the playoffs, drawing parallels with successful coaches like Eric Spoelstra: “Tibbs is learning that, or has learned that over time, too.” ([22:12])

b. Team Adaptability and Resilience

The conversation underscores the importance of adaptability and resilience in the playoffs. Rosillo notes how teams are adjusting their strategies based on regular-season performances and maintaining confidence despite setbacks: “The Knicks are playing better defensively... this is one of the best jobs I've seen...” ([26:51])

c. Comparisons to Previous Playoff Eras

Sedano draws comparisons to past playoff series, such as the Miami-Milwaukee series, to illustrate current team performances and potential outcomes: “It reminds me a bit of Milwaukee...” ([21:57])

5. Insights on Player Likability and Team Chemistry

a. Haliburton’s Likability

The hosts discuss Haliburton’s standing among peers and fans, addressing his perceived likability and how it affects his reputation: “Halliburton carries himself in a way that is like, really, I enjoy it...” ([33:24])

b. Team Chemistry and Role Clarity

Sedano highlights the importance of role clarity and team chemistry, praising the Thunder’s understanding of player roles and mutual respect: “They understand the pecking order... Shay’s team, J Dub and Chet...” ([43:31])

6. Concluding Thoughts

a. Potential Series Outcomes

Rosillo and Sedano speculate on the potential outcomes of the ongoing series, considering team performances, coaching strategies, and player health: “How do you see it when you spend months traveling around...” ([16:38])

b. Future Playoff Predictions

The podcast concludes with predictions for the remaining playoff games, taking into account the current momentum and team adjustments: “I think teams are going to be a little more shrewd in that regard...” ([39:49])

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Ryan Rosillo ([16:38]): “The Knicks did it. They really did it. They're up 2-0 in this series and everybody is pissed off about Boston.”

• George Sedano ([20:11]): “The Knicks are playing better defensively, Ryan, than they've played all season.”

• Ryan Rosillo ([23:24]): “The Mitchell stuff has been terrific. It's been a difference in this series.”

• George Sedano ([33:24]): “Halliburton carries himself in a way that is like, really, I enjoy it because I think he's that good.”

• Ryan Rosillo ([39:49]): “I did think about OKC with their win last night, that 87 points in the first half. Everything worked for OKC.”

• George Sedano ([43:31]): “The confidence of Dagnal in the group and the willingness to understand that everything is a teachable moment.”

• Ryan Rosillo ([50:18]): “Anthony Edwards is due for a big breakout here. 42 and 32% splits in the playoff, shooting wise.”

• George Sedano ([50:52]): “It would be incredibly tough [for Warriors without Steph], but I am willing to make that bet because they can muck it up in a way that Golden State can't keep up with.”

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Conclusion

This episode provides an in-depth analysis of the current NBA playoff series, focusing on the unexpected performance of the New York Knicks against the Boston Celtics, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s strategic gameplay, and the Golden State Warriors' prospects without their star player, Stephen Curry. Through insightful discussions and expert commentary from guest George Sedano, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the evolving dynamics in the playoffs, team strategies, and individual player performances that are shaping the outcomes of these high-stakes games.

Transcript

[Ryan Rosillo]

You're listening to the Ryan Marcillo podcast presented by FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook has made it easier than ever to get in on the action during an NBA playoff game, even after tip off. Just look for the live SGP tab on the FanDuel Sportsbook app and build your bet slip. Then sit back, relax and track the outcome of your parlay right in the app. And if you don't already have it, download the FanDuel app today to make every moment more the ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 100 GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com the Knicks did it. They really did it. They're up 20 in this series and everybody is pissed off about Boston. We'll discuss what that means and where this team is at. Down 02 in the series. We'll do that with Sedano. We'll also talk about OKC's huge night against Denver. Not as long as we talk about the Knicks in Boston though. But he's going to talk Sedano on his experience with a Thunder over the last couple years building towards this moment, how they look now compared to everybody else, and how the playoffs are shaking out breakdown on the Pacers and the Cavs and that ridiculous game too, and Halliburton status in the game. And then we'll cover Minnesota and Golden State, so we'll do all the playoffs with him. Obviously I'll spend a good chunk of the Open on Knicks and the Celtics and we've got life advice. If you can't stand Boston, I get it. If you want to say that Good Will Hunting is just a schmaltzy therapy movie, I would push back on that a little bit. But I could see you come to that conclusion. If you want to question the early settlers, the first settlers that came over in the Mayflower that survived that trip. If you want to question their decision making by deciding on Plymouth until time after that. Some guys walked north just up I guess and said, hey, Boston has like a river. There's much more access, the harbor is deeper. This probably would be a much better settlement. And there's a lot of people in Plymouth who are like, yeah, we have eels though and we got to move our stuff, dude. Like I don't want to go up there. If you want to question their decision making, I you Know, I can't tell you that you're wrong if you hate watching the Celtics play. Like guys are just going to shoot threes and you look scared at home and you're supposed to be the better basketball team if you think that Tatum not playing for Team USA and Kirk keeping on the bench helped a nation heal. If you want to audit the 24 title, like I understand all of those things because the Celtics did it again. They blew another 20 point lead at home in the playoffs. When the road team WINS the first two games of a series, they win the series 86% of the time. And we're going to see if the Knicks can pull off something that I thought would be impossible. So we know that The Celtics missed 45 threes in game one. An NBA record missed threes. And we knew that they blew a 20 point lead 48 hours before they did it last night. You know, it makes you wonder, like, how is a team that has a title in their back pocket another NBA Finals in 22, five Eastern Conference Finals with Brown and Tatum, like, how are they playing like the team that doesn't have any confidence whatsoever. It was 75:55 in game one with 535 left in the third quarter. The Knicks closed it out 53 to 30 last night it was 73:53 with three minutes to go in the third quarter. I wrote it down, I said 20 points again. And I was like, is this actually. It was an ugly game. It felt like an Anthony Richardson like, passing camp session. But as ugly as it was, it's like the Celtics were actually doing some really good things until it wasn't good for them. They went what, eight plus minutes without a field goal make. And the Knicks closed this one out. 38 17. Boston 25% from three in game one, 25% from three in game two. Start of the game, the Knicks scored 13 points in the first quarter. Lowest first quarter output in the playoffs in 22 years. The Knicks, I think it's one of the best jobs I've seen a team do defending Brunson. They redirected him, they contained him. They sell, they sent help without necessarily like exposing themselves somewhere else. Jalen Brown looked like he was on the attack. If he got hard, he was going to go. If he got bridges, he was going to go because he has the physical advantage. If he had og, he still tried to go, even though that's not really going to work. And I think should be something that's avoided at all costs on the ball unless it's late. In the shot clock, and you don't have any other choice. But I figured Boston would win an ugly game and this series would be tied up at one apiece, because I felt going in like many, and for obvious reasons, with the 40 sweep in the regular season, boss, it's a better basketball team. But then Mikhail Bridges happened, and it was that first year nets, McHale, bridges, the bridges that I was like, damn, this guy's got everything. The entire bag was on display at the start of the fourth quarter. They start the fourth down 12. Cat is out. Jalen Brunson's also on the bench. He scored 14 points in just over six minutes with the entire toolbox. He just set down the entire thing and was like, what do you need? I've got them all. CAC did come in at 8:27. Brunson came in at 6:39, but without Brunson for that most part. Then he hit another big shot on it. So, like on a night where Brunson's contained the free throw, part of Brunson's game is not a factor. He's only been to the free throw line twice, right? The Celtics have done what they needed to do defensively, and we'll get to their offensive side of this, and they still end up losing this game. And it's funny too, because Brunson again, with those two free throw attempts, ends up hitting two. That put them up because it was a little back and forth. Brunson makes one, puts him up three. Tatum goes to the free throw line. They get a stop. Tatum has the dunk. Celtics are actually up one. Like, okay, they actually gonna win this thing. And then they foul Brunson. Somebody had. They had not fouled all night. But look, Drew Holiday fouled them twice on that. So there's no argument with the call whatsoever. So after the game, there was a few things that were asked of Missoula in this one. One was the no timeout with the 12 seconds to go, and they didn't get a shot off. They wanted to keep Brunson in the game. I had made a mistake on a tweet earlier, before the Tatum dunk, because I'm always usually a little behind. And I was like, you know, look, the first play of the game, they ran something to get Drew to go right at Brunson. Emptied out everything. And I was like, this is smart. They're going to go at Brunson more. Great, smart. And Drew just worked him right at the rim. And then there wasn't a ton of that. Anymore. And I was thinking, maybe that's what you're looking for. But at that point, and it was my mistake, I was not back in the game. And Brunson was on the bench because of defensive reasons. So that's why Missoula did not call the timeout, even though they had one after Brunson made the second free throw. Down one. And with 12 seconds, you have plenty of time. And they had just run this play, which they said they wanted to run the same thing. But on that play where Tatum had gotten the dunk the second time through, that was the first look, Horford setting a high screen there. But Mitchell and OG Both were underneath Horford enough. And I don't think they even cared if Tatum was going to pull up for a three, which would have been a shot, because he at least would have gotten it off. But I think there were moments where Tatum didn't even want to take that shot, as I'll get to an example a little bit earlier, a lot earlier in this basketball game. So decision wise with that kind of stuff, I don't really necessarily have a problem. Missoula also talked about how he liked the shot attempts and thought they were good looks. I think I could push back on that a little bit. Game one, I would agree with it. Game two, there's just something that keeps happening here with Brown and Tatum in particular, where they're taking very, very hard shots. And that's kind of the Jaylen Brown scattering report, where he makes more of them than he misses. But, God, are these hard. And Tatum can fall in love with these turnarounds and these fadeaways. Be like, do you know how hard these shots are? I know these are like incredible basketball players. So our expectation is that it's going to go in. And when it's who you've been for most of your career, it's hard to say, like, hey, change the entire approach. But these are really, really tough shots. But the one thing that I wanted to mention that I thought was interesting is that Tatum at 10:34 to go in the first quarter, there was a play where Jaylen Brown gets OG on the left side. He actually up fakes OG and then he did this another time, too. The up fake works. Oh, geez. In the air. And then he doesn't go. So I don't know what's going on with Brown on that one where he. He lets OG land. And then he decided to go at him. He goes at him. It doesn't work. The ball's loose. Brown taps it out to Tatum. Tatum has a wide open three at the top of the three point line. 14 seconds left in the shot clock. And I don't know if it was. Tatum didn't like it in his hands. Like a golfer just stepping back from a swing. But then he just kind of like last minute swings out to Horford, and Horford was. Wasn't even ready for the pass. And I thought I wrote it down. Cause I'm like, that's a really weird shot for Tatum to pass up. And is it that Game one is still in his head a little bit, or is he not feeling right? You know, maybe this is where you insert risk excuse, but it was a very strange shot for Tatum to pass up and other players that I doubt in big spots, because I think Tatum's had enough big spots. And look, he's had some absolute playoff duds too. You play enough, that's going to happen. But it was one of those players was like, that's a bad sign. And maybe it was a sign of things to come. So there's just a bunch of shots in here from Tatum. I went through him this morning. There's a step back where he's like side fading. It's not even a straight back fade away. He's fading to the side against bridges. 15ft out. Misses. He tried to hit a step back on Mitchell, which is really tough. Misses a step back against Cat, which isn't terrible. And we know what Tatum's shot is. So these are shots that he's normally taken, but a lot of these are, again, really tough against Cat. It's not as hard as it is against Mitchell. He had a drive on Cat where he got him in the switch. He was getting the switches that he wanted on this one. He drives and, you know, misses the layup. He did have the dunk against Cat. Then he switches to Bridges. He gets him deep. Then he misses that one. He gets the Cat. Another switch. You know, he. Cat gets him at the rim and you know, there's another one where he gets a finish against Bridges. So anyway, like, I'm kind of rambling here a bit. This isn't the best part of the podcast, so I apologize in advance. The fourth quarter is what I really want to lock in here because, you know, he has a drive against McBride where he's thinking, all right, I have McBride against me, and he gets past McBride, but when he turns around, there's three other people waiting for him. And because his back was turned as he made the movement, like he didn't see Anybody. So that was really ugly. Everyone's going to point to the wide open three pointer up 86, 79 with 340 to go. And it's like a perfect example to point to and be like, how do you not knock down that? Like, that might have been the biggest shot the game, but I actually think it's the next attempt is the one that kind of drives me more crazy is because at this point he has OG on him. OG did a masterful job of fighting through all the traffic to make sure that he got back to him. He had to go through like two different screens, but actually trailed it to go under all of the stuff, not worrying about hitting him with a three point line. So OG fights, gets in great position, gets right back to him. It's on the right side baseline. And he takes a fade away against OG, a turnaround with like 10 seconds left on the shot clock. He gets the dunk on the next attempt. But look, the last play, it's just a free for all. And you know, he's got OG on him. He's got Mitchell like helping. He's got bridges behind him and they don't even get the shot off from seven feet away. So I would offer that even if you think the shot, the shot quality for Tatum is good. Maybe it's just an understanding of like, he's made so many of these before, but these are just really hard shots to live on on top of you missing all of your threes. So the Mitchell stuff has been terrific. He's plus 19 in game two, plus 13 in game one. It's been a difference in this series. Every Knicks fan that was hoping for this, I was a little skeptical that this would actually happen. He has the best net rating on this Knicks team in the playoffs, plus 8.1. McBride's plus 5.9. OG actually has like a weird net rating. OG has been so good defensively in this that I basically am apologetic for ever letting some of his offensive limitations leak into my overall thought of him as a player. At no point did I think New York was actually the better basketball team. I thought Boston was going to put it on them. After game one when they were up 20, I still was kind of like, let's see what happens. I don't know if this is going to end up being the series like the 76ers and the Hawks in 21 where Philly had an 18 point lead in game four and lost. They were up 26 in game five and lost. That was like the really nasty one. But at least the Sixers in that series had a 21 lead. Okay, it reminds me a bit of 23 when it was the 1Amatchup with Miami and Milwaukee where Milwaukee, you know they had the Giannis back injury to point to but you know this is a Milwaukee team that two years prior had just won a title and they look scared. But Boston sitting here down 02 and they don't have a Giannis injury to point to and they can't blame it on Ben Simmons. I did think about OKC with their win last night, that 87 points in the first half. If you wanted the full breakdown I just say everything they did worked. Murray needs to be better on the entry passes. Westbrook tried to put the cape on down 30. That wasn't going to happen. Everything worked for OKC. But the way the east is looking right and this feels a little dismissive, maybe of Minnesota, maybe even Golden State. That's up one oh in this series the Knicks that are up to oh the Pacers doing what they did in coming back in Game 2, which still might be the most shocking finish to any of the games in the playoffs. And credit to Halliburton, we're going to do more on him with Sedano, but it's at least worth asking with OKC getting right and even with Denver, did they win the title last night? Looking at the rest of the playoff landscape, the Ryan Rosilla podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are underway, so don't miss your chance to bet on all the clutch shots and legendary performances with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. FanDuel is the best place to find all of your favorite player props. And now you can make a heads up play with player performance trends. That means whether you want to bet on a player to score 30 points or put up a triple double, you can check out the latest stats and see who's hot without leaving the app. Plus, after the game tips off, you can combine live prop bets into a same game parlay for a chance to win big. If you don't already have FanDuel, it's not too late to get in on all of the playoff action. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. So visit FanDuel.com Orion R Y E N to join today. Make every moment more with FanDuel. Official sports betting partner of the NBA must be 21 and older and present in select states are 18 plus and present in DC first online real money wager only $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued is non withdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after a seat. Restrictions apply. See [e-mail] Gambling problem. Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com this episode is brought to you by UberEats. Summer is almost here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with UberEats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get a chicken parmesan delivered. A cabana that's a no. But a banana? That's a yes. A nice tan? Sorry, no. But a box fan? Happily, yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines, yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Keep the playoff conversation going here from ESPN on the coverage of the NBA playoffs and of course on 710 ESPN locally in Los Angeles from 3 to 6 in the afternoon is George Sedano Okay, I spent the first, I don't know, 20 plus minutes of this podcast talking more about where New York is at, where Boston is at. And so you've had so many of these teams during the regular season and now in the playoffs. So we can get to some of the specific things in general, but we both realize there's a separation between regular season and postseason basketball. I guess I'm sitting here this morning thinking like, is it such a separation that now New York is just better than Boston? I don't, I don't know that I'm, I'm there yet. Although the first two games would tell you one team's a hell of a lot more comfortable than the other one. So like, how do you see it when you spend months traveling around and having access to these teams and now in this different brand of basketball?

[George Sedano]

So what I get Ryan and first of all, thanks for having me on, by the way. Great to see you a couple weeks ago at the Lakers game against the T Wolves. But what I would say is I think teams now are just like for the most part, keep me out of the play in and once we get to the, to the playoffs and we get that week's worth of rest and we can actually game plan for our first opponent in a real way and get some rest. That's all we want. We'll take our chances from there. And I'm not saying that the NBA has become the NHL or Major League Baseball in regards to home court advantage, not mattering as much, but it's certainly starting to skew closer into that direction than it had in, you know, previous iterations. So I think that's the first thing. I think clearly the way the officials are calling the game is different. There were multiple calls in that fourth quarter of that Celtics, Knicks, game one on Al Horford, where he's in the paint, kind of a turnaround jumper, gets mauled. No call, by the way. On the flip side for the Knicks, Brunson gets hit by Derek White on a. He's in his landing zone. That would have totally been called in the regular season. So I think the officiating, the way it's called, too, I think that certainly aids the way that these series go. But specifically to this one, okay? To this series, I don't think the Knicks are better than the Celtics. I think the Celtics. And this is going to sound like a cop out. The Celtics have just had some bad luck, okay? And this whole, you know, the old adage, it's super cliche, live by the three, die by the three. Yeah. The Celtics expected shooting percentage from three through. Through two games is 38%. They're shooting 25. Okay. If they shoot 38%, they win both games. Pretty much going away, but that's life, right? Like, it's not always going to go according to the math equation. And I think this is where coaching really makes a difference, right? Where the guys who have been here for a long time and have gone deep a number of times will eventually just say, you know what? I get that this is the way we play, but every once in a while I got to go by my gut and say, they're not falling. We got to change the diet a little bit. And I think that's where Missoula has been a little too stubborn in regards to the Celtics, but give the Knicks a ton of credit. They are playing better defensively, Ryan, than they've played all season. I think Mitchell Robinson is a huge key to that. Not only what he's done in the interior, but what he's done on the perimeter, too. There were a couple of possessions on Tatum, particularly that. I was just like, whoa. I didn't know he would have that in his bag at this stage, considering everything he's dealt with injury wise. But clearly he's ready. And I'll tell you this, this was a long time ago. Earlier in the season, I want to say late November, around Thanksgiving, I had the Knicks and Suns, and I remember sitting there Talking to Tibbs and, you know, their defense was a mess. I mean, it was a mess most of the season, but certainly at the beginning of the season, it was really bad. And people were like, dude, what's going on? They got Bridges, they got an anobi. Like, what's. And he was saying. He was pushing back on that and saying, like, hey, man, it's. It's not as bad as people think. Okay? We, you know, guys, they're just. They're hitting tough shots on us. You know, we're going to get some guys back. At that time, they were missing a Chua and they were missing Robinson. And he was kind of telling us, he said it that day in November, if we get Mitch back, we're a different team defensively, and it's showing right now.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I've been really impressed with Mitchell on the perimeter switches and all that stuff, and we saw some improvement after the All Star break. But, you know, you're right. As I had mentioned in the open, I mean, they're the third best defense in the playoffs right now. And when you can throw wings at these guys and you can just see that certain matchups where it's like when one of Tatum or Brown get Harp or Bridges on them instead of Anunoby, it's like a relief sitting there being like, okay, good. Now I can actually kind of drive and feel like I have the advantage physically where against og, neither of those guys are going to have that kind of advantage. I think the other part of this, which I also brought up in the open, was when Miami beat Milwaukee in the 18 matchup. Going back changed everything. Changed everything.

[George Sedano]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah, it. You can go to the Giannis, excuse the injury, but even when the guys came back, you could see this level of discomfort that Milwaukee had that felt like just a lack of confidence, which is surprising because, you know, you're watching Boston these last two games, you're going, this team won a title. Like, how can you not have. You're the one that's supposed to be far more comfortable in these moments and at home. I mean, maybe it's part of the blown lead and just getting really tight about it, but you're supposed to be the team that figures out a way to close these games. And it did remind me a bit of Milwaukee. And just those moments, you're like, oh, wait, like, every one of these guys is, like, freaked out right now. So I don't. I don't know if it's just simple as is toughness, but it's. It is very Weird to see teams that have a title in their back pocket look as if they're the uncomfortable one. And that's the similarity that I've seen from Boston here that reminds me of that Miami Milwaukee series.

[George Sedano]

Well, and it's a great analogy, because if you look at that series, right, you're talking about a team that had Eric Spoelstra, who. I mean, look, Tibbs is not Eric Spoelstra as far as his accomplishments. But Tibbs has been through enough of these wars to know what it takes this time of year.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Like, think about it.

[George Sedano]

The Knicks are playing defense in a way they had not played all season. They're switching more than they've ever switched. As a matter of fact, in the first two games, Monday's game was the most a Tibbs team has ever switched in the regular season or the playoffs. Okay? And then game one was, I believe, the fourth most and in any time in his Knicks tenure. So, again, it's the type of stuff where you say, hey, you know what? I know we've played a certain way and it's gotten us to this point, but I need to do something different against this particular beast. So Eric Spoelstro was certainly capable of doing that. He's as good in a game adjuster and game to game adjusters there is. And Tibbs is kind of learning that, or has learned that over time, too. Right. That he was the guy at times, but that was too stubborn in the way that he did things, and he's now kind of evolved. Can Missoula do that, too? And look, ultimately, in the fourth quarters, you've kind of already started to allude to it. I mean, Tatum and Brown are being outplayed by Anobi and Bridges. Like, and you can't have. I mean, Brunson, we know, but, like, you can have them be outplayed by an anobian. Bridges, too.

[Ryan Rosillo]

The Tatum part of this is rough. You know, I would submit there's plenty of really nice playoff games from him, including the 51 and closing out the Sixers. So, like, if you have that in you, why, I. You know, I think anybody you go to any of your favorite players, you're going to find a couple playoff duds in there where you're like, what is going on? Yeah, but there's something. I don't know. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's. If it's a Boston thing. I don't know if it's the Olympics thing, because his personality is the last personality that you'd get upset with with, like this. It's not like he's has all these quotes where it's like, okay, fine, this guy's had a bad playoff game and so now I get to beat up on him. Maybe it's the separation in that, you know, whenever I've looked at Jokic or Giannis at his best or Luke at his best or SGA these last couple years, like, I've never thought Tatum was those guys, even with the title last year. And so he's kind of in this tough spot where when he has bad games, it's like, well, he was never really what I was like. I don't know that anybody was arguing that he was ever going to surpass any of these guys. So, like, his problem is what, that he's the fifth, fifth best player in the league when it's right. But even fifth best player after these last couple games, that. That doesn't feel allowed. So I don't know if it's. Which I would totally understand. It's just packaged into a resentment of a Boston and the Celtics just not being a cool national team. But it is like, the knives are out for this guy in a way that you're like. You're like, where's the interview? Like, of all the other stars that have moments or interviews are like, I can't believe this guy said that. Like, I'm so. Tatum doesn't have any of that stuff.

[George Sedano]

No, he's, you know. Yeah, yeah, he's so easygoing. It's like, it does suck for him in that sense because he's not controversial in any way, shape or form. I mean, the biggest controversy was the joke that we always used to say, you know, how young he was, right? Like, yeah, what is he. Is he still like 22? Like, whatever it is, like, but he's just so unassuming. And I think that for whatever reason, that becomes some sort of controversy, which is wild. But here's the thing. I think it all boils down to what we started talking about. You know, the team saw the Celtics and the way they've played the last couple of seasons, right under Missoula, and these other teams have said, okay, we know how they want to play, and we're going to do our best job to counter that. And in this case, the Knicks have done a lot of switching, which is probably thrown off the Celtics a tad bit. Even though they're getting great looks, particularly in the fourth quarter, it just throws them off. And the level of physicality there is going to be. And I'm guessing you've seen this a narrative out there that hey, you know, they weren't really tested all that much last year and maybe that is somewhat true, right? They weren't really tested particularly even in the finals all that much. They were a team that when the games were leading up to the Eastern Conference finals, they were a team that when the games were close, you were like, oh, can they actually win those games? And, and then we saw the Eastern Conference finals and I was there front and center for it because I was on the radio call on those games where they, they, you know, snatched those games in Indianapolis and they were able to kind of overcome some of that. But I do think it's, it's basically what we've already talked about is they have a style of play and teams are adjusting to it and that's why it's so freaking hard to repeat in this sport.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I want to ask you this, that has nothing to do with the playoffs. But just because you have the production meetings with the coaches, you have the sideline stuff of the coaches, right? Who's the most honest with you?

[George Sedano]

Oh, you know, it's funny, I can give you like a podium here, like a gold, silver and bronze. The gold was always Michael Malone. I listen, I'm sorry that he's gone because he made my job way easier, probably so much. He was so honest that he probably got himself fired because of it.

[Ryan Rosillo]

So.

[George Sedano]

But he was definitely the gold medalist. There is no doubt like he would rip his frickin guys. Not even like think twice about it on national television anytime I did one of those interviews. So you can imagine what those things were like behind the scenes at times. I would say Steve Kerr is probably my silver medalist in that situation and then bronze medalist. See that one can get tough because there's probably a lot of guys that I would go with there, you know, Chris Finch. I don't think people would go with that one. But you know, I guess you saw a little bit of that in his post game the other night, right, where he talked about and, and having to set the tone. He said those things to us on and off the record a number of times. So I would say Finch is, is a surprise bronze medalist.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I'm getting ahead of our, you know, ourselves here a bit in trying to figure out like if this is going to be a Pacers, Knicks, Eastern Conference finals. It's possible. Yeah, I mean it's totally possible.

[George Sedano]

And the Pacers now, how is Bill right now? I don't really know Bill that well. You know, we've, we've had some interactions over the years. How is he? Is he okay?

[Ryan Rosillo]

I haven't listened to his pod yet. Okay, me neither.

[George Sedano]

So that's why I'm going to listen on the flight to Denver.

[Ryan Rosillo]

So there's no texts. You just sort of, you know, let em, Let em be. But we'll see. I mean, I gotta look ahead of the schedule. If it's Thursday now to where we'll be at Sunday. I mean, Sunday could be an all timer.

[George Sedano]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

So I'll probably just lay out a little bit. I'm not the best on the therapy stuff because like if I think something's wrong, I'll just say he might, he might replace me on Sunday, who knows?

[George Sedano]

So let me ask you this. I'm gonna pull a bill right now. Is this the biggest game at Madison Square garden since game one of the 1999 finals?

[Ryan Rosillo]

I mean, what will be bigger? Will we have to go back to the Pacers Knicks series? What is that, 12 years ago? Yeah, I mean I would have to pull this all up right now. I mean, it's not like it's impossible to do, but.

[George Sedano]

Right. But I mean, off the top of my head, there has not been a bigger game at Madison Square Garden since then. And you got Mike Breen doing your game. Knicks fans, you can't complain about who the announcer is going to be.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Look, I, I think I could. I mean, the craziest thing about the Knicks in general is that you go through it all. Yeah, I guess it would be game five in 2013. I mean, I'm kind of doing that off the top of my head.

[George Sedano]

So that's the Carmelo team. Is that against the Heat?

[Ryan Rosillo]

No, it's against the Pacers.

[George Sedano]

The Pacers, right. That was the Roy Hibbert verticality game, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Right. So yeah, yeah. If you're going through it. I mean that was the first one that I, that I could think of. The, the craziest thing about the Knicks and this is the wrong time to do this is they're up 20 and they're on the cusp of like the best atmosphere at MSG in a really long time. You might be totally right with the date that you've gone to because like that this feels like this will be a bigger game because they're going up against Boston. But the rivalry with the Knicks, that doesn't really exist. And then when you look at some of those Knicks postseason gaps, you go, my God, we talk about this team a lot. Yeah.

[George Sedano]

So many years as the teams played in the playoffs, you know, like that. So, like, this rivalry is really for a bunch of. It's like when Ryan Rosillo and George Sedano were like in elementary school at best. You know what I mean? Like, come on.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah, but you were in the martial arts and I was, I was a pretty skinny guy, so. I don't know. I was skinny too, though.

[George Sedano]

That's the reason I was in martial arts, because my dad said, you're too skinny, you need to learn to fight.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I understand what you were saying. I took it to a hostile level there. I didn't, I didn't mean to do that. But. Yeah, you just meant on a timeline, part of this. So. Yeah, I mean, Eastern Conference. Yeah, I just, I think you might be right with that. I mean, you really have to go back because there'll be all these Knick stats that come up and you'll go, how long? Like that has been forever. Yeah. And yeah, look, it's New York. It's a New York basketball team at msg. So guess what? They're going to get talked about a lot more. Despite the fact that all these other franchises have done what they've done. You had the Pacers last year, as you said, in that Easter conference finals. And you know, we can point to the Cleveland injury part, which I do think is at least a fair aside to this entire thing. Imagine being Cleveland putting together this kind of season and then not having guys available, whether it's Garland, game one, but then it's Garland, Mobley and Hunter. And then you have this lead because the Doc Rivers theory is in full effect in game two. And then Halliburton finds a way because you can't inbound the basketball. So the Pacers put together two wins now in these playoffs where you're not supposed to win those games and the Pacers get two and back to back series, closing out the Bucks in that overtime game and then in game two. So where are you with the Pacers? Are you comfortable yet of saying NBA Finals, NBA Championship, Indiana Pacers?

[George Sedano]

I don't know if I'm that comfortable, but they. Look, it's funny because we just talked about this and I hate when fans do this. So I'm not going to do this. I mean, they played even though they got swept by the Celtics. Like those games were competitive like last year. And I, I, I think that experience is invaluable for a team like that because Siakam was just kind of thrown in there a Few months earlier. Now they've had a full season. You know, Halliburton, you know, for all the talk about overrated. Laugh. Yeah, he. He's just kind of sticking it to everybody right now. I'm sure that athletic article will look different next year, and I have a theory on that. I'd love to get your theory on if you would agree with this theory. That theory. To me, the overrated thing with Halliburton is because he was on the Olympic team. And I think a bunch of guys feel like he didn't deserve that, or other guys probably felt like they should have been in there instead of him.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I think that's definitely a really good theory. I also think it comes down to, like, who would you most accept as being the unlikable one on the other teams? And Halliburton carries himself in a way that is like, really, I enjoy it because I think he's that good. Oh, yeah.

[George Sedano]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

You know, I know at times I've struggled a bit with him. I mean, there's other times where I wish he would shoot the more. Shoot the ball more. But, you know, you watch him in these series and the way he is able in the playoffs with his handle and his size to break the paint, kind of collapse your defense. And now you're in rotation and you're scrambling like there's just a lot to him that's just beyond the points and assists where. Where he's almost setting the tone for you. And one of the things I loved about him when he was in college is he'd get a defensive rebound or he'd get the outlet off the defensive rebound, and he was looking for things to do that college players don't look for. He was looking to attack in ways and just getting the ball up or driving hard and knowing that he was bringing defenders away from something else that he was already planning on doing. He was see the game at such an advanced level as a young player that I. I think it's just a great advantage for you. Every single offensive possession knowing, like, this guy just has a really good approach to this whole thing. And Nembart's probably one of the most underrated guys. Siakam at times looks like a problem. Other times, I'd say in some defensive matchups, I think he's going to defer a little bit. I don't like their big depth, but Turner at least can give you the stretch five.

[George Sedano]

Yep.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Even if I'm not going to love his rim protection. And then we add all the other depth. But I mean, one of the holdups I would have with the Pacers is the going into it, I thought, are they ever going to have the best player in a playoff series? And you know, look, the answer is probably no. But I think that overrated part with Halbert, with Rudy, it's obvious everyone just doesn't like Rudy. Okay. With Trey, it's probably a little bit of not liking Trey, not liking the calls and all that kind of stuff. But Halibut, I think the calls plays a bigger factor there.

[George Sedano]

Just the, the, the hunting of fouls, I think. Kind of like Harden, you know, obviously. So there, there was that too, you know, with them.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah. And so Halliburton. But you do what he's been doing.

[Kyle]

Oh.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Like you, you get to, to mount. You know, you get to do all that shit. Like if he wants to go at it with Dame while Dame's in a sweater.

[George Sedano]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

You know, Halliburton gets to do that because he's the one that's out there doing all that stuff. And obviously that's before Dame had the Achilles injury. So there's clearly something that's unlikable about Halliburton from other players, but at least he's like the Rudy one. I, I kind of. Yeah, yeah, I get, Yeah, I, I.

[George Sedano]

Totally get it there. Yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Halliburton, I think it has everything to do with personality. And somehow that bleeds into what I think is a too harsh critique of what his game is. Because when that dude is, is just flowing and getting everybody going and everybody's kind of playing off of him, I think he puts the offense at a massive advantage with his.

[George Sedano]

Well, it's also not aesthetically pleasing, right. To watch him. Like, he's kind of awkward. His motions are kind of herky jerky. But that sidestep, when he gets to that sidestep on the three, forget about it. Like, I mean, that's how he got tied Jerome and put him on skates. You know what I mean? Like, it. He is. I think he's super fun to watch. He knows when to push the pace. He knows when to kind of slow it down to your point. Incredible iq. I like him personally too. Like in my. Whatever small interactions I've had with him over the years, I like him a lot. I like the jawing, you know, for all the old timers. It's funny that say, like, oh, the NBA's too friendly. He's not, he's not like super friendly. By the way, I'll, I'll ask you this.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I have Unfriendly Albert, I didn't know this.

[George Sedano]

I would say I have a lot of friends who kind of were in that boat of the NBA. I'm not watching as much anymore. Blah, blah, blah. They're way more locked in, in this play, in these playoffs than they had in previous years. Like, I'm getting a ton of texts of like, yo, these playoffs are awesome. It's the first time I'm really watching, like, intently in a couple of years. Have you had any of that with, like, some of your, like, more casual friends?

[Ryan Rosillo]

I think everything's becoming a moment on the sports schedule for everybody. So it. It may not be that, oh, these, like. Because these playoffs are awesome. And I think some of the stuff that you said in the beginning about, hey, just try to get into the top six and we'll figure it all out. Because you're right, like, there's been abrupt turn here historically on what homecore advantage used to mean versus what it is right now. But I don't know that it's, hey, I don't have time for the regular season. Or maybe it is that. I guess I should phrase it this way. I don't know that it's this specific 2025 playoffs that has my. Have. Have more of my friends excited about it. I think it has more to do with, like, all of these leagues trying to figure out where they fit in, in the calendar. Yeah, People. People being more enticed to being like, let me know when it's important.

[George Sedano]

Right.

[Ryan Rosillo]

So I don't know if it's a basketball thing. I mean, football, it's impossible to compare anything to football. I still can't believe hockey isn't more popular in the playoffs, where if you just didn't have anything to do and you kind of like sports, just especially without the disruptions. You know, it's. It's still one of those sports like soccer, and I'm not comparing it to F1 here, but I'm, as I've gotten older, considering all the stoppages we have and trying to make it through these NCAA tournament games where you' like, cool. Like now all of the emotional zigzagging is gone because we're watching everything and it's taking forever. The fact that hockey is something that's still not disrupted by modern television and sports, to me, that's. That's probably the best product of. Of anything that we have, really. So basketball, I think the league is deep. I think the parody is a big part of it. And. And to have the first six games in this round be just, you know, all won by the road team until we had OKC get even at home last night against Denver. I don't, you know, sometimes I'll argue, hey, just because something's happening, it doesn't now mean this is the new normal. But whatever this has been, it's. It's just completely unexpected. I mean, you go into these series going, look at the spreads. Cleveland with nine and a half point favorite, ten and a half point. Well, actually that would have been ten and a half point favorite until they had the injury report. Boston ended up being even a bigger favorite in game two because you're thinking, okay, they're going to come back and respond. Same thing with okc. Minnesota was a massive favorite and all of this stuff and it just hasn't mattered the first week of the second round.

[George Sedano]

Yeah, it is pretty wild. And I, I think that you, you kind of hit the right note there. It's parody. Like we are in the era of parody. We've been kind of talking about it for a while with the six different champions or whatever in the last six years. And I, I think that it's going to be good. I think it's going to be a net positive for the NBA. I know that some fans are frustrated based on the second apron and this, that and the other, but I think it's going to make it more like football in the sense of it's going to even the playing field as long as you have a smart front office and a smart coach. And I think a lot of teams now have way better coaching than we've had across the board in a very, very long time, at least as long as I can remember. And I think some of these front offices are really smart, too. Like, I don't think we're going to see Giannis will be a different deal. But we mentioned Rudy and I feel like terrible crapping on Rudy again. But that Rudy Gobert deal I don't think is going to happen again. Right. Even the Bridges deal, like five firsts for bridges, Like, I don't think that stuff is going to happen anymore just because of the way you have to have some flexibility with what your assets are like. You can't just unload them all. Granted, maybe if you have somebody else's assets, you can do that, but I just think teams are going to be a little more shrewd in that regard. And I think all of that will make the sport better. And we're in this kind of transition phase of the young guys are really starting to assert themselves. Right. We saw Ant last year a little bit now, you know, we saw him in the first round. You know, how will he respond in game two in this series? Right. Can he take Steph down Halliburton, for whatever it's worth? Right. You know, small market guy, you know, really taking charge in a series. I think all those things SGA, right. Like Mr. Cool. His teammates adore him. Right. Like, these are all things, if you're the NBA, you should be focusing on in kind of taking that next step beyond LeBron and Curry, because clearly we're at the end of those guys.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Let's talk a little OKC and then maybe we'll spend a little bit more time on Golden State in Minnesota. Much like what Tatum is dealing with. When you come off one of these bad games and you see the clips, you see everybody talking about it. When Jalen Williams won is sniffing Gatorade in the post game after the game one loss, you're thinking, okay, well, he had a disappointing playoffs his first run through. Not surprising. He shot the ball really poorly in game one. And I'll admit too, like, he looks like he's dressed like an extra from some Star wars village. And you're like, why is this guy sniffing Gatorade? You're like, this is the guy that you're banking on being like a really steady two. And it's sometimes a number one in Western Conference or NBA.

[George Sedano]

He's a different dude, that's for sure.

[Ryan Rosillo]

And they totally unfair.

[George Sedano]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

So, yes, they go crazy last night. I think the best breakdown would be that everything OKC did last night worked. And I, as I looked at the east, started thinking, like, I wonder if this is it. I wonder if the game two moment is like the first moment of going, okay, this team is going to win a title. Presti's going to get his ring and all these different things. What's been the most revealing thing when you've had access to this team? Because. Because I've talked about them a lot. Just everyone being on the same page, it's really hard. And everybody knowing the role and the adaptability and all the different things, then they blow that first game, which is fine. Like, you know you're going to lose a couple of these likely to Yokich. You're probably not going to sweep Nicola Jokic. But maybe the most. The most impressive thing that made you realize, like, it's not just the record, but this team needs to be taken seriously to win this whole thing.

[George Sedano]

So I'm going to take you Back to last season, okay, I. And this is where I knew, like, oh, I think this team has got a level of swag to them and confidence that I didn't expect from a young team with a young coach. And it's going to be a Dagnal meeting, right? So we're doing a game in Phoenix. It's me, Mark Jones and Doris Burke, and Dagnal comes in and, you know, he's a young coach. Whatever he was at this point, I guess second year or whatever it was, because he was. He'd been there with the OKC blue, and then. And then was. Was there and became. And was promoted to the Thunder coach. So he comes into the meeting and I'm telling you, dude, dude comes in like, super chill, you know, kind of puts his feet on the ottoman and like, crosses his arms and like, talking to a super matter of fact about like, how confident his team is and how confident they are about their process. And I'm going to tell you, right, that's just not the norm with young coaches. Like, they come into those meetings and they're pro would say bugged out, but they're a little guarded is what I would say. And this dude was not. He was like, super comfortable in that environment. And we all walked away from that going like, oh, okay, well, this is different and different than what we expected. And then we saw kind of what they did last season. You know, they go through kind of the. The growing pains of losing to Dallas or whatever. But what I would say is overall is a. The confidence of Dagnal in the group and the willingness to understand that everything is a teachable moment, right? And I'm guessing, and I was not there for game one, and I'm guessing that game one was an incredible teachable moment, by the way, for him and the players on the way, you handle a playoff game because I don't know how you felt about game one and the ending of it, but I looked at it this way. Several crucial errors. Number one, playing the foul game way too early with whatever it was, 16, 15, 16 seconds to go, putting Jokic on the line. That's mistake number one. Mistake number two, Shea having that easy look at the cup and not dribbling the ball out a little bit and taking off a couple of seconds. That's what a veteran team there does. Gets fouled, right? And then number three, the immediate foul afterwards with Jokic on the sideline, putting Gordon on the line and getting Jokic back in the game. Like, I thought all those things were mistakes. And they hadn't been played a lot of close games this year. They have the least amount of clutch games. 24. They were, I believe, 16 and 8 in those games. But again, we've just talked about the regular season versus the postseason. It's just going to be different. All of it is going to be different. The intensity is different, the preparation is different, and the discipline is going to be different. So I feel like every time I watch them, regular season or postseason, I feel like they come away from that. You know how teams always say, oh, we'll look at the film and we'll figure out what we did wrong? I feel like when I watch them, they. They do take that lesson and apply it immediately. Right? They don't lose a lot of games. They haven't lost a lot of back to back games. They haven't lost three in a row, I think, at all this season, if I recall correctly. Maybe it happened once, but that's what I've taken away from them. The level of maturity that they have as a group and the fact that they allow their coach to coach them. And by the way, understanding that sometimes their coach needs to kind of go through the growing pains too. And I think everyone understanding that because I think he's one of the best coaches in the sport already. And I. People are going to say, oh, yeah, sure, dumbass, he won coach of the year last year. Thanks, Captain Obvious. But we've seen a lot of guys win coach of the year and get fired the next year, so I don't know if that means necessarily anything. But the other part of it is this, Ryan. And to me, from a player perspective, this is the most important part. And this is the storyline. I consistently harp on about this team to everybody. And Dagnal was the first one to tell me this. And then I saw it, right? They understand the pecking order, okay? They understand this is Shay's team, okay? And then it's J Dub and you know, Chet to some extent, and then everyone else fills in the gaps, right? Young teams don't do that. You've covered this league a long time. That is not the mantra of most young teams. Most young teams and young players want to get theirs because they want to get their stats, because they want to get paid. And I think this team has realized, hey, we'll all get taken care of if we just play the roles we're supposed to play and we have the success we think we can have. And they're a living, breathing embodiment of that type of philosophy.

[Ryan Rosillo]

They've Only lost two games in a row, twice all season. So you were right. It never lost three in a row. Okay. Going into Minnesota, Golden State, I was like, man, that was a lot of fun for Golden State the first round. We got to see Steph have another moment, and anybody that appreciates Steph, and I'm certainly, I would imagine, at the top of the list. Near the top of the list. It's just, okay, we could see more of it, but I just didn't think they would have a chance against Minnesota. And then, you know, Doc Rivers theory kicks in again. I know I mentioned it with the Cavs Pacers game, too. I don't know. Maybe Doc Rivers theory doesn't apply to this one because Steph goes out with a hamstring thing, which we know is going to be significant enough where, you know, who knows what it's going to look like. And then somehow Golden State pulls us out on a night where Minnesota offensively was a disaster. They got it close, kind of. And then, you know, Buddy Heald and Jimmy Butler close him out. So it's a nice game one. But even if Steph were playing, I still wouldn't pick them. I don't know who would pick them now. At this point, there's probably a lot of different things that, that Finch can mess with. Gobert played 26 minutes in game one, and you might say, well, based on the Houston series, they're going to want to stay big and cause all the problems that, you know, Golden State survived through seven games. But I could also see Finch going, you know, what if without Steph, like, we'll go small with you. Like, fine, we'll go small. So I think there's a lot of different stuff Minnesota can look at here. I also think, you know, a bit like, you know, Anthony Edwards is a lot more fun than Tatum, but it'd be nice to see him shoot the ball a little bit better. Although his defense and his rebounding were terrific in the Game one loss, I think he needs to start figuring out a way to not upon landing after every layup attempt, protest every single call, because I think it start. No, I think it's starting. And I think he gets. As far as stars are concerned, he gets one of the worst whistles, which I understand is frustrating, but he can't do it every time.

[George Sedano]

You know why? He gets.

[Ryan Rosillo]

He gets. I know why. Well, I have theory.

[George Sedano]

He avoids contact instead of going into the contact.

[Ryan Rosillo]

We're on the same page. Yeah, yeah, same thing. He's so athletic that he's Just always thinking, I can. I can get around all these guys. So he doesn't play to contact, which is actually kind of like a nice thing, and we should all want to have our players do. And aesthetically, it's far more pleasing than just trying to work it for free throws the whole time. But the refs don't give it to him, and he's going to have to figure that out at some point. So, look, I don't know who's arguing that Golden State without Stephen can. Can make this a long series or even win it, but I guess I'll just leave it to you.

[George Sedano]

Yeah, it would be incredibly tough. Although, I mean, listen, we were just talking about, you know, to start this thing, right, like the Milwaukee Miami series, and, like, how, you know, the Boston series mirrors that some. I mean, we've seen Jimmy Butler pull a lot of rabbits out of his hat this time of year, right? So I at least give them a puncher's chance still. But I would go big because of what Adams did. I mean, Adams was only nullified in Game 7 because Buddy Heel turned into Klay Thompson, you know, Prime Klay Thompson. Now, he had that same moment again in game one. But I'm willing to take that bet, okay? Because I've witnessed Buddy healed, even though he shot 37% for the season. I've witnessed Buddy Healed go through stretches during the regular season where he shot 30% from three for long periods of time, by the way. So I'm willing to make that bet because they can. Their advantage is their. Their. Their strength. They can muck it up in a way that I don't think Golden State can keep up with because they don't have the. I mean, yes, they have looney and whatnot, but they want to keep Draymond on the. On. On the court. But Draymond was in foul trouble in that game, and I think that the bigger they play, the better the chances. Draymond's in foul trouble, and then I think you kind of wear down the warriors over time. And I think that with Ant, again, similar to we talked about with the Celtics, if the three is not falling. And I know he hit more threes than anybody this year, and it's an incredibly important aspect to his game this season because it does help him on the drive, but I still feel like he's not driving enough. I've said that all season. He did that in the second half, which is why it became a little closer on the scoreboard. But too little, too late, right? Like, if your Shot's not falling. He's doing all the other things. He's getting teammates involved. He's rebounding the ball. He's not even turning the ball over very much, to be honest with you. But it's that. It's just knowing, like, hey, man, you know what? First three or four is not falling. I got to get to the rim because I have an inherent advantage from an athleticism standpoint that I can get by pretty much anybody on this team. So I think it's that it's about managing the game. And that's a conversation I've had with Chris Finch over the season, which is, you know him. We forget he's still only 23 years old. Right. Like, there is still a learning curve here for him, as great as he's been already to this point in his career. And we love to anoint people really fast. And I think he will be a guy that we will anoint, don't get me wrong. But I think that we live in such a world, though, where it's like, immediate, instant, like, gratification that, you know, it's always like, the highest of high or the lowest of the low. Right. You're the greatest thing since sliced bread, or you're the worst thing ever. And he's kind of felt that now in the last couple of games between the Lakers series and now game one of this series. So for me, I think it's about the way he reads the game. And Finch is right. It's how he sets the tone. And setting the tone means, hey, if my shot's not falling, I got to figure out how to get the ball in the basket and how to make sure I can still impact this game offensively, Whether that's drawing two to me. Right. And making sure that I get guys an open look, or when that two is coming, you know, I got to make a quick decision to split and get to the rim. Right. So I think that it's going to be on ant for them to figure this out. But I do think playing big is the smarter way to go, because I think you can just bludgeon Golden State to death, particularly without Steph out there.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Right. And if you want to throw Rudy on Draymond and he wants to take 10 threes in a game, go ahead. Sure. Though he got off to a really hot start. Your next game, when is it?

[George Sedano]

So I'm in game. I'm in Denver for games three and four. Game three, Friday night, game four, that's on ESPN. That's the late game. And then game four is day game on ABC. So 3:30 Eastern on ABC. And it'll be me, Mark Jones, Jay Billis for both games.

[Ryan Rosillo]

My man, George Shadano, espn. Thanks.

[George Sedano]

Always a pleasure, brother. Thanks for having me.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Okay, before we get to life advice, we get the same game parlay for you from the people, the good folks at FanDuel Sportsbook. All right, we gave you the straight ahead Nemar total points, rebounds, assists that went over in game two. I would look at that because I was surprised that that was only 20 and a half considering we already gave you all the details there. But that was pretty straightforward. This one less straightforward three leg parlay trying to build between plus 300 plus 400 on this. So I have thoughts clearly here. All right, so Draymond Green's actually not getting a ton of rebounds in the playoffs. He averaged only five and a half against Houston. He did have eight rebounds in game one against Minnesota. Rudy only played at 26 minutes in game one. And you know, there's a bunch of different things that you could argue like Finch may go with Rudy and go. It doesn't matter if he's playing off a Draymond because Draymond's not going to go 4 or 10 from 3. I think it was 4 or 5 to even start the game. But I could also see Finch with Minnesota saying, you know, we're just so not scared by this offense and we gave up the things offensively that we're not worried about. So if Butler gets his and healed, hits a few threes, the rest of it we feel pretty good about. So the rebounding number for Draymond to get eight or more boards, that feels very doable, especially if Minnesota does go small. And again, I'm playing off the hint of Rudy playing 26 minutes in game one. Look, he should probably be able to get eight rebounds in a playoff game, even though that number's so much lower against Houston. But you got to remember what he was tasked with defending and the size that they were dealing with, especially in the Adams Sengoon lineups. So that's a pretty low rebounding number for him. So we're going a little above comfort level with eight or more from Draymond Anthony Edwards to score 25 or more points. He's due, he's due for a big breakout here. 42 and 32% splits in the playoff, shooting wise. But he's still at 27 a game. I think after all of the stuff with game one, I would expect him to kind of go off tonight. And then I'm trying to find another warrior scoring option. Lower point output here. Pajemski to score 10 or more points. Pod 17 for game one. He is taking 10 shots a game in the playoffs. That was obviously with Steph, except for the limitations in game one where Steph I think only played 13 minutes leaving the game of the hamstring. I'm expecting because Steph will be out. Pajemski, especially if he's on the ball a little bit more, not afraid to shoot, they're going to want him to shoot even more. So I think 10 plus points is very doable. So Draymond, eight or more boards. Anthony Edwards, 25 or more points. Pod 10 or more points. That paying out right now on FanDuel at plus 361. You want details?

[Jonathan Frias]

Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.

[Ryan Rosillo]

What's up?

[Jonathan Frias]

I have a ridiculous house in the south fork.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I have every toy you can possibly imagine.

[Jonathan Frias]

And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Lifeadvicermail.com. that's the email. So fire off some email throwing anything. You know, we're getting loose headed towards the summer. You know, I'm not previewing summer. We don't have our summer line out. Although in fashion. I think they released like the fall pretty soon. I don't know how that works. I also don't know how the pope stuff works. Kyle is all over it. We have breaking news.

[Jonathan Frias]

Well, new pope just dropped. The white smoke is coming out, but we don't know who it is yet. So I'll monitor over the next 20 or so minutes and maybe we'll have some news.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Do you have a favorite? Do you hope it is one of the like any. I mean, can you name. I can't name any. No.

[Jonathan Frias]

If I did, I would be going by like country of origin and I don't know the. The Asian dude. I was hoping he. He got a couple looks.

[Ryan Rosillo]

You were hoping the Asian guy got it. Okay, well, yeah, keep us up to date on that one. We got Wargon in the mix as well. I think he starts these not knowing that he's now a part.

[Jonathan Frias]

I think you just have to. Yeah, the three boxes.

[Kyle]

Yeah, I'll defer to you guys.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah, honestly, this is better. My screen smaller. I'll look at myself way less so. I like it. I like it when you're here, buddy.

[Kyle]

Thanks.

[Ryan Rosillo]

All right, good to see everyone. A couple emails here that will start With Secrets in Ocean City isn't just a bar. It's a way of life. So, hey, ryan. Longtime listener, 31 years old. 6 4, 178 1/2 pounds. Lean Gym rat with a basketball comp. Somewhere between a poor man, Shawn Marion, and a slightly taller Josh Hart. Well, if you play like Josh Hart, man, your effort can never be questioned. Given the recent hubbabaloo about bachelor parties lately, and having had some experience myself, I thought I should point something out. Specifically where Kyle mentioned his Ocean City bachelor party and their frequent trips to Secrets. Oh, it's spelt S E A C R E T. Okay, well, this place is obviously awesome. It's the best.

[Jonathan Frias]

There's a live feed right now. I'm pulling it up. You can just check in on.

[Kyle]

We talking about Hope or Secrets?

[Jonathan Frias]

Secrets.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Both. Did you monitor both?

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah. I actually have two tabs up right now. I got Vatican news and I got the live secret scam feed I'm going.

[Ryan Rosillo]

To offer right now. You're the only person in the world out of the billions of us with these two tabs open that have those two tabs open. Cool. Maybe not, though. I don't know. Maybe there's some crossover there. You know, I always feel like, could this be. Could I be the only person in the world doing this right now at this moment?

[Jonathan Frias]

That's a fun thought to have.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah. Yeah. Just stand out, man. Be unique. Be you. Let me just say, as someone who lived and worked in Ocean City as a lifeguard, I've spent more time at Secrets than I care to admit or can remember. And I say this with full clarity. Secrets is the greatest bar in America, period. It's not up for debate. Sorry. Frolic Room, the live bands, the bayfront rafts, the reggae stage. Dude, what was the reggae stage like? Kyle?

[Jonathan Frias]

Reggae stage. I don't know. I see there's a beach stage. There's a tiki stage.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Can you pan the camera over to the reggae stage, let us know what's going on?

[Jonathan Frias]

I don't see an option. I imagine it's the tiki stage or the beach stage. Maybe it's the beach stage.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Maybe it doubles as the reggae stage.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

When?

[Jonathan Frias]

Broadcast starts at 2pm okay. So we have a little bit of time.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Okay. All right. The frozen Pain in the Ass. Both the drink and the aftermath. Did you have any of those?

[Jonathan Frias]

I'm not really sure what I had. We were there a lot, and I wasn't paying for a bunch of stuff, so I was. You know, it was similar to, like, turning 21 when people are just handing you stuff. So I'm sure I had that. There was. I know they have a serious push for frozen drinks. Although we went in, like, March, so wasn't super hot. But we were still putting down the frozen drinks because I guess we were supposed to.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I had a good line the other night. Place that we were at closes early. I know everybody that works there. But I was like, in the back and staff was getting frustrated and wanted everybody to leave. And it was quiet. And I just like, perfect moment to slide it in. I was like, do you guys do frozen daiquiris?

[Jonathan Frias]

And did anyone.

[Ryan Rosillo]

The girl turned around, death stare, ready to. And then she saw that it was me. And everyone. Everyone rejoiced.

[Jonathan Frias]

Oh, nice. What? Would you get a good delivery off like that?

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah. I don't know why I'm sharing it. I guess maybe I just needed it today. Let's see if your group is within 50 miles of secrets and choose to do literally anything else for a bachelor party. You're trying too hard. Golfing and boating. A reliable fallback bachelor party moves. And I've done plenty. But if Secrets is on the table, all other plans go out the window. Time well spent, Kyle. Appreciate the show. Best bar. What's the best bar? Would you say it's. I mean, you've been to a few. Kyle, what's your favorite bar you've ever been to?

[Jonathan Frias]

My favorite bar is probably Dark Room. Rest in peace. But I guess outside of my haunt and the Pickwick Pub in Poughkeepsie, but that's now a parking lot for Casa Latina supermarkets that no one even goes to. Not really sure why that needed to happen, but. But I'd say outside of my, like, realm of, like, my domains, Secrets was. Secrets might be up there. I really did like that Irish bar in Cleveland. Kind of right by Quicken Loans there. That was a good one. But yeah, Secrets. There's just so many opportunities at Secrets. So it's gotta be Secrets.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Wow. How about you, Warga?

[Kyle]

So I was guessing before we talked about this, because Kyle was like, went there my bachelor party. I thought Secrets was a strip club. Am I the only one?

[Jonathan Frias]

Well, when you spell it that way.

[Kyle]

I didn't know how it was.

[Jonathan Frias]

Take some of the sheen off of it.

[Kyle]

Right, Right.

[Ryan Rosillo]

It's a nautical theme.

[Kyle]

Yes, Right. I got a bar near me called Trinity we used to go to a lot. Every time you closed out your tab, they'd give you a whiskey shot. So I really liked going there. But then they stopped Giving out the free shots.

[Jonathan Frias]

So I went to Missorley's in New York.

[Kyle]

Sorley's?

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Before.

[Jonathan Frias]

Before the New York show. And I just liked how, like, it's.

[Kyle]

More like a novelty going there than, like a place you're gonna go is like a regular.

[Jonathan Frias]

Well, there's like an old man there and sawdust on the floor. And I think it was probably like 11am and I was like, one of the only guys in there. Just had, you know, nothing to do until the show. And I wanted to pop in and there's just. There's two beers, there's light and dark. And I was like, I don't know. What do you think? He goes, you asking me that question? I'm like, jesus Christ, I have a light in the dark. And then he gives me four mugs, because for some reason they use small mugs.

[Kyle]

Two. You get two mugs for each order?

[George Sedano]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Frias]

And I like four mugs. And I'm just like, all right, I'll just sit down at this. At this table. I'm asking him questions. I'm like, what's up with these paintings? He's like, I don't know. Do I look like I own the place? I'm like, Ah, McSorley.

[Kyle]

That's a good one.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah. Doesn't beat out secrets, though.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I love the Can Tab in Cambridge, but it's. It's definitely different now from when we used to frequent it. It was a long time ago. I found the Garden Bar in Big Fort is incredible. I found some weird bar on my drive up to Mammoth when I was fly fishing a few summers ago. And the bar looked like it would have been one of the most dangerous bars that I've ever seen because it was just like a bar next to a general store. It was some side. It wasn't like a secret. It was some side road when there was some camping there. But I was trying to find this fishing area and. And I went in because I was stopping at the general store. It wasn't like I was going to drink during the day as I was driving around trying to fish. That doesn't make a ton of sense. But when I went into the bar, it was unbelievable because it was still kind of in the store. And then I looked at the staircase that went straight down that was kind of like in the middle of the bar to the bathrooms. And all I could think of was like, how many people are falling down this flight of stairs? And it was so exciting. I. I think I even kind of took some pictures and sent it to a couple different buddies. There was also one outside of Denver heading out to the mountains. We stayed in this haunted. I don't know what the hell we were doing. I think we were looking at. It wasn't my investment but somebody else is bringing me alongside. Maybe there was some sort of mine or something. And we went to this bar and it was. Somebody was trying to tell me that it was haunted or something. And it was. It was 20, 20 dudes to every female in there. And there might have been 18 dudes if you understand the math. So was awesome though. But it was also like when a woman did show up. Like guys are just record scratch. Yeah. It was like Martha's Vineyard in the winter. You know, we're just, you know, like why is she dating that sheetrocker?

[Jonathan Frias]

As we get off this, I just want to shout out Bongo's lounge in. In. In Salt Lake. And then that we'll just leave it there. Bongo.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah, there's. There's plenty of great ones that I'm forgetting but. All right. Did I actually hit a hole in one? Does my hole in one count? Oh, we're not the toughest golf guys but we'll see because the golf world can be real strict sometimes. Nothing more fun than playing with the strictest golf rules guy ever. Not to say that you should be cheating, but I think Everybody understands my point. 611 95. Player comp Pat Spencer money on the line. Strict rules. I totally understand that. Player comp Pat Spencer energy off the bench that lives and dies by the skyhook. How about Pat Spencer skyhook against Julius Randall in game one. My God. Bringing it back. I used to be a crossfitter. Clean and jerking. 250. Phrasing. Snatching. 205. Deadlifting. 475. Now I run having run my first half marathon in 157 last year. Hoping for a sub 145 for my next Wargon. You're our half marathon guy. Are those good times? Yeah.

[Kyle]

Yeah. That's good.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Doesn't sound like you're blown away though.

[Kyle]

No, it's not like elite athlete time. But it's very, very good.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Thank you. My dilemma started 22 years ago when I began playing golf. It was my first year playing as a 19 year old fresh faced golfer barely knowing how to hold the club. Towards the end of the summer, a group of friends and I were out in the course playing one of our final rounds of the year. There were three of us. We added a single. Let's call him Ted to our group. Towards the end of the round, we were playing on a par three, 150, straight down a hill where everyone can clearly see the green from the tee box. Here's where the issue lies. Being new to the game, we all decided we'd be able to play with one mulligan each nine. After teeing off and blasting my shot out of bounds, I waited for the rest of the group to hit, and then, using my mulligan, teed off again with solid contact. The ball hit the fringe, rolled towards the pin, and boom, right in the hole. Naturally, we all go crazy. All except Ted. They added Ted, by the way.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah, you got to try to fill the roster. You don't. You don't want the wild cards. You might hit a hole in one. And now you're emailing the show.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah. 22 years ago, once my friends and I calm down, Ted slowly walks past me with a smirk and says, nice par, dude. Did you not know Ted? And he said this like, ted needs to shut the fuck up. See, I think that's also my issue with, like, strict golf rule, guy. Again, not to say that you shouldn't follow the rules, but if you are. If three guys are clearly just having a good time and they're giving each other putts and it's like a warm up swing somebody, and there's no money on the line. Again, no money on the line. Very, very important factor here. And then the guy that's. It's a three to one, you know, delegate here. No, that guy kind of has to know it, but sometimes that guy doesn't. And it sounds like Ted, even though he's added to the group, says, nice par, we finished the round. And I, of course, told everyone I could about the hole in one, leaving out the mulligan part. As the years passed, I've stopped and started golf multiple times with the subtle jab from Ted has stuck with me to the point of shifting my perspective on the shot from hole in one to simply an impressive bar. Am I overthinking this? Does my hole in one still count, or should I stick with my gut and never bring it up again? Whenever a hole in one conversation comes up or someone asks me, have you ever hit a hole in one? Look, it's not a whole one. As much as I can be lax about certain things, it's not a hole in one. I mean, think of it this way. If you missed a free throw and then you made the second, you wouldn't say, hey, I'm one for one. Because there's also a benefit to having the ball in your hands, missing the first free throw and then adjusting to how you missed the first free throw on the second one. I understand basketball is different from golf because you don't get mulligans and you all agreed on mulligans. But hole in one's you have an advantage from the first time. That you teed off is unlikely it is that you're going to hit a hole in one after hitting it into the woods. Like, I play the part three every now and then. I almost had a hole in one. I'm not counting it. It's a par three. And on top of everything else, I'm almost 100% going to be by myself if I ever have a hole in one on one of these par three holes. It's a par three course, sure, maybe. But I wouldn't start telling people I have a hole in one from playing golf. So I think what you need to do is it's all about the presentation of this story. I think when people start talking about hole in wands, you should say 22 years ago, the 16th hole at whatever, 150 straight shot down the hill, I just started playing. Thing hits the fringe. I'm like, okay, if I can get a nice roll out of this, you build it up, the whole thing. Everybody's excited, they're in on the group, they're just going, oh, we got another one, we got another one one. And they were like, put me down for three because the first one went in the woods. So that way you're in, you're sharing, you're feeling, you're part of it. Again, I don't know if you're a good storyteller or not. So you're not claiming it as a hole in one, but you have something else to add because what you did is still really hard and it's kind of unique. I don't love Ted in this story, but I don't think any self respecting golfer would count that as a hole in one when the first one went in the woods. They just wouldn't. And no, it sucks, but I think you have to accept that. Wow. Silence.

[Jonathan Frias]

Fine. No, fine. You're right, you're right.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Wow. Kyle, sounds like you do want to know.

[Jonathan Frias]

I'm just, I'm to the point where I'm still counting like, you know, wow. Only lost two balls through nine. Like this is a great day for me. Just played the best I ever did last week. Screwed up a legit birdie would have been my first one ever was ready to call my dad and all that stuff just missed it with the nice Scotty Cameron driver that I have shot at the second swing But I don't know, I feel like I've. I've. I've counted pars when the first one just went sailing and I this, my second drive was good but I guess I shouldn't be doing that but that's just from a area of ignorance I guess because I'm just you know, just out there with the dude. So I don't, I don't really know all the etiquette because I, I don't. I'm. I'm hoping I don't get to that super serious part yet because I think those guys are having less fun than me when they're off. So I don't know but I guess you're right. We'll do it your way.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Well the only way to know you're getting better is to be strict about how you're keeping the score.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yes.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Now am I telling you I'm going to turn down a breakfast ball? Like somebody wants to offer one. You know, 7am T time you're visiting someone else you know, hotel all creaky. You know somebody wants to turn down that breakfast. Like if they want to offer it up up. I'm not going to say no but if somebody doesn't want to offer it up I'm not going to ask for it and we're just going to keep score so look I. There's most anybody that's golfering regularly hates who you've been spent this much time on it so I don't know where you are Wargon. You look like a kind of a stickler for everything.

[Kyle]

I don't. I don't think I would count this but I'm also very pro talking on the golf course so like if this happened to a friend of mine no way am I letting him get away with this.

[Jonathan Frias]

The smirk and nice par from a friend hits way nicer than.

[Kyle]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jonathan Frias]

Like if war guy said it to me I think I would just die laughing. But Ted, I don't know.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah, I think Ted's just still in your head about it. I mean it's just. I don't know. I wonder what Ted's doing. Why don't you look him up if you feel like you're doing better than him?

[Jonathan Frias]

Screw that guy. I'm actually going to be outnumbered for the first time. I'm golfing with my father in law tomorrow at like 3 o' clock and I couldn't get anyone else, my friends. So it's going to be us and three others because Roosevelt for some reason does five does like walking parties of five. I don't know, this is just like a money grab by LA City parks, I guess. Yeah. Nice. Yeah, it was a good show. Oh wait, I'm thinking of party down. I don't know but it's the first time that like I'm not going to be able to dictate the vibes. It's just going to be me and my father in law who's a little more buttoned up than me and I just, I just don't know who these other three guys are going to be every time we golf. Well, maybe add one guy and he kind of has to bend to our vibe. So I don't know. Yeah, I don't really know how this is going to go.

[Ryan Rosillo]

It's a great thing to worry about. You could be stuck with a Ted, right?

[Jonathan Frias]

Or, or I'm like the opposite of Ted and they're all Teds. You know what I mean?

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah. What's Ted doing now? VP of what? Okay, this one is. This is for the co habitants timeline for housing companionship. Ryan Kyle, sir. Ud. Never seen it spelled that way before. Wargon, longtime listener. Six three, 200, 215 depending on what I ate that day. This guy's like an mma. Yeah, it's quite a swing player comp Mamet o' Core. I can stretch the floor, get rebounds, but that's about it. With all due respect, no life altering question here. Just curious what the gang's thoughts are on how long you should wait to tell a girl you'd like to live together. I'll spare the details, but let's just say we are in the early stages of our post college lives and live in a city where affordability is not in the question. Thanks y' all. Congrats on the little one, Steve. Okay, let's, let's hear it boys. We're gon. Let's start with you. How long until you're moving it? What was your timeline?

[Kyle]

I think we were dating for like a year and a half before we were like when both of our leases end, we'll move in together.

[Jonathan Frias]

I like it a lot.

[Ryan Rosillo]

So it was a business decision. This is about money for you two?

[Kyle]

Yeah, yeah. I'm in New York, so affordability not in the question for me either.

[Ryan Rosillo]

However, I like her, dude. Right?

[Kyle]

Can't afford not to.

[Ryan Rosillo]

How early though? If you had been dating a year and a Half before you moved in. How early was it before you said, like, like, hey, do you want to live together?

[Kyle]

It's. It's about the lease timing. Right? Because if I got a two year lease, I'm not going to say it before like a year and a half. You know, maybe. Maybe she'll move in with you beforehand. I think it's more practical than wanting to live with them.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah.

[Kyle]

I'm not breaking a lease to live.

[Jonathan Frias]

With someone I would never. I would never expect free drinks, Mike, to break a lease. I gotta say, I would never expect you to leave any money on the table. There's.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Does she know that it. I mean, you do. It feels a bit like least timing more than love. Is that okay?

[Kyle]

It's. It's like it's more love than least timing. If she can hear me, which I think she might be able to, but it's. It's both. You know, you got to be practical about it.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Right. But it sounds like. And I'm gonna come back to your side of this. You would, would, you would figure it out beyond the least part of it. Like, this is somebody that you wanted.

[Kyle]

We had decided we wanted to live together. And then it was sort of like, when does it make sense to do that?

[Ryan Rosillo]

And she was practical about it with you? She was totally fine about.

[Kyle]

Yeah, she went live downtown for a year. I stayed on the Upper east side and. And then I think she moved into the Upper east side apartment with me.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah, I sent her downtown.

[George Sedano]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Frias]

Doing hard time downtown until I was ready.

[Kyle]

It was also Covid, so that was. That was a weird little factor too.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Oh, dating in the city though, is it? I can't believe, like he's Upper west side and she's lower. Whatever. You know, it's financial district. Like, is that.

[Kyle]

Not so much that, but it's like if you're in Manhattan and they're in Brooklyn.

[Ryan Rosillo]

The boroughs.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah, that's a problem.

[Ryan Rosillo]

The Bronx. Yeah.

[Jonathan Frias]

I think it's usually dudes doing most of the traveling. In that case for sure.

[Ryan Rosillo]

In la, it's like if you're not in the same neighborhood. Neighborhood?

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah. What side of the 405 are you on, dude? Yeah, that's where I'm staying.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Right. And when somebody told me that in the beginning, I was like, that sounds great. What are you talking about?

[Jonathan Frias]

Burbank got off the hook for so much.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah, yeah. It's been a month since I've seen you. I'm like, yeah, I know. But you know, it's Burbank. I Miss you. How about you, Kyle? What do you got?

[Jonathan Frias]

I think I'm in like, ideally, everything's slower in this, in this journey towards marriage and whatever. I think like, I think a year minimum, it's like a probationary period where we're circling each other. And then I think that's right, like figuring out if you're moving or if your. But if your buddy's moving out or however, like whoever's doing the moving, if you're both moving. I think yeah, Mike's thing is perfect. He's like, I don't want to say this and then have to like fend her off for a year. So I like that you waited till you had like six months left to start talking about it. Ramp up. And then the last two months are fun. Right. Instead of like dragging on. But yeah, I'm certainly a proponent for moving slow. Cause you have to just think like, you know, it's not like as crazy as, you know, committing to marriage where you're just like, wow, we could just be slashing everything in half. But it's sort of like this could be a tough out for me if we run into this. I think every time I've seen somebody move in with, at least in my circle, move in with somebody, you know, move in with their girlfriend within the first year, it's usually like there's the last couple months of whatever this relationship is, is pretty terrible. And it's usually pretty soon it's just like, yeah, I mean, I'm just gonna leave because she's got people coming over. Like, it's like, it could be so bad. So I think that should be the deterrent. And really, once you, you look at it through that lens and you're just like, I'm not worried about any of this shit happening. I think that's the right time. I'd say minimum a year. And then as soon as you feel like you've checked all the boxes and she stayed over a bunch or you stayed over a bunch and you realize how things go, you decide whether you're going to need a two bathroom apartment or not.

[Kyle]

Two bathroom. What are you, rich?

[Jonathan Frias]

I am a two bathroom. I'm a two, two bed, two bath over here.

[Kyle]

How the other half.

[Ryan Rosillo]

This guy wore a gun.

[Kyle]

I know.

[Jonathan Frias]

Got a bidet in one of those.

[Kyle]

640 square feet.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah.

[Kyle]

Can't afford much more than that.

[Jonathan Frias]

Couldn't be me, dude. I think I'm like 640 square feet. I'm just kidding.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Frias]

So I think minimum a year and then you know, once you're ready, after that, pull the trigger.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Everybody's different on this one, man. So, you know, I was with someone that was pretty serious, and we were talking about, like, the next stuff, and she had dropped the, well, I would never move in on the side of ring. And I was like, oh, I personally think that ring.

[Jonathan Frias]

First security deposit and a ring, I don't think.

[Kyle]

Not that liquid right now.

[Ryan Rosillo]

She was from the Gilded Age, Oron. So, you know, little bit older than me at the time, but now look, I think when I brought that up before, where I think it should be important that you live together before you get married, then people throw all these stats at me and there's studies done that it doesn't really matter. That is actually, I don't know, I. I think you'd want to test drive, like being in the same house with somebody every single minute before you would.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Start filling out.

[Jonathan Frias]

That's. I think that would be more. My point is, like, make sure that's long enough. If you have a. A timeline on a ring, make sure you've scoped out probably another year of living together.

[Ryan Rosillo]

But whenever we've brought this up in the past, which we. I don't know that we've done this a ton, but it just. We immediately get emails from the. I met my what? And we never. And it's like, awesome, man. Fucking congrats. Like, that's so good for you that you knew and you were that compatible and the living together thing didn't have to happen before.

[Jonathan Frias]

I would ask college roommates loved it.

[Ryan Rosillo]

If it's. If it's an affordability thing, then go for it. You know, I would say if. If it's not an affordability thing, if it's something that you want to hold off on. And she also agrees, like, it's cool. I think I. I think one of the coolest things you can do is if you're in the same city and you are social and you have a decent friend circle there, and. And that kind of stuff is important. You're going to be. You know, because some of these guys that all just move. There's just. Look, maybe I'm an example of this is that after college, I did not care about friends. I didn't care about, oh, I'm going to go live because there's a bunch of guys in Denver, there's a bunch of guys in New York City, and there's a bunch of guys in Boston. Like, I want to go live and be around everybody and kind of keep this thing going and those like over time, five years of thinking you're an adult but you're still going out all the time. I. Not to say that I was mature, it was just I cared more about where my career could potentially take me. I mean I moved to Trenton so. Or outside of Trenton because I luckily even though I was working there all the time, it wasn't that I was like also commuting. But I, I envy the people that after college, like, hey, so and so is moving here, you know, all the different people depending on where you went to college, you know, there's certain cities, you know, Chicago is going to pull a bunch of big ten people in Denver always kind of felt like a big ten west thing. But to answer this in more detail, is there any part of it where you could be able to pull off kind of this, this best of both worlds thing where you're still with your buddies but you know you're still dating somebody that's, that's really serious? Or are you being kept to some kind of timeline here or is there an affordability part of this where it's like, look, it's just going to make this much more sen.

[Kyle]

I do think it's different if you're moving to like a suburb and none of your friends are going to be around. If you're, if you're doing in a city, not much is going to change. You know, you're still going to see all your friends. But if you're going to, you know, the middle of Kansas when your friends are all on a coast somewhere, things are different.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I'm just thinking about being 22 and subs and football on Sunday morning and recapping Saturday night. And I just think it's harder to pull that off if there's a woman living with you.

[Jonathan Frias]

And I think sometimes pressure can be put on the dude in the relationship when it is a roommate situation and those guys are close. And when you're going over to his house, Jake's around, you know, and Jake's not afraid to knock on the door and be like, dude, overtime, let's go. You got to come in the living room. So I think that could also be if you're like having a great roommate life, I think. And it's not an evil, it's just like, it's just I think she might be like, damn, I'm really sharing this guy a lot. Especially if like she comes over or it's stopping you from going over there because you have a built in friend in your domicile So I think that could also be like, you know, I'd ask what kind of situation you're in right now. Did he say he lived alone or he didn't mention.

[Ryan Rosillo]

I think it's just after college, so he's probably not living alone.

[Jonathan Frias]

Yeah, that's right. And if the roommate situation is sick, maybe it's like she might be, like, dropping subtle incognito hints because she's sharing you more than she'd expect to.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Maybe if you're living alone as a senior in college, you're either the coolest on campus or the least you're subsidized by your parents. Yeah, there's a few dudes that went solo and you're like, oh, my God. Yeah, that guy's. That guy's living. And then there was a couple other guys that went solo and nobody was asking why because it was like, nobody wanted to live with that guy. Or maybe you're in pre med and you're just like, sorry, this is. These are. Sorry you guys are, you know, I know you have another season going on Madden, but I'm over trying to figure out some ligaments. Look, Friends, the TV show, they stayed friends for 10 years.

[Jonathan Frias]

So it's a good example. It's a great example.

[Ryan Rosillo]

That'll do it for us. Thanks to Oregon. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frias for all of their work on the podcast. You can subscribe to our podcast and our YouTube page. You can watch the podcast podcast on our Spotify app. So thanks, as always, for listening. Ryan Rosula, Podcast Ringer Spotify.

[Jonathan Frias]

No new Pope. I was really hoping to drop that.

[Kyle]

They were going to name me Michael Jordan. My dad was like, I don't think he can live up to it. So they named me Michael. Jared.

[Jonathan Frias]

Foreign.

[Ryan Rosillo]

Must be 21 and older. Present in select states. For Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18/ plus and present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050. For 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY in New York.